Fear not, loyal reader, you haven’t lost several days and awoken on Sunday! Myles and I are swapping days this week, so I got to take in a full slate of the weekday games and it was fun. Also totally apropos of nothing at all, I want to state my appreciation for “The Tools Of Ignorance” as a nickname for catcher’s gear. It’s so incredibly outdated given the job of a modern-day MLB catcher while also perfectly encapsulating that their job is to strap on a bunch of stuff and deal with abuse for several hours per day.
Anyway…
Batman Returns (1992)
Matt Harvey returned to his old stomping grounds in Queens on Wednesday afternoon, and the home crowd ostensibly remembered the good times as they gave him a nice ovation:
Matt Harvey received a standing ovation in his return to Citi Field. 👏 pic.twitter.com/scrkmX0lSP
— MLB (@MLB) May 12, 2021
But we New Yorkers are an unsentimental bunch, and the anecdote here from The BBQ Boys seems more in line with what I expect from us
Like 90% cheers, 10% boos for Harvey.
Dude behind me was clapping passionately then sat down and screamed “OK, YOURE A BUM NOW” pic.twitter.com/fnyK550TZu
— Céspedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) May 12, 2021
Harvey’s day didn’t go so great on the mound, but it did give us this utterly riveting sequence as he went to war against his Mets counterpart Taijuan Walker:
You've seen battles in the box, but this was an all-out war. pic.twitter.com/Gnh58l7mju
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) May 12, 2021
(Bring on the universal DH, folks.)
Shimmy Interruptus
During the Cubs/Cleveland game yesterday, I thought we were witnessing the birth of a new shimmy delivery:
https://gfycat.com/hollowoffensivedamselfly
Turns out that it was likely just Rene Rivera not being sure of the sign, trying to get Nick Sandlin to stop, and neither of them really being entirely sure what was happening. But for the record, I tuned into the game just in time to see this delivery and my excitement was equal to that of the Cleveland booth. Everybody loves a good slo-mo windup, apparently.
Shine Em Up
The Yankees have a little swagger back, they’re on a four-game winning streak after their 1-0 win last night, which means they managed to actually win a series in Tampa(?!), and they’ve won eight of their last ten games now. And when you play good, you gotta look good, as Mike Harkey wanted to make sure that Aaron Hicks had the good shine going on his head in the dugout:
More Mike Harkey in the dugout please pic.twitter.com/ESP1etMtvD
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) May 13, 2021
We can only assume at the end of this clip that Brett Gardner is asking for the same treatment.
Blockbuster Night Part 1
Wednesday saw the long-awaited debut of James Kaprielian. Drafted in the first round by the Yankees all the way back in 2015, Kap went to Oakland as part of the ill-fated Sonny Gray trade, and has seen his share of injuries derail his path to the bigs. Until now. He threw five innings of one-run ball against Boston, coming away with the win, but maybe more importantly, had his father in the stands emphatically punching batters out:
Doug Kaprielian is punching 'em out for his son 👊 pic.twitter.com/XwSidniRgT
— A's on NBCS (@NBCSAthletics) May 13, 2021
We got to see some family in the stands for big moments late last year, but it’s great that we’ve been able to see them in the stands for every big debut in 2021, here’s to many more moments like this.
Talkin’ Pants
I’ve said previously that one of the best parts of this gig is getting to watch White Sox games and listen to Jason Benetti and Steve Stone hang out in the booth. So here, in case you didn’t catch the (honestly, pretty wild) game against Twins last night, enjoy some Chicago White Sox history:
https://gfycat.com/imperfectesteemedemperorshrimp
I’m hoping one of these days to get an anecdote that tops the Bar Mitzvah Fish Smuggling Saga from 2020, but there’s a lot of baseball left to play.
GO VOGEY, GO!
Picture this:
You’re Daniel Vogelbach, one of the few remaining true Husky Lads in the game.
It’s a tie game, the bottom of the 8th, two outs and you swing at this 101 mph fastball for the third strike:
Seems bad, right? NOT TONIGHT!
IT IS GLORIOUS pic.twitter.com/r2jD5va4hB
— Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) May 13, 2021
Cannot tell you how amped I am by this entire adventure, what a night.
Photo by Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter)