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‘Jackie and his legacy have been a target of hate for quite some time’
Michael Lee at The Washington Post recounts the many ways that Jackie Robinson Day is very much entangled in the politics of our moment:
Sports sells itself as the ultimate meritocracy, but that wasn’t always the case. Robinson didn’t need a three-letter acronym to prove that the game’s best players should all share an equal playing field, regardless of their race, heritage and nationality.
Celebrating Jackie Robinson Day
MLB:
Major League Baseball, its clubs and other partners, and the Jackie Robinson Foundation are once again working together to honor the legacy of the Dodgers icon throughout Jackie Robinson Day on Tuesday.
The tributes will be most prominent on the field. All MLB players and coaching staff will continue the tradition of wearing Robinson’s No. 42 during Tuesday’s games, with each team using a Dodger blue ‘42’ regardless of the club’s normal colors. Players, managers, coaches and umpires will also wear a ‘42’ patch on the side of their hats.
It’s impossible to celebrate Jackie Robinson Day this year without acknowledging the deep racial, ethnic, gender, and political divides that engulf our lives and scar our psyches.
Baseball—like politics—is a long, grueling slog, and, perhaps, instructive: Keep playing, even when you’re behind. Focus on this game, this at bat, this pitch, this swing. You’ll win some and lose some; celebrate and mourn them the same—briefly—then move on. Sometimes you play offense, sometimes you play defense—both are equally important. You don’t have to swing at every pitch. Small actions matter. Play until you win—the result is worth it.
Jackie Robinson endured, and so shall we. Jackie never stopped fighting for his game, and neither shall we for our country. For just a brief moment, let’s put aside rivalries and take a break from our daily doomscrolling to celebrate the man who first stepped onto a Major League Baseball field on April 15, 1947, and forever changed the complexion of the game.
Even if he was a Dodger.
Paul Kafasis: Baseball Is Running Out of Names
Paul Kafasis at One Foot Tsunami:
[…] I don’t want to alarm you, but Major League Baseball appears to be running out of names. First, there was Max Muncy, the two-time World Series champion infielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers who is now also a rookie shortstop for the Placeless Athletics. Two Maxs Muncy in one sport is too many, but even more ridiculously, they were both born on August 25 (though 12 years apart).
It doesn’t stop there, though. Earlier this week, we met the Luises Castillo of Seattle. Yes, the Mariners have not one, but two, starting pitchers by the name of Luis Castillo. On Tuesday and Wednesday, they started consecutive games for the M’s, which surely caused plenty of confusion.
His final link is to an MLB story about the two pitchers. Its headline is “Rock embraces Pebble: Castillo takes same-named teammate under his wing”. Castillo the Elder is known as “La Piedra” (“The Rock” in Spanish), so the team nicknamed Castillo the Younger “Pebble.”
I love when Baseball embraces its oddities.
‘VIP: Yankee Stadium’ and ‘Bono: Stories of Surrender,’ Two New Immersive Videos Coming to Apple Vision Pro
Buried at the bottom of today’s Apple press releases was this tantalizing tidbit:
VIP: Yankee Stadium premieres this Friday, April 4, featuring an all-encompassing look at how elite athletes, die-hard fans, dedicated staff, and epic moments make the Bronx ballpark legendary. Bono: Stories of Surrender pulls back the curtain on the deeply personal experiences that have shaped Bono as a son, father, husband, activist, and U2 frontman. The groundbreaking film from Apple TV+ premieres May 30, and will be available in 2D and in Apple Immersive Video.
I originally presumed both films were being announced today for the first time, but Bono was announced February 26—which I missed because, well, Bono—and VIP: Yankee Stadium was mentioned in the new season announcement of Friday Night Baseball on March 3—which I ignored because, well, Friday Night Baseball hasn’t been that great.
I’m sure the Bono film will be heartwarming, and I’ll eventually watch it (there’s only so much immersive video), but it was VIP: Yankee Stadium that really caught my attention.
From the early March press release:
Apple today also announced VIP: Yankee Stadium, a new Apple Immersive Video for Apple Vision Pro that gives viewers an all-access pass to one of the world’s most iconic sports venues. In the film, available for free next month, broadcasting legend Joe Buck welcomes viewers to Yankee Stadium for a June 2024 “Friday Night Baseball” matchup between the Yankees and their longtime rivals: the Los Angeles Dodgers. From early morning prep scenes to a tense nighttime finale, viewers will go far beyond the front row — with an all-encompassing look at how elite athletes, die-hard fans, dedicated staff, and epic moments make the Bronx ballpark legendary.
