S01.E05: Alfonzo Guzman-Chavez

[Tara Ariano]

Quote

The Padres are on edge, as rumors of the team potentially trading Blip emerge. Meanwhile, Oscar tries to navigate working with the Padres' interim president; and Mike attempts to mend his relationship with Amelia.

[marina to]

I loved the viewpoint of the front office. Trade deadlines are always a big deal for the fans. Was fun to see the other side.

I was not expecting the ending to the flashback though. The actor playing her friend is listed for other episodes so we haven't seen the last of him.

[Primetimer]

The MLB trading deadline could wreak havoc on the Padres. Certainly it made merry with Sarah D. Bunting's patience. Again.

View the full article

[SimoneS]

So it was Blip that Ginny was trying to save, not Mike. I got that one wrong. I liked how the GM told her off. He represents the management, but he wasn't completely wrong.

I like that Mike seems to be more into Amelia, but I knew Ginny wouldn't like it and that it would drive a wedge between her and Mike. Just as Mike needs her as the team is going to try to push him out, she will be distant and emotionally unavailable.

Edited October 28, 2016 by SimoneS

[In2You]

Ginny was so annoying in this episode making the possible trade all about herself. And she was acting like she was new to baseball and didn't understand how trades worked

[topanga]

I liked this ep. Not as much Ginny-Mike banter as usual, but I liked her scenes with Blip and Blip's family. 

Ginny's high school friend was supposed to be disabled in some way? 

It stinks that his dad is the one who killed Ginny's dad. But I also fault Ginny's dad. Why wasn't he wearing a seat belt? It was 5 or 6 years ago, for Pete's sake. People wore seat belts then.  And where was the high school friend? If his dad never showed at the game, wouldn't Ginny and her dad have given him a ride home? 

I'm confused about the end of the episode. Was Ginny upset? jealous? conflicted? about Amelia and Mike dating? Is that why she wouldn't take Mike's call? I hope this situation doesn't veer too far into soap opera territory. 

[mtlchick]

It's the unexpected and early  "Grandfathered" reunion no one was asking for but got anyway (which made me smile then angry on how the show went south quickly.  But anyhoo...)

Didn't realize that we would find out who was driving the car that killed Ginny's dad.  And I get why she is so hesitant on making friends.  That said, it wasn't her place AT ALL to tell Oscar to save Blip. Mark Consuelos isn't a great actor, but it looked like he was actually gnashing his teeth tearing into her about trades.  And there was truth to it: they're getting paid a lot of money for this game.  They know the risks of being traded. 

 

Finally...watching In Living Colour? And highlighting a sketch with Damon Wayans, who happens to also be starring a new Fox show?  Subtle, Fox.  (At least Lethal  Weapon got the pickup.  Here's hoping Pitch gets at least more episodes.) 

[marina to]

15 minutes ago, mtlchick said:

That said, it wasn't her place AT ALL to tell Oscar to save Blip. Mark Consuelos isn't a great actor, but it looked like he was actually gnashing his teeth tearing into her about trades.  And there was truth to it: they're getting paid a lot of money for this game.  They know the risks of being traded. 

Ginny knew that. It was Amelia who told her that she had the ability to ask for it, which comes from Amelia thinking the baseball world runs like Hollywood. So now Ginny is on the GM's shit list and it's Amelia's fault. Hope they deal with this.

Edited October 28, 2016 by marina to

[Jediknight]

Well they made it really obvious that the President of Baseball Operations knows nothing about baseball.  His team's red hot, they're back to being contenders, and he wants to get rid of the team leader.  Yeah, they've got the fantastic catcher in the minors, but a team isn't going to get rid of their team leader that has caused no problems, is still producing, when they're contenders in the middle of a race.

Was not expecting Ginny's friend's dad to be the one that killed Ginny's father.  I knew he'd be bad news, just from the reaction of Ginny's father.  I just thought that Ginny's dad knew him, and knew he had massive problems, and the reason for the moving would have been Ginny's father confronting him.

I like Ross.

Edited October 28, 2016 by Jediknight

[Irlandesa]

51 minutes ago, SimoneS said:

 I liked how the GM told her off. He represents the management, but he wasn't completely wrong.

 

37 minutes ago, marina to said:

Ginny knew that. It was Amelia who told her that she had the ability to ask for it, which comes from Amelia thinking the baseball world runs like Hollywood. So now Ginny is on the GM's shit list and it's Amelia's fault. Hope they deal with this.

