8th? BBTF Central Park Softball Game: 2021?

Let’s start planning for this year’s game. First questions:

1. Who is submitting the permit request? (Answer: Hysterical & Useless)

2. What dates should we aim for? (Answer: July 25 October 3 some time in 2021)

3. Where is the post-game destination?

Shut yo mouth, I’m just talking ‘bout OMNICHATTER!, for May 12, 2021

Padres players Fernando Tatis Jr., Wil Myers test positive for COVID-19, at least 3 other players out for contact tracing

The San Diego Padres announced a roster move on Tuesday before their game in Colorado due to “health and safety protocols.” And later during the game, two players were removed.

Earlier in the day, it was announced that star shortstop, Fernando Tatis Jr. along with Jurickson Profar and Jorge Mateo all were placed on the injured list.

Padres manager Jayce Tingler announced that Tatis Jr. had tested positive for COVID-19 saying he was currently asymptomatic. Profar and Mateo were both close contacts.

During Tuesday’s game against the Colorado Rockies, players Wil Myers and Eric Hosmer were removed and it was later confirmed by Tingler that Myers tested positive for COVID-19 and Hosmer was removed for contact tracing.

No additional ...

New York Yankees 3B coach Phil Nevin, 1B coach Reggie Willits positive for COVID-19

New York Yankees third-base coach Phil Nevin and first-base coach Reggie Willits have tested positive for the coronavirus, the team said Tuesday.

Nevin’s status was announced before Tuesday night’s road game against the Tampa Bay Rays. Willits’ positive case and that of a staff member were confirmed after the Yankees’ 3-1 win. Manager Aaron Boone also said the team is waiting for more results.

Two additional cases are considered inconclusive but are expected to be ruled as positives, a source told ESPN, which would bring to five the number of coaches and support staff members who are positive. ESPN earlier reported that there were five positive cases among the coaching staff.

“We’re doing all we can to stay healthy. A little bit of a ...

With Bob Cousy, Pedro Martinez And More In Attendance, Worcester Red Sox Open Polar Park

Bob Cousy was told to remember two lines, but the 75-year Worcester resident had a lot more to say.

“I’m Bob Cousy, as you’ve just been told,” he informed the crowd at Polar Park in Worcester’s Canal District on Tuesday, gathered for the inaugural Worcester Red Sox home game as they took on the Syracuse Mets.

The crowd roared.

“You’re being nice,” Cousy quipped. “If my name is even fairly familiar to any of you, that probably means you’re receiving your social security check.”

Rays Designate Yoshi Tsutsugo For Assignment

The Rays announced Tuesday that they’ve designated struggling first baseman/outfielder Yoshi Tsutsugo for assignment. He’s in the second season of a two-year, $12MM contract that represented a relatively sizable investment for the cost-conscious Rays. They’ll now have a week to trade him, pass him through waivers or release him. Corner infielder Kevin Padlo is up from Triple-A Durham in his place.

Tsutsugo, 29, was a prominent slugger with the Yokohama DeNa BayStars in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, batting .285/.382/.528 in parts of 10 seasons — including a .293/.402/.574 slash with 139 home runs in the four years leading up to his free agency.

He struggled in 2020 with the Rays but at least showed off some of that ...

These Aren’t the Hits MLB Wanted

Mains continues:

There was one batter hit per 96 plate appearances in 2018, a new record. It fell further, to 94, in 2019. Then all the way to 81 in last year’s short, weird season.

This year? Through Tuesday night’s games, it’s down to 74.5. Batters are being hit thirty-eight percent more frequently than in 1901. There are just over eight hit batters for every five just a decade ago. We’re averaging 0.997 hit batters per game in 2021, a single HBP shy of one per game—a level the sport’s never approached. Batters so far have a .309 on-base percentage. Hit batters account for thirteen points of that figure. Ten years ago, there were only eight points of hit batters in MLB’s .321 OBP.

I wanted to take a look at possible ...

Oakland Athletics to start looking at relocating elsewhere, sources say

The Oakland Athletics will start exploring the possibility of relocating with the blessing of Major League Baseball, a move that could put pressure on local government officials to greenlight a new stadium project that has spent years in limbo, sources familiar with the situation told ESPN.

