On fatherhood vs. double plays, home run droughts, and other baseball doings and undoings during the week and weekend just finished...
The Pampered Shortstop Dept. — Well, the Mets' super-shortstop Francisco Lindor may not be that pampered, after all. Not if he can let himself be miked up for a game against the Dodgers and finding a way to tell his wife that changing diapers is a lot tougher than turning double plays. Maybe even tougher than scoring on an infield out, which Poppa Lindor did in the bottom of the third.
Oh, yes. The Mets and the Dodgers did play baseball on Sunday. Shohei Ohtani opened the game with a hefty home run, and that was all the Dodgers got on the day as the Mets beat them, 3-1. Extra credit to Mets center fielder Tyrone Taylor for throwing the Mookie Monster out at the plate to complete a threat-killing double play later in the inning. And, to Pete Alonso ending a 65 plate appearance drought by hitting one out in the bottom of the first with Juan Soto aboard.
Splash Hit Dept. — You'd think it enough: Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz breaking his own Statcast-era record with a 122.9 mph home run that landed in the Allegheny River on Sunday.
You'd think it wasn't enough: Cruz's blast, but a Pirate deficit vs. the Brewers to 3-1, but the Brewers held on to win, 6-5, driving the Pirates to their 35th loss and 13.5 out of first in the not-so-powerful National League Central.
You know it isn't enough: Since the Pirates' administration decided that their problems and mistakes were all manager Derek Shelton's fault, the Pirates with Don Kelly on the bridge have been a slight improvement — a mere 6-8, compared to the 12-26 they were able to deliver while Shelton was still on the bridge.
It Could Be Worse Dept. — The better news for the Pirates: they're not the Rockies, who make the Pirates resemble the legendary Pittsburgh Lumber Company teams of the 1970s. Blaming the manager for their front office and ownership ineptitude, the Rockies canned Bud Black from the bridge after the season opened at 7-33. Since Warren Schaeffer assumed command of the mountains, they're 2-9.
And, they spent the holiday weekend through Sunday evening being engaged at home by the Yankees, from whom they managed to pry a 3-2 Friday night win before getting destroyed 13-1 on Saturday and coming up short a single run again on Sunday, losing 5-4.
Unlike MacArthur, He Has Returned Dept. — Ronald Acuña, Jr., Friday, Braves hosting the Padres, his first live action, regular season pitch he saw after missing roughly a year following knee surgery: he sent it on a 467-foot flight into the middle of the left center field bleachers.
Braves manager Brian Snitker, to coach Walt Weiss: Did you think he wasn't going to hit a homer on the first pitch? Now, if only the Braves could have won the game in the bargain. (They lost, 2-1.)
Ronald Acuña, Jr., Saturday: a 2-run homer launched parabolically half way up the left field bleachers.
Acuña, after Saturday's game and Braves win: I feel good. It's been over a year since I've played, I don't know, three or four games in a row. But I'm feeling good and I think that's the most important thing.
Sunday: the Braves lost to the Padres, 5-3. But if they've got Acuña back without risk, to his knee or anything else, they can't exactly be feeling miserable. (Can they?)
I Have But One City Connect Crack to Give to My Country Dept. — The new City Connect threads are like just about all the old ones: they're ugly. They resemble cheap beer-league softball uniforms even more than the unicolors and Pirates pajama stripes of the 1970s did. Next question.
Remember Dept. — Remember that this weekend, and today in particular, isn't just for baseball, barbecues, or beach parties. It's for remembering that thousands if not millions of American men and women gave their lives so we could enjoy freedom, what's left of it in our country and in the world. Their sacrifices must never have been in vain.
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