Jon Lester waits to come out of the game. (AP Photo/Matt York)

The Rundown: Step Up for Service Industry Workers, Some Owners May Favor Revenue Sharing, Contreras Bullish on Lester

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterMay 8, 2020

I thought I’d give you all a little challenge for the weekend and I hope you will consider it. Now, if you are averse to going outside at all because of the spread of COVID-19, the last thing I want you to do is remove yourself from your comfort zone. However, if you are feeling a little stir crazy and you have the necessary armaments to venture into public, stop by a local restaurant, food truck, or brewery and spend some of your spare change.

I’m not sure how it is in other cities, but here in Milwaukee where those types of establishments are the lifeblood of the city, each one that is open for carry-outs has set up donation jars or a profit-sharing model of some sort to aid their workers. For those who depend on tips for the bulk of their weekly income, this is one of the more wonderful efforts I’ve seen. Yesterday we had food trucks lined up and down the main street in my neighborhood and, in addition to finally being able to sample some of my favorite local tastes, those diners and bars were selling things like t-shirts and baseball hats, with all of the proceeds going to their furloughed employees.

Some establishments are donating proceeds or meals to food banks, shelters, and front line workers at local hospitals. It’s nice to see people step up to help those in need. Weekly unemployment rates continue to escalate and service industry workers have been hit harder than many others. It’s even worse for undocumented workers who may be ineligible for unemployment benefits and stimulus checks. That means your next order of sliders, cheese curds, and fried pickles might provide a meal to someone who is currently food insecure.

If you can’t or won’t leave the house, there are plenty of ways to contribute online. You can always donate non-perishables to food banks in your neighborhood, and many charities will schedule a doorstep pick up at your residence. Reducing clutter is a great way to beat the isolation blues, so why not make it an effort to help those in need while you’re at it?

Cubs News & Notes

Find Your Inner Hero

A craft brewery, a restaurant, and a charitable foundation had teamed up to provide meals to feed the hungry in Asheville, North Carolina. Then an anonymous donor gave them $200,000 so that they could do even more.

Apropos of Nothing

It’s so nice not to have my phone lighting up my back pocket with notifications and alerts. I highly recommend taking a social media break, even if it just for 24 hours.

Also, Nisei Lounge in Chicago is offering carry-outs of its Internet Dad Oxford Comma variety pack of beers, which just seems so cool. I may have to get one of those.

Odds & Sods

Every even-numbered year we hold Fieri-Fest in Milwaukee, which is basically a day-long pub crawl where all the participants dress like Guy Fieri. It’s a great time and one of my favorite Milwaukee events. Every time we run it, lawyers from the TV chef’s team try unsuccessfully to stop us, so I always thought this guy was kind of a killjoy. Color me a changed man. I will go all out this year to honor Fieri, sans the alcohol, of course.

MLB News & Notes

You’ll need a subscription to The Athletic to access this, but, Evan Drellich reports that some league owners would like to float the idea of revenue sharing with the players as part of the plan to restart the 2020 season. My feeling on this is that the players union is unlikely to allow the league to set any kind of precedent, even on an emergency basis and for one season, that changes salary structure or allows pay manipulation. Of course, we are in uncharted territory with the coronavirus pandemic.

Should baseball make it’s ready-to-go proposal mandatory for all players?

In yesterday’s Rundown column I raised a similar question.

A makeshift season could diminish the prestige of winning the World Series. I’d bet the Dodgers wouldn’t care.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom doesn’t see packed sports stadiums as part of baseball’s near-term future.

Giants outfielder Hunter Pence thinks baseball needs to look at any type of reboot of the 2020 season from a much broader perspective.

Phillies outfielder Bryce Harper thinks that MLB players should be able to participate in the Summer Olympics.

Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman is a big fan of the KBO and he believes it shows just how much fans miss MLB.

Michael Jordan’s desire to play professional baseball — along with his failure to do so successfully — is a big part of his legend.

Dylan Cease is looking to step up his game and become a dominant force in the White Sox rotation.

On Deck

I believe baseball will have a plan to restart its season in place by the time I return to this column on Monday morning, though I don’t know if I will agree with any proposal that puts any individual at risk. I want baseball to return as much as anybody, and I want people to be able to go back to work. I just want it done safely.

One more thing, if I may. Happy Mother’s day to all the moms out there. I genuinely hope you get to spend some time with your families.

Extra Innings

A reassuring voice is often the loudest in a sea of turmoil.

They Said It

  • “[Restarting the season] is going to make a lot of people nervous because you have this huge unknown and when you have unknowns  you have people who get scared. I think that’s ultimately what it comes down to is each person’s individual decision. I think you’re going to see most of the guys want to do it, but there are going to be people and I think that’s going to have to be a dialogue and a discussion that it’s going to have to go with each team.” – Ryan Dempster
  • “We have some terrific sports fans all across the state of Illinois that want to see [MLB] up and running and so there’s a desire to have it work. I think they’ve got to come up with a set of plans… I think they’re incentivized, by the way, the leagues are, to do the right thing. Partly they’re incentivized because they have players that are worth millions of dollars to them that are going to be on the field. So you know, I think they want to protect their, for lack of better term, assets and their people.” –  J.B. Pritzker

Friday Walk Up Song

Easy to Be Hard by Three Dog Night – A great cover of a song from the musical ‘Hair’ and I love the car crash sequence at the beginning. Show some love to somebody who really needs it this weekend. We all need a friend.

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterMay 8, 2020
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