The A’s, who have played in Oakland since 1968, have prioritized building a waterfront stadium in downtown Oakland at the Howard Terminal site. But after years of failed stadium plans—and weeks after the organization asked for the city council to vote on the $12 billion mixed-use development before its late-July summer recess—the long-anticipated specter of the A’s looking into relocation on Tuesday became a reality.

“The future success of the A’s ...

It tastes like butter, but it’s OMNICHATTER!, for May 11, 2021

The Runner-on-Second in Extras Rule Has Worn Out Its Welcome

If you’re noticing a slight tilt in that graph, with higher percentages of extra-innings games in days of yore, pandemic notwithstanding, you’re not wrong. Before this year, just once since 1992 had the percentage of extra-inning games reached 10%, a level that was far more common in the 1960s and ’70s; that happened in 2013, when teams scored a comparatively meager 4.17 runs per game. As scoring levels drop, the percentage of extra-innings games tends to rise; the lower scoring means a compressed distribution where lower run totals occur more frequently, and fewer teams erupt for run totals that almost never lead to ties after nine innings. The correlation between scoring levels and extra-innings rates from 1961-2020 is -.63, which ...

Jordan Zimmermann announces his retirement from baseball

It took Jordan Zimmermann more than 12 years in the majors to finally get a chance to pitch for his home-state team, but that lure wasn’t strong enough to continue his long and successful career.

After only two appearances with the Milwaukee Brewers, the Auburndale native announced Tuesday he is retiring from baseball. And, unlike his “two-hour retirement” a couple weeks ago, this time Zimmermann means it.

“I have had the joy of playing the game that I love for the past 15 years,” Zimmermann said in a statement released by the club. “I will forever be thankful to the Washington Nationals and Detroit Tigers for allowing me to live out this dream. It has been particularly special to be able to end it all playing for my hometown ...

Why I can’t wrap my head around baseball’s embrace of sports betting

“Go big on baseball this season,” DraftKings spokeswoman Jessie Coffield urged. “Bet $1 on your team. Win $100 if they get a hit. One hit. One hundred dollars.”

Bet on your team, I thought, as the Tigers returned to the field. But — isn’t that what earned Pete Rose a lifetime ban from baseball in the 1980s? And weren’t eight members of the Chicago White Sox banished for allegedly throwing the 1919 World Series at the behest of bribe-dangling gamblers?

Though Rose proclaimed his innocence for years, he finally admitted in 2004 that he gambled on games as the manager of the Cincinnati Reds, including those involving his own team. But he insisted that he only bet on the Reds to win.

The Black Sox, as they were nicknamed, ...

Seattle Mariners expected to call up top prospect Jarred Kelenic this week, sources say

The Seattle Mariners are expected to call up their top prospect Jarred Kelenic on Thursday, sources familiar with the situation told ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

Kelenic, the No. 6 pick in the 2018 amateur draft, is ranked as the No. 3 prospect in baseball, according to ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel.

While things can change, the plan is to promote Kelenic, an outfielder, for the first game of Seattle’s home series against the Cleveland Indians.

Kelenic, 21, was sidelined early in spring training by a strained adductor muscle in his left knee. He is batting 9-for-20 with 2 home runs, 6 RBIs, 6 runs scored and 2 stolen bases in five games with Seattle’s Triple-A affiliate Tacoma Rainiers.

The State of Baseball: Inside the biggest questions MLB is facing with the future of the sport at stake

Major League Baseball is on a mission to reduce the amount of time it takes to play games. Under Rob Manfred, it’s been close to an obsession. Seven-inning doubleheaders, a three-batter minimum for pitchers, a runner on second to start extra innings—welcome to the only industry intent on persuading its consumers to enjoy less of its product. After all, who among us doesn’t want a raucous extra-inning game settled as quickly as possible by a clumsy schoolyard contrivance? Setting aside the particulars, there’s an inherent conflict: MLB is confusing time of game with pace of play, and its efforts at acceleration run opposite to the skills that teams are prioritizing and incentivizing.

You want to make big league money as a hitter? Hit ...

No MLB Team Is Great, And Fewer Are Awful. Is This The Parity We Wanted?

