MLB Bullets Has A Lot To Apologize For

I hope everyone, especially you moms out there, had a happy weekend. Of course you did -- the Cubs took two of three from the Nationals.

• Major League Baseball banned all pink bats that weren't made by Louisville Slugger. Well, not quite. They did permit them, but only if they were stripped of all marks identifying them as not being made by Louisville Slugger. I can see MLB's point and I can see the point of players like Trevor Plouffe, who doesn't use a Louisville Slugger bat and whose mother is a breast cancer survivor. But the whole conflict makes clear that this isn't about a charity or "cancer awareness" anymore (seriously, is there anyone who hasn't heard of breast cancer?) but about a tax-deductible marketing campaign. In that light, I can see the unwillingness of other bat manufacturers to play along.
• Back to last week's umpire embarrassments, Tom Verducci wonders: when is the Commissioner's Office going to do something?
• The Rays have a reputation for challenging umpires, but they aren't worried about the umpires retaliating. Unless they really are so worried about retaliation that they won't admit to fearing retaliation. I see a Dan Brown novel coming.
• In a Mother's Day article, Salvador Perez credits his mother for making him the player he is today. If that's true, I wonder if Salvy's mom might want a coaching job with the Cubs. She did a heck of a job with her son.
• Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera had a public spat, but they've since kissed and made up. Or at least hugged. Aww.
• Roy Halladay made a public apology to Phillies fans. For what? Getting injured? That's how much a competitor Doc is, I guess.
• Speaking of injuries, Joel Hanrahan is out for the year. Still waiting on his apology.
• Jack Morris has apologized to Clay Buchholz, and Morris isn't even injured.
• Mets closer Frank Francisco has had a setback in his rehab efforts. Maybe he should have apologized.
• Don Mattingly is on the hot seat. He's not going to blame the Dodgers' failures on injuries, however. So no apologies, eh Don?
• Washington Post columnist Mike Wise parodies the Bryce Harper hype.
• Shelby Miller's one-hitter on Friday may have been the greatest pitching performance in Cardinals history. It had the highest "Bill James Game Score" in Cardinals history.
• Bo Porter called Sunday's loss to the Rangers a learning experience for the Astros. If that's true, the Astros should have their Ph.D. by the end of the season.
• Buck Showalter is trying to minimize the frustration that Orioles (and former Cubs farmhand) second baseman Ryan Flaherty is having with his current performance.
• Drew Smyly wants to start, but at least he doesn't develop blisters pitching out of the pen.
• Red fans are just going to have to accept that Jay Bruce is an inconsistent player.
• In contrast, Brewers manager Ron Roenicke is having a lot of trouble accepting Yovani Gallardo's inconsistencies.
• Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson says the trade that sent Justin Upton to Atlanta was "good for everybody." Bob Nightengale in USA Today says that's just crazy talk, at least for now.
• The concession workers at AT&T Park have voted to authorize a strike. They've been without a contract for three years.
• Finally, the Padres talk about fan safety and foul balls. They admit that it's hard to let it get to you when one of your foul balls ends up hurting someone.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. I'm sorry, it just will.