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Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Walkoff

Braves took two of three from the first place Marlins, then came back down three in the bottom of the 9th to walk off the Nats. That’s as good as to be expected with the decimated starting rotation, plus Albies and Acuna out. Rumor: Albies and Acuna both hurt their wrists not on the diamond, but playing those damned video games.
 
Last night I had the Braves on. Sometimes on Hulu the actual game will ahead of what I am watching.  What I am seeing happened minutes before in real time. I usually don’t care. Last night I was only paying partial attention to the game while playing on my laptop and phone. Then all of a sudden the game went off and the postgame show game on. I thought maybe it might be ten o’clock straight up, or maybe 10:30. But it was like 10:21. I’d remembered the score was 6-3 Nats but the score behind Jerome Jarenovich and Brian showed 7-6 Braves. I knew they’d review what happened so I just sat and watched, while checking my phone for similar updates. Nice comeback.
 
Markakis keeps coming up big. Dude’s a doubles machine. Yet fans hate on him for not hitting enough dingers. If Nick swung for the fences like so many of his teammates, he’d have a lower average and as many strikeouts as the rest of the team. Leave him alone. Update: now Nick is out for a few days, after possibly coming in contact with the virus. So far he's tested negative.
 
Fans on Twitter continue to want to cut every pitcher who has a bad outing, even if it’s his second major league appearance. It’s like they’re not even listening to what they themselves are saying. I know some people like that. The beatwriters keep reminding fans of the first two years of Smoltz, Glavine, and Maddux, but the Twitter experts say the current crop is “much worse.” Raca.
Gotta give them a chance. Same with Riley. Especially with Camargo striking out and getting caught off case like he’s asleep. And Ender playing sloppy out in the field, where he’s supposed to excel. Bring up Pache (they did - above). Adams is back. Albies and Acuna should be back soon. We hope.
Nice throwbacks by the Marlins on Sunday. Look for the Braves to wear their glorious feather throwback uniforms this weekend. Hank hit 715 in his home white jersey. Would be nice if sometime the Braves would throw back to the royal blue jerseys, that Aaron hit 714 wearing. Or the 1969 pinstripe uniforms. Hank hit 500 and 600 wearing those.
Part two in my series of Braves gear: my new home white Josh Donaldson jersey, with home cap and Stance Braves socks. At FanFest the Clubhouse Store was having a clearance on the Majestic jerseys. Everyone has a Freeman, Albies, or Acuna jersey. i wanted a double number. Would’ve taken a Riley but couldn’t find one in my size. The Donaldsons were even cheaper, plus I like how his name arches over the letters. A nice on field dri-fit jersey.
Luka Doncic set another NBA record Monday: first to score 40 in his first playoff game. Trae Young may become the greatest player to don a Hawks uniform. Trae was supposedly a better fit for the Hawks franchise than Luka. But should the Hawks have traded Luka for Trae?
Monday: after 5 pm I did some additional work since the day was so busy. Drove C to Whole Foods. She cooked beef tips and rice, with onions, peppers, and carrots. After helping clean it it was plop down in front of the TV. M had been gone during the supper hour.
 
This morning M had a dentist appointment. C had a doctor’s appointment. Quesadillas for lunch, with the beef tips and rice inside.
Tonight C goes to her women’s ministry. I plan on picking up supper at Steak & Shake.
 
Article regarding the putt that took 25 seconds to drop, and the reason why it was legal.
 
 
Article: how to change someone’s mind. Not with force. Force could be used if you don’t care about changing someone’s mind, you just want to get your way. People don’t like to be told what to do. If you push, people will just push back. Instead get them to persuade themselves. Give choices. Break down their barriers to change, as opposed to using the direct approach.
 
Recently two team members wanted to change someone’s mind about a critical issue. They wanted to use force. I played good cop and repeatedly dripped information to change the person’s mind. Worked out much better, in so many different ways. Clear communication played a critical role. Instead of overloading a person with information, it’s best to give one point at a time, discuss that point, and make sure it is understood before moving on to the next point. Few people are going to digest multiple points at one time.  
 
 
AURELIO LOPEZ [SABR Bio] was Sparky Anderson’s most-trusted reliever during his Tigers’ 35-5 start in 1984. Lopez had posted a strong All-Star season closing for Sparky’s 1983 Tigers, winning nine games and saving eighteen.  During Detroit’s torrid 1984 start, Lopez went 4-0 with 6 saves and a glittering 1.47 ERA in 18 games. That spring, however, the Tigers’ GM Bill Lajoie made an unexpected trade, acquiring Willie Hernandez from Philadelphia. At first, the Tigers expected to use Hernandez in a set-up role, with Lopez continuing as closer, but by June, Sparky had reversed their roles.  Hernandez had contributed one win and 7 saves with a 3.03 ERA during the streak but then improved dramatically as the season went on ultimately winning both the AL’s Cy Young and MVP awards.
 
Gifted with a decent fastball, Lopez preferred his original name “The Flamethrower.” Dubbed “El Lanzallama” (“The Flamethrower”) in his native Mexico, he was known in the states as Señor Smoke. [I would have probably gone with “Au-Lo”.] Only once did he hesitate when his manager requested him to start warming up in the bullpen. Lopez was asked to warm up at the end of the first game of a double-header in Chicago on 12-Jul-1979. The twi-night affair was promoted as “Teen Night” at Comiskey Park, but earned it place in history as “Disco Demolition Night”. One report said, “Tigers relief pitcher Aurelio Lopez refused to warm up in the bullpen for the first game because fans were already chucking records and firecrackers on the field.”  He eventually did go in and got the save.

Lopez’ hometown of where he later served as mayor, a statue was erected in his memory. “It really wasn’t my idea,” Lopez told the Detroit Free Press last year [about his election as mayor of Tecamachalco].  “But the people asked me to do it, and I couldn’t say no. This is my home. You can never forget where you come from.” With this sizeable sculpted likeness, the place where he came from is not soon likely to forge him either.

In an eerie quirk of fate, Lopez and his only two MLB namesakes all perished in separate automobile accidents each before his 53rd birthday. Lopez died in a car crash one day after his 44th birthday. Aurelio Monteagudo was killed in an auto accident nine days before his 47th birthday.  At the age of 52, Aurelio Rodriguez was struck down as a pedestrian while visiting Detroit in 2000.  They are the only three players in MLB history named Aurelio—Spanish for golden.

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