May 25, 2021
1. Violent moment of the week: Dominican batter named “Elvis Lebron” attacks an umpire
Baseball umpires take a lot of heat (justifiably), but this one goes a bit far into the homicidal. Straight out of that old Chappelle’s Show sketch — “When keeping it real goes wrong”:
Turns out “Elvis Lebron” has quite the rap sheet, and was arrested after the game, while the umpire was taken to a hospital for evaluation:
2. Vladdy Guerrero Jr. is playing out of his mind
And now, the far more positive version of bat-wielding guy from the Dominican Republic — the great Vladdy Jr. and an early takeover of the A.L. MVP race:
He’s leads all of baseball with a 1.104 OPS. Tied for first in home runs (15). Numbers that, if they hold, will be better than even Vlad Sr.’s best-ever season:
3. Quote of the day: “I’ve always been an asshole”
4. The Astros and Dodgers play tonight in Houston
Trevor Bauer starts Wednesday’s game — who we all know will have a slew of taunts up his sleeve, ready to go. It’s going to be good.
And then, coming out of the bullpen — the one and only Joe Kelly:
5. The Mets are falling apart
Their first, second, and third-string center fielders all got injured, and now their fourth-string guy crashed into a wall last night and left the game.
It’s getting desperate:
They’ve lost three in a row, they’re 21–20, just barely clinging to first-place in the NL East, and Francisco Lindor is hearing boos again as he sinks into his second giant slump of the early season:
A memorial service is in order, for their imaginary, short-lived hitting “approach” coach Donnie Stevenson:
6. A fight breaks out in the bleachers at Sox Park
Sox Park. Comiskey. The only two acceptable names for “Guaranteed Rate Field”, on the South Side of Chicago. And whatever the name — its greatest, most familiar scenery has returned, a drunken skirmish in the bleacher seats:
7. Deep home runs of the night: Larnach, Garcia, Stewart
This first one is wild — Trevor Larnach clears everything, and sends a ball into the “Delta Sky Suite” above all of center field:
And then Avisail Garcia, hitting one halfway to Lake Michigan:
And lastly, D.J. Stewart, on the first pitch back after a rain delay:
8. Today in bobblehead news: Tim Anderson & “La Tortuga”
First, a bat flip bobblehead:
And then, the fan favorite — Willians “La Tortuga” Astudillo, with history’s first-ever tortoise “Bobbleshell” bobblehead:
And yesterday, a shirt to go with — made by teammate Kenta Maeda:
9. The Rays just won 11 in a row, and lead the AL East
Yesterday’s win had one of the strangest box scores of the year:
Five runs in the first, with a grand slam. No runs for the rest of the regular nine innings. Then, two in the 10th. And seven runs in the 11th. Winning in the end, 14–8.
And so, they remain undefeated in outdoor games in their home county — playing this rare, once-in-history “road” series at the Dunedin Blue Jays park:
Meanwhile, behind the scenes there’s drama:
10. Plays of the night: McCann, Nido, Luplow
It was James McCann’s first-ever game at first base in his MLB career, and this is the first play he ever fielded:
And then, his replacement at catcher, Tomas Nido, with a brilliant bare-handed snag and throw down to third for the out:
And lastly, the play of the night. Bases loaded. Ninth inning. Two outs. One-run game. And a walk-off diving catch in right field:
11. Tim Kurkjian makes an “All-Vehicle” team on ESPN
Prompted, of course, by break-out star Yermin Mercedes.
12. Former All-Star Brandon Phillips is bat flipping in the minors
When you’re 39, no longer MLB-ready, and still love the game, you do this — head down to Kentucky, play with kids half your age, and bat flip to the moon:
13. A’s fans are booing their team president at the Coliseum
And not for no reason, either — the guy (Dave Kaval) seems awful.
The backstory: The A’s are shopping around for new cities, fans are angry, Dave Kaval is on a wine-and-dine trip in Las Vegas and might move the team there, he posted a video from the Golden Knights game (a rival team of the Bay Area team), and as you can imagine, in an era when they’ve just lost their football and basketball teams, A’s fans and media members are not having it:
14. Trey Mancini leads MLB in RBIs in his first season after colon cancer
And on a last-place Orioles team, no less.
15. A very cool high school baseball plaque in Kentucky
Since their season was cancelled, they signed a baseball and buried it under home plate, and so: “They will forever be a part of every run scored at Ryle High School.”
16. Blake Snell is not doing too well (4.50 ERA)
Maybe the Rays were right to pull that trade when they did?
17. Lastly, some highlights from the world of Japanese mascots
Because what better way to close out the newsletter?
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