June 5, 2021

1. Old dude fan of the year, finishing a cup tower in Buffalo

You’ve seen the cup snake, at the White Sox game. And now, the cup tower, up in Buffalo, capped off by a legend.

Baseball summer is back:

2. Anthony Rizzo and Willson Contreras have a very rare fight

An argument with this Cubs group is rare, maybe even non-existent — with the only one coming to mind a short-lived spat between Jake Arrieta and Miguel Montero, back in 2018 or so.

But yesterday, things got a bit heated in the dugout:

But by the end of the afternoon, all was back and mended:

Two months into the season, and this surprisingly hot Cubs team might not be sellers after all:

3. A guy almost hit an actual train in an AAA game

There are those train tracks at Minute Maid Park, that Tatis Jr. most recently launched a home run ball onto — but this? An actual freight rail beyond the left-field fences, and a Red Sox prospect goes trainyard:

4. Pitching performances of the day: King, Ohtani, Snell

First, Michael King threw an “immaculate inning” for the Yankees (three strikeouts on nine pitches) — here’s the highlight:

And Shohei Ohtani, with 10 K’s and zero walks:

And then, Blake Snell, after his first really decent start of the year — seven innings, one hit, no runs, ten strikeouts. Shouting as he came off the mound in one of the later innings:

“This is my f***ing house!! F*** you!!”

5. There was a very weird “fight” behind home plate in San Francisco

Larry, Curly and Moe, reincarnated at a ballgame:

6. The NCAA baseball tournament began with a cannon shot

And late yesterday — Tennessee down by three in the ninth, bases loaded, and a walk-off grand slam to save their season:

7. Aaron Boone: “The best teams hit the most double plays”

Boone continues to be pretty unlistenable at press conferences— no fire, no tough honesty, just a sort of never-ending politician, saying either nothing at all or the absolute opposite of what you’d like to hear.

You can understand his point here on some theoretical level, but the far better answer than “Double plays are an indicator of greatness!” is a very simple: “We will be better.”

8. Two fantastic diving-at-home tag plays on the same night

You hardly ever see any like this, and two in one day:

9. Tony La Russa has “swag”

I’ve gotta say, the hate for the guy is extreme, kind of weird, tired, and I reckon the guy deserves a break — he’s one of the best managers of all time, has a first-place White Sox team in his mid-70’s, and can still mess around:

Even Yermin Mercedes digs him, after all of Twitter rushed to his (un-needed) defense for weeks on end, when La Russa made that mildly dumb comment about the home run on a 3–0 count, weeks ago. This newsletter is going to zig when others zag.

Tony La Russa season is back:

10. Baseball is simple: Just run, run, keep going, and tag

Who needs to conduct a rundown when you can just do this?

11. Nick Castellanos has a 20-game hit streak going

This is what happens when you get rid of your smartphone:

12. Yermin Mercedes breaks an 0–25 slump with a walk-off hit

His average is down to .298, after leading the league for weeks after his MLB debut in April. Still unclear how legit he is. Maybe this is just what he needed:

13. Quote of the day: Blake Snell

He put his changeup in a “timeout”:

14. Lastly: The day’s roundup in amusing baseball

The stuck-out tongue of the year, Joc Pederson:

Willians “La Tortuga” Astudillo pitched again, throwing 41 mph:

And then, the player tweet of the night — from Ross Stripling:

Hope you’ve enjoyed the newsletters. Enjoy the weekend.

See you on Monday.