While there was some emotional satisfaction in watching the Oscar call Giny out for asking to keep Blip, it was tempered by the fact that I have a hard time believing Ginny wouldn't realize that this was inappropriate in a sports context.  I buy it from Amelia because we've already seen her not get the dynamics but Ginny should know better. And I needed her to see the blowback.

13 minutes ago, Jediknight said:

I like Ross.
 

Which one?  Hee!

I do want a Grandfathered reunion.  I maybe one of maybe ten people but I do want it, darnit.

I really loved the friendship scenes in this episode.  Amelia with Blip, Evelyn and family and we get to see a bit more of Mike and Blip's friendship. Plus, the locker room friendships.  I think the first scene where they're waiting around for trade information might have been one of my favorites of the series.  Tommy really grew on me.  I kind of saw that twist coming but it still bummed me out.  (I didn't see the friend's father being the drunk driver that killed her father.) 

[DaBigDave]

Well they made it really obvious that the President of Baseball Operations knows nothing about baseball.  His team's red hot, they're back to being contenders, and he wants to get rid of the team leader.  Yeah, they've got the fantastic catcher in the minors, but a team isn't going to get rid of their team leader that has caused no problems, is still producing, when they're contenders in the middle of a race.

Was not expecting Ginny's friend's dad to be the one that killed Ginny's father.  I knew he'd be bad news, just from the reaction of Ginny's father.  I just thought that Ginny's dad knew him, and knew he had massive problems, and the reason for the moving would have been Ginny's father confronting him.

I like Ross.

If Mike Lawson is an old all-star catcher who can still hit, and you have a hotshot catcher in the minors.... and apparently a First Baseman you can comfortably trade...

In the real world, Mike Lawson gets moved to First and you call up the awesome catcher you just spent all this effort to sign. If Ginny really needs Mike Lawson to catch for her... well he can go behind the plate on the days she pitches.

And there is no way in hell a team in contention trades an all-star centerfielder for the stretch drive. All of the trade stuff was dumb.

[In2You]

4 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

 

While there was some emotional satisfaction in watching the Oscar call Giny out for asking to keep Blip, it was tempered by the fact that I have a hard time believing Ginny wouldn't realize that this was inappropriate in a sports context.  I buy it from Amelia because we've already seen her not get the dynamics but Ginny should know better. And I needed her to see the blowback.

 

Its a stretch as it is having Amelia who has no history as a sports agent being her agent because she has no knowledge about how baseball works. I was told the way the complexity of the contracts makes it so agents  managing baseball players can't cross over to manage basketball players.

[Irlandesa]

5 minutes ago, In2You said:

Its a stretch as it is having Amelia who has no history as a sports agent being her agent because she has no knowledge about how baseball works. I was told the way the complexity of the contracts makes it so agents  managing baseball players can't cross over to manage basketball players.

Which is why I think it'd be interesting if Ginny eventually decides to bring on a sports agent for her sports contracts.  I don't know many baseball stars but I think there are some NFL stars that have representation for football and other representation for marketing.

[Maximum Taco]

10 minutes ago, In2You said:

Its a stretch as it is having Amelia who has no history as a sports agent being her agent because she has no knowledge about how baseball works. I was told the way the complexity of the contracts makes it so agents  managing baseball players can't cross over to manage basketball players.

I think that's fine for now. She's a rookie who had no leverage, really she'd probably sign any contract that they put in front of her, there was probably very little negotiating done, and Amelia would probably have concentrated more on endorsements and marketing.

It'll be interesting if we ever get to a place where Amelia actually has to sit down with a GM and try to negotiate a contract and realizes she's in way over her head.

[In2You]

4 minutes ago, Maximum Taco said:

I think that's fine for now. She's a rookie who had no leverage, really she'd probably sign any contract that they put in front of her, there was probably very little negotiating done, and Amelia would probably have concentrated more on endorsements and marketing.

It'll be interesting if we ever get to a place where Amelia actually has to sit down with a GM and try to negotiate a contract and realizes she's in way over her head.

The agent's job is to negotiate the best deal possible, period. Even as rookies players don't just sign the first off.  And we are too believe Ginny is a hot commodity being the only female to make it to MLB. There would've been a good amount of negotiating done.

[Maximum Taco]

27 minutes ago, In2You said:

The agent's job is to negotiate the best deal possible, period. Even as rookies players don't just sign the first off.  And we are too believe Ginny is a hot commodity being the only female to make it to MLB. There would've been a good amount of negotiating done.

