Assuming that he had a perpetual green light, as he did in the '80s.
Steals are definitely up, compared to two years ago: the average team in 2024 has 115 steals to date for the season (0.75 steals/game), compared to a team average of 83 steals in 2022 (0.51 steals/game). So, an increase of roughly 47% in baseball as a whole, compared to the last season before the rule changes which encouraged more steal attempts.
But that said, what it looks like is a number of teams are stealing more often (the Nationals and Reds have over 200 steals, and the Brewers are at 199), but even the top players in stolen bases aren’t even coming close to the kinds of individual steal numbers (often 80+ or 90+) that we saw in Henderson’s era. As of last night, only two players – Elly De La Cruz (65) and Ohtani (52) – had over 50 steals. Only five guys have 40+ steals: those two, plus Brice Turang (46), Jose Caballero (44), and Jose Ramirez (40).
The Nationals, which are currently in Chicago, playing a series against the Cubs, have demoted All-Star shortstop CJ Abrams to their minor-league complex. Abrams apparently went to a Chicago-area casino on Thursday evening, and stayed there all night, leaving the casino only a few hours before the Nats’ Friday afternoon game at Wrigley Field.
(Abrams went 0-3 with a walk and a strikeout on Friday, after his up-all-night evening.)
There’s a good chance the Cubs and Nats are rained out today, since both teams are out of it, is this likely to just be a canceled game? Cubs go to Philadelphia tomorrow night so tomorrow isn’t an option for a make up
I’d like to get to one more Cubs game this season , but glad I held out and didn’t buy tix yet for today.
I’d think so. They’re both eliminated from the playoffs, so the game has no impact on the playoffs.
Also, there’s no open date left for a make-up game; as you note, the Cubs play tomorrow, and Washington plays on Thursday (Monday and Thursday being the traditional “travel days,” when not every team is playing).
I agree with @kenobi_65. There is almost no chance that this game will be played. And I doubt if anybody on either team is sad about that, unless somebody has a contract incentive, like a certain number of hits or plate appearances or innings pitched.
Scheduled game time is, as of this writing, ninety minutes away. It’s been steadily raining here in Chicago since early this morning, and it’s likely to rain on-and-off here for at least the next few hours.
If the game had playoff implications, MLB would likely try to get it in later this afternoon, or this evening (the forecast indicates that rain chances should drop this evening). But, as it doesn’t, it wouldn’t surprise me if they decide to just scrub it.
A’s owner tells the local fans, gosh, we tried to stay in Oakland, but we just couldn’t get it done.
Though I wish I could speak to each one of you individually, I can tell you this from the heart: we tried. Staying in Oakland was our goal, it was our mission, and we failed to achieve it. And for that I am genuinely sorry.
I’ll give Fisher credit for having a plan to stay in Oakland. But it required the city to give him massive tax breaks and control over a waterfront entertainment district, complete with new ballpark.
I.e. his goal, his mission was to bilk the city for all it was worth (and more) and when it became clear he’d get much less than he wanted, he was already halfway out the door.
Considering what he’s getting in Vegas, he may have been better off in Oakland. They’re getting it done but even the Vegas deal is looking less lucrative for Fisher than it was a year ago.
It’s disingenuous as heck to claim Fisher wanted to stay in Oakland in particular. He had a plan to stay but only as long as he got to massively enrich himself. Merely profitability wasn’t enough.
The Padres have clinched at least a wild-card spot in the playoffs, but they are still fighting the Dodgers for the NL West crown. In the first game of three against the Dodgers, San Diego ended a 4-2 victory with a triple play. Oh, and Ohtani was on deck.
Not that it means anything, but this will be the first full season in ten years that no team wins 100 games. The max possible would be the Dodgers winning out, which would give them 98.