Readers of this site know I detest the damn Yankees with all of my being—a fervent and deep-seated hatred borne of two decades of living in New York with a family that rooted for the Bronx Bombers while I cheered on my oft-suffering New York Mets—but I absolutely cherish baseball history, and I’m especially captivated by the majesty of ballparks. I can’t deny the Yankees are the most storied team in baseball—and Yankee Stadium is baseball’s most storied ballpark.
You can bet I’ll be watching this one in fascination and awe—even though it was filmed during last year’s World Series matchup between the two teams I hate the most.
More intriguingly, VIP is listed on Apple TV+ as “Episode 1 Yankee Stadium.” I think (and hope!) this implies the series will (eventually) showcase all 30 major league ballparks. An immersive tour of every stadium would be exhilarating. I’m crossing my fingers!
(Goodness though, corporate naming rights have royally screwed the game. VIP: Citi Field? VIP: Oracle Park? They don’t have quite the same solemnity, do they? Get rid of corporate naming deals and call the parks by their team names. I’d much prefer to see VIP: Giants Ballpark.)
MLB ‘Apologizes’ for MLB.TV Outage by Asking Fans to Spend More Money
After Thursday’s Opening Day whiff, I knew MLB would apologize to their MLB.TV customers for the outage. It didn’t come on Thursday. Nor on Friday. It wasn’t until Saturday at 12:06 p.m. that I got an email:
Dear Loyal Subscriber,
Opening Day is one of the most exciting days on the Baseball calendar. It’s the first chance to watch your favorite team and players start competing for a World Series Championship. And for over 20 years, MLB.TV has consistently given you the chance to stream those Opening Day games from wherever you are.
Our PR people tell us that every great apology starts with gratuitous, self-congratulatory backslapping. We’re also going to pretend the blackouts that prevent you from watching “your favorite team and players” if “wherever you are” is in a designated home region just aren’t a thing.
Unfortunately, MLB.TV experienced a technical issue yesterday that resulted in a temporary inability to access our live game streams.
By “temporary,” we mean “at least a third of the average length of a ballgame.”
While our technical team addressed this issue immediately…
Got on the phone and yelled at people. So much yelling.
… and restored access as soon as possible,…
The credit card charge finally went through.
we understand how disappointing this was to fans who were eagerly awaiting the start of the season.
We have no idea how disappointed fans—many of whom took the day off—were at missing the first game of the year, the game that sets the tone for the rest of the season, the one they’ve been looking forward to since their team was eliminated last year, and instead spent two hours staring at error messages and yelling at us. So much yelling.
For that, we apologize.
For that, we apologize.
MLB fans deserve the best streaming experience possible and we will continue to strive to provide that.
We paid upfront for service through November. Also, we’re reopening negotiations with ESPN. (Apple? 🤙🏻 Call us, mmmkay? )
To thank you for your support of the National Pastime, MLB would like to offer you $10 off any purchase of $25 or more at MLBshop.com. See details below. Enter code [REDACTED] at checkout on orders over $25.
There’s no better way to say we’re sorry than to give you a discount on merchandise you had no intention of buying. What’s better than giving us at least $15 more for completely screwing up? Did we mention there’s a minimum shipping fee of $8.99? But don’t worry about that, we’re currently running a free shipping promotion. Of course, you can only use one coupon code at a time, so you can either save $8.99 or $10, so really, this is a $1.01 coupon. This is so much better than the $0.93 you’d get with a prorated refund of your $150, 162-game MLB.TV subscription. Math is tough. Let’s go shopping!
We thank you for continuing to support the game we all love and look forward to an exciting 2025 season.
Please don’t cancel your MLB.TV subscription! Please, please, please!
MLB.TV Streaming Service Swings and Misses on Opening Day
Dan Bernstein, writing at (the new-to-me) Sportico:
Starting around the 3:07 p.m. ET first pitch of the game between the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays, fans trying to watch any game on MLB TV via web browser or apps received error messages. The technical problems during one of the biggest days of the season caused backlash on social media, with complaints quickly racking up thousands of likes.
There might be worse days for MLB.TV streaming to experience a massive outage, but Opening Day has got to be right up there. Maybe Game 7 of the World Series with two out in the bottom of the ninth and the winning run at third beats it out.
Maybe.
I was among those affected while trying to watch the Mets vs. Astros game (chosen because MLB’s ridiculous blackout policy prevented me from watching the Giants vs. Reds game—honestly, I’m not sure why I continue to pay $150 a year for the service).
Let’s hope MLB has this fixed for the rest of the season.
Bob Uecker, ‘Mr. Baseball’ and Voice of Milwaukee Brewers, Dies at 90
Todd Rosiak, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Milwaukee Brewers radio broadcasts will, sadly, never sound the same.
