"Gleeman and The Geek" is a podcast for fans of the Minnesota Twins. Gleeman refers to Aaron Gleeman, who covers the Twins for The Athletic. His podcast sidekick, "The Geek," is John Bonnes, the proprietor of Twins Daily, an online news site for all things Twins. I have a friend whose knowledge of the Twins' farm system calls to mind the adjective "encyclopedic." He's also fond of informing me, for instance, that Luis Arraez is batting .260 against left-handed pitchers (.360 against righties) and that the opposing team's batting average against Sonny Gray on his third trip through their batting order is .320. I used to think the devotion to Twins Studies exhibited by such esoteric knowledge must exceed that of fundamentalists for the Bible, but, having now driven to Wichita with him by way of a Des Moines stopover, I realize that his secret is listening to "Gleeman and The Geek" in the car and perusing Twins Daily on his iPad while ingesting the morning dose of caffeine. If he can store for recall one morsel per session, a conservative estimate, it's still more than enough to amaze a more casual fan.
On the podcast, which is both smart and funny, Gleeman comes off as the bigger geek while Bonnes supplies the laugh track. I come to discover, however, that Bonnes is a nerdish number grinder as well, and not only on the topic of baseball. Both guys live in downtown Minneapolis, and Bonnes, judging by his social media posts, is highly annoyed with the Grand Old Party's narrative concerning a crime wave that's made our city center not just unlivable but dangerous for the courageous suburban sojourner who wants to go to Target Field and maybe enjoy a late meal with a few drinks after the game. His retort is a series of posts called Today's Dangerous #DowntownDawdle, which consists mostly of selfies of him and his wife enjoying themselves in crowded downtown establishments. He always calls out the business name, and usually in the background you can see a plated sample from the menu and a few dead soldiers—neither he nor the Mrs. appear to be teetotalers. The subtext is plainly, "Another fun night without getting shot!" He's also a pretty good photographer: a recent variation was a picture of the just risen sun glistening off the sides of Minneapolis's glassy skyscrapers—it concluded with a thank-you to his dog, whose weak bladder I guess accounted for him being outside with his phone at that hour.
Since The Geek has a lot of followers, it was just a matter of time before some people started replying with links to news stories about our mean streets. What about the lead on KARE 11 last night? Your head's in the sand! Get real about crime data! Sure, it's great for you in the prosperous North Loop, but what about the less privileged? (Everyone knows Republicans care deeply about the less privileged.) Bonnes's response was an exercise in social sabermetrics: he applied Minneapolis crime statistics to demographic data and roughed out the probability of being assaulted in downtown Minneapolis. Executive summary: if you dare drive east into downtown on 394 from, say, Wayzata, you might as well go to the game/concert/play/saloon/restaurant/show because, once out of your car, by far the most dangerous part of the evening is over. He notes that his calculation overstates your peril considerably if you are not the kind of person to get into drunken arguments with strangers in bars.
I see that Dr. Scott Jensen, the GOP candidate for governor, has interviewed some 70ish ladies from outstate Minnesota somewhere who say they are too scared to come to Minneapolis anymore. Well, yeah, of course they're scared: they've been listening to you, not geeky John Bonnes! Anyway, what is the Republican solution to the problem candidates like Jensen are loudly diagnosing? Their brief is a lie, inasmuch as the point seems to be that violent crime is a problem mainly in big cities in blue states with Democratic mayors and governors. Of the ten states with the highest murder rates in 2020 (the last year for which comprehensive data is available), eight have voted for the Republican presidential candidate in every election this century. Murder rates in Trump states were 40% higher than in states carried by Biden. The five states with the highest murder rates are, in order, Mississippi, Louisiana, Kentucky, Alabama, and Missouri. Of the hundred biggest cities in America, only two are in these five states, but all five have a Republican governor and a Republican majority in their state legislature—not just for the last year or two, either. You can look these things up. It's as if the failing students were shouting advice about how the others should study.
ADDENDUM
Tonight’s “Dangerous” #DowntownDawdle :
— John Bonnes (@TwinsGeek) August 20, 2022
• #MNTwins win, duh.
• Nur-D album 💿
release party at First Ave
• midnight drinks 🍺 on O’Donovan’s patio
• a 2:30 AM walk (stumble?) thru downtown’s mean streets.
• Our status: yet again, still alive. 👫😉 pic.twitter.com/wTkjFcyE0W
Comments