Andy McCullough, reporting for The Athletic:

Fernando Valenzuela, the Mexican southpaw who became an icon in Los Angeles during his rookie season with the Los Angeles Dodgers and remained a vibrant part of the franchise’s fabric for the next four decades, died Tuesday, the Dodgers confirmed. He was 63. […]

In 2023, the Dodgers recognized Valenzuela’s indelible place within franchise lore by altering a club policy in his honor: Valenzuela became the first Dodger to see his number retired without reaching the Hall of Fame. Before the ceremony in August 2023, as his No. 34 took its place at Dodger Stadium in between Sandy Koufax’s No. 32 and Roy Campanella’s No. 39, Valenzuela pronounced himself shocked.

“It never crossed my mind that this would ever happen,” Valenzuela said. “Like being in the World Series my rookie year, I never thought that would happen.”

I remember Fernandomania.

Amazing.

Jeffrey Goldberg, in an incredible piece for The Atlantic:

In their book, The Divider: Trump in the White House, Peter Baker and Susan Glasser reported that Trump asked John Kelly, his chief of staff at the time, “Why can’t you be like the German generals?” Trump, at various points, had grown frustrated with military officials he deemed disloyal and disobedient. (Throughout the course of his presidency, Trump referred to flag officers as “my generals.”) According to Baker and Glasser, Kelly explained to Trump that German generals “tried to kill Hitler three times and almost pulled it off.” This correction did not move Trump to reconsider his view: “No, no, no, they were totally loyal to him,” the president responded.

This week, I asked Kelly about their exchange. He told me that when Trump raised the subject of “German generals,” Kelly responded by asking, “‘Do you mean Bismarck’s generals?’” He went on: “I mean, I knew he didn’t know who Bismarck was, or about the Franco-Prussian War. I said, ‘Do you mean the kaiser’s generals? Surely you can’t mean Hitler’s generals? And he said, ‘Yeah, yeah, Hitler’s generals.’ I explained to him that Rommel had to commit suicide after taking part in a plot against Hitler.” Kelly told me Trump was not acquainted with Rommel. […]

As president, Trump evinced extreme sensitivity to criticism from retired flag officers; at one point, he proposed calling back to active duty Admiral William McRaven and General Stanley McChrystal, two highly regarded Special Operations leaders who had become critical of Trump, so that they could be court-martialed. Esper, who was the defense secretary at the time, wrote in his memoir that he and Milley talked Trump out of the plan. […] Trump has responded incredulously when told that American military personnel swear an oath to the Constitution, not to the president.

Trump doesn’t understand the US armed forces swear an oath to their country, not to him. If he becomes President again, there won’t be anyone to stand in his way of becoming an absolute tyrant. Please don’t vote for Donald Trump.

Will Leitch, writing at his Medium site, politely asks us all to not vote for Donald Trump.

I look at Trump and see the worst of humanity, and the worst of America, a man with no redeeming qualities, who cares about nothing other than his own aggrandizement and personal wealth, who has so many aggrievements, so much rage, that his core is simply an empty maw that can never be filled. But 46 percent of the voters of this country, this country I love, many of them my neighbors, some of them beloved family members, have looked at that very same man, and the way he acts, the vindictiveness, the threats, the cruelty, the ridiculousness, the fundamental unseriousness, the way he treats people, the example he sets for my children and their children and all children … after all that they have seen, or all that they have chosen not to, and they have said, “Yes, this is what I want. Give me more of this.”

This is not an easy circle for me to square.

Originally, I had planned for this newsletter to be a plain-spoken, earnest, good-faith attempt to address arguments that people, including many people I know, make for voting for Trump. I was going to attempt to rebut them. If you think Trump is going to make your taxes lower, well, unless you are among the top 0.1 percent of richest Americans, he won’t. If you think he’s going to keep bad people out of the country, well, immigrants actually commit crimes at a far lower rate than the rest of the population (also, not for nothing, but thinking they don’t is, uh, the textbook definition of what racism is?) and, more to the point, Trump early this year himself blocked a tougher border bill that was the sort of bipartisan tough immigration agreement that everyone claims they want. If you think he will bring inflation down (which is already happening), his plan on massive tariffs on imports (Thursday, he called “tariff” a “more beautiful word than love”) is universally expected by economists to “lead to higher costs, stock market volatility and feuds with the rest of the world.” If you think Trump will promote Christian values … I’m sorry, I couldn’t actually finish that one with a straight face.

