We must bear witness
May 8, 2016 10:05 AM Subscribe
They said it couldn't be done. But on May 7, 2016, the dreams of middle-aged fat guys throughout the Americas were fulfilled. Bartolo Colón has hit a home run (SL MLB Video), his first in 19 years of Major League Baseball.
If you had 19 years in the Major Leagues, I bet you could...
posted by Kirth Gerson at 10:14 AM on May 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Kirth Gerson at 10:14 AM on May 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
So I guess this could need some additional background for those of us who are unable to parse baseball stats (they're almost as weird as cricket results), because it seems to me there might be a few million players in the US that are younger and in a much better shape than this guy, but apparently he makes $7.25 millions/year?
posted by effbot at 10:18 AM on May 8, 2016
posted by effbot at 10:18 AM on May 8, 2016
Spectacular. As the commentators were saying, he knew the second he made contact that he had hit a home run. What a night.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 10:21 AM on May 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 10:21 AM on May 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
What's lost in all this is that Big Sexy has been one of the most "clutch" pitchers on the Mets staff the past few years. Sure, he doesn't have much of fastball, but he has cunning and control. Plus, he quite the fielder.
posted by KingEdRa at 10:22 AM on May 8, 2016 [11 favorites]
posted by KingEdRa at 10:22 AM on May 8, 2016 [11 favorites]
@effbot: Colón is a talented pitcher who, despite his age, is still competitive enough to earn his salary. In MLB's National League, pitchers are required to have a place in the batting order. They're usually terrible hitters, but their pitching is valuable enough to essentially give up "an easy out." In the American League, the "Designated Hitter" bats in place of the pitcher, theoretically making the game more exciting.
posted by seiryuu at 10:23 AM on May 8, 2016 [14 favorites]
posted by seiryuu at 10:23 AM on May 8, 2016 [14 favorites]
You can't help but smile. Especially when you see the reaction in the dugout. It's infectious!?
posted by Fizz at 10:24 AM on May 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by Fizz at 10:24 AM on May 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
In the American League, the "Designated Hitter" bats in place of the pitcher, theoretically making the game more exciting.
Which NL fans think is silly because it means you never get weird awesome moments like this (plus blah blah something symmetry of the game).
posted by atoxyl at 10:29 AM on May 8, 2016 [23 favorites]
Which NL fans think is silly because it means you never get weird awesome moments like this (plus blah blah something symmetry of the game).
posted by atoxyl at 10:29 AM on May 8, 2016 [23 favorites]
Which NL fans think is silly because it means you never get weird awesome moments like this (plus blah blah something symmetry of the game).
Plus it just ain't right. Please let those rumours that they have considered the DH in the NL die.
Anyway, as a Cubs fan, we want Arrieta etc hitting. At one point a while back, Jake had hit more home runs than he had given up in the season. Plus we all remember the 2003 Kerry Wood dinger in the post-season.
posted by C.A.S. at 10:33 AM on May 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
Plus it just ain't right. Please let those rumours that they have considered the DH in the NL die.
Anyway, as a Cubs fan, we want Arrieta etc hitting. At one point a while back, Jake had hit more home runs than he had given up in the season. Plus we all remember the 2003 Kerry Wood dinger in the post-season.
posted by C.A.S. at 10:33 AM on May 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
Colón is also the last member of the Montreal Expos to hit a home run.
posted by dirigibleman at 10:37 AM on May 8, 2016 [59 favorites]
posted by dirigibleman at 10:37 AM on May 8, 2016 [59 favorites]
I reckon most pitchers are elite hitters through university at least, but in most things there's a huge difference between being the best out of everyone you know and being the best in the world. The gulf between university baseball and the major leagues is as enormous as the gulf between someone who is pretty good at the game 'Operation' and a top surgeon. The fact that Colon can hit... what is it? .090? That already means he is a better hitter than any of us can realistically dream of being. (Of course this being the internet, Carl Yastrzemski is going to respond to this comment. 'Well, actually...' .)
