As each day of this wondrous oddity of a season rolls by I find myself falling in love with baseball more than I ever thought possible. The variety of quirks and anomalies the impact of the coronavirus is throwing into the game is quite unique.
So let’s dive right in – here are all the wonderful tidbits you may have missed from Saturday’s slate of games.
Refresh, Homer, Win, Repeat
It has been a quite phenomenal few days for the Oakland Athletics in San Francisco. The two showdowns so far in the “Battle For The Bay” against neighbors, the San Francisco Giants, have produced two of the most amazing games of baseball we have seen this season. Let’s start the night before when the Giants took a 4 run lead into the top of the 9th inning. Stephen Piscotty stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded and only 1 out.
https://twitter.com/HomeRunVideos/status/1294768334718861322
The A’s went on to win it in extra innings and Australian Liam Hendriks was fired up closing the game out.
https://gfycat.com/WhimsicalInbornDarklingbeetle
Now, let’s talk about last night. Again the A’s found themselves in a hole going into the final inning, trailing 6-4 and down to their final strike. Up steps every fantasy player’s favorite late-round pick, Mark Canha, to blast a 3-run go-ahead long ball.
https://gfycat.com/LivelyTangibleBlackmamba
The virtual fans did not look best pleased with it all. Yet, nobody was happier than Sean Manaea, who literally showed us that he was let off the hook after another disappointing pitching performance where he simply ran out of steam.
https://t.co/4FL1otIOsG pic.twitter.com/E49BMHoKKk
— Martín Gallegos (@MartinJGallegos) August 16, 2020
Still, it is a great time to be an A’s fan right now. The team has won 12 of their last 14 games, boasting an American League-best record of 15-6. They are 4 games ahead atop the AL West. Could the A’s make even more history this year?
The @Athletics are the 4th team in the modern era to win back-to-back games despite trailing by 3+ runs in the 9th or later in both.
The others:
1933 Pirates
1971 Tigers
2017 Angels#RootedInOakland— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) August 16, 2020
The Old 5-2-5-4 Double Play?!
You can always guarantee that one-a-day play that has everyone scratching their heads and arguing “but why did he throw that?” and “what is the runner doing there?” or “you have to throw to third base there, surely.” Well, sit back and welcome to the circus, tonight’s performance is brought to you by the Colorado Rockies infield and the Texas Rangers base runners.
Not every day you see a 5-2-5-4 double play. pic.twitter.com/LeBqUCRa7e
— Cut4 (@Cut4) August 16, 2020
There is nothing much more to say with this one apart from simply debating how on earth all this happened! I mean, but why?!
Nico’s Hole-In-One
Nico Hoerner is a new face for the Chicago Cubs. The promising infielder made his debut in the majors at the end of last season, and looks to have solidified his place in a solid Cubs lineup. I am sure he is a very popular and friendly guy in the clubhouse, but I wouldn’t be challenging him on the golf course anytime soon after seeing these mad skills.
Nico with the hole in one! pic.twitter.com/6y5I5ut0cp
— Cut4 (@Cut4) August 15, 2020
The Cubs are oozing confidence right now, and the spirit amongst the team is high. Unless it is actually all sugar…
When you hear the ice cream man. pic.twitter.com/XrQ3saxKBP
— MLB (@MLB) August 15, 2020
Should Cynthia Forgive Him?
There is nothing like finding new and unique ways to apologize to a loved one! I wonder if it was the first thing this guy thought when he read, “For $99, select a seat and upload a smiling photo of yourself wearing your Giants gear.” For one, this guy is not smiling. Cynthia could probably tell us why. Also, is an apology only worth $99?! Good luck!
Cynthia, it’s hard out here for a playa during a pandemic. Pick up the phone Cynthia. Take this man off READ. Have it in your heart Cynthia. pic.twitter.com/bdLrRx7fWf
— Dallas Braden (@DALLASBRADEN209) August 15, 2020
Monitor Down! We Have A Monitor Down!
In the Minnesota Twins‘ clash with the Kansas City Royals, this foul ball took out one of the monitors the commentators were using to call the game remotely.
https://gfycat.com/AchingDefiniteBluet
What are the odds?
https://twitter.com/rcarp04/status/1294724073914867716
Anyway, if you were ever wondering what a 94mph fastball fouled off the bat can do to a television monitor, here you go.
Today’s Cutouts…Seagulls
If anyone has seen the classic Alfred Hitchcock film, The Birds, then you will know my anxious fear every time I see more than a couple of birds in the same place looking at me. So, when this flashed up on the my screen yesterday I was momentarily frozen with fear.
Ninth inning and here come the seagulls. 🍟 pic.twitter.com/xsCuENlBsl
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) August 16, 2020
You have to give the Giants credit for raising the bar with the league-wide stadium cutout challenge that seems to be going on right now.
Bauer vs. Boras
It was only a matter of time before super-agent Scott Boras made his impact known on this season, with a feud. And in the other corner of the ring happens to be the defending champion of controversies in baseball, our good friend Trevor Bauer. It all seemed to stem from his tweet from Bauer about providing inside access into his team’s clubhouse.
If y’all want to watch what it’s like to be on a team that’s staring a potential Covid-19 outbreak square in the face, @Watch_Momentum’s got you. I’m vlogging the whole thing so be sure to subscribe to their YouTube channel so you don’t miss any of the…fun? Panic? Terror? Idk?
— Trevor Bauer (トレバー・バウアー) (@BauerOutage) August 15, 2020
Word of this obviously got to Boras quickly, who no doubt has a number of clients that this may affect by appearing on any kind of video blog that Bauer was to stream. Through one of these players, Boras must have sent the cease and desist to Bauer.
Scott Boras: wants to shut my vlog down, is not a friend of the people or fans, is not a fan of players marketing themselves, is not a fan of marketing his players.
PSA to all the players reading this, he doesn’t care about you. He cares about himself and his ego. Be smart.
— Trevor Bauer (トレバー・バウアー) (@BauerOutage) August 15, 2020
Bauer quickly got support from some elements of Twitter.
When you're definitely worried about the health and safety of your teammates pic.twitter.com/0SeRraWxja
— Kate Feldman (@kateefeldman) August 15, 2020
However, some actual players seemed to be skeptical. Namely, Royals reliever Trevor Rosenthal, who funnily enough is represented by Scott Boras!
I don’t believe these statements of @borascorp to be true. I’m biased and not totally aware of the situation in reference. I’ve watched the the content and find it informative and enjoyable. However, I question where the line is on using team/mlb content for personal gain.
— Trevor Rosenthal (@TrevRosenthal) August 16, 2020
This prompted a number of Joker “And here we go” gifs in response, and I am sure we will be hearing much more about this in due course. What was most interesting was Bauer’s response to Rosenthal, and his ever-committed desire to spread the reach of the game to as many people as possible, especially young people. And in the time of a pandemic when knowing whether doing simple, daily actions are right or wrong has become so fuzzy, a professional athlete should be leading the conversation into how you are allowed to feel about the situation. Bravo, Trevor.
Trevor, @Watch_Momentum is a player owned company. I cofounded it. I started it because no one was doing what I think is necessary to connect with baseball fans, especially young ones. If any player wants to utilize our services to grow their brand and connect more with fans, https://t.co/t72kaKyUS4
— Trevor Bauer (トレバー・バウアー) (@BauerOutage) August 16, 2020
Oh, by the way Bauer’s Reds and Rosenthal’s Royals are scheduled to meet in Kansas City on Tuesday and Wednesday. I like spicy!