Cup of Coffee: April 18, 2024

Good morning! And welcome to Free Thursday!

Let’s get on with it, eh?

And That Happened 

Here are the scores. Here are the highlights:

Giants 3, Marlins 1: It was a pretty good pitcher’s duel between Keaton Winn (6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER) and Trevor Rogers (5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER) but the Giants broke through, at least a little, against the Marlins’ pen and the opposite could not be truthfully asserted. Nick Ahmed plated a run when he hit into a double play in the seventh and Matt Chapman doubled home a run in the eighth. Earlier Thairo Estrada doubled in one as well. San Francisco, which has alternated wins and losses for the past eight games, takes two of three in Miami.

Mets 9, Pirates 1: Luis Severino was outstanding, going six and allowing just an unearned run on five hits. Starling Marte and Harrison Bader each hit two-run homers and Tyrone Taylor singled in two. They added on three more in the eighth on a groundout and a two-run single from Brandon Nimmo. That’s four straight wins for the Metropolitans and six of seven overall.

Brewers 1, Padres 0: Scoreless until the bottom of the eighth when Blake Perkins singled in the game’s only run. That meant a tough luck loss for Padres starter Michael King who had shut out Milwaukee for the first seven and two-thirds innings with ten strikeouts. He left after 109 pitches, having allowed one runner, Brice Turang, to reach and, critically, to steal second base. At that point Wandy Peralta came in and gave up that RBI single to Perkins on his third pitch of the game. Oh well.

Rangers 5, Tigers 4: Texas blew a 4-1 lead between the sixth and the eighth but pulled it out in the ninth when Josh Smith hit a pinch-hit RBI double to put the Rangers over. It was just in time too, as a line of severe storms were bearing down on downtown Detroit just as this one was wrapping up. They have one more game in Detroit today but I’m sure none of ‘em wanted to both play that and finish up yesterday’s game on a getaway day.

Orioles 4, Twins 2: It was a close one in which the Twins took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the seventh but then the O’s bats went boom, with Anthony Santander hitting a solo shot to tie things up and Cedric Mullins hitting a two-run blast to put Baltimore up for good. Albert Suarez tossed shutout ball into the sixth before the pen coughed up the lead to Minnesota, but other O’s relievers held the Twins hitless for the final two and a third after that.

Atlanta 5, Astros 4: Down in the Daily Briefing I have an item about home runs being down. You wouldn’t know that here as four went out of the park, including Ronald Acuña Jr.’s first of the year. Marcell Ozuna went deep for Atlanta as well. Yordan Álvarez and Mauricio Dubón had roundtrippers for Houston but it wasn’t the longball that decided this one. Houston led 4-2 late but Orlando Arcia hit a sac fly in the eighth to tie it up and then singled in the go-ahead and, ultimately, winning run in the tenth. That’s a three-game sweep for Atlanta.

Royals 4, White Sox 2; White Sox 2, Royals 1: In game 1 Salvador Perez hit a two-run homer in the eighth and Hunter Renfroe added a solo shot in the ninth. Earlier Adam Frazier drove in the Royals’ first run with a single. Brady Singer allowed two over five and four relievers shut out Chicago for the final four. In the . . . daycap? Sure, let’s call it a daycap, Erick Fedde shut out the Royals into the sixth, Dominic Fletcher singled in a run in the fourth and Gavin Sheets went deep in the sixth. Speaking of six, that’s where the White Sox’ losing streak ends thanks to pulling this one out.

Yankees 6, Blue Jays 4: It was 4-1 Jays after seven thanks to two homers from Daulton Varsho. Juan Soto hit a solo shot in the eighth to make it a two-run game and then the Bombers put up a four-spot in the ninth via a Giancarlo Stanton dinger, a Jose Trevino RBI single and then a two-run single from Aaron Judge which (a) broke his 0-for-12 slump in the series and (b) broke the tie and gave the game to the Yankees, helping them avoid the sweep. Soto reached base five times on the afternoon and his hitting .352/.478/.577 on the season so far. My man is gonna make so much money this offseason.

Nationals 2, Dodgers 0: Nats starter Jake Irvin took it to one of the best lineups in the game, shutting ‘em out for six and striking out six. Three relievers completed the blankin’. Both Washington runs came in the first via a CJ Abrams homer and a sac fly from Joey Meneses.

