VHS via Leitch: Phillie broadcast commenting on impending rain delay

Leitch:

This clip explains Midwestern weather to East Coasters better than anything I’ve ever seen.

Best fans thunderstorms in baseball.

OTP 2018 May 21: President takes British royalty to a baseball game, May 15, 1991

The 65-year-old queen, dressed in a below-the-knee blue and red dress, black gloves and three strands of pearls, entered the Orioles dugout along the third base line. She formed a receiving line with her husband and the president, clad in a navy blazer, and Barbara Bush. The first lady wore a blue and white floral print dress.

While the VIP guests took their positions designated by their names on 3-by-5 cards, the song “Brown-Eyed Girl” played over the stadium’s public-address system. ...

Dan Duquette, Orioles Understand Trading Manny Machado Seems Inevitable

“Usually, we try to go to Memorial Day and see where you are on Memorial Day and see what the strength and weaknesses are of the team are and how we can supplement what we need to compete,” Duquette said. “I am not sure we will be in that position this year.”

The asking price for Machado will be steep. Shortstop Addison Russell and outfielder Ian Happ are the two Cubs who have often found their names tied to Machado trade rumors, and as cost-controlled young players under contract for quite ...

Weekend OMNICHATTER for May 19-20, 2018

A face that could launch a thousand OMNICHATTER! for May 18, 2018

Pirates set to recall outfield prospect Meadows

Meadows was the Pirates’ first-round pick, the No. 9 overall selection, in the 2013 Draft. He is the club’s No. 2 prospect, per MLB Pipeline, and the No. 42 overall prospect in MLB. He has been held back in previous years by injuries, including oblique and hamstring strains, but he has long been viewed as one of the Pirates’ future building blocks in the outfield.

“It’s been a tough road, but I feel like that’s behind me now,” Meadows said earlier this year. “I’ve really learned a lot. I’ve ...

Illini rely on student who geeks out on baseball analytics

Nice start.

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 5-18-2018

Toledo News-Bee, May 18, 1918:

Customs officials caused the International League game, scheduled for [Toronto] on Friday, with Binghamton, to be postponed. They held up the Toronto players, refusing to allow them to enter Canada at Niagara Falls, because of dissatisfaction with the standing of some of the American players in the selective service. Players expect to secure necessary papers to allow them to pass today.

I blame Ban Johnson.

Elsewhere in the news 100 years ago, Cy Williams, who ...

Woman who played professional baseball finds new career fighting fires in Oregon

She has an area in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and has been interviewed by some of the greats, but now Ila Borders is saving lives and serving the community of Cornelius.
[...]
The trajectory of her life then changed with a pair of tragic events. Borders lost her grandmother to a drowning and lost her partner to a drunken driver.

She battled serious depression, but found a new life in Oregon.

Borders is now 43 and married again. She is in her third year as lieutenant and paramedic for ...

You don’t tug on OMNICHATTER’s cape, for May 17, 2018

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 5-17-2018

Toledo News-Bee, May 17, 1918:

Baseball players who land exempted “bomb proof” jobs were assailed [in Chicago] on Friday by President Ban Johnson of the American League. The dash by Joe Jackson of the White Sox to find a shipbuilding job after being placed in Class 1 roiled Johnson’s patriotism.

A number of major leaguers in munition plants devote a portion of their time to baseball and are said to approximate their old-time salaries.

“I don’t impugn motives of players in this war work,” said ...

Braves fans flooded MLB’s Twitter after controversial replay ruling erased a run

The Atlanta Braves were on the wrong side of two controversial calls in the fifth inning against the Cubs on Tuesday. Most of all, it included an apparent missed call after a replay review.

A smile on my face and OMNICHATTER! in my heart, for May 16, 2018

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 5-16-2018

Lake County [Indiana] Times, May 16, 1918:

There was nothing startling in the announcement from Boston that several offers of very high figures had been made to Harry Frazee for services of George Ruth, elephantine southpaw of the Red Sox. In fact, the announcement that Frazee had been offered $100,000 for his star port flinger caused little astonishment in the inner circles of baseball.

As baseball values have come to be known of late the price offered for the big flinger is low indeed, for it ...

Davey Johnson Thinks All This Launch Angle Talk Is “a Bunch of Crap”

Playing for the Dodgers primarily in a bench role from 1973 to 1979, Mota batted .312 in 652 plate appearances, as well as a .376 OBP. Tango believes that a talented batter is just that, regardless of whether it’s coming in after the seventh inning with the game on the line or hitting in the starting lineup. Davey Johnson concurs.  

“Yeah, I think they’re just good hitters,” Johnson agrees. “When the situation arises and you look for your pitch, it’s about being aggressive.  They ...

Fortnite Addiction Is Becoming a Problem for Major League Basebal

Boston Red Sox pitcher David Price, missed his Wednesday start against the team’s hated rival New York Yankees because of mild case of carpal tunnel syndrome. And after questions have arisen about how frequently he gets a Fortnite fix, the pitcher said he’s hanging up his controller, at least around the ballpark, reports MLB.com.

