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Craig Calcaterra

@craigcalcaterra.bsky.social
38K followers 467 following 19K posts

I write Cup of Coffee, a daily baseball, politics, entertainment, and nonsense newsletter: www.cupofcoffeenews.com

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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 3m
Calling a shit ruler "poorly-advised" is the oldest propaganda trick in the coward's book. It, quite literally, is the reason that an English king from the early 11th century was called "Æthelred the Unready" which translated to "Æthelred the poorly advised." He actually just sucked!
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 25m
Big fan B.O. but anyway go get messed up at The Lexington in Woodbridge. My buddy Dave owns it. bsky.app/profile/bara...
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 56m
I'd say "Sherlock" but thankfully it ceased production after the first three series and never did a gimmicky period piece exercise or completely skid off the road in some horrible Series 4 that absolutely never happened, thank god. bsky.app/profile/nevf...
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 3h
Today's newsletter: The Sox go up 2-0, the Yankees bumble their way to an 0-2 hole to Tampa Bay, A Few Notes on Fandom, Dennis Hastert's obit, the plague, and his own personal Jesus. www.cupofcoffeenews.com/cup-of-coffe...
cupofcoffeenews.com
Cup of Coffee: October 6, 2026
The Sox go up 2-0, the Yankees bumble their way to an 0-2 hole to Tampa Bay, A Few Notes on Fandom, Dennis Hastert's obit, the plague, and his own personal Jesus
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 6h
Like no one would've found 'em anyway. bsky.app/profile/nyti...
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 6h
Today's newsletter is out! Inside: The Sox go up 2-0 on Cleveland, the Yankees bumble their way to an 0-2 hole to Tampa Bay, A Few Notes on Fandom, Dennis Hastert's obit, the plague, and his own personal Jesus www.cupofcoffeenews.com/cup-of-coffe...
cupofcoffeenews.com
Cup of Coffee: October 6, 2026
The Sox go up 2-0, the Yankees bumble their way to an 0-2 hole to Tampa Bay, A Few Notes on Fandom, Dennis Hastert's obit, the plague, and his own personal Jesus
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 14h
I'm not a vlogger, exactly, but "A Simple Favor" takes considerable liberties with the level of excitement that attaches to the life of your average online content creator. bsky.app/profile/soph...
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 15h
Agree or disagree you have to admire his passion. bsky.app/profile/mudr...
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 18h
I like the New Balance commercials because it reminds me of when Ohtani made contact
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 18h
Fantastic advertisement for Substack too. bsky.app/profile/anth...
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 19h
I think the hardest thing about being an umpire would be not going "aw, shit, dude!" or "what the hell was that?!" when someone throws a ball away or something.
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 19h
Please not another 13 pitcher game
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 21h
I find it fucked up that the Chicago Tribune's obit of Hastert, while leading with his infamy, then seamlessly transitions into a standard political obit that's likely been in the can for 20 years. Absolutely no effort made to talk about power and abuse in light of the horrors of the current age.
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Reposted by Craig Calcaterra
Leezus H. Christ 🏳️‍⚧️ @langhuck.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
the maddest I've ever had anyone get in my Twitter mentions was when I made this joke about Blake Snell:
a tweet by Nikki Haley, who posted "12 fellas down, 1 to go", quoted by me, saying, "Blake Snell at the start of the 5th inning:"
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Today I reviewed @jcbradbury.com's upcoming book "This One Will Be Different" which stands as the foremost statement about and against public subsidies for professional sports facilities. A must read for those interested and impacted by the topic. jcbradbury.com/towbd/
jcbradbury.com
This One Will Be Different
False Promises and Fiscal Realities of Publicly Funded Stadiums, by economist J.C. Bradbury.
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Dayn Perry @daynperry.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
It's time to bother you with this again. Now available for preorder, which saves you a few bucks. To be published in January. Includes poems/prose excursions on players like Ichiro, Aaron Judge, Adrian Beltré, Dave Parker, Craig Kimbrel, Dock Ellis, Derek Bell (Operation Shutdown!), & many others.
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
In today's newsletter I wrote about the funk I've been in and how I think I may be coming out of it. For me it's always about the weather. Even when it's really other shit. www.cupofcoffeenews.com/cup-of-coffe...
I've been depressed for the last year. Like, "your therapist sending you the PHQ-9 questionnaire every other week" depressed. It's not been dangerous or debilitating depression. I don't go that way. I to shower and shave and tidy up and show up for stuff and look like a functional human. For me it's a flat, unmotivated, and pessimistic thing. Anhedonia/dysthymia are the clinical terms I've heard though I don't know if they still use those clinical terms. All I know is that it's less of a crisis than it is a drag, even if it's a major drag.

