The Dugout - Empty Parks, Duct Tape & The Truth
Echoes of Baseball
If a ball lands in the outfield and there’s nobody there to cheer it, is it still registered as a Major League hit?
Well, if that hit was at the crowdless Camden Yard on Wednesday (US) then sure. The Orioles and White Sox played in front of an empty stadium in what is believed to be the first ever MLB game without a single fan in attendance. The reason for that is a serious one, the Baltimore riots made it unsafe to open the gates. The first two games of the series will be made up in a double header next month but this game couldn’t be fitted into the schedule so they played it anyway before almost 46000 empty seats.
It’s a strange decision by Major League Baseball, who have generally been pretty conservative in these kinds of situations before. Not wanting to call away police and security from more pressing matters, they decided not to cancel the final game. Some media members were allowed in, along with match officials, but there were no family members, no vendors or ushers, no security, no noise and no atmosphere. The anthem was played over the loudspeakers. A few players still tossed foul balls into the stands, only for the balls to bounce and tumble and clatter their way down the aisles.
It was also finished in a little over two hours, easily the shortest game of the season. Forget about pitching changes and TV breaks and slow at-bats… turns out it’s the fans that slow the game down so much!
Go On, Get!
Remember the Josh Hamilton situation in Los Angeles? The Angels wanted their overpaid, underperforming, oft-injured and troubled outfielder gone so bad they publically shamed him in the wake of his admitted drug relapse despite having signed him knowing his past issues.
The Angels were so desperate to get rid of him that they’ve traded him to the rival Texas Rangers (where Hamilton won the MVP in 2010) for cash considerations. They’re paying the bulk of his remaining salary (almost $83m) so that he can play for a rival. Mental. Hamilton is admittedly leaving some cash on the table in going back to Texas, but he’ll make that up with the fact that there ain’t no income tax in Texas. The Rangers will only pay him around $7m through to 2017.
Together Hamilton and the Rangers made back to back World Series (Hamilton homered in extras in the infamous game 6 vs St Louis in 2011), apart they’ve each crumbled. Like, towards the end of Hambone’s time in Texas, he began really struggling at the plate, his strikeouts rocketed up and he went 0-4 with 3 K’s in the final game of the season that cost the Rangers a spot in the playoffs. He left to boos. But now the Rangers have gone from contenders to pretenders. Injuries and unfulfilled talent ripping them to shreds. They never replaced Hamilton in left field, maybe this is the reunion they each needed, even under these murky circumstances.
MLB Power Rankings:
(last week)
- New York Mets (4)
- Detroit Tigers (1)
- Houston Astros (NR)
- Kansas City Royals (2)
- St Louis Cardinals (7)
- LA Dodgers (3)
- New York Yankees (NR)
- Chicago Cubs (8)
- Boston Red Sox (6)
- Pittsburgh Pirates (NR)
Beltre Don’t Pay
No sport offers more weird coincidences than baseball does. The other day Adrian Beltre of the Texas Rangers went 0-3 against the LA Angels and Garrett Richards – breaking his bat in every one of those three plate appearances.
Well, Beltre’s a guy with a sense of humour, so the next day he sent Richards an invoice for the three broken bats, asking for $300 in compensation. It was a legit invoice too, neatly inscribed with the words: ‘cash only, no checks’.
Richards responded by sending him an autographed bat, saying he hoped that paid off the debt.
If The NBA Playoffs Were Seeded 1-16…
Golden State Warriors vs Boston Celtics
Atlanta Hawks vs Milwaukee Bucks
Houston Rockets vs Oklahoma City Thunder
Los Angeles Clippers vs New Orleans Pelicans
Memphis Grizzlies vs Washington Wizards
San Antonio Spurs vs Toronto Raptors
Cleveland Cavaliers vs Dallas Mavericks
Portland Trail Blazers vs Chicago Bulls
The Truth Going Hard on The Drakes
“Hey Coach, whaddaya reckon about the referees today?”
Texas Sized Beef
Likewise
LeBroooooon
Dwiiiiiiight
“Hey Coach, I Hear Lamar Odom’s Off Contract?
The ‘Offs – Iman Shumpert
J.J. As Usual
They Don’t Make ‘Em Like They Used To
“Hey Coach, did you watch Game of Thrones this week?”
Top Nut Shots of the NBA Season
NFL Teams Ranked By Fans’ Grammar
“Hey Coach, whaddaya think about Zayn leaving One Direction?”
Good Week:
Anthony Davis (New Orleans Pelicans) – It wasn’t quite enough to avoid the sweep against the best team in the league, but Anthony Davis’ first ever playoff run was a personal success, at least.
Jimmy Butler (Chicago Bulls) – Averaging 26.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.2 steals per game against the Bucks, if it weren’t for his 5-21 shooting night in game 5 then he’d have been player of the week.
Hanley Ramirez (Boston Red Sox) – We’re talking 4 homers, 8 RBI and 9 total hits in his last week, he’s tied with Nelson Cruz for both the most homers in the majors (10) and most RBI (22). Just a shame about the Red Sox’s abysmal starting pitching efforts taking away from his hot start.
Bad Week:
C.C. Sabathia (New York Yankees) – While the rest of the Yankees starting pitchers are getting rolling (aside from the injured Tanaka), C.C.’s getting pumped. 0-4 with an ERA of 5.96, which sounds awful but to be honest he’s been on the downslide since around 2012. The fastball’s gone and the rest is following.
Toronto Raptors – Wow. That was a capitulation.
Rajon Rondo (Soon To Be Free Agent) – If he still thinks he can get a max deal he’s kidding himself. It got so bad for him in Dallas that he was effectively cut after game two (upon when the Mavs got immediately better at both ends), and if that weren’t bad enough he’s been iced from the team playoff bonuses too.
Player of the Week:
Dwight Howard (Houston Rockets) – Wow, who saw this coming? It isn’t quite the DH12 of Orlando but dammit it’s the closest he’s gotten back to. 16.6 points, 13.8 rebounds and 3 blocks per game against Dallas, he consistently got the better of Tyson Chandler (who is a very good defender) and Dallas simply had no answer. People were worried about Houston without Patrick Beverley or Donatas Motiejunas, but nobody planned for this resurgence.