May 29, 2021
1. Gio Urshela drew a walk on just three balls
Almost every day now, we get something we’ve never seen. Yesterday the Javy Baez play, and today this — a walk without ever receiving ball four.
Neither batter nor umpire nor catcher nor manager noticed. Or, if Urshela did notice, what a brilliant time to simply keep quiet:
2. Charlie Montoyo pulls out a laptop to watch his son’s graduation during an interview
Baseball hardly gets more wholesome than this. So here’s a smile, for your Saturday afternoon, courtesy of the Blue Jays manager:
3. Mike Tauchman made one of the catches of the year to save a game
In 2021, the great rivalry is back — after the Giants fell off into mediocrity, they’ve got one of the best records in baseball. And a game, last night, that they had completely won. Until this happened. With two outs in the ninth, the Dodgers down by three:
Barnes ties it. Three-run shot. And then, Albert Pujols comes up. Crushing a two-strike pitch to deep left field. And it’s a brilliant Mike Tauchman catch away from walking it off with back-to-back home runs. The inning ends. The Giants go on to win 8–5.
And it’s about as clutch a robbed home run as it gets:
4. Aaron Boone: Derek Jeter was a “Six-tool player”
With that smirk, it really seems like the innuendo was intended — but hey, we’ll give Aaron Boone the benefit of the doubt.
Have a listen:
5. A bit of a scuffle broke out in Oakland, and Ohtani just smiles
When others fume, Ohtani smiles for the cameras. The guy is as cool as it gets.
6. “Manfred man” is what people are calling the runner on second base rule in extra innings
Add this into your lexicon from now on. It’s simply perfect.
“Madman drummers bummers, Indians in the summer with a teenage diplomat…”
7. Nolan Arenado hit a HR on a pitch about a foot inside
He’s batting .290 on the year, with 11 home runs—and the first impression with the Cardinals continues to be great. Last night, he also turned a brilliant, textbook Arenado double play:
8. The Astros give up seven runs in the 11th inning
Simply beautiful scenes from Houston — Padres fans in friars robes, Jose Altuve committing a key error, runs coming in batter after batter, the line moving, the Astros losing, what more could we want?
This might be the one Padres win even Dodger fans can applaud:
Seven runs in the 11th inning. A feat so rare that — oh yeah, the Rays did exactly that, about five days ago:
9. Surprisingly sad Jose Canseco tweet of the night
Very different mental state than a few weeks ago:
10. Joey Votto joined the Reds radio booth to call actual play-by-play
He’s out for a few weeks with a broken thumb, and he happens to be the weirdest, most beloved, most charismatic, mysterious, hilarious player in baseball — and so why not?
11. The White Sox release some pretty “unique” uniforms
Only two possible takeaways you might have on these: They’re either (a) Very cool; or (b) tacky tattoo parlor / early-2000’s Fred-Durst-ian.
So, it’s time to pick your side — this is the new national controversy:
12. Quote of the night: Gerrit Cole
The exclamation point on another brilliant start from Cole, whose ERA drops to 1.78 on the year, with a 97/9 strikeout-to-walk ratio on the year:
In the end though, it didn’t end well for the Yankees:
13. Baseball hot tub leap of the year
There are no other candidates in the running, but still. We now have our frontrunner:
14. Amusing and sundry baseball moments from yesterday
First, the Dodger pitcher who’s famous for loving cats (so much so that FOX ran a whole segment on it in the World Series last fall), gets a “DOGS RULE! CATS DROOL!” heckling sign, on a rehab stint in the minors:
And at Dodger Stadium, where it continues to be a Lakers town, completely:
And then, down in Houston, where the proclivity to thievery has not quite abated:
15. Lastly — Some general baseball news and updates
The Rays are still considering moves to Nashville or a new location across the bay in Ybor City (Tampa neighborhood):
Mike Soroka (Braves starter) is out for the year:
And after the Mike Shildt ejection the other day, the Joe West Cap Rule is now taking preemptive effect around the league:
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