John Fredland
@johnfredland.bsky.social
Pittsburgh native, lawyer, USAF retired, living in San Antonio. Chair of SABR Games Project. He/Him.
Pinned
John Fredland
@johnfredland.bsky.social
· Dec 17
Check out our SABR Games Project authors' favorite stories they've published in 2025, from Ryne Sandberg's first home run to Cannonball Jackman's perfect game to Vin Scully's final broadcast: sabr.org/gamesproject... @johnfredland.bsky.social
Our second annual Authors’ Choice list is out!
Reposted by John Fredland
Not only is white supremacy morally repugnant but it’s also historically ignorant and objectively wrong.
Having researched the Negro Leagues has really highlighted how amazing Black America has always been. (1/5)
Having researched the Negro Leagues has really highlighted how amazing Black America has always been. (1/5)
National Park Service workers across the U.S. are removing materials about slavery, climate change and labor history to comply with an order from President Trump. In some of the first legal pushback, the city of Philadelphia sued the Trump administration on Thursday. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/23/c...
January 26, 2026 at 1:59 AM
Not only is white supremacy morally repugnant but it’s also historically ignorant and objectively wrong.
Having researched the Negro Leagues has really highlighted how amazing Black America has always been. (1/5)
Having researched the Negro Leagues has really highlighted how amazing Black America has always been. (1/5)
Reposted by John Fredland
Here's an appropriate article in light of today's weather.
lastwordonsports.com/baseball/202...
lastwordonsports.com/baseball/202...
Snowmageddon: Reliving Four Pirates Games Played in Snow and Cold
The dangerously frigid weather and relentless snow sweeping Pittsburgh this weekend bring to mind Pirates games played in wintry weather.
lastwordonsports.com
January 26, 2026 at 12:27 AM
Here's an appropriate article in light of today's weather.
lastwordonsports.com/baseball/202...
lastwordonsports.com/baseball/202...
Reposted by John Fredland
If you want to understand what’s going on you need to be able to tell when a projection of strength is masking great weakness and hoo boy is this ever a time when that’s happening. It doesn’t mean it’s not dangerous, but don’t assume this means they’re winning.
January 25, 2026 at 3:17 AM
If you want to understand what’s going on you need to be able to tell when a projection of strength is masking great weakness and hoo boy is this ever a time when that’s happening. It doesn’t mean it’s not dangerous, but don’t assume this means they’re winning.
Reposted by John Fredland
It's also ironic that the right were so certain Charlie Kirk's murder would be the Reichstag Fire that shifted public feeling towards Christofascism, but it didn't even move the needle, and now Alex Pretti's murder may do the exact opposite. Kirk was so unlikable he couldn't even be a useful martyr.
January 25, 2026 at 1:51 PM
It's also ironic that the right were so certain Charlie Kirk's murder would be the Reichstag Fire that shifted public feeling towards Christofascism, but it didn't even move the needle, and now Alex Pretti's murder may do the exact opposite. Kirk was so unlikable he couldn't even be a useful martyr.
Reposted by John Fredland
One of the main drivers of this is that between Koch, Wilkes, Saudi, and Qatari money, these guys genuinely can't imagine how any of this stuff gets done without throwing mountains of cash at it.
What it gets you is think tanks and Tucker Carlson's dumbass podcast.
It doesn't get you a movement.
What it gets you is think tanks and Tucker Carlson's dumbass podcast.
It doesn't get you a movement.
James O'Keefe says he's never seen anything so organized as the anti-ICE movement, observers--he seems to think this term is code--everywhere he goes. Who is paying for it??? he demands to know. It's like he can't even imagine people caring for one another.
January 25, 2026 at 5:21 AM
One of the main drivers of this is that between Koch, Wilkes, Saudi, and Qatari money, these guys genuinely can't imagine how any of this stuff gets done without throwing mountains of cash at it.
What it gets you is think tanks and Tucker Carlson's dumbass podcast.
It doesn't get you a movement.
What it gets you is think tanks and Tucker Carlson's dumbass podcast.
It doesn't get you a movement.
Reposted by John Fredland
January 25, 2026 at 1:33 AM
Reposted by John Fredland
This is ok tho
January 24, 2026 at 7:32 PM
This is ok tho
Reposted by John Fredland
They literally are in massive crisis, non-stop resource, constant defcon whatever because of Minneapolis.