Not true. Most players make the league minimum for their first 3 years. They have almost no negotiating power.

There are occasional exceptions, but these are very rare and reserved for players who they know will probably be superstars and the team wants to give them a show of good faith, so the player will stick around when free agency rolls around, or even immediately sign an extension. It also never happens in the player's first year.

It's pretty much completely on the team, they can choose to pay the minimum and there is literally nothing the player can do about it. The CBA even states that teams can do this.

I suppose the player could refuse to play, but then the team can hold onto their rights for the next 5 years, and they'd paint themselves as an entitled brat to the rest of the league. When given the choice between spending 5 more years in the minors or "only" making 500 grand, most players will take the 500 grand and a ticket to the show.

Edited October 28, 2016 by Maximum Taco

[marina to]

1 hour ago, DaBigDave said:

And there is no way in hell a team in contention trades an all-star centerfielder for the stretch drive. All of the trade stuff was dumb.

They didn't trade Blip though. Ginny's talk gave Oscar the idea to give the Angels a centerfielder, so he acquired one in trade and flipped him for the player he needed.

Edited October 28, 2016 by marina to

[marina to]

1 hour ago, Irlandesa said:

While there was some emotional satisfaction in watching the Oscar call Giny out for asking to keep Blip, it was tempered by the fact that I have a hard time believing Ginny wouldn't realize that this was inappropriate in a sports context.  I buy it from Amelia because we've already seen her not get the dynamics but Ginny should know better. And I needed her to see the blowback.

I saw it as Ginny trying to navigate the weird position she's in. Amelia pointed out that she's not an ordinary ball player - she has an intrinsic value because she's a pioneer. Amelia told her to ask and she was so scared of losing her only friend (something that gets highlighted at the very end of the episode when she finds out about Lawson being involved with her agent) that she really hoped that Amelia was right. So she tried it and was rightly told that she wasn't in a position to have a say.

I believed it because the episode showed us that she was really scared of losing Blip and his family and juxtaposing it with the loss of another close friend so I bought that she was in enough of an emotional state to try it.

[marina to]

51 minutes ago, In2You said:

The agent's job is to negotiate the best deal possible, period. Even as rookies players don't just sign the first off.  And we are too believe Ginny is a hot commodity being the only female to make it to MLB. There would've been a good amount of negotiating done.

When Ginny's contract was done there was no guarantee she would make it to the show. She would have signed like any prospect did. With her stuff she would not have been a high draft pick, and they are the only players that can make demands on their contracts. In fact, she was probably already under contract when Amelia found her.

[CabotCove]

What a near perfect episode except the end. Just drop the Ginny/Mike bullshit, gross. The show accomplishes so much when there is less Mike and Mike/Ginny, see now what you can do show?

Those Twin boys are  cute.

Edited October 28, 2016 by HeroLeague

[Artsda]

Loved seeing the war room for the trade deadline. I enjoyed seeing that side of business. 

Sad seeing Tommy go, I hope he comes back.

Ginny came across horribly selfish over Blip and stupid this episode. She had no idea how baseball trading works? Yet this is the career she spent her life trying to achieve. She didn't learn anything else about baseball? She also has an agent equally stupid who thinks Ginny can demand they not trade someone because she needs a friend? Liked Oscar telling Ginny off. 

[DaBigDave]

  1 hour ago, DaBigDave said:

And there is no way in hell a team in contention trades an all-star centerfielder for the stretch drive. All of the trade stuff was dumb.

They didn't trade Blip though. Ginny's talk gave Oscar the idea to give the Angels a centerfielder, so he acquired one in trade and flipped him for the player he needed.

RIght. But they never would have traded Blip... and everyone would have known that. While, yes, if you don;t have a no-trade clause you might get traded... this just wouldn't happen - especially since they say Blip has a "team friendly" contract. Which is to say, they couldn't get back equal value on the field without have to pay way more.

And again, everyone, Ginny included would know they weren't trading Blip and wouldn't stress over it. Mookie Betts doesn't have a no-trade. But he's not going anywhere.

[twoods]

Now we need Paget Brewster and John Stamos on this show and I can pretend that Grandfathered was not cancelled. 

I hope Ginny isn't jealous of Amelia and Mike, and is more upset that her worlds are colliding when she likes to compartmentalize. I like her friendship with Mike and don't want them Togo there.

