TuesdoLinks: Shoe Laces Up a Victory

The Shoe Shines Again!

Matt Shoemaker returned to the mound for the first time since March, and blanked the Rangers over 5 strong innings of work. That’s 0 runs and only 2 hits, giving up only 1 walk while striking out 3. He only had to face 17 batters to get through those 5 innings. Vintage Shoey, and just in time to smoke the Rangers.

On offense, credit to Taylor Ward for a 2-run home run, and then David Fletcher for a run-scoring single. That’s all 3 of the LAA runs (Andrelton Simmons stranded 6 runners while going 0 for 4), and the Angels kick off the Rangers series with a 3-1 win.

Labor through these Down-To-An-Elimination-Number-Of-9-HaloLinks, because The Grim Reaper is near:

A Little Bit Of Shohei Ohtani News

It’s confirmed. Shohei’s velo drop on Sunday had nothing to do with his elbow......Actually, he feels perfectly normal after a start, everything looked fine, and he is expected to start again this upcoming Sunday............

A Little Bit Of Mike Trout News

One more data point that Mike Trout is wasting his 2018 Season Of Prime. Still plenty of time to hit 10 WAR, and he is pretty much a lock to lead the AL in walks, which is keeping him in the lead for OBP...........

A Little Bit Of Angels News

Billy Eppler is doing stuff. Not sure what. Not sure why. But it’s keeping the phone lines warm. He claimed RHP Luke Farrell from the Cubs, and DFA’d Osmer Morales.........

Interesting. There is a general principal in most sports that if an infraction occurs prior to the conclusion of some event in play, it is not proper to assume a successful completion of a play, by either side. You have to still make the player earn it. But there in the 4th inning last night Mike Trout was on 1B and Jose Fernandez was batting. 1 out, count 3-2. Trout was going on the pitch. Fernandez swung at a pitch low and inside and ended up obstructing Rangers catcher Robinson Chirinos. Therefore, no play could be made at 2B on Trout’s movement. It’s not right to assume Trout steals the base in the event that the Rangers could make a clean play. I get that part. What I don’t get is why the rule book assumes that the Rangers would have successfully completed a put out? I would think that Trout, as the runner, should have been returned to 1B. No advantage gained. Instead, he was called out, giving the advantage to the defense............

Everywhere In Baseball

Cleveland took control of Josh Donaldson and put him right back on the DL. Some scribes failed to understand the meaning of this. But not Donaldson, who promptly went out onto a Minor League field for a rehab game and hit a grand slam...........

There is a Little League level fundamental that you figure out what to do with the ball if it is hit to you, before every pitch. As adults, we call this situational awareness. The key is that you don’t waste time trying to figure things out in the split seconds that you have to make a play. Because those figuring things out microseconds are all that an offense needs to defeat you. Case in point: Kris Bryant, not going home with his infield snag. It’s why he (and the entire infield) was drawn in to begin with.........

Holy crap. Wiffle Ball has gone ultra competitive? Isn’t that missing the point, kind of like Xtreme tic-tac-toe?...........

Here you go, a tale from two cities. From Chicago, you have Hawk Harrelson complaining about athletes using their celebrity status to speak out on things beyond the confines of their arena. Kind of ironic, since the only reason that Harrelson has a voice is due to the celebrity he accrued as a player and broadcaster of a sport. But, anyway, from Phoenix you have Victoria Jackson, ASU sports historian, pointing out that sports, at its roots, existed as a means of projecting political projects..........

As if trying to survive the Minor Leagues is not tough enough, going AWOL prior to your scheduled start because you disagree with which game you should be starting is NOT the way to impress MLB Front Offices...........

It looks like the Rangers had the chance to do Adrian Beltre a solid, because some WS contender came calling about his availability. But Beltre said no. He’s happy losing in the miserable Texas heat..........

It’s still coming. MSM writers shaming the MLB owners over Service Time rules because the MLB Players Association negotiated away the rights of non-union Minor Leaguers for creature comforts. “It was like they didn’t care about money anymore,” one league official said.....Meaningful negotiating time was spent on issues the league happily accepted in exchange for stronger financial positions. The players wanted a chef in the clubhouse. The players wanted two seats apiece on spring training buses. The players wanted more off-days. Lifestyle and amenities took precedent more than ever.” It’s especially brutal since the issue of service time manipulation was well-known prior to the new CBA being negotiated. So the players, through their union head Tony Clark, screwed themselves horribly. For one thing, they didn’t go to bat over service time rules. They gifted the owners a blank check. The owners are cashing it in. Certainly we can consider the owners greedy for adding more zeros on that check than the players anticipated, but the blame of original sin remains with the players...........

It’s September, and the Death Watch is in full gear. In the AL, the White Sox, Tigers, Royals and Orioles are already dust. The Rangers have just gotten that tap on the shoulder. Toronto and Minnesota are right around the corner, and the Halos are in single digits. Over in the NL, where the inferior teams own the playoff spots, everybody is still alive. But the Padres and Marlins have only hours of life expectancy remaining...........

The Duffle Bag

Joey Votto remembers that baseball is supposed to be fun...........When your own catcher’s noisy glove pitch frames you right into a ball 4 that has even the batter mystified..........Yeah. Why wait for your teammates to douse somebody during the post-game interview when your team walks off, when you can douse yourself as part of the party?..........Bill “Spaceman” Lee is still playing? The dude is 71!..........Wil Myers gets bit in his Fortnite ass............Archie Bradley learns that the Internet never forgets. And the LA Dodgers social media maven is now hoping that Bradley is far more forgetful. Because this season ain’t over.........