2021 MLB Non-Phillies News/Notes

[David_Criss]

Dodgers' Trevor Bauer placed on administrative leave by MLB following assault...

He was supposed to pitch against the Nationals on Sunday.

[flyers19rw]

Bauer is in real trouble here beyond the reaches of MLB. LAD going to need pitching.

[bkox]

Ohtani becomes the first player ever selected to the all-star game as both a pitcher and a hitter. And after hitting his 31st HR today, is on pace for 60Hrs this season

[Taudawg]

Bauer's "administrative" leave extended 7 more days.

MLB Places Trevor Bauer On Administrative Leave

[bkox]

4 arrested on gun charges at Denver hotel, police feared 'Las Vegas-style...

[bkeich]

Whoever this “Hotel Employee” is they may have just saved hundreds of lives. Something like the All Star game where you have a high density of people with limited egress is always the fear for a mass shooting.

I wish I knew of a better way to stop this other than blind luck of some cleaning lady (or other) having the courage to say “I just saw something that doesn’t look right”.

[julio]

I wish I knew of a better way to stop this other than blind luck of some cleaning lady (or other) having the courage to say “I just saw something that doesn’t look right”

There is a better way, and we all know what it is. Some of us just aren’t willing to accept that. Per my comment in the discussion of our COVID IL mess, it comes down to “my rights” vs. the public good. The “better way” here involves some personal sacrifice, for the good of all. This is, apparently, un-American.

[bkox]

Whoever this “Hotel Employee” is they may have just saved hundreds of lives.

Its the 2nd time in a week a hotel employee may have stopped a mass shooting. It happened earlier this week in Chicago too.

[zambonir]

Why so many teams are "losing money." (Not a ton of baseball content in here, though it all started with Bill Veeck. (“Look, we play the Star Spangled Banner before every game. You want us to pay income taxes too?”)

The Billionaire Playbook: How Sports Owners Use Their Teams to Avoid Millions in...

[philsphan67]

Great podcast with Theo Epstein. Change is coming (and IMO needed) to the MLB. My guess is the changes will happen over a couple of years.

Theo Epstein Is Ready for Baseball to Change

[bkox]

YESSS!! no more ghost runners

Manfred expects the seven-inning doubleheaders and runner at second to expire with these season, suggesting that there would however be “non-radical changes.”

Asked if the DH in the NL now qualified as “a non-radical change,” he said:

Yes.

— Derrick S. Goold ( @dgoold ) July 13, 2021

[andyb]

I am more OK with the runners than the 7-inning DH games (provided teams still get an extra player for the day). Pitching staffs are just not prepared for the extra innings these days and TV hates 15-inning games. As long as it is not in the postseason I am OK with that.

I just really hope they look at the ball seriously with the intent to create a ball that carries less far but is also a bit tackier for the pitchers to grip. So many things get better when home runs are just a bit harder to hit.

[Varjak]

Personally, I hate the automatic runners in extra innings rule. Not only because of the extra pressure it artificially puts on pitchers, but also because just on general principles I can't support any rule that makes it possible to pitch a perfect game and still lose.

[zambonir]

I have found the runners to be fun, and perhaps even more so once we have the DH again (just a little extra strategy/variable). But I'm also fine with baseball and basketball being the only sports where the rules of the game are the same from start to finish. Would just soon still have ties in football and hockey.

[bkox]

I always thought the rule should be staggered.

10-11th innings.. no ghost runner
12-13th - ghost runner starts on 1st base.
14th on - ghost runner starts on 2nd

[zambonir]

That's actually a great idea. Even just doing 10-11 would be an improvement.

[bkox]

extreme shifts going away too:

The experiment in the minor leagues this season of eliminating defensive shifts could come to the majors as soon as next season. Manfred said many of the owners are now agreed that two infielders must be positioned on either side of second base and somewhere on the field dirt.

[bkox]

Upcoming Orioles Game to Feature First All-Female Broadcast

[zambonir]

Yankees have canceled pregame batting practice as they work through COVID-19 testing and health and safety protocols.

— Brendan Kuty ( @BrendanKutyNJ ) July 15, 2021

[zambonir]

Tonight's Red Sox-Yankees game now cancelled. Our last opponent (hmmh) and our next opponent.