But as inept as he is at hitting, Colon is probably the most likeable person in baseball and this is almost certainly the only home run of his (extremely long) career. Not every pitcher has won as much as he has, not every pitcher is remotely as good as he is, but this home run is going to be just as much a part of every discussion of his career, which is the most hilarious thing about it.
posted by Cassettevetes at 10:38 AM on May 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
But as inept as he is at hitting, Colon is probably the most likeable person in baseball and this is almost certainly the only home run of his (extremely long) career. Not every pitcher has won as much as he has, not every pitcher is remotely as good as he is, but this home run is going to be just as much a part of every discussion of his career, which is the most hilarious thing about it.
posted by Cassettevetes at 10:38 AM on May 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
Making pitchers bat also leads to fascinating occurrences like Santiago Casilla back in 2011, who had not only never bat in the majors before, he hadn't batted since rookie league nine years earlier (the guy's a reliever), stood there as far away from the plate as possible and was walked. The dumbfounded look on his face was priceless: "hmm, I guess I get rid of this bat now and go over there, but how exactly does this whole being on-base thing work anyway?"
posted by zachlipton at 10:45 AM on May 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 10:45 AM on May 8, 2016 [15 favorites]
Colon fans who aren't Mets fans (a category that includes most other baseball fans with a heart and a sense of fun) may have missed how much he's worked on his hitting in the last two years or so. Earlier in his NL tenure it would've probably been fair to call him the worst hitter in the game; but that apparently was a sore point for him, because he's worked really hard to get up to scratch. He's still fun to watch but he doesn't embarrass himself at the plate anymore — or, no worse than a lot of other pitchers, at least.
posted by RogerB at 10:57 AM on May 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by RogerB at 10:57 AM on May 8, 2016 [6 favorites]
And to think I had just finally stopped wondering whether I, at 44, if I trained really hard and somehow got to face a major league pitcher and got incredibly lucky and swung just right, could hit one out.
With 19 years of practice, sure.
posted by Sys Rq at 11:11 AM on May 8, 2016
With 19 years of practice, sure.
posted by Sys Rq at 11:11 AM on May 8, 2016
there might be a few million players in the US that are younger and in a much better shape than this guy
The obligatory response is "round is a shape," right? But non-baseball people should understand that Bartolo is beloved of baseball nerds not just because he's apparently a good guy but because he's an extremely weird and interesting outlier, a complete freak of nature as a pitcher — there aren't many other pitchers in the history of the game who have been successful at all against major-league competition at the age of 42, and there's literally no one else who has ever done it the specific way that he's doing it. He's defied the typical aging curve by reinventing what he throws, over his long career — he began as a more typical young-stud hurler, but he's now a guy who uses a repertoire of pitches that's probably unique in the history of the game. Colon throws almost exclusively fastballs (the hard pitch that other pitchers will typically mix with other, softer, moving pitches to deceive hitters) but he does it by throwing more different kinds of fastball than anyone else does. It's a unique and interesting pitch repertoire even apart from the unique and interesting dude it's attached to. Here are some good previous appreciations: 1 2
posted by RogerB at 11:11 AM on May 8, 2016 [40 favorites]
The obligatory response is "round is a shape," right? But non-baseball people should understand that Bartolo is beloved of baseball nerds not just because he's apparently a good guy but because he's an extremely weird and interesting outlier, a complete freak of nature as a pitcher — there aren't many other pitchers in the history of the game who have been successful at all against major-league competition at the age of 42, and there's literally no one else who has ever done it the specific way that he's doing it. He's defied the typical aging curve by reinventing what he throws, over his long career — he began as a more typical young-stud hurler, but he's now a guy who uses a repertoire of pitches that's probably unique in the history of the game. Colon throws almost exclusively fastballs (the hard pitch that other pitchers will typically mix with other, softer, moving pitches to deceive hitters) but he does it by throwing more different kinds of fastball than anyone else does. It's a unique and interesting pitch repertoire even apart from the unique and interesting dude it's attached to. Here are some good previous appreciations: 1 2
posted by RogerB at 11:11 AM on May 8, 2016 [40 favorites]
baseball is the dwarf fortress of sports
posted by Foci for Analysis at 11:15 AM on May 8, 2016 [33 favorites]
posted by Foci for Analysis at 11:15 AM on May 8, 2016 [33 favorites]
The Mets seriously have one of the best announcing crews in the game. Gary Cohen, Ron Darling, and Keith Hernandez are all super, super intelligent. Gary Cohen grew up in Queens and is a lifelong Mets fan, and he is regularly able to recall details about games forty years ago when he was sitting in the bleachers at Shea Stadium as a kid. I really hate it when I have to watch an ESPN game, because the announcers are just so lame in comparison.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 11:18 AM on May 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by 1970s Antihero at 11:18 AM on May 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
/r/baseball just about went up in flames over Colon's HR.
