Cup of Coffee: April 11, 2024

Good morning! And welcome to Free Thursday!

There were 14 games played yesterday. In seven of them the losing team scored two runs. I’m not woo woo enough to think that’s truly significant, but I’m certainly going to suggest it to all of you so that the woo woo among you can look to it as a sign of some type.

Oh, and Ippei Mizuhara is singin’ like a bird to the feds, so that’s fun.

Let’s jump into all of that, shall we?

And That Happened 

Here are the scores. Here are the highlights:

Mariners 6, Blue Jays 1: This was a 1-1 game featuring excellent pitching from Logan Gilbert and Yusei Kikuchi that turned into a blowout in the tenth. That’s when Cal Raleigh hit a two-run home run, Ty France hit an RBI double, and Mitch Haniger added a two-run single. After the game the press came to ask Cal Raleigh about his home run, but all he had was praise for Gilbert:

Pitching injuries really are out of control, man.

Also, we may need to update this pending more information about Logan Gilbert’s nuts:

Diamondbacks 5, Rockies 3: Another close one, with the score tied at three in the seventh and the eighth. In the top of the ninth, though, Ketel Marte walked, advanced to second on another walk, and then Eugenio Suárez knocked both runners in with a double to decide matters. Earlier someone named Blaze Alexander hit a homer for the Dbacks. I’ll have to check Baseball-Reference, but I’m pretty sure that’s the first home run hit by a stripper in a major league game. It’s great to see old barriers broken down. Representation matters.

Twins 3, Dodgers 2: Edouard Julien went 3-for-4 and homered twice, the second one breaking a 2-2 tie. It remained close, and in the top of the seventh the Dodgers had a great chance to tie it back up when Freddie Freeman doubled to the right field corner while Shohei Ohtani was at first. It seemed as though Ohtani would score easily, but check out this relay throw home from Carlos Correa to nail him at the plate:

When they cut to Ohtani it seemed like he’d just cruise home. They called him safe in real time but a quick replay clearly showed that he was out. Just a fantastic throw and, for that matter, a fantastic tag from catcher Christian Vázquez.

Phillies 4, Cardinals 3. The Phillies had eight hits -- all singles — but they got the job done. Meanwhile Aaron Nola held the Cardinals to two runs and three hits in six innings while pitching through raindrops.

Giants 7, Nationals 1: The Jordan Hicks-as-starter experiment continues to go well, as he went six innings here while allowing one run on four hits. He only struck out two which is not a Jordan Hicksy thing to do, but I presume Bob Melvin appreciated his relative efficiency on a getaway day. Nick Ahmed tripled in one run and singled in another. Five other Giants knocked in the remainder of the runs.

Rays 4, Angels 2: Five Rays pitchers combined to scatter nine hits while striking out 11. They picked up not just one but two runs on a wild pitch and José Caballero homered. Jo Adell homered late for the Angels. It didn’t matter much in the game and, even worse, his being down in Anaheim this much may put his eligibility for reelection as mayor of Salt Lake City at risk.

Guardians 7, White Sox 6: It was Siblings’ Day yesterday. I’m not sure who sanctions that holiday or even if it is a holiday. But it’s something that does exist, even if the most effort I’ve ever taken with respect to it is to post the most embarrassing 1980s photos of my brother I can find. The Naylor Brothers, Josh and Bo, were both in the Guardians’ lineup last night and they celebrated Siblings’ day in much greater style. First, they each hit a home run in the fourth inning, with Josh hitting a solo shot and Bo smacking a two-run homer. Later the White Sox tied the game back up and it went to extras where the Naylor Brothers struck again. Down 6-5 in the bottom of the tenth, Josh Naylor doubled home a run to tie things up and three batters later Bo singled home the walkoff run. Then they probably fought about something that happened 15 years ago because that’s what brothers do. Well, that’s what young brothers do. Old brothers like Curt and me fight about htings that happened 35-40 years ago.

