Outside The Confines: Hanging with old friends

The big news that were were expecting today didn’t come because. . .

• Tigers fans booed as Yankees manager Aaron Boone intentionally walked Miguel Cabrera in the eighth inning on Thursday with Cabrera still sitting at 2,999 career hits.
• Stephen J. Nesbitt looks at the qualities that turned Cabrera into a man with three-thousand hits. (The Athletic sub. req.) Well, 2,999 for now.
• Alden Gonzalez writes about Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman’s emotional first series against the Atlanta Braves.
• Back with the Braves, first baseman Matt Olson is off to a great start with Atlanta, writes Jay Jaffe.
• In Wednesday night’s game in Houston, Shohei Ohtani did something that no pitcher has done since at least 1900—Ohtani batted twice in a game before throwing his first pitch.
• Ben Clemens wants you to know that Ohtani, who won the MVP Award last year, is even better this year.
• Here’s a story that could go in Cub Tracks, but it fits in here too. Andrew Baggarly notes that the Giants wanted to sign Seiya Suzuki and they could really use Seiya Suzuki in their lineup right now. So why didn’t the Giants sign Suzuki? (The Athletic sub. req.) For those who don’t subscribe, there are a few reasons but the biggest one is that Suzuki just liked Chicago better than San Francisco.
• Gabe Lacques notes that no one is going to Athletics games at the Oakland Coliseum and who can blame them? The blame lies with the A’s owners and MLB.
• Jayson Stark has one of those “Only Jayson Stark” columns that is both informative and whimsical. Stark has ten numbers that will define 2022. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Fangraphs explains how they are updating their fielding WAR calculations by incorporating Statcast data. Lots of things of in there of interest to Cubs fans, but one relating to the off-season debate around here about Andrelton Simmons is especially interesting. (If he ever gets healthy.) Simmons defensive numbers from 2021 were among those that were changed the most for the better.
• Jeff Passan looks at the possible reasons that home runs are down so far this year. (ESPN+ sub. req.) He also looks at some other questions that the early season has raised.
• Reds outfielder Tommy Pham was upset about a collision between the Padres Luke Voit and his catcher Tyler Stephenson so he challenged Voit to a fight. Of course, Voit and Pham were teammates on the Cardinals.
• Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon has become the first baseball player to get a sportsbook endorsement deal. Yeah, this trend won’t end well.
• Dodger pitcher Trevor Bauer’s administrative leave has been extended another week.
• The Boston Red Sox paid tribute to their late player and broadcaster, Jerry Remy.
• Joon Lee looks at how the Red Sox are trying to modernize and expand the music at the stadium with three new local DJs.
• David M. Zimmer notes that it was 50 years ago this week that Sparky Lyle became the first reliever to enter the game to music. His entrance song? The graduation march “Pomp and Circumstance.”
• It was ten years ago yesterday that Philip Humber threw the unlikeliest perfect game in MLB history, writes David Adler.
• Jay Jaffe notes that the Guardians’ José Ramírez is off to a blazing-hot start after signing a contract extension with the team.
• Zach Crizer examines the hottest “new” pitch in baseball, the “sweeper.” It’s actually not new and it’s just a fancy name for a horizontally-breaking slider, but it is a hot pitch right now.
• Chris Creamer tells the history of batting helmets.
• R.J. Anderson looks ahead and asks five questions about next year’s crop of free agents.
• The Yankees and Padres reportedly discussed a deal last month that would send Joey Gallo to San Diego.
• The US Capitol was evacuated because no one told the Capitol Police that about a planned fly-over at Nationals Park.
• A junior college pitcher was suspended for four games and is facing expulsion after this.

• Hall-of-Famers Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz and Randy Johnson had a great time reminiscing after shooting a commercial together, writes Bob Nightengale.
• The Quad Cities River Bandits and the Cedar Rapids Kernels will play a game this August at the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa.
• And finally, Brewers players have promised to pick up the tab at one random Milwaukee-area tavern each Friday night away game this year.

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