Cup of Coffee: April 17, 2024

Good morning!

Today we take another visit to Rob Manfred’s MLB Dystopia, a contender gets some bad injury news, a Trevor Bauer accuser is in big trouble, a retired shortstop may be about to get drafted by the Florida Penal League, and two nonagenarian baseball legends ascended to Baseball Valhalla.

In Other Stuff, I will not tolerate misogynists in general but whiny, disingenuous misogynists are worse, and I talk way too much about Ticketmaster and antitrust policy.

You, in the back. I see you dozing off. Pay attention. This is gonna be on the final.

And That Happened 

Here are the scores. Here are the highlights:

Rays 7, Angels 6: I hate the Manfred Man but I also get mad at teams who have access to the Manfred Man yet still can’t seal the goddamn deal before the 13th goddamn inning. Seriously, clean it up you guys.

Phillies 5, Rockies 0: Ranger Suárez throws a complete game shutout, allowing seven hits and striking out eight. Meanwhile J.T. Realmuto and Bryce Harper each hit two-run homers and Harper added an RBI double. It was over in a cool two hours and seven minutes.

Orioles 11, Twins 3: The Baltimore bats beat Chris Paddack like he owed them money, lighting up the young man for nine runs on 12 hits in five and a third wearable innings. Gunnar Henderson, Jordan Westburg and Ryan O'Hearn all homered. Colton Cowser had a couple of RBI. James McCann doubled in a guy. Grayson Rodriguez pitched six solid innings.

Marlins 6, Giants 3: Miami took a 5-2 lead by the sixth and, honestly, the way their season has gone so far I assumed that meant that the Giants were 100% going to win. But I’ll be damned they didn’t. That was largely attributable to Ryan Weathers, who struck out ten while allowing two runs over six innings. Nothing is ever perfect for the Marlins, though, so he had to leave because of cramps in his left hand. The bullpen tried to give it away but failed to do so. Our resident Marlins fan Lou Schiff texted me to tell me that he was confused to not see Miami batting in the bottom of the ninth. Seems like a ripoff of a half inning’s worth of entertainment to me, but I’m sure they’ll try harder this afternoon.

Tigers 4, Rangers 2: Gio Urshela hit a tie-breaking RBI single in the eighth and then another run scored on a wild pitch to push Detroit past Texas. Casey Mize went six innings, allowing two runs and five hits, Andrew Chafin pitched one and a third hitless innings, striking out three, and Jason Foley got Adolis García out with two on in the ninth to save it.

Blue Jays 5, Yankees 4: Vlad Guerrero went 2-for-3 with two walks and drove in a couple. Yusei Kikuchi allowed one run on three hits over six innings to snag his first win of the year. Make it three losses in a row for the Yankees who drop their first series of the year in the process.

Mets 3, Pirates 1: Joey Wendle and Jeff McNeil each knocked in a run on a double while Pete Alonso scored the go-ahead run on a balk. Baseball has infinite ways of humbling you, but that’s a pretty deflating way to lose. José Quintana allowed one over five. Quintana, man. That creep can roll.

Padres 6, Brewers 3: Dylan Cease shoved, allowing one over six. He was backed by a Ha-Seong Kim three-run doink and a two-run single from Luis Campusano.

Guardians 10, Red Sox 7: I’m sure it’s obvious, but on weeknights I generally follow the east coast and central timezone games as they’re happening and then circle back in the morning before I publish to catch up on the west coast games. What that tends to mean is that I have a decent handle on what happened in the games that ended early because I’m still pretty alert and a decent handle on the games that finished late, because I’m a psychotic morning person and 5:17 AM is when I truly shine. But I’m at less than my best for the ones that end just before I sign off for the night. I’ll admit that. These are the games that end just as that last sip of bourbon or the full groove of that edible is hitting. They end at around 11, just when I know I should be going to bed but I don’t because I succumb to intrusive thoughts like “you must listen to the entirety of Massive Attack’s ‘Blue Lines’ right now or else you will DIE.” So I do that — oh my god it rules — and don’t really know what to do with this last box score that drops just before I hit the hay. Anyway, Guardians won, Red Sox lost, and I’m pretty sure “Blue Lines” is a top-five desert island album.

