MLB Bullets takes a dive

I really wish I could “stick to sports.” I really do.

• First off, the Diamondbacks clinched a playoff berth and celebrated by jumping in the pool at Chase Field. The Dodgers were quite upset by this and California Senator Kamala Harris called the D-Backs disrespectful. (Not really. That’s a reference to the Diamondbacks and Senator John McCain getting upset about the Dodgers taking a dip in the pool at Chase Field when they clinched in 2013.)
• Potential new Marlins owner Derek Jeter fired four Marlins special assistants: former manager Jack McKeon, “Mr. Marlin” Jeff Conine and Hall of Famers Andre Dawson and Tony Perez. Actually, that’s not true. He ordered team president David Samson to fire them because he didn’t want to do it personally. That was right after he told Samson he was fired.
• Craig Calcaterra believes that Jeter is getting off to a bad start in Miami.
• Buster Olney also thinks that Jeter made a mistake and that he has a no-win decision coming up on whether or not to trade Giancarlo Stanton.
• Sigh. No more avoiding it. Athletics rookie catcher Bruce Maxwell became the first MLB player to kneel for the National Anthem.
• Jeremy Woo has some background on Maxwell.
• Maxwell’s A’s teammates said they support him, and outfielder Mark Canha put his arm on Maxwell’s shoulder during the anthem.
• Here’s what others in baseball said about Maxwell’s gesture. Some for. Some against.
• Maxwell said he has received both praise and threats for his actions.
• Jon Tayler calls Maxwell “a brave man” and hopes that other baseball players will join him.
• Craig Calcaterra has some ideas of why baseball hasn’t seen any of these protests before.
• Bill Baer points out that in his autobiography, Jackie Robinson said that he would not stand for the National Anthem for the same reasons.
• In Detroit, the “Handsomest Manager in Baseball” Brad Ausmus was fired, effective at the end of the year. His firing came just one day after he admitted to the press that he was going to be fired.
• John Perrotto thinks Lloyd McClendon could be a good choice to be the next Tigers manager. At least he can teach the Tigers the proper technique to steal bases.
• Yankees third baseman Todd Frazier was caught by Ryan Goins pulling the hidden ball trick.
• Cliff Corcoran remembers the best hidden ball tricks in recent history.
• Here’s a story that has been my particular hobby horse for years: Michael Hattery believes that everyone would benefit if minor league players were paid more. Seriously, how can they be expected to do their best when they don’t know if they have enough money to pay their rent every month? Or when they’re sleeping 8 to a one-bedroom apartment?
• Peter Keating looks at the old baseball saying “You can’t walk off the island” and examines the actual differences in walk rates between Latin and US-born players.
• Michael Baumann looks at the Rockies’ rocky path to the playoffs. Or not.
• Jesse Spector thinks that between the Rockies and the Brewers, only one of them will make the playoffs and that the team that doesn’t must consider their season both a success and a failure.
• The Twins are close to clinching the second Wild Card spot in the American League where they will have to play the Yankees in New York. Joe Posnanski notes that the Twins have had a terrible time against the Yankees in recent years but that probably won’t matter this time thanks to the one-game nature of the Wild Card.
• Scott Lauber believes that Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrel has been the best closer of the decade.
• Will Leitch looks at five more teams that have been eliminated from the postseason and what they have to look forward to in 2018.
• Matt Snyder believes that the Reds could be much improved next season. That’s all the NL Central needs.
• Reds rookie pitcher Luke Farrell became the first pitcher to ever pitch against a team managed by their father when he pitched an inning against the Red Sox. I guess because Boston was winning 5-0, John Farrell didn’t have any conflicted emotions. But can you imagine if the game was close and the Red Sox were fighting for a postseason spot? “I hope my son gets lit up tonight.”
• Tigers pitcher Alex Wilson had his leg broken when he was hit by a 103.8 mph line drive. At least it was just his leg, but he’s obviously out for the year.
• Tigers DH Miguel Cabrera has two herniated discs.
• R.A. Dickey is mulling retirement, despite a solid season for the Braves. Mostly, he wants to spend time with his kids before they start going off to college.
• On the other hand, Tim Brown thinks that Twins pitcher Bartolo Colon is finally losing his battle against Father Time.
• Eddie Matz believes that Nationals reliever Matt Albers, whom he also calls “Bartolo 2.0” because of his weight, has been the Nats secret weapon this year. I suppose “Bartolo 2.0” is a lot nicer than “A Fat Tub of Goo.”
• The Toronto fans gave a warm round of applause to Jose Bautista, in what is expected to be his final home game in a Blue Jays uniform.
• Rob Mains notices that fewer and fewer pitchers are qualifying for the ERA title each year.
• Twins infielder Brian Dozier got a “Little League home run” on a bunt.
• The Nationals expect to activate Bryce Harper off the disabled list today. I never wish an injury on someone, but I would have been OK if Harper would have missed the NLDS.
• A look at some of the “rookie dress-up days” in MLB.
• But finally, no one did dress-up day better than the Nationals. The whole team (not just the rookies) dressed up as “Game of Thrones” characters, including Jayson Werth as Jon Snow and Harper as Snow’s direwolf! Max Scherzer is pretty scary as the Night King, but Sean Doolittle doesn’t have to do a thing to dress up like Tormund. He always looks like that.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster, because the Cubs are going to clinch tomorrow.