- Mr. Getaway tends be a curmudgeon when he sees his favorite sport being raked over the coals for doing dumb s**t.
Despite all of the negativity, however, the 2019 MLB season's been fantastic. Yes, we can continue to talk about service time, Tim Anderson's suspension and beanballs. We can talk about racist announcers. Let's not. Let's be thankful. Mr. Getaway has a lot to be thankful for.
I'm thankful for Rhys Hoskins. On Tuesday, New York Mets relief pitcher Jacob Rhame threw pitches near Hoskins' head. Rhame said he didn't mean to throw at Roskins' head, but Roskins took offense. It took 24 hours for Hoskins to get revenge.
Look at that trot. It's beautiful, immaculate and inspiring. It makes Mr. Getaway want to sing. Rhame, to his credit, took it like a man during postgame.
I'm thankful for the New York Yankees. Last week, Mr. Getaway alluded to the Yankees catching the injury bug reserved for that other New York team. What Aaron Boone and company have had to deal with, however, is ridiculous. It's even made Yankees radio play-by-play announcer John Sterling's job harder. What is Sterling if he doesn't have his signature home run calls? Look at who's currently injured for the Bombers:
The #Yankees are dealing with unbelievable injury issues #PinstripePride pic.twitter.com/7ffYmLmtxz
— Alex Brasky (@AlexBraskyBDN) April 21, 2019
The players on the Yankees' injured list would make the postseason on their own. And yet, the no-names in pinstripes have won six in a row and are a game and half behind the Tampa Bay Rays. Last night, the Yankees came back from a five-run deficit to defeat the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of Madagascar.
Yankees comebacks usually involve the likes of Giancarlo Stanton or Aaron Judge. But with both on the injured list, enter D.J. LeMahieu.
The Yankees are keeping the AL East competitive. Now, can the Boston Red Sox and their -36 run differential wake up?
I'm thankful for Felix Hernandez passing Don Drysdale on the all-time strikeout list. Despite the former ace falling off in recent years, he's been a joy to watch most of his career.
The perfect game:
The grand slam off of Johan Santana:
His bromance with Adrian Beltre:
The Seattle Mariners weren't competitive in his prime and flirted with the Wild Card when he became a non-factor. Every baseball fan should lament Hernandez not pitching in the postseason. Even if they make the playoffs in 2019, it won't be the same. But be thankful for having watched excellence for more than a decade.
I'm thankful for Vladimir Guerrero, Jr.'s debut. The Toronto Blue Jays promoted the top prospect, and son of Hall-of-Famer Vladimir Guerrero, this week and he'll make his debut on Friday against the Oakland Athletics. Vlad, Jr. entered 2019 the top prospect in baseball and wreaked havoc on pitching during Spring Training. The Blue Jays, however, struck gold when he strained his oblique, which avoided all talk of service time manipulation. But all of that's out of the window now and we get to this in action:
In 2018, Vlad, Jr. had a .381/.437/.636 slash line. In seven games against minor league pitching this season he has a .360/.429/.640 slash line. He's ready, we're ready and Mr. Getaway's ready.
Let us pray and give thanks.
Notes:
Nolan Arenado's excellence would be a bigger deal a decade ago. Nevertheless, Bill Baer showed his appreciation.
Joel Sherman's piece on Dellin Betances demonstrates why the MLBPA needs to be tough in CBA negotiations.
Speaking of showing love to an accomplished career, Tim Brown writes about C.C. Sabathia.
There's no team separating itself from the pack this season. You could attribute that parity, but in this case, it's parity of a good nature. There are a lot of good teams, but no great ones. The current standings in the NL Eastern and Western divisions and the AL Central and Western divisions tell Mr. Getaway that this should be a great summer.
During last night's game between the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Cubs relief pitcher Pedro Strop learned that his car was stolen. But he had to step away from the situation and pitch. He got the save and the police saved his car. His ERA is now 3.52.