Bob Uecker, the voice of the team on the airwaves for 54 years, a Baseball Hall of Famer and local, statewide and national icon, died Thursday, the Brewers announced.
He was 90 years old.
I didn’t listen to many Brewers games growing up in New York (they were in the American League then, and I was a National League fan), but I still knew Bob Uecker. Ueck was a part of my baseball adolescence. As the Brewers’ team statement notes:
He was so much more than a Milwaukee Brewers icon. He was a national treasure. Bob entertained us with his words and storytelling, so it is no surprise that his passing now leaves us at a loss for our own words.
Fifty-four years broadcasting the sport, Miller Lite commercials, and Major League movies will do that. I’d also forgotten he starred in Mr. Belvedere for six seasons.
His voice and humor will be missed. A huge loss for baseball fans everywhere.
Enjoy the front row, Ueck.
See also:
Congratulations to the L.A. Dodgers for Beating the N.Y. Yankees, in Yankee Stadium, Crushing the Souls of Millions of Yankee Fans Everywhere
AP, with a heart-of-the-matter headline:
Yankees blow 5-run lead with epic defensive meltdown as Dodgers rally to clinch World Series
Mike Fitzpatrick, writing the story for AP:
Just when it appeared Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees were right back in this World Series, they all but gave away the trophy.
An epic meltdown of defensive miscues, beginning with Judge's embarrassing error in center field, helped the Los Angeles Dodgers rally in a five-run fifth inning that tied the score at 5.
As much as I detest watching the Dodgers win, I very much enjoy seeing the Yankees lose, especially in their own house, in front of their awful fans[1], and in come-from-behind fashion.
Pinstripe Alley has a good recap of that disastrous fifth inning, calling it
one of the worst innings in the Yankees’ long, storied history.
Thomas Carannante writing for FanSided:
Care to know how many teams facing World Series elimination blew a five-run lead and lost? Zero! Care to know how many times in World Series history a team blew a five-run lead and lost? Six ... out of 233. It was an historic choke job that takes this franchise's modern day failures to new heights.
I didn’t watch the game, but I’ll definitely do so now, so I can delight in this Yankees disaster.
Yes, I’m a petty, petty man.
The Yankees should cancel the season tickets of these two “fans.” I hope they banned from visiting every MLB ballpark in the country. Heck, they should be banned from attending Little League games. What they did was egregious and could have resulted in a sprained or broken wrist. If I were Mookie Betts, I’d sue for assault. ↩︎
Yankees and Dodgers in the World Series—Yawn
A few days ago—after a brutal Mets loss to the Dodgers—I snarked on Mastodon:
A Dodgers/Yankees matchup would be my worst nightmare.
Zero rooting interest. Turn off the television.
Welp, here we are.
Growing up a New York Mets fan, I’m vehemently anti-Yankees. As a San Francisco resident and Giants fan for the last quarter century, I unconditionally detest the Dodgers.
As storied as Yankees/Dodgers World Series matchups have been historically—11 of them going back to 1941, including Don Larsen’s perfect game in 1956 (still the only one pitched), Sandy Koufax’s 15-strikeout complete game in 1963, and Reggie Jackson’s 3-home runs on three consecutive pitches from three different pitchers in 1977—the idea of supporting either team makes me violently ill.
My rooting rules are uncomplicated [1] :
- Mets and Giants over anyone
- Eastern/Western Divisions over the others
- National League over American League
- Anyone over Yankees/Dodgers
Yes, that sometimes meant rooting for a Central Division or American League team if they were up against the Yankees or Dodgers, but it was always worth it. Nothing was more important than those two teams losing.
But facing each other? Sometimes the rules, much like Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics, result in an untenable situation which, if left unresolved, may end with a catastrophic core meltdown.
So my solution is easy: Don’t watch the games.
I’m probably not the only one.
Sure, some won’t watch because this is a “coastal elites” match up of Evil New York against Hollywood Los Angeles, both with their big money, big name players—the middle of the country naturally roots against both as easily as I do—there’s a bigger reason this Series is likely to be ignored by the masses.
Keith Olbermann explains on his mosty-politics-but-somtimes-sports Countdown podcast:
The famous Yankees and Dodgers are actually two of the most disastrously underperforming franchises in sports. If you consider the year 2000 as the last year of the 20th century, the Yankees have won one World Series in this century. Even if you don’t, they’ve won one World Series since 2000. The Dodgers have won one World Series in a full season since 1965.
Nobody cares about these teams because they’ve basically sucked for a generation. On top of that, baseball itself has changed—for the worse—since the turn of the century[2].