Also: No DH in the National League. The DH is barbarism, plain and simple. Civilization must be preserved.
posted by cwest at 11:28 AM on May 8, 2016 [13 favorites]
Also: No DH in the National League. The DH is barbarism, plain and simple. Civilization must be preserved.
posted by cwest at 11:28 AM on May 8, 2016 [13 favorites]
I think the only possible argument in favor of the DH is Edgar Martinez. They should have retired the position when he retired, it was worth it for that.
And this is great. I've been out of baseball as a fan for more than a decade, but forgot how much I missed moments like these. Hm. I even understand the Mariners might be doing something this year. Hm.
posted by maxwelton at 11:45 AM on May 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
And this is great. I've been out of baseball as a fan for more than a decade, but forgot how much I missed moments like these. Hm. I even understand the Mariners might be doing something this year. Hm.
posted by maxwelton at 11:45 AM on May 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
Luis Sojo got there first.
posted by grumpybear69 at 11:46 AM on May 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by grumpybear69 at 11:46 AM on May 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
/r/baseball just about went up in flames over Colon's HR
The best comment in that thread is about Colon's HR being like catching the snitch in quidditch: it should just end the game.
Anyway, as a Mets fan, this is just the best thing ever. Gary's call absolutely made it.
posted by uncleozzy at 11:48 AM on May 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
The best comment in that thread is about Colon's HR being like catching the snitch in quidditch: it should just end the game.
Anyway, as a Mets fan, this is just the best thing ever. Gary's call absolutely made it.
posted by uncleozzy at 11:48 AM on May 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
This Yankee fan who happened to have the Met game on last night because the Yankees had already beaten the Red Sox in the afternoon was amazed. At first, I was upset with all the folks making fun of Chris Christie at the Bruce show in Brooklyn two weeks ago because it hit a little close to home to be making fun of fat white guys bouncing to Bruce (I was at the same show), but now, Bartolo has made being a fat guy fun again. See Bartolo gif
The fans that caught the ball are Mets fans. They readily gave the ball back. Another random fact is that I read last week that Bartolo can do a split and can actually kick his leg over his head.
He is the oldest person to hit his first major league home run.
What's It Like to Give up a HR to Colon?
posted by AugustWest at 11:48 AM on May 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
The fans that caught the ball are Mets fans. They readily gave the ball back. Another random fact is that I read last week that Bartolo can do a split and can actually kick his leg over his head.
He is the oldest person to hit his first major league home run.
What's It Like to Give up a HR to Colon?
posted by AugustWest at 11:48 AM on May 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
And to think I had just finally stopped wondering whether I, at 44, if I trained really hard and somehow got to face a major league pitcher and got incredibly lucky and swung just right, could hit one out.
I could not get a bat on a consistently-placed, pitching-machine 60mph "fastball" when I was 20. By the time I "saw" it, the ball was actually already whizzing by me.
It would be more efficient to send me to the plate without a bat, because at least the bat-person wouldn't need to come out and retrieve the stick. Would that be worth it for my very accurate tops-out-at-35mph "fastball"? Sigh.
posted by maxwelton at 11:50 AM on May 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
I could not get a bat on a consistently-placed, pitching-machine 60mph "fastball" when I was 20. By the time I "saw" it, the ball was actually already whizzing by me.
It would be more efficient to send me to the plate without a bat, because at least the bat-person wouldn't need to come out and retrieve the stick. Would that be worth it for my very accurate tops-out-at-35mph "fastball"? Sigh.
posted by maxwelton at 11:50 AM on May 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
So, were the odds of this happening bigger than 1/5000 ?
posted by lmfsilva at 11:55 AM on May 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by lmfsilva at 11:55 AM on May 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
//
I think the only possible argument in favor of the DH is Edgar Martinez. //
David Ortiz would like to have a word with you.
posted by COD at 12:19 PM on May 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
I think the only possible argument in favor of the DH is Edgar Martinez. //
David Ortiz would like to have a word with you.
posted by COD at 12:19 PM on May 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
...it seems to me there might be a few million players in the US that are younger and in a much better shape than this guy, but apparently he makes $7.25 millions/year?
