the pitch clock is counting down to the MLB 2023 REGULAR SEASON THREAD

Speaking of Reggie (I won't start a thread), big day on the Jaded but Nostalgic Old Guy Calendar: happy 77th. I saw him twice: in 1969, when I was 7, the year he was threatening Maris's HR record at the All-Star break (remember nothing, but I later determined the game was close both geographically and on the calendar to the Manson murders); and in '87, his final season. I remember my dad and I left a couple of innings early and missed one of his last HR.

When I lived in New York, the one time I managed to go to Yankee Stadium--I think it was in 1992--happened to be on Reggie Jackson Day. I wasn't even aware of the occasion until we got there. I got really choked up seeing the man himself.

The one time I was there was pretty close to that--'87 or '88, obstructed view in left field, I think.

I briefly got to meet Mr October in Finsbury Park in London in the summer of 2019. My kids' little league team had somehow organised a skills day with a bunch of former Yankees and Aaron Boone. It was like walking around in a dream. Rivera, A-Rod, Pettite, Matsui, Beltran, and, uh, Nick Swisher. Reggie spent quite a bit of time with the kids, giving them tips on their stances and their swings. Other than that he frankly seemed kind of grumpy and mainly just hung out with Beltran eating BBQ which is fair enough, I think they'd arrived that morning from the East Coast. Cashman was there too and I had a long talk with him about the 'best team ever' years, and which Post and the Daily News reporters he got along with and which ones he didn't. Now that I think about it even Manfred showed up! He gave some boilerplate speech. But the Yanks donated an entire half-container of brand-new Rawlings gear to the team, I guess it was probably worth thousands. Just an incredible day. I'm told Reggie will only sign baseballs on the "sweet spot" where the seams come together at their narrowest, but both balls my kids gave him had already had those spots taken and he signed them anyway. Getting soft!

Oh, man--would love to meet him. His WS quote--"The only thing I don't like about playing in the World Series is I can't stay home and watch myself"--is one of my favourite ever. (Really enjoyed his old-guy book with Bob Gibson.)

Checking game logs, I'm not even close on the game my dad and I left early. It might have been this one, which was '83, four years before he retired.

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/06/18/Reggie-Jacksons-two-out-three-run-homer-capped-a-four-run-California/2210424756800/

Memory fading.

             1-run   Other
Athletics      7-7    3-28

RHP Trevor Bauer has been sent down to the Baystars farm and will pitch Sunday.

https://t.co/evCwzztDuF

— Yakyu Cosmopolitan (@yakyucosmo) May 20, 2023

couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy

so is madbum done? it's been almost a month

Here’s the video of Trevor Bauer getting taken deep by the first batter he faced in his first game since being demoted to the minor leagues in Japan. pic.twitter.com/TiOUCjfd8m

— sky (@GonsolinRBW) May 21, 2023

straight into my veins

crazy that his agent popped into the thread to immediately agentsplain this

He chose to be sent down!

Long may his suffering continue.

xps to mookieproof

There’s an article in the Athletic now and 🫣

“

I definitely can,” Bumgarner said, “but I’m not going to throw anybody under the bus.” Pressed for specifics, he allowed that ditching the team-provided scouting report was “a big part of it.” It was an oddly cryptic answer, but it was hardly indecipherable. Most took the response to be a shot at the person who prepares attack plans for Arizona’s starters — pitching strategist and former big-league pitcher Dan Haren.

Haren confronted Bumgarner about the comment soon after, according to sources within the organization. That ended whatever relationship the pair had, and sources say the two didn’t speak to each other for the rest of Bumgarner’s time with the team, a span of almost two years. From then on, even as Haren worked closely with the team’s other starters, all game-planning information for Bumgarner was run through the Diamondbacks’ catchers.

Super cool to get racist ads (HAVE YOU BEEN HARMED BY DEI) on more than half the MLB broadcasts I catch on mlb.tv.

The AL East and AL Central are still operating like one giant division and we hope it never stops. pic.twitter.com/8IWALVjzvR

— Productive Outs (@ProductiveOuts) May 23, 2023

this video is legitimately amazing

【びっくり】MLBにリスが登場…観客席を走り、グラウンドに落下したリスが見事な着地披露pic.twitter.com/6bXx9iCmsk

— ライブドアニュース (@livedoornews) May 24, 2023

every single person doing the YouTube thumbnail face

Worst 50-game starts, since 1901:

1904 Senators: 9-41
1932 Red Sox: 10-40
2023 Athletics: 10-40
Four teams: 11-39

the 1988 orioles, who started 0-21, are one of the 11-39 teams

Should have called Contreras rule on Rojas in this Dbacks-Phillies game.

