MLB Bullets goes to war

There are days that Scott Feldman being out for the season would be worthy of a link. That day is not today.

• You’ve most likely seen and read about the fiasco that was yesterday’s Tigers/Yankees game that led to three bench-clearing brawls and eight ejections.
• Whitney McIntosh breaks down all eight ejections and ranks them, along with a few other players who should have been ejected.
• Jeff Passan says you have to believe that it’s a hell of a coincidence to think that Dellin Betances wasn’t throwing at James McCann on that play that hit McCann in the helmet. Passan doesn’t believe Betances was throwing at McCann’s head because he thinks he’d have to be a “monster” to do that. But he makes a strong case that Betances was trying to hit McCann.
• Dayn Perry notes that Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez threw not one, but two “sucker punches” at players who were already down and being restrained.
• Yankees manager Joe Girardi blamed the umpires and Tigers manager Brad Ausmus for the incident. Because Ausmus said “F___ You” to Girardi. Really? Your pitcher could have killed James McCann with an obvious retaliation pitch and your DH got two cheap shots in, and it’s Ausmus’ fault for using the F-word? You’ve never heard that word on a baseball diamond before Girardi? You might want to look in the mirror if you want to see someone who lost control of his team. Either that, or that guy in the mirror is an outright thug, and I don’t believe that.
• Gabriel Baumgaertner thinks MLB needs to come down hard on those involved in this and similar incidents or there will be more ugly stuff like this. He’s thinking 15-game suspensions.
• Andrew Marchand thinks nobody won these brawls but the Yankees certainly lost. That’s because the Tigers have nothing to play for and the Yankees are looking at many, many suspensions during a Wild Card race.
• Then there was the performance of Rich Hill on Wednesday night when he lost a perfect game on an error in the ninth inning and the no-hitter and the game on a Josh Harrison walkoff home run in the tenth inning. Fun fact: both Hill and Harrison were in the Cubs organization in 2008. They weren’t teammates, although Hill did spend a good chunk of that season in the minors, they missed each other.
• A running theme of the commentary on this game was that it was all the more special in that Hill lost the no-no and the game. Tyler Kepner compares Hill’s gem to other slightly-imperfect games in baseball’s past.
• Grant Brisbee thinks the Harrison walkoff home run made the game all that much more special for everyone—but the Dodgers and Rich Hill, of course. Brisbee has never been all that concerned about the feelings of the Dodgers, however.
• Mike Lupica thinks that Wednesday’s game was a movie script with a different ending.
• Ben Lindbergh and Marc Normandin explain why Hill’s gem was another terrific chapter in Hill’s fascinating career.
• Marc Normandin explains why it’s Hank Aaron’s fault that Harrison hit the first ever breakup of a no-hitter in extra innings on a walkoff home run.
• Ted Keith has that Milwaukee Braves game and other no-hitters lost in extra-innings in MLB history.
• And here’s the story about another terrific 1-0 Dodgers game that went extra innings that you should read. Jonah Keri writes about the time that Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda got Youppi, the Expos mascot, ejected from a 22-inning game at Olympic Stadium. Keri notes that wasn’t the only wacky thing that happened at this game that he happened to have attended in 1989.
• One more bit of Pirates news: they are trying to get Jung Ho Kang into winter ball in the Dominican Republic just in case they can get a visa for him for the 2018 season.
• And before we leave the Dodgers, Bradford Doolittle looks at three American League teams and how they could beat the Dodgers in the World Series.
• Time for the butcher’s bill and I already threw in Scott Feldman for free. Cardinals closer Trevor Rosenthal will have Tommy John surgery. I know most of you don’t care, but I never want to see players seriously injured, even though I’d rather it happen to the Cardinals than the Cubs if they have to happen.
• Mets outfielder Michael Conforto tore a muscle in his shoulder on a swing.
• Katie Baker thinks that nothing could say “Mets” more than a “freak” injury to one of their youngest and most exciting players.
• Jon Heyman reports that it looks highly unlikely that Terry Collins will return to manage the Mets next season.
• Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano left a game with a tight hamstring.
• Angels first baseman Albert Pujols passed Sammy Sosa on the all-time home run list, meaning that Pujols is the all-time home run leader for players born outside of the United States. Are we admitting that Florida is part of the United States? I guess we have to. They have a star and everything.
• Mark Simon points out that while Mike Trout isn’t perfect, he’s the next best thing to perfect.
• Sam Miller explains why Angels shortstop Andrelton Simmons may be the greatest defensive shortstop in MLB history. This article explains fully why I am such a fan of Simmons and why he is so incredibly great.
• Jon Heyman thinks umpires Angel Hernandez and Joe West are an embarrassment to the profession. I mean, yeah, but it’s amazing to see a mainstream, old-school baseball writer like Heyman say that out loud.
• Travis Sawchik believes that flesh-and-blood umpires and our new robot umpire overlords can peacefully coexist. In fact, our robot umpire overlords have even written a book entitled “To Serve Umpires.” (see footnote 1)
• It’s the first ever “Players Weekend” and the writing staff of Yahoo’s MLB coverage rank all the uniforms.
• Rockies manager Bud Black says he’s sticking with Greg Holland as his closer for now, but Dave Cameron lays out just how bad Holland has been recently.
• Jeff Passan explains how Colorado third baseman Nolan Arenado went from being a good third baseman to a great one. Still not as good as Anthony Rizzo at third base, however.
• Cliff Corcoran makes the proposal that teams go back to a four-man rotation while not pitching deep in starts.
• More Jon Heyman. He wonders what it says about the Astros organization that has been so successful in developing talent lately but that they still fired eight widely-respected scouts and are vague about their plans to replace them.
• And finally more Heyman. He’s got the top 60 free agents this offseason, if you’re already looking forward to the Winter Meetings.
• Grant Brisbee writes that Giants fans are right to feel conflicted that pitcher Johnny Cueto will now almost certainly not opt-out of his contract, but that ultimately this is a good thing for the Giants. Probably, at least.
• One thing won’t be leaving AT&T Park next year: the seagulls. The gulls have become a big problem in San Francisco and Oakland.
• Anthony Castrovince loves his lists, and he has the ten players with the best stories so far in 2017.
• Will Leitch looks at the ten best players on playoff-bound teams that are still without a World Series championship ring. No Cubs on his list. That seems strange.
• The whole Cardinals “Rally Cat” thing has just gotten weird now that the lawyers are involved.
• The new Rangers ballpark will be called “Globe Life Park.” You may not know this, but that’s what they call the current park. I’ve always just called it “Arlington.”
• If you’re into the physics of baseball, check out this article on what could be causing the balls to fly farther over the past year and a half. And then explain it to me.
• Brewers Zach Davies and Orlando Arcia both managed to fit inside teammate Jesus Aguilar’s pants at the same time. That’s usually the biggest complaint that I get about MLB Bullets—that I don’t cover enough pants news.
• And finally, the other complaint I get is that I occasionally slip in a soccer story, but this one is too good to pass up. The live-Tweeting of the F.A. Cup match by 10th-division club Baldock Town FC went silent in the second half because the guy in charge of Tweeting had to go into to game as a substitute. Anyone think the person who runs the @Cubs account will get asked by Maddon to go in and play third base one day? (And yes, Baldock Town won.)

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

(1) It’s a cookbook!