Which is actually kind of on the low side for a "name" player.
Oh, and, if you take the field, you bat. Period.
posted by Thorzdad at 12:28 PM on May 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Which is actually kind of on the low side for a "name" player.
Oh, and, if you take the field, you bat. Period.
posted by Thorzdad at 12:28 PM on May 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Has it been 10 years since Big Bart played for the Angels and the Orange County Register (a newspaper more infamous than famous, for multiple reasons) set the standard for "Colón puns"? I still remember the days when Nolan Ryan was the only player the Angels had to cheer for (even though he's best known for when he finished his career as a Texas Ranger). Angels just can't seem to hold onto legendary pitchers.
One more thing... the video of Colón's hit made me think of two words: "Babe Ruth", who everyone should know, started as a pitcher but hit too damn well to not play every day.
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:39 PM on May 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
One more thing... the video of Colón's hit made me think of two words: "Babe Ruth", who everyone should know, started as a pitcher but hit too damn well to not play every day.
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:39 PM on May 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Not only is Bartolo Colon the greatest pitcher in baseball history, and not only is his home run the best moment in baseball history, but it is rather the greatest moment in recorded human history (and probably nonhuman recorded history, too...).
posted by AJaffe at 12:57 PM on May 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by AJaffe at 12:57 PM on May 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
Luis Sojo got there first.
Yeah, everyone got there first. That's the point.
posted by Etrigan at 1:01 PM on May 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
Yeah, everyone got there first. That's the point.
posted by Etrigan at 1:01 PM on May 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
The dugout reaction illustrates what makes baseball so great. Those guys spend a lot of time together and a lot of time on display and the comraderie that develops and the way they express it makes them more accessible than most pro athletes.
posted by qldaddy at 1:16 PM on May 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by qldaddy at 1:16 PM on May 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
A couple of years ago when Bartolo was with the A's, I was standing behind the bullpen warmup area at Safeco Field at the elbow-height counter that fans place beverages and such on. There's a sort of slot in the netting and fencing and so forth that's maybe six fieet high, from the top of the counter to the bottom of the stuff hung above the bullpen where the league scoreboard and info about who's warming up is displayed.
Anyway, I was chatting with a local park rat, a guy named Thor who alternates between a faux leopardskin fez and a horned viking helmet as headgear, about this and that, baseball stuff, how Thor splits time in between Oakland and Seattle because his kids are in Oakland, how he'd met Mickey Mantle, etc.
It was pregame and the A's were out warming up, and they started drifting in from the outfield as game time got closer. Colon was headed over toward the visitor's bullpen but still out on the field and Thor turns to me and goes "watch this."
He hollers at the top of his lungs, "BARTOLO!"
Colon looks up, clocks the fez and smiles and nods. Thor holds his glove up, next to his head, clearly asking the guy to toss him a ball. Colon nods again and without breaking stride throws the ball across his considerable bulk right into Thor's glove. Thor didn't have to move the glove and didn't flinch or turn away from the throw, just held the glove in place and POP the ball arrived there.
Colon did this standing in bright sun throwing up into a darkened slot at a distance somewhat greater than the mound to home.
Thor instantly turned and gave the ball to some kid.
It was one of those moments when you gain an inkling of the abilities and skills of pro athletes.
posted by mwhybark at 1:26 PM on May 8, 2016 [70 favorites]
Anyway, I was chatting with a local park rat, a guy named Thor who alternates between a faux leopardskin fez and a horned viking helmet as headgear, about this and that, baseball stuff, how Thor splits time in between Oakland and Seattle because his kids are in Oakland, how he'd met Mickey Mantle, etc.
It was pregame and the A's were out warming up, and they started drifting in from the outfield as game time got closer. Colon was headed over toward the visitor's bullpen but still out on the field and Thor turns to me and goes "watch this."
He hollers at the top of his lungs, "BARTOLO!"
Colon looks up, clocks the fez and smiles and nods. Thor holds his glove up, next to his head, clearly asking the guy to toss him a ball. Colon nods again and without breaking stride throws the ball across his considerable bulk right into Thor's glove. Thor didn't have to move the glove and didn't flinch or turn away from the throw, just held the glove in place and POP the ball arrived there.
Colon did this standing in bright sun throwing up into a darkened slot at a distance somewhat greater than the mound to home.
Thor instantly turned and gave the ball to some kid.