One quick way to measure how much parity baseball has seen this year — relative to the same stage of previous seasons — is to look at the standard deviation of winning percentages. Through 34 games for each team,1 that number is 0.0747, meaning one standard deviation below .500 lands you on a pace of 69 wins per 162, while a standard deviation above .500 puts you on pace for 93 wins. That may sound relatively ordinary, but early season records usually vary a lot more than that. Through 34 games in 2018, for instance, one standard deviation below .500 would have put a team on pace to win just 60 games, while a standard deviation above .500 meant winning at a 102-victory pace.

Granted, the 2018 season was one of the most imbalanced in ...

Whoa – MLB “Expected” to Add Trading of Draft Picks in the Next CBA?!

Buried in a very long (and very good) roundtable-type piece on the state of baseball at ESPN, Kiley McDaniel slipped in this little nugget on the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (emphasis mine):

There’s also a cascading set of secondary issues that will greatly affect young players who are increasingly the most valued and important players in the game.

On the simple end of things, changing Super Two arbitration and ending service-time manipulation will change when you see young potential stars on the field (hopefully sooner) and how good your team will be. One step deeper than that, the expected addition of trading draft picks, the addition of an international draft and the trading of picks in that new draft could completely ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 5-10-2021

Toledo News-Bee, May 10, 1921:

In the mind of [Mud Hens owner] Roger Bresnahan there has been lingering for several months the idea that he could be of greater use to the Toledo ball club…than by merely presidenting in the office or occupying a diamondside seat, during the field performances.
...
Bresnahan chased away the notion, for he felt the fans would think he was breaking in on [manager Bill] Clymer’s provinces, and he did not want that idea to get abroad.

But with the backstopping problem so important to the Mud hens at this time, a call upon Roger for temporary service behind the bat seems the easiest way to induce him to once more appear on the field in Toledo baseball garments.

Pretty handy to have one of the two or three ...

They don’t think OMNICHATTER be like it is, but it do, for May 10, 2021

Dave Roberts baffled by Angels’ blowout bunt attempt, but play helps Dodgers snap losing skid in wild game

To set the scene: the Angels were down by 13 in the fifth inning when right fielder Taylor Ward came to the plate with a runner on first and one out in the frame. Ward push-bunted the first pitch he saw to the right side of the infield. First baseman Max Muncy, the only fielder located on that side because of the overshift, corralled the ball easily and threw to second base for the force out. The Dodgers, for their part, were less-than-amused by Ward’s attempt at beating the shift.

As SB Nation’s Eric Stephen pointed out, Kershaw could be seen on the television broadcast motioning to the scoreboard while telling his dugout “That’s so stupid.” The broadcast then cut to Roberts, who also appeared to disagree with the bunt call, albeit in ...

Atlanta Braves add some bullpen depth, bring back veteran Shane Greene on a one-year contract

Relief pitcher Shane Greene has signed a one-year contract to rejoin the Atlanta Braves.

Greene, who was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett, will need some time to get ready before returns to the majors. The right-hander went 1-0 with a 2.60 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 27 2/3 innings last season.

Braves relievers began Sunday with a 4.56 ERA that ranked 22nd in the majors. It’s a considerable slip from last year when the bullpen ranked fourth with a 3.50 ERA.

Greene, who was free agent, was used primarily as a setup man for closer Mark Melancon last season and will eventually fill the same role behind closer Will Smith this year.

Nationals broadcaster F.P. Santangelo accused of sexual assault, pulled from games

A 31-year-old woman told The Athletic that Santangelo made unwanted advances and sexually assaulted her several years ago, all while ignoring her repeatedly telling him to stop.

The woman, who spoke to The Athletic on the condition of anonymity, first accused Santangelo in an anonymous Instagram post — which the Nationals and MASN saw. She then detailed the encounter to The Athletic.

The woman said that Santangelo sent her “angry text messages” and even blocked her on all social media after their one in-person interaction. She said she is not seeking a formal complaint or any compensation. She is not an employee of the Nationals, MASN or the Baltimore Orioles — which holds the majority ownership of the network.

“If I never saw ...

Where Did the Homers Go?

Unsurprisingly, in all of the bins most affected by the new baseball, we’re witnessing an associated decline in the overall probability the batter will reach base. We know how good defensives have become; if more balls are staying in the yard, it was always extraordinarily unlikely that they’ll be going for hits at the same rates. But to see a 32-point decline, as in the example of the 95-99 mph exit velocity, 20-24 degree launch angle bin, is striking. Batters were more often than not reaching base on those types of batted balls in April 2019. In April 2021, they only reached base one in five times.