I hope we see more of Ginny's friend- I liked him a lot. Also, maybe we will see the pitcher that left again (Tommy?). I liked how him and Ginny were bonding after a rough start.

Edited October 28, 2016 by twoods

[Dowel Jones]

44 minutes ago, Artsda said:

She had no idea how baseball trading works?

Exactly.  After 5 years in the minors, she should have seen players come and go.

I liked the way the show portrayed the behind the scenes world of baseball.  What the fans see as a team pulling together and all that, is, in reality, a cold, hard business with cold, hard decisions made all the time.  Even though the players make a boatload of money.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it bites management in the ass. 

I wonder how much it cost the production company to actually fix those mirrors.  Mike doesn't live in a secured apartment complex?  He should.

I loved Amelia's assistant's fumbled excuse for why he doesn't have Ginny on his fantasy baseball team.  And her reaction.

I actually remember tuning into In Living Color one night to see Jennifer Lopez's first gig there as a dancer (fly girl).

I hope interest in the series doesn't die off after the Series ends and baseball becomes an off-season interest for many people.

[MaryMitch]

14 hours ago, topanga said:

Ginny's high school friend was supposed to be disabled in some way?

I read that as a joke - she was kidding that he throws like a boy, and he was kidding that it's a handicap.

[Lila82]

Oscar's speech was ON POINT.  These men choose this life and they know the consequences for themselves and their families.  Crying crocodile tears for ballplayers and their multi-million dollar deals while military families go through the same thing but with significantly less pay and higher stakes.

Blip's speech was equally great.  Ginny is earnest and kind, but she's also needy and naive.  She makes everything about her because everyone else makes everything about her, and she has trouble separating the two.  It was a good lesson for her, learning when to pull back and find balance in the complicated power dynamics of her personal relationships.

The fewer flashbacks, the better.  The audience is smart enough, and the writers should be clever enough, to convey Ginny's journey without falling anvils and Michael Beach's terrible acting.

Amelia/Mike are easily the worst part of the show.  I like Mike.  I like Amelia.  I don't mind them together romantically, but if I wanted to watch grown adults unironically act like teenagers, I'd watch a CBS comedy.  Enough already.  

[DearEvette]

I loved the scene between Oscar and Ginny.  Even though Ginny isn't trying to be some big-headed superstar, she does have a fair amount of privilege and is being treated special.  It was nice to see Oscar give her that come to Jesus talk about baseball being after all a business and the players are commodities to be traded in service of that.  I loved her "thank you for your time"  because she realized she had overstepped.

But I can see how Ginny went there.  People have been telling her all along to use her unique position to affect change.  She probably wondered, well how is this any different for her to throw her influence round to keep Al from getting fired (also a business decision made by the front office)?  It was a naive move but I think it had to happen, a teaching moment as it were.

It also illustrated how ill equipped Amelia is to be Ginny's agent.  She doesn't understand baseball.  I hope that they don't drop this as a possible plot point because it is promising.  More promising, imo, than there being some rift because of Mike.

Man I did not see that ending!  I figured Ginny's friend dad had first been killed in the accident himself, which I thought was too much given how her father died.

And then I thought, oh he survived, well that is a better development and assumed the kid moved only because dad went to jail.

But then I saw Ginny sitting on the pavement and was i was like "Ooohhhhhh.... snap!"  That explains it all.

[Boilergal]

14 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

 

I do want a Grandfathered reunion.  I maybe one of maybe ten people but I do want it, darnit.

 

Eleven - Told Mrs Boiler --they need to bring in John Stamos

I thought they would find out that Blip played third base in college and shift him there.   But when Ginny talked to the GM I thought....ohhhhh no they weren't even considering him and now he's in the trade pool because of her idiocy.  

I was sad they got rid of Tommy, but figured when they went to run stairs and have their bonding that he would be a short-timer.

As soon as drunk dad started driving...I said OHHH NOOOOO he's going to be the drunk driver that kills her dad

Edited October 28, 2016 by Boilergal

[In2You]

This show relies way too much on flashbacks. I'd love to see one episode where they can fully tell the story in the present.

[mwcdeb8r]

Wait, wasn't that her high school friend? Or was it a college friend?

I assumed it was a high school friend, because they mentioned where she was going to college.

I didn't realize the friend's dad killed her dad because the timeline seemed off to me. Didn't her dad die right as she got her minor league contract? I assumed she was still in high school. We didn't see this happen in this episode, so I thought he killed someone else. 

