December 21, 2021
1. The Buck Showalter era begins in New York
First, there was the announcement on Saturday, coming not from a reporter or official team page, but from Mets owner Steve Cohen himself:
And then today, he was introduced — and it’s a Happy Buckmas season, to all who celebrate.
Some highlights, from the remote press conference — as Buck Showalter makes his return to managing (and here’s the career path, if you’re unfamiliar, or like me forgot about his Diamondbacks tenure completely).
2. Ichiro Suzuki pitched against high school kids in Japan
The legend, the man, the pitcher.
Here’s the full video, on Youtube:
3. An umpire in Mexico was ejected for drunkenly flipping off the fans and trying to start a fight
This is just absolutely glorious footage here.
4. The A’s announce Mark Kotsay as their new manager
He’s one of those Gabe-Kapler-esque sounds familiar but what did his career look like again? guys, in the same camp as the Darin Erstads and Chase Headleys of the world — and so, now he’ll be back into an MLB dugout near you, lockout notwithstanding.
What he’s been up to lately, from MLB Trade Rumors:
“It’ll be the first managerial stint for the 46-year-old, who spent the 2021 campaign as the A’s third base coach. While he’d only served in that capacity for one season, the longtime MLB outfielder has been on the Oakland staff for a while. Kotsay originally signed on as bench coach over the 2015–16 offseason. After two years in that capacity, he bounced to quality control coach for a few seasons before taking over third base coaching duties last winter.”
And his career numbers as a player:
5. And the A’s might be staying in Oakland, after all
Can’t they just figure this out already?
6. The sign of the apocalypse: These Cubs fans
Bringing back only the best old Sports Illustrated repeating feature for this occasion. My beloved, neighborly Cub fans (and other fans around the league, too) — have we all just forgotten about the whole Astros scandal?
Add in the fact that they’ve blasphemed a holy religious line (‘Gloria in Excelsis Deo’), this might be the worst thing I’ve seen all year:
Carlos Correa is among the most vile guys in the entire league, far more so than Altuve or any other the others in that group. You look at his eyes and that line from Jaws comes to mind:
“The thing about a shark, he’s got lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll’s eyes.”
7. There was a beach home run derby in the Bahamas
Jazz Chisholm made baseball in the Bahamas cool — maybe they’ll put cricket aside and become another Caribbean pipeline for MLB talent?
8. The baseball outfits of the week
Former Nationals players know how to dress up.
9. The legal troubles highlight of the week: Miguel Tejada
A bit of a fall from grace, from the former A.L. MVP.
10. Noah Syndergaard was given permission to wear a special uniform number
With a nod to the late Nick Adenhart, former Angels pitched killed in a 2009 car crash.
11. The quote of the day: Showalter using the term “spongeful”
Taking a note from the Joe Maddon playbook, here.
Also, this was a nice little mention, from Showalter:
12. Right when the Steve Cohen money Mets are taking off, Frontline posts their insider-trading documentary on his hedge fund
Airing originally in 2014, and reposted days ago — and an interesting watch if you’re looking for something (having nothing to do with baseball but the title).
13. Red Sox owner John Henry buys the Harvard Book Store
If memory serves correctly, I went there once and bought a Calvin & Hobbes book — so keep those in stock, please, Mr. Henry.
14. Rest in peace, Kimera Bartee — Tigers first-base coach
Sad story, here.
15. And lastly, MLB is being sued by minor league teams
Not a great stretch for major-league baseball, these past few weeks.
The full article link here (and an excerpt):
But hey, they went and made this gesture, which was very nice:
