No Clairvoyance Here …

I had exactly zero “inside info” yesterday when I said the Orioles should trade Zach Britton because the O’s are clearly going nowhere this year and need to restock their farm system.  Reports today are that the Yankees have acquired Britton for three pitching prospects.  Given the strength of the Yankees’ bullpen with Chapman, Betances and Robertson, I would not have predicted that NYC would be Britton’s new home; but I guess the Yankees’ brass figures you can never have too much pitching.  As of this morning, the Yankees have 5 games to make up on the Red Sox to win the AL East and avoid the one-game wild card playoff.

A friend of mine was an avid NY Mets fan for a very simple reason.  He was from NYC and he hated the Yankees.  QED…  He often lamented that the “baseball gods” were Yankees’ fans and they conspired to find new ways to torture the Mets and their fans.  My friend passed away about 4 years ago; I wonder what he would think about the “baseball gods” if he were around today:

• Noah Syndergaard has hand, foot and mouth disease and is on the DL.  There is no treatment; you just have to wait for Syndergaard’s immune system to get over this.  This condition arises one start after Syndergaard spent time on the DL for another reason and comes just before the trade deadline.  If – I said IF – the Mets thought about trading Syndergaard, it would be lots better for teams to see him pitch a few times after his return from that first stint on the DL.
• Yeonis Cespedes – – he of the multi-year $110M contract – – now says he needs surgery on BOTH of his heels.  Cespedes had been out for about 10 weeks with a “hip flexor injury”; he came back for one game and announced the problem was really in both of his heels.  He had an MRI and is seeing a “specialist” this week.

With regard to the Cespedes situation, I know that the foot bone is connected to the heel bone and the heel bone is connected to the ankle bone and – – – all the way up to the hip.  What I don’t understand is this

• A heel problem involves bone(s).  A hip flexor is a muscle.  I need a consultation with Dr. Oz on this one…

At the start of the season, the Cleveland Indians announced that their logo/mascot, Chief Wahoo” would be replaced on their uniforms/caps/paraphernalia at the end of this season.  I have no interest in getting into the insulting/not-insulting nature of Chief Wahoo; the Indians are putting the logo to rest so it is time to move on.  However, the team was evidently asked about what would replace the departed Chief next year.  I say that because the team felt the need to issue a statement saying that no final decision had been made, but that the “new logo” would “… honor the team’s tradition …”.

• OK; I’ll bite.  What pray tell is “the team tradition” of the Cleveland Indians?

Bob Molinaro had this comment in a column last week in the Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot:

“Talk show: In a matter of a couple years, the All-Star Game has gone from determining which league claims World Series home field advantage to Fox miking the players so that they can chit-chat with Joe Buck while in the field.”

I have argued that Bud Selig was an excellent Commissioner of Baseball and would be happy to maintain that argument.  However, for the sake of brevity, here is a link to what I wrote about that back in October 2012.

Back then, the decision to try to make the All-Star Game relevant by linking it to the home field advantage in the World Series was the least of the things that Selig did that I thought was of any value.  I characterized it then – as I would now – that it was not nearly as bad as the people who hate(d) Bud Selig would make it out to be.  Having said that, I think Bob Molinaro’s juxtaposition of World Series linkage with miking the players on the field demonstrates how many ways one might experience an All-Star Game.

I prefer the players being miked-up approach because it adheres to the “All-Star Game Tradition” which is to say that the MLB All-Star Game is an Exhibition Game that does not count and therefore is put on simply to have fun.  Think of it as a “Pro Bowl” where the players selected to participate actually show up for the event.

I do not know the individual who “invented” the concept of “walk-up music” for batters in baseball games.  I do know that said individual is someone who is worthy of at least the Sixth Circle of Hell in Dante’s Inferno – – and maybe even worse.

Finally, let me close today with a baseball themed observation by Dwight Perry in the Seattle Times:

“Houston Astros pitcher Justin Verlander and model wife Kate Upton are expecting their first child.

“In lieu of Johnson’s baby powder, they plan to use a rosin bag.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………