[tennisgurl]

Oh Ginny. Her heart was in the right place, but trying to throw her weight around was so not the right call, and you could tell she felt awkward about doing it in the first place. Oscars reaction of "are you freaking kidding me right now?" was pretty much spot on. Ginny should really know better than to try to get involved with trade stuff. The advice Amelia gave her was not good baseball advice. As much as I like Amelia, she might not be a great baseball manager. She knows Hollywood, not baseball, and those are two very different worlds.  

I really like seeing all the behind the scenes stuff with baseball, and all the people involved in making the games run. 

Damn it, I hope Tommy comes back. It was nice seeing Ginny have another friend on the team other than Blip and Mike (who she will probably get involved with), and it seems like she hasn't had many friends in the past. I also hope we get to see her reconnect with her high school best friend again. I liked him, and I would like to see how the poor kid was doing. And man, that twist with Ginny's dad was brutal. I was just thinking that these flashbacks were some of the dads most sympathetic, actually showing him caring about someone or something other than Ginny's baseball playing. And it got him killed. Wow. 

[piequinn35]

I think Ginny is jealous, she would have taken the call if she wasn't affected. 

I am girl I know the feeling lol.

[gesundheit]

In fairness to Drunk Dad, it is 2016 and my parents still have a landline with an answering machine AND one smartphone apiece (the latter of which I know to never even bother calling unless I know they're on a trip or something).


I liked the episode. I'm learning to brush off the bad over-exposition directed at non-baseball viewers, but I too wish they'd stop making Ginny the stand-in for those viewers.

[scenicbyway]

So, I get that Amelia and Mike are lonely, so they've decided to sleep together.  Perhaps Mike thinks it's inappropriate to date Ginny since they work together.  I did like that Amelia told Ginny so she wouldn't hear it from somewhere else first.  But I think the whole thing is a dumb obstacle.  If Ginny and Mike are eventually going to be together, won't that be incredibly awkward that he's dated her agent?  Does this mean that Amelia's time is limited?  I can't see how that will work out.

As for Ginny doing everything she could to keep Flip, come ON, she knows how trading works.  All this drama to show she lost her closest baseball friend when her dad was killed by his dad?  Ugh.  I don't mind the flashbacks, but they are all so depressing.  Does the woman ever get a break to enjoy how far she's come?

[topanga]

I like Blip and Ginny's friendship, but the actors playing them have mad chemistry--almost as much as Blip and his wife. They do sometimes act like Blip "hit that back in the day," as one of their teammates said (Tommy?). 

Mike calling Amelia a groupie--Freudian slip? He seems to genuinely like her, but maybe she really is just something for him to do so he won't be alone at night. 

[Tetraneutron]

The problem is the show is using Ginny as the audience entryway into the world of MLB. Which requires she behaves in a way that makes her look like an idiot, so the audience can have exposition dumped on our heads. So we're watching a show where the lead character is supposed to be one of the best in the world at her job and tough enough to be a pioneer, but also really, really ignorant about basic aspects of her job.

Also, I know this is nitpicky and I'm the only one who cares, but how would Ginny have even gotten a baseball scholarship to college? Colleges have women's softball and I'm pretty sure can't put a woman on a man's team if there is a a woman's team of the same thing available.

[Enero]

Ginny acted absolutely juvenile and rude in this episode during the present timeline. Not very likable. Thank goodness Blip and the GM checked her ass. She looked like a complete idiot demanding that they keep Blip on the team, very embarrassing moment for her.

Did Ginny's friend remind anyone else of Benedict Cumberbatch? He did me. LOL.

In spite of the silliness in this episode, I really liked Amelia and Mike. They're not soulmates, but they don't have to be. Just two adults enjoying each other's company. 

The flashbacks were snoozeworthy as was the overall storyline for this episode. I knew that this show would be a struggle for me because I'm not a huge baseball fan. However, I gave t it a chance because of Kylie Bunbury. Unfortunately, with each episode it's losing me more and more. 

[Irlandesa]

4 hours ago, topanga said:

Mike calling Amelia a groupie--Freudian slip? He seems to genuinely like her, but maybe she really is just something for him to do so he won't be alone at night. 

I don't think he thinks of her as a groupie in any way.  He referred to the vandalism as 'groupie on groupie' crime which I guess indirectly implicates her as a groupie but it felt more like an expression than how he sees Amelia.

