Sorry to be self-indulgent, but I just re-read a couple of things...
• The Field of Dreams story was cathartic
()
• And it reminded me of this story because of the stories
In 1954, my dad would ride his bike by the store to look at this Gus Bell MacGregor glove. He saved up $9 from his paper route until he could buy it. Today his son talked with Gus Bell's son and grandson about baseball.
Trevor Bauer said the Cubs usually give up talking when they are down, but kept at it tonight. "iT was impressive that you can chirp at someone after they shoved it up your ass for 7 2/3 innings."
Tony Kemp was just DFA'd for Jackson Holliday. This is his response. There's a reason Kemp is respected across baseball. This is pretty freaking cool, if you ask me.
In the fall of 2010, our college had a series against the Longhorns for a 3 game set. Our hitting coach at the time was Josh Holliday and his brother, Matt, brought his kid to our early practice. I remember watching his son
@J_Holliday7
with a sweet lefty swing. Go get em’ kid!
Michael Diddle of Portsmouth, Ohio, caught the ball from TJ Friedl’s first MLB hit, a home run. Dodgers RF watched the ball, asked for it and told Diddle “I got you.” In the bottom of the 7th, Betts came back with a signed bat
My friend Cara died yesterday... she wrote her own obit. She was such a great writer... I'll share just the lede and the last graf... I miss her already
Votto on his streak: "I'm a bit of a StatCast nerd and it started with a .090 expected batting average home run on a 98-mph weak fly ball that carried into the first couple of rows into Cincinnati. And it ended on a 109, 110-mph line drive off the wall and that's baseball."
Sonny Gray stripped naked after the 4th inning and changed everything but his cleats to "reset and start over". He retired the next 9 in order after that
Joey Votto: "this is not a sell, my contract is guaranteed... but truly, the television doesn’t do it justice. Watching these guys live is bigger, faster, dirtier – the game is fast but these guys are faster. This is the most enjoyable version of baseball I think I’ve ever seen.
I asked Joey Votto about
@JerrySeinfeld
and David Letterman trading Joey Votto stories on Letterman's
@netflix
show. His response (and I'm not kidding, this is really what he said, he is likely kidding, though):
So, I hesitate to share too much personal stuff because most don’t care, but this was a pretty big milestone for me and I know the people who inspired me and let me know it was possible. Thanks to
@uc_health
. 100 lbs down since April 1
I asked Joey Votto about clubhouse access in general -- not in this specific case -- but whether he would welcome this ban on a permanent basis. This is his answer:
Nick Castellanos said his waiter recently showed him the background on his phone and it was the picture of him flexing over Woodford. He said it just showed him how excited the city is about the Reds and how it loves the team
Asked Trevor Bauer 1 question about the Astors, nearly 10 minutes later asked my second. I'm not done transcribing, but... "they are hypocrites, they are cheaters, they've stolen from a lot of other people and the game itself was completely unfair."
Sonny Gray said this is the third time he's pitched on the anniversary of his father's death and he's won all 3 times. His dad was a big Reds fan, as well
The Reds announced that Great American Ball Park will return to 100 percent capacity on June 2. As of that date, "masks will be recommended but no longer mandated to be worn at Great American Ball Park."
There may just be a lesson to be learned when your uniform looks like this 90 minutes before a game on your day off and you’ve already played 2,024 games in your career
Tommy Pham on Luke Voit's slide into Tyler Stephenson: " If Luke wants to settle it, I get down really well. Anything. Muay Thai, whatever. Like I said, I've got an owner here who will let me use his facility. So fuck 'em. I'm out."
Joey Votto was asked about the fan cutouts in the stands and he answered as only he would -- by suggesting he buy a section and just have pictures of himself. "Would that be weird?"
Bauer on Crain: "'We don’t think it affected the game.' You’re either lying or you’re a fucking idiot. And don’t become a billionaire owner of a team by being a fucking idiot. So, you’re lying."
Twice on Thursday, the Padres walked Nick Castellanos to get to Tyler Stephenson. During the rain delay, Joey Votto asked him about it. Stephenson shrugged. Votto told him he had to take it personally. He made the Padres pay the second time
Vladimir Gutierrez said he threw his glove when he came into the dugout after the 1st inning. Nick Castellanos told him he wanted him to pitch 7 innings. He made Gutierrez tell him he was going to pitch 7
Suspensions:
• Keone Kela -- 10 games
• Amir Garrett -- 8 games
• José Osuna -- 5 games
• Jared Hughes -- 3 games
• Kyle Crick -- 3 games
• Yasiel Puig -- 3 games
• David Bell -- 6 games
• Clint Hurdle -- 2 games
• fines: Trevor Williams, Joey Votto, Phillip Ervin
From UC Medical Center, we’re told PR folks from the hospital will speak to the media to update the condition of
#Bills
’ Damar Hamlin, but no specific time given yet
Joey Votto on Puig's bat flip: "Bat flip rules are very, very loose these days. I think any walk-off situation warrants anything. I think if he'd cartwheeled to first base, we would have been happy about that too."
And you wonder why I don’t watch SportsCenter more often? You lead with football practice over Tim Anderson’s walk-off? I’m not the demographic, I guess.
I have confirmed that not only did Jesse Winker get the pizza, he said it was really good. So, there you go,
@MountainMikes
is on my list next time I'm in Anaheim. Thanks for the tip
@sofieballgame
David Ross said he's heard from MLB and a suspension is possible for Javier Báez. If Báez isn't suspended, all it does is tell the Reds that they have to clear the benches for the other team to be punished. It's a signal from MLB that you HAVE TO react like they tell you not to
Because these are the things I notice at a ballpark, there’s a guy wearing a Todd Frazier Mets jersey sitting behind a guy wearing a Todd Frazier Reds jersey
Kyle Farmer's grandma heard Barry Larkin say something about his swing during Sunday's game. He called Larkin, who gave him some advice. Farmer pointed to the broadcast booth after his homer broke an 0-for-34 streak
Silver Slugger winner Nick Castellanos, asked if he would entertain returning to the Reds said he would and used the word "we" to describe the pieces the team has. He spoke via Zoom from Liam's baseball game
Amir Garrett said you "live and learn" from suspensions, so I asked what he learned.... there was a long pause, some starts and stops and finally, "I learned not to have fun"
Several of us just got off the phone with Joey Votto. Asked if he felt slighted or anything about the way this was all handled today. A six-minute answer ended with this: "As far as any sort of dissatisfaction or any slights, man, that's just noice. This has been the best."
Jim Palmer on the Orioles postgame show said he was told Andrew Abbott was “just going to be a No. 4 starter.” His response, “if he’s your No. 4 starter, you’re winning the World Series every year.”