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Tom Hoffarth's avatar

Steve Sax, decent guy? One would have hoped. Too many corroborate his history of poor behavior toward women, some who wont go public fearing retribution

https://www.dailynews.com/2017/07/15/tom-hoffarth-lisa-nehus-saxon-paved-the-way-for-female-sportswriters/

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Michael Weinreb's avatar

Thanks for posting, Tom--I had no idea. Maybe he and the A's deserve each other.

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Tom Hoffarth's avatar

I hope you also saw me give you and your platform a shoutout here. Really enjoy your deep dives ... as i kind if buried you in this post but used you to punctuate a point I was unraveling

https://fartheroffthewall.com/2025/04/14/day-5-of-2025-baseball-book-reviews-the-war-on-dei-enters-a-new-era/

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Tom Hoffarth's avatar

I had no idea either until this interview. If he ever is on a commercial for a reverse mortgage or offering some retirement advice, maybe have it vetted.

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Gary Trujillo's avatar

FJF ⚾

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Bernzilla's avatar

I feel your pain of being an A's fan, though to a lesser extent.

I'm a Baltimoron, a lifelong and diehard Orioles fan. In the late '60s and early '70s, the Os were the class organization of baseball. In the mid and late 70s, they were still contenders. Then, in 1979, the team was sold to what would become a succession of (three) lawyers, who owned the team for a combined 45 years. The last of these (peter Angelo's) soon after buying the team famously said something to the effect of "Baseball isn't difficult... it's not like law." THAT is when I knew the Orioles were- yet again- fucked.

It seems we finally have an owner with the means and will to put some resources (read: money) into building a winning franchise. Unfortunately, they currently have a GM who thinks that he is always the smartest guy in every room that he inhabits, yet keeps trading away strong, developing prospects for veteran rentals and then putting a roster together from the remnants of other teams' scrap heaps. Team Chemistry be damned!

So as fans, our frustration continues. However, it compares unfavorably to the prolonged, ever devolving, and now "final" misery inflicted upon A's faithful by john fisher. I feel horrible for you. Oakland deserves far better!

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Bill's avatar

Whenever I see a story about the best baseball movies, I'm ALWAYS disappointed that there

is never mention of what I consider the best ever, HBO's Long Gone (1987) starring

William Petersen, Virginia Madsen and Dermot Mulroney. One critic called it "the best baseball movie most of you have never seen."

I'm curious if anyone else has seen it and urge all to try and find it, though it has yet to be released on DVD for some reason. But if you find it, you'll be glad you did.

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Michael Weinreb's avatar

Good Lord, I loved that movie as a kid and was just thinking about it the other day and need to rewatch it (and maybe write about it). Looks like it's up on YouTube (at least for the moment).

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Bill's avatar

Great to hear from you and just to let you know you're the only person I know who has ever seen this utter classic. Don't ask me why, but I've long had a fascination with lower (Class C and D) minor leagues of the post-war 40's and early 50's and

Paul Hemphill's novel captures the essence of that period perfectly. And has there ever been a better baseball couple than Stud Cantrell and Dixie Lee Boxx?

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Tom Hoffarth's avatar

Hey I'm workshopping this project these days:

https://fartheroffthewall.com/2024/07/12/pick-a-number-between-0-and-99-and-help-us-write-a-book/

My plan for a bio for No. 99 is Charlie Sheen/Carlos Esteves and how he through "Major League" made that popular with MLB pitchers (it's funny to see how the flick came out in '89 and Mitch Williams didn't take it until '93, as well as the nickname. Or Turk Wendell in '97.) Thanks for some reference points here. Maybe I can recruit you to help me with the impact of "Major League" in the Sheen bio (he fits into the SoCal history by being an actual pitcher at Santa Monica High). Thx.

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Michael Weinreb's avatar

Absolutely, Tom. Shoot me a message or email if I can help.

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Darian Somers's avatar

I didn’t know the Twins connection, which is weird because Major League 3: Back to the Minors (my favorite of the franchise and how I knew about Walton Goggins YEARS before all of you) is set within and around the Twins organization.

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Michael Weinreb's avatar

I am quite certain you are the only person who has ever watched and remembered anything about this movie, Darian. Including the screenwriter.

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Darian Somers's avatar

When people ask me (because I get asked this all of the time) what I know Scott Bakula from, it’s not Quantum Leap. No sir. It’s his role as Gus Cantrell.

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Michael Weinreb's avatar

Don't tell me I need to educate you on Necessary Roughness...

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