The total attendance for the A's and Tigers double header yesterday in Oakland was just 3,782. Their avg attendance the last 2 years is only 8k per game. I dont know how they survive. BTW, the 50/50 drawing must suck.
Another gem by Verlander last night v the Mariners. A long way to go, but he has to be in the conversation for the CyYoung
They did not ask for it but covid has given the Toronto Blue Jays a decided home field advantage in 2022. The Cardinals come to town this week minus two of the best hitters in baseball, Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenando, both of whom are unvaccinated. All teams and players are subject to this Canadian rule. The Jays are currently atop the wild card standings in the AL.
Right before the All-Star break we lost 2 out of 3 to the last place A's. But we are at the moment a really good team. Strong pitching and timely hitting. We, like a lot of teams are dealing with some injuries. Michael Brantley has been on the DL for awhile with a shoulder injury and Baker won't say anything about a time table for him to return. Yordan Alvarez went on the DL before the All-Star break with some kind of chronic hand issue and while he has returned Baker said it's something that they are going to have to deal with the rest of the season. What we all have to remember is ...where were the Atlanta Braves last year coming out of the All-Star Break? I see that the Yankee's lost a key relief pitcher for the season. Baseball as we all know is marathon not a sprint. Teams get hot late and roll into the playoffs and boom they are the Champs! I often wonder what we'd be if we had a catcher who hit above .200. Maldanado is a good defensive catcher and the pitching staff trusts him but he's an almost automatic out at the plate. I long for the days when we whined about Alan Ashby not being able to hit above .250.
We all know that there have been only a handful of catchers in our lifetimes who were consistent .300+ hitters. Given the choice between a .200 BA and consistent, great defense plus respect from pitchers, I'll take the latter any day. One .200 BA in the lineup isn't going to hinder a very good team like the Astros from having a potent offense, but not many catchers have the ability to get maximum performance from a team's pitchers. Maldanado must be that guy. That likely is what makes him so valuable to your team.
In one of those oddities of baseball, the Astros clearly one of the best teams in baseball this season have now lost 4 out of 5 to the last place A's.
I don't get it, why we have so much trouble with the worst team in our division. Swept by the A's. This after going into Seattle and sweeping the hottest team in base.
Yankees after having been swept by the Astros and now the Mets in short 2 game series have made a big move. The New York Yankees made the first of what could be a flurry of moves ahead of next week's trade deadline, acquiring All-Star outfielder Andrew Benintendi from the Kansas City Royals, it was announced on Wednesday night.
Benintendi is a major pick up. BA is .321 and he is a Gold Glover and keeps their righty-lefty ratio in place. Gallo will probably be DFA'd until they find him a home.
From Tim Prister on Irish Illustrated. When I think of…the oversaturated “news” world that we live in, I think of a report by Ryan Gaydos. Gaydos – the sports editor for Fox News and Fox Business -- reported that New York Yankee starting pitcher Gerrit Cole “scarfed down a banana and an orange in a quick manner” while the Yankees were hitting. The 28-second video was edited to show Cole quickly eating a banana and a slice of orange, which is made quicker to the public eye by the way it was edited. Wrote Gaydos: “The Yankees gave Cole a three-run lead, but it wasn’t enough for the pitchers to hold off the charging Orioles.” That’s not news. It’s a professional athlete trying to maintain his energy with potassium and Vitamin C. There truly was nothing to see here other than a human being doing what he should do while he’s at work.