Padres 10, Cubs 2: Jurickson Profar had a go-ahead double and a two-run homer among his three hits, Jake Cronenworth also homered, and Dylan Cease cruised for six innings, allowing just two hits and no earned runs while striking out seven. Hell, the Cubs only had three hits in all.

Brewers 7, Reds 2: It was 5-0 after two innings, which allowed everyone to go on autopilot and think about their dinner plans. Christian Yelich hit a two-run homer, Blake Perkins also homered, William Contreras singled home two, and Jackson Chourio also had two RBI. Wade Miley was on a pitch count and couldn’t go five to get the win but the four innings he did pitch were pretty spiffy.

Marlins 5, Yankees 2: Jake Burger hit a three-run homer in the third that broke things wide open. It was his birthday yesterday too, so happy birthday my man. Fish starter Ryan Weathers — son of 1990s Yankees pitcher David — allowed three hits and worked around three walks in five scoreless innings. Giancarlo Stanton homered but the Bombers couldn’t muster much more. This was just the Marlins’ second win of the year.

Orioles 7, Red Sox 5: Jackson Holliday made his much ballyhooed debut. He went 0-for-4 and made a bad play at second ranging back to try to make a catch in the outfield, but he did drive in a run on a groundout, so that’s something. That RBI was one of the runs in the O’s comeback from an earlier five-run deficit. A bigger part of that comeback was Jordan Westburg hitting the go-ahead homer in the seventh. Boston starter Kutter Crawford threw five scoreless innings and left with a 5-0 lead but sometimes the bullpen lets you down.

Royals 11, Astros 2: A seven-run third inning from the Royals sealed Houston’s fate early. Vinnie Pasquantino hit a home run, had a two-run double, and had a career-high five RBI. Royals starter Seth Lugo allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings. They’ve won six in a row and, even more impressively, they are 7-1 in their last eight games against the Astros. Houston falls to 4-9 on the young season and, apart from that no-hitter last week, have looked bad in the early going.

Rangers 6, Athletics 2: Texas snaps its three-game skid thanks to Adolis García notching three hits, including a two-run single, Jonah Heim also hitting a two-run single, and Cody Bradford striking out seven while allowing just one run in six and two-thirds.

Mets vs. Atlanta — POSTPONED:

🎶 Sunshine, blue skies, please go away
My girl has found another, and gone away
With her went my future, my life is filled with gloom
So day after day, I stay locked up in my room

I know to you it might sound strange
But I wish it would rain
(Oh, how I wish that it would rain)
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah 🎶

The Daily Briefing

Report: Ippei Mizuhara negotiating guilty plea with feds

The New York Times, ESPN, TMZ Sports, and multiple other outlets reported last night that Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, is facing federal charges related to the theft of millions of dollars from Ohtani. Mizuhara is reportedly in negotiations to plead guilty and, per the New York Times, the investigation “is rapidly nearing a conclusion.”

If Ippei is charged and pleads guilty it would validate the forceful, total denial of all wrongdoing Ohtani made at his press conference in late March and his attorneys’ assertion that Ohtani was the victim of “massive theft.” At the time my belief on that was that there was no way Ohtani would make such an unambiguous statement if he was not, in fact, completely innocent because to do so would expose him to huge civil and even criminal penalties. Those factors provided strong indicia of credibility for what he was saying at the time and, now, that assessment is apparently being borne out.

The New York Times says that federal prosecutors have uncovered evidence that Mizuhara may have stolen even more money from Ohtani than just the $4.5 million figure that has been floating around. The feds also have evidence, the NYT says, that Mizuhara was able to change the settings on Ohtani’s bank account so Ohtani would not receive alerts and confirmations about transactions.

Mizuhara’s whereabouts after everything went down in Seoul back in March had not been known, but the New York Times says he flew back home to California and was confronted by federal investigators at the airport. He was not arrested, but he did retain a criminal lawyer who has been representing him in discussions with authorities. He’s also, quite obviously, done a good job of laying low.