More generally, you’ll notice once again that most of the affected batted balls are those below 30 degrees in launch angle. This makes ...

Francisco Lindor’s ‘rat’ tale unnecessary drama for Mets

The Mets’ $341-million man enjoyed his best game with his new team, slamming a game-tying, two-run homer in the seventh inning as the Mets registered arguably their biggest win of the season, 5-4 in 10 innings over the Diamondbacks at Citi Field. Yet following the game, the result became secondary to an out-of-sight disagreement, dutifully documented by the Mets’ own regional sports network, SNY, between Lindor and his double-play partner Jeff McNeil in the middle of the seventh inning.

That disagreement, a laughing Lindor told reporters a few minutes after the Mets prevailed on a swinging bunt by rookie Patrick Mazeika (his first career RBI), entailed whether Lindor and McNeil, situated in the tunnel that connects the home team’s ...

OMNICHATTER for the weekend of May 8-9, 2021

Reds LHP Wade Miley throws MLB’s fourth no-hitter of 2021

Wade Miley has thrown the fourth no-hitter of the season, which is a lot of no-hitters when you’re still in early May.

The Cincinnati Reds left-hander entered the history books on Friday with nine no-hit innings against the Cleveland Indians in a 3-0 win. His lone blemishes: a Cesar Hernandez walk and a double-error play by Nick Senzel, both in the sixth inning.

Miley’s final line: 9 innings, 0 hits, 0 earned runs, 1 walk, 8 strikeouts and 114 pitches.

The no-hitter is the 17th in Reds history, and 309th among MLB pitchers. It’s the second time Cleveland has been no-hit in three weeks.

Former manager, coach Ray Miller dies at 76

Ray Miller, the longtime big league pitching coach who worked for the Orioles, Twins and Pirates and who managed Baltimore when Cal Ripken Jr. decided to end his Major League record consecutive games played streak in 1998, died on Tuesday. He was 76.

An Orioles Hall of Fame inductee in 2010, Miller tutored several generations of Orioles hurlers across three stints as pitching coach, from 1978-85, 1997 and 2004-05. He succeeded Davey Johnson as manager in 1998, posting a 157-167 record over two seasons at the helm in Baltimore. Miller also managed the Twins from 1985-86 and served as the Pirates’ pitching coach from 1987-96.

On Sept. 20, 1998, Ripken walked into Miller’s office to announce he was ending his record consecutive games ...

Ex-MLB manager Bobby Valentine enters mayoral race in Stamford, Connecticut

Former Major League Baseball player and manager Bobby Valentine is taking a swing at politics, announcing Friday that he’s running for mayor of his Connecticut hometown.

Valentine, 70, who currently serves as the athletic director at Sacred Heart University, posted a video on social media and said he’ll run as an independent candidate in Stamford.

“The greatest commodity I have is my time, and I want to give my time and my energy and my wherewithal back to the city that has given me so much over my lifetime,” he said.

Valentine, a Stamford native, was a three-sport high school star in the city.

it’s not the fall that kills you, it’s OMNICHATTER!, for May 7, 2021

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 5-7-2021

Indiana Daily Times, May 7, 1921:

While Johnny Evers, Cub manager, was coaching at first base in the sixth inning yesterday, Moran’s athletes began hurling unkind remarks at John. The Cub boss walked over to the Cincy Red bench, delivered a lecture to the peppery hostile, and then returned to his toil. John won the decision on words.

Johnny Evers was a smidge high-strung, it seems.

Cubs deal Sox can’t refuse: Bryant would be MVP move

What we know for sure is what we saw in January with that Yu Darvish trade and what we’ve seen since from a team off to its worst start in seven years, thanks to some resulting starting pitching problems and overall depth issues.

So act now, while supplies last, Rick! Players like this won’t be around all summer!

Push, pull or drag your best three or four teenage trade-ins (or maybe Yoelqui Cespedes?) for a chance to pull your outfield out of the 2021 crapper and restore those World Series visions you’ve been selling on the South Side the last six months.

What’s in it for Hoyer and the Cubs?

We already can see the drool on ownership’s face at the mere mention of the additional prorated part of Bryant’s $19.5 million salary ...