[Kromm]

Okay, I caught on early that the theme of the episode was "unintended consequences"... but it was very well done. The whole theme worked for me. I actually expected that Ginny gave the GM an idea to trade Blip, so it actually was a surprise when that didn't happen (and that in trade she "lost" her one other friend on the team).  And we also got the contrast to how Ginny's own Dad was killed because he called the other kid's Dad--a more blatant example of unintended consequences. 

Also, I felt I should have known we'd eventually get Ali Larter in her underwear. It's part of her skillset!

BTW: did anyone else know that Elisabeth Shue was originally going to play Amelia? Probably would have been less underweary, but maybe a tad better acted (not that Larter is bad, I've actually always liked her, but she's no Liz Shue).

Edited October 29, 2016 by Kromm

[marina to]

9 hours ago, piequinn35 said:

I think Ginny is jealous, she would have taken the call if she wasn't affected. 

I am girl I know the feeling lol.

I am a girl and I wouldn't have taken the call because I'd be pissed that Mike hadn't told me himself and I'd need some time to process how my worlds have just collided. Doesn't have to be jealousy.

 

12 hours ago, Lila82 said:

Blip's speech was equally great.  Ginny is earnest and kind, but she's also needy and naive.  She makes everything about her because everyone else makes everything about her, and she has trouble separating the two.  It was a good lesson for her, learning when to pull back and find balance in the complicated power dynamics of her personal relationships.  

11 hours ago, DearEvette said:

I loved the scene between Oscar and Ginny.  Even though Ginny isn't trying to be some big-headed superstar, she does have a fair amount of privilege and is being treated special.  It was nice to see Oscar give her that come to Jesus talk about baseball being after all a business and the players are commodities to be traded in service of that.  I loved her "thank you for your time"  because she realized she had overstepped.

But I can see how Ginny went there.  People have been telling her all along to use her unique position to affect change.  She probably wondered, well how is this any different for her to throw her influence round to keep Al from getting fired (also a business decision made by the front office)?  It was a naive move but I think it had to happen, a teaching moment as it were.

It also illustrated how ill equipped Amelia is to be Ginny's agent.  She doesn't understand baseball.  I hope that they don't drop this as a possible plot point because it is promising.  More promising, imo, than there being some rift because of Mike.

Great observations about Ginny. I'm liking that we're seeing her stumble around a bit in trying to live with this unique pressure environment she finds herself in.

I'm now wondering if part of having Mike and Amelia together is him giving her some what for about what she's doing to Ginny. Imagine what he'd do if he finds out about Ginny's trip to see Oscar and that it was Amelia's idea?

23 hours ago, DaBigDave said:

RIght. But they never would have traded Blip... and everyone would have known that. While, yes, if you don;t have a no-trade clause you might get traded... this just wouldn't happen - especially since they say Blip has a "team friendly" contract. Which is to say, they couldn't get back equal value on the field without have to pay way more.

And again, everyone, Ginny included would know they weren't trading Blip and wouldn't stress over it. Mookie Betts doesn't have a no-trade. But he's not going anywhere.

You bet your ass Mookie Betts will be traded if the Sux got Mike Trout back. Anyone can be traded. It's just that the price would have been really high for Blip.

Edited October 29, 2016 by marina to

[Randomosity]

On 10/27/2016 at 10:28 PM, topanga said:

Ginny's high school friend was supposed to be disabled in some way?

Where did that idea come from? I saw nothing of the sort.

16 hours ago, Enero said:

Did Ginny's friend remind anyone else of Benedict Cumberbatch? He did me. LOL.

No, but I recognized him from Once Upon A Time, so I already knew who he was in a different context.

I'm generally horrible at picking up on twists/foreshadowing, but as soon as we knew the friend's dad was a drunk who doesn't come to games, and was suddenly supposed to come to a game... Yep, I knew that would coincide with the accident that got Ginny's dad. But also as someone mentioned upthread, where was the friend and why weren't they giving him a ride home if the dad hadn't showed up yet? I suppose the dad could have already contacted the kid and told him to wait for him at the field or something, but... That certainly wasn't immediately obvious.

[Password]

For some reason it's taken me a while to connect to Ginny whereas every other character I've immediately liked. This episode changed that and I really like what they did with Ginny here. She's suffered more trauma that I originally thought in that she lost her dad and her best friend. She seems like she had little to no friends so the dude in high school was important. 

