Weirdly, there’s an article in the Wall St. Journal’s sports section about the Texas Rangers having built a “protection” clause into DeGrom’s 5-year $185 million contract to take into account the possibility of severe injury like the latest one he’s suffered.
Turns out that “protection” means the Rangers can extend his contract by a year. So they’d be able to offer the same big bucks to a 40-year-old pitcher whose body has been repeatedly breaking down in his early to mid-thirties.
For those who aren’t familiar with the story, a few weeks ago Bass reposted a video from some right wing loon that said gay people were demons, or demonic, or something like that. This did NOT go over well, especially in what is probably the most liberal market in MLB, and there was a terse apology forced from him. Yesterday or the day before, Bass and GM Ross Atkins apologized again, but Bass’s apology was vague and was full of the usual bullshit about how gay people choose to be gay. This is the long-planned Pride Weekend at the stadium this weekend, too, so the timing was hilariously apt.
This came on the heels of a bizarre social media post in which he claimed his pregnant wife had been “forced” to get down “on hands and knees” on a commercial flight to clean up popcorn their kids had spilled. (I do not believe for one instant a flight attendant would do this, and I’ve flown more than most actual birds.)
Oh, and he’s a shitty pitcher.
Oh, and by all account his teammates already weren’t huge fans of his.
L’Affaire Bass is just one more goddamned example of a company not grasping the fact that if you have a public scandal, outrage, embarrassment or fuckup on your hands, the best approach is, within the law and relevant employment contracts, to accept total responsibility and go all the way in doing something about it. Why Bass wasn’t shitcanned before I cannot imagine.
I’d love to think the same thing would have happened if he was a Cy Young candidate. But, it’s a nice sign in what has been a tough year for the LGBT community and pro sports with all the Pride cancellations in the NHL
With a win last night, Oakland notched their longest winning streak of the season at three victories. And they’re leading 1-0 in the sixth right now at Milwaukee.
Indeed. He had a five-year run (2011-15) where he was one of the best players in the game, and finished in the top 5 for NL MVP voting four times (winning it in 2013). I don’t know if he got injured, or just lost something, Dale Murphy-style, but he had a terrible 2016, and was never the same player again.
The Brewers managed to get swept by the A’s this weekend, giving up first place in the NL Central to Pittsburgh in the process. Today, the A’s scored eight runs, on only 6 hits.
Took my nieces to their very first MLB game today, and they had a total blast. It helped that the Blue Jays pulled off a huge comeback. The little ones (they’re 13 and 11 but still little to me) didn’t really start off understanding the game, but asked many questions and loved being with the crowd, their cousins, and their “OncleRick.”
ETA: I’m still smiling about it. Is there anything better than hanging with family? There is not.
The A’s now have a seven-game winning streak and are 19-50. During that period, my Royals have lost 8 in a row. KC now has the worst record in baseball, 18-49.
Please, feel free to heap crap upon the Royals. Perhaps somebody in their front office reads the Dope.
The A’s had a season high attendance in that 7th win due a reverse boycott. The A’s fans showed up to remind people that Oakland can support a team that actually was worth supporting, which I find kind of awesome. I think people are way too fast to consider places bad markets (Miami, Montreal, Oakland etc…) and not blame ownership for treating their fans like crap and then blaming them for not showing up.
Meanwhile Vegas voted to approve the first leg of the stadium deal.
The Royals also just lost their best player, but at least they have a nice stadium and are not going anywhere.
Frank White Jr., the Jackson County executive and one of only two players to have his jersey number retired by the team, is widely viewed as averse to committing tax dollars to professional stadiums.
How did it get to be the middle of June already? Admittedly the city of Chicago hasn’t seen much weather to make us think it’s June and not early April.
I’d say the two biggest surprises so far are in both the NL West and Al West. Diamondbacks in first and the Padres under 500?
Same for the AL West. Nice to see the Rangers rebuild paying off. And the Angels are 8-2 recently so maybe they’re putting it together. I still expect to wake up on August 1 and see the Astros running away with the division.
