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There comes a time when failure gets to be so overwhelming that humor sets in and all one can do is laugh at the futility. We are nearing that moment. We might all soon be following the 66’ers just to maintain our sanity.
I search hard for any hard-hitting interviews with Arte Moreno or Billy Eppler asking for some perspective, or thoughts about possible actions or activities to provide support for the survivors. I find nothing. If one of you finds any such thing, let me know. Such would be the kind of thing that some news person with access might do with their spare time.
Now, have some Five-Point-Five-Games-Out-Of-Last-Place-Links:
A Little Bit Of Shohei Ohtani News
It’s our Shohei magical Thursday, so look for more news today/tomorrow. But Billy Eppler has already come out and stated that we will see Shohei again this year on offense, at a minimum..............
One more time, MLB, put the Ohtani BP sessions on TV!............
And while you are thinking of Ohtani, thinking that he is in, effect, rehabbing (along with a dozen other players), read this piece by ex-MLB’er Doug Glanville on what goes on in the mind of an MLB player during rehab..........
A Little Bit Of Mike Trout News
Mike Trout owns Safeco Field. And we love him for it. (But holy hell. A-Rod hit 38 home runs in Angels Stadium, a notorious pitcher’s park?).............
A Little Bit Of Angels News
Oh why the hell not? After all, didn’t we get our team of trainers from the Chernobyl Department of Safety Engineering? Add Zack Cozart the Lost Horizons list. Cozart went to a second doctor for a look at his shoulder injury, and off to surgery he goes. 6 to 8 months gone. Thank our stars that we have a bright young prospect such as David Fletcher to come in cold as a last-ditch pinch-hitter from time to time, backing up Luis Valbuena. If only Fletcher were as old and experienced as a Miguel Andujar.........
But wait! There’s more!! Read this paragraph in the next 5 minutes and we will also throw in Jake Jewel getting carried off the field on a stretcher. Jewel caught his cleat and rolled his ankle beneath his own leg, while trying to slide at the plate to receive a throw from catcher Martin Maldonado after a wild pitch. Graciously, MLB film editors conclude the video linked above with the still shot of Jewel’s foot attempting to disconnect from his leg...........
MLB trying to pump up some love for Andrelton Simmons ASG voting. Way too late guys. But then, this is the kind of thing that gets boosted by playing in a World Series..............
Brandon Phillips found a home. Right there in Boston. Right when we are in town..........
Everywhere In Baseball
The Tigers fired their pitching coach on the spot for saying something pretty notorious to another Detroit employee. Social media being what it is, those words will come out eventually (the latest is that they were racial in nature). But a significantly large numbers of major enterprises have zero-tolerance policies for some classes of aberrant behavior, and Bosio appears to have failed his HR training..........
After destroying the thin veneer that is the LAA offense, Boston pitcher David Price was confronted by the Boston media asshats. And one of the asshats asked an asshat question. And asshat David Price trolled their asshattery hard. Price does have his asshat moments, but this was not one of them. The media was left less than amused. For its part, the New York media would love to deepen the divide.........
Baseball players, like all athletes, go through an aging curve that impacts their performance. It’s a human process, loaded with human interest. Sam Miller gives a fine essay to remind us all...........
This is interesting. Of all 29 other teams that might be a target for a Manny Machado trade, the Dodgers are the favorites. Losing Corey Seager to TJ surgery, opening up the SS position, makes the deal seem right. But Seager won’t be on the DL forever. He is listed as possible for 2019. Would the Dodgers really allow the Orioles to raid their farm system for a rental in a year that they don’t seem to be anywhere near strong enough to compete with whomever comes out of the AL and into the World Series? They already have 3B and SS locked up through 2020 and Machado ain’t going to take a 1 or 2-year deal as a Free Agent. Could this mean that they would be willing to move a Seager (two-time All-Star, Rookie of the Year, two-time MVP vote getter, still pre-arb, still team-controlled through 2021) or a Justin Turner a year from now?..........In any event, Machado, you need to remember to be on your very best behavior during your contract year..........
