This Week in Baseball – Acuna Hit, Jansen’s Heart, Joe West, Bonds Ceremony, Record-Setting Baseball
The Hit Man…
Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Urena drilled rookie Ronald Acuna, the Atlanta Braves phenom, with his first pitch in Wednesday night’s game, sparking a melee. He was immediately ejected and on Thursday Major League Baseball ruled quickly to suspend him for six games. Acuna had hit four home runs against the Marlins and Urena’s pitch was most likely a message pitch: “We can’t stop you from hitting home runs against us, because we are bad at baseball.”
Broken Hearted…
The Los Angeles Dodgers placed All-Star closer Kenley Jansen on the 10-day disabled list with an irregular heartbeat. The Dodgers are optimistic Jansen can bounce back quickly—though it is likely he will need to undergo a heart procedure this offseason. Observers say they noticed the first symptoms last year when Jansen came in contact with the lethal virus Astros Homerunicus.
I Left My Number in San Francisco…
Controversial slugger Barry Bonds had his number retired by the San Francisco Giants. Bonds is Major League Baseball’s all-time home-run king, having finished with 762 dingers. The most memorable part of the ceremony was when Bonds took his place in left field for his final time and then injected steroids directly into his buttocks (allegedly).
The Umpire Strikes Back…
This week Joe West umped his 5,164rd game. That puts him alone in second place on the all-time list for most games worked. Congratulations to Joe and his seeing eye dog!
Having a Ball…
A baseball signed by Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Ty Cobb and other original Hall of Famers shattered the record price at auction and sold for a whopping $623,369. The ball has obviously yellowed with age, but the signatures are still well intact. One of the rumored bidders was InGen who were hoping to extract the DNA and create a park where visitors can walk among the great players of the past until Babe Ruth breaks free from his electrified fencing and attacks everyone.
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