Bryce Harper’s Future in the League

“Whichever team that Harper signs with will instantly become a contender.”

This unbelievable catch by Tony Kemp killed a Red Sox rally, but is it too good to be true?

and one Twitter sleuth thinks this clip proves that the ball hit the wall first. Another point of debate is the loud noise made during the catch, which some fans say is proof that the ball hit the fence. The announce team on TBS attributed it to Kemp crashing against the wall.

The link has video that causes me to think it actually wasn’t a catch.

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 10-17-2018

Washington Times, October 17, 1918:

Babe Ruth, batting ace of the world’s champion Boston Red Sox, is a suffered [sic] with Spanish influenza at his home in Baltimore. At the close of the baseball season Ruth accepted essential employment at the Lebanon plant of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, and became a membor of the Lebanon team, Bethlehem Steel League. While called to Baltimore on a business mission he fell a victim of the scourge. His condition is not serious.

I know how this story goes, ...

Sources: Indians warned Red Sox about man stealing signs for Astros

A little more info.

Manny Machado not worth the trouble for the Yankees

Are Manny’s actions really costing him money?

Give these Dodgers fans a hand for rousing NLCS Game 4 comeback

LOS ANGELES — On Tuesday night, this city witnessed something almost as remarkable as the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 2-1 victory in 13 innings over the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series.

The Dodgers fans atoned.

Raucously. Relentlessly. Rejoicefully.

Chili Davis ‘not going to blame myself,’ wishes next Cubs hitting coach better

About the time the Cubs announced the hiring of the sixth hitting coach in eight seasons of Theo Epstein’s front office regime, Chili Davis got in his truck and headed out of Chicago on Monday – still sorting out how he took the fall for a group of hitters unable or unwilling to hear his message.

“The driving gives me a little time think about things,” said Davis, who was fired last week after just one season into a multiyear contract. “I guess I need to make some adjustments in the ...

Derek Jeter gets his wish: The Marlins home run sculpture is outta there

The Miami Marlins won county permission on Tuesday to move its home run sculpture out of Marlins Park to the plaza outside, giving Derek Jeter a key win in his efforts to erase the legacy of former owner Jeffrey Loria.

The sculptor behind “Homer,” New York’s Red Grooms, opposed moving the seven-story piece of public art, saying he designed it under a $2.5 million contract with Miami-Dade County specifically for its perch in center field. The sculpture whirs to life whenever the Marlins ...

Dodgers vs. Brewers: Benches clear after Manny Machado steps on Jesus Aguilar’s foot at first base

The bottom of the 10th inning of Game 4 of the National League Championship Series between the Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers featured a benches-clearing incident involving Manny Machado and Jesus Aguilar. The two exchanged words following a play at first base where Machado tangled up with Aguilar’s foot.

Machado grounded out for the second out of the inning and while running through the first base bag, he made contact with the back of Aguilar’s foot. The benches and bullpens ...

Angels tell Anaheim they’re opting out of their lease on Angel Stadium

Anaheim Mayor Tom Tait, who led the drive against a tentative 2013 agreement between the city and the team for an Angel Stadium renovation, is in his final term. Voters in Anaheim will elect a new mayor and three new council members next month.

Angels spokeswoman Marie Garvey said the decision to opt out was not meant to influence voters. She said the lease required the team to opt out no later than Tuesday or wait until 2028 for another chance to do so.

“It’s today, or 10 years from ...

Metro Exclusive: Astros may have been cheating in Game 1 against Red Sox

We’ll see.

Rosenthal: Manny Machado still has work to do if he wants to keep the focus on his performance – The Athletic

Whenever I see you and ask you how you’re doing, you say, ‘I’m chillin.’ I know that’s your personality, that’s how you are. But there was a ball the other night, and you didn’t run hard. Manny, you know this, at this time of year people notice that kind of thing, so how would you explain it? What happened?

Machado: “Uhhh … (pause) … I’ve been thinking about it and it happens every time, there’s no excuse for it honestly. I’ve never given excuses for not running. ...

