#37 You tell us
Plus, the Dodgers denied ICE access, but now what of their support for immigrant communities?
Hey it’s Hannah and the situation in L.A. seems significant enough to merit making note of even though I don’t have much to add in the way of editorializing. So, I’m just going to run through what we know.
On Thursday, agents from the Department of Homeland Security were seen on Dodgers Stadium property. The team says that it asked them to leave.
Dozens of federal agents with their faces covered arrived in SUVs and cargo vans to a lot near the stadium’s Gate E entrance. A group of protesters carrying signs against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement started amassing shortly after, local media reported.
The Dodgers posted on X that it had been ICE agents, which was then quoted by the official @ICEgov account to publicly deny they had been there.
Again according to the AP, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said the agents were with Customs and Border Protection — both ICE and CBP are part of Homeland Security — and that they were not trying to enter the stadium.
This is plenty dystopian/threatening/indicative of the increasing militarization of American society at the hands of federal agents on it's own. But the timing was especially suspect. The night before, a team spokesperson told reporters that the Dodgers would be announcing “plans for assistance to immigrant communities impacted by the recent events in Los Angeles,” something that fans had been pushing for, on Thursday.
Instead, in the wake of the federal agents showing up to the stadium property, the team postponed that announcement.
Even before that statement from Kasten, protestors were making the connection between the Dodgers’ plan to pledge some sort of support to immigrants and the appearance of (probably) ICE agents.
To be honest, I don’t feel comfortable based on the reporting we have so far casting judgement on the Dodgers’ hesitancy. The team should throw it’s political/financial/cultural weight behind the community it claims to represent. And frankly, all sorts of business and institutions should do what they can to resist ICE’s actions and tactics. But the consequences of a misstep are high — not for the team, but for immigrants who may face increased scrutiny if there’s a public spotlight involved. I don’t know if that’s what happened here or if it was an intimidation tactic that worked.
I understand the inclination to demand sports franchises declare themselves on the right side of history through their statements and actions. Even though they play games, they’re not toys; they’re billion-dollar companies and cultural touchstones. But there is real danger afoot. I don’t blame them for strategizing carefully — as long as they’re still strategizing.
You tell us
We don’t want the Bandwagon to feel like every other or even any other baseball website. Part of what’s unique about this space is we are only beholden to each other and to you, the readers. We can take stock and potentially change what we’re doing any time it makes sense to. Like, after 36 issues and almost three months. Classic time to check in with your readers.
First up: video. We’ve done a couple of one-off lives — a format that Substack makes super accessible on the production side, but I don’t exactly know how to best take advantage of it for content purposes. I like that the platform gives us this option and want to figure out how to best maximize it. But only if that’s what you want.
Everyone has a podcast — including us, once upon a pre-layoff life — perhaps there’s a reason for that.
Don’t let those multimedia questions make you think we’re giving up the written word. By “more anon baseball folk” I mean people in interesting roles who you probably haven’t heard of by name. And by “Baseball people on non baseball” I mean talking to people in the game about there other interests and their lives outside the ballpark.
We’ve occasionally done entire issues that are essentially just the quick hits that are otherwise relegated to the bottom of newsletter. I’ve called them “bits and bobs.” These have actually trafficked really well! Which makes me wonder…
And finally, what should Hannah report on next.
What we’re chatting about
(we’re also discussing how to rename/reformat this section, but we’re not quite there yet.)
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Here’s 36-year-old Chris sale laying out for a ball in the ninth inning of a five-run game. I know I said I hate award race discourse at this point in the season, but give this man (another) Gold Glove. —HK
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On Tuesday, Nick Castellanos was benched for saying something so depraved that I suspect I will be waking in the night years from now to wonder what it could have been. On Wednesday, Castellanos had a couple of hits and, even more crucially for the purposes of this story, made a nifty little catch for the final out of the win. He’s a pro so it’s not a surprise per se, but he hasn’t always been the best defender — that is, if you’re checking the metrics. His wife, Jessica, though has never doubted him. And if you doubt him (on Twitter), she will find you.
Get you someone who, etc. etc. —HK
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Next time you feel like adding some squirm-inducing stakes to your dog days weeknight baseball watching, may I recommend tuning into a Tommy Kahnle appearance? The Tigers reliever apparently has a little routine to, uh, incentivize good performance: He shaves his entire body every time he allows a run.
I can’t decide if I’m glad I know this or not, but my fiancée’s Instagram algorithm is finely tuned for Weird Baseball, so now you know it, too. —ZC
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Sorry, I need to weigh in here: Every time? He gives up a run?? His entire body??? I don’t feel like I should be allowed to know more, but I have questions. —HK
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Reid Worley, a high schooler showcasing his talents at the MLB Draft combine, is throwing a breaking ball with what MLB.com’s David Adler non-hyperbolically describes as the craziest grip we’ve ever seen.
Best summed up as 🤞, this grip might deserve to own the naming convention for the pitch it produces, a la the knuckleball. I nominate “jinxball” or “jinxer” as its pitch type moniker. —ZC
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How many young catcher-ish hitters do we think are doing juuuust enough to maintain their backstop bonafides as teams wait and see on the automatic ball-strike system’s scope and timeline?
The Cardinals’ Ivan Herrera, Yankees’ Ben Rice and Marlins’ Agustín Ramírez are among the nominal young catchers who have been catching sparingly while getting big-league at-bats. Herrera has been incredible, a bat that would be in the lineup no matter what. I’m skeptical the potential challenge system would really change the defensive calculations behind the dish, but skeptical probably wouldn’t be enough to give up on a premium defender with this sort of bat. —ZC
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I keep seeing facts that are weirdly positive about this year’s Reds. They are now the only major league team that has not been swept this season. Weirdly positive not because I expected them to be bad with Elly De La Cruz and Hunter Greene in tow and Terry Francona taking the helm, but because all of that positivity has produced .500ish record that leaves them squarely in the muck of the NL Central. —ZC
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Who’s gonna tell him that I don’t think the reporters are buying the denial? —HK
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If Rivalry Weekend doesn’t feature Dodgers vs. Padres, it’s not a real rivalry weekend. Here are some data points from Alden Gonzalez’s write up of the brawly series finale:
Both Fernando Tatís Jr. and Shohei Ohtani were hit by pitches in the ninth inning. “It marked the second time in a span of three days that Tatis and Ohtani had been hit by pitches almost immediately after one another.”
“The Dodgers have hit Tatis a total of six times in his career. The 28 other teams have combined to hit him four times, according to ESPN Research.”
Here’s what happened after that sixth HBP on Thursday night:
And here’s Ohtani being a benevolent peacekeeper or at least a dude who knows even the Dodgers can’t afford to lose more players to injury or suspension.
I may be an outlier but I almost never watch long videos online! I love all the writing though!
For the what would you like to see more of question - I would’ve selected all 4, but that wasn’t an option. All seem good to me.