Olbermann again:
The long regular season and the quick playoffs were designed to establish which team was best that year. You played and you played and you played from Spring to Summer into Fall and you beat everybody in your league. And then you faced the team that had played and beaten everybody in their league.
And the result was a Series that was always novel and fresh and exciting and faced pitchers against hitters they’d never seen before.
Today, with Interleague play, “balanced” schedules, the extended Wild Card playoffs, and the National League adoption of the Designated Hitter rule (barf), the regular season is boring, the playoffs are boring, and—because the World Series teams already faced each other during the regular season, as the Yankees and Dodgers did in June—the World Series matchups end up being... boring.
Olbermann, once again:
It is believed about 60 million people watched game 7 of the 1986 World Series[3] on television.
If 60 million people watch the entirety of this World Series on television, if that’s the total audience for seven games, they will hold two parades afterward: One for the winning team and one for all the TV and advertising executives.
And by the away, if they get sixty million total audience on TV, the ad executives and the TV executives will get drunker than the winning players do.
And his coup de grâce:
We’re just amazed that the two best teams on paper are actually in the World Series, and how did they get there? They beat the wildcard teams.
Winning against the fourth place team. Congrats?
Mets/Giants and Eastern/Western is usually determined by which team gets into the playoffs, and which Division goes the furthest. If the Mets and Giants meet, I default to my ancestral team, the Mets. ↩︎
There’s phrase to make you feel old. ↩︎
The New York Mets vs. the Boston Red Sox, the series that cemented my baseball fandom. Most fans remember Game 6 for the Mookie Wilson/Bill Buckner Incident. I remember nearly having a panic attack watching that game. ↩︎
Danny Jansen Plays for Both Teams in One MLB Game, Becoming the Answer to One of Baseball’s Wackiest Trivia Questions
Jayson Stark, writing last week for The Athletic (News+):
Everyone knows you can’t be in two places at the same time. Those are the rules — the immutable rules of physics.
Ah, but who knew you can play for two teams in the same baseball game? Those are also the rules — the wacky suspended-game rules of baseball.
So next Monday, if all the forces in the universe line up right, Boston Red Sox catcher Danny Jansen will go where no baseball-playing human has ever gone before.…
In a week, he could become the first player in major-league history to appear in a box score for both teams in the same game.
The Athletic Staff, a week later (News+):
Danny Jansen had been at the plate for the Toronto Blue Jays on June 26 in a game against the Boston Red Sox with one on and one out in an 0-1 count, when the skies opened up and the game was suspended for severe weather.
Fast forward two months and the game resumed Monday, but with Jansen now playing for the Red Sox. The Red Sox traded for Jansen on July 27, setting up the possibility of one player appearing in the same game for both teams.
The possibility became reality on Monday.
With Jansen substituted into the game to catch for the Red Sox, he settled in behind the plate, for an at-bat in which he’d started as the batter.
Baseball is beautiful and sometimes,
“This game,” said Danny Jansen, “is nuts.”
It’s these beautiful oddities that make this game so delightful for fans—like me!—who love the history and stories of the game as much as the stats and outcomes. Both pieces are worth reading to understand the full extent of the nuttiness.
Thanks to the MLB app, I was able to watch the opening minutes of the game, so I could say I witnessed baseball history.
I expect the box score will one day make it to Cooperstown.
(Via Steve Hayman, who astutely notes “This must really test the referential integrity of sports databases. The same guy, playing for both teams in the same game? Surely THAT will never happen.”)
Mets Top ‘Best Baseball Announcers’, Giants Second
Joe Lucia at Awful Announcing:
The dust has settled, the votes have been counted, and Awful Announcing’s readers have voted on their favorite (and least favorite) local MLB broadcast teams for the 2024 season.
Any ranking of “best baseball announcers” will necessarily be partisan, driven as much by fan interest as by any objective quality.
No surprise, then, that I disagree with the results. San Francisco should have taken this, as they did in four of the six previous contests—including last year's. Duane Kuiper, Mike Krukow, Dave Flemming, and Jon Miller are—individually and collectively—the best broadcasters in the game. The new guys—Shawn Estes, Javier Lopez, Hunter Pence—are solid up-and-comers. I enjoy them enough that I’ll turn on the radio and mute the TV if the game is nationally televised.
Of course, the last time I regularly listened to Mets baseball was the late ’90s, when their announcers were Bob Cohen, Gary Thorne, Ralph Kiner, and Tim McCarver. I have no idea if their current team of Gary Cohen, Ron Darling, and Keith Hernandez is actually good.
Like I said, partisan.
More important than any of that, though: the Giants and Mets beat out both the Dodgers (5) and the Yankees (22).
I do feel awful for Oakland (29), though. And someone had to be last, White Sox fans.