Atlanta 6, Astros 2: Six shutout innings from Reynaldo López and a homer from Orlando Arcia were all that was doing until the seventh when Arcia hit a sac fly to give Atlanta its second run. Luis Guillorme and Chadwick Tromp both doubled in two more runs in the ninth. Houston put up a couple in the bottom of the ninth but it didn’t amount to all that much. Also: I cannot believe there is a player named “Chadwick Tromp.”

Diamondbacks 12, Cubs 11: Arizona led 4-1 at one point, blew that, regained the lead in the fifth, and then the Cubs put up a six-spot in the seventh to go up 11-8. Arizona then decided that scoring runs in bunches was nowhere near as annoying to Cubs fans as scoring one run in each of the next four innings to win it in ten. OK, they probably didn’t decide that but I know damn well that that drip-drip-drip-drip kind of loss is way more annoying than simply getting clobbered for a bunch of runs in one inning. When that happens you just turn off the TV and find other things to do. When it’s death by a thousand cuts you just watch it in increasing misery. As for the cuts: Ketel Marte hit a tying solo homer with two outs in the ninth, and Randal Grichuk won it with a pinch-hit RBI double in the 10th. Oh, and Michael Busch’s home run streak ended at five.

Mariners 3, Reds 1: A week ago Cal Raleigh said that Mariners starter Logan Gilbert “pitched his nuts off” following a win in which Gilbert allowed one run on five hits in seven and two-thirds. Last night he allowed one run on three hits in six and two-thirds. No reports of detached body parts were made. Jonatan Clase — yes, that’s how you spell his name — had an RBI double. Mitch Haniger added an RBI single. The M’s also got a run on a bases-loaded walk. Julio Rodríguez’s defense was key as well, as he ran down a ball in the gap for the second out of the seventh inning and subsequently nailed Elly De La Cruz at third base with a throw to end what was looking like a Reds rally.

Cardinals 3, Athletics 2: Lance Lynn allowed two runs over seven and a run-scoring groundout and two sac flies supplied all of the St. Louis offense. The season-low crowd of 3,296 at the Oakland Coliseum was awestruck by the fireworks, I am sure.

Dodgers 6, Nationals 2: Mookie Betts had five hits, doubling twice and driving in two runs. It was the third time in his career he’s had five base knocks in a game. He’s now batting .388, which is the highest in all of baseball. Kiké Hernández homered. The Dodgers made it a bullpen game from their end, allowing just the two runs on seven hits. Patrick Corbin took the loss for Washington, giving up five runs, nine hits and four walks and pitching into the seventh, which is pretty much the quintessential Patrick Corbin pitching line.

Royals vs. White Sox — POSTPONED:

🎶 These are the seasons of emotion
And like the winds they rise and fall
This is the wonder of devotion
I seek the torch we all must hold
This is the mystery of the coldest quotient
Upon us all, upon us all a little rain must fall
It's just a little rain, oh, oh, ooh, yeah 🎶

The Daily Briefing

Ozzie Albies goes on the IL with a broken toe

The Atlanta Baseball Club has placed second baseman Ozzie Albies on the injured list with a fractured toe. Albies suffered the injury during Monday's game against the Houston Astros when he was struck by a pitch. It’s his right big toe for the record.

It’s unclear how long Albies will be out but other players who have suffered broken toes in the past have missed a few weeks, so this is certainly not good for the Barves. I mean, it’s never good to lose any player to an injury but it’s particularly bad to lose a three-time All-Star who is hitting .317/.386/.492 (138 OPS+) on the young season and will likely hit a lot of homers once the weather stays warm.

In a corresponding move Atlanta called up veteran infielder David Fletcher from Triple-A Gwinnett. Fletcher was last in the news for allegedly introducing Ippei Mizuhara to that illegal bookie while the three of them were at a poker game in Orange County back in 2021 when both Shohei Ohtani and Fletcher were with the Angels. Fletcher said he never bet with the bookie and I have no reason not to believe that — and I know none of that has anything to do with the Albies injury — but I add it for flavor.

