# MLB: August 2023 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** baseball-mlb\ **Created:** [August 2, 2023, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980 "2023-08-02T21:43:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**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 13, 2023, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/61 "2023-08-13T13:24:24Z")
I would be tickled pink if the Nats finished 4th in the division. Finally out of the NL East cellar for the first time since winning the World Series. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2023, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/62 "2023-08-13T23:11:00Z")
Today might have sucked, but at least we won the series, @RickJay! Go Cubs Go! ---
**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 14, 2023, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/63 "2023-08-14T00:07:46Z")
The Nats had two consecutive walk-off come-from-behind wins over the A’s in two days. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2023, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/64 "2023-08-14T00:35:45Z")
So I’m trying to understand why, when dealing with guys like Ohtani or Judge (or back in the day, Bonds, etc.), why such batters had any chance to hit so many home runs to begin with. IIRC, decades ago, it was standard practice to walk a dangerous batter. Is today more in the attitude of, “Who cares how good he is, let’s have the pitcher stare him down 1-on-1?” ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2023, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/65 "2023-08-14T01:32:37Z")
Intentional walks are usually stupid. Aaron Judge is a very dangerous hitter, but he usually makes an out. Except in particular situations, giving up easy walks backfires disastrously over and over again. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2023, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/66 "2023-08-14T01:37:36Z")
Not to mention that teams usually have a couple of killer hitters in their lineup, or none. It doesn’t do you any good to walk Mookie Betts if the next guy up is Freddie Freeman. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2023, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/67 "2023-08-14T18:28:45Z")
The Blue Jays added Jose Bautista to their “Level of Excellence,” a sort of team Hall of Fame where your name goes up in the stadium. The players now on it are: Bautista George Bell Carlos Delgado Dave Stieb Roy Halladay Tony Fernandez Joe Carter Roberto Alomar was on it but his name was taken down when he got thrown out of baseball due to incidents involving “sexual misconducts.” This seems like a reasonable list, I guess, but it does have some oddities and seems to rely on some subjective things. The Blue Jays have had a lot of players who were better than Joe Carter and aren’t up there but he hit the big homer. They’ve had a lot of players better than George Bell, but I guess Bell won the MVP Award. (So will Josh Donaldson be up there someday? What about Pat Hentgen, the first player in team history to win a Cy Young?) This doesn’t get your number retired, by the way. Only Halladay has his number retired. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2023, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/68 "2023-08-14T21:19:12Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > This seems like a reasonable list, I guess, but it does have some oddities and seems to rely on some subjective things. Happens all the time. Earlier this year, Cardinals fans elected David Freese to the team’s Hall of Fame. Freese had two good seasons with the Cardinals, but blazed through the 2011 post-season with a 13-game hitting streak, game winning heroics in both the NLDS and NLCS, and ultimately a performance for the ages in the 6th game of the World Series. Freese turned down the honor, saying his Cardinals career was too short and a single superhuman postseason didn’t merit his election. ---
**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 14, 2023, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/69 "2023-08-14T21:27:45Z")
Carlos Delgado should have his number retired too, imho. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2023, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/70 "2023-08-14T23:03:51Z")
That honor seems restricted to Blue Jays who go to the Hall of Fame largely for what they did in Toronto. ---
**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 15, 2023, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/71 "2023-08-15T16:00:10Z")
I remember Jim Bouton in “Ball Four” commenting on a pre-game team meeting in which the consensus was that the pitcher should “pitch around” the top part of the opposing team’s lineup - which Bouton took to mean that his team would start off two runs down with the bases loaded and nobody out. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2023, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/72 "2023-08-15T18:49:44Z")
Angel Hernandez fails again. He sued MLB claiming that he had not been assigned to the WS because of his ethnicity, and an appeals court refused to reinstate his case. [Umpire Angel Hernandez loses again in lawsuit vs MLB when appeals court refuses to reinstate case - Newsday](https://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/umpire-angel-hernandez-loses-again-in-lawsuit-vs-mlb-when-appeals-court-refuses-to-reinstate-case-jgsm4asp) Of course, it was never going to be easy to claim that baseball is biased against Latinos, and it’s obvious to anyone that follows the game that Hernandez is just not very good at his job. ---
**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 15, 2023, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/73 "2023-08-15T19:34:54Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > Hernandez is just not very good at his job. This is glaringly obvious to all MLB fans, except, evidently, the commissioner. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2023, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/74 "2023-08-15T22:04:35Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > This is glaringly obvious to all MLB fans, except, evidently, the commissioner. The commissioner is restricted by a CBA. Fans are not. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2023, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/75 "2023-08-16T00:24:48Z")
While I kinda expected it, confirmed that Shane McClanahan will need Tommy John surgery so he’s out for a year. > **[Rays' McClanahan to have Tommy John surgery](https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/38199206/rays-ace-shane-mcclanahan-undergo-tommy-john-surgery)** > > Tampa Bay Rays All-Star Shane McClanahan will have Tommy John surgery on Monday, manager Kevin Cash said. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2023, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/76 "2023-08-16T12:49:05Z")
The Rays are still 6.5 games ahead in the wild card race but… it’s not IMPOSSIBLE that they could blow this. There’s still a lot of teams with a shot. In the AL, your current playoff teams are E-Baltimore C-Minnesota W-Texas WC: Tampa Bay, Houston, Toronto There are three teams less than five games out; Seattle and Boston are 2 and 3 games behind Toronto, and Cleveland is 4.5 behind Minnesota. New York looks dead, but you never know. In the NL it’s even closer: E - Atlanta C - Milwaukee W - Los Angeles WC - Philadelphia, San Francisco, Miami But the Wild Card race is crazy close; the Cubs and Reds are only a game back of both the wild card and the Central, Arizona only 2.5 back, and San Diego is still hanging around. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2023, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/77 "2023-08-16T15:49:46Z")
The Braves remain on pace for 314 homers, which would be the MLB record. The regular player with the FEWEST homers, Michel Harris, has hit 11. The TEAM slugging percentage is .502. My team, the Blue Jays, don’t have a single regular player with a slugging percentage that high, and they’re a team in a playoff spot. Oh, and they have the second lowest team ERA in the NL. This is a fairly good baseball team. ---
**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 17, 2023, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/78 "2023-08-17T05:21:51Z")
Gleyber Torres became the first player in Yankees history to ground into [hit into six double plays in six games](https://www.nj.com/yankees/2023/08/yankees-gleyber-torres-moved-up-in-lineup-after-setting-unfortunate-franchise-record.html). Over that same span of time, only _three teams_ have hit into more double plays than that. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/79 "2023-08-17T06:30:47Z")
Shogun Ohtani hits his 42nd. Sadly, he’s on pace to finish still significantly below Judge’s AL record. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/80 "2023-08-17T08:44:53Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > There are three teams less than five games out; Seattle and Boston are 2 and 3 games behind Toronto, and Cleveland is 4.5 behind Minnesota. New York looks dead, but you never know. Seattle has been on a tear the last couple weeks, too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980.md?page=5)