I could sit here all day and try and throw a bunch of facts at people. I could try to appeal to their emotions, to a sense of decency, to look at sort of world they want for children that I know they love deeply. I could talk about Trump’s threats to democracy, about how much he could, and even desires to, dismantle the sorts of foundational tenets that both my grandfathers fought for, that millions of American soldiers died for. (Soldiers Trump himself has no respect for.) I could make the argument that even a dedicated Republican who isn’t all-in on Trump but voted for Reagan and Bush and McCain and Romney and wants the party to return shouldn’t vote for Trump, that if you consider yourself a Nikki Haley Republican, the best thing that could happen for Nikki Haley and the rest of the party (and the rest of the country) would be for Trump to lose. I could direct you to this terrific Jonathan V. Last piece, which, in ways smarter than I can muster, digs into every rationale for voting for Trump and why each one is either irrational or based on presumptions that are simply not true. (Damon Linker has a great piece making the case for “normie” Republicans to vote for Harris so they can go back to being normal Republicans again as well.) I could go on and on. I suppose I sort of already have.

I’ll link his next one too, “Please vote for Kamala Harris.”

Warren Ellis –

The first ever time someone takes your hand, and the first thought you have is “this is everything” and the second is “what happens when it’s gone?” The space of time between those thoughts defines the shape of your life.

Nicholas Bate –

1. Write every day, rain or shine.
2. Write every day whatever your mood.
3. Write more and more. Write on boats and planes and trains and in a queue and while waiting for the storm-cloud to pass.
4. Write for quantity. Then edit for quality.
5. Write fingers on keyboard, pencil on paper, chalk on board, stick on sand. Texture changes aspect.
6. Write without needing praise, without needing publication and with knowledge that you are on a quest to find you not replicate the famous author.
7. Write today.

Kevin Drum has a few choice words and tweets to say about Donald Trump’s stint working at McDonald’s today.

It’s heartwarming to see Trump serving the little people, sort of like Jesus did. But you will be unsurprised to learn that it was all staged. The store itself was shut down for the day. The cars coming up to the drive-thru window were full of handpicked Trump supporters.

It was just so stupid. I can’t believe corporate McDonald’s didn’t shut this silly scenario down straightaway. Now, McDonald’s worldwide looks complicit.

Michael Lopp –

Less than 1% of your writing will be life-changing.
3% will be trivial to write.
4% will strongly resonate with others in a way you didn’t expect.
5% will be quite good.
15% probably should’ve never been published.
26% will elicit a reaction you did not expect. Positive or negative.
28% will become vastly better because you chose to edit.
30% will start as one piece but finish as another.
40% will be good solid writing.
45% will do much worse than you expect when published.
60% of your writing will never be finished. Be ok with that.
100% of your writing is worth your time.

Nicholas Bate –

1. All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt. Charles M Schulz.
2. Choose quality over quantity every time.
3. Explore the incredible range of new producers dedicating their kitchens to the art.
4. Eat with mindfulness. Instant meditation.
5. Perfect at a break on a hike with a brew of coffee.
6. Add a few chunks to your trail mix.
7. Chemically speaking, chocolate really is the world’s perfect food. Michael Levine.

The full CBS intro to the Michigan - Illinois game.

Spectacular. Well done CBS. pic.twitter.com/U59nGoTiJq

— Illinois Football Focus (@IlliniFB) October 19, 2024

CBS honored the day on Saturday with an incredible open to the broadcast.

Friday marked exactly 100 years since ‘The Galloping Ghost’ ran for five touchdowns and threw for another against the Wolverines. The game was Memorial Stadium’s “Dedication Game,” which honored those who served the nation in World War I. The game today was the "Rededication Game" and just like the past, saw Illinois beat Michigan.

These look incredible.

