In sports and other competitive ventures, there is a fine line between competing fiercely and still being a good sport. It’s okay and in fact admired to try to win at any cost, yet it is frowned upon to pile it on or ridicule an opponent once you have prevailed.
This has analogies in foreign affairs like diplomacy before, during and after wars but before getting to that, I’d rather pause and examine the case of the San Francisco Giants baseball team.
Last season, the Giants won more games, 107, than any other team, although they didn’t have any of the game’s biggest names on their roster. Again this year they are off to a good start with a similar lineup of workmanlike players, no stars.
One reason for their success may be that the organization uses data and plays the percentages better than most of the competition. They also employ a lot of coaches and use various analytical systems. As befits a team from Silicon Valley, they’re good at exploiting the latest technologies. They pick players who blend together well into a team, not just a collection of alpha males.
But whatever the reason for their success, lately the Giants have incurred the wrath of several opponents for violating the “unwritten rules” of the national pastime. At issue has been the team’s decision to call “small ball” plays like bunts and stolen base attempts late in games when they already are way ahead.
This violates the long-standing idea that you don’t rub your opponents face in it in defeat, rather you show some mercy.
So their opponents have been outraged at plays seemingly designed simply to extend the game and build up the winning margin when the outcome is no longer really in doubt.
The Giants have explained that they were just making sure their opponent couldn’t stage an improbable late comeback, but also that they were intent on wearing out the opposing pitchers in order to gain a competitive advantage in the next game or two against the same bullpen.
Personally, I’m gonna stay agnostic on this one. I’m not a data scientist, but the odds of the opposing team coming back to win in the 8th or 9th inning when down by eight or ten runs is negligible, so it’s hard to buy that argument.
As for thinking about the next few games and therefore trying to exhaust the other team’s relief pitchers, that makes a bit more sense to me, but I have a counter-argument to the Giants’ reasoning.
In sports and in life, a great deal of success is not simply a matter of talent but of timing and motivation. When you make somebody angry at you, many times that will only wake them up and incentivize them to seek revenge. Thus, I am saying, the Giants strategy may ultimately backfire by giving their opponents a psychological edge in future games.
The baseball season is very long and so are the memories of the opposing players and coaches.
And if it was me, I’d rather be known as a good sport. Call it an insurance policy for the times success proves more elusive.
On to geopolitics. The back-and-forth between Ukraine, Russia, the U.S., Nato and Russia’s allies often seems to involve some similar dynamics to the baseball analogy. Yes there are both the written and unwritten rules of war. That’s why we have the Geneva Convention, war crimes trials, nuclear escalation fears, threats and counter-threats.
The adversaries are engaged in a long-term conflict and the outcome is far from certain. As they jockey for support on the world stage, spokespeople on both sides have to be careful they aren’t motivating their opponents to extend what in the end may prove to be a no-win situation for all parties.
They can win battles with guns and words, but they have to avoid escalating tensions and piling on. Otherwise they risk (and here comes the cliche) the chickens coming home to roost.
