Sunday MLB Recap: The Wild, Weird, And Effective

((HT: MLB.com))

Yasiel Puig's enigmatic hustle took another star turn today- against Bartolo Colon and the Mets of all teams...

A 5-4-3-2 triple play that he was the end of...


Omar Vizquel is a coach these days for the Detroit Tigers and still can flash some defense...


Someone in Boston almost went all Bartman on a ball down the left field line...


What would have happened if Stephen Strasburg actually had to make a hard stop...???


And a fan in Arizona made a point to use his tools in the best manner possible on a foul ball...

Yasiel Puig Breaks Bat on Check Swing

((ht: mlb.com))

Whoa! Despite our general disdain for the fact Yasiel Puig seems to make the highlight reels for just showing up, we had to share this.

Check out what happened Friday night during the Milwaukee Brewers vs. LA Dodgers game at Chavez Ravine. A game won by the Brewers 9-3.

Puig tries to hold back his swing on the pitch and is able to do so. However the barrel of the bat didn't cooperate. The barrel goes flying and the ump has no choice other than to call it a strike.

Which leads to the question: Was the bat defective or was Puig's grip just that strong?

Things Happened In 3's For Yasiel Puig. Jimmy Sheckard Knew That Feeling 113 Years Ago

Jimmy Sheckard with the Cubs in 1910

Do you know who Jimmy Sheckard is?

Back on opening day 1901 Sheckard had three triples for the Brooklyn Bridegrooms/Superbas.

113 years later Yasiel Puig matched Sheckard with three triples Friday night against the San Francisco Giants.



Of course it helps when two of your three baggers and blasted to the deepest part of AT&T Park.

"I saw I'm the second guy in franchise history, and it's important, but it's way better to win the playoffs and win the World Series," Puig said 

Puig added a double with his three triples going 4-5 for the game.

According to the Dodgers only three players since 1954 have hit three triples and a double in a game:

Les Bell - 1926
Herm Winningham - 1990
Yasiel Puig - 2014

You might say Jimmy Sheckard was a good as Puig for his era some 115 years ago.

Jimmy Sheckard

In 1901, the year Sheckard hit three triples in a game for Brooklyn, he led the National League in triples with 19 and a league best .536 slugging percentage.  

That same season Sheckard became the first and to anyone's knowledge the only player in the majors to hit inside the park grand slam home runs in consectutive games.

In 1903 Sheckard became the first player to lead the league in home runs and steals.  Only Ty Cobb in 1909 and Chuck Klein in 1932 are the only other players to achieve that double.

Sheckard enjoyed a 17 year major league career and won two World Series titles as a member of the Chicago Cubs.

Like Yasiel Puig Jimmy Sheckard was a tough out.

Dodgers Destroy TBS Camera In Postgame

It's about a minute in, and TBS an thank Yasiel Puig for the best moment they've had so far...

A bath...
((HT: MLB on TBS))


The HQ doesn't know if the Dodgers will receive a bill for it, but we think Magic will take out his wallet and ask for change...

Braves and Atlanta vs. ESPN: The Battle over All-Star Fan Vote (Updated)

((Video Update at Bottom))

We've tried really hard not to wade into this, but it touches on a few of our favorite topics.

(1) The Atlanta Braves
(2) ESPN

If you are a baseball fan, you know the all-star game is next week. And the last component to the two teams roster is a staged popularity contest known as the "Fan" vote.

And what this story is about is how polarizing it's become.

The reason. Well, that happened a couple of days ago. When the final 5-players who would be in said vote were announced a story appeared over the weekend on the popular website ESPN.com. And one of the links within that story is at the bottom of the image here to your right.

If you look closely--it said the following: "Puig in Final Vote" (link) and next to it "He Belongs" (link)

--Note the image that it replaced is on your left.

Look closely.


It didn't mention a single other nominee.

And that slight has sent quite a few people in the Atlanta area and well, just about anywhere outside Los Angeles, into a tizzy.

"ESPN is taking sides"  "They want Puig in". "They don't care about anyone else".

None of these are wrong.

