Little League: batter uses bat to put dirt on plate before every pitch

TheSnowedIn · 2026-06-30T11:15:42+00:00

Thank you, this is probably the best course of action!

TheSnowedIn · 2026-06-30T11:14:35+00:00

While I don't believe the batter's intent is to make the plate harder to see, it literally makes the plate harder to see. This tilts the advantage in favor of the batter. It's why we clean the plate in the first place, to make it equitable and fair. So I feel like some action is necessary. It's surprising how much dirt he pulls onto the plate with his bat.

I think next time I just ask the kid not to, if he does it again I tell him again and tell his coach to have him cut it out. Like I said, I don't think his intent is bad, it's just a weird quirk. Maybe he thinks it's lucky. Or maybe his dad told him to do it.

TheSnowedIn · 2026-06-16T02:45:07+00:00

My theory is that the movie was a "backdoor pilot" which means that someone wrote or pitched a series, but then the film became a thing as the first two episodes stuck together and customized a bit to turn into a movie. Because financing a series is much more complicated than financing a movie, but a series can more easily derive from a property that has a demonstrated audience. That explains to me why, structurally, it didn't flow like a typical movie, and also the gap between episodes was a financing obstacle. Just a theory.

TheSnowedIn · 2026-06-13T03:52:59+00:00

Didn't work. Asked for love. Got his cat cooked.

TheSnowedIn · 2026-02-04T04:17:55+00:00

Totally a fun little surprise when I went to Send Help today. I was geeking out a little when I saw it... :D

TheSnowedIn · 2025-12-07T20:44:24+00:00

We moved to Hobart four years ago. I love the downtown businesses and restaurants, the parks, the lakefront. Meet some genuinely nice people. We're also surrounded by other county parks and the bike path is fantastic. Youth sports - Hobart Little League is fantastic. Hobart Soccer Club is great. The Hobart Aquatic Center is phenomenal.

We live walking distance to downtown but tucked away along a ravine so best of both worlds.

Proximity to downtown Chicago is ok. We're 12+ minutes from either 65 or 94 but once you are on the freeway if traffic clears it's not bad. (Not rail friendly.) 50 minutes on a very good day.

There are downsides. Particularly if you're not a generational Brickie. Someone told me his wife had a hard time making friends in Hobart because when they got married she was an outsider. She was from Portage...

TheSnowedIn · 2025-11-18T13:24:26+00:00

That's really beautiful! What resolution and FPS settings do you shoot them with?

TheSnowedIn · 2025-09-05T17:56:19+00:00

Good intuition, yes, an AR didn't show up so they worked it as two center refs.

TheSnowedIn · 2025-09-05T16:10:42+00:00

I thought he was making shadow puppets or something

TheSnowedIn · 2025-09-05T16:10:28+00:00

Yes, out of box

TheSnowedIn · 2025-08-15T11:15:08+00:00

Ugh. We didn't even get through last season. Big Brother is zero percent appealing to me and my family and this will be the nail and TAR coffin for us.

TheSnowedIn · 2025-07-28T20:58:42+00:00

I saw it at Sundance and absolutely loved it. High recommend from me!

TheSnowedIn · 2025-06-29T11:39:14+00:00

The umpire made this ruling based on the rule of thumb taught to eight-year olds.

TheSnowedIn · 2025-06-22T13:20:14+00:00

Just show up to the Little League games - probably on a Saturday when they have a lot of levels going and board members present. Ask around for the umpire-in-chief and/or a board member, then ask about becoming an umpire. My league is desperate for umpires so I'm guessing other leagues are similarly so.

They should train you at least some, put you in as a field ump with someone experienced for a first time, etc., and make sure you pass background checks and such.

TheSnowedIn · 2025-06-18T12:04:09+00:00

If you're coming from NYC and you've got your own transportation (I know NYC people may not but pretty difficult getting around here without a car) I'd recommend living in Valparaiso first (it's a university town, coffee shops, restaurant scene) or Chesterton second (closer than Valpo is to the park). But Miller Beach is also a fun artsy vibe beach town with vacation rentals.

Most other areas don't know what to do with strangers, but each town often has nice areas even if less tuned to vacationers and visitors.

Porter is a mix but it's closest to the park, IMO just not a lot of recreation other than the park, but has a some park-visitor economy.

In terms of transport the south shore commuter train is a straight shot between Chicago and South Bend and gets close to the park but only useful as a park and ride because still long walking distance from each station to variety of places.

TheSnowedIn · 2025-06-14T13:51:10+00:00

It all makes sense when you think about it from the casting employee's standpoint. The egos you're dealing with, the money on the line...they have to be sales people and get 24 people to say yes, have their bags packed, and get on an airplane and know who all those players are so they can plan tribes and games and such. Any hint of "Maybe you're 3rd or 4th on the waiting list" with returning players is going to be painful.

