Outside The Confines: Party like it’s 1998

I’ve got nothing today, so just pretend I said something profound.

• The Yankees were the first team to win 50 games this season. Jay Jaffe compares the 2022 Yankees to the 1998 Yankees and says this year’s version is that team’s equal, so far.
• Some of the “wild” numbers behind this year’s Yankees.
• If Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge has been distracted by his upcoming arbitration hearing, he hasn’t shown it. Judge has his arbitration hearing scheduled for Friday after he and the team failed to come to an agreement. Judge says he’s “looking forward” to the hearing.
• R.J. Anderson reveals 10 things to know about Judge’s hearing.
• MLB has sent a memo around to all teams requiring that every team “muddy” the baseball in the same way. MLB discovered that there was a wide variety in the ways that teams put mud on the balls and that might be leading to pitchers not getting good grips on the ball.
• In another rule that’s been around for a while but is just getting enforced now, Reds pitcher Graham Ashcraft was told by umpire John Tumpane that he had to take off his wedding ring.
• Zach Crizer and Hannah Keyser look at a new pitching machine that can accurately recreate a major league pitcher’s “stuff.” Crizer and Keyser report that teams are in an arms race to get their hands on the machine and they don’t want other teams knowing that they’ve got it.
• If you’re not sick of Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz yet, remember that Cruz threw out Willson Contreras at first on a 96.7 miles per hour throw.
• Steve Gardner writes that Cruz made quite an impression in his major league debut.
• Alex Kirshner believes that MLB has never seen a player like Oneil Cruz before, comparing him to a Giannis Antetokounmpo who plays baseball instead of basketball.
• In honor of the 6’7” Pirates shortstop, Thomas Harrigan has an all-time MLB “tall” team.
• Sticking with Pirates rookies, outfielder Bligh Madris became the first MLB player ever with a parent from the Pacific island nation of Palau.
• Any Cubs fan who can remember the aughts can remember the “disagreements” between managers Dusty Baker and Tony La Russa. Buster Olney explains how the two men have (mostly) buried the hatchet and put their feud behind them. (ESPN+ sub. req.) It started at the urinal at Bob Welch’s funeral. For real.
• Andy McCullough explains how Marlins pitcher Sandy Alcantara has become perhaps the most dependable starter in the game. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Justin Choi looks at the surprising season of Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk, the second-best (after Contreras) offensive catcher in the game at the moment.
• Grant Brisbee weighs claims about the Giants offense and declares them facts or fiction. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• With outfielder Mookie Betts on the injured list, the Dodgers have added former Cubs outfielder Trayce Thompson to their 26-man roster.
• David Laurila asks ten major leaguers: What is your favorite baseball memory?
• Will Leitch has five players who deserve more All-Star Game votes.
• Remember Kyle Farnsworth? Of course you do. I didn’t put him on the vote for favorite Cubs of the Aughts, but this link made me think of that question. Farnsworth has become a bodybuilder and you won’t believe how big he’s become in his retirement.
• The Rays’ Harold Ramírez hit the slowest home run ever recorded by Statcast.
• Jason Beck looks at the restoration of Hamtramck Stadium, a historic Negro Leagues park that was once the home of the Detroit Stars.
• And finally, Jesse Dougherty has the story of two fans that performed CPR and saved the life of a stranger in Section 209 of Nationals Park.

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