ALT There's an Onion story from the Great Recession about whether T.J. Maxx was in a downward spiral or conducting business as usual, which I've thought about the last couple of days. “The state of this store does not in any way correspond to our standard criteria for judging long-term viability,” said economist Graham Stinson, referring to Chicago’s Fullerton Avenue branch, where more than half of the fluorescent lights are burnt out. “For instance, the canvas bins heaped with broken stemware in aisle six may be a sign that T.J. Maxx is on the verge of complete bankruptcy. Either that, or it’s doing perfectly fine. It’s impossible to say which.” When the Phillies call upon their closer in the seventh inning, desperation hangs in the air. When Houston has to play its two most battle-tested veterans at defensive positions, it's the sign of an impending identity crisis. When the Red Sox cut short Wild Card Series starts out of deference to the Times Through the Order Penalty even though th

ALT From Venable's postgame briefing with reporters in Houston on Thursday (emphasis mine): "We believe in [Castillo]. He's here to help us and ultimately his job is not to go out there and throw six scoreless innings. He needs to give us a chance to win. And there's been a couple in which we haven't been able to get there. But we believe that he can do that. We have confidence in him. We're going to continue to support him. We're going to continue to work. He's not somebody that you need to push to work and make adjustments. He's open to anything and so we've just got to keep working and find the right one for him." I just wouldn't take that any such comments as a signal that they'll remain steadfast to the status quo. "We're going to continue to work" can be read as commitment, but it can also be read as as an acknowledgment of the bare minimum while waiting for greater action to be taken. What Venable said about Castillo hit a lot of the same notes as one of his predecessors when deal