Good Morning Angels fans, how are you today? Have some links why don’t you?
Angels News
The Angels beat the Royals yesterday. Read about it here.
Mike Trout will be out for a while, but in the meantime, he has something to say about the sticky stuff pitchers use.
MLB Network discuss how to use Ohtani in interleague games. Ohtani the RF?
Around Baseball
A Cuba pitcher has defected. Was playing for Japan, and thus violated his contract. Well then, guess he needs a new team…
Injuries has been widespread in MLB this season but it impacts some teams more than others.
So, someone has done the research and found out the rates of GIDP vs being thrown out on the basepaths. A few things stand out, like the NYY being thrown out 16 times at home.

The Marlins are now the worst team in MLB history based on win percentage. Padres passed them this year.
Rockies fans suffer more as the 4th pick in the 2016 MLB draft has retired. A rather large bust which shows how unpredictable MLB drafts are.
9 MLB stadiums are using humidors. Maybe that has something to do with the offense? Can’t be the only reason obviously.
Despite Manfred trying to kill fun, two young MLB stars are having said fun on Instagram. And by fun I mean roasting each other.
The Cubs get new uniforms. For some reason.
Kris Davis has been DFA’ed. The end of an era.
Trevor Bauer and Gerrit Cole’s reduced spin rate due to MLB saying they will crackdown on cheating has gotten major attention.
Anything I missed? Post below for upvotes.
This just into our desk, Major League Baseball Circling the Drain. Look for the rats to jump ship as the cheaters about to expose the Truth in the case of The Sticky Cheaters. Today warrants issued for Robert Manfred but he is nowhere to be found. Stay tuned for more updates on the hour.
I truly believe that you fire Manfred and bring in someone with creditability to be the Commissioner. The last two Commissioners have been hind tit idiots that have no back bone. Steroids for Selig and Signal Stealing and Sticky Stuff for Manfred and both came from the side of Owners. Judge Landis was tough to the bone, Chandler took little guff, Bowie Kuhn tough and fair, Although right now I have a mental block and do not recall his name was the Commish before Vincent who dealt with Rose. All were chosen because they did not come from the Owners side. Impartial and honest in reputation is what is called for to be Commissioner of MLB. The Sport is hurting because the Owners did not chose wisely.
I forgot another issue with Manfred was the doctoring of the Baseball to make it go farther.
Or shorter.
He’s been involved in both options recently.
True.
Bring in someone creditable? Then how are the owner going to scam everyone involved?
Remember, no one is breaking any laws.
Until the bookies can take them to court and sue the league, ain’t nothing has to change. It’s an entertainment business.
In Ten years this Sport will fall apart in the direction of the last 25 years. Entertainment that is expected to be honest. It’s not like the Movie Show biz where there are back room deals and money changing hands and horse heads in beds. It’s more like boxing where we expect a clean fight……..
https://twitter.com/chelsea_janes/status/1402733072454504449?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1402733072454504449%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fforum.chorus.fm%2Fbts%2Ftwitter.min-v4.html1402733072454504449
https://twitter.com/thatgirlondeck/status/1402739326417522690?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1402739326417522690%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fforum.chorus.fm%2Fbts%2Ftwitter.min-v4.html1402739326417522690
Very interesting theory.
Which is undermined by the MLB cracking down on pitcher’s using illegal substances, which would help the upcoming free agent class.
Exactly. What a weird conspiracy when it doesn’t even get past step 2.
“I don’t care about fixing this thing that will dramatically help offense because its clear they want to hurt offense”
mmmmmmkay
Not sure this is pertinent to the discussion but I’ve noticed Whiffle Ball bats have changed hardness over time. Bats have become slightly more malleable allowing for a spongier contact, the ball travels with a greater force and distance. The conspiracy goes well beyond MLB. I want the truth.
*insert Colonel Nathan R. Jessep image here*
[insert Fox Mulder image here]
You can’t handle the truth!
Trevor wants an even playing field? I guess that’s why he’s the most blatant user of the sticky stuff.
Trevor is smart. He found out what it would take to get himself paid and he did it.
If MLB is looking the other way, why wouldn’t a pitcher use the stuff?
Obviously Bauer isn’t morally better than anyone else, but I don’t place any blame on him at all. 0%. It’s not like he knew that after his contract was signed that MLB was going to come and start bringing down the hammer. This is all on MLB.
If you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying….
I place 1% blame on the Doyers…..just because.
But he’s a douche and plays for the dodgers so I hope he gets hit with the hammer and greatly under performs his contract.
The fans will be so nice to him.
Okay? But we can separate opinions on baseball matters from personal character, right?
Or can we not do nuance anymore anywhere because it’s the Internet?
I got new aunts, but it was through marriage only.
Probably not. Considering the Angels were purveyors of sticky substances from the clubhouse, I am shocked, shocked to find cheating happening in Angel Stadium. But, of course it was all the OTHER teams, as Angel pitchers would NEVER use any foreign substances, even tho sainted closer Troy Percival was the holder of the recipe. But OF COURSE HE NEVER USED IT!!!!!
Thanks Arte
His actions match what he claims. He tried to expose the Astros using illegal substances a few years back and only started using it himself when the MLB continued to ignore it.
Currently, there isn’t an even playing field. Nothing says a person that wants an even playing field has to stay on the loser’s side of the equation when the even playing field doesn’t exist.
No different than Bonds, McGwire, Sosa, Clemens, Sheffield, etc.
So, you feel that all the players you named here, belong in the HoF?
Not me, but the HoF is now got 4 players who I believe did the dirty deed.
Alright, I’m ready to be hurt again. I’m all in, we’re winning the division. Let’s do this!!
This, but unironically
Totally serious, in a weird accepting sort of way, haha. 😅
Division
I already bought my Word Series tickets!
Speaking of Pujols… here’s a gif of him trotting around the bases:
Way too fast for Pujols
Lady gots wheels
What is the top picture supposed to mean? CtPG is less than MLB?
Inquiring minds want to know………maybe it’s a Bat signal to the universe that we are about to start kicking ASS! Playoffs 2021!
Well, like how many licks to get to the center of a tootsie pop, the world may never know.
Three.
https://twitter.com/JeffFletcherOCR/status/1402714892096786432
I’ve never seen success rates statistics on of TJS. But that seems to rarely happen.
I read a story that the success rate as of 2020