i remember sports illustrated doing a cover on the Os’ historic futility that year. it was in the waiting room at the dentist. one of those little memories that clangs around in my head.

https://vault.si.com/.image/t_share/MTY5MDk4MzYxMzQ1OTQzMDAz/702628---cover-thumbnail-image.jpg

I'm scanning every square inch of that bat with a magnifying glass.

first mlb game I went to was an orioles game in that series. I didn’t really care much about baseball (aside from baseball cards) but I was impressed by the losing streak.

cal ripken sr. was fired as manager at 0-6

he wasn't the problem, alas

I’m at marlins-rockies for my first live game of the year, and I’ve already seen a triple and a steal of home. though I’m seated looking directly down the third baseline, and it seemed like that should have been runner interference

i am not seeing this steal of home on the internet, but if it involved luis arraez it was absolutely legit because he rules

ps are you wearing nugs attire y/n

yes I’m in a bright blue and yellow nuggets warmup jacket

<3

i remember sports illustrated doing a cover on the Os’ historic futility that year. it was in the waiting room at the dentist. one of those little memories that clangs around in my head.

― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, May 24, 2023 4:43 PM (five hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Imagine if you'd told teenage me in 1988 "this is only the fourth-worst Orioles team you'll see in your life"

iirc at one point ronald reagan called frank robinson to offer condolences/support

fucking insult to injury

lol ouch

clemenza that's the one! i remember the shot and everything. it seemed impossible at the time. it still does, i guess.

That was a weird division that year: 89 wins took the division, and the top five teams were all bunched between 85-89. I don't really remember Toronto being in a close race in '88 (like '87 and '89), but they only finished two games out, so I guess they were.

royals violating an unwritten rule, insulting the troops by throwing combined perfect game through 6 in stl, prompting outrage among the proud neighbors of the I-70 route which divides a nation

stroman 9 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 8 K, 105 P, 92 game score

I guess if you’re going to give up a single hit it should be to Wander Franco.

cubs have eased back into mediocrity but their pitching is not bad, at least the steele/stroman/smyly chunk of the rotation

going to see them play the rays tonight with kyle hendricks pitching for the cubs so i'm anticipating a lot of hitting from the rays

Morel has been doing really well since the Cubs called him up! I watched the Cubs absolutely brutalise the Dodgers in that almost-a-perfect-game but they’ve had some injuries since. The pitching seems good as you say, though Taillon doesn’t seem to be doing very well (I say this only having glanced at his numbers, I haven’t seen any of his starts yet).

Btw i am also seeing the Cubs play next month, albeit in London, so hopefully Bellinger will be back for that

taillon is bad, hendricks was bad in his first start coming back from the IL and i don't have high hopes for him to improve

The Rays haven't had their own thread since 2015? Maybe I'm missing something--anyway, I'll post here, from mlb.com:

ST. PETERSBURG -- The most recent team to lead the Majors in home runs and stolen bases included a 36-year-old Jackie Robinson and a 24-year-old Don Zimmer. There’s still plenty of season left, of course, but the 2023 Rays have a chance to accomplish the same feat as those 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers.

The Rays entered Tuesday with 101 homers, 11 more than the Braves and Dodgers. Tampa Bay has also racked up 73 steals, 15 more than the second-ranked Pirates and 20 more than any other American League team. For what it’s worth, the last team to lead the AL in home runs and stolen bases was Cleveland in 1995.

I always assumed Don Zimmer was born 60 and bald.

Taillon is really disappointing for the cubs, after a slow start he got it together last season eventually while pitching for the yanks and had a very good K/bb ratio too, but he's just been so awful. They were hoping they lucked into another Arrieta but they got another 2023 Corey Kluber thus far.

(xpost) I was wondering how close the Big Red Machine came to doing that, and they came close a few times league-wide, and in '76, they indeed led the NL in both categories, 141 HR and 210 SB. But the Royals stole 218, and the A's stole 341 (!) that year. Three guys (Bill North, Campy, and--disconnect--Don Baylor) all stole more than 50. It's still the modern-day record for one team.

: /

always rooting for taillon -- i mean he's had testicular cancer and *two* TJ surgeries and is a really nice guy

they're gonna have to invent an injury for him, they can't keep running him out there like this

Morel has been doing really well since the Cubs called him up!

― TY FRANCE HATES TEXAS CONFIRMED (gyac), Tuesday, May 30, 2023 6:51 AM (thirteen hours ago)

As someone focused on the micro, he has been ice cold for what seems to be ages... 3 for his last 26 with no XBH. Prior to that he was on an absolute tear.

never ever say 'focused on the micro' steve shasta

:-O

the 200,000 foot view

never ever make me reference this passage steve shasta

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FVixvOqWUAMZaqo?format=jpg&name=small