Cup of Coffee: September 18, 2020

Today’s Cup of Coffee is free to all! A taste, to remind you of what you can get every weekday morning if you subscribe:

And something you can share with friends who you think might be interested in getting briefed on everything important going in in baseball every morning:

And no, this doesn’t all stop after the World Series trophy is hoisted. As longtime readers know, there is no offseason in baseball. From the postseason awards to the Hall of Fame balloting to labor talks to all of the hot stove action, there’s just as much happening in Major League Baseball from November through February as there is when the games are being played. Wanna know what’s going on with it before everyone else? This is the place to be.

Now, on with our Friday . . .

And That Happened

Here are the scores. Here are the highlights:

White Sox 4, Twins 3: Eloy Jimenez hit a tie-breaking double to cap a two-run rally in the seventh inning. That was the go-ahead run. The tying run came on a José Abreu infield single to third base that, actually, was fielded by the shortstop instead of third baseman Ehire Adrianza who couldn’t quite get to it. “Wait,” you’re asking. “Why wasn’t all-world third baseman Josh Donaldson at third? Surely he would’ve gotten that ball, yes?”

In my view yes. The ball was a tough one, but it looked playable for someone as good as Donaldson, but Donaldson got ejected the previous inning after hitting a home run. “Wait,” you’re asking. “How do you get ejected after hitting a home run?” Well, friend, you do that by kicking dirt at home plate a couple of times in order to show up the umpire because you’re mad that he missed a couple of pitches before you hit the dinger:

I guess one benefit of the expanded postseason is that all the good teams are gonna make it there anyway, so the fact that the Twins lost and the White Sox increased their lead in the Central doesn’t matter that much, really. But still, for all the style-points I’m inclined to give Donaldson here, there’s a non-trivial argument that his display cost his team the game by ensuring his absence for a play he might’ve been able to make. Either way, the Sox did clinch a postseason spot. It’s their first since 2008. The rebuild is officially complete.

Cleveland 10, Tigers 3: Shane Bieber had a 10-0 lead in the eighth inning. He had put a couple of runners on, and threw a wild pitch, and had thrown 114 pitches at that point so, naturally, acting manager Sandy Alomar Jr. came out of the dugout. Except he doesn’t take Bieber out. He lets him go on his merry way despite the fact there was a crackling neon sign above his head reading “I am toast,” complete with a little bread-shaped graphic with heat lines coming off of it. So, naturally, four pitches later Bieber gives up a three-run tater. Emphasis on the “acting” in “acting manager” for Alomar.

That aside, good game for Cleveland. They snapped their eight-game losing streak. José Ramírez homered twice. It was his 28th birthday, too. What were you doing on your 28th birthday? I am about 95% sure that I went to go see the Robert DeNiro/Edward Norton/Marlon Brando movie, “The Score,” which had been released just before that. Between Edward Norton getting a lead in an A-picture and the fact that it was pre-9/11 America, it may as well have been 1,000 years ago or maybe on another planet.

Yankees 10, Blue Jays 7: Is this bad?

I guess Hicks buys the beers for that frame. Voit has 20 homers in 50 game. That’d be a 64-homer pace in a regular season.

As a Twitter follower said, “The Yankees certainly Chased Anderson off the mound.” I asked Twitter to ban him for a joke that bad, but I got no response. Anyway, that five-homer fourth inning turned a 2-2 game into a 9-2 game, Gary Sánchez homered in the seventh to give the Yankees ten, and that was enough to withstand a four-run ninth inning rally from Toronto. Masahiro Tanaka was good over seven, and I’m sure he appreciated all the dingers in support. As have all the other Yankees pitchers. Because there have been a lot of them: the Yankees have 19 homers in their last three games. NINETEEN.

In related news, one of you had a request:

I already failed in that regard — the spice must flow — but I’ll give Jays fans some lyrics anyway:

🎶All around me are familiar facesWorn out places, worn out facesBright and early for their daily racesGoing nowhere, going nowhereTheir tears are filling up their glassesNo expression, no expressionHide my head, I want to drown my sorrowNo tomorrow, no tomorrow🎶

Mets 10, Phillies 6: Handing a two-run lead to a bullpen in the sixth inning is no guarantee of victory in the best of circumstances — a lot can happen in more than a third of a game — but handing a two-run lead to the 2020 Phillies bullpen in the sixth is like the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna giving the Alexander III Commemorative Fabergé Egg to baby Tsarevich Alexei to play with on Christmas morning, expecting it to remain in one piece, and expecting poor Alexi to not have exsanguinated himself on the shards.