If all of this is true, the only remaining question will be how Mizuhara was able to get in so deep with an illegal bookie given his relatively small salary and net worth. It sounds, however, like we’ll learn all of that soon enough.

Your must-read of the day

Yesterday Tim Keown of ESPN wrote an absolutely fascinating and absolutely damning article detailing the Oakland A’s decision to move to Sacramento for at least the next three seasons and the negotiations with the City of Oakland that continued right up until that decision was made.

I say damning because of the even-at-this-point shocking amount of hubris and arrogance John Fisher and Dave Kaval demonstrated throughout the process. Just as they tried to play Las Vegas and, to some extent, Portland off of Oakland when trying to put a stadium deal together a couple of years ago, they seemed hellbent on playing Oakland off of Sacramento in negotiations over their temporary home. The A’s went into radio silence for months and months and then, when a deadline to do something loomed by virtue of the need for MLB to make its 2025 schedule, they attempted to use that urgency against Oakland, as if the city had caused the problem.

The city, however, wasn’t having it. When city officials went to the A’s offices in Oakland for a final meeting, they presented Dave Kaval with what was essentially a take-it-or-leave-it offer on a temporary stadium lease:

Oakland, likely to avoid claims of acting in bad faith, did call Kaval back late in the day with a revised offer, albeit not one that in any way represented a cave-in. Kaval, as expected, did not take it, thus ending any chance that the team would play in Oakland beyond 2024. When he did so, the city delegation went to a bar across the street to celebrate. In Keown’s words, “They weren't celebrating the A's imminent departure so much as the conclusion of a seemingly endless, and endlessly frustrating, back and forth with a team they never felt they could trust.”

The story goes on to discuss what I’m gonna call The Sacramento Delusion. As in the delusion on the part of Sacramento officials and Sacramento Kings and River Cats owner Vivek Ranadivé that the A’s could end up in Sacramento permanently. There’s no plan and no one besides Keown is saying it out loud, but it’s pretty clear that the reason they so readily agreed to house the A’s on such team-friendly terms is that they think the Las Vegas plan will crater and wherever the A’s are playing when it does is where they’ll stay.

I’m not sure about that. But to the extent that delusion lasts, it’ll be rather hilarious to observe. Especially if Sacramento folks keep giving quotes that lend themselves to parenthetical clarifications like the one Keown slapped on the end of this from Sacramento area chamber of commerce CEO Barry Broome, who can imagine the A’s contending in Sacramento soon:

This is gonna go great. I can just feel it. And by “great” I mean great for the purposes of me having newsletter content, not for the A’s or for Sacramento. That end of it is gonna be a train wreck.

Oakland Coliseum workers learned about the move to Sacramento on the news

Over at CBS, R.J. Anderson reports that, despite pledges by Athletics officials that they would keep all lines of communication open, stadium and gameday workers at the Oakland Coliseum, some of whom have worked there for decades, were not told ahead of time about the team moving to Sacramento next year. Rather, they learned about it while watching the news:

Anderson talks to a stadium bartender who literally learned about the move when he turned on his TV one morning last week and saw John Fisher at the Triple-A ballpark in Sacramento announcing it.

Moreover, Fisher’s driving the A’s into the ground has radically impacted attendance, which means that a lot of stadium workers have had shifts cut or have been laid off because there simply aren’t big enough crowds to justify their continued employment.

Fisher and Kaval have spent a lot of time and effort throughout this process making sure they get whatever it is they want. They’ve not given a care in the world, it seems, to the people whose lives and livelihoods have been damaged by those desires.

Yoan Moncada could miss the rest of the season 

The White Sox 2024 campaign is already starting out poorly — and the outlook wasn’t too rosy to begin with — but now it has gotten worse: third baseman Yoán Moncada was placed on the 10-day injured list due to a left adductor strain. He’s expected to miss anywhere from three to six months. Which means he could miss the rest of the season.