Great Moments in the Rob Manfred Dystopia 

I got this press release yesterday:

The new baseball season is here, and Major League Baseball has a new big league partner. Today, BlueTriton Brands announced they are the Official Water of MLB for at least the next three years and will be activating at MLB Jewel Events, including the All-Star Game presented by Mastercard and the World Series presented by Capital One.

BlueTriton Brands, a leading provider of water products in the country, plans to utilize its new status as a sponsor of MLB to create special offerings and activations for fans. Throughout the season and across the country, BlueTriton Brands plans to create special opportunities through its regional spring water brands—Poland Spring®, Deer Park®, Ozarka®, Ice Mountain®, Zephyrhills® and Arrowhead®— as well as the Pure Life® brand.

Thoughts:

• As I said a couple of weeks ago, Every day we get another step closer to "Major League Baseball THE FLAMETHROWER!” 
• Have you ever read a more dystopian sentence than "BlueTriton Brands . . . will be activating at MLB Jewel Events, including the All-Star Game presented by Mastercard and the World Series presented by Capital One"? Have you ever met a human being who talks this way? Or anyone who isn’t literally paid to do so referring to “the All-Star Game presented by Mastercard and the World Series presented by Capital One"?
• The press release asserted that some of those bottled water brands date back to the mid-19th century. I was not aware anyone was bottling water in the mid-19th century, so I checked out the Poland Spring Wikipedia page and learned that the claim is based on this: “The spring dates back to the late 18th century. In 1797, The Wentworth Ricker Inn opened at the homestead of Jabez Ricker. In 1844, Jabez's grandson, Hiram W. Ricker claimed that spring water from the property cured him of chronic dyspepsia.” I think that, in honor of this new sponsorship, MLB should create a new dyspepsia Injured List. Anyone placed on it has to be there for 69 days;
• Rob Manfred is gonna get inducted into the Hall of Fame someday. It's dumb that he will be, but he will because this league rolls on cronyism and unwarranted deference to power. When he is inducted, I hope and pray that his plaque will be brought to us by Thyssenkrupp Materials NA, Inc., the Official Bronze Manufacturer of Major League Baseball.®

In closing: we live in Hell.

A Trevor Bauer accuser is indicted for Fraud

One of the four women known to have accused Trevor Bauer of sexual assault has been indicted for fraud in Arizona in connection with her allegations against him. She was also indicted for theft by extortion in connection with another person who is not associated with Bauer or her claims against him.

Per the indictment, which was dated March 19 but filed on Monday, Darcy Adanna Esemonu "knowingly did obtain a benefit from Trevor Anthony Bauer by means of fraudulent pretenses, representation, promises, or material omissions.” Esemonu is also alleged to have "knowingly obtained or sought to obtain property or services by means of a threat to in the future expose a secret or an asserted fact in a social media message or in any other manner" involving another individual.

The basis of the indictment is the claim that Esemonu told Bauer she was pregnant with his child and demanded money from him in exchange for her having an abortion. She is alleged to never have been pregnant, however, and gave conflicting stories to police about that, at one point claiming that she had a miscarriage. Bauer contended in a statement yesterday that, "when I refused to pay her the $3.6 million she was asking for, she made up a bogus sexual assault claim and filed a civil suit against me."

No criminal charges have been filed against Bauer in the Esemonu case. Her civil suit against him has been pending since December 2022, two weeks before she approached police. She is scheduled to be arraigned on the fraud and extortion charges next week.

Bauer has been separately accused of sexual assault by three other women. One in California and two in Ohio. Based on these accusations Bauer was investigated by Major League Baseball and given a 324-game suspension which was subsequently reduced to 194 games by an independent arbitrator. It remains the longest suspension in the history of Major League Baseball’s Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy.

Yuniesky Betancourt charged with insurance fraud

Remember Yuniesky Betancourt? He played shortstop for the Mariners, Royals, and Brewers between 2005 and 2013. Well, he’s 42 years old now and he’s long since moved on to other things. Including a life of crime, apparently.