The Mets suck, so the calls are starting to rise to get Tim Tebow up to Citi Field..............
Yet another statistically important resource has noticed the the AL Central is sucking at an historically bad level..........
Marc Normandin up at the SBN Mothership jumps into the Luke Heimlich fray on behalf of his fellow, Whitney McIntosh. And his readership brutalizes him for it. Mostly because Marc wants everybody to go beyond their professional obligation and editorialize as a substitute for the legal framework within which we all live. As long, presumably, as we all do so in favor of Marc’s personal and social opinions...........Jeff Passan is far more thoughtful about the issue (far less than a Normandin will like). Passan is also on the side of once-bad, punished forever vote (that is “once-bad” as in “once you have done something bad”, not as in “you have done something bad only once”)...........
How is THIS for backlash? After the Dodgers lost the World Series last year to Houston, Dodger fans on social media went after Yu Darvish hard. Hard enough that Darvish, after reading that stuff, didn’t want his children to have to deal with Dodger fans on a day-to-day basis in school...........
The Rays, trailblazers on ‘the opener’ front, are also stretching the boundaries on what is usual and customary by moving the guy who they need to pitch around the field on defensive assignments..........
I dunno, Joey Votto. It looks like over the plate and at the letters, to me. And don’t blame me if the cartoon drawers draw their cartoon box wrong on the television broadcast. That was a very nice pitch, Mr. Sean Newcomb.......... Votto would later agree that he deserved to get rung up.............
Jayson Werth has finally heard the message. He is done, so he is retiring..........
I didn’t link to this yesterday because news was sparse. They aren’t much better yet, but at least we now know who it was that was found dead in a cold storage locker in Atlanta’s new SunTrust Stadium..........
You know our sport is overly controlled by some uptight an crotchety porch kings when we have to make a big legal negotiating deal out of shoe colors............
I was reading this article about MLB trying to help find ways to overcome the many challenges facing proper diversity in our sport. As I did, I came across this passage: “A good number of team-based communities are either indifferent or actively hostile toward their female fans, in particular, and this part of the culture is not limited to those communities. It’s hard to find women writing about baseball when those women are inherently treated as something lesser—when the default is to assume that they don’t know those jobs.” From my POV, I do not see that here. If I am wrong, I encourage the dialog. But I have never seen any such hostility between our members. Good for you. Good on you............
Oregon State enjoyed a miracle comeback in the 9th inning last night to sneak off with a 5-3 Game 2 victory and force a final, deciding Game 3 tonight. At one point is was the 9th inning, Arkansas leading 3-2, 2 outs, the tying run on 3B, the count 1-1. And a foul pop fly to end the game is hit by OSU batter Cadyn Grenier just past 1B. Nobody catches it. Grenier would single in the tying run, the score the go-ahead (eventual winning) run when Trevor Larnach batting behind him homered..............ESPN was pretty eager to get the scoop, though..........
This is it. The Department of Justice is prepared to approve Disney’s purchase of FOX, provided Disney sell off the 22 FOX Regional Sports Networks. Victor and Gubi will NOT be reporting up to The Mouse, after all..........
The Duffle Bag
I can find fault with Derek Jeter with many things. But not for flipping a house that was once worth only $34 per square foot. It takes a lot of time, effort and capital to renovate 12,500 square feet AND the surrounding grounds..........(h/t UniWatch). In World Cup Soccer (another sport), in a match played in St. Petersburg, Russia (another country on another continent 1⁄3 of the way around the world), played between Argentina and Nigeria (neither of whom have anything to do with Milwaukee, USA), a fan of the Brewers was in attendance. Can you find Waldo?..............Mike Clevinger, remembering his Anaheim roots..........Father/daughter first catch is the new wedding tradition, people..........To celebrate his birthday, Jim Edmonds with one of the Top 10 catches ever. Wish I had seen it in person...........MLB promoting Baseball. Because Aaron Judge is making them do it and showing them how..........