I knew in the flashbacks that her dad was going to die that night when Ginny and high school friend were singing Taylor Swift in the truck. It was an "important night" and made me immediately think of the championship game. So I saw that coming then but was still heart broken for Ginny. Great moment for the actress when the drunk driver saw her sitting on the pavement. 

It also gave some light to how panicky she was at the thought of Blip and Eve potentially leaving. It was almost comical the way she tried to stop that from happening because the very few people she trusts and calls friends leaving would be catastrophic. Thank goodness Blip isn't going because I really thought she shot herself in the foot by bringing him to the GM's attention. 

I'm leaning towards Ginny feeling more hurt/saddened by Amelia and Mike than jealous. Mike is also someone in her circle and she kind of has to share him now. I can understand how their (frequent?) phone calls would be uncomfortable now. And maybe they'll play up the "lying to her for weeks" aspect. Her mum having that nasty family secret would be like a pressure point with Mike and Amelia. 

My favorite part was Ginny hanging up on Eliot though. Hahaha that poor guys gets nothing. 

Edited October 29, 2016 by Password

[possibilities]

I guess what I think they were setting up was that at some point Mike would manage Ginny, because he's getting close to retirement and was looking for something else to do. Maybe he and Amelia would team up-- he knows baseball and she knows marketing.

[Kromm]

9 minutes ago, possibilities said:

I guess what I think they were setting up was that at some point Mike would manage Ginny, because he's getting close to retirement and was looking for something else to do. Maybe he and Amelia would team up-- he knows baseball and she knows marketing.

Do you mean "manage" or manage?

I mean... baseball has managers. Guys in charge of the team.

But also... while Agents aren't talent managers, they are adjacent to other people named "managers" (agents are image control, marketing and publicity and managers are control of dollars and cents, and often contracts). 

[possibilities]

I meant he would become her agent, since Ginny's current agent doesn't know baseball and gave her very bad advice this episode. Or that maybe he and Amelia would form a business partnership using his understanding of baseball and her marketing and media savvy.

[Emily Thrace]

8 hours ago, Password said:

For some reason it's taken me a while to connect to Ginny whereas every other character I've immediately liked. This episode changed that and I really like what they did with Ginny here. She's suffered more trauma that I originally thought in that she lost her dad and her best friend. She seems like she had little to no friends so the dude in high school was important. 

I knew in the flashbacks that her dad was going to die that night when Ginny and high school friend were singing Taylor Swift in the truck. It was an "important night" and made me immediately think of the championship game. So I saw that coming then but was still heart broken for Ginny. Great moment for the actress when the drunk driver saw her sitting on the pavement. 

It also gave some light to how panicky she was at the thought of Blip and Eve potentially leaving. It was almost comical the way she tried to stop that from happening because the very few people she trusts and calls friends leaving would be catastrophic. Thank goodness Blip isn't going because I really thought she shot herself in the foot by bringing him to the GM's attention. 

I'm leaning towards Ginny feeling more hurt/saddened by Amelia and Mike than jealous. Mike is also someone in her circle and she kind of has to share him now. I can understand how their (frequent?) phone calls would be uncomfortable now. And maybe they'll play up the "lying to her for weeks" aspect. Her mum having that nasty family secret would be like a pressure point with Mike and Amelia. 

Yeah they basically lied to her face at that dinner with her mom. I actually think she has right to be pissed about the lying.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

The truly shocking moment for me was that the show so easily gave up the reveal of the Melia affair to Ginny.  The absurd lengths it went to show us how awful it would be dictated it was to be a nuclear moment.  I am quite pleased that, for once, the show chose an easy, low-cost truth reveal.  

Of course, I fully realize it is way too much to hope that Ginny refused Mike's call out of anger that she has effectively lost one of the few independent relationships she thought she could count upon.  

Amelia royally screwed up the Blip "demand."  Not as most are saying, that it just isn't done in baseball.  But, in that Amelia's entire job is to take the difficult meetings Ginny should never take on her own.  In fact, part of Oscar's anger would have been about this very real dynamic.  Management generally despise agents, but this is the one useful function for both sides they do offer.  They are happy to be a dick to an agent.  They are loathe to take a tough line directly with any player - especially one of Ginny's importance.   It would have been next level for the show to have Oscar vent his anger on Amelia, for whom he has the hots, too.  Oh well.

Kylie Bunbury is such a winning actress.  Her chemistry with the alky's son was off the charts.  She's great with Blip's kids, too.  She's not so good playing stupid, as TPTB are forcing her to do far too much (see Sarah's awesome ep review).  If only the showrunners were as smart as the casting people who found her and fought for her to be the lead in this show.