Today’s Headlines (51):
Rockets hit Ukrainian capital Kyiv as UN chief visits the city (BBC)
Rescuers Look for Survivors at Kyiv Apartment Block Hit During U.N. Chief’s Visit to Ukraine (WSJ)
Attack on Kyiv was Putin’s ‘middle finger’ to UN (AP)
Ukraine acknowledged it was taking heavy losses in Russia's assault in the east, but said Russia's losses were even worse. (Reuters)
Ukrainian attacks bring war home to Russia, fraying civilian nerves (WP)
VIDEO: Russian Forces Strike Neighborhood in Central Ukraine (Reuters)
Ukraine cracks down on ‘traitors’ helping Russian troops (AP)
Biden Digs In on Ukraine Strategy, Seeking $33 Billion More in Aid (NYT)
Cracks emerge in Russian elite as tycoons start to bemoan invasion (WP)
Top Kremlin Mouthpiece Says Russia Has No Choice but to Use Nuclear Weapons (Daily Beast)
The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly backed legislation that will make it easier to export military equipment to Ukraine, reviving the 'Lend-Lease Act' that helped defeat Hitler during World War Two. (Reuters)
For Muslims in Ukraine, war revives questions of faith and belonging (WP)
Javelins, cannons and switchblades: Western weapons flow in to Ukraine (NBC)
NATO is ready to maintain its support for Ukraine in the war against Russia for years, including help for Kyiv to shift from Soviet-era weapons to modern Western arms and systems, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said. (Reuters)
Zelenskyy to launch operation to evacuate civilians in Mariupol steel plant (Fox)
Ukraine names 10 Russians it accuses of war crimes in Bucha (WP)
Mysterious Zamestim artwork in St Petersburg signals Russia's anti-West defiance (BBC)
Strife over Ukraine conflict pulls Russian families apart (Financial Times)
Republican who refuses to bend the knee to Trump surges in Ohio Senate race (Politico)
The 2022 midterm election season is kicking into high gear, with 13 states holding primary contests. It will be a big test of just how much power former President Donald Trump has over the Republican Party. Here are some of the races HuffPost will be watching in May. [HuffPost]
Republicans have the advantage with voters in 2022 elections, poll finds (NPR)
U.S. Economy Shrank in First Quarter, but Underlying Measures Were Solid (NYT)
Inflation hits record high of 7.5% in countries using euro (AP)
Apple forecast bigger problems as COVID-19 lockdowns snarl production and demand in China, the war in Ukraine dents sales and growth slows in services, which the iPhone maker sees as its engine for expansion. Shares were down 2.2% in late trade after executives laid out their glum outlook on a conference call. (Reuters)
A key inflation gauge jumped 6.6% in March, most since 1982 (AP)
What California’s massive budget surplus could mean (Politico)
Musk Sells Batch of Tesla Shares After Deal to Buy Twitter (WSJ)
The Only Good Thing Left About Facebook (Atlantic)
Expats flee as Shanghai's COVID lockdown drags (Reuters)
The pandemic’s toll is no longer falling almost exclusively on those who chose not to get shots, according to a Post analysis, as the elderly and immunocompromised have a harder time dodging increasingly contagious strains. (WP)
South Africa may be entering fifth Covid wave earlier than expected (Guardian)
Scientists puzzle over Covid pandemic link to child hepatitis cases (Financial Times)
L.A. coronavirus cases up 40% in one week; hospitalizations rising, too (LAT)
China's capital Beijing closed more businesses and residential compounds, with authorities ramping up contact tracing to contain a COVID-19 outbreak, while resentment at the month-long lockdown in Shanghai grew. Shanghai's lockdown is driving scores of foreign residents to flee the commercial center, denting the appeal of mainland China's most cosmopolitan city. (Reuters)
Israeli forces raid Al-Aqsa mosque, over 40 Palestinians injured (Al Jazeera)
California Attorney General Bob Bonta said an investigation will focus on a “half-century campaign of deception” and will target companies “that have caused and exacerbated the global plastics pollution crisis.” Despite a widespread belief that many plastics are recyclable, less than 9% of plastics were recycled in the U.S. in 2018. [HuffPost]
Heat wave scorches India’s wheat crop, snags export plans (AP)
he beef on your table may be helping destroy the Amazon. (WP)
Why the Great American Lawn is terrible for the West's water crisis (CNN)
Oyster reefs in Texas are disappearing. Fishermen there fear their jobs will too (NPR)
Chicago’s Wealthy Neighborhoods Hire Private Police as Crime Rises (WSJ)
How the tobacco industry targeted Black Americans with menthol smokes (NPR)
Oklahoma lawmakers passed a bill banning abortions after six weeks. (WP)
A record 35 million-plus Americans have Affordable Care Act coverage -- but the gains may not last long (CNN)
First solar eclipse of 2022 occurs Saturday. Here's what to expect. (Space.com)
Loud fireball spotted over three Southern states streaking at 55,000 miles per hour, NASA confirms: "More people heard it than saw it" (CBS)
The Long Arc of Historical Progress — A democratic world order is not the inexorable outcome of historical forces, but even amid setbacks, societies are clearly evolving toward equality and individual freedom. (WSJ)
How One Community Came Together To Fill Potholes With Old Electronics They Didn’t Know How To Dispose Of (The Onion)
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