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Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 4/6/20

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Ben Clemens

2:19

Feels a little too much like real baseball for my liking. I'd prefer my team to not get so dinged up so early.

BASEBALL SZN

2:19

Not a question, just want to say how nice it was to listen to you, Dan, and Paul talk baseball on the stream of The Show on Friday. Can we look forward to more of that? (guess I did have a question)

Ben Clemens

2:20

You can definitely expect more. We're still working out a plan for what to stream and when to stream it, and I'm still hopeful that we can get more FG people on there, but this is an idea we've been talking about off and on for some time, and a lack of baseball was an excellent way to push it into production, so to speak.

Eric

2:21

We can talk about board games? Have you played any Gloomhaven?

Ben Clemens

2:21

Shameful admission: I own Gloomhaven, but we haven't started it yet.

My mom bought it for us as a wedding gift, actually, because a board game store near her had it in stock.

It's hilariously large, and we moved it cross-country with us, so I've been looking forward to playing.

2:22

But there's just so much setup involved, and we always seem to have something else to try first.

At the moment we are playing through Pandemic Legacy, which is a little on the nose but also quite fun.

Bring Back Jeff&Mookie&Baseball

2:22

Ben: 7 Wonders, do you go Alexandria or Roma?

Ben Clemens

2:22

I have to admit, I don't remember which is which, so I'm goin to look this up.

2:24

Hm; I think my favorite is the Hanging Gardens or the Lighthouse, but we always randomize, so I don't have all that much experience with any one wonder.

Derek

2:24

I still remain skeptical of a season of any significant length being played this year (or any pro sports for that matter). All it would take is one person in any organization to test positive for the coronavirus for everything to be shut down again - which is probably the right way to handle things, but also not particularly encouraging for those of us wanting baseball back.

Ben Clemens

2:24

Yeah, blah, I don't know how to think about this. The requisite quarantining would be pretty intense.

2:25

And it would very likely require government cooperation, and a decent expenditure of resources.

But do I think we might do that to get sports back? Kind of.

The 'one person testing positive' thing is a big problem, no doubt.

Which is why it would require some inventive quarantining and isolation.

But I'm hopeful

2:26

And not just because I'm digging deep into my bag of dumb things to write about already, and it's only April.

But because sports give me a nice sense of normalcy.

Yeast

2:26

Are people hoarding yeast to bake bread or for mash for their new moonshine stills? I vote the latter.

Ben Clemens

2:26

I don't know about all of you guys, but I've been enjoying delivery and pickup cocktails.

2:27

Why make moonshine at home when your favorite restaurant can make you a batch of fresh margs?

Not sure if that's a nationwide thing or just an SF thing, but it's been awesome here.

MSW

2:27

The only fly in the ointment of the no-fans plan is that even with viewership for TV already way up, ad revenue is down, because companies are slashing their ad budgets to save money. So the revenue boost for TV networks getting baseball back may not be as large as one would hope.

Ben Clemens

2:28

Well, the ad revenue doesn't go to baseball, just to the network. If you're a network who paid for baseball and then didn't get the ad buys you hoped for on that baseball, gee, tough luck.

But if you just don't get the baseball at all, then you have a better case.

Now, maybe MLB will come to an arrangement with these broadcast partners, since it's a repeated game and all.

You can't just bleed them dry and expect the future to work out.

2:29

But having *something* to give the people who paid you to broadcast your games seems like a prudent fiscal move.

Derek

2:29

For games like Gloomhaven I often take the lazy person's way out and buy a digital copy, either of the standalone game (in the case of Gloomhaven) or in Tabletop Simulator. This route comes in handy in times like this to play with friends while remaining at home!

Ben Clemens

2:29

So I haven't yet caved and bought Tabletop Simulator, but I might take the plunge soon.

I've been playing a lot more Steam games of late.

2:30

OOTP mainly, because holy crap it's fun, but other stuff too.

Namely Slay the Spire and Darkest Dungeon.

2:31

So far I've gotten my games with friends fix by playing party games (Just One, Jackbox, Houseparty) or poker (using Donkhouse) on Zoom calls.

Oh, and there are a group of friends who used to meet in person once a week or so to draft Magic, and that's mainly gone online.

2:32

But at some point I might switch over to TS.

Billy Beane

2:32

https://www.food.com/recipe/beer-bread-73440 Beer bread uses beer and baking powder to rise. For those without yeast.

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