It was one of those moments when you gain an inkling of the abilities and skills of pro athletes.
posted by mwhybark at 1:26 PM on May 8, 2016 [70 favorites]
The fact that guys who look like Colón can play (well, sometimes) is one of the endearing things about baseball.
posted by atoxyl at 1:42 PM on May 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by atoxyl at 1:42 PM on May 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
Reminds me a little of my favorite home run. In 1986, there was an exhibition game in Little Rock of the Cardinals vs. Royals. Billed as the 8th game of the World Series and played in the small wooden ballpark of our AA Cardinals-affiliated minor league team. Jack Clark hit an over-the-very-high-fence homer which is probably still in motion and now classified as low orbit space debris.
But that wasn't my favorite. The best one was from a pitcher whose name I can't remember now. Not one of the big stars but a relatively low-use reliever. Played for the Royals. Got a home run at his first at-bat. Considering the DH rule, this is a guy who had very few at-bats in his career. And he managed to knock one out. Of course, life being the cruel thing that it is, it didn't get into his lifetime stats since this was just an exhibition, but still had to feel great for the guy.
posted by honestcoyote at 1:56 PM on May 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
But that wasn't my favorite. The best one was from a pitcher whose name I can't remember now. Not one of the big stars but a relatively low-use reliever. Played for the Royals. Got a home run at his first at-bat. Considering the DH rule, this is a guy who had very few at-bats in his career. And he managed to knock one out. Of course, life being the cruel thing that it is, it didn't get into his lifetime stats since this was just an exhibition, but still had to feel great for the guy.
posted by honestcoyote at 1:56 PM on May 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Not to take anything away from M. Colón, but holy shit Shields hung that pitch.
I also am 44, and I feel like if I was batting softball lefty I could have fanned the shit out of that pitch and most likely have hurt myself.
It always makes he happy to see forty-somethings getting athletic props. Get off my lawn!
posted by Sphinx at 2:16 PM on May 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
I also am 44, and I feel like if I was batting softball lefty I could have fanned the shit out of that pitch and most likely have hurt myself.
It always makes he happy to see forty-somethings getting athletic props. Get off my lawn!
posted by Sphinx at 2:16 PM on May 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Please explain the significance of his teammates going to hide in the tunnel..I get that this is some show of respect or ribbing or combined, but what is the logic here?
Also, I really enjoyed the third segment's announcer shouting GOOOOOAAAAL over and over.
posted by Tandem Affinity at 2:27 PM on May 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Also, I really enjoyed the third segment's announcer shouting GOOOOOAAAAL over and over.
posted by Tandem Affinity at 2:27 PM on May 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
One other thing about the DH rule is that it allows pitchers to throw beanballs with *relative* impunity. A NL pitcher has to know that if he drills a hitter, odds are good he's going to learn how it feels when he comes up to bat.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 2:49 PM on May 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by Kirth Gerson at 2:49 PM on May 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
This is why baseball is a superior sport. All of the many facets of this moment and the moment itself. There is the fact of the physical feat but it's all the surrounding facts that make it so great.
Also, the Sojo HR was a glorious moment in its own right, but a different kind of glorious seeing as the situation was so different.
posted by From Bklyn at 2:49 PM on May 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
Also, the Sojo HR was a glorious moment in its own right, but a different kind of glorious seeing as the situation was so different.
posted by From Bklyn at 2:49 PM on May 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
Nowadays, teams will sometimes give a rookie the "silent treatment"/hide in the tunnel after their first home run.
Worth mentioning, Bartolo got suspended 50 games at the end of the 2012 season/beginning of 2013 for PED's. (I know!) It looks like since then, he's gone back to building body mass the old fashioned way.
I get the feeling he's going to keep going until he pulls a Nolan Ryan and blows out the elbow while giving up a home run at like age 47.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 3:11 PM on May 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Worth mentioning, Bartolo got suspended 50 games at the end of the 2012 season/beginning of 2013 for PED's. (I know!) It looks like since then, he's gone back to building body mass the old fashioned way.
