:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/47263948/usa-today-8820240.0.jpg)
You can't count on the Rockies for anything. But the magic number is now one.
- The tributes came in for Yogi Berra. You should probably start by watching the ceremony at Yankee Stadium.
- The incomparable Roger Angell shares his memories of Yogi.
- Wallace Matthews calls Yogi "unforgettable."
- Grant Brisbee writes that the joy that Berra brought to the game is a symbol of why we love the sport so much.
- Craig Calcaterra has two pieces on Berra. In the first, Calcaterra explains why he was an even better man than he was a legend.
- Calcaterra also writes that Berra belongs to every era and he wasn't just a product of the Baby Boom era.
- Rob Neyer says that Berra was so nice that he could even make the Yankees lovable. He also tells the story of how he almost, sort of, had a conversation with him through email, although it was Yogi's son Dale actually serving as an intermediary.
- Here's a collection of some of the famous things he said, and again, he didn't say all the things he said.
- Here's a list of sports figures who have won more championships than Berra. Among wins as players only, it's just Bill Russell (the basketball player, not the guy who played short for the Dodgers) and hockey player Henri Richard.
- Jay Jaffe talks about how good a player Yogi was and where Berra ranks among the greatest catchers of all time.
- The New York Times named Whitey Ford the new "Greatest Living Yankee" although it's really either Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera or even Alex Rodriguez. (OK, it's not A-Rod.) I'm kind of glad we didn't feel the need to name a new "Mr. Cub" after Ernie died.
- Now famously, the AP reported that it was Yogi Bear that died, which would have been a neat trick for a cartoon character. Laura Bradley explains the connection between Yogi Berra and Yogi Bear. It's pretty much the same relationship Babe Ruth had with the Baby Ruth candy bar.
- One final history lesson. Last time I linked to stories about Sandy Koufax's decision not to play on Yom Kippur in 1965. Joe Posnanski looks at how different it was when Hank Greenberg faced the same decision in 1934 and 1935. Greenberg decided to play on Yom Kippur and then he didn't. A very good read.
- OK, just one more. Carl Yastrzemski remembers being the only guy to get a hit off 59-year-old Satchel Paige in Paige's final major league appearance 50 years ago this week.
- Jayson Stark has a look at how the Cubs/Cardinals rivalry has extended to their managers and the choice between the two for NL Manager of the Year.
- Rob Neyer says that there are a lot of good candidates for NL MoY, but Maddon's going to win it.
- David Schoenfield looks at how the Pirates finally got good and how the team is not content to just make the playoffs this year.
- As we all know, between the Pirates and a long postseason run stand the Cubs and Jake Arrieta in a one-game playoff. Ben Lindbergh goes through the five "Cub-ler-Ross" stages of wild card grief for Pirates fans. You're going to want to read this one.
- If you're a major league manager, the only thing worse than getting "the dreaded vote of confidence" from your general manager is not getting the dreaded vote of confidence. That means they're not even willing to lie for you anymore. Nationals manager Matt Williams did not get the dreaded vote of confidence from GM Mike Rizzo.
- Andrew Marchand writes that the AL East race seems over and the Blue Jays have won.
- This is what really scares me about the Blue Jays. Marcus Stroman tossed seven shutout innings and beat the Yankees. Stroman wasn't supposed to pitch this season.
- C.J. Nitkowski explains what's going wrong with the Astros lately.
- Rob Neyer thinks the Astros are having a run of bad luck, although he admits it's a crappy time to have a run of bad luck.
- The Red Sox named their own assistant GM Mike Hazen as their new general manager. I'm not really sure how his duties are going to change, however, since new team president Dave Dombrowski will be the one calling all the shots. So he'll be a GM assisting the guy who has all the duties a traditional GM has. That's a big step up from being an assistant GM.
- Jerry Crasnick talks about how the "old baseball men" are getting shut out of the GM chair in favor of young analytics-oriented candidates.
- Sean McAdam says that it's good that the Red Sox front office is showing some continuity.
- Bob Nightengale thinks Ozzie Guillen and Dusty Baker are being "blackballed" from getting another managerial job. Or maybe it's just because neither of them are the forward-thinking managers who are up on the latest trends in statistics, injury risk-management and other things that these new analytic-oriented GMs are looking for.
- Last time I linked to a story that the Royals had removed Greg Holland from the closer's job. Now we know why he was pitching so poorly: Holland has a "significant" tear in his ulnar collateral ligament and will almost certainly have Tommy John surgery.
- Dave Cameron thinks that the Royals bullpen is actually a cause for concern this season.
- Major league rosters are too big. Bruce Bochy used nine pitchers in only three innings on Wednesday night.
- The Phillies are interested in bringing Jeff Francoeur back next year and he wants to stay.
- Ben Reiter lists the free-agents-to-be who have hurt their value the most this season.
- Matt Snyder estimates the likelihood of several active players chances of reaching 3000 hits.
- Padres broadcaster Dick Enberg announced that 2016 will be his final season. As long as he continues to host "Sports Challenge" in his basement rec room, everything will be fine.
- Here's one that plays to my interests: Bob Klapisch looks at baseball in Brazil and asks if Brazil will be the next hotbed of baseball talent.
- And finally, the Twins like to celebrate wins by dancing in the clubhouse. So Torii Hunter held an awards ceremony for the "Toriis," which honor the best in Twins clubhouse dancing. And yes, he gave out trophies.
And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.