Athletics 6, Cardinals 3: Esteury Ruiz was sent down almost as soon as the season began for reasons that made sense to the A’s brass but no one else. He then raked in Triple-A so they called him back up three games ago. Here he homered for the second time in those three games, scored twice and stole a base, so I figure they’ll send him back down again because, you know, A’s. Tyler Nevin added three hits and an RBI. Oakland avoids the sweep.

Cubs 5, Diamondbacks 3: Cody Bellinger hit a go-ahead solo shot in the sixth. More impressive: Hayden Wesneski threw four innings of scoreless relief. You don’t see that too much these days, but you especially don’t see it after the pitcher in question had a 15-18 hours leading up to it that went down like this:

I’m spent for like two days if I have to make one moderately tight connecting flight. The young are different than the rest of us.

Mariners 5, Reds 1: Elly De La Cruz hit a solo homer in the second and that would be the only damn hit the Reds got all game, as Bryce Miller went six with that being his only blemish and then three relievers no-hit Cincinnati the rest of the way. Cal Raleigh, Mitch Garver, and Josh Rojas went deep for the M’s. Raleigh drew a bases-loaded walk as well. A three-game sweep for Seattle.

Phillies 7, Rockies 6: Kyle Schwarber hit two home runs, including the 250th of his career, and Trea Turner homered, doubled and singled. Philly was up 7-1 in the seventh after the second Schwarbomb but almost blew it as the Rockies put up a five-spot in the eighth but they held on and completed the sweep.

Red Sox 2, Guardians 0: Tanner Houck threw a big boy shutout, going the distance, allowing just three hits and striking out nine while only throwing 94 pitches. That, my friends, is a Maddux.

Angels 5, Rays 4: Tampa Bay took a 4-3 lead into the ninth but the Angels showed some gumption, putting some runners on, after which Anthony Rendon singled home Jo Adell and then Taylor Ward singled in Rendon. The Tampa Bay bullpen has really been crapping the bed of late. Earlier in the game Mike Trout hit his eighth homer of the year.

The Daily Briefing

Justin Verlander to return to action this weekend 

Houston manager Joe Espada announced that Astros ace Justin Verlander will make his season debut Friday night against the Washington Nationals. Espada wouldn't say how many pitches Verlander would be limited to but he said they'll be keeping an eye on his workload.

The three-time Cy Young Award winner and future Hall of Famer has been on the injured list all season with inflammation in his right shoulder. He made two rehabilitation starts, the first for Triple-A Sugar Land on April 7 and the second on Saturday for Double-A Corpus Christi. They didn’t go super well as far as the box score goes, but Verlander says he feels good so no sense in wasting more time pitching to the kids.

Dead ball watch

An account called Ballpark Pal, which analyzes park factors, apparently for gambling purposes, has been tracking home runs alongside batted ball data so far this year and finds that dingers are down by 15% this season, primarily because equally-struck balls are not flying as far this year as they have in the past. Ballpark Pal says “At this point, the sample is large enough to suggest some change has taken place. What's behind the change is anyone's guess.”

The account goes on to note, however, that it correctly identified the same dynamic in real time in 2022. That’s the season that Major League Baseball said it would be using deadened balls. Which it apparently did for much of the season before working in livelier balls as the season went on, even if it would not admit that’s what it was doing.

It’s probably too early to draw any real conclusions yet, but given how much MLB has messed with the baseball over the past several years I think it’s fair for us to at least be open to the possibility that it’s doing so again.

The Cardinals are gonna try to go back to the public money trough 

Bill DeWitt III, president of the St. Louis Cardinals, tells St. Louis Public Radio that the team is gonna try to hit up taxpayers for half a billion dollars or more at some point soon:

There are few if any teams more firmly and permanently rooted in its city than the Cardinals. They are St. Louis and St. Louis is them and it’s fantastical to even suggest they’d ever move. Which means that there is zero downside to telling the Cardinals “tough shit, no” if and when they ask for the residents of a perpetually economically challenged city to pay for their stadium renovations. But hey, good luck. And don’t Google anything about the Royals’ recent efforts in that regard, Trey DeWitt. It’ll only depress you.

That article, by the way, is about way, way more than just the Cards’ impending ask. It’s a full and thorough history of the DeWitt family’s stadium grifts, detailing how Cards owner Bill DeWitt Jr. helped shake down multiple cities during his tenure in ownership groups for multiple other teams including the Reds, Orioles, and Rangers. And, of course, he has done it to St. Louis several times. The man has elevated the hat-in-hand act to an art form and now his son seems poised to take over the family business.