Betancourt and three accomplices, it was reported yesterday, are facing up to 10 years in prison following their arrest in Miami last week for staging an auto accident, insurance fraud, and grand theft. That per this release from Florida’s Department of Financial Services:

An investigation by the Division of Investigative and Forensic Services' (DIFS) Miami Field Office revealed that Abel Vera, Nancy Mercedes Pena, Yuniesky Betancourt, and Maura Perez were involved in a staged crash in Miami on December 6, 2022. Evidence gathered by a Fraud Detective, in the form of an accident reconstruction and data gathered from the vehicle Event Data Recorder (EDR) revealed the accident never occurred as reported to the police and Kemper Insurance. After the accident report date, all four individuals purportedly sought treatment and physical therapy for injuries they never sustained regarding the accident. Kemper Insurance was billed over $61,000 from the two clinics and paid out over $22,800 for therapy billing of which none of the four individuals were entitled.

That’s not good. On the bright side, if there’s a prison baseball team they now stand a haflway decent chance of getting ringer.

Whitey Herzog: 1931-2024

Hall of Fame manager Whitey Herzog has died. He was 92.

Herzog was born Dorrel Norman Elvert Herzog, but was nicknamed “Whitey” and, alternatively, “The White Rat” as a young man due to his then almost bleach-blonde hair. He began his career as a player, signing with the Yankees out of high school in 1949. He’d spend a few seasons in the New York farm system before making his MLB debut with the Washington Senators in 1956, for whom he played three seasons. He then spent parts of three seasons with the A’s, was traded to the Orioles, and then finished his playing career in Detroit. Over parts of eight seasons, most of which he spent as a bench player, Herzog hit .257/.354/.365 (97 OPS+) with 25 home runs and 172 runs batted in.

After his playing career Herzog worked as a scout for the Athletics and then joined the Mets organization as a coach and front office assistant. He landed his first managerial gig with the Texas Rangers in 1973 but the Rangers stumbled under his stewardship and he was fired before the end of the season in favor of Billy Martin. Following a coaching stint with the California Angels Herzog was hired to manage the Kansas City Royals in the middle of the 1975 season. He led them to a 41-25 record down the stretch, earning the full-time position. He’d lead the Royals to NL West crowns in 1976, 1977, and 1978 but they were stopped by the Yankees in the ALCS in all three of those years. Following a second place finish in 1979 he was dismissed by Kansas City.

Herzog moved east across Interstate 70 in 1980, taking over the Cardinals for the final 73 games of the season and, after the season, taking over general manager duties as well. The strike-interrupted 1981 campaign was a good but not great one for Herzog’s Cardinals but they broke through in 1982, winning the NL East crown, beating Atlanta in the NLCS, and defeating the big-slugging Milwaukee Brewers for the World Series title.

It was during that Series that the term “Whiteyball” — referring to the Cardinals’ reliance on speed, pitching, and defense as opposed to Brewers-style power hitting — was coined. Whiteyball was tailor made for the Astroturf fields and cavernous parks of the National League at the time and would help define Senior Circuit baseball in the 1980s. But while several teams would adopt that style of play, Ozzie Smith, Willie McGee, Vince Coleman, and other quick-running and strong-defending Cardinals players made Herzog’s clubs its foremost example.

Herzog’s Cardinals would win two more division titles and two more pennants in the 1980s — in 1985 and 1987 — but they would be upset in the Fall Classic each time, though not without some degree of controversy. Herzog won the NL Manager of the Year Award in 1985. He resigned as manager in July 1990 as the aging Whiteyball Cardinals had sunk to last place. He would later work as an executive with the Angels. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2010.

Herzog is survived by his wife of 71 years, Mary Lou Herzog, their three children, nine grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren. His family released the following statement:

“Whitey spent his last few days surrounded by his family.  We have so appreciated all of the prayers and support from friends who knew he was very ill.  Although it is hard for us to say goodbye, his peaceful passing was a blessing for him.”