Which is to say it’d be a bad move. Yet, the Alexander III Commemorative Fabergé Egg has been lost to history, so someone wasn’t careful with it at some point. Clearly you see what I’m driving at here, yes?

OK, I’ll grant it’s less than clear, so I’ll put it in simpler terms: Aaron Nola held the Mets to three until the sixth inning when he ran out of gas, gave up a homer, and put a man on. Joe Girardi brought in Blake Parker who gave up a walk and a two-run triple to blow Nola’s lead. Flash forward to the ninth and it’s still tied at six and Brandon Workman gives up a leadoff homer to Brandon Nimmo, a single to Michael Conforto, and an RBI triple to Dominic Smith. Garret Cleavinger then came in and immediately gave up a two-run homer to Robinson Canó. The Phillies loaded up the bases in the bottom of the ninth but Edwin Díaz wriggled out of the jam.

Bryce Harper homered twice for the Phillies, but he could homer a half dozen times and it wouldn’t matter given the arsonists under the Phillies’ employ. The Phillies bullpen has a 7.17 ERA. Given the choice for a do-over, I think Tsarevich Alexei would try again with the firing squad rather than take his chances with these guys.

The Phillies have lost five of six. But guess what? They’re still in playoff position! This team — which, if it was the Lakota Sioux army would’ve still found a way to lose at Little Bighorn — would be playing October baseball if the season ended today. The expanded playoffs don’t reward mediocrity. They reward abject dreadfulness.

Red Sox 5, Marlins 3: Nathan Eovaldi pitched five shutout innings and struck out seven. Shades of 2018, which seems also seems like 1,000 years ago. I’d say he “did it against his old mates” but since he last played for the Marlins in 2014, I think their roster has turned over five times. Rafael Devers had a three-run homer, Kevin Plawecki hit a two-run single and Alex Verdugo had three hits for the Red Sox. One of those guys could’ve done that in 2018. The other two were elsewhere.

Angels 7, Diamondbacks 3: Anthony Rendon hit a two-run homer, Mike Trout drove in two, and David Fletcher and Taylor Ward had three hits apiece for the Angels, who rattled off 14 hits and had a 6-0 lead after the third inning. That was how it was supposed to go for them all year but then again the Angels are always better on paper than in real life.

Giants 6, Mariners 4: Darin Ruf homered early but the M’s had a 4-1 lead after two and held it until the top of the sixth. That’s when the Giants — the road team in their home park — rallied to pull within one and then, an inning later, Wilmer Flores hit a go-ahead, two-run triple. That, along with an Alex Dickerson insurance RBI single, held up. It would’ve been a good day for the G-men, but they lost Mike Yastrzemski to a calf injury early. More on that below in The Daily Briefing.

Rays 3, Orioles 1; Rays 10, Orioles 6: Blake Snell tossed one-run ball into the sixth in the first game, as Brett Phillips tripled in a run and a couple more came in via a groundout and a sac fly in the seventh. There were only seven hits in the whole game between both teams combined. The second game brought cause for celebration for Tampa Bay, as they became the third team — after the Dodgers and White Sox — to clinch a playoff spot. They got homers from Willy Adames, Hunter Renfroe and Joey Wendle in order to do it, tacking up a four-run fifth inning to take a big lead after coming from behind. No word if the Rays have raised a flag that says “2020 postseason participants” yet. They do stuff like that down there sometimes.

Pirates 5, Cardinals 1: Steven Brault put the Buccos on his back in this one, tossing a two-hit complete game and striking out eight. He was backed by a three-run homer from Gregory Polanco, an RBI double from Jacob Stallings, and a sac fly from Josh Bell. That ended an eight-game skid for the Pirates and dropped the Cardinals to third place in the Central, which means that at the moment they’re out of playoff position. Even worse: starter Dakota Hudson left this game after two innings because of right elbow tightness. That’s never good. Like, no one ever says “man, that elbow is tight!” like it’s a good thing. Like they’re some record producer excited about the bass overdubs he just played back. “They’re totally gear!”

Astros 2, Rangers 1: Another night, another pitcher’s duel in Houston. This time Framber Valdez and the Astros came out on top as he punched out 11 in six and two-thirds. Not literally. If he literally punched out 11 guys they’d probably arrest him. Baseball is full of colorful turns of phrase like that. Kyle Tucker hit a two run homer. It was all the run support Valdez and the Astros relievers would get and it was all the run support they would need.

