MLB Bullets can’t get a grip

The Astros and Dodgers are still beating the crap out of each other in game 5 as I write this. So one team is in great shape heading back to Los Angeles and one is in real trouble.

• Neil Paine writes about how the Dodgers bats came alive late in game 4 to save the Dodgers season.
• Whitney McIntosh notes that the Dodgers were patient with struggling hitters Joc Pederson and Cody Bellinger and it paid off in game 4.
• Several pitchers on both the Astros and Dodgers have suggested that the reason why there have been so much offense in the World Series is because the balls are slicker and harder to grip properly.
• Travis Sawchik looks at the data and notices that pitches are indeed breaking less in postseason.
• One pitcher who relies on his slider, Astros closer Ken Giles, has been hit hard this postseason. Because of that, Giles is not the Astros closer anymore.
• Jeff Passan talks to more pitchers about the ball controversy and says that MLB would rather be talking about something else during the World Series.
• Commissioner Rob Manfred continues to insist that the balls are within the “established parameters” and to not draw conclusions from one game. Bill Baer finds his comments disingenuous.
• The other thing that MLB would rather not be talking about is Astros first baseman Yuli Gurriel having mocked Dodgers pitcher Yu Darvish with a “squinty eyes” gesture and the use of a Spanish-language slur. Gurriel apologized and said he knew what he had done was offensive.
• Darvish, for his part, took the high road. He said what Gurriel did “isn’t right” but that we should stay positive and learn from mistakes. (It should be noted that Darvish is half-Iranian and has been dealing with racism about one side or the other of his family all his life.)
• Dylan Hernandez has a father who was born in El Salvador and a mother who was born in Japan, so he feels he has a unique insight into this issue. He gives some background on the word “chinito” that Gurriel used and said it is not nearly as offensive in Cuba as it is elsewhere. However, he adds that context matters and that Gurriel played one season in Japan and knows the term is considered offensive there, as well as here
• Manfred announced that Gurriel would be allowed to play in the World Series but that he is suspended for the first five games of 2018, giving four reasons.
• Gabriel Baumgaertner calls Manfred’s decision to allow Gurriel to play disappointing and that it sets a bad precedent.
• Tim Brown agrees: Gurriel should not have played in game 4.
• Michael Baumann calls Manfred’s decision “offensive in its own way” and writes that by not suspending Gurriel for one World Series game, he turned what would have been a one-day story into something that will continue through the offseason.
• Grant Brisbee defends Manfred’s decision by saying that it kept the move from going to an appeals process and an arbiter, which would have been a mess no one needed right now.
• Bill Baer says that while we applaud Darvish’s “graciousness” in wanting to move forward, we should not react negatively if Darvish (or someone else the next time this happens) had decided to be angry.
• Chris Cwik adds that it’s hard to get upset at what Gurriel did when MLB continues to allow the Indians to use Chief Wahoo.
• Wright Thompson has an essay on the city of Houston during the World Series. He calls the city’s residents “survivors” and praises its diversity. He says Houston is the most American of cities, for better and for worse.
• Dayn Perry has a history of both the Astros and Dodgers uniforms.
• The most famous uniform in Astros history is now the most popular throwback jersey: the “Tequila Sunrise” uniforms from the seventies and eighties. Here’s a look at the history of the popularity (or lack thereof) of those uniforms. It’s even getting international exposure these days now that Kate Upton has been seen wearing it around Minute Maid Park.
• Mariners general manager Jerry DiPoto says that his decision to trade outfielder Chris Taylor to the Dodgers was “clearly the worst deal I’ve ever made” and that he wishes he could take it back.
• Here’s a nice piece from Katie Baker on what goes on behind the scenes at “MLB on Fox” and how Alex Rodriguez has been redeemed in the public eye through his terrific baseball commentary. I would pay to see an evening of baseball talk between Rodriguez and Pedro Martinez. I think it would be a terrific Hot Stove event.
• Athletics catcher Bruce Maxwell was arrested for aggravated assault on Saturday. He allegedly pulled a gun on a delivery woman.
• The Phillies are expected to hire Gabe Kapler as their new manager. I think Kapler is a terrific choice for a team like the Phillies. But you never know with managers until they actually manage.
• Rob Arthur writes that fired Yankees manager Joe Girardi was a good manager and he got fired anyway.
• Before they hired ex-Cubs bench coach Dave Martinez as their new manager, the Nationals at least considered reaching out to Girardi but they wouldn’t pay the kind of salary that Girardi would demand.
• Martinez is going to make a lot less per year than Girardi would have, but at least he got the Nationals first three-year contract in their history. Eddie Matz says at least the Nats now understand that they have to give a three-year deal to get anyone good to agree to manage the team.
• A local Los Angeles station hired a noted courtroom sketch artist to draw the Dodgers in the postseason. So if you’re a Dodgers fan, you’ll like to see this artistic interpretation of their quest for the title. If you think the Dodgers should all be indicted, well, these pictures all look like they have been.
• And finally, Susannah Meadows writes an essay about selling his dad’s autographed baseballs from 1948, when his dad was the White Sox ball boy. He got lots of autographs of the big stars of the era and she tells his story of that year with the White Sox.

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