Umpires Ejections and Player Ethnicity: An Analysis

In looking at the data overall, the percentage of ejections of nonwhite players exceeds nonwhite players’ league representation — meaning there were more ejections of nonwhite players than league representation would predict occur if ejections were equally as likely to happen to nonwhite as white players. Similarly, ejections of white players fall short of what league representation would predict.

When looked at in totality, ejections of nonwhite players far exceed what league ...

Magic dust, spin rates and buy-in: How the Astros make good pitchers even better - The Washington Post

“Every team has an analytics department, and this is no knock on the Twins, but seeing the time [the Astros] put in and the scouting reports you’re given, it’s like, ‘Whoa.’ It’s a different level,” Pressly said. “You kind of see, ‘Wow, if I just pitch a little more to this percentage instead of that percentage I can have some better results.’ When I came over here, they were like, ‘Look, your curveball is your best pitch. Everyone tells you your best pitch should be your ...

Will Duquette and Showalter get top jobs elsewhere or will the disaster of 2018 — and the perceptions that re-emerged — damage their resumes? – The Athletic

Like the Mets it’s tough to know how many bad decisions were owner driven.

This takes us back to the original premise: Showalter and Duquette are good at what they do. They, together, helped lift a moribund franchise back to relevancy.

It wouldn’t be surprising if Showalter gets at least one interview this offseason for one of baseball’s managerial vacancies or if Duquette ends up as special assistant somewhere given his keen eye for undervalued assets.

But for them to get hired in ...

Empty vows, Alderson back-stab: Inside Mets’ GM search mess

But what is 180 degrees for the Mets? Fred Wilpon feels they got too analytical under Alderson — a sentiment not shared in the industry. But how does being too analytical jibe with what Jeff said in that end-of-year media briefing, that Alderson recommended not enlarging one of the smallest analytic departments in the majors? How can you be too analytical and yet have a tiny analytics department? And, by the way, don’t you think some good candidates noticed that Jeff put this on ...

‘He’s as smart as anyone I’ve met in baseball – or anywhere’: How former team lawyer Sandy Alderson became one of the most influential GMs in the sport’s history – The Athletic

And even he couldn’t get the power to do the job. What’s the next Mets GM going to do?

“To me, if you look at the executives today and the template for the guys that run baseball teams today, they essentially all have the background of Sandy,” said Beane. “Sandy was the original Ivy League graduate with analytics driving his decisions. He was the groundbreaking guy.”

As such, those who know Alderson believe him deserving of at least one more honor.

“He should be in the Hall of ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 10-16-2018

Harrisburg Telegraph, October 16, 1918:

Charley Hickman is credited with the shortest two-bagger ever delivered, at Comiskey Park some years ago. He hit one that struck just beyond the edge of the plate, but instead of staying quiet, bounded sharply back. The catcher tried to grab it up and effect a putout, but the ball grazed his arm and leaped clear to the stand while Hickman kept on running.

Under the rules that was a fair ball, for the catcher had struck it while it was still in fair ...

Rockies’ end-of-season rotation analysis: Kyle Freeland, German Marquez shined; Jon Gray fizzled

The secret to the Rockies’ success in 2018 was no secret at all.

“I think it’s pretty easy. I think it’s the starting pitching honestly, giving us a chance to win every game, game in and game out,”  all-star third baseman Nolan Arenado said.

Numbers illustrate Arenado’s words. Colorado’s rotation:

-Posted a 4.17 ERA, the second-lowest in franchise history (2009 playoff had a 4.10 ERA);
-Had 84 quality starts, the third-most in franchise history
-Struck out 883, sixth in the ...

Cubs executive Jason McLeod reportedly linked to Giants’ GM opening

Is this the offseason that Cubs executive Jason McLeod finally becomes an MLB general manager?

According to Bruce Levine, the Giants are reportedly interested in McLeod, the Cubs senior vice president of scouting and player development, for their vacant general manager position.

McLeod joined the Cubs’ front office in 2011 alongside Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer. Before the Cubs, he spent six years in the Red Sox front office and two in the Padres’ (with Hoyer, who was San Diego’s general ...

