A quick programming note: You may have noticed a lag in new episodes of the Lefty Specialists in your podcast feed. We are on hiatus for a few weeks, but will be returning, likely starting in 2022. And we have some good stuff in store, so don’t go anywhere!
Anyway, here’s everything from Undrafted this month:
-“The Shock Doctrine and Pandemic Baseball”: In this podcast ep, James and I used the last two years of Covid baseball—with its ghost runners and 7-inning double-headers—to look at the shock doctrine, and various leftist theories of change. Is a crisis always good for capital? Is the universal DH good for baseball? How are those questions related? Check it out!
-Boom Town Book Review: This was a look at Sam Anderson’s 2018 book on the 2012-13 Oklahoma City Thunder season. I worry that the review came off as too negative—the book itself is very good, but its political message is frustrating. The two things I focused on here were its examination of “the Process” and its romanticized urbanism. Both, I think, are traps for the left.
-What Makes a Work Environment Toxic? An Investigation: It feels like every few months now there is a new scandal about some sports franchise being a haven for creepy dudes. This post was a look at recent reports on the Dallas Mavericks, the New York Mets, the Washington Football Team, and the Phoenix Suns, to see if we can learn anything from these scandals. (Hint: The problem is bosses.)
-Aaron Rodgers’ Jeopardy Voice: Why were so many people surprised by Rodgers’ views on the vaccine? My theory is that it’s his voice. He sounds smart. But what does that really mean, and what does it have to do with class?
-The Quarterback Bubble: Football seems broken now because the league has overvalued young quarterbacks so much. Every team now either a) has an elite quarterback; b) is trying to figure out if their quarterback is elite; or c) is tanking so they can draft an elite quarterback. Seems bad for the league, overall!
-More Thoughts on Integration: Part One; Part Two; and Part Three: This was a three-part follow-up to the series on how teams besides the Dodgers integrated. I realize I’ve written way too much on this subject now, given that we’re a month removed from baseball season, but I just feel that there are some very important lessons to be learned from that story. So if you missed that series the first time it went out, please check it out!