Outside The Confines: Insert Slam Diego pun here

Since we faced some rather heavy topics of discussion in last week’s various links posts, I thought we’d start off Monday nice and light, because by Wednesday or Friday I’m sure we’ll have something new and excited to get riled up about.

Baseball was fun this weekend! The Indians debuted a hot new pitcher, Twitter debated the merits of who was better: Ken Griffey Jr. or Mike Trout (feel free to weigh in below), and the San Diego Padres somehow, inexplicably, kept hitting grand slams.

Five of them in six days. And amid all those slams, the man who started them all managed a truly unique feat. Fernando Tatís Jr. completed a grand slam cycle. He hit one, was on first for one, on second for another, and on third for yet one more.

Baseball is wonderful.

Our first stories today dive further into topics from last week, and then we just jump into some fun stuff.

• While baseball’s unwritten rules may not have the intensity they once did, they’re still around enough to get in the way of a good time, writes Adam Kilgore.
• Sheryl Ring takes a deeper look into last week’s troubling story about Thom Brennaman.
• It came out this week that Cal Ripken Jr. had been battling prostate cancer, and Dan Connolly collects the responses from all-time great Orioles. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Bradford Doolittle writes about the iconic season George Brett got to .400, and what tht number means for a batter even now.
• The St. Louis Cardinals are facing one of the most utterly mind-bogging schedules in sports history, and Tom Verducci takes a look at what it could mean for the team.
• Corey and Kyle Seager are not only great athletes, but also brothers, and this season finally sees the Seager Bros face off, writes Jay Jaffe.
• Not sure if we would consider this an eephus pitch or just a weird slow ball, but Zack Greinke is calling it a strike one way or the other [VIDEO].

• Fabian Ardaya has the MLB photos of the week. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• The Red Sox were on top of the world only two seasons ago, so how have they sunk so far in 2020, asks Jon Tayler.
• No one thought the Rockies would have the season they’re having, and now they have their eyes on the postseason. Stephanie Apstein looks at the surprise success of the Colorado club.
• Another wonderful and absurd addition of the Useless Info Dept by Jayson Stark. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• The pitching staffs of the White Sox and Cubs are wildly different and Eric Longenhagen takes a deep dive into Chicago pitching.
• Ken Rosenthal looks at the players trying to clear their names after testing positive for PEDs. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• With the trade deadline coming next week, Buster Olney looks at which teams will be buying or selling.
• Worth a look for the upcoming Tigers/Cubs series, Keith Law looks at the dual debuts last week of Casey Mize and Dane Dunning. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Hunter Renfroe ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

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