Moncada, who was hitting .282/.364/.410 (124 OPS+) on the young season, collapsed on the base paths during Tuesday's game and had to be helped off the field. He had been said to be playing through hip and groin issues the last several days before that, so it was either a more mild strain of the adductor which he aggravated or something else for which he was compensating, thus straining the adductor in the process. You can trust me on that because I went to Internet Medical School and I am one of the foremost Googlers in America.

If Moncada is done for the year he’s likely done in a White Sox uniform, as this is his last year under contract. There’s a $25 million team option on him next year but if you think Jerry Reinsdorf is gonna sign off on exercising that you’re nutso.

Great Moments in Gambling

As noted above, Orioles second baseman Jackson Holliday made his big league debut last night. A few hours before that game began, this appeared:

Jackson Holliday is 20 years old, but his image and performance are being used to promote online gambling which one must be 21 in order to participate. Great look, guys.

Other Stuff

Forgive me Jesus, but I wrote about state politics again

The largest bribery and corruption scandal in Ohio history doubled its body count on Tuesday when disgraced lawyer and former Public Utilities Commission chairman Sam Randazzo was found dead in a warehouse he owned. The Franklin County coroner’s office has labeled it a suspected suicide. Another well-known political figure, conservative super lobbyist Neil Clark, died of suicide after his indictment in the same case three years ago.

This is the same scandal that put my old client, former Ohio Speaker of the House Larry Householder, in jail for 20 years. Randazzo, coincidentally, lived across the street from me and that warehouse, which he bought in an effort to launder his bribery proceeds, is just around the corner. I don’t practice law anymore and I’m not involved in state government anymore, but Columbus is still a small town I suppose.

Randazzo’s death inspired me to come out of semi-retirement from writing about state politics. I have a column up over at Matter News about both him and about how it’d be way, way too neat for his death to represent the end of this investigation, even if some very powerful people in Ohio would very much like that to be the case.

That’s a lot to unpack

From the New York Times newsletter:

That’s just one sentence, but I feel that if one were to try to unpack every angle to that story one could probably explain about 65-70% of what’s going on in the world right now.

This is less to unpack but it’s still . . . a lot

Man, Logan Gilbert has had a week, huh?

A little run

Walking 190+ miles across England was hard. Probably not quite as hard as running 10,100 miles up the length of Africa. I mean, I suppose. There are definitely pros and cons for each journey. It rains a lot in northern England, after all, and that can be annoying. But sure, I’ll grant that the Africa run has its challenges:

That does sound rough. But did this Russ Cook fella have to deal with a room that had a toilet that wouldn’t flush at The King’s Arms Inn in Reeth, Yorkshire? And did he try to eat their fish and chips, which was probably the worst restaurant meal I’ve ever had in my life? Yeah, I think not.

Hmm, I wonder if they ever fixed that toilet . . .

Welp, guess not. And while I hate to see a small, independently-owned business close, I will happily make an exception for the Kings Arms in Reeth, which was an utter shithole.

Comments

I just wanted to update you all on my so far futile efforts to improve the comments on Beehiiv.

After various informal discussion with some folks, yesterday I sent the following email to an executive in a position to make changes or to at least call meetings about making changes:

The response I got back was that the product team is supposed to “address these features requests in Q2.” Which is between now and the end of June. I don’t know what “address” means. I don’t know if this was a thing they were planning on doing already, a thing my complaining is inspiring them to do, or if “yeah, we’re gonna look at it this quarter” is the Beehiiv equivalent of saying “sure, I’ll get right on that,” but I’ll let you know what, if anything, I hear about this going forward.

In the meantime, please know that this has been bothering me as much as it’s been bothering many of you, and it is my sincere hope that we can get it fixed.

Have a great day everyone.