September 1, 2021
1. Thumbs down becomes thumbs up in New York
The very day after this entire story blew up, the Mets in disarray, Javy Baez almost booed to smithereens, a national media story and every local radio host laughing or ranting about the entire thing — that very next afternoon, it all came to and end, with this:
Earlier in the afternoon, there was this:
And then, after that five-run ninth, the miraculous comeback, the sprint around the bases from first, the slide, the winning run, the celebration at home, Mets fans sang a different tune — and their thumbs spun around 180 degrees:
2. And in all the revelry, a piece of jewelry was lost
Never heard of something like this during a baseball game, players combing the grass seconds after a desperately-needed winner (you can see it starting at the 0:28 mark in the video above).
And it doesn’t get weirder than this — Sandy Alderson, Mets GM, the guy who excoriated Baez two days ago with the “Letter to Mets fans”, ripping the thumbs down gestures, now on the field looking for the man’s earring. As the Mets morph into one big, dysfunctional, stuck-in-the-same-house family. They yell, they fight, they boo, they up-thumb, down-thumb, and they drop whatever they’re doing to help solve a crisis:
3. An inside look into the Mets’ TV broadcast booth, and the brilliance of Gary Cohen
One last detail from the Mets walk-off winner, and a privileged insight into what calling a moment that big is really like:
4. Shohei Ohtani adds to his MVP campaign by stealing home
The man, as most everyone has already sang ecstatically aloud, can do it all.
And the Yankees playing out in Anaheim brought out a very funny line from Gerrit Cole, in the pre-game Zoom interview:
5. The Yankees’ 13-game win streak has been replaced by a four-game losing streak
The starting rotation continues to be a big “question”, as sports reporters like to say, and the season aim after just a few bad days now has suddenly shifted toward the AL Wild Card spot, with the division sailing quickly away.
And, pitching aside, they grounded into five double plays last night:
6. Meanwhile in Tampa Bay: The Rays keep winning
They’ve become a “juggernaut”, to use another sports cliche — dominating since the All-Star break, ten games up on the Red Sox now, and eight up on the Yankees.
The largest lead they’ve held in the division, in franchise history:
With some help from maybe the worst Red Sox performance of the year — error after error, wild pitch, hit-by-pitch, Xander Bogaerts removed in the second inning after the team found a positive Covid test. Unmitigated ineptitude all around, last night:
And Wander Franco, rookie wunderkind, continues the historic on-base streak for yet another day:
7. The nifty double plays of the night: Aaron Loup and Matt Duffy
8. Abraham Toro hits a grand slam against the guy he was controversially traded for in July
The Mariners are still chasing the Astros in the AL West, with an outside chance of a playoff spot, they already don’t like the Astros, they already don’t like the trade that brought star reliever Kendall Graveman to the other side (and caused a bit of a clubhouse row), and so — to heal some of the wound, the guy they got back in the trade went and did this:
The Mariners are 7.5 games back now, with a slightly slimmer chance at making the second Wild Card spot — and that might’ve just been the highlight of their entire season:
9. Joc Pederson goes blond and homers at Dodger Stadium
Longtime Dodger, part of the 2020 World Series team, back out in L.A. with a new look, and familiar home run swing to right field:
10. The Phillies have a huge sixth inning, and are right back in contention in the NL East
The hot streak by the Braves has ended, and the stragglers have caught new life. Might the Phillies luck into an actual run at it this year?
11. Amed Rosario hits a stand-up inside-the-park home run
On the final day of maybe the best month of his career, finishing August with a .360 average, 17 RBI for the month — and this, a thing of beauty:
What an absolute game from the guy:
12. Lastly, the stat of the day: Starling Marte
Base-running perfection, since heading over to Oakland:
