I started a Substack for the project shortly after election day on November 5, 2024, with the aim of writing at least a column a week through the incoming administration’s preparation for taking power, into the start of the new baseball season.
When the season started, I split the posts into two a week – a baseball-related column midweek and the politics stuff at weekends. As you can imagine, one is slightly more sane than the other…
You can find the full States of Play archive here
Sign up and check-in with the project twice a week during the season? And as always, thanks for reading!
(Now that I don’t really have time to update it as frequently as I’d like, I’ve also revamped the ‘Latest’ page to offer a quick chronology through front pages and editorial cartoons).
***
- ‘We Keep It, I Guess…’ – December 12
So we’re buccaneers now?
*
- Regime Change – December 7
But in Caracas or at the Pentagon?
*
- A Capital Tragedy – November 30
Two kids from West Virginia should have been at home for Thanksgiving.
*
- Piggies, Seditionists And Symbols Of Hate – November 25
The increasingly desperate language of ‘leadership’ has all but finished civic discourse.
*
- Trump Running Short Of Epstein Options – November 16
‘Justice cannot wait another day’.
*
- Disconnected – November 8
The world Donald Trump inhabits has never been more distant from most Americans.
*
- Dodgers Stun Rogers – November 2
Los Angeles are baseball’s first back-to-back champions for a quarter-century.
**
- King Of Pain – October 31
The same old thing as yesterday.
*
- ‘No Kings’ Leaves GOP Nervous – October 22
Protests resonate with ordinary Americans who’ve had enough.
*
- Joy, Tears And Vigilance – October 12
A ‘new day’ for the Middle East?
*
- A Real Shutshow – October 8
With government in stasis, the administration tries to take advantage.
**
- The Great Spiritizing – September 30
Please clap…
*
- Challenging The System – September 26
Robot umps are nigh, and it’s one more thing to argue about.
*
- ‘The Easy Way Or The Hard Way’ – September 22
What happened with Jimmy Kimmel was always about more than what he said.
*
- Naturally, The Final Stretch – September 18
The post-season is taking shape. We’re sure to get fireworks.
*
- Turning Point – September 14
The killing of Charlie Kirk inflamed what still passes for politics in a fractured nation.
*
- History – September 10
Iron Man’s magic sparks marvel of a night for Orioles.
*
- Are You A Trustworthy Person? – September 8
Ironically, RFK Jr’s question applies to everyone in the administration.
*
- Slugfest – September 4
Devers in Denver had hardly started when it ended badly.
**
- Schrödinger’s President – August 31
Everywhere and nowhere, Donald Trump is whatever you want him to be.
*
- Bigger Than Baseball – August 28
Blue Jays, Twins share moment of silence after Minneapolis tragedy.
**
- Masquerading – August 24
A lot of what’s happening is theater, but as The Boss said, there’s some serious shit going on.
*
- Map, Squiggles, Action? – August 20
Expansion is again a hot topic, but bring your Sharpie.
*
- A Blood Red Carpet – August 17
Trump needs a deal on Ukraine. Putin does not.
*
- Shut Out – August 16
Another baseball labor dispute is becoming a real threat.
*
- Fight Fire With Fire Until The House Burns Down – August 10
The GOP’s Texas power-grab goes national. The consequences could be momentous.
*
- History Behind The Plate – August 7
Jen Pawol is set to become the first woman to umpire a regular-season MLB game.
*
- Shooting The Messenger – August 2
How the trustworthiness of government data is undermined.
**
- Second To None – July 31
One of Chicago’s great sporting heroes leaves the field.
*
Make nae mistake, it’s wrang.
*
- All Change? – July 24
In tight races, what turns teams into buyers or sellers ahead of the trade deadline?
*
- Back From The Dead – July 21
How badly could the story that won’t die wound the president’s political future?
*
A brave coach who knew the law protects his players.
*
- Amazing Grace – July 13
Once again, amid the loss of his fellow Americans, the President claims to be the beneficiary of divine providence.
*
- Hey Now, You’re Not… – July 9
Welcome to ‘snub season’.
*
- Floods Of Tears – July 6
The heartbreaking events in Texas put the Fourth of July weekend in perspective.
*
- Halfway Home – July 2
Every team has now played at least 81 games. How are they doing?
**
- On Bombs And F-Bombs – June 29
Can we really *know* anything anymore, or just what Trump says?
*
- High Heat – June 26
This particular Dome doesn’t have a retractable roof.
*
- ‘Everlasting Consequences’ – June 22
Iran’s warning as Trump takes US into war.
*
- Celebration And Honor – June 19
The nation’s ‘second independence day’.
*
- ‘An Attack On Everything We Stand For’ – June 15
Two children are orphaned in a ‘targeted’ political shooting.
