July 17, 2021
1. Jake Cronenworth hits for the cycle, and the Padres score 24 runs
Where to even start with this one?
The Padres set the franchise record for runs scored. They were on the board in every single inning but the seventh. They revived “Slam Diego” for yet another night. They brought football season to us two months early.
About as good a way to start the second half of a season, a very important, iconic season for this great Padres team, as there can be.
With the grand finale to it all being the culmination of the “Crone Zone”, of “Jake from Rake Farm”, completing the cycle with an infield single:
2. A fight broke out between the Mets and the Pirates
The Jomboy breakdown covers the whole thing very well, spot-on lip reading and all (some strong language, as you could expect, is included):
3. Albert Pujols passes Willie Mays on the career hits leaderboard
Pujols is fifteen ahead in the home run tally, and now just edges past Mays in hits, too. As an unbelievable career keeps rolling along, and we don’t quite know if this summer is the last we’ll see of him, King Albert.
4. Jeff Bagwell predicted the future last night
Approaching Tony Romo levels of divination here, predicting a wild pitch.
5. The walk-offs of the night: Dyson and Lowrie
First, a walk-off throw to third base:
And then out in Oakland, with the A’s down by a run, with a man on base, the fans unsure whether this beloved team will even be around in the city for years to come, and then out of nowhere those fans go home with a big smile — as Jed Lowrie steps up and hits a walk-off winner:
6. Stat of the day: Shohei Ohtani’s All-Star merchandise
7. Vladdy Jr. cranked two more home runs last night
Number 29 and number 30 on the year, and still three behind Ohtani.
8. David Fletcher extends his hitting streak to 25 games
9. A long list of roster and injury updates, for your perusal
10. The Yankees fall deeper into the darkness of this 2021 season
The talk on the New York radio shows coming into the game, and out of the All-Star break, was — “Hey, if they go 6–2 here and get back on their feet, take the series from the Red Sox, they are not out of it just yet.”
Then came the COVID situation two days ago, and then came last night. Losing 4–0 to the Red Sox at home, their eighth straight loss in the rivalry series (dating to last year), and falling nine games back in the division now.
11. Will Craig, the “victim” of the infamous Javy Baez play earlier this year, has been relegated to the Korean league
As bone-headed as that blunder was, you just feel bad for the guy.
Here it is again, that most wild, beautiful (to this Cubs fan) play of the entire season — that officially, unfortunately ended a guy’s MLB career:
12. Highlights from the world of balks, errors, broadcasting mistakes and bad umpiring
This newsletter is considering starting a podcast sometime soon, as a weekly riff on the worst of the worst in baseball (including amusing tangents into general baseball topics and happenings), titled simply:
The Worst Baseball Podcast.
Will keep you posted — for now, enjoy a few snippets of ineptitude:
13. Shohei Ohtani donated his HR Derby earnings to Angels workers
He just keeps getting better and better.
14. And lastly, ending where we started: The Padres’ big night, and Tommy Pham stealing home
Was this the moment they got inspired to score twenty-one more runs?