They can't even deal with one mid-sized city, much less the country
They can't even deal with one mid-sized city, much less the country
January 24, 2026 at 11:31 PM
They literally are in massive crisis, non-stop resource, constant defcon whatever because of Minneapolis.
They can't even deal with one mid-sized city, much less the country
They can't even deal with one mid-sized city, much less the country
Reposted by John Fredland
Worth noting that one reason you’re benefitting so fully from the Star-Tribune’s timely, extensive coverage of unfolding events is that it’s a metro newspaper that hasn’t been systematically starved to further enrich shareholders and executives.
January 24, 2026 at 10:47 PM
Worth noting that one reason you’re benefitting so fully from the Star-Tribune’s timely, extensive coverage of unfolding events is that it’s a metro newspaper that hasn’t been systematically starved to further enrich shareholders and executives.
Reposted by John Fredland
The people who'll tell you today's murder victim in Minnesota shouldn't have turned up to a protest carrying a gun are the same people who said Kyle Rittenhouse was perfectly entitled to do the same thing.
January 24, 2026 at 5:58 PM
The people who'll tell you today's murder victim in Minnesota shouldn't have turned up to a protest carrying a gun are the same people who said Kyle Rittenhouse was perfectly entitled to do the same thing.
Reposted by John Fredland
/2 The official policy of Trump supporters is that they support anything this government does.
Treat them accordingly.
Treat them accordingly.
January 24, 2026 at 7:19 PM
/2 The official policy of Trump supporters is that they support anything this government does.
Treat them accordingly.
Treat them accordingly.
Reposted by John Fredland
It’s no comfort, but the official DHS line being “he can be killed by masked agents of the state because he had a legal gun” is such an interesting new frontier in how Trump has made the conservative movement very publicly and embarrassingly abandon every principal it once claimed.
January 24, 2026 at 6:40 PM
It’s no comfort, but the official DHS line being “he can be killed by masked agents of the state because he had a legal gun” is such an interesting new frontier in how Trump has made the conservative movement very publicly and embarrassingly abandon every principal it once claimed.
Reposted by John Fredland
The Strib has identified him. Alex Pretti. Another 37-year-old executed for standing up for our immigrant neighbors. For shame.
www.startribune.com/ice-raids-mi...
www.startribune.com/ice-raids-mi...
January 24, 2026 at 6:49 PM
The Strib has identified him. Alex Pretti. Another 37-year-old executed for standing up for our immigrant neighbors. For shame.
www.startribune.com/ice-raids-mi...
www.startribune.com/ice-raids-mi...
New from the SABR Games Project: Tom Merrick remembers Ewell Blackwell’s 1947 bid for back-to-back no-hitters.
sabr.org/gamesproj/ga...
sabr.org/gamesproj/ga...
January 23, 2026 at 6:53 PM
New from the SABR Games Project: Tom Merrick remembers Ewell Blackwell’s 1947 bid for back-to-back no-hitters.
sabr.org/gamesproj/ga...
sabr.org/gamesproj/ga...
The best thing that I can say about Gonzales as my congressman is that he’s not Chip Roy.
When an ICE agent confronts you is "when your due process ends," says the member of Congress from the largest border district.
www.politico.com/news/2026/01...
www.politico.com/news/2026/01...
January 23, 2026 at 5:24 PM
The best thing that I can say about Gonzales as my congressman is that he’s not Chip Roy.
Reposted by John Fredland
As a legal professional, I can say that the hallmarks of a solid legal opinion based in fact and good law are "no you can't have a copy" and "no you can't take notes, just read it once and you're done".
In a sign of how explosive ICE knew this secret memo would be, one whistleblower says he was only allowed to read the memo and was barred from taking written notes, and warned that employees had been punished for disagreeing.
At least one ICE instructor resigned rather than teach the illegal memo!
At least one ICE instructor resigned rather than teach the illegal memo!
January 21, 2026 at 11:53 PM
As a legal professional, I can say that the hallmarks of a solid legal opinion based in fact and good law are "no you can't have a copy" and "no you can't take notes, just read it once and you're done".
Reposted by John Fredland
Who was the last pitcher sent to the mound by Walter Alston?
