Jin Deshaies had it right. You just say "Clown question, bro" and move on.
- The big news isn't news at all, but about how Nationals manager Matt Williams went off on reporters when they asked if he was planning on sending Bryce Harper down to the minors.
- The Washington Post has the whole sordid story from beginning to end, including why someone would ask that (Harper has struggled lately), what Williams said on a radio show and why he was so mad at reporters.
- So naturally, Harper hits the game-winning home run in the bottom of the 13th inning yesterday. Also, Williams apologized to the members of the media he berated.
- Grant Brisbee thinks that overreacting to the struggles of an extremely young and talented ballplayer like Harper is "a great way to screw up a baseball team." He also points out how young and talented Harper is. Until Javier Baez was promoted this week, Bryce Harper was the youngest player in the National League, and he has been since he was promoted in 2012. (Rougned Odor is younger in the AL.)
- The other big news is the race to be the next commissioner. Michael S. Schmidt of The New York Times explains the divisions between the owners and the rift that has developed between former allies: Commissioner Bud Selig and White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf.
- So Reinsdorf ran to USA Today to deny the claims made in the Times story. He says their is no "rift" between him and Selig.
- Selig has one final crisis to deal with before he leaves office. The Orioles have gone through with their threat to go to court to have the arbitration decision against them thrown out. Technically, it's MASN that has filed suit, but since the Orioles own MASN, it's a distinction without a difference. So far, the Orioles have gotten a restraining order preventing the arbitration decision from being enforced. But going to court was the one thing that Selig strongly warned against.
- Or one final crisis plus one. MLB is expecting new names connected with the Biogenesis scandal to emerge in the federal prosecution of the clinic.
- Greg Doyel says that baseball will always have cheaters, which is true. Also, that he knows of at least three cheats because he has "Roid-dar." OK, that's not what he calls it, but he says he just knows of three cheats from examining them from afar. I'll let you evaluate the veracity of that claim.
- More business news. The Indians are going to remodel Progressive Field. In the process, they're going to remove about 5,000 seats to lower the capacity to around 38,000.
- Tony La Russa thinks the Diamondbacks are getting an unfair rap in the beanball wars with the Pirates. Of course, La Russa's position only makes sense if you really believe Ernesto Frieri was throwing at Paul Goldschmidt and that Randall Delgado hit Andrew McCutchen completely by accident. That's going to be a tough sell, Tony.
- So you probably heard the Cubs claimed Cole Hamels off waivers. The Phillies are not going to trade him unless it's a trade that is "absolutely unfair" to the Cubs.
- Dave Cameron says that the Phillies missed an opportunity to trade Hamels before the trade deadline. He thinks they absolutely should have shopped him around.
- The Phillies did trade one pitcher when they shipped Roberto Hernandez to the Dodgers.
- Antonio Bastardo wants to be traded too.
- David Schoenfield thinks the Phillies need to wake up and smell the coffee and release Ryan Howard.
- We found out why the Yankees didn't go after either Jon Lester or David Price before the trade deadline. Both the Red Sox and Rays ownership told their GMs that their aces could not be traded to the division-rival Yankees.
- Despite not picking up an ace, the patchwork Yankees starting rotation is keeping them in the post-season hunt.
- The Angels keep adding to their bullpen as they acquired Vinnie Pestano from the Indians.
- Ben Lindbergh looks at the notion that the Tigers and Athletics "super-rotation" is built to win in the post-season. There is no evidence that "pitching wins in the playoffs" any more than in the regular season.
- Shawn Windsor wants to know where Miguel Cabrera's power went this season?
- And David Wright is just a mess. Complete with Laurie Berkner video!
- Troy Tulowitzki caused a bit of a stir when he said he was tired of losing. He wants to make it clear that he's not asking for a trade, but that "something needs to change" in Colorado.
- Rob Neyer is starting to wonder if the conditions of Coors Field makes it impossible to build a solid pitching staff there.
- The Braves are in a terrible slump. Jay Jaffe looks at what's wrong and what the Braves need to do to fix things before it's too late.
- If they fall too far back, Richard Justice has a list of some of the greatest second-half comebacks in history.
- Joe Posnanski argues that Adam Dunn is not a Hall of Famer, even if he hits 500 home runs.
- The Angels and Dodgers is becoming quite a rivalry.
- Unsurprisingly, most Southern Californians watched the Angels broadcast with Victor Rojas and Mark Gubicza over the Dodgers broadcast with Vin Scully. If you think about it, you'll figure out why in about two seconds. But the Angels set ratings records for the Freeway Showdown and by most measures, the Angels' popularity is growing.
- MLB put the kibosh on the Dodgers bubble machine in the dugout. At least temporarily.
- The 98 mph cutter that Kenley Jansen throws is just mean.
- A scary moment in Pittsburgh as Marlins pitcher Dan Jennings was hit in the head with a line drive. What's sad is that we're not even shocked by this anymore.
- Jayson Stark has a list of records and milestones that could fall this season.
- Tom Ruane explains the games that broke Retrosheet. Like the time Ernie Banks was charged with an at-bat in a game he didn't play in. (H/t SweetSpot)
- One agency that represents players has a new tactic to gain clients: They're cutting their commission. Everything must go!
- Pat Jordan with a fascinating long form story where he asks why the overhand curve ball is almost extinct.
- And finally, this article made me laugh. Jim Caple compares each National League team to a fictional dog. I'm proud to say the Cubs' dog is the only one that comes with a time machine and a pet boy. The American League list will be out today.
And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.