These feelings peak in late summer. I believe weather plays a big part. An inverted seasonal affective disorder, in which the heat and humidity weigh on me and keep me from wanting to go anywhere or do anything. "What might break you out of this rut, do you think?" my therapist asked me a few weeks ago. The only answer I could come up with was, "maybe things will change when the weather breaks." It's an answer that is well-informed by past experience but which, this year, felt more like a wish than an expectation.

That's probably because there's more that's been feeding this round of dysthymia than usual. The state of the world is bleaker than I can ever remember. Back in the spring a tooth began giving me huge problems and it needed a root canal but that didn't fix it because it turned out it was two teeth giving me problems so I needed a second root canal a couple of months later. Then the shoulder thing I've had grew problematic. I always maintain my outward composure but internally speaking I'm a messy drama queen when I begin feeling this way so rather than accept that these were minor, unrelated and easily-treated ailments, I began believing that my body was simply breaking down in a way that Meant Something and which said something damning and important. I know I still have lots of time left in this game but I've begin feeling like I'm going to be subbed out and that I'll have to watch thr rest of it from the sidelinesI caught a cold when I was in Detroit last weekend and it hit me hard on Monday. At some point on Tuesday, while rubbing my nose raw with tissues and waiting for the cold medicine to do its thing, I began mentally adding that to the Signs I'm Simply Breaking Down list. Then I stopped myself because that was too absurd for even my currently absurd level of wallowing. "It's just a fucking cold," I reminded myself. "You get them once a year or every other year, almost always around this time of year, and it doesn't mean shit other than that you were out doing things with humans, which is something you should be doing more of anyway. Lighten the hell up."

On Wednesday morning I drugged myself up enough to make it to the appointment I had for a cortisone injection in my fucked up shoulder. On Thursday the cold symptoms began to ebb ever so slightly and, while it shot up to 87 degrees that afternoon, the forecast showed that a change was coming. By Friday morning my cold symptoms were in full, disorganized retreat. Early that afternoon I made the ten minute walk from my house to the CVS around the corner. It had been raining all morning and as I left the house mugginess still hung in the air, but between the time I left the house and the time I headed back the wind shifted and the cool air started blowing in. I was feeling the weather break in real in time. Later that day I realized that my shoulder was about 80% better than it's been in months. The shot was working.I took my last dose of NyQuil on Friday night and it gave me a full eight and a half hours of sleep, which is easily the longest-night's sleep I've had in over a year. Saturday morning was sunny and crisp. I left the house early to meet up with a childhood friend who had driven down from Michigan with his family for his son's hockey game. We caught up a bit while watching some shockingly good hockey from a bunch of unsettlingly-talented 13 year-old kids after which we went out for an early lunch. I got home and watched hours upon hours of playoff baseball, with the windows wide open and cool breezes blowing in. An hour or so before I went to bed my daughter and a couple of her friends stopped by unexpectedly because they were going to a bar in my neighborhood. She mostly wanted to use my extra off-street parking space and my clean bathroom before going out, but it was nice to see her anyway because it's always nice to see her.

Yesterday I woke up after my second-longest night's sleep in a year, this time unaided by NyQuil. It was in the 40s as the sun was rising. I put on a fleece and, for the first time in weeks – maybe months – I went out for a purposeful walk. It was only about four miles, which is just warmup for me when I'm doing well, but it felt like an actual accomplishment yesterday. I stopped and got some breakfast at a newish place in my neighborhood in the middle and made my way back home after that feeling really, really satisfied. I spent the rest of the day reading and writing and watching baseball and making a point to appreciate three straight days of immaculate vibes.

