Outside The Confines: The dog days of August

Good morning. The news sure does slow down now that the draft and the trade deadline are over.

• It’s been 30 years since Oriole Park at Camden Yards opened, and Dan Moore writes about how it was the stadium that changed everything in professional sports, for better and for worse.
• Dan Connolly writes about the Orioles’ 30 years in Camden Yards and how they’ve yet to play a World Series game there. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Pete Rose was at Citizens Bank Park for a ceremony honoring the 1980 World Series team. Rose dismissed a question by a female reporter about an alleged rape of a girl under the age of 16 by saying “It was 55 years ago, babe.”
• In case you still want more Vin Scully tributes, Eric Nusbaum writes that Scully was the purest baseball fan there was because he never stopped being amazed by the game.
• Twins manager Rocco Baldelli was furious after replay reversed a play at the plate when it was ruled that catcher Gary Sanchez interfered with runner Whit Merrifield.
• Jeff Passan and David Schoenfield examine how the Padres and general manager AJ Preller operate and how that enabled the team to land Juan Soto. (ESPN+ sub. req.)
• Dayn Perry wonders if Soto will get baseball’s first $500 million contract and explains why he might.
• Thomas Harrigan examines players who will have to step up for teams that didn’t do much at the trade deadline.
• Juan Toribio list three questions facing the Dodgers after the trade deadline.
• Will Leitch ranks 14 playoff-contending franchises by how much they really need to make the playoffs this season.
• Mike Axisa outlines how the Nationals went from World Series Champions in 2019 to the worst team in baseball in 2022.
• Zach Kram thinks that Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge’s pursuit of Roger Maris’ American League home run record and Barry Bonds’ MLB home run record is starting to get real.
• Fukuoda Softbank Hawks pitcher Kodai Senga is considering coming to MLB next season. Senga has an opt-out clause in his contract and he would be a free agent and would not go through the posting process.
• Chris Bumbaca reports that most major league pitchers and catchers are falling in love with the PitchCom system for calling pitches.
• The Guardians have designated outfielder Franmil Reyes for assignment, just one year after his 30-home run season.
• The Braves sent postseason pitching hero Ian Anderson down to the minors.
• Tigers DH Miguel Cabrera clarified his earlier comments and said that he intends to play in 2023. Earlier comments had been interpreted as Cabrera saying that this would be his final season.
• Time for the butcher’s bill. The Blue Jays put outfielder George Springer on the injured list with an inflamed elbow. For the first time, George Springer and I have something in common. I’m sure we’ll have something to talk about at the club in the offseason now.
• Twins outfielder Alex Kirilloff will have season-ending wrist surgery. He had season-ending wrist surgery last year and that went so well he decided to do it again. (Not.)
• Angels outfielder Mickey Moniak has a fractured middle finger, but the team hopes he will return before the end of the year. Hey, Mickey. I’m sure commissioner Rob Manfred would like to see where you got injured.
• Levi Weaver has the story of the once-”Vandy Boys” — pitchers Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker — who are now reunited as Texas Rangers prospects. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Giants manager Gabe Kapler explains his philosophy on why he personally throws batting practice to the hitters sometimes. And why he thinks it’s important to throw his best stuff against them as well.
• Reds infielder Kyle Farmer explains to Tommy Birch why playing at the Field of Dreams ballpark will mean so much to him this week.
• And finally, who’s a good dog? The Seattle Mariners made a post-deadline acquisition as they adopted Tucker, a 4-year-old mixed lab/retriever to be their new clubhouse dog.

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