An Abundance of Caution

Patti and the Pottymouth and their socially-distanced Smart Baseball Brains bring you the baseball state of the pandemic. The eight week delay, minimum, to the start of the season has clear implications for fans, but what does it mean for paychecks for major and minor league players, umpires, and hourly facilities workers? How does it affect service time and dates for incentives and bonuses? The NBA and NHL are modelling good league-level behavior and it is time for Baseball to step up too. Players are picking up some slack, with Redemption Tour Astros donating money and food kits, Trevor Bauer staging a Sandlot wiffle ball game to bring attention to a Go Fund Me for stadium workers, and Pete Alonso putting things in perspective. Keep your baseball muscles loose by watching baseball movies and historic games. That’s how we’re doing it.

Even though the season delay pushes back our Fantasy League, we forge ahead and choose our pitching squads. Marcus “Height Doesn’t Measure Heart” Stroman puts Pottymouth over the hump to selecting the Mets, and shirtless Thor and Quarterican Seth Lugo warrant a mention. By some crazy twist of rules, Patti gets to keep the Nationals pitchers, so spends a moment on Daniel Hudson and his unbelievable 2019 reversal of fortune from being cut by the Angels in Spring Training to closing Game 7 of the World Series. Joe Ross is competing to be the fifth starter, building on his surprise Game 5 WS momentum. Will Harris gets the nod, even after pitching on the 2017 Astros, because Sean Doolittle says he’s okay with it.

NCiB sends its heartfelt wishes for a full recovery to Baltimore’s Trey Mancini, who in the midst of all of this upheaval had surgery for a tumor on his colon.

It’s time for NCiB’s Fantasy Boyfriend Baseball League! Contact us via social media if you want to play rotisserie fantasy ball, following our boyfriend rules for players. The draft begins immediately after Patti and the Pottymouth release their starting lineups on the March 21st episode. Find us on Twitter @ncibpodcast, on Facebook @nocryinginbball, Instagram @nocryinginbball and on the Interweb at nocryinginbball.com. Please take a moment to subscribe to the show, and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to NCiB. Become a supporter at Patreon to help us keep doing what we do. Say goodnight, Pottymouth.