How gambling can help make baseball America’s pastime again

Because Americans – well, Americans may well love to gamble as much as anyone, and that the country needed a multi-billion-dollar underground economy to swell for decades felt particularly un-American. Monday’s Supreme Court ruling that took away Nevada’s monopoly on legal sports gambling served as the first step to this brand-new world where our sports gambling options will be as plentiful as our minds allow.

Want to bet on whether a pitch will be a ball or strike? It’s coming.

Care ...

Robinson Cano Reportedly Suspended for PED

Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano was suspended for 80 games on Tuesday following a positive test for a performance-enhancing drug, according to multiple reports, including Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic

From what I’ve read Hector Gomez, a reporter in the Dominican, is the one who broke the story.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took OMNICHATTER! for May 15, 2018

Taking Back the Ballparks - New York Yankees

Ah, perhaps the toughest entry of all for me to come up with, given how I place the Yankees just above Pol Pot and one spot below You Tube stars on my hierarchy of historical malevolence, and that’s only because the Yankees have slipped down a few spaces after the nice anti-bullying video they recently did.

Yankee Stadium III is that rare new park that seems to be least appreciated by the fans of the club, particularly in comparison with the facility it replaced. From what I can tell, it ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 5-15-2018

Toledo News-Bee, May 15, 1918:

By hitting home runs in three consecutive games he participated in Babe Ruth a few days ago tied the record for homers in consecutive games. Curiously enough the record has only been accomplished by pitchers, Ruth and Ray Caldwell.

I’m beginning to think Babe Ruth might be good at baseball.

Reds sweep Dodgers, whose 16-24 record is the worst 40-game start since 1958

If this isn’t rock bottom, the Dodgers don’t want to know.

The Dodgers have to be better than this, or so they keep telling us. They just got swept by the team with the worst record in the National League. They are one game out of last place in the NL West.

Their 16-24 start is the worst by any Dodgers team since 1958, the inaugural season in Los Angeles.

You are who your record says you are, right?

This has been the worst deal in the history of OMNICHATTER! for May 14, 2018

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 5-14-2018

Bridgeport Times, May 14, 1918:

Ferdie Schupp, the Giants’ youthful southpaw, whose pitching arm has been troubling him all Spring, paid a visit to Bonesetter Reese in Youngstown, Ohio yesterday.

The specialist, after a close examination of the arm, found that the young pitcher had pulled a tendon close to the shoulder. He snapped the tendon back into place and ordered Schupp to refrain from pitching at least a week, after which he said the arm would be as good as ever.

Schupp reported last ...

Taking Back the Ballparks - Chicago Cubs

We just passed the halfway mark in this endeavor. Yet like the baseball season itself, the second half won’t take quite as many days to complete.

Just as College Week gives Jeopardy host Alex Trebek a younger group of contestants to insult, and Fleet Week depletes the stock of antibiotics on our nation’s maritime vessels, By Acclimation Week is going to speed up the Taking Back the Ballparks project.

If my assumptions are correct, each day this week we’ll check off another team, a ...

How seasoned rookie Brandon Mann achieved his big-league dream after 17 years, a stint in Japan and a suspension

Mann reached his goal after 267 minor league appearances, three seasons in independent leagues, two seasons in Japan and one suspension for use of a banned substance.

“It means everything,” said Mann, who got the final five outs in the Rangers’ 6-1 loss to Houston at Minute Maid Park. “Lots of reflecting on the journey of where it’s been. This is pretty awesome.

“I always told myself I was a big leaguer. To keep grinding for that opportunity, you have to believe that you are.”

...Read More...

Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Griffin (Vlad) Posted: May 14, 2018 at 09:04 AM | 21 comment(s)
  Beats: debuts, general, rangers, rookies, texas rangers

The Score: A’s Maxwell not allowed into Canada, won’t play vs. Blue Jays

Oakland Athletics catcher Bruce Maxwell will be forced to miss his team’s four-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays next week due to ongoing legal issues that will prevent him from entering Canada, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Taking Back the Ballparks - Colorado Rockies

The westernmost park I’ve ever visited. My one night there, I watched Aaron Cook throw a 79-pitch, four-hit, no-walk shutout against the Padres in a nifty one hour, 58 minutes. I haven’t been paying attention: Does it still play as such a severe pitcher’s park?

Truthfully, it’s behind only PNC on my personal favorite list. Just a beautiful place in a really nice setting. And that’s something coming from me, as I don’t like spending time west of the Mississippi, or south of the ...

Taking Back the Ballparks - Baltimore Orioles

Oriole Park at Camden Yards remains the template for the modern park, in all the right ways. Place it in a convenient, central city location? Check. Incorporate the surrounding area into the design? Check. Offer the customer new ways to enjoy the game beyond what was previously available? Got that.

Only two problems. They almost got the name perfect, but the Oriole Park part was simply unnecessary. Without its useless appendage, Camden Yards would be on the Mount Rushmore of baseball park ...

Taking Back the Ballparks - Milwaukee Brewers

Of all the paid-for ballpark names, this one probably works the best. The title sponsor’s name is short and kind of generic, so we aren’t dealing with something that’s obviously corporate. Miller’s ties to the city run long and deep. And, of course, the team’s nickname pulls from the very industry of the brand. You could argue that Miller Park would be one of the best names for the park even if the brewery wasn’t forking over the dough for the privilege.

The park itself is a blend ...