After a brief wrangle, Major League Baseball (MLB) has its succession plan in place.
Rob Manfred, MLB's chief operating officer and the preferred candidate of outgoing commissioner Bud Selig, will assume control when Selig retires on January 25. Manfred emerged victorious from a fight that was more illustrative than the ceremonial 30-0 vote would suggest.
There was some resistance, largely from a group of hard-line owners led by Jerry Reinsdorf of the Chicago White Sox. Reports suggested these owners were unhappy with the conciliatory attitude Selig and Manfred showed toward the MLB players’ union.
That this faction still exists is concerning. Under Selig’s leadership, and with Manfred’s help, baseball has enjoyed an enviable peace on the labour front. Manfred negotiated three consecutive labour contracts with the players’ union without a work stoppage; prior to that, baseball had endured five strikes and three lockouts.
Reinsdorf and his allies wanted to go back to the bad old days of butting heads with the players at every turn. They ignore that the existing labour peace has allowed baseball to generate billions in revenue, pushing franchise values to unprecedented heights. Whether this was a genuine protest or a reminder to Manfred that he works for the owners and not the other way around, one hopes this was the last gasp of an old guard that prefers confrontation to negotiation.
With that sorted, MLB can return to fixing baseball’s real problems. Here is a helpful to-do list:
• LENGTH OF GAMES - Games taking three hours or more for nine innings are driving away youngsters and casual fans. Enforce the 20-second pitch clock, keep hitters in the batter’s box, limit catchers to one mound visit per inning and ban batting gloves – just get a move on.
• DRUG USE - Stamp out performance-enhancing drugs once and for all by banning players who test positive for two seasons with a fine equal to their previous season’s salary, with their team losing that roster spot for the rest of the season. If the union feels this is excessive, they are welcome to take a public stand in favour of PED use.
• LOOK TO THE FUTURE - Take some of the game’s record profits and invest in future players and fans. Give the TV networks partial refunds and start World Series games at times so youngsters can watch, too. Take the millions spent on holding opening day overseas and bolster the Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) program.
• BETTER BASEBALL - Eliminate the designated hitter. Expand rosters to 28 players as a make-good for the union. Choose between inter-league play and the All-Star Game – the former has made the latter redundant.
Baseball is great and can be greater still, but only if it starts valuing its future as much as it treasures its past.
pfreelend@thenational.ae
Follow us on twitter at @SprtNationalUAE
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Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
SPECS
Engine: Two-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 235hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Price: From Dh167,500 ($45,000)
On sale: Now
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
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Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
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Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
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In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
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MATCH INFO
Final: England v South Africa, Saturday, 1pm
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The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
More Expo 2020 Dubai pavilions:
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, second leg:
Liverpool (0) v Barcelona (3), Tuesday, 11pm UAE
Game is on BeIN Sports
MATCH INFO
Manchester United 1 (Rashford 36')
Liverpool 1 (Lallana 84')
Man of the match: Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)