Rob Manfred released this statement:

“Whitey Herzog was one of the most accomplished managers of his generation and a consistent winner with both ‘I-70’ franchises.  He made a significant impact on the St. Louis Cardinals as both a manager and a general manager, with the Kansas City Royals as a manager, and with the New York Mets in player development.  Whitey’s Cardinals’ teams reached the World Series three times in the 1980s, winning the Championship in 1982, by leaning on an identity of speed and defense that resonated with baseball fans across the world.

On behalf of Major League Baseball, I extend my deepest condolences to Whitey’s family, his friends across the game, and the fans of the Cardinals and the Royals.”

Rest in Peace Whitey Herzog.

Carl Erskine: 1926-2024

It was not a great day for nonagenarians yesterday as, in addition to Whitey Herzog, baseball lost 12-year Dodgers veteran Carl Erskine, the last surviving member of the fabled early 1950s “Boys of Summer” Dodgers teams, as well. He was 97.

Erskine pitched for the Brooklyn and then Los Angeles Dodgers from 1948 through 1959. He was most notable for two things: (a) starting the first ever major league baseball game in California when he took the Opening Day start for the Dodgers as they faced off against the San Francisco Giants in both teams’ first contest after moving west; and (b) throwing two no-hitters, the first coming in 1952 against the Cubs and the second in 1956 against the Giants. So I suppose that in addition to it being a bad for nonagenarians yesterday it’s been a bad week for guys who threw two no-hitters given Ken Holtzman’s passing on Monday.

Erskine compiled a career record of 122-78 and posted an ERA of 4.00 (101 ERA+). He won 20 games in 1953 and was an All-Star in 1954. And, of course, by virtue of being on a perennially-contending Dodgers team Erskine appeared in the 1949, 1952, 1953, 1955, and 1956 World Series, going 2-2 in 11 appearances, seven of which were starts. Erskine’s most famous World Series outing came in 1953 when he won Game 3, beating the Yankees at Ebbets Field and striking out 14 in the process, which stood as a World Series record for a decade.

The Dodgers won it all in 1955, giving Erskine his only championship ring (he’d be released during the 1959 season, after which the Dodgers won their first title in Los Angeles). With his passing Sandy Koufax is the last surviving member of the 1955 Dodgers, though Erskine had been the last to actually appear in that year’s World Series.

Rest in peace Carl Erskine.

Other Stuff

I’m not gotta talk about the Trump trial every day, but . . .

. . . I think this sort of thing is worth noting:

NEW YORK — Donald Trump is pushing the boundaries set for criminal defendants in the first days of his Manhattan hush money trial, at one point earning a rebuke from Judge Juan Merchan for purportedly trying to influence a prospective juror.

Part of this takes place via Trump’s attorneys, who are aggressively researching, questioning and challenging jurors. It’s partly via Trump himself who, Merchan said, “muttered” in the direction of a juror as attorneys questioned her. And it comes out more subtly in other ways: through Trump’s gestures, his attorneys’ willingness to challenge every juror before them until admonished not to do so, and the GOP presidential candidate’s attempts to turn the trial into a circus.

I presume most people are going to just look at this as Trump being Trump and treat it as a joking matter the way late night talk show hosts do. That’s a mistake, I think. Whether we want it or not, there is a chance that Donald Trump will be president again in nine months. What’s more, he’s made it very clear that he intends to use a second term to settle scores and to bury those who he perceives to be his enemies. Given just how petty the man has shown himself to be over his 50+ years in public life it’s nothing approaching unreasonable to think that in this he doesn’t just mean retribution against other political figures. To the contrary, it’s easy to imagine him settling scores against any jurors who vote to convict him.

If Donald Trump is elected president, he will have the full power of the United States government at his command and, as recent history has shown, no small number of people within that government will be willing to break the law and inflict serious harm on others if doing so would please him. In light of that, Trump’s trial should be treated like that of a mob boss, not merely some white collar criminal. He should be severely sanctioned for displaying even a hint of juror intimidation. It’d be irresponsible to not do so.

Misogynists suck. Whiny misogynists suck even more.

On Monday Clay Travis, the piece of human excrement who runs the piece of Internet excrement website OutKick, whined that his outlet was denied credentials for the WNBA draft which took place on Monday evening. In doing so, Travis claimed that credentials were denied because, during the recent Final Four, one of his reporters asked South Carolina coach Dawn Staley whether trans women should be able to play women’s basketball.