Such a cool video, showing a beautiful sunrise, ⁦@StateFarmCenter⁩ and an incredible turnout for the Game Day Run Club! Grateful to all who came! Let’s get a win! 🔶🔷👊 pic.twitter.com/sABeLr6AFT

— Josh Whitman (@IlliniAD) October 19, 2024

Actor Andrew Garfield shared his feelings with Elmo on Sesame Street about grief and how it can be a good thing because it makes you remember the good things about someone you love, his mother, whom Garfield sadly lost to pancreatic cancer in 2021.

This is a fantastic clip. Sesame Street is so good at this kind of thing.

Here’s one of the oddest sentences I think I’ve ever put together:

A new concept album by Lin-Manuel Miranda & Eisa Davis is a musical based on the 1979 movie The Warriors and sung by a cast that Lauryn Hill, Nas, Ghostface Killah and Billy Porter to Broadway stars Phillipa Soo, Jasmine Cephas Jones and Amber Gray.

It’s interesting to say the least. I kinda dig it.

Robert Rosenthal, writing at his site IlliniBoard, has a wonderful look at what happened 100 years ago.

Red Grange had become a superstar. He was a First Team All American the previous season as a sophomore. People came from far and wide (most importantly, sportswriters like Grantland Rice) to see the Wheaton Iceman. So not only was this brand new stadium going up which fascinated the entire state of Illinois (remember, the Bears had only moved from Decatur to Chicago in 1922 and played at Cubs Park to small crowds so NFL football wasn’t really a thing yet), here was this superstar that everyone wanted to see, guaranteeing that the dedication game would sell out.

There’s a famous photo of that day where you can see a packed Memorial Stadium.

Just the thought of all of those cars making their way to Champaign to see this new stadium + this famous athlete + this “let’s see who the real national champion was last year” game is just incredible to me. Every star aligning around one single game.

And then, in that game, Red Grange scores four times in the first 12 minutes. I’ve been through this on Twitter several times over the last year but one more time won’t hurt:

Touchdowns allowed by Michigan in the entire 1921 season: 3 Touchdowns allowed by Michigan in the entire 1922 season: 1 Touchdowns allowed by Michigan in the entire 1923 season: 0 Touchdowns allowed by Michigan in the first 12 minutes of the 1924 game: 4

This is why I believe Red Grange to be the single greatest player in college football history. ESPN just did this list in 2020 and ranked him 6th overall (and Dick Butkus 8th, meaning Illinois was the only program with two of the top-10 players in college football history). When ESPN did a similar list in 2007 (with a different panel of experts), Red Grange was #1 on the list. He’s not just some famous player from 100 years ago. He’s the greatest of all time.

I think I’ve made my point now. I think you understand the significance. Red Grange, in an era where points weren’t scored and teams often punted as a way to advance the ball closer to the opponent’s goal, literally changed the game of football with what I believe to be the single greatest individual performance in college football history. It happened 100 years ago tomorrow. And we will now celebrated it 100 years + 1 day later on October 19th, 2024. Against Michigan, the defending national champions (like 1924) with a new coach (like 1924).

Time for history to repeat itself.

Wouldn’t that be something? I’ll be there.

Nicholas Bate –

Never discard any of your writing. You may decide to abandon it. You may decide it’s simply not working. But file it away: sometime in the future that scene may be just what you need and with space, time and a different context it might be a winner.

To the writer, there are no wasted words.

Dave Bautista mocked Donald Trump’s masculinity, calling him a “weak, tubby toddler,” on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” in a clip that’s gone viral.

Yeah, I’d love to see a shortened version played as a political ad during the World Series, NFL games, college football games, NBA games… all the ongoing televised sports. It’s a perfect political ad.

Kamala Harris: Oh, you guys are at the wrong rally. I think you meant to go to the smaller one down the street pic.twitter.com/tjhbDB9m3R

— Acyn (@Acyn) October 17, 2024

Kevin Wammer, on his site Cliophate, made a good list.

Always carry a book.
Don’t shy away from “hard”.
Get your reps in.
Prioritize sleep.
Listen more than you speak.
Write to think.
Be useful.
Never half-ass anything.
Create room to think.
Look at the sky more.
Look at screens less.
Move in space.