# MLB: August 2021 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** baseball-mlb\ **Created:** [August 1, 2021, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2021/947783 "2021-08-01T18:31:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2021, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2021/947783/21 "2021-08-06T19:20:43Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > I just found an [mlb.com](http://mlb.com) “fact of the day” for the Reds that gives half of the answer. Mahle’s fact is from August 3 Excellent find! So perhaps there needs to be a new stat? Victim of Blown Save ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2021, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2021/947783/22 "2021-08-06T19:45:00Z")
He wasn’t even the victim on 2 of those - he left the game without a lead, so the blown save was generated off of someone else’s win eligibility. All in all, a terrible stat of the day. To balance that out, here’s one of the most random stats I’ve ever seen: > It took me a while to suss out, but “heaviest home run” takes the total of the listed weight of the batter and all players on base that scored on a particular home run. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2021, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2021/947783/23 "2021-08-07T22:10:15Z")
ahh the joys of being a dodger fan, wasn’t it a couple of years ago they almost blew the biggest NL west division (and MLB) lead by losing something like 17 games between the middle of july and mid august 0nly to go on a tear in the last 2 or 3 weeks of reg season [https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/this-doesnt-make-any-sense/ar-AAN2Yt0?ocid=SK2DDHP](https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/this-doesnt-make-any-sense/ar-AAN2Yt0?ocid=SK2DDHP) ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2021, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2021/947783/24 "2021-08-08T00:01:39Z")
I’m liking Josiah Gray, a pitcher the Nats picked up in the massive trade deadline dump. Only 23, got good stuff and already 5 strikeouts in the third ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2021, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2021/947783/25 "2021-08-08T17:28:41Z")
Anti vax shitbag Anthony Rizzo tests positive for Covid. He won’t be in my thoughts and prayers > **[Rizzo latest Yankee to test positive for COVID](https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/31987292/anthony-rizzo-latest-new-york-yankees-player-test-positive-covid-19)** > > The Yankees' Anthony Rizzo has tested positive for COVID-19, manager Aaron Boone said before Sunday's series finale against the Mariners. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2021, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2021/947783/26 "2021-08-09T01:55:46Z")
There’s nothing in that article that suggests that he’s totally anti-vax. Just that he wanted to see more data. While I disagree with him on that, that’s a far cry from being totally anti-vax. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2021, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2021/947783/27 "2021-08-09T02:09:43Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > There’s nothing in that article that suggests that he’s totally anti-vax. Just that he wanted to see more data. See more data is a typical anti vax response. He trusted science with his cancer, didn’t ask to ‘see more data.’ ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2021, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2021/947783/28 "2021-08-09T02:13:21Z")
He made that comment in June. Well, two months later, it’s pretty damn obvious the difference between being vaccinated and not being vaccinated. How much more data does he need to see? ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2021, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2021/947783/29 "2021-08-09T02:51:54Z")
Also, I live in Chicago. You can’t escape his cancer foundation, you’re asked to round up to donate at Jewel/Osco, a major grocery store chain here. Very hard to have any empathy for Rizzo, he’s got expert doctors available to him in professional baseball and seems to care more about YouTube quacks ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2021, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2021/947783/30 "2021-08-09T09:29:09Z")
this bit is funny as hell > **[Dodgers ball girl destroys intruding fan for running on the field (Video)](https://fansided.com/2021/08/08/dodgers-ball-girl-destroys-intruding-fan-running-field-video/)** > > A Dodgers ball girl ruthlessly checked a fan who was being chased by security for running on the field into and over the wall in right field. Fans who run ... ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2021, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2021/947783/31 "2021-08-09T13:27:14Z")
In less amusing news, it sounded as if a fan in Denver yelled a racial slur at Lewis Brinson of the Marlins. Or did he? Now, it’s been argued the guy might have been yelling “Dinger,” the name of the Rockies’ mascot… and listening to the video, well, I suppose that’s possible. Like so many things, if you listen for a specific word that’s what you tend to hear. So I was skeptical. When I first heard the video I thought it was the N-word. But this page has a video that seems to show the guy yelling - and I’ll be damned, he really does seem to be waving at the mascot while he yells. > **[Dinger Mascot Theory Spreads Online Over Racial Slur Heard at Rockies Game](https://www.newsweek.com/dinger-mascot-theory-spreads-online-over-racial-slur-heard-rockies-game-1617404)** > > Miami Marlins outfielder Lewis Brinson was allegedly racially abused by a Rockies fan during the ninth inning on Sunday. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2021, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2021/947783/32 "2021-08-10T00:42:27Z")
In a 3 game series, Blue Jays v. Red Sox, the Sox closer Matt Barnes was the losing pitcher in two of the games and the winning pitcher in the other. Wonder whether this has ever happened before. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2021, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2021/947783/33 "2021-08-10T04:11:47Z")