That reporter, Dan Zaksheske, also whined about that. Except in the course of his whining, he admitted that Outkick missed the deadline to apply for credentials:

This is the easiest one to prove. After OutKick asked Staley about transgender athletes, the WNBA refused to give us a media credential for Monday night’s draft. The WNBA claims we missed its deadline by less than one day and simply does not have room in a 3000 person venue for even one more journalist. You can decide if that sounds credible.

So, if you ask about biological men playing women’s sports during one of the biggest weekends in American women’s sports history, you don’t get to cover the sport anymore.

Personally, I would’ve denied Outkick credentials for the simple reason that they have no interest in seriously covering women’s basketball and, instead, its reporters have clearly sought to attend women’s basketball events in an attempt to discredit the sport or to use it as a pretext for its culture war agenda. They’re not good faith actors as it is, but the misogyny and bullshit that has long infused their coverage of women’s sports should make them unwelcome in almost any setting. If it was my party they sure as hell would not be invited to it.

That being said: you missed the goddamn deadline, you unprofessional dicks. As someone who has applied for and received professional sports credentials many, many times in the past, I can assure you that (a) calls for credential applications for set events like drafts and things go out several weeks and sometimes months in advance, making deadline compliance pretty damn easy; and (b) such deadlines are rarely if ever negotiable. Like, you had better have a super compelling reason to have missed it and even then you’re more likely than not to be told sorry, no dice.

I’m guessing Clay Travis knows that. Indeed, it would not shock me if it came out that he or his people intentionally submitted a late credential application specifically so that they could claim they were being discriminated against, thereby adding fuel to their culture war horseshit.

A matter of antitrust

The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that the Department of Justice is expected to file an antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation Entertainment. Live Nation is the parent company of Ticketmaster. This soon-to-be-pending action was fueled by criticism of Ticketmaster for its handling of Taylor Swift's "Eras" tour, sales for which were screwed up by bots and scalpers and appalling service fees. You know, the standard Ticketmaster thing that has gone on for decades now and about which no one seemed to care except for the fans who routinely get boned when trying to buy tickets. You poke the bear that is Swiftie Nation, however, and you’re asking for trouble. Governmental trouble.

Like most things that suck in 21st Century America, this is Ronald Reagan’s and the Republicans’ fault. They, led by the big brains of the Chicago School and failed Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork, and followed by scads of Republican judicial appointees, turned antitrust law on its head. Instead of arguing that huge companies which control most of a market are bad things, they asserted — without any compelling evidence! — that huge companies which control most of the market are good things. They believed that when companies got huge — merging or acquiring competitors and becoming monopolies or near-monopolies — that they’d achieve efficiencies and economies of scale. Then, they argued, those companies would pass along all of those cost savings to the consumer and, hey, as long as the consumer was paying lower prices, has anyone been harmed?

Of course we all know that turned out to be bullshit, both with respect to antitrust law and with respect to parallel supply-side economics arguments as a whole. Smart folks knew that it was bullshit at the time, but they were shouted down and ignored because Jimmy Carter once asked people to turn their thermostat down a couple of degrees and because Reagan was a seemingly affable public speaker who told everyone that they need not sacrifice anything in order to build a better tomorrow. Yes, I’m oversimplifying here, but not by as much as you might think. What cannot be denied is that these policies allowed the rich to get richer, the poor to get poorer, and the middle class to become superficially better off due to banks flooding the market with easy credit but worse off in the long run due to the evisceration of the social safety net, government services in general, and by rendering the American dream of an affordable education, home ownership, and all of that an unobtainable fantasy for most people.

[Editor: *makes wanking motion* We get it, we get it. Move on]

Sorry.

[Editor: No you’re not]

No, I’m not. But anyway.