And yes, we're not real thrilled about this either. But it is what they do. This is something that we and many other Sports Blogs have harped on for years. ESPN will tell you who to vote for, what you are interested in and what is an important sports story. And they'll make sure you have no other option to find it.

Management there has denied a bias or trying to influence a vote, and we sort of believe them.

But we sort of don't.

They have in the past taken sides with teams and athletes that they cover. It may not be done intentionally, but it's done. And once they find someone they love, they beat us over the head with them--endlessly (see Tebow, Tim--Heat, Miami--Eagles, Philadelphia)

See what happens if you live in Kansas City or Cincinnati or Minnesota if one of your teams plays a New York, Los Angeles, Boston or Philadelphia based team. You may win, but the headline will talk about the other team losing rather than you winning.

And this is wrong.

We're in the media business, have been in it for years and know why they slant this way. Certain cable news organizations do the same thing. They pander to their perceived audience.

They all hire high priced consultants who conduct polls with people who often know very little about what they are being asked. So they answer with a big market team or big name athlete. And that's whom they assume the entire country loves.

It's wrong. But that's how TV News on a national and local level work. It's not about doing the right thing, it's not about reporting things that are important. It's about reporting things that will get people's attention. And it's about reporting on people whom they and the consultants say will drive the ratings/profit meter. It's not right, but it's how things work.

And we understand it. There are so many voices out there, you have to do it. But you do it at great risk. It can quickly cost you the price of credibility.

In ESPN's case, they don't really care what the other sports media thinks about them, they don't have to. They can and do pander to the masses. They foist Skip Bayless and Steven A. Smith upon you and you mindlessly accept what they say as fact. They are telling you what they or the research consultant thinks you want to hear. Nothing more/nothing less.

The Atlanta Braves #votefreddie shirts

We'll end our diatribe with this. We tread into this arena carefully. We know that Sports fans often hear what they want to hear or interpret things they read through very narrow glasses. What they often perceive as bias isn't, it's being realistic. It's reporting facts. And a lot of fans don't want to read, see or hear bad things about their team. They don't want to see someone else get pushed over their guy. We get that. It does work both ways.

That being said, the Yasiel Puig story is intriguing. He's lighting up the baseball world. Will he keep up doing what he's doing? No. He'll level off. Should he be on the All-Star team. Eh, after a month, we aren't real sure he's earned it yet, a member of his own team, Hanley Ramirez has similar numbers over the same period and hasn't gotten an All-Star sniff.

And in the end, yes, we are Atlanta Braves fans (well, I am). And I think and feel like many in Atlanta do, not only is Freddie Freeman of the hometown team fighting 4-other deserving players for an All-Star vote, he's fighting the ESPN behemoth too.

And now video. Here's The Lame Cornholio (Tony Kornheiser) of PTI fame:

A Huge Brawl Between D-Backs & Dodgers

The Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers had a bench clearing brawl in the 7th inning
of Tuesday nights game at Dodger Stadium.

This had been brewing since the sixth inning when D-Backs pitcher Ian Kennedy beaned Dodger phenom Yasiel Puig with a 92 MPH fastball in the face. 

In the top of the seventh Dodger pitcher Zach Greinke retaliated beaning Diamondback catcher Miguel Montero.  The benches emptied but no punches were thrown.

“It’s just baseball from the standpoint that Puig gets hit in the face, Montero gets hit and it’s over,” Dodger manager Don Mattingly said. “It should have really been over at that point.”

It wasn't.

Next came the Dodgers turn to bat in the seventh and the first pitch Greinke faced in his at-bat hit him in the shoulder.

And then it was on.



Here's the blow-by-blow description; Puig threw an overhand punch that caught D-Backs reserve infielder Eric Hinske in the back of the head.  Also Dodger manager Don Mattingly threw down Diamondbacks coach Alan Trammel in a "back to the 80's" moment.

Dodger hitting coach Mark McGwire was also hot under the collar.  His confrontation with
Diamondbacks coach Matt Williams and manager Kirk Gibson was good for the way back machine too.

By the way the Dodgers defeated the D-Backs 5-3 on Tim Federowicz's three run double in the bottom of the eighth.