I get the feeling he's going to keep going until he pulls a Nolan Ryan and blows out the elbow while giving up a home run at like age 47.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 3:11 PM on May 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
@Tandem Affinity, it's a tradition with most if not all teams to pay no attention to a rookie and act as if nothing happened when he gets back to the dugout after hitting his first big-league home run. In this case, since Colon had played for 19 years without a homer, the Mets took it one step further and went down the tunnel out of the dugout so it would be empty when he got there, only to come back and sort of mob him.
posted by old_growler at 3:41 PM on May 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by old_growler at 3:41 PM on May 8, 2016 [8 favorites]
I still hate the Mets but this is great.
posted by octothorpe at 4:10 PM on May 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by octothorpe at 4:10 PM on May 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Worth mentioning, Bartolo got suspended 50 games at the end of the 2012 season/beginning of 2013 for PED's. (I know!) It looks like since then, he's gone back to building body mass the old fashioned way.
Seems like a lot of the PED users got fat after they we're caught -- Jesus Montero of the Mariners, for another example -- and I think that's because fat is commonly a hormonally active tissue and can actually replace hormones no longer externally supplied more readily than the notoriously-often involuted testes.
posted by jamjam at 4:32 PM on May 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Seems like a lot of the PED users got fat after they we're caught -- Jesus Montero of the Mariners, for another example -- and I think that's because fat is commonly a hormonally active tissue and can actually replace hormones no longer externally supplied more readily than the notoriously-often involuted testes.
posted by jamjam at 4:32 PM on May 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
David Ortiz would like to have a word with you.
Indeed. David Ortiz, 7-time winner of the DH of the year award... named for Edgar Martinez.
posted by dw at 5:28 PM on May 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
Indeed. David Ortiz, 7-time winner of the DH of the year award... named for Edgar Martinez.
posted by dw at 5:28 PM on May 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
Maybe Colon can help cleanse baseball of this designated hitter shit.
posted by humanfont at 5:41 PM on May 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by humanfont at 5:41 PM on May 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
I'm pro-DH, but this was awesome.
As a compromise between the warring factions, maybe we should play all the games with the DH, but have a pitcher's home run derby in-between innings.
posted by tonycpsu at 5:44 PM on May 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
As a compromise between the warring factions, maybe we should play all the games with the DH, but have a pitcher's home run derby in-between innings.
posted by tonycpsu at 5:44 PM on May 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
I wish I could find video of Edgar Martinez stealing a base toward the end of his career. I only saw it happen once. He took a lead halfway to second base and was still very, very close to being tagged out. Nobody was more surprised than him that he succeeded. Well, in the same spirit, here's Prince Fielder's dad Cecil, stealing his first base after a record 1,096 games. (article for context)
posted by knuckle tattoos at 5:47 PM on May 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by knuckle tattoos at 5:47 PM on May 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Maybe Colon can help cleanse baseball of this designated hitter shit.
posted by humanfont at 5:41 PM on May 8 [1 favorite −] Favorite added! [!]
dear god
posted by mwhybark at 5:52 PM on May 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
posted by humanfont at 5:41 PM on May 8 [1 favorite −] Favorite added! [!]
dear god
posted by mwhybark at 5:52 PM on May 8, 2016 [9 favorites]
7-time winner of the DH of the year award... named for Edgar Martinez.
If Ortiz's career came first, it'd be named for him.
posted by waitingtoderail at 6:03 PM on May 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
If Ortiz's career came first, it'd be named for him.
posted by waitingtoderail at 6:03 PM on May 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
maybe make the DH pitch an inning every game
posted by thelonius at 6:22 PM on May 8, 2016 [10 favorites]
posted by thelonius at 6:22 PM on May 8, 2016 [10 favorites]
Let's see. The Chicago teams have the best record in baseball, the Orioles are leading their division, the Mariners are leading their division, the Yankees are in last place, the Mets in first. All is normal. Perfectly normal.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 6:27 PM on May 8, 2016 [25 favorites]
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 6:27 PM on May 8, 2016 [25 favorites]
Congrats, Bartolo. LET'S GO METS!
posted by jonmc at 7:18 PM on May 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by jonmc at 7:18 PM on May 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
maybe make the DH pitch an inning every game
Well, if a backup catcher can strike out a 5-time all star...
posted by tonycpsu at 7:42 PM on May 8, 2016
Well, if a backup catcher can strike out a 5-time all star...
posted by tonycpsu at 7:42 PM on May 8, 2016
From the quite amusing Twitter feed of Dan Haren.....
