MLB Bullets Has A Lovely Parting Gift For You

Derek Jeter really ought to be careful which former AL MVP he accepts gifts from in Baltimore.

• Speaking of Baltimore, the Orioles' Chris Davis was suspended for 25 games for use of a banned stimulant. Davis said it was Adderall, for which he had a therapeutic exemption in the past, but did not have this season.
• Bob Nightengale thinks Davis was pretty stupid.
• Ken Rosenthal just asks Chris Davis "Why?"
• Jayson Stark points out that Adderall is addictive and that Davis's problem may not be trying to cheat, but rather that of an addiction. In fact, since he would have had to test positive twice to be suspended, Stark thinks it's likely that this is an addiction issue.
• Peter Schmuck thinks Davis has likely played his last game as an Oriole. Which I guess says that Schmuck is pretty pessimistic about the Orioles winning the AL Division Series, since Davis would be eligible to play in the ALCS.
• Jonathan Papelbon blew a save yesterday. Then he got ejected for allegedly making an obscene gesture at the fans in the stands. Or maybe he was just adjusting his protective cup. The ejection let to a confrontation with umpire Joe West in which West pushed Papelbon away.
• The Marlins believe that Brewers pitcher Mike Fiers is genuinely remorseful for hitting Giancarlo Stanton with a pitch. However, they were upset by Fiers actions immediately following the incident.
• C.J. Nitkowski speaks of his own experience of hitting Craig Counsell in the jaw. He says that it isn't something a pitcher gets over easily.
• Ken Rosenthal explains how the Brewers postseason express went off the rails.
• Frank Torre has died. While he is probably best known these days for being Joe Torre's older brother, he was the starting first baseman and important part of the Milwaukee Braves back-to-back NL pennant winners in 1957-58. He hit .300 with two home runs in the 1957 World Series in which the Braves beat the Yankees in seven games.
• Will Leitch looks at the rest of the season for every team still in the playoff hunt and what they need to do to make the post-season.
• Anthony Castrovince looks at Chris Sale's fantastic season by the numbers.
• Jon Lester has been everything the Athletics could have hoped for.
• Jayson Stark looks at the "one-of-a-kind" career of Adam Dunn, who is looking to play in the postseason for the first time if Oakland can win a wild card spot.
• Danny Knobler says that the Mets have a lot of work to do before they can compete in the NL East with the Nationals.
• The Mets have told their closer Jenrry Mejia to "tone down" his mound celebrations.
• Jeff Sullivan goes looking for a reason to be concerned about Mike Trout again. Even he admits he's being a worrywart, but he does find some valid points of concern.
• Logan Morrison nearly went into center field to try to break up a double play. Amazingly, the umpire had to be talked into calling interference.
• Dave Stewart has agreed to interview for the Diamondbacks GM job. Jon Heyman calls him the favorite to get the job.
• The Mariners scout who got into an incident when he sent ice cream to Jesus Montero in Boise has been fired.
• The Red Sox have a lot of money to spend this offseason, according to chairman Tom Werner.
• Maybe they'll spend it on another Cuban outfielder. Yasmani Tomas is expected to command a contract of around $100 million from an MLB team.  The Red Sox and the Phillies are two teams expected to make a strong bid to sign him.
• Jasper Scherer lists the ten best contracts in baseball, at least from the team's standpoint.
• Marc Normandin compares Corey Kluber to Cliff Lee, and says that fortunately for the Indians, Kluber, unlike Lee, is going to hang around Cleveland for a while.
• Jim Caple takes a long look at what he calls one of the oldest rituals in baseball: batting practice.
• Michael Baumann is a fan of the Phillies, but he wrote something that would make him welcome in any bar or restaurant in Wrigleyville. He's disgusted by the "gross" success of the Cardinals. He's not real fond of "the best fans in baseball" either. (Yes, there's some tongue-in-cheek going on here, but he really does want the Cardinals to lose.)
• Rob Neyer looks at an old pamphlet called "Play Ball with the Yankees" that was given to young ballplayers to convince them to sign with the Yankees in the era before the draft. Stuff like "Sure, we may be offering you a smaller bonus than the Pirates, but think of all the money you'll make from your World Series share when you play for the Yankees!"
• Neyer also looks at our expanding strike zone and asks if this is what we really wanted when MLB started evaluating umpires with Pitch f/x. He sure doesn't want robot umpires or at least he doesn't want robot umpires who call the strike zone as it's written in the rulebook. Because then every year will be 1968, except without the long hair and Nehru jackets.
• A record number of fans attended minor league baseball games this season. I think there are still two games to go.
• A warning sign for the future. The game at Miller Park was delayed for 15 minutes on Saturday after long lines and delays after the installed metal detectors. Because we want fans to be safe inside the stadium, so we make them wait in a long security line where they're all sitting ducks for whatever we're trying to protect them from when they're watching the game.
• A look at "The Rooftop," the SRO "bar and social area" at Coors Field. It appears to be a hit as fans buy tickets just to go to the bar.
• Jose Abreu says he wants to learn English well enough to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" before a game.
• This sounds like a really bad movie plot, but apparently it was real. A look at a team of convicts who had to literally "play baseball for their lives" in 1911. Win, and they get stays of execution. Lose? You don't want to lose.
• And finally, Boog Powell gave Derek Jeter crabs. I'm sure it's a nicer gift than a lot of people in Baltimore wanted to give him.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.