Montreal to host pre-season games between Blue Jays, Brewers

What, no neutral-site games in the regular season?

Vin Scully turns down Joe Buck’s invite to join NLCS broadcast

With the National League Championship Series heading to Los Angeles, Fox announcer Joe Buck hoped aloud that legendary Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully might make a cameo with him in the booth.

Unfortunately for Buck and for baseball fans everywhere, Scully said he would be declining the invitation.

“I don’t want to just take a bow,” Scully told The Los Angeles Times. “I just don’t feel right doing that.”

How did the Cubs go from Rudy Jaramillo to Anthony Iapoce at hitting coach? It’s a long story

When the Cubs fired hitting coach John Mallee last October, only one year removed from a world championship, they knew the decision would be controversial.

But President Theo Epstein said it was a unique circumstance and had more to do with the sudden availability of Chili Davis after the Red Sox changed coaching staffs than anything Mallee lacked.

“It was a really tough decision, but we felt like going forward for the next several years Chili Davis is uniquely qualified to help our hitters ...

The Angels are making their managerial candidates take a two-hour test

The most important thing a managerial candidate can bring to their interview with the Los Angeles Angels is a No. 2 pencil. The Angels are requiring all their managerial candidates to take a two-hour written test, according to MLB Network’s Jon Morosi.

The exam will test candidates on both the analytical and interpersonal aspects of the position.

While manager interviews can be intense, a two-hour written test is not a common ask from teams.

Let the disputes on testing-based pedagogy ...

Chris Sale update: Red Sox ace released from hospital, set to rejoin team before ALCS Game 3

Are we sure this isn’t the jerseys getting their revenge?

What It Took to Write About Baseball as a Woman

In 1983, she met Mantle, her hero, in Atlantic City. The retired center fielder, then fifty-one, was directing a golf tournament. Leavy caught up to him at a breakfast buffet. “He puts out his hand and says, ‘Hiii, I’m Mick,’ ” she recalled. “And I said, ‘Hi, I’m nervous.’ And he said, ‘Why? Didya think I was gonna pull on your titty?’ ”...

Leavy would endure more indignities in locker rooms over the years. One player covered her eyes and ran a hand down her side, but ...

Projecting the composition of A’s bullpen in 2019

The A’s bullpen was probably the greatest strength of the team in 2018. Oakland’s pen ranked third in Major League Baseball with a 3.37 ERA and second with a .220 opponents’ batting average, while pitching the second most innings in the league.

The bullpen should still be a strength next season, although it will likely look a bit different. Veterans Fernando Rodney and Jeurys Familia are long shots to return, while Shawn Kelley and Cory Gearrin are questionable at best. But the A’s will still ...

Red Sox exorcise their postseason demons to beat Astros and even ALCS

Sometimes in baseball, you need to throw away the narratives and just see which way the ball bounces.

In Game 2 of the American League Championship Series between the Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox, thanks to some help from the Green Monster and some passed balls from Houston, everything bounced in the direction of the Red Sox.

The big difference? A Jackie Bradley Jr. double that careened off the Green Monster and then pinballed its way to the fence between the field and the stands and ...

ESPN: Olney: Pine tar in the postseason could put MLB in a sticky situation

Because everybody in the room will understand that most pitchers participating in the postseason probably use sunscreen or pine tar or something that violates baseball’s rule against the use of foreign substances. [...]

But everybody involved in the sport knows how prevalent the use of sunscreen and pine tar and other stuff has become. Many catchers have pine tar on some part of their person, to apply as needed. Baseball officials would prefer that no foreign substances are used, but they also ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 10-15-2018

Harrisburg Telegraph, October 15, 1918:

Three-fourths of all the male Americans under 40 years of age who have played baseball have been able at one time or another to throw a curve ball. Probably the estimate is unnecessarily conservative. Nearly everybody who can chuck the horsehide at all can perpetrate a roundhouse outshoot.
...
On this afternoon in 1878—thirty-nine years after baseball had succeeded townball as a game—and argument arose regarding rumors that there lived a certain man who ...