Outside The Confines: They might be Giants

It’s been so long that I’ve almost forgot what it was about, but the minor league baseball season finally starts tomorrow. I really encourage everyone who can to take in a minor league game this year or any year. There isn’t a better value in family entertainment anywhere in this country, in my opinion. Even if the game sometimes gets a little lost in the spectacle for us baseball purists, you will get to see high-quality baseball at a reasonable price. You’ll probably even be able to afford the good seats right behind home plate if you want. No, it’s not “major-league” quality baseball, but it’s amazing how talented even the players at the Low-A level are these days.

Also, I’m wondering if we shouldn’t just change the name of this column to “Baseball Men Behaving Badly.”

• Hall-of-Fame infielder Roberto Alomar was placed on the ineligible list after an MLB investigation into a 2014 sexual misconduct allegation on Friday. MLB did not share any more details about the incident. The ineligible list is the same list that Pete Rose is on. The Hall of Fame announced that they would not be removing Alomar’s plaque from display.
• Tyler Kepner has some more details on what the “ineligible list” entails and what other consequences Alomar might face.
• In a much-lesser bit of MLB handing out punishments, Phillies pitcher José Alvarado was suspended for three games for “incitement” of a bench-clearing brawl between the Mets and Phils. Alvarado is appealing the decision.
• Will Leitch has the MVP of each team so far in April.
• On the other hand, Andrew Simon has a list of players who are glad the month of April is over.
• Emma Baccellieri has five takeaways from April, including “Mike Trout is good.” OK, they are a little more insightful than that.
• You know who else is good? Nationals shortstop Trea Turner. Bob Nightengale makes the case that Turner is the best shortstop in baseball.
• Gabe Lacques also chimes in on what he learned the first month of the season including that the Giants have talent to completely upend the NL West race and they’re doing it with a bargain-bin castoff starting rotation.
• The Giants are tied with the Brewers for the best record in baseball at the moment. David Adler notes that much of this is because two veterans, Evan Longoria and Buster Posey, are both playing like it is 2011 and not 2021.
• Jake Mailhot looks at two veteran third baseman having resurgent seasons so far in 2021. One of them is Longoria and the other is the Mariners’ Kyle Seager.
• The Royals are another surprise first place team at the end of one month. Michael Baumann examines how Kansas City has been able to be competitive while rebuilding at the same time.
• AJ Cassavell notes that the Padres have been stealing more bases than any other team this season and that it’s been a big part of the team’s success.
• Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer pitched nine innings of five-hit, one-run ball on Sunday afternoon. Then he hurried out of the ballpark to be with his wife for the birth of their third child.
• Adding to the annals of weird baseball injuries, Athletics pitcher Jesus Luzardo broke the pinky on his pitching hand playing video games. The team did not reveal what game he was playing.
• Kiley McDaniel notes that every team in the majors is trying to learn from how Cleveland identifies pitching talent and how the Rays pick hitters. (ESPN+ sub. req.)
• James Wagner has a profile of Phillies assistant general manager Jorge Velandia, who is the first Venezuelan to reach such a high position in an MLB front office. Velandia wants to run his own team in the near future, of course.
• Paul Casella has a collection of base hits that were hit off of pitches on the bounce.
• “Listen children and I shall tell ye, of the midnight ride of Doug Mirabelli.” OK, I’m sorry for that. Especially since it was during rush hour in Boston. But Chad Jennings has the story of how the Red Sox got Doug Mirabelli from San Diego to Boston in time for him to catch Tim Wakefield back in 2006.
• And finally, perhaps the cutest story of the MLB season so far and probably the cutest in quite some time concerns a guy who wanted the Diamondbacks social media account to check in on how his friend’s date at Chase Field was going on Saturday.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. We’re going to have minor league baseball again.