Over at Hall of Very Good, I take a look at interesting names in the draft (ranging from the good, the bad, to at least one that sounds exactly like a slur), have links, and talk dingers. Check it out.
MVPs of the weekend? They were, in order: Chi Chi Gonzalez, Clayton Kershaw, and Jose Bautista.
Standings, as always, after the jump:
I screwed up and somehow didn’t post the MVP of Yesterday… Yesterday. So today is a twofer.
The MVP of Wednesday was Mike Leake, who struck out 9 and held the Phillies hitless until their were 2 outs in the 7th (of course, the Reds’ bullpen then blew the lead, but that’s not Leake’s fault).
And the MVP of Thursday was Adam Jones, who finally broke out of his slump and went 3-4 against the Astros, including a homer.
Standings, as always, after the jump:
In Bizarre Baseball Culture, I take a look at some of the more unusual places where baseball has reared it’s head in pop culture and fiction.
Sports have many problems. There are performance enhancing drugs, exploitative agents, a culture that honors people and asks their opinions for no other reason than that they are strong, and stupid adults who ruin everything.
And in Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #34, we get a hard-hitting glimpse at how this affects high school baseball in a Marvel Universe. BECAUSE SOMEBODY HAD TO TELL US!
Published in 2007, this issue was part of the Marvel Adventures/Marvel Age imprint, a set of ongoing series that were meant for all-ages of readers. To make it more readable for younger folks, these series cut down on more complicated backstories, featured characters (like Spider-Man) that most kids would have been familiar with from TV or movies, featured younger versions of some characters (this Spider-Man is still in High School, for example), didn’t have as much violence, and eliminated bad language and sexual innuendo.
But… that doesn’t stop it from having steroid accusations, a angry father, sports agents, and other fun stuff! It also has a baseball uniform with a Koala Bear on it, which is cool.
Go below the jump for more!
Joey Gallo, one of the best prospects in baseball, lived up to the hype in his first MLB game for the Rangers, going 3-4 with a 2B, a HR and four RBIs.
Nice.
Standings, as ever, after the jump:
There is a video game series called Fallout. It is a good video game series. It basically takes the idea that all of the 1950s “World of Tomorrow” optimism had happened, but then it got nuked. Centuries after, civilization slowly starts to pick up the pieces, and you have adventures.
Well, the latest game in the series, Fallout 4, was just announced (it’s technically the 4th, 5th, 6th or 7th installment, depending on how you count). And it takes place in Boston. And, guess what, folks? Fenway’s still standing after WWIII!
Oh, sure, it definitely has been updated and changed with various post-apocalyptic armor and stuff being added, at least partly so that they don’t have to pay royalties, but that’s definitely meant to be Fenway. There’s even a statue of a ballplayer in front. Oh, and what’s more, elsewhere in the trailer they show some sort of post-apocalyptic market built nearby filled with baseball-named establishments, presumably Yawkey Way and/or Kenmore Square- or, actually, probably inside Fenway itself (“Diamond City”). A nice touch by the developers to pay tribute to Boston’s love of baseball. Rest assured, when the game comes out, I’ll make sure to do a Bizarre Baseball Culture looking at the baseball elements in Post-Apocalyptic Boston.
Trailer below:
Better late than never, the latest Wisdom and Links at Hall of Very Good looks at the importance of the Black Sox Scandal to American professional sports, talks about College Baseball, and has, of course, links.
Jacob deGrom had an excellent day yesterday, striking out eight and allowing only two hits over 8 innings in a Mets win over San Diego. He’s de (sic) MVP of Yesterday.
Standings, as always, after the jump:
The MVPs of the weekend, in order, were Josh Hamilton (!), Dallas Keuchel, and Martin Maldonado.
Standings, as always, after the jump:
Corey Kluber kontinues to be kompletely dominating this month. He had thirteen Ks last night over 7 innings. He’s the MVP of Yesterday. And, yes, all spelling errors were intentional.
Standings, as always, after the jump:
The Baseball Continuum 