Outside The Confines: I miss baseball

With it being the weekend following Thanksgiving, there hasn’t been much motion in terms of baseball news, so late Sunday night I found myself watching “Robin Hood Prince of Thieves,” the Kevin Costner/Alan Rickman classic.

Costner, of course, is a noted baseball fan, who has starred in Bull Durham, Field of Dreams and For Love of the Game, two of which are beloved, the other of which is For Love of the Game.

In watching Costner flounce about in a mullet pretending to be in the Middle Ages, I started to wonder what the baseball landscape looked like in 1991 when Robin Hood came out.

Jack Morris was the World Series MVP as the Twins bested the Braves for the Commissioner’s Trophy. Cal Ripken Jr. was the AL MVP and Terry Pendleton got the nod for the NL. Tom Glavine and Roger Clemens won Cy Young awards, and some kid named Jeff Bagewell won the AL Rookie of the Year award.

And the Hall of Fame class that year was a doozy with Rod Carew, Fergie Jenkins, Tony Lazzeri, Gaylord Perry, and Bill Veeck getting their due.

All this is to say I’m using any excuse to look up baseball while I wait for the offseason free agent market to start heating up. So let’s get into the best stories of the weekend.

• The Tigers had some fun (with very bad acting)

• Rays outfielder Randy Arozarena has been released from custody in Mexico and will not face charges following a domestic dispute, reports John Romano.
• The staff at MLB.com look at which free agent hitters have the best tools available this offseason.
• The Dodgers might be the 2020 champs, but according to Katherine Acquavella, this still have some issues to work out.
• In a story not to be missed, Cody Stavenhagen and Rob Biertempfel bring us the lost stories of iconic manager Jim Leyland. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• David Schoenfield looks into the new Bill James book to look at who Mookie Betts’ biggest basepath rival might be.
• Are the Toronto Blue Jays poised to get a new stadium? Kaitlyn McGrath explains the obstacles standing in the way of the plan. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Happy 93rd (!!) birthday to Vin Scully.

• Dayn Perry looks at 12 teams who could find themselves a good bargain on the free agent Cyber Monday sale.
• Andy McCullough likewise looks at some Black Friday deals for every team. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• How is the hot stove cooking up a potential victory season for the Braves? Buster Olney takes a look at Atlanta’s plan for success.
• FanGraphs’ David Laurila has his first Hall of Fame ballot at walks through the process of getting and completing one.
• Speaking of the Hall of Fame, Joe Posnanski has begun a series at The Athletic exploring the 100 best players to not be included in the Hall. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Look who’s back, back again.

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