*
- Timelessness – June 12
Memories are made of this, as Dino from Steubenville might say.
*
- No Words – June 9
Thanks and Go Well.
*
- Nobody’s Perfect – June 4
Memorable games are memorable mainly for who you see them with.
*
- ‘Well, We All Are Going To Die…’ – June 1
Saying the quiet part out loud.
**
- Benny And My Mother – May 29
Twenty-five years ago, my parents went to their only ballgame.
*
- Certain Things Are Set In Stone – May 26
Who we are, what we’ll do and what we won’t.
*
- Wings, Clipped – May 22
What happened to the Baltimore Orioles?
*
- Tribute – May 18
This isn’t America First, This is Trump First.
*
- Hustle – May 15
What are the odds Pete Rose finally makes it into the Hall?
*
- Talking Heads – May 11
Dealing with Life During Wartime – this ain’t no fooling around.
*
- Memories and Memorials – May 8
A turning point in European history and for young American visitors to Ireland.
*
Trump’s answer is called ‘as un-American as it gets’.
*
- Going Bananas – May 1
Baseball’s hottest ticket turns up the heat still further.
**
- The ‘Sound Exercise Of Lawful Authority’ – April 28
Due process, or no process at all?
*
- More Squalls Ahead – April 24
Can one of baseball’s great franchises turn things around?
*
- Testing, Testing… – April 20
With each day, the Trump administration pushes the limits of its power and stress-tests the Constitution.
*
- The Impact On Other Lives – April 16
This year, more than ever, it was important to mark Jackie Robinson Day.
*
- Some Men Just Want To Watch The World Burn – April 13
As his chaotic trade war spirals, Trump claims leaders are “kissing my ass” to make deals.
*
- Dodging The Elephant – April 10
History is greater than tradition.
*
- Gradually, Then Suddenly – April 6
We’ve a long way to go before we make it home.
*
- Damn The Torpedoes! – April 2
Innovation or inevitability? (*First midweek baseball-specific post)
**
- Nice Country You’ve Got Here – March 30
Would be a shame if anything happened to it.
*
- Signal To Noise – March 25
‘But her emails…’
*
- What Is It Good For? – March 16
Absolutely nothing. Say it Again.
*
- Warning Signs – March 9
‘But he’s good on the economy…’
*
- The Whole World Is Watching – March 1
And mostly, they’re appalled.
**
- ‘Once In A Generation Moment’ – February 23
In the end Donald Trump didn’t need to pull the US out of NATO. He just changed sides.
*
- Love, Not Hate, Today – February 14
We’re starting to see up close if there are any meaningful guardrails left to act as a brake on Trump 2.0.
*
- Tipping Points – February 9
Another chaotic, whiplash week, rounded off by a contentious visit to the Super Bowl.
*
- The Buck Stops Somewhere Else – February 2
The initial handling of this week’s air disaster by the new administration was shocking. It was only the start.
**
- Unrelenting – January 26
We were warned. Experts told us how bad it was going to be, laid out the timeline for how it would unfold and what was likely to happen.
*
- Holding Our Breath – January 16
As emergency workers wrestle with the tragedy of the Los Angeles blazes, President Joe Biden warned how America itself could go up in flames.
*
- Zero Per Cent Contained – January 9
Los Angeles comes to terms with “the big one in magnitude”
*
- ‘Wait, Did We Vote For This?’ – January 5. 2025
A glimpse of a potentially crucial splinter within the GOP, even before its figurehead has been inaugurated or its narrow majority in the House was sworn in.
***
- Pottersville? or Bedford Falls? – December 26
“I’m an old man and most people hate me. But I don’t like them either, so that makes it all even.”
*
- Disorder In The House – December 20
The incoming President – followed by Donald Trump – upends a bipartisan deal in the House, raising the very real spectre of a shutdown
*
- Elite Giants – December 12
Money has been having itself quite a moment this week.
*
- Fathers Playing Catch With Sons – December 5
Well, what would you do?
**
- ‘You Thought God Was An Architect…’ – November 28
In any normal world, today would be a day for avoiding politics, but it looks like that’s going to be a luxury for the foreseeable future.
*
- Government By Kayfabe – November 21
“In all honesty, the country doesn’t want to admit that for a while now we haven’t been far off President Camacho’s address to the House of Representin’.”
*
- Loyalty Is The Only Currency – November 14
“Celebrating a legislative sweep with House Republicans, the President-elect himself, not for the first time, made a veiled reference to possibly staying on for a third term...“
*
- A Whole New Ballgame… November 8
“There are 74 days until the 47th President takes office and about 100 days until pitchers and catchers report for Spring Training. Let’s see what happens.”
***
*
States of Play 