OTP 28 August 2017: Minor league baseball team’s ‘Alternative Facts Night’ promises ‘bigly home runs’

For those who do show up on Friday, they’ll be in for an interesting experience. The first 1,000 attendees will get a 2016 Eastern League championship ring to celebrate what one can only assume was the alternative championship considering the SeaWolves won it with a purported 142-0 record. (In the actual Eastern League last season, the SeaWolves finished with a losing record of 69-72 and made it nowhere near the actual championship game.)

The team also plans to involve the other side of the ...

Brewers minor-leaguer goes into cardiac arrest after being struck by pitch - CBSSports.com

Well wishes to this young man! Hope he makes a quick and full recovery.

Matt Harvey is coming back and Mets see one good sign already | New York Post

Is anyone still optimistic Matt Harvey can still be an ace?

As the Red Sox have surged, ratings have bounced back

Just in time to listen to the horrible Jerry Remy fill-ins and the snooze inducing Dave O’Brien.

And more caterwauling about the Houston decision to not retain some scouts.

That may be the case, but the reality is scouting as a way of evaluating players is dying. So many great baseball people who have devoted their lives to discovering talent no longer work in the game. This is very disturbing to Dave Dombrowski, who says, “You’ve got to have both.”

The roll call in Houston includes ...

Olney: Marlins’ new owners face defining decision on Stanton - Buster Olney Blog- ESPN

If a team can trade Arod, Stanton can be traded.

Obituary: Joe Klein, 75, Was GM Of Three Teams | BaseballAmerica.com

Klein had that ability to keep things in perspective. He would occasionally relive the 1982 Winter Meetings in Honolulu. He had just become GM and had a trade in place to acquire a package of players from the Dodgers, including two young pitchers named Dave Stewart and Orel Hershiser. Ownership killed the deal.

“If that trade had gone through I might have still been the general manager in Texas,” he said decades later.

He shrugged his shoulders.

Disappointed? Sure.

Upset? Nah.

It wasn’t ...

Rockies’ Greg Holland pulled in save situation | MLB.com

Brutal.

Holland, who left an 0-2 slider over the plate to Ozzie Albies for a single just before Adams’ homer, has given up four homers and 14 runs in 6 1/3 innings over his last eight appearances.

The art of hitting by Daniel Murphy - Byron Kerr

“Every at-bat to him is extremely valuable,” says third base coach Bobby Henley of Murphy’s work. “He’s up there to try to do something to help the ballclub. He wants to drive runs in, that’s the big thing. He wants to do whatever he can to drive a run in, understanding what the pitcher is trying to do to him and staying with his plan. I think he has shown over last year and the course of this year that he’s pretty good when he stays with his plan. It’s been fun to watch, I know ...

Moneyball at 20: Inside Billy Beane’s legacy after 2 decades running the A’s - San Francisco Chronicle

Must read. Some really good insights into Billy Beane.

Top on the list: trading third baseman Josh Donaldson, who went on to be the MVP after going to Toronto, in exchange for four players who have not nearly approached that kind of star power.

“In hindsight, that was certainly questionable — and I’m being kind to myself,” Beane said recently in his first public comments reproaching himself for the deal. “There were a number of reasons why, and Josh was a good player who became a ...

Andrelton Simmons hit a game-winning home run while nearly falling over home plate | MLB.com

Well, that’s different.

Matt Harvey says he’s ready to return to Mets after latest rehab start | Newsday

Magical thinking.

Harvey has been on the Mets’ disabled list since June 16 with a stress injury to the scapula bone in his right shoulder that had sapped the 28-year-old’s velocity. Harvey’s fastball typically sat in the 90-to-92 miles-per-hour range throughout Saturday’s start and his velocity reached 93 on the stadium radar gun on a few occasions.

“It’s going to come and go,” Harvey said of the velocity. “Once you get the adrenaline going in a big-league game . . . then the ...

Joe Maddon unsure whether Cubs will employ six-man rotation down the stretch - Chicago Tribune

Six-man rotation with a big bullpen does not seem like a good combo.

As the Cubs were coasting to a National League Central title exactly one year ago, manager Joe Maddon predicted many teams would employ a six-man rotation in the second half to give their starting pitchers extra rest.

This year’s Cubs might not go with six starters due to injuries and the schedule.

Sunday Notes: Blue Jays Prospect Danny Jansen is Opening Eyes | FanGraphs Baseball

David Laurila’s latest.

“Being a nice guy doesn’t necessarily help you get that base hit,” responded Lovullo. “Being a nice guy doesn’t necessarily help you make that big pitch. What it helps do is develop trust. If you have a tough moment, your team is going to back you. They’ll make you understand that you didn’t fail alone — you failed together. And when you get that big hit, you’re not going to celebrate alone, you’re going to celebrate together. It makes you feel ...

Four players suspended in Yanks-Tigers fracas | MLB.com

Sometimes it seems like they spin a wheel.

Miguel Cabrera was suspended for seven games and fined an undisclosed amount for inciting a benches-clearing incident and fighting with Yankees catcher Austin Romine, who was suspended for two games for fighting and throwing punches. Gary Sanchez received a four-game suspension for fighting and throwing punches in the ensuing fracas.