The article also spends a lot of time talking about the challenges faced by downtown St. Louis, the dubious track record of the much-hyped Ballpark Village which benefits the Cardinals but costs taxpayers money and has delivered few if any larger benefits. Finally, there is a lot of talk in there about how using public funds to pay for stadiums, stadium upgrades, and stadium-adjacent development is always a loser. Cup of Coffee’s favorite sports economist, J.D. Bradbury, is extensively quoted as well. It’s a long article but it’s worth your time.

Bauer sucks

A thing I forgot to mention in connection with the Trevor Bauer item in yesterday’s newsletter: in addition to Bauer and his fanboys spending an awful lot of time on Tuesday claiming that the fraud indictment of one of his four victims somehow absolves him of the accusations of the other three women he allegedly abused and the findings of Major League Baseball’s investigation, they all claimed that this, somehow, entitles him to a job with a major league team. I’ll spare you the trash which appeared in my Twitter mentions, but here was what Bauer had to say:

It’s worth noting, again, that Bauer left out the one institution which actually conducted an in-depth investigation into his behavior — Major League Baseball — nor did he mention that MLB did not agree with his claims of innocence. Rather, it gave him the longest suspension in the history of MLB’s Joint Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault policy. A suspension, in fact, that was twice as long as the next-longest one ever leveled. That one was handed to ex-MLB reliever Sam Dyson, who was accused by his girlfriend of battery, including a claim that Dyson pointed a gun at her, raped her, intentionally inflicted emotional distress, emotionally manipulated her, and kicked her pet cat. Bauer’s still stands as the longest-ever suspension even after it was reduced by an independent arbitrator. But of course Bauer is not gonna say anything about that because he wants people to forget that.

But I really am amused by his belief that the existence of the fraud charge should cause a major league club to jump at signing him. And I say that separate and apart from him being a total shitheel. I say that because he made his first start for the Diablos Rojos del México on Monday and he got his ass lit up to the tune of four runs on seven hits in three and two-thirds innings.

Given all of his baggage I doubt that even fantastic performance in Mexico is gonna inspire an MLB team to take a chance on him, but when you can’t make it out of the fourth inning against the Puebla Tigres, well, good luck.

The raddest injury ever

The Padres placed Yu Darvish on the injured list yesterday due to neck tightness. That’s bad for the Padres, of course, but I don’t share this information for that reason. Rather, I share it because the Padres’ social media announcement made me laugh:

Those are some rad and extreme fonts and that’s some badass tropical imagery for a neck tightness IL placement. It’s got a Miami Vice/GTA San Andreas vibe that says “this neck tightness IL stint is gonna be AWESOME, bro!” It’s the best sports injury graphic I’ve seen since this:

Other Stuff

NBA hands Jontay Porter a permanent ban for gambling

The NBA announced yesterday that it has permanently banned Raptors forward Jontay Porter for "disclosing confidential information to sports betters, limiting his own participation in one or more games for betting purposes, and betting on NBA games." This arises out of the scandal which emerged a week or two ago in which Porter was accused of begging out of games in order to avoid hitting certain points and rebound numbers that were the subject of prop bets.

The league’s release makes specific reference to the Raptors’ March 20 game in which Porter played only three minutes after claiming to be ill. He had previously told two people who are known basketball gamblers with whom he is associated about his health status. Which I presume means that he told them he was gonna sandbag it. One of them subsequently placed an $80,000 parlay, wagering that Porter would not hit a certain point and rebound total set by oddsmakers. The bet, which would’ve won the gambler $1.1 million, was frozen given its unusual nature combined with Porter pulling himself out of the game so early. That’s when the league investigated.

Porter was also discovered to have bet on multiple NBA games himself, using an acquaintance’s account, to the tune of over $54,000. Porter won over $21,000 on these wagers. Hope it was worth it, my dude.

Now let’s throw it to our sports gambling correspondence for some greater insight:

You all know where I stand on the Ohtani stuff so you know that I do not endorse that sentiment in any real way. But that sentiment made me laugh my ass off, so I couldn’t not share it.

Anyway: this was absolutely inevitable. And Porter being banned is not gonna stop this sort of thing, mostly because his scheme appeared to be about as stupid as it comes. There will be other athletes who, like him, are not likely slated for big money careers and who will attempt to cash in via gambling while they have the ability to do so. They’ll do it smarter and they’ll probably get away with it, at least for a while. And the knowledge that that’s likely means that none of us will ever really know for sure if what we’re seeing in games is legit or some sort of gambling-fueled work.