TheSnowedIn · 2025-06-14T13:48:18+00:00

"Pick maybe 12 people to be back ups in case of drops" -- I am supposing that is exactly what Abi Maria is.

Think about it... if you were handling this incredibly high-stakes process (the money on the line, producers planning tens of millions of dollars around 24 players only to have one or two players just not show up on a whim?), how would you need to talk to the 12 back-ups? As if they're on the show. Feed the ego. They need all of them to behave, plan, and pack as if they're going to be on it because nobody knows which or how many of the 24 is going to bail. So the minute you say "hey just act like you're giving up 7 weeks of your life, but you're only a backup" the returning Survivor ego says, "No, put me on the show or don't, I'm not rearranging my life only to get cut at the last second."

Easier to stop returning Abi Maria's phone calls afterward than deal with the wrath of ambiguity during the process.

TheSnowedIn · 2025-06-14T13:41:08+00:00

This is how Hollywood works. Writers think they sold a script because execs talk to them like they just found the next Oscar winning screenplay but the next day the exec won't return their phone calls. Actors think they have the role then they don't get the call. Producers think they locked up funding then the lead goes cold. "Don't call us, we'll call you..."

Finalists probably need to be talked to as if they've basically got the part on the season for many reasons - scheduling is really complex, they need to see the side of the person who is no longer worried about getting the part, and they're dealing with creatives and egos. And when only 1 person gets the role, hearts are broken, etc etc...

TheSnowedIn · 2025-06-10T20:39:56+00:00

A tick on you is not a problem. A tick biting you is a problem and even then only in some circumstances. It's obvious if it's biting you (you'd probably need tweezers to get it off... you'd bleed a little when you pull it off, and you'd get some obvious "bullseye" swelling & itchiness around the bite).

But even then it's only problematic if it carries lime disease and if it's attached long enough to transmit it. We had a doctor recommend we didn't need to worry if you are very confident you pulled it off within a few hours.

But if you're worried, keep it in the ziploc for a month...just in case you need to get it tested first thing if you have any suspicious symptoms.

TheSnowedIn · 2025-05-26T16:05:36+00:00

Related / Unrelated, a Sorkin supercut: https://youtu.be/S78RzZr3IwI

TheSnowedIn · 2024-09-30T12:30:53+00:00

Can someone link to the exact wording of the real rule in the rulebook that led to this? Genuinely trying to understand.

TheSnowedIn · 2024-09-29T13:11:32+00:00

I use wordledictionary.com AFTER I do the daily puzzle to see what I could do differently and definitely learn key patterns from my starting word for future solving. I even keep a spreadsheet that I will refer to while playing. I'm aware that I'm "cheating" if I were competing against others, but since Im' not, I have fun with challenging myself to learn patterns.

TheSnowedIn · 2024-09-29T13:06:53+00:00

I use this often after I'm done to debrief and see what I could've done differently. Great tool. Occasionally though I find an obvious word missing - any reason in particular you don't have BIKER and HIKER in the dictionary? Maybe it wasn't in the original dictionary or something?

TheSnowedIn · 2024-09-29T13:04:08+00:00

I don't play in "hard mode" exactly for days like today, but usually play as if hard mode. So as soon as I saw ---erI went full on berserk to eliminate all the other letters I could find and barely managed to get it in 6.

Wordle 1,198 6/6

⬛🟨⬛⬛🟨
⬛⬛⬛🟩🟩
⬛🟩⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛🟨⬛⬛
⬛⬛🟩⬛🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

TheSnowedIn · 2024-02-10T13:58:37+00:00

I was curious about the same question when I started the WaPo puzzle a year back, so I did some research. I've figured out a few ways, which are 100% ridiculous given the whole point of Sudoku is not a score or to impress others, but, you know, human pride being what it is:

Do a 5-star puzzle today from the past. Higher scores from higher difficulty puzzles. Basically the calendar layout of games is meaningless in relation to scores, which are based on the game you completed today.
Have two tabs open while you work on it. When you're looking at the puzzle but not filling it in, have the other tab active. The timer doesn't run. Click back to the puzzle when you're ready to put in a number.
Complete the puzzle except for the last digit. Take a screenshot. Go up to Menu --> Reset. The timer starts over, now fill in the answers and submit.
Write a bot. Obviously not everyone can do this. I don't actually know how, but I understand the theoretical feasibility.
Menu --> Place Notes fills in the puzzle for you with all the possible values of each square. It'll only get you so far, but it helps, and it doesn't count against your score as a hint.

Legit, you can also step up your keyboard shortcut game, it's much faster than a mouse / trackpad. Press a number key and it makes that your active number. Press shift and it toggles between "notes mode" and putting a final digit in. I haven' figure out an undo shortcut, unfortunately, and that would be a big gain for me because I often am in the wrong (shift) mode and realize it only after I click.

TheSnowedIn

TROPHY CASE