Quote of the Week
“ I know the plots and punchlines to like 5 Bad News Bears movies but I know nothing at all about Mike Trout, DeGrom or Kluber. Shine a light on the stars and stories of our game, MLB Network. ”
– Brandon McCarthy, Atlanta Braves
This Week in Baseball
The Fans Have Spoken...
In the first round of Major League Baseball All-Star balloting updates, it wasn’t Mike Trout or José Altuve or Aaron Judge who led the way in voting. It was Boston Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts. Betts has received 748,872 votes early on. That gave him a slight edge on Altuve, and a nice lead on Trout—who trails Betts by more than 100,000 votes. It's still early in the voting and it will still come down to what the Electoral College does.
To Tommy John or Not to Tommy John...
Despite rumors to the contrary, the Los Angeles Angels insist Tommy John surgery is not yet a consideration for two-way star Shohei Ohtani. "I have not heard that," said manager Mike Scioscia. "The doctors are obviously very confident that he's going to get back out there. We're going to be very conservative with Shohei. But we're very hopeful that he's going to be pitching for us again this season." If you aren't fluent in Manager Speak that translates to: "Yes, he is definitely getting Tommy John surgery."
What's in a Name...
The Staten Island Yankees announced Monday that they were honoring a 2016 fan vote to change their name, and will be selling merchandise promoting the new one. "Pizza Rats" emerged as the winning moniker in the Name the Team contest, when fans voted overwhelmingly for the infamous pizza-slice-carrying subway rodent seen in a viral video that was popular at the time. Runner up names were "Double Rainbow," "Grumpy Cat" and "Leave Britney Alone!"
Arm and Dangerous...
Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire announced that Miguel Cabrera's season is over. During a loss to the Twins on Tuesday night Cabrera suffered a ruptured left biceps tendon while swinging at a pitch in the third inning. Cabrera immediately dropped his bat and motioned to the dugout that something was wrong. Teammates knew that something was wrong with the heavyset Cabrera who has played through pain repeatedly over the years. It's worth noting that "pain" is French for "bread."
He Was Robbed...
Braves pitcher Anibal Sanchez turned in a strong outing in Saturday’s game against the Dodgers, leading to a 5-3 win. But that was the “good” part of the day for him. Sanchez returned to the hotel where the team was staying and came to find out his room had been burglarized. It was estimated that roughly $100,000 worth of items had been stolen. So, basically just the contents of the mini bar.
On the Air
“ Goldschmidt may be ruminating over his at bats on a nightly basis... In his own emotional humidor. ”
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Episode 67: Coffee Explosions; Mariners Get Alex Colome; Hanley Ramirez Gone; Jose Altuve Streak; Bumgarner, Kershaw Return; Roseanne Barr; Kim Kardashian
First and foremost, after stating last week that Jerry Dipoto had no arrows in his quiver to make a trade, the Seattle GM pulls the trigger and lands Alex Colome and Denard Span. Well played, Jerry. Well played. Episode 67 …
Going Deep
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Toronto Blue Genes: Guerrero, Bichette, Biggio
With all the success the motion picture industry is having these days with sequels, it’s no surprise Major League Baseball is following suit. Just look at all these young players whose fathers played in the big leagues. Baseball is a …
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It’s Officially Summer Now That MLB Is the Only Game in Town
There are a million ways to define summertime, but for me, summer arrived for real on Friday when the Golden State Warriors finished off the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. The Washington Capitals won the Stanley Cup the night …
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How Red Schoendienst Taught Me What a Manager Does
In July of 1975, I went to my first professional baseball game at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. The recently departed Red Shoendienst was the Cardinals manager that day, meaning he filled out the lineup card, and he made the …
Off Base
