NERDS AROUND TOWN
Nerds Around Town: Sandman, Young Justice and Spider Man
Jul 1, 2019, 6:30 am
ART BY JESUS RODRIGUEZ
Born with a comic book in one hand and a remote control in the other, Cory DLG is the talent of Conroe's very own Nerd Thug Radio and Sports. Check out the podcast replay of the FM radio show at www.nerdthugradio.com!
Hey Nerds!
Monday is back! Let's make this week our bitch guys! It's a short week so this should be really easy!
GOOD DEED OF THE DAY
This week is the Fourth of July, get pumped and be excited for people and for this great nation and help people in need. While you're grilling and relaxing and having a great day, remember there are tons of people who don't have it as good as we do and it's not looking great for them. Reach out to them and help them out. #NerdsUnite
YOUNG JUSTICE RETURNS
Today is comic book heavy, tomorrow to the DC App Young Justice: The Outsiders returns. This has been one of the most consistent and entertaining superhero cartoons in recent memory. This show has been an awesome portrayal of some solid superhero combat and great characters and some awesome long form storytelling. The series has also been telling one long form story over these three seasons eventually building into this story about a war with Apokolips and superhuman trafficking. The introduction of the Outsider characters and the story of an undercover super hero team is awesome to watch and I wish more cartoons took this long form storytelling method and took the idea of superheroes as serious as Young Justice has.
SPIDER MAN! SPIDER MAN!
It's debuting here in the states tomorrow after debuting overseas this weekend. Kevin Feige the godfather of all things Marvel Films is saying that this is the proper end to the Marvel Infinity Stones saga or Phases 1 through 3. This film tells the tale of a mourning Peter Parker dealing with a world without Tony Stark and feeling the pressure to become the next Iron Man. From the previews it looks like Happy Hogan is heavily involved in this story as is Nick Fury, in a post snap world. This movie tells the story of what that world looks like now that there are people who were gone from the world for five years come back to a world that's moved on without them, including Spider Man. The Mysterio villain is a great movie character to use as he is the master of Illusions, so there's no telling where this could go. The idea of a multiverse is interesting but let's see if they stay on that path after the reveal of it in the previews, but I think potentially it's a trick.
SAY WHAT?
Netflix made an interesting decision and announced they have picked up the rights to Vertigo's Sandman. Written by Neil Gaiman, this is an incredible tale featuring the story of Morpheus the sandman, who sees the dreams of humans. The series was in the late 80s, early 90s crazy period of DC Comics where they were experimenting with Vertigo Comics and trying to find a way to bring great comic books back to the industry which was suffering from a lack of creativity at the time. Gaiman is one of the most creative and daring writers in comic books and fiction in general, so he sat to work creating one of the most amazing and entertaining series in the Vertigo line. It's translated into more than likely one of the most expensive shows potentially in the history of Netflix. It's been positioned as a movie before and in 1996 it would have been a $100 million cerebral fantasy series, now it'll probably be a $150 million fantasy series instead of a movie. The evolution has been long and winding but now the show is at the place that might be perfect for it after HBO/Time Warner/ATT passed on it due to possible show budgets. This is an interesting development in the streaming wars, as a possible sign that these two could work together against Disney, but that seems unlikely for any real length of time.
NOT THAT YOU ASKED
It's going to be all over TV today, but obviously NBA free agency is going on these next few days and I love it. This is one of those awesome wild times in sports where a bunch of people get a bunch of money from a bunch of teams and there are always several surprises in the mix. In the always disappointing department it's already come out that The Knicks didn't offer Kevin Durant a max contract so he decided to not even meet with them. What are they smoking? The Nets have formed a Big Two and a Half with Kevin Durant actually signing there, Kyrie Irving signing there, Deandre Jordan joining LeVert their surprise stud of the roster. The Bucks gave Kris Middleton a very large contract to keep him in Milwaukee and help the Greek Freak get back to the Eastern Conference Finals. Miami was able to get a trade for Jimmy Butler much to the chagrin of Houston (seriously, ugh!), and now all of a sudden Kwahi might go to the Lakers ruining The Clippers and Toronto's offseasons. Stay tuned and remembered, all the contracts are guaranteed.
Feel free to check out my digital short story The Wilson House or buy a shirt from Side Hustle Ts where some proceeds help people struggling with cancer or listen to Nerd Thug Radio. Thoughts, complaints, events and comments can be sent to corydlg@gmail.com.
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.