You'll know if you read my new SABR Games Project jawn🚨, which summarizes Alston's last game, 50 years ago this coming September:
sabr.org/gamesproj/ga...
You'll know if you read my new SABR Games Project jawn🚨, which summarizes Alston's last game, 50 years ago this coming September:
sabr.org/gamesproj/ga...
January 21, 2026 at 7:13 PM
Who was the last pitcher sent to the mound by Walter Alston?
You'll know if you read my new SABR Games Project jawn🚨, which summarizes Alston's last game, 50 years ago this coming September:
sabr.org/gamesproj/ga...
You'll know if you read my new SABR Games Project jawn🚨, which summarizes Alston's last game, 50 years ago this coming September:
sabr.org/gamesproj/ga...
Reposted by John Fredland
But time and circumstance will always prove us wrong eventually. The thing that’s supposed to happen…won’t. The surprise will appear, sometimes as heartbreak, sometimes as salvation. And I’m gonna stand in awe, wondering how the hell that just happened, every time. I hope I always do.
January 20, 2026 at 6:22 AM
But time and circumstance will always prove us wrong eventually. The thing that’s supposed to happen…won’t. The surprise will appear, sometimes as heartbreak, sometimes as salvation. And I’m gonna stand in awe, wondering how the hell that just happened, every time. I hope I always do.
Reposted by John Fredland
There are a lot of reasons to like sports, but the thing that draws me in is the opportunity to watch Things Not Go The Way They Are Supposed To.
It’s the thing that ties together underdog stories and impossible endings and dominant runs by superhuman athletes, this destruction of sensibility.
It’s the thing that ties together underdog stories and impossible endings and dominant runs by superhuman athletes, this destruction of sensibility.
January 20, 2026 at 6:22 AM
There are a lot of reasons to like sports, but the thing that draws me in is the opportunity to watch Things Not Go The Way They Are Supposed To.
It’s the thing that ties together underdog stories and impossible endings and dominant runs by superhuman athletes, this destruction of sensibility.
It’s the thing that ties together underdog stories and impossible endings and dominant runs by superhuman athletes, this destruction of sensibility.
Reposted by John Fredland
The reason we've seen almost bizarrely anemic counter-protesting from the right is they're fucking tired.
They've been at the grindstone for over a decade now and you could argue longer than that.
They're exhausted and being asked for one more absolutely massive, socially expensive lift.
They've been at the grindstone for over a decade now and you could argue longer than that.
They're exhausted and being asked for one more absolutely massive, socially expensive lift.
January 18, 2026 at 6:08 PM
The reason we've seen almost bizarrely anemic counter-protesting from the right is they're fucking tired.
They've been at the grindstone for over a decade now and you could argue longer than that.
They're exhausted and being asked for one more absolutely massive, socially expensive lift.
They've been at the grindstone for over a decade now and you could argue longer than that.
They're exhausted and being asked for one more absolutely massive, socially expensive lift.
Reposted by John Fredland
RIP Wilbur Wood, 84, a Chicago White Sox workhorse in the 1970s and arguably the best left-handed knuckleballer in major league history. Read his SABR bio: sabr.org/bioproj/pers...
January 18, 2026 at 11:17 PM
RIP Wilbur Wood, 84, a Chicago White Sox workhorse in the 1970s and arguably the best left-handed knuckleballer in major league history. Read his SABR bio: sabr.org/bioproj/pers...
Reposted by John Fredland
Truly incredible. Like tar and feathering but with water and silly string. Triumph of wit and solidarity over the right wing algorithm machines. Love to see it. 💜
Lmfao 😂 Jake Lang is experiencing the finding out phase in Minneapolis.
January 17, 2026 at 11:13 PM
Truly incredible. Like tar and feathering but with water and silly string. Triumph of wit and solidarity over the right wing algorithm machines. Love to see it. 💜
Reposted by John Fredland
If you aren’t looking at Minnesota and seeing something that makes you hopeful despite the situation, you’re not getting the right information. You need to be able to use this to steel yourself against the chuds and their propaganda because resistance to them is working and it’s beautiful.
January 17, 2026 at 3:06 PM
If you aren’t looking at Minnesota and seeing something that makes you hopeful despite the situation, you’re not getting the right information. You need to be able to use this to steel yourself against the chuds and their propaganda because resistance to them is working and it’s beautiful.