May 17, 2021
1. A fist bump, a home run, and the baseball fan of the year
Nick Castellanos gets a brilliant piece of advice — from his guardian angel hero in the stands: “Picture Rob Manfred’s face on the baseball.”
The must-watch video of the weekend:
Even the Reds official Twitter page got in on the fun, if only for a moment:
2. Very unexpected: Albert Pujols signs with the Dodgers
Easily the biggest roster move of the season so far, and it’s an odd one. Of all the ways the Pujols story could’ve gone — in the end, it’s the Dodgers:
3. Shohei Ohtani hit the clutch HR of the weekend, at Fenway Park
Two outs. Ninth inning. Down by a run. And thwack! There it went, into the stands in right field, and the Angels hung on to win:
And now he’s tied for the league lead, at 12 HRs — with Mitch Haniger, Ronald Acuña Jr. and Aaron Judge:
4. Catch of the weekend: This fan and a baseball bat
He catches it, gives it away and smiles, while he’s on the phone the entire time. Sign him up for center field, right away:
5. Elvis Andrus flops his way into a run
Clever, cheeky, opportunistic — or bush league?
6. Highlights from Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN
The Padres beat the Cardinals, for a three-game sweep. And they’re 24–17 now on the year, second-best record in the National League.
Some highlights:
7. Trevor Bauer tapes a piece of paper to his shirt in logo protest
Turns out the league didn’t want him promoting all his side brands, in the end. And so, out came the sharpie, the tape, the paper:
And a brilliant performance on the mound, beforehand:
8. Clayton Kershaw, and the palming-six-balls trick
This should count in the Cy Young voting numbers, somehow:
9. Quotes of the weekend: “Rake your face” and “Counterfeit bills”
10. Walk-off wild pitch controversy in Chicago
Jose Abreu dashes home, he’s called safe, the play gets reviewed, confirmed, and the debate rages as to whether he was or wasn’t.
And this White Sox team now has the best record in baseball (24–15):
11. Defensive play of the weekend: Mauricio Dubon
Have never quite seen one like this before:
12. Wardrobe malfunctions: Shoe, sunglasses, chain
First there was Jon Berti, still managing to get the out:
Clint Frazier shattering his sunglasses:
And then Ozzie Albies, guru of chain-fixing:
13. The Green Monster is still the best ballpark quirk in baseball
You’ve got an easily caught pop fly at any other ballpark — and like magic it’s a two-run RBI double, there at Fenway Park:
And then Xander Bogaerts, sending a ball soaring over it — and home runs hardly get more majestic than that:
14. Umpire confrontation of the weekend: “You’re bad.”
No cursing. No raging and flailing and ranting. Just two simple words, effective and true: “You’re bad.”
15. Aaron Judge, if you’ve missed it, is completely on fire
You refresh the MLB TV Gameday feed, and it’s an Aaron Judge home run. Then another. He’s tied for the league lead now in HRs (12), fifth in slugging, eighth in OPS — all after an awful slump the week prior.
For now at least, he is very back:
16. This camera angle in Japan is awesome
Much-needed on the broadcasts here — it’s been done before, but not (I think) with this kind of sharpness:
17. Corey Seager is out with a fractured wrist
Bad news for the Dodgers, but well, they’ve signed Albert Pujols and Yoshi Tsutsugo on the same day, so — aside from the fact that they were just released by far lesser teams — yeah, the next month might get a bit tough:
18. Lastly: There’s a super tall beer at Myrtle Beach (Low-A Cubs)
A beer so tall that I’m not entirely sure it’ll fully show up in your browser window. The beer that looks like a vuvuzela. The beer that can be used, if necessary, as a baseball bat:
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