Well, I didn’t think Josh Collmenter would be the first two-time MVP of Yesterday for the year, but that is the case, as the D-Backs pitcher went 8 IP without a run while giving up just 5 hits and striking out 6.
Standings, as ever, after the jump:
In the irregular “Off-Topic Thursday” feature, I do stuff that is totally off-topic from the usual baseball stuff…
You probably saw the apparent first image of Jared Leto as the Joker for Warner Brother’s upcoming Suicide Squad movie, as well as other future films where he presumably will fight Ben Affleck’s Caped Crusader:
The Suicide Squad wishes you a Happy Anniversary Mr. J! #Joker75 #SuicideSquad @WarnerBrosEnt @DCComics pic.twitter.com/LZXz0x947Q
— David Ayer (@DavidAyerMovies) April 25, 2015
Just as with everything having to do with comic book movies, it has proven controversial. A Joker with tattoos? A Joker with a lot of tattoos? This is radically different from previous live-action Jokers, and also pretty different from most incarnations in comics and animation.
However, that doesn’t mean it will be bad. Because, here’s the thing: the Joker is a chameleon, a character that has been done in countless ways and in countless tones.
Originally, in the 1930s, the Joker was a exotic take off of a silent horror movie called The Man Who Laughs. He was shown to be a ruthless serial killer completely without morals who murdered dozens.
After Batman became more popular with kids, the Joker became a bit less of a horrific killer and slowly became a more comedic figure. This was further increased during the late 40s and the 1950s, as a wave of censorship and moral panic neutered most comics. By the time Cesar Romero (with his mustache still on) was the Joker in the 1966 TV series, there was barely a shred of the killer that he originally was.
And then, in the 1970s and 1980s, a combination of the two emerged, at least in the comics: the Joker was a ruthless criminal mastermind and murderer, but he would do so for reasons (which could change whenever he felt like it) or in ways that would seem to have come from a “soft R” (or at least PG-13) version of Cesar Romero, all while thinking, in his own twisted way, that he was the only sane man in Gotham. One particular favorite of mine was the time he went on a killing spree of bureaucrats because they wouldn’t give him a copyright to Gotham Bay’s fish population after he poisoned the fish with a mild version of his venom so that they’d all all his evil grin.
That version of the Joker- the homicidal maniac with an insane sense of humor- is perhaps the default version of the Joker now and in my opinion is the one that works the best. Jack Nicholson’s 1989 Joker was a lot like that, as was Mark Hamill’s Joker (regarded by most Batman fans as being the greatest Joker of all) in the cartoons and video games. Even Heath Ledger, who owed more to the 1930s serial killer Joker, still had that randomness about him- go back and watch The Dark Knight and see how many times he changes the story of how he got his scars, or how he goes from wanting to kill Batman to wanting to have fights with him forever (a possibility that, sadly, ended with Ledger’s death).
But, regardless of how the Joker has been portrayed, he’s always proved popular. Cesar Romero was one of the most popular villains of the 1960s TV series. Jack Nicholson’s Joker was the most popular of the pre-Nolan Batman villains. Heath Ledger, despite initially being the subject of a controversy once cast (not that different from Ben Affleck being cast as Batman), ended up winning an Oscar for it.
So why should we assume that a tattooed Joker will be bad? The character hasn’t disappointed anyone yet, and with a Oscar-winner behind him, it feels foolish to assume.
I guess time will tell.
Madison Bumgarner was great last night, going 8 innings and allowing only 5 hits and one earned run. So, he’s the MVP of Yesterday.
Standings, as always, after the jump:
As you know, the Orioles and White Sox will be playing a game today in front of an empty stadium due to the recent events in Baltimore, with only themselves, journalists, and a skeleton crew of ballpark workers there to see it in person.
While of course the first thoughts should be for everyone in Baltimore in light of the unrest (whether peaceful protest or the violent riots that occurred on Monday), it should be noted that this unusual zero-attendance game will provide a unique look at baseball.
Now, I have, of course by definition, never been to a game with no attendance. But I have been to games that have been very close, with perhaps only a hundred or more fans there, tops. Go to a minor league game on a cold night with a chance of rain and you’ll have a chance to see it (as I have at times), or go to one of the lowest minor leagues, where they play games in large Spring Training facilities in front of crowds far, far smaller than the ballpark is meant to.
It is, in a word that will be said many times today: surreal.
For one thing, there is the fact that almost everything in the stadium is closed. Maybe one or two food stands will be open for the few fans who are there (this won’t be the case for the Orioles game today), and maybe you might still one or two vendors walking around hawking beer, but in general, it is a morgue outside of the seating bowl. They might not even turn on the TVs to show the game to anybody down below.
And yet, much of what the stadium’s PA system and video board play remain the same. They’ll flash out the birthday messages meant for people who probably left during the rain delay in the third innings, they’ll play walk-up music that echoes through the empty stands, they’ll give “fan of the game” awards to people who normally never get the awards because their seats are too expensive, and the mascots are able to give a good chunk of time to every kid in the crowd. Individually.