Dodgers 9, Rockies 3: Things were tied late but the boys in blue put up a six-run seventh inning and that was mostly that. Corey Seager homered and had three hits, Edwin Ríos homered, and Mookie Betts had an RBI single and scored on a wild pitch. L.A. increased its lead in the NL West to four games over the Padres. They only have nine games left to play.

The Daily Briefing

Happy 100th birthday, Roger Angell

Tomorrow will be Roger Angell’s 100th birthday. If you do not know much about Roger Angell, know that my dad — who is an old fart AND who has a son who is an old fart — was five months old when Angell got his first byline in The New Yorker, and he’s still writing for The New Yorker.

Angell was The New Yorker’s fiction editor. He has written, humor pieces, political pieces, biographical profiles, short stories, book reviews, personal essays, and movie reviews. But his fame, at least as far as people like you and me are concerned, has come as a baseball writer. I consider Angell to be the greatest baseball writer of all time.

Despite the fact that he has been writing about baseball as his regular beat since Kennedy was in office, Angell has never gotten jaded. He has, since the beginning, written in the voice of a fan — the voice of a human with real empathy — more than the voice of some putative authority, detached from feeling and emotion. That lack of jadedness and absence of bluster is a trick most ballwriters can’t manage even after only a year or two on the job. And yes, to most of them baseball sounds like their job, and one that annoys them as much as anything else. To Angell, baseball has always been a source of joy and wonder. At least that’s how it comes out in his writing.

I’m no Roger Angell and never will be, but I strive to keep his brand of joy and wonder in mind when I’m writing about the game. I don’t fear writing insane things like comparing Joe Girardi handing a lead to the Phillies bullpen to the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna giving the Alexander III a Commemorative Fabergé Egg to Tsarevich Alexi, because from reading Angell, I learned that bringing in non-baseball stuff in order to say things about baseball can be fun and, at least sometimes, enlightening in ways that all of the cliches of sports journalism rarely are.

And, though it’s kind of petty, I should also add that I never got mad about being blackballed by the Baseball Writers Association of America because I knew that Angell — who, unlike me, would’ve obviously been granted membership if he cared — never bothered to apply. Baseball is our game. The people’s game. It has no need for gatekeepers, and Angell never sought to be one.

If you’re not familiar with Angell’s work, The New Yorker has a bunch of his notable pieces here. I think the piece he wrote on Steve Blass back in the 70s — when he was better known for his yips than as a broadcaster — is one of the best baseball pieces ever written.

Sure, Rob, put fans in the stands. It’s a great idea.

The other day I talked about how Rob Manfred wants fans in the seats for the World Series. There has been exactly one major U.S. sporting events with fans present so far — last week’s Chiefs game in Kansas City — so maybe that can serve as a handy how-to guide?

Well, maybe not.

Eddie Vedder Cup moves to San Diego

The Mariners just got done playing two games against the Giants in San Francisco that were originally scheduled to be played in Seattle. They were moved because most of the western United States looks like Mustafar — a one-time paradise torn asunder by a gravimetric duel between gas giants, transforming once idyllic country into a volcanic hellscape — and the smoke is hitting Seattle hard. Now they have to move this weekend’s series against the Padres, also planned as a home stand, to San Diego:

The Padres have a 2-1 lead in the season series between the clubs, with all three of those games having already taken place in San Diego. Now they’ll have to continue their winning ways in Petco Park if they want to claim the 2020 Eddie Vedder Cup. Yeah, that’s a thing. Click the link. Seriously.

Yaz has a calf issue

Giants outfielder Mike Yastrzemski left yesterday’s game against the Mariners with tightness in his right calf. He probably injured it while tracking down a foul ball in the first inning. He’s going to undergo some tests to see how bad it is, but for now we don’t have a timeline. Calfs can be a day-to-day thing. Or, if you’re Aaron Judge or someone, they can keep you out for an extended time. Ya never know.

Yastrzemski has been a key part of a Giants team that was expected to stink this year but which is now poised to make the postseason (and which, even if we had the old postseason rules, would have to be counted as a pleasant surprise). He’s currently hitting .287/.392/.556 with nine homers and 33 driven in while providing plus defense. If the Giants are going to cross the finish line and make October and if they’re going to make any noise in October, they’re really gonna want a healthy Yaz.

Caleb Ferguson is Tommy John-bound

Tommy John surgery is "imminent" for Caleb Ferguson. That according to manager Dave Roberts who told that to the press when clubhouses opened yesterday. 