Don't get me started on the criminal continuity regarding the superstar catcher they just signed.  If you care to, listen carefully as there is a discussion among the execs as it is wondered allowed what they could do at the catcher's position if MIke were to somehow be talked into allowing a trade.   Amsterdam never happened.  Unreal.

What could have been.  

Edited October 30, 2016 by Lonesome Rhodes

[topanga]

4 hours ago, Lonesome Rhodes said:

Don't get me started on the criminal continuity regarding the superstar catcher they just signed.  If you care to, listen carefully as there is a discussion among the execs as it is wondered allowed what they could do at the catcher's position if MIke were to somehow be talked into allowing a trade.   Amsterdam never happened.  Unreal.

What could have been.  

Just to clarify: do you mean it's unrealistic that Mike would consider opting-out of the "no trade" clause of his contract? 

 

6 hours ago, Emily Thrace said:

Yeah they basically lied to her face at that dinner with her mom. I actually think she has right to be pissed about the lying.

But is it lying for two people not to want the entire dinner table to know they're hooking up? I get that Mike and Ginny are teammates, and Amelia is Ginny's agent, which puts Ginny in the smack in the middle if things end badly between Mike and Amelia. But all three of them are adults. Neither Mike nor Amelia was obligated to tell Ginny they were dating. It's the considerate thing to do, since she and Mike are becoming friends, and Amelia is essentially her employee. But I don't get a sense of betrayal. It's not like either one of them is Ginny's ex or her love interest. 

 

17 hours ago, Randomosity said:

Where did that idea come from? I saw nothing of the sort.

When they first met, Ginny joked about him throwing like a boy and having a good arm. He then said, "Don't underestimate the handicapped," which I have since learned was a joke. But at the time, it made me think he was disabled in some way. The entire episode I kept looking for a missing limb or a cochlear implant. Or I wondered if he had a cognitive disability.  

[rippleintime17]

This was probably my favorite episode of the series so far, even though it gave me anxiety. One of my favorite ballplayers was traded at the deadline this year with pretty much no warning. When Ginny and Blip were sitting watching the clock countdown, I was basically shouting "don't trust that clock!" because news of that trade broke AFTER the deadline (the deal itself was done prior, but it took awhile for everyone to be notified, it to come out, etc.). Even though he wasn't exactly at Blip's level, he was a fan favorite, Gold Glove-caliber everyday starting player that was drafted by and came up through the organization. So while narrative-wise, I didn't think they'd trade Blip, I couldn't convince myself that he was safe baseball-wise, even though it would have taken a lot to trade him. I loved getting to see Ginny's relationship with his sons, and hope that continues. Even though she clearly wasn't around the family while Blip was up and she was in the minors, I'll buy that she's been very close with them since coming to San Diego.

I also loved her scene with Oscar. It's true she probably should have had a better idea of how things work but with everything she's been dealing with, I get why this shook her more than it might have other years when she was in the minors. I also loved Oscar just laying it out. That was a great monologue and great delivery by Consuelos. She needed to hear that and be reminded of that and it also did well to inform/remind viewers how all of this works. 

I liked the Butch subplot a lot. I wished that we had known Butch a little better at first but when it circled back around, it actually worked really well. I'm kind of bummed about Tommy, since he and Ginny were finally starting to be friends. I wish she hadn't brushed off his son to be worried about Blip though. 

I liked Jordan and Ginny as well. It didn't even occur to me until he got in the car that his dad was the one that hit Ginny and her father. And yet it makes sense. Only thing is that it's likely Jordan would have been in the truck too but that never would have worked with the original flashback. Either way, it's a good albeit depressing tie in. Ginny's really lost a lot of relationships. It's no wonder she was trying so hard to hold onto the best one in her life that she has right now. 

Edited October 30, 2016 by rippleintime17

[ProudMary]

I think Ginny was fine in her conversation with Oscar when she was telling him how important Blip was to her in her process of acclimation to the team; how she still was having difficulty with being "one of the guys" and how much Blip helped with that.   While she was approaching Oscar that way, he was thinking about protecting the team's asset, the first female in MLB.  Once Ginny brought up Blip's sons, all bets were off.  This was familiar territory for a GM and that's when she gave Oscar the opportunity to give her the speech about players signing up for this exact life willingly, knowing just what they were getting into.