Hope, Blood, and the Future of Baseball

Happy Saturday!

I was in Arizona this week as pitchers and catchers reported.

Yes folks — baseball is back.

Which can mean only one thing…

Kris Bryant is injured and back on the 60-day IL.

Ouch.

Low blow?

Maybe.

But for the Rockies’ $182 million third baseman, it’s been one injury after another. That seven-year deal hasn’t aged well.

All kidding aside — Spring Training is the best time of the year. Ask any baseball fan who’s spent a week in Arizona or Florida.

Hope floats out here.

But let’s be clear — this could be a season of consequence for baseball.

The CBA expires after 2026.

A 2027 lockout?

Not exactly a wild prediction.

So let’s enjoy it while we can.

Things might be changing.

Arizona Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick called the Los Angeles Dodgers the “900-pound gorilla.”

How’s that for February energy?

Salary cap talk is circling again.

Good luck with that one.

Players aren’t signing up for it.

So here we go.

But hey — the sun’s out.

Everyone’s 0-0.

Let’s enjoy Spring Training.

And put “tomorrow” off for as long as possible.

The Weirdest Things That Happen in Camp

Spring Training is where optimism lives.

It’s also where logic occasionally dies.

🐦 2001 — Randy Johnson vs. Air Traffic

95 mph.

Perfect release.

A dove flies across home plate.

Wrong place. Historic timing.

Direct impact.

Feathers everywhere.

The umpire calmly rules it a “no pitch.”

As if we didn’t just witness wildlife meet velocity.

Still the strangest moment in Spring Training history.

Not showing the video.

📖 1994 — Steve Sparks vs. The Yellow Pages

Brewers camp.

Team-bonding energy.

Sparks decides to rip a phone book in half to impress everyone.

Instead?

Dislocates his shoulder.

Sent down.

Defeated by the Yellow Pages.

Spring Training injury report:
Cause — paper.

🦞 2019 — Joe Kelly vs. Cajun Cuisine

Dodgers camp.

Five hours boiling crawfish for the guys.

The next day his back tightens up.

Scratched from his appearance.

Manager’s solution?

“Keep him away from the stove.”

Some guys strain obliques.

Some guys strain crawfish.

Each year, promo departments try to outdo themselves.

Bobbleheads.
City Connect nights.
Bark at the Park.

It’s an arms race.

But this one made me stop.

On May 29, the Texas Rangers are giving away a bloodstained Nolan Ryan replica jersey.

Yes.

Bloodstained.

The moment?

1990.

Ryan takes a one-hopper to the face off the bat of Bo Jackson.

Ball ricochets.
Lip splits.
Blood everywhere.

Ryan calmly fields it.
Throws Jackson out.

Six stitches.

After the game.

Different era.

Now the Rangers are recreating the jersey.

And the moment.

And the stain.

Somewhere in Arlington, a marketing team is arguing about the color of blood:

“Should it be darker?”

Manufacturing the splatter?

That’s branding.

And honestly?

It’s kind of genius.

Because they don’t make ’em like Nolan anymore.

Love this story.

MLB has announced a partnership to create AI avatars of players.

Does that mean we’ll be able to ask Mike Trout about cold fronts at 2 AM?

Possible.

The idea: conversational avatars that reflect each player’s “voice and interests.” Stylized digital versions you can chat with.

And before you roll your eyes — this might actually be kind of awesome.

A kid in Montana asking Jazz Chisholm Jr. about his pregame routine.
Or a fan in Taiwan getting hitting advice from Aaron Judge without flying 7,000 miles.

We all have questions.

Does Max Scherzer see the matrix?
Can Mookie Betts explain launch angle like I’m five?
Will an AI version of Cal Raleigh finally settle the pitch-framing debates?

Of course there’s monetization baked in. Paid chats. Digital goods. Capitalism never misses BP.

But imagine paying five bucks for AI Clayton Kershaw to walk your Little League kid through mechanics. That’s cheaper than a Dodger Stadium beer.

Could it go sideways?

Absolutely.

But baseball has always been about access — and most fans never get any.

If this extends the conversation beyond 162 games?

It feels inevitable.

I’ll probably try it.

Finally.

Baseball can sell mythology.

But sometimes it gives you something real.

Late last year, former Astros shortstop Dickie Thon donated a kidney to save his son’s life.

Thon called it “a no-brainer".

Just a father making a decision.

His son, Joe — now a coach in the Dodgers’ system — had battled kidney disease for years.

Dialysis.
Fatigue.
The kind of fight you can’t outwork.

When the time came for a transplant, the best match was his 67-year-old dad.

He didn’t blink.

This is the same Thon who took a fastball to the face in 1984 and kept playing despite lasting vision damage.

That was toughness.

This is something else.

The surgery happened in December.

No complications.

Joe’s back with his family. Back in uniform. Back in the dugout.

Baseball loves to celebrate grit.

But this isn’t about playing through pain.

It’s about choosing it.

No cameras.

Just a father giving his son a second chance.

And that’s bigger than anything between the lines.

That’s all for now.

If you enjoyed this one, tell a friend.
If you didn’t, tell an enemy.

Either way — thanks for riding along.

John Boxley
High N Tight