MLB Bullets Is Feeling Blue

Really? I'm expected to do this after last night's fiasco? I'm already on double antidepressants as it is.

• If you're wondering why the Royals are doing so well in October (and conversely why the Cubs are struggling right now) you might want to check out Ben Lindbergh's piece on the value of contact hitting in the postseason. Or not.
• Things got so bad for the Blue Jays yesterday that Cliff Pennington pitched, becoming the first position player to pitch in a postseason game. (Not counting Babe Ruth, who did play LF in one game of the 1918 World Series while still primarily a pitcher. Or Rick Ankiel, although he only pitched in the postseason long before he started playing the OF.)
• Jim Caple wonders if the Blue Jays will be able to regroup.
• Britt McHenry talks about how Jose Bautista's popularity has dropped (outside of Canada, of course) after his bat-flip incident.
• Bautista still has at least one big fan though and the nine-year-old "mini Bautista" got to meet his idol.
• Home plate umpire John Hirschbeck ejected Troy Tulowitzki from Monday night's game. Craig Calcaterra thinks that Hirschbeck's decision was "weak" and tossing Tulowitzki was unacceptable.
• In an ESPN Insider article, Buster Olney thinks MLB should punish Hirschbeck unless Tulowitzki's account doesn't pan out.
• Dave Cameron doesn't defend Hirschbeck's decision to run Tulowitzki, but does point out the pitch Tulo was arguing about was a strike.
• Rob Neyer thinks the broadcasters ought to get rid of those on-screen strike zones. I can't disagree with him. They just aren't that accurate yet. Definitely not the one TBS is using.
• Craig Calcaterra says that no, the better team doesn't always win the playoffs, but don't be a bad sport by pointing it out after your team loses.
• If you want to know how Daniel Murphy is doing it, Owen Watson explains how. Sort of. If it makes you feel any better, Murphy never should have been able to hit that pitch from Arrieta out.
• Since Murphy is a free agent as soon as the Mets season ends, Craig Calcaterra wondered who decided it was "Make Murphy A Yankee" day in New York.
• David Schoenfield has some more realistic landing spots for Daniel Murphy. He isn't expected to stay with the Mets.
• Matt Harvey's agent, Scott Boras, has taken out an insurance policy on Harvey.
• Domonic Brown was a 2013 All-Star. All 29 teams passed on making a waiver claim on him as the Phillies outrighted him off their 40-man roster.
• Barry Zito announced his retirement and explains what baseball taught him.
• The lawsuit on behalf of minor leaguers towards MLB violating labor laws has been given the OK to go forward.
• Masahiro Tanaka had surgery to remove bone spurs.
• Why is Don Mattingly still the manager of the Dodgers? Bill Shaikin suspects the Dodgers are trying to engineer a trade with the Marlins, possibly to get the Marlins "competitive balance" pick in next year's draft. I guess you don't cut a player if you can trade him instead, so this actually makes sense, as cold-blooded as it is.
• The Mariners interviewed Jason Varitek for their managerial opening.
• Rob Neyer really loves the knuckleball.
• And finally, here's a Jose Bautista bat-flip jack-o-lantern.

We'll get through this, Buster.