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Afternoon Links: Enjoy Baseball While You Can, and Farewell, Joe Thomas

By Jim Swift

Farewell, Mostly Weekly! My good friend Andrew Heaton’s web show at Reason comes to an end, like all good things do. In the final episode, Heaton takes on creative destruction, and then destroys his own show. Creative!

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Speaking of goodbye, future Hall of Fame offensive lineman Joe Thomas is retiring from the Cleveland Browns. A funny, kind man and tenacious player, Thomas completed 10,363 consecutive (yes, you read that correctly) plays before finally suffering an injury last year. Enjoy retirement, Joe.

A beautiful mind … an ugly possibility. As people reflect on the life of Stephen Hawking, this 2004 Vanity Fair item by Judy Bachrach is worth revisiting.

What’s in this week’s issue? Editor in chief Stephen F. Hayes has a breakdown of what is in this week’s issue:

A gross experiment. Maybe now, there will be crying in baseball. Because Minor League Baseball is trying a terrible experiment to cut down on extra innings and improve pace of play: a free runner on second base. USA TODAY has more:

Extra innings will begin with the final batter from the previous inning – or a pinch-runner placed at second base. Subsequent runs scored will be considered unearned on the pitcher’s record, though no error will be charged to the defensive team. Additionally, mound visits will be limited to six per game at Class AAA, eight at Class AA and 10 at Class A. There will be no limits for rookie ball games. Major League Baseball this year established a limit of six mound visits per game – including visits from teammates. And a pitch clock – which MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred chose not to unilaterally implement this season – will be set at 15 seconds, with the pitcher on the clock ” when the pitcher has possession of the ball in the dirt circle surrounding the pitcher’s rubber, the catcher is in the catcher’s box and the batter is in the dirt circle surrounding home plate.” The pitch clock will increase to 20 seconds with a runner on base.

You know this stuff is coming to the majors soon. Enjoy baseball while you can.

Save the date! Join us at the 2018 Weekly Standard Summit. This May 17-20 at the historic Broadmoor resort in Colorado Springs, join Stephen F. Hayes, Fred Barnes, and Michael Warren and special guests Bret Baier and A.B. Stoddard as they discuss the future of American politics. Book your tickets now

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