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Jesse Dougherty @jessedougherty.bsky.social · 1d

Nice connection to home, I think?

Jesse Dougherty @jessedougherty.bsky.social · 1d

I haven’t fully taked this take out. But … if you have to play the music and the lights and everything in the seventh inning, hell, do it man!

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Jesse Dougherty @jessedougherty.bsky.social · 1d

I know I know, but people are self interested, right?

Jesse Dougherty @jessedougherty.bsky.social · 1d

Philadelphia native here who’s finding himself more emotionally invested in things from his hometown after moving far away from it: What’s the point of trading for Jhoan Duran if not to pitch him in the biggest spot of what’s basically a must-win game?

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Jesse Dougherty @jessedougherty.bsky.social · 2d

yes! And especially in the playoffs!

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Jesse Dougherty @jessedougherty.bsky.social · 2d

That's fair! But I don't like the disengagement rules, personally.

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Jesse Dougherty @jessedougherty.bsky.social · 2d

I would say that's definitely an unpopular take ha

Jesse Dougherty @jessedougherty.bsky.social · 2d

I think a good bit of them!

And like, I totally get it? It's obviously a very *cool* and *fun* job, but it's still a job. And if someone was like, we can use this timer to get you home from the office quicker, I think most people would praise that publicly.

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Jesse Dougherty @jessedougherty.bsky.social · 2d

Which is very fair! I think if I watched every single night I probably would, too, but I'm not that locked into one team or anything.

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Jesse Dougherty @jessedougherty.bsky.social · 2d

Those were disconnected points, but I think you were following me ha.

It just reminds me how much covering a team can be removed from following a team, engaging with the sport as a spectator, etc. I used to argue with people about how miserable it was to watch pitchers hit. I feel the opposite now.

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Jesse Dougherty @jessedougherty.bsky.social · 2d

Which is totally fair!

I just don't think the game is supposed to be a means to an end. And I agree the ghost runner is just absurd. NL playoff games were so much more interesting when the manager had to choose when to pinch-hit for his starter, etc.

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Jesse Dougherty @jessedougherty.bsky.social · 2d

I also don't have any emotional attachment to a team. I don't need to see the end of any games, I just really like having it on while I read a book, etc., so that probably affects this viewpoint. But I really don't care how long the games go.

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Jesse Dougherty @jessedougherty.bsky.social · 2d

See, I think the last bit was fun strategy and there were consequences if you used three pitchers to face three batters. It meant you didn't have the pitchers to make changes later, which especially mattered in the postseason.

And with the clock, I actually think the games move too fast?

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Jesse Dougherty @jessedougherty.bsky.social · 2d

I felt very differently, of course, when I was a beat writer. But I really don't find myself wishing games would end now. I like having them on, I read a book, I turn it off if it drags. I don't *need* to be there, so why do I care how long it takes?

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Jesse Dougherty @jessedougherty.bsky.social · 2d

Yes, almost especially the pitch clock? I've gone to a few games that finished between 2:15-45 and felt like I had barely settled in when the concessions closed and the night was wrapping up.

And when I watch on TV, if it's long I can just ... go to sleep?

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Jesse Dougherty @jessedougherty.bsky.social · 2d

Honestly, yes? There are consequences to switching pitches every batter! It means you don't have pitchers later on!

And I have not watched one playoff game this month where I thought: Huh, I wish this would end soon. It's so nice to have on!

Jesse Dougherty @jessedougherty.bsky.social · 2d

Watching baseball as a fan of the sport now, not as a beat writer, I have come to realize that I do not like a single major rule change of the past few years.

AMA.

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Reposted by Jesse Dougherty

Tom Schad @tomschad.bsky.social · 2d

Hate to be the guy that references his story from earlier in the week, but... missed tackles. Lots of 'em again today. www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/...

How can you get better at tackling if you don’t practice tackling?

After “too many” missed tackles in their deflating loss to Atlanta, the Commanders face a common football paradox.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Reposted by Jesse Dougherty

Varun Shankar @byvarunshankar.bsky.social · 6d

Everybody Eats Episode 1: @mikepradanba.bsky.social joins the show to take a big picture look at the Wizards rebuild. Check it out!

Apple: podcasts.apple.com/cl/podcast/s...

Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/7AXv...

Youtube: youtu.be/JlQCDohloNg

State of the Wizards Rebuild with Mike Prada

Episodio de podcast · Everybody Eats: A Washington Wizards Podcast · 01/10/2025 · 51 min

podcasts.apple.com

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Jesse Dougherty @jessedougherty.bsky.social · 6d

Appreciate that, Danielle! Hope you’re doing well

Jesse Dougherty @jessedougherty.bsky.social · 6d

Thanks for sharing it, Mike. Doing my best to make sense of it myself most days!

Reposted by Jesse Dougherty

Mike Vorkunov @mikevorkunov.bsky.social · 6d

Very good story here. Making sense of college sports nowadays is hard but stories like these can help us understand it, at least

Jesse Dougherty @jessedougherty.bsky.social · 7d

Caden Pierce, one of the Ivy League's best players the past few seasons, officially entered the transfer portal this morning.

Yes, it's Oct. 1.

So ... why? And why now?

@washingtonpost.com profile here:

washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/10/01/caden-pierce-princeton-nil/?itid=sf_sports_toptable_1_1

Why is the Ivy League’s best player taking a year off from basketball?

Caden Pierce wants to earn his degree from Princeton and get paid like other elite college athletes. He can’t do both at the same time.

washingtonpost.com

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Reposted by Jesse Dougherty

Andrew Golden @andrewgolden.bsky.social · 6d

In the coming weeks, Paul Toboni will need to answer the team’s most pressing offseason questions.

But on Wednesday — just a few hours after he was officially announced as the Nationals’ POBO — he didn’t have them all. Just a vision for the future:

Paul Toboni’s vision for the Nats? A ‘scouting and player development monster.’

“We have a lot of work to do, that’s okay,” said Paul Toboni, Washington’s new president of baseball operations. “We’re going to embrace it.”

www.washingtonpost.com

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Reposted by Jesse Dougherty

Candace Buckner @candacedbuckner.bsky.social · 6d

The WNBA coaches are raging, the players are revolting and the loyal fan base along with those who are just learning your name are ridiculing the entire operation.

So what are you going to do, Commissioner?

www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/...

Column | Listen up, Cathy Engelbert: The WNBA has a big problem.

Napheesa Collier said the quiet part out loud in a league where players pride themselves on action, not gratitude.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Reposted by Jesse Dougherty

Jesse Dougherty @jessedougherty.bsky.social · 7d

Caden Pierce, one of the Ivy League's best players the past few seasons, officially entered the transfer portal this morning.

Yes, it's Oct. 1.

So ... why? And why now?

@washingtonpost.com profile here:

washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/10/01/caden-pierce-princeton-nil/?itid=sf_sports_toptable_1_1

Why is the Ivy League’s best player taking a year off from basketball?

Caden Pierce wants to earn his degree from Princeton and get paid like other elite college athletes. He can’t do both at the same time.

washingtonpost.com

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