MLB Bullets Will Rise For The Judge

I just want to say that despite baseball-reference.com, I still use my old Macmillan Baseball Encyclopedia from time to time. It’s really perfect to stand on when something is just about five or six inches out of your reach. Sean Forman still hasn’t been able to equal that.

• I will be very glad when the Orioles and Red Sox play someone other than each other. Umpire Sam Holbrook explains why he ejected O’s starter Kevin Gausman for hitting Xander Bogaerts with a breaking pitch.
• Joe Torre commented on the ongoing feud between the two teams and noted that Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale may yet be disciplined for throwing behind Manny Machado, even though he wasn’t thrown out of the game.
• Nate Scott thinks the Red Sox are just embarrassing themselves with their Machado headhunting. I’d also point out that Machado will be a free agent soon and the Red Sox need a third baseman. Oops! You have a phone call from the Bronx on line 2, Mr. Machado.
• Scott Lauber thinks that the two teams have lost all common sense, but mostly the Red Sox.
• Grant Brisbee argues that the “unwritten rules” need to change before someone gets killed.
• Jon Heyman looks at some surprise early playoff frontrunners and assesses their chances of playing in October.
• One of those teams is the Yankees, and Neil Paine argues that the Yankees just aren’t that good of a team yet. Emphasis on “yet.”
• One of the biggest reasons the Yankees have been thriving is the play of former Fresno State Diamond Dog Aaron Judge. Ken Rosenthal reports that despite his struggles last season, the Yankees believed in Judge because he has, what they term, “Jeter makeup.” In Frank Howard’s body, no less.
• Former Yankee great Reggie Jackson called Judge “the straw that stirs the drink.” “the leader of the pack.”
• Evan Davis writes that Yankees first baseman Greg Bird’s early season struggles are partially the result of bad luck.
• The Yankees arrive at Wrigley Field today, and the whole team is looking forward to it, but none more than ex-Cubs Aroldis Chapman, Adam Warren and Starlin Castro. Chapman and Warren will get their World Series rings today. It doesn’t seem right they they both get rings and Castro doesn’t, but it is the way things work.
• Michael Rosenberg thinks that Derek Jeter could be the owner that the Marlins need.
• However, former Diamondbacks general manager Dave Stewart has joined the Tagg Romney/Tom Glavine bid for the Marlins. I don’t think anyone will write that Stewart is the owner the Marlins need. Maybe some cruel people might say he’s the owner the Marlins deserve.
• Perhaps the best story of the season so far has been the major league debut of Pirates shortstop Gift Ngoepe. Kevin McCallum has a detailed look at his journey from living in a amateur team’s clubhouse to the majors.
• Alex Stumpf talks with a Pirates scout on the Pirates’ search for talent all over the world, including Ngoepe and his brother, Victor.
• I did look to see if any South African websites had covered Ngoepe, and they had, although maybe not as much as US baseball sites. The opposition party Democratic Alliance issued a statement praising him, for example. But the best was the gossip site that said “We don’t know much about baseball, but we know that Gift Ngoepe is a total cutie!”
• Red Sox starter Steven Wright will miss the rest of the season after knee surgery.
• Mets hurler Noah Syndergaard got a positive second opinion on his lat strain. He’s still going to miss a couple months, however.
• A fan at Busch Stadium was shot with a (seemingly) stray bullet. It is believed someone shot in it in the air.
• Which just goes to show you that we live in a different time. Back in 1950, a fan at the Polo Grounds was killed with a stray bullet and the game went on. Not only did the game went on, fans rushed to steal the dead man’s seat and his 13-year-old companion was upset he was missing the game.
• A Padres fan at Petco Field was injured with a flying bat.
• Astros infielder Marwin Gonzalez hit a home run in his fifth straight game. I remember when he was in the Cubs organization. I saw him in Boise, where they called him “Speedy.” I didn’t make that up.
• Michael Baumann believes that if the Athletics are to build a strong pitching staff, it will be up to catcher Stephen Vogt to lead them there.
• The Twins have already fallen out of first place, but Grant Brisbee outlines what has to happen if they want to win the AL Central.
• Sam Mele, who managed the Twins to their first American League pennant in 1965, has passed away at the age of 95.
• The Diamondbacks are off to a terrific start and Jeff Sullivan shows how their excellent baserunning has played a role in that.
• The Rockies are also off to a good start, thanks in part to rookie left-handed pitcher Kyle Freeland, who is a Denver native.
• Also reliever Greg Holland, who is better than ever after missing last year because of Tommy John surgery.
• Dave Cameron thinks that if the Rangers don’t turn their season around before the trade deadline, Yu Darvish may end up being the starter that everyone wants. He suggests an Ian Happ for Darvish deal which makes me queasy, even if it does make a certain amount of sense from the Cubs point of view.
• Marlins outfielder Marcell Ozuna hit a monster home run at Tropicana Field that hit the team’s Wild Card pennant on the back wall of the upper deck.
• Anthony Castrovince has an all-star team of players who have had surprisingly good starts to the year.
• J.J. Cooper reviews the Braves’ new SunTrust Park and the retail development that surrounds it. He says the Braves are now real estate developers who happen to own a ballclub.
• On the baseball front, Mike Axisa notes that SunTrust is playing like a great park to hit home runs. So after 20 years of pitcher friendly Turner Field, we may be back to having the Launching Pad in Atlanta.
• The Dodgers inducted broadcaster Vin Scully into their “Ring of Honor” and Joe Posnanski has some stories on the impact that Scully has had on other broadcasters.
• Reds outfielder Billy Hamilton wants to race the Bengals’ first-round pick.
• The hidden ball trick was pulled off at a minor league game. Eventually. It took a while.
• Rob Neyer has the history and an appreciation of “The Big Mac” Baseball Encyclopedia that we fans had to use before the internet.
• And finally, a bar in Boston announces that they welcome all Cubs and Yankees fans, but you have to read the fine print to know that.

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