Dan Haren Career retrospective
posted by C.A.S. at 2:43 AM on May 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
Dan Haren Career retrospective
posted by C.A.S. at 2:43 AM on May 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
> Congrats, Bartolo. LET'S GO METS!
What he said! Also, no DH, not in my league!
posted by languagehat at 6:16 AM on May 9, 2016
What he said! Also, no DH, not in my league!
posted by languagehat at 6:16 AM on May 9, 2016
Bartolo Colon told a cool story postgame. Fridays during the winter in the Dominican Republic, he plays softball. And mashes homers. #Mets
posted by HighLife at 6:47 AM on May 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by HighLife at 6:47 AM on May 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
oneswellfoop: ""Babe Ruth", who everyone should know, started as a pitcher but hit too damn well to not play every day."
Yep. He would likely have gotten into the Hall of Fame as a pitcher, was how good he was.
posted by Chrysostom at 6:50 AM on May 9, 2016
Yep. He would likely have gotten into the Hall of Fame as a pitcher, was how good he was.
posted by Chrysostom at 6:50 AM on May 9, 2016
He would certainly have gotten into the Hall of Fame as a pitcher; he was one of the best ever, and I think still holds some records.
posted by languagehat at 7:01 AM on May 9, 2016
posted by languagehat at 7:01 AM on May 9, 2016
Well, I meant from the standpoint of "maybe he has a total ACL rupture in 1918 and couldn't pitch anymore." He'd only had a couple years at that point, I don't know if that would have been enough. If he kept on the path he was going, absolutely 1st rank HOF pitcher.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:36 AM on May 9, 2016
posted by Chrysostom at 7:36 AM on May 9, 2016
Hasta la vista, baby!
This made me so happy that I just sent a link to this thread to my mother. TO MY MOTHER!
Now, let me get all this dust out of my office, so I can get back to work.
posted by blurker at 7:49 AM on May 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
This made me so happy that I just sent a link to this thread to my mother. TO MY MOTHER!
Now, let me get all this dust out of my office, so I can get back to work.
posted by blurker at 7:49 AM on May 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
Colón is the oldest player ever (42 years, 349 days) to hit his first major-league home run, on his 226th career at-bat. He also became the fifth-oldest pitcher to hit a home run.
posted by kirkaracha at 11:08 AM on May 9, 2016
posted by kirkaracha at 11:08 AM on May 9, 2016
I don't Sports much, but everything about this story is completely delightful, and it made my day brighter. Thanks for sharing it!
posted by schmod at 2:34 PM on May 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by schmod at 2:34 PM on May 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'm pleased to learn that the second commentator guy who spouts the random baseball facts sounds exactly the same in Spanish as he does in English.
posted by maryr at 7:11 PM on May 10, 2016
posted by maryr at 7:11 PM on May 10, 2016
Noah Syndergaard, Clearly Inspired By Bartolo Colon, Slapped A Pair Of Dingers
posted by tonycpsu at 9:55 PM on May 11, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by tonycpsu at 9:55 PM on May 11, 2016 [6 favorites]
And Scherzer ties the Woods/Unit/Clemons single game strike out record at 20 K. Its a pretty fun time in baseball.
posted by C.A.S. at 11:46 PM on May 11, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by C.A.S. at 11:46 PM on May 11, 2016 [4 favorites]
I'm really enjoying this season. Though not a fan of the White Sox or the Cubs, would love to see a Chicago World Series. It would be perfect. Although not sure the city of Chicago would survive.
posted by cwest at 12:51 AM on May 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by cwest at 12:51 AM on May 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
Well, given the Chicago police, I would say public safety in the City of Big Shoulders would be even more interesting than usual.
(I was at the Phil Humber Sox perfect game in Seattle the same season as Felix following suit, and I was there for that one too. Felix has said that the Sox game led him to his game, much as Syndergaard followed Bartolo.
But watching your team get shut down leaves a mark. Go Cubs!)
posted by mwhybark at 6:51 PM on May 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
(I was at the Phil Humber Sox perfect game in Seattle the same season as Felix following suit, and I was there for that one too. Felix has said that the Sox game led him to his game, much as Syndergaard followed Bartolo.
But watching your team get shut down leaves a mark. Go Cubs!)
posted by mwhybark at 6:51 PM on May 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
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Now I'm gonna think about it for at least another five years.
posted by escabeche at 10:12 AM on May 8, 2016 [16 favorites]