The NBC Olympic coverage sounds . . . iffy

Variety has a big story about how NBC plans to handle its broadcast of the Paris Olympics this year.

The good news: unlike past Olympics which took place during non-prime-time hours in North America, the network is not gonna leave U.S. audiences with no choice but to watch stuff on tape-delay:

This is good, because there is no substitute for live sports. Even if one is able to avoid seeing results from various events during the day, which can be a difficult task, simply knowing that something has already happened takes some energy and electricity away from it. It blunts the feeling that the whole world is watching history unfold at the same time. It kind of stinks that one must subscribe to Peacock to get that experience but at least there will be options to watch any event one wishes live, in real time. So kudos to my former employer for that.

The bad news: NBC’s actual prime time coverage sounds like it’s going to be an unwatchable train wreck:

I would love to see a list of things test audiences loved but which ended up sucking. I bet it’s pretty long. Either way, NBC’s now decades-long habit of turning sporting events into human interest stories and, now, attempting to turn them into a pop culture events, is a major turnoff.

But hey, what do I know? I’m just some rube, sitting here thinking that featuring a 52 year-old rapper who hasn’t been truly relevant in decades isn’t really gonna move the dial. And that the parent heart monitor thing is more likely to lead to parodies than it compelling sports television.

Trump might be on trial during the home stretch 

Donald Trump is currently on trial in the hush money/falsified records case. He has a pending trial, however, on much more serious charges related to his efforts to overthrow the results of the 2020 election.

Trump has gotten a big helping hand from the conservative majority on the Supreme Court with respect to that trial. Specifically, the Court has decided to entertain his outlandishly frivolous argument that the charges should be thrown out because presidents should have complete and total immunity from any criminal liability even after they’re out of office. If you doubt this is frivolous, just realize that, if Trump is right, Joe Biden could take out a .44 magnum and shoot Trump dead on a debate stage this fall and never suffer any legal consequences for it. So, no, even our lunatic Supreme Court is not gonna uphold his legal arguments and, if it does, I’m getting on the first flight out of this country anyway, so not my problem.

But by taking up the appeal — and by waiting for months and months before doing so even though it could’ve done it much earlier — the Court has further delayed his election interference trial, all but ensuring that Trump will not be convicted of those crimes before Election Day. But as Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo pointed out yesterday, those delays may not have done Trump any favors:

Marshall notes that it’s totally possible that Trump’s lawyers will try to pull something out of their butts to delay things even more. And, though improbable, it’s not completely impossible to believe that the Supreme Court will do something unprecedented with respect to the case in an effort to push off the trial.

But I don’t know that it would help Trump much, during the home stretch of the 2024 election, to be seen being given favors by his judicial appointees or otherwise being treated as though he is above the law. Indeed, I think it would harm him some. Not with his hardcore base, of course, as they’re a cult. But by the sorts of people he needs to vote for him to put himself over line. People who, while conservative leaning, did not vote for him or his agenda in 2018, 2020, or 2022.

Richie Henderson

There was a crossing guard in New York named Richie Henderson. Richie was a longtime fixture at the school where he worked, having served there for a decade. He was so well respected there that the school took the unprecedented step of putting him on staff, with benefits and everything, despite the fact that crossing guards are almost always contractors in New York. Everyone knew Richie. He knew everyone. He was a beloved figure among students, their parents, and the school’s faculty and staff. He was also a loving husband, father, and grandfather, having carved out a good life for himself and his family despite growing up in tough circumstances in what can be a tough city.

Richie was tragically killed in a subway shooting back in January. This story in the New York Times talks about that, his legacy, the loss felt by his family, his friends, his loved ones, and the school community since his passing, and how they are trying to honor his memory.

I was alerted to this story by a Cup of Coffee subscriber whose child goes to the school where Richie worked. He writes:

Every life on Earth touches the lives of so many others. We tend not to see those connections and even if we do we tend to take them for granted. Richie Henderson’s story is a tragic one, yes, but it’s also one that reminds us of how interconnected we all are. Of how the people we might pass on the street and to whom we may not give a second thought mean something to many. Including people in our own community.

We are living in some pretty rough times. But things are better when we appreciate each other and empathize with one another. When we take notice of how everyone plays a role in shaping our world and the world at large.

Rest in peace Richie Henderson.

Have a great day everyone.