I don't know if a good three days means my brain has turned a corner. But it might have, because the weather has broken.
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
If someone breaks laws and you choose not to hold them accountable, you have effectively rescinded said laws. That applies to constitutions as well. This is an immutable, non-negotiable fact. Any analysis of what Democrats should do once they regain power that does not acknowledge this is worthless
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
As a 53 year-old I have chosen to write-off childhood for these purposes and assume that the proper span of measurement is from the age of 18-death. Which means that if I live to 88, I'm exactly at middle age right now. bsky.app/profile/luke...
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J.C. Bradbury @jcbradbury.com · 05/10/2026
To post this pseudo-economics drivel on a government website as some sort of reasonable estimate of the financial return to taxpayers is at best negligence. At worst it's duplicitous malfeasance. In this case, it's the latter. KC officials are fully aware this is concocted BS.
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J.C. Bradbury @jcbradbury.com · 05/10/2026
Again: No method exists for projecting the economic impacts of sports stadiums. What we do know is that no stadium has ever generated enough new tax revenue to pay for itself. There's a reason you have to hire a paid consultant to come of with these numbers: they're bogus. @gpropheter.bsky.social:
But researcher Geoffrey Propheter, a professor at the University of Colorado-Denver who studies stadium financing, cast doubt on the district looping in businesses that could be miles away from the stadium and calls for incentives that align more closely with the footprint of the stadium itself. Some economists regularly question the touted economic impact of pricey, publicly-supported stadium deals around the country “There’s no way you could draw something this large and with a straight face say, ‘I’m only targeting people who are here because of the stadium,’” he said. “Now, if that was true, your TIF would be only the stadium footprint. Even then, that’s not precise.”
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
This is technically accurate but referring to Hastert as a guy guilty in a hush money case certainly buries the lede. It's like calling Al Capone a tax cheat or O.J. Simpson a memorabilia thief on first reference. bsky.app/profile/phil...
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Today's newsletter: The weekend action, the Sex Pistols, J.C. Bradbury's "This One Will Be Different," some actual good news about the end of the universe, and some words about my mental state now that the weather has broken www.cupofcoffeenews.com/cup-of-coffe...
cupofcoffeenews.com
Cup of Coffee: October 5, 2026
The weekend action, the Sex Pistols, J.C. Bradbury's "This One Will Be Different," some actual good news about the end of the universe, and some words about my mental state now that the weather has…
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
The early internet didn't suck up my life's work without permission or compensation, use it for its own profit, condition people to accuse me of aping the style of the thief, and then yell at me and call me a luddite when I objected to it. bsky.app/profile/gold...
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Today's newsletter is out! Inside: The weekend action, the Sex Pistols, J.C. Bradbury's "This One Will Be Different," some actual good news about the end of the universe, and some words about my mental state now that the weather has broken. www.cupofcoffeenews.com/cup-of-coffe...
cupofcoffeenews.com
Cup of Coffee: October 5, 2026
The weekend action, the Sex Pistols, J.C. Bradbury's "This One Will Be Different," some actual good news about the end of the universe, and some words about my mental state now that the weather has br...
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I went to see the Sex Pistols tonight instead of watching the Dodgers game and absolutely everything about that box score suggests that I made the right call. Blake Snell starts should be outlawed by the Geneva Convention
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
The Padres 2026 season
static.klipy.com
Tom's Soul Leaving Body
Alt: Tom's Soul Leaving Body
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Holy. Shit.
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
A two-run walkoff homer here would fastrack my Mason-Miller-Becomes-Rod-Beck idea. He'd feel like he has no choice.
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Watched the episode where they pitched Heinz Ketchup in my Mad Men rewatch the other night and I cannot imagine how quickly both Don and Ted would've rejected anyone pitching that gross-ass scrambled egg/"All of Me" Heinz commercial they just showed.
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Ilya Rozanov: "What the fuck is Megill?"
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Trying to imagine what Mason Miller is gonna be like when he ages a bit and gets a big guy pitcher ass. He's gonna be even more unhittable then than he is now.
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Shy, Bookish Umpire Actually Really Beautiful When He Takes Mask Off — theonion.com/shy-bookish-...
theonion.com
Shy, Bookish Umpire Actually Really Beautiful When He Takes Mask Off
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
What the shit was that
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
There has been some great defense in this game. And some not great defense in this game.
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
This game feels like the pitch clock isn’t on
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Running with our tail between our legs from a UK airbase? We're so totally winning! bsky.app/profile/nyti...
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
I lauded the ~long shadows~ at Progressive Field the other day, but Miller Park has some excellent ~long shadows~ too
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
In light of that Atlantic article going around featuring the traumatized truck driver who hit Pierre Damas Bel, I'll re-up what I wrote a month ago. craigcalcaterra.com/blog/there-i...
craigcalcaterra.com
Blood on J.D. Vance’s hands
A young Haitian man walked in front of a truck. His blood is on J.D. Vance’s hands
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Don’t tease me like this www.404media.co/our-solar-sy...
404media.co
Our Solar System Is Terminally Unstable and Will Be Completely Destroyed, Study Finds
The estimated lifespan of the outer solar system has been downgraded from 100 billion years to just a few billion years, according to a study that probed “terminal instability” during the Sun’s death.
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
My daughter texts. She and her friends are going to the bar down the street from me and she's stopping in for a minute first. Allison: Why do they want to go there on Saturday night? It's crazy. Me: They're 22. They're the reason we don't go out on Saturday night.
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Dylan Dodd, have yourself a fucking day
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Only the best umps make the postseason
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
That was definitely a "let's all just get out of here" appeal to third
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Progressive Field has the best afternoon ~baseball long shadows~ in the game.
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Been so long since I've seen successful framing in a ballgame.
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Whenever I see previews for CBS procedurals I think "god, I'd ever watch that" while simultaneously getting a weird nostalgia for the monoculture.
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Today I woke up after my longest-night's sleep in a year, met up with a childhood friend and watched his kid's hockey game, I'm now on the couch watching a ballgame with a nice beer in-hand and chili in the crockpot, and it's absolutely perfect fall weather. If this isn't nice I don't know what is.
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
I cannot see the AT&T commercials with the guy who played Jaimé on "Broad City" and not think of Jaimé from "Broad City."
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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Why are they praising the third base coach for a play on which the runner had about a 95% chance of being out?
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