Ferguson was placed on the injured list on Wednesday with a left elbow injury, and now we know that it was the dreaded ulnar collateral ligament tear. Given the timing of this, Ferguson is unlikely to pitch in a game that counts until 2022. 

Ferguson was strong this year, pitching 18.1 innings in 21 games while posting an ERA of 2.89 ERA while striking out a fantastic 13.02 batters per nine innings only walking 1.45 per nine.

More Butts

Yesterday morning Cup of Coffee readers were treated (?) to the story of the Butts family of Texas, who founded and have run the H-E-B supermarket empire for the past 115 years. Yesterday afternoon subscriber — and author — Jason Turbow gave me the heads up about another Butts: Butts Wagner, older brother of Honus Wagner. It was Butts Wagner’s birthday yesterday too. Who knew? Happy birthday, Butts.

This is also a good time to let you know that Jason and a bunch of other writers belong to The Pandemic Baseball Book Club, which they launched in April to help baseball authors with new books, the promotional plans for which were messed up by COVID. Among the authors taking part are Jacob Kornhauser who, coincidentally, wrote a book called The Cup of Coffee Club about guys who played one game in the majors. I mentioned that a couple of weeks ago. My copy of it arrived yesterday and I’m about to dig in.

The Pandemic Baseball Book Club has a load of other great authors and baseball books that you may not have noticed due to this year being a friggin’ tire fire. Check it out.

Other Stuff

• On Saturday, at 1:30 PM EDT/11:30AM MDT, the Denver Public Library will be hosting a talk by film critic Walter Chaw about my favorite movie of all time, “The Conversation.” It’s free, too. All you gotta do is register. If you have not seen “The Conversation,” dear God, people, do so. It’s the greatest thing ever. At least if you can tolerate slow burns. It’s free on Kanopy, which you can usually register for via your local library. It’s also on HBOMax.

• I went to Costco the other day. I planned to buy a pack of paper towels but they were out. They have also been out at Target and the grocery store lately. I have since learned that, hey, people are hoarding them again so we have a shortage. At first this pissed me off, but then it made me think about how I use too damn much paper towel.I’m not one of those people who think that every little thing I do has a big impact on the environment or anything — it’s the actions of massive companies and governments which matter, with consumer behavior being relatively insignificant, even if those companies and governments want us to think that the destruction of our planet is our fault — but I really don’t need most of it. So I went online and bought a big pack of microfiber rags:I got white ones so I can bleach the living hell out of them. I plan to use them for all the cleaning/wiping down stuff I’ve used paper towels for and plan to limit paper towel use to things like patting raw chicken dry or what have you (yeah, I could probably do that with the rags too, but the idea of that sitting around before being washed for even a moment grosses me out). Your intrepid over-consumer of paper goods shall report back at some point to tell you whether this has worked.

• A friend sent me this article about how municipalities are suing the big streaming services an in effort to recover the tax/fee dollars they’re losing out on due to cord-cutters. Younger people may not know this, but those of us who were around when people first started getting cable in serious numbers will recall that in form and function, your cable service really and truly felt like a utility. As part of that — and, mostly, in exchange for giving them the right-of-way to lay their lines — cable companies agreed to pay local government a small percentage of collected rates on a per-customer basis. With people cutting cords, that revenue is shrinking and the services replacing it — Netlfix, Hulu, etc. — aren’t paying it. Some cities and towns are pushing and clawing back. I don’t have super strong views on that because it’s an industry whose specifics I’ve never really paid too close attention to, but in a more cosmic sense giant swaths of society -- from taxis to hotels to cable -- has been upended via tech companies inventing workarounds from regulation, taxation, and the like. They have long characterized this as a "disruption" model. They were more right about that than we really anticipated.

• Donald Trump has, once again, been credibly accused of sexual assault. We’re past two-dozen now, I think. And in this case the m.o. was precisely the thing he was caught on tape bragging about doing several years ago, just going up to a woman, forcing himself on her, safe in the knowledge that no one would do a thing about it because he’s rich and famous and, now anyway, powerful.My first impulse when I see things like this is to say "oh, how not shocking this is" but that's just a reminder of how much of a sexual predator Trump is -- there are too many cases to keep track of -- and how many people have decided they're totally fine with it. 

• This crossed my feed yesterday morning: Noted underdogs *checks notes* . . . Ohio State football? OK, dudes.

With that I’m ready for the weekend. Even if the names of days are all but interchangeable due to the meaningless sameness of our current plight.