Due to antitrust law being basically set aside by pro-business politicians and judges, Ticketmaster, which was just one of many ticketing companies in the early 80s, began conspiring with venues to impose massive service charges on their tickets. Normally such a thing would undercut their business, as competitors could choose not charge such fees, enabling them to sell cheaper tickets, thereby out-competing Ticketmaster. Except Ticketmaster acquired its competitors, such as Ticketron. This helped them create a horizontal monopoly of ticket sales. Then, in 2010, Ticketmaster merged with venue owner and concert promoter Live Nation, which had a bunch of exclusive deals with big artists. That allowed the company to have all of it — booking and ticketing — under one roof in a vertical monopoly. That enabled the combined company to threaten holdout venues that they’d never get good acts booked if they don’t use Ticketmaster.

Ticketmaster growing gigantic and squeezing out competition while simultaneously owning every part of the vertical stack of the entire concert enterprise and using that power to bone customers was exactly what the antitrust laws were designed to prevent. What Robert Bork, Ronald Reagan, and their friends presupposed was: what if it wasn’t?

Not that it ended with Reagan. The Democrats, worried that looking like Jimmy Carter would cause them to never win elections again, moved to the right on many economic matters beginning in the early 1990 and demonstrated particular gusto in continuing with the hands-off antitrust approach of the Reagan years. This lasted right on through the Obama Administration. This is well documented, but I also have personal experience with it.

In 1996, the summer after my first year of law school, I was a summer law clerk for what was then called the Special Task Force of the DOJ’s Antitrust Division. It’s now called the Civil Conduct Task Force. Their job then, and I presume now, was to respond to citizen and competitor complaints about anticompetitive behavior, to jump in and investigate it, and to either try to reach some sort of settlement with the company under investigation or to help the larger DOJ Antitrust Division decide if lawsuits should be filed.

It was a fun job, well-suited to someone with varied interests and a short attention span like I have. On Monday we might be interviewing some electric car startup which claimed General Motors was trying to put them out of business. On Wednesday it might be ASCAP, which sort of has a stranglehold on music rights. Microsoft was often on the agenda that summer and, if I remember correctly, there was a good deal going on with Ticketmaster at the time, with the hangover of Pearl Jam’s failed litigation against the company still causing it to land on various governmental agendas.

I liked that job a whole lot and it looked pretty good on my resume. But I also remember talking to lifers — people who had been working in antitrust enforcement since before Bork and Reagan messed it all up — about how neutered they had become. There was almost zero appetite on the part of any DOJ political appointees or anyone higher up in the Clinton administration to actually do anything which, I have come to suspect over the years, was the whole point of creating a “Civil Task Force.” It made everyone look busy and concerned but it was specifically designed to do nothing. Indeed, I distinctly remember one senior attorney in the division telling me that “we’re paid to push paper around and to make it look like we’re doing something” and that “there won’t be a major antitrust case filed before I retire.” This guy was probably in his 50s at the time and, unless he’s still working a the DOJ in his 80s, he was more or less right.

Things are starting to look up, however. President Biden has, surprisingly given his corporate and bank-friendly record as a senator and his presence in the hands-off Obama administration, made antitrust reform a priority in his administrative agenda. He has appointed a number of progressive types to the DOJ and the Federal Trade Commission. They have done several things to rein-in employer excesses which have impacted the labor market and have stepped in to block a number of mergers that would’ve passed without comment just a few years ago. And now they’re, probably, going after Ticketmaster, which may be one of the more egregious examples of an unchecked monopoly going.

I hope that Biden gets reelected for a great many reasons, most of which have to do with preventing this country from falling further into authoritarianism and illiberalism than it already has. But even if that wasn’t a clear and present threat to the Republic I’d want him to win because under his administration we’ve seen the first green shoots of a revitalized antitrust policy. I realize that’s not super sexy and, absent a Taylor Swift connection, it’d not make many general interest headlines. But it matters, dammit.

Yeah, I know I usually tie the playout song to the last Other Stuff item but, headline notwithstanding, I’ll be damned if I was gonna put Billy Joel here. At the same time there are, surprisingly, very few songs which relate to antitrust law. “Monopoly” by Ariana Grande I suppose, but eh. So today we tie it to the album I mentioned up in the Red Sox-Guardians recap. My newsletter, my rules. And we could all use a little early 90s trip-hop in our lives.

Have a great day everyone.

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