Mike O'Connell

Yesterday afternoon (and long into the night) I got to see the “Outlaw Music Festival” at Merriweather Post Pavilion, proof again that it’s often fun to root for the bad guys. If the headliners really were on the run from the law they’ve been doing a really good job of avoiding capture, because they’re two of the most famous musicians of the 20th century. (I am aware we are already a quarter into the next one.) Admittedly Bob Dylan at 84 spends his entire act hiding behind his piano, but hey, you’re seeing Bob Dylan, right? And Willie Nelson at 92 doesn’t have much of a voice anymore, but damn he plays the guitar like a boss.

Star of the show was Sheryl Crow, who let’s just say at 63 (she mentioned her age multiple times) still has it. She made only one error, the classic opening act faux pas: upstaging the headliners.

But no one seemed to mind.

And I’d be remiss if I did not mention Madeline Edwards and Waxahatchee, two groups I’d never heard of but now will follow, proof that the outlaw subgenre of country music is in good hands going forward.

Though honestly if anyone is still playing music when they’re 200 years old it’ll probably be Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan.

Those outlaws ain’t being captured for a long time.

When it goes on the blog it’s there forever, and I want the following cemented among my observations.

Bobby Bonds is one of the most underrated Major League Baseball players of all time.

Bobby Bonds played 14 seasons in MLB, retiring at age 35 in 1981. I never saw him play, and there were only two things I knew about him growing up. They were both knocks. One, he was Barry Bonds’ dad, and since Barry was a punk, his dad must have been a punk too. I think this characterization is unkind and perhaps untrue, but that was the sentiment.

Two, he played for a lot of teams. This was a dig as well. In fact there were eight, which nowadays is probably less than average. At the time it seemed as though he couldn’t stick with a team, either for performance, attitude, or financial reasons, but again I question this. His on-field performance speaks for itself (more on that later), and whether either of the second and third points were ever true, through a modern lens who can blame him? No one now faults players for wanting to get paid, and I kind of give any Black man in this country born before about 1960 a pass for having a chip on his shoulder. Ugly words like “uppity” and the like are just code for a racism that still lived in baseball way too long after Jackie Robinson.

This said, let’s look at Bobby’s on-field performance. The greatest knock against him in his day was that he struck out a lot. True, he made a lot of outs, but he got on base a lot too, and with 461 career steals took extra bases as well. Even with tailing off a bit at the end he had a career OPS+ of 129, and 57.9 WAR according to Baseball Reference. From 1969-1975 (his peak WAR seasons) his WAR was 40.3, or 5.8 per season. During those years he averaged just under 30 home runs and 40 steals. That’s basically seven 30 homer and 40 steal seasons in a row. No one ever had more 30-30 seasons than he did (five), and the only other man with five… is his son.

So he struck out a lot. I’d call this “ahead of his time.”

So he spoke his mind a bit. I’d also call this “ahead of his time,” especially for a Black man.

Played for a bunch of teams? That’s the definition of the modern player.

And in those peak WAR seasons he played in an average of 154 games a year. That’s much better than the modern player.

Other than his son, he’s still the only player in MLB history with at least 300 home runs and 400 steals. The only people on that list are named Bonds. Not Aaron, not Mays, not A-rod. Just Bonds. His “power-speed number” as developed by Bill James? Fifth all time, after Barry, Rickey, Willie, and Alex. Not a bad list. Adam Darowski and company’s “Hall of Stats” calculates Bonds with a 112 rating, placing him comfortably among the ranks of those mathematically qualified for Cooperstown.

Sure, Bobby had his faults. For part of his life he was an alcoholic. But he joined AA after his playing career ended and he mended his relationship with his family, and he was a mentor to many young Giants in his role as coach, scout, and front-office employee.

Bonds died in 2003, and it’s unlikely he’ll ever get a posthumous vote into Cooperstown, but you never know.

He got his mention here.

Today on Math and Musings Franklin and I discuss our recent excursion to the old country. Last weekend we visited both my hometown of Binghamton, New York, and a town I actually enjoy visiting… Watkins Glen, New York. No auto racing or music festivals this time (that’s what one does in W.G.), just hiking and sailing, specifically sailing aboard the schooner True Love. Believe it or not there’s actually a connection there to Hollywood, European royalty, and three of the most popular singers of the 20th century.

But you’ve got to tune in to find out what.

Enjoy.

I’m a guy who likes to plan things.

For example, I can tell you what I’m giving as gifts for the next 10 Christmases.

I can tell you what I’m eating for lunch on a Tuesday three weeks from now.

I can tell you what I’m wearing to my son’s high school graduation, college graduation, and wedding.

He’s 11, by the way.

So when I heard that UEFA, organizing body of the competition known simply as “Champions League” was moving the time of its final match from local time 9 p.m. to local time 6 p.m. (that’s time in Budapest) I was intrigued.

This is a soccer match nine months from now, by the way.

UEFA said the new time is “better for families and children to attend and watch on television, use public transport after the game, and for fans to party post-match in host cities.”

Bwahahaha!

Football Supporters Europe executive director Ronan Evain says, “An earlier kickoff makes day trips more feasible, reduces travel stress and allows fans to enjoy the occasion without worrying about late-night logistics.”

This is the used car salesman telling you what a great deal you’re getting. He’s not worried about himself, just about your happiness.

And soccer fans in Asia, because this is the real reason the game is starting earlier.

Funny thing about the people who decide when to play these games… they want people watching them so they can sell advertising. Believe it or not it’s a business; they are not doing this for fun or to satisfy some moral obligation.

You may have done the math and thought, hmm, that’s weird, 6:00 in the evening in Budapest is like 9:00 in the morning in Hollywood. Why the heck would you start a game then?

Because while Hollywood types are enjoying their avocado toast and not watching soccer, people in India are tuning in. It’s 8:00 at night there, and it happens to be the newly-crowned most populous nation on Earth.

Keep expecting those times to roll backwards, or rather move eastward with the fanbase.

Following the money.

On the subject begun Monday, that sometimes meh can still be pretty good, last night I was treated to a few tunes, free of charge, the last installment of a summer concert series just down the road from me.

The band wasn’t the most incredible I’d ever heard, but you’ve got to cut them some slack, because they do all have “regular jobs” as well.

Members of the United States Air Force.

Oh, and the venue?

The steps of the United States Capitol Building.

(Pause for “whoa.”)

Yeah, it was pretty good.

I do like a free concert.