Patrick Corbin did not have a good night for the Nationals. 10 runs, 9 of them earned in 2 innings.
Second Nats blowout in 3 days. Yes, it’s April, but still.
For only $89 a month, you can buy Pete Rose’s baseball picks.
Sounds like a great deal - a nearly 80-year-old guy who’s been out of baseball for more than three decades should help you win lots of sports bets.
Rose’s comment about working for a sports betting site not affecting his chances of reinstatement is…optimistic.
Well, as his chances of reinstatement are essentially zero, it’s hard to damage those chances any further.
LOL. Pete never fails to entertain.
The irony, it burns! 
I saw Pete Rose at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas a couple of years ago. He was hawking stuff in a memorabilia shop. There were signs in the store window saying that Pete Rose was inside, and you could meet him. They didn’t seem to be working so well, because there were a couple of employees standing outside, inviting (almost begging) people in to meet Pete Rose.
Out of curiosity, I went inside. I almost didn’t recognize him; he is so old now. He was busy with other people, so I had a look at what he was selling: an autographed baseball for $100, though if you wanted it personalized (e.g. “To Bill, best wishes, Pete Rose”), the price went up to $250. Lots of autographed pictures, all expensive, and if you wanted personalization, add another $150.
I’m a baseball fan, and Rose was a great player. A souvenir of him would be nice to have, no matter how disgraced he has become. But the prices made it look like he is desperate for cash. I’m sure that his baseball picks are more of the same–“I’ll select probable winners, no guarantees, and all you have to do is to pay me.”
Just to finish the story, I left the store without meeting Pete Rose. Based on what I saw him doing with other people, I’m of the opinion that he an extremely good salesman, in the used-car sense. I didn’t want to get roped into paying $100 or more for an autographed baseball.
I’d think that the personalization would make the price go down…
But honestly, those aren’t bad prices. I occasionally look at the prices in the Royals’ auction website, where they sell game-used items like jerseys, hats, balls, etc. The balls are authenticated, so that adds to the value, but the prices are much higher. Currently, there’s a ball hit by Miguel Cabrera from last year, current price is $376. The more obscure the player, the less the price is, obviously. But they’re not autographed. I wouldn’t spend $100 for a Rose ball - he’s an asshole, and I don’t want to give him my money - but I don’t think that price is all that outrageous. Maybe it is - it’s a pretty saturated market out there for Rose autographs.
Rose is a man who has clearly been in desperate need of a therapist and a GA sponsor for at least 35 years. Every bit of evidence points to a man in a state of extreme denial and a serious gambling problem.
He is, to be honest, an absolutely Grade A example of why baseball needs the rule against gambling to be as harsh as it is. It has nothing to do with whether he’s a bad person. It has everything to do with the fact he is a threat to the game because he can’t stop gambling.
Cubs manager David Ross suspended for 1 game, relief pitcher Ryan Tepera suspended for 3 games for hitting Brewers pitcher Brandon Woodruff intentionally in retaliation for Chicago catcher Willson Contreras having been plunked three times this season by Milwaukee, and seven times in the last two seasons.
'Zactly. That’s him issuing a giant FU! to the powers that be at MLB and Cooperstown.
Max Scherzer just passed Cy Young on the all-time strikeout list. I don’t know the numbers, but Young pitched a buttload of innings!
I guess MLB will be renaming the annual award for best pitcher?
Correction: Tepera did NOT hit Woodruff. He threw behind him. There was no contact and Woodruff continued the at-bat after jawing at Tepera.
Yankees with the worst record in the AL wasn’t what I was expecting to see two + weeks into the season
The Mets just can’t catch a break with scheduling. First the Nats get covid, then multiple rain delays, now the series opener against the Rockies cancelled due to snow, which means more 7-inning double headers and makeups. This after kicking the shit out of the Phillies all week. Let’s go already!
Thanks for the correction
It is interesting to note that Thursday was Jackie Robinson Day, the anniversary of the day he played his first MLB game. The reason it was halfway into April is because back then, that’s when they started the season.
Okay, so if they started the season on April 15, yesterday would still have been a snowout. Still, with a 162-game season, usually no doubleheaders, and three rounds of playoffs, they keep starting somewhere between March 30 and April 3 and you’ll inevitably have a lot of this shit, especially in the cities that are in the north and don’t have roofs. (I am eternally shocked Minnesota didn’t put a lid on Target Field - snow has been a problem there most Aprils.)
Speaking of Minnesota, I would again like to express my undying love for Nelson Cruz. Nelson is hitting .390 with four homers, and he’s 40 years old. No baseball player in modern times is more awesome than Nelson Cruz.
Nelson was given up on by THREE teams - the Mets, A’s, and Brewers - before settling in with the Rangers. Nelson didn’t get to be a full time player until he was 28, for what reason I really don’t understand because for several years he was stuck behind such luminaries as Brandon Boggs and the tail end of Frank Catalanotto’s career even though whenever they send him to the minors he destroyed the pitching there. When he finally made it, he hit. When the Rangers were in the playoffs, he hit some more (Nelson is, of course, the only player in MLB history to hit six home runs in one playoff series, and he has hit 17 bombs in just 46 playoff games.) He only hits. He’s never been fast, and he’s never been a good fielder. He just hits.
So when he was 33 the Rangers figured, well, this guy has had a nice little career, but players like him don’t last, so they let the Orioles sign him for less money than he’d been making. He then won the home run title and that was probably the worst season he’s had since. The next year he signed with Seattle, and everyone, including me, was like “A 34-year-old guy who only hits homers going to Safeco? Not a good signing.” So, of course, he hit better than ever. Absolutely mashed for four years in Seattle. Then at age 38 he went to Minnesota, and he has actually hit MUCH better there than he ever had before; with the Twins he’s hit .313 with 61 bombs in only 186 games.
The guy is fucking amazing. I cannot think of any player in the history of baseball with his skill set - basically just a huge, strong guy who hits homers and runs like an old sofa - whose career, looking at his age, is shaped like this. If you look at all the genuinely similar players in MLB history, all of them, without any exception, were toast long before they were 40:
EDWIN ENCARNACION, whom I love, is 38 now and appears to be done. He wants to keep playing but last year’s .157 batting average isn’t enticing a lot of interest in his services. He peaked a long time ago.
GREG LUZINSKI, done at age 33.
ALBERT BELLE was done at age 33, due to injury.
FRANK HOWARD had his best season at age 33, and his last at age 36.
ROCKY COLAVITO was a regular to age 32, gone at age 34.
So on and so forth. Nelson is 341 homers behind Barry Bonds and I think he can play until he’s 50 and pass him.
I’ve been an advocate of starting the season on April 15. Not only do you get a couple weeks from the very fickle weather across most of the country, you’re also going to avoid Good Friday and Easter most years. While April 15 is usually around the beginning of the NHL and NBA playoffs, you will also be past past March Madness.
Totally so. When Robinson started, MLB was only playing a 154-game schedule, and with the postseason only being the World Series, you could start play in mid-April, and be done with the Series by the first week in October. Now, with the expanded playoffs as well as the longer season, even with starting the season at the very end of March, the Series is sometimes going into November, and thus, a heightened chance for foul weather at both ends.
Cubs 13-1 over the Braves wasn’t what I expected when I woke up this am.