And, above all else, you can hear almost everything said above a conversational tone. You can hear the players actually call out “I got it, I got it,” and hear them swear after they do something wrong. I don’t know if the mics in Baltimore will be good enough to pick stuff like that up, but if they can, it’ll be a treat (and also NSFW).
Lastly, if it’s possible, baseball with little to no fans there is most definitely connoisseur’s experience. The few people there most definitely want to be there. There are no casual fans. And that is an almost zen-like experience.
Over at the Hall of Very Good this week, I have a column full of links! Check it out!
Jason Hammel of the Cubs is the MVP of Yesterday, as he went 8 IP while giving up no runs, just four hits and striking out seven.
Standings, as always, after the jump:
Friday’s MVP was Felix Hernandez, who had a complete game shutout against the Twins giving up five hits and striking out nine.
Saturday’s MVP was Rubby De La Rosa, who struck out 8 and gave up just 4 hits in 7 innings of work for Arizona. He ended up with a no-decision.
Sunday’s MVP was Alex Gordon. While he had an alright day at the plate, going 2-4 with a HR and 2 RBIs, the main reason he is MVP is this:
I mean, are you going to argue with that?
Thought not. Standings after the jump:
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Throughout the year, I’ll be posting updates of a simulated league from Out Of The Park Baseball 2016 made up of national “dream teams” to determine what the greatest baseball country on Earth is… or something like that. Previous installments can be found here. This is a long post, so there is a JUMP after the first day. Also, hit any picture to make it bigger and more readable.
April 27
Team USA manager Joe Maddon spoke to his team in the visitor’s locker room of Jamsil Stadium:
“Gentleman, Americans, lend me your ears,” he said, as bench coach Buck Showalter sat silently, “We have played extremely well so far. We have gone 22-2, including games against some quality opponents.”
He paused for a second, “But we are about to enter one of the toughest parts of our schedule. Every game we have from now until May 13 is against a team that is .500 or very close to it. Korea, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Japan, the Dominican. So… go out there and make your country proud.”
He decided not to mention the whole “Babe Ruth ghost” thing.
And so, at 5:05 AM on the East Coast of the USA, Team USA took the field against Korea, a Kershaw-Ryu matchup.
In the top of the second, it looked like Team USA would score. Trout was HBP, Goldschmidt walked. Posey infield-flied, but then Ryu let loose a wild pitch against Tulowitzki that moved the runners to 2nd and 3rd. But then, Tulowitzki flew out to mid-shallow center, and Yong-Kyu Lee was able to unleash a tremendous throw in to get the tagging-up Mike Trout at the plate for the rare 8-2 double-play to end the inning.
And after that, the game was a pitching duel…. until the bottom of the 6th, when Dae-Ho Lee took advantage of a controversial HBP call that allowed Hyun-soo Kim to get to first by hitting a 2-run home run off of Kershaw to make it 2-0. Ho-Joon Lee then got a hit, then got to second after an equally controversial balk call, allowing him to score and make it 3-0 when Jung-Ho Kang was able to bounce one into left. A Jeong Choi double later, and it was 4-0, and Kershaw was yanked for Steve Cishek.
Team USA would score a run in the top of the 7th, but that would be all they’d get, as Korea pulled off the 4-1 win. Hyun-Jin Ryu was named the player of the game for his 7 innings of 5-hit ball.
But perhaps, Joe Maddon mused, they should have given the player of the game to Babe Ruth’s ghost. After all, Team USA had lost two of the three games it had played since he’d first shown up.
The other game in Asia that day was Netherlands at Taiwan, and the Dutch continued to struggle, falling 7-6 despite a HR from Wladimir Balentien.
As morning broke in the Western Hemisphere, news already came up that the Mexico-Venezuela game would not be played due to a forecast of bad weather in Caracas:
In Toronto, where weather is no worry thanks to the dome, the Canadians beat Australia 5-2. That was just the start of the bad news for Australia, though, as David Kandilas got hurt in the field and suffered a 2-week elbow contusion and Justin Huber bruised his elbow and would also be out for 2 weeks. In face of this news, Ned Kelly O’Shaughessy ordered a Molson and a Labatt, then poured them both together and mixed them, and then drank. A lot.
The Panama-Puerto Rico game had a short delay in the second inning due to rain, but it didn’t stop the home team Puerto Ricans from beating Panama 12-5 as Carlos Beltran went 3-4 with 2 RBIs.
The night games would be an eclectic mix: Italy and Colombia would be a match-up between two of the teams with the worst records in the league, Japan and Cuba would be a match-up between two of the best. And Dominican-Rest of the World looked like it could be a massive rout.
The Italy-Colombia game, in Colombia, was won by Italy, 7-4, moving them to 3-22 on the year and tying them with Colombia in the standings. Mario Chiarini homered.
Japan beat Cuba 6-3 in Havana, as Seiichi Uchikawa went 2-5 with a triple and a homer, racking up 4 RBIs. Yoshio Itoi also homered, while Masahiro Tanaka went 8 innings.
And, finally, the Dominican hit five home runs as they routed Rest-Of-The-World, 9-3.
GO BELOW THE JUMP FOR MORE:
David Phelps of the Marlins threw 7 innings of 3-hit shutout ball, so I’m naming him the MVP of Yesterday.
As always, standings after the jump:
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