June 4, 2021
1. MLB is finally coming for the sticky stuff
It’s taken a while. The delay has made little sense. But now, at long last, after everyone’s seen just about every pitcher dab a secret spot in his glove, his cap, the hair of his mullet — finally, the league is coming to shut it down:
2. Home runs of the night: Fernando Tatis Jr. & Joc Pederson
In and out Mason Williams’ glove, at the top of the center field wall. And Tatis Jr. ties the MLB lead with 17 home runs:
And then out in San Francisco, a most familiar spot for former Dodgers, taunts from the fans and everything else — Joc Pederson demolishes a splash hit, deep into the McCovey Cove.
That late afternoon light on the whole scene is just beautiful:
3. The first Red Sox vs. Yankees series of 2021 starts tonight
The A.L. East standings going into it look like this:
Rays | 36–22 | — -
Red Sox | 33–23 | 2.0 GB
Yankees | 31–26 | 4.5 GB
4. Baseball players are still kids at heart, as they should be
Rock, paper, scissors.
Legos.
And forgetting about sticks and stones… words can never hurt me:
5. Perfect throws of the night: The Cardinals & Willson Contreras
The perfect relay, throw home, tag, everything:
And a perfect throw to first:
6. Nick Castellanos got rid of his smartphone
A move many of us wish we could take. Kudos, to the guy, for unplugging and staying focused. He’s batting .364 this year with twelve HRs, 1.062 OPS — and a hit in nineteen straight games.
7. Quote of the night: “HERE COMES ‘NANDO!!!”
Had to bury this further down in the newsletter, because we can’t just do Tatis Jr. for every post, can we? Absolutely brilliant base running last night, again.
8. Minor-league game called after a line drive hits a Rays prospect
The video was pretty bad (look it up on Twitter, if you’d like), and just a horrible situation for the kid — but thankfully as of today he’s reported to be in stable condition.
9. The Yankees and Rays split a four-game series, Boone gets tossed
Rays win 9–2 yesterday. With a 4.5 game lead now over the Yankees. Might have won a few close calls from the ump. Aaron Boone might have taken exception to them.
And Yankee fans are in a state of uncertain angst, where no one quite knows how frustrated or panicked to feel — is this team good or not?
10. Wrigley Field is getting back to normal very soon
11. Sign of the apocalypse: A Lou Gehrig speech “NFT”
Jokes and baseball highlights aside, it’s sad that sacred things are becoming increasingly less sacred — even secular sacred things.
Lou Gehrig becomes a digital “token”:
12. Yu Darvish pulled off the fake-bunt-then-hit move to perfection
Pitchers most absolutely can hit. Kind of:
13. Lucas Giolito gets ejected from the dugout, on his off-day
The camerawork cutting over to him smiling is hilarious:
Lance Lynn after the game: “That’s kind of a slap in the face.”
14. Stat of the day: Vladdy Guerrero Jr.
Ninety years since a player his age (just turned 22 in March) has had these kinds of numbers:
15. Lastly, an awesome backyard wiffle ball Fenway Park recreation
If you’ve been enjoying these newsletters, well, life doesn’t get better than this. These are the days you’ll remember.