“I’m not going to feel good about that,” Sanchez said before Friday’s Yankees game against the Mariners in New York. ...

Here I am, rock you like OMNICHATTER, for the weekend of August 25-26, 2017

OMNICHATTER has got plans for all these sausages, for August 25, 2017

Justin Verlander and Victor Martinez nearly fought each other after fighting the Yankees | FTW

During the first brawl, Yankees’ catcher Gary Sanchez jumped into the fight, fist first, and appears to swing at Tigers’ third baseman Nicholas Castellanos. Upon returning to the dugout, Castellanos and Verlander looked furious with Martinez for being too chummy with the Yankees as things (temporarily) cooled down.

As Verlander walks away, he clearly flips off Martinez, who then needs to be restrained by Castellanos.

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 8-25-2017

Chicago Eagle, August 25, 1917:

Fielder Jones, manager of the St. Louis Americans, believes he is the only major league center fielder that ever received an error for muffing a foul ball. Years ago Jones was playing the middle garden for Brooklyn…A left field hitter of the McInnis type came to bat and the outfielder shifted so sharply that he was really playing left field. The batter sent up a long fly…Kelley and Jones raced after the ball, and the latter got his hands on it, but the sphere fell ...

Mets’ Michael Conforto suffers shoulder injury | MLB.com

He does it on a swing.

Heyman | Astros Have Results But Recent Firings Raise Questions

Another Heyman piece.

Just so we are clear…who is saying they are very good at their jobs? If it’s other teams, they shouldn’t have a problem catching with another team which holds them in high regard.

Of course, their talents might not fit what the Astros want from their scouts. If that’s the case, don’t the Astros get to determine who they have working for their team?

The Astros laid off at least eight scouts this week – according to Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle, they included ...

Inside Baseball—Top 60 Upcoming Free Agents

Heyman is busy.
AL Notes and NL Notes.

The push to honor a baseball pioneer from New Hampshire

Doc Adams’s real legacy, however, came in 1857, when he was elected president of the Base Ball Convention held to codify rules for the new game, and was the main author on the first “Law of Base Ball.”

His hand-written notes, found after being lost for decades and sold for millions at auction in 2016, were the first time it was written down that teams had nine men, that games were nine innings (a decision made despite a loud contingent who wanted it limited to seven) and that bases were ...

OMNICHATTER always rings twice, for August 24, 2017

A Hall Of Fame Case For Johan Santana

I think the high-level data does show that Sandy Koufax was a little better statistically in his era during his peak than Santana was. Looking at their full careers, the argument could certainly be made that Santana had the better career.

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 8-24-2017

Washington Herald, August 24, 1917:

Low attendance records for the New York State League were smashed [in Scranton] Tuesday when only $12 was taken in at the game between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. The $12 included the gate and grandstand admissions. Scranton now is trying to transfer all home games to the grounds of the other five teams.

I’m pretty sure that’s not a sustainable business. I’d have figured at least a handful of Wilkes-Barre fans would have made the 20 mile trek to Scranton for ...

Mets halt Syndergaard’s rehab, fear he’s moving too ‘fast’ | New York Post

Since Syndergaard hit the disabled list, he has been joined by Harvey (stress injury to the right scapula bone), Matz (irritated ulnar nerve), Wheeler (biceps tendinitis, then a stress reaction in his right arm), Seth Lugo (right shoulder impingement) and Robert Gsellman (hamstring strain).

By any name, Adell displays first-round talent | MiLB.com News

“It was a grind in Arizona. Just keeping the energy up for all the games after the work you need to put in is different and takes some getting used to,” the 6-foot-2, 195-pounder said. “The big thing for me is keying in on every pitch during every game. As a hitter, you’re not always going to get a pitch you can drive. The pitchers here are just too good. Even if they throw you a strike, it might not be your pitch. That’s a lot different than in high school where you may not get what you’re ...

A nearly perfect game by Rich Hill is spoiled by a Dodgers television blackout - LA Times

It was obviously not the Dodgers fault my TV suddenly didn’t work. Maybe it was all those utility trucks outside. But it’s clearly the Dodgers who control their brand, and that brand is being slowly damaged even as this team grows ever stronger. Even if the blackout is not strictly the fault of Dodgers ownership, it’s their name on the TV contract, their name on their shirts and their responsibility to figure this out.

The Dodgers might be the greatest team of all-time | SI.com

But in a short series…

Turner is not the prankster; that’s super utilityman Enrique Hernández, who recently set up a hidden camera to film himself jumping out of a laundry hamper at unsuspecting teammates. Turner’s not the adult in the room; that’s silver-haired second baseman Chase Utley, who strength coach Brandon McDaniel jokes has “never made a mistake in his life.” Turner doesn’t host team dinners (that’s Adrián González) or have T-shirts made (Yasiel Puig). But the ...

Red Sox Acquire Rajai Davis From Athletics | BaseballAmerica.com

Jackie Bradley Jr.’s injury to his left hand spurred the Red Sox into action Wednesday as they acquired speedy veteran outfielder Rajai Davis from Oakland for 18-year-old outfielder Rafael Rincones. Boston will be Davis’ seventh professional organization, including two stints in Oakland.