Mariners Moose Tracks, 2/14/17: Valentines Day, Steve Clevenger, and Derek Jeter

Happy Valentines Day everybody! On this day of love, Craig Calcaterra decided to spread some hate regarding the film “Field of Dreams.” Calcaterra outlines a myriad of reasons for why he dislikes the film, and you should definitely read it. Here’s a little taste of what he’s getting at:

The problem here is that “Field of Dreams” does a horrible job of telling the story it wants to tell. And, to be honest, the story it wants to tell is a pretty terrible one once you dig even an inch below the surface.

[...]

Nearly the entire weight of baseball fandom’s love for this movie is based on this father-son-dynamic — indeed, anyone who passionately advocates for this movie, always a man, will reference their own father within the first 30 seconds — but it does nothing to actually show us the conflict or to convince us that it’s real.

I love me a hot movie take. But as someone who was raised to hear — from my mother, by the way — that Field of Dreams wast the perfect baseball movie, I’m inclined to disagree with his conclusions.

Field of Dreams isn’t my favorite baseball movie. But to me, the movie is about finding common ground and building a good relationship despite a rocky history. For Ray and his father, baseball was a first step and unfortunately a last step in trying to salvage a lost relationship.

The conclusion is emotionally beautiful and laced with wonder. A sport filled with magic — from superstitions to incredible story lines — couldn’t end any better way.

Come at me with your baseball movie takes. I’m curious what you all think about Calcaterra’s argument.

Other than that, let’s see what else is happening in sports.

In Mariners news...

• Bob Dutton — and it should be noted he is not an evaluator — released his top 10 Mariners prospect list.
• FOX 12 Oregon sat down with Andrew Moore to get his thoughts heading into spring training.
• For the first time since his removal from the M’s, Steve Clevenger talked about the tweets that ended his season.

Around the league...

• In former Mariners news, the Nationals are close to a deal with first baseman Adam Lind.
• It appears as though the David Rollins journey has finally come to an end. The reliever cleared waivers with the Cubs and has been assigned to the minors.
• Derek Jeter and his wife are expecting their first kid.
• The Royals have agreed to a two-year contract with Travis Wood.

Anders’ picks...

• Just a little self-promotion here: below is a video of my a cappella group’s performance at last weekend’s competition that earned us fourth place and an award for the best arrangement for “In the Air Tonight!” (last song, starts at 8:00).