It was a 4 game series. They also played Friday; Boston’s losing pitcher was Nathan Eovaldi. On a hunch, I looked up Mike Marshall, who you may know is the only pitcher to pitch in more than 100 games in a season, in 1974, when he went 15-12 for the Dodgers in 106 games. (The previous record for games pitched in a season was by… Mike Marshall, the year before with Montreal.) Well, in June, Marshall won all three games in a series with San Francisco. And then after pitching well in a game against the Braves, but the Dodgers losing (Marshall didn’t take the loss) he won the next two. Five wins in six days. Amazingly, later, in September, he had another run of three straight decisions. On September 24 he beat Atlanta, and then he lost to them the next day, and then he beat the Padres the day after that. He won the Cy Young that year, the first relief pitcher to ever do that, and pitched in all five games in the World Series. He’s the pitcher who picked off “Designated runner” Herb Washington. Marshall died a few months ago, actually. While he was still pitching in the majors he went back to school, and got a doctorate in physiology. Marshall was of the opinion that MLB pitchers were capable of pitching far more often than they do, like he did, but were not properly strength trained. (Marshall was small for an MLB pitcher but a terrific athlete.) Marshall was exceptionally smart and knowledgeable about physiology but came off as arrogant and a know-it-all, an impression he did not really try to change. In an interview with (IIRC Sports Illustrated) long after he retired, he expressed disgust that he was not universally considered the best relief pitcher of all time. (He was not.) After he was done he trained pitchers, and claimed no one he trained ever got hurt, which I cannot presently verify. He was never given a pitching coach or or anything like that in MLB; no one wanted to work with him. But for a few years there he was unbelievable. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2021, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2021/947783/34 "2021-08-10T15:15:34Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > On a hunch, I looked up Mike Marshall, who you may know is the only pitcher to pitch in more than 100 games in a season, in 1974, when he went 15-12 for the Dodgers in 106 games. (The previous record for games pitched in a season was by… Mike Marshall, the year before with Montreal.) I looked up his stats expecting to see LOOGY\* numbers for '74 (fewer innings than appearances) but man, that was a workhorse. 208.1 innings that year, and 179 the season before. He tossed five innings in his 95th appearance, and four full in his 104th. Maybe not the greatest reliever of all time, but amazing nonetheless. \*I’m obligated to point out that Marshall was a righty, or someone else will, fersure. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2021, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2021/947783/35 "2021-08-10T17:49:14Z")
I am sure it will not surprise you to hear that 208 inning season is a record for a relief pitcher. I think his 179 innings the year before is second. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2021, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2021/947783/36 "2021-08-10T17:54:50Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Marshall was of the opinion that MLB pitchers were capable of pitching far more often than they do, like he did, but were not properly strength trained. (Marshall was small for an MLB pitcher but a terrific athlete.) That’s interesting, and I had not known about Marshall getting such a degree. I do remember that, back in that era, the conventional wisdom was that it was a disadvantage for a baseball player to do strength training, as it would lead to becoming “muscle-bound” and less flexible. I remember that, when he was a young player in the late '70s, Robin Yount was doing strength training and weights, and there were a number of writers and critics who believed that it would destroy his game (spoiler: it did not 😃 ). ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2021, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2021/947783/37 "2021-08-10T17:58:42Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > That’s interesting, and I had not known about Marshall getting such a degree. I do remember that, back in that era, the conventional wisdom was that it was a disadvantage for a baseball player to do strength training, as it would lead to becoming “muscle-bound” and less flexible. Sparky Anderson once openly said that Lance Parrish had to decide if he wanted to be a ballplayer or a bodybuilder. There are a lot of reasons why home runs are up, but just proper physical training is a big part of it. There is a limit as to how hard you can hit a baseball, so having everyone do weight training doesn’t mean anyone will hit 100 homers in a season. Back in the day you had guys who were just strong, guys like Jimmie Foxx or Mike Schmidt or Willie McCovey, and they hit homers. But if a guy didn’t lift weights and wasn’t naturally strong, maybe not. You had more regular players who’d go months between home runs. Now that everyone hits the weight room, it’s unusual for a regular player to not pop at least a few dingers. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2021/947783/38 "2021-08-12T01:43:33Z")
The Red Sox are up 14-1 on the Rays in the 7th inning. The question now is whether the bullpen can hold the lead. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2021/947783/39 "2021-08-12T01:47:20Z")
Dodgers fans, love Trea Turner as _I_ loved him, and there will be joy. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/TmdxWPhk7Ug/maxresdefault.jpg "Smoothest slide of all-time?? Dodgers' Trea Turner pulls off the smooth slide while scoring!") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmdxWPhk7Ug) This slide is freakin’ SICK. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2021/947783/40 "2021-08-12T01:56:55Z")
This one is just as good. When he was first called safe I thought Angel Hernandez must have been the umpire > **[Javier Báez Shows He's Still ‘El Mago' With Incredible Slide vs. Marlins](https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/sports/chicago-baseball/javier-baez-shows-hes-still-el-mago-with-incredible-slide-vs-marlins/2580656/)** > > Javier Báez might not be playing for the Chicago Cubs any more, but he’s still got plenty of tricks up his sleeve, as he went full “El Mago” for the New York Mets during a game against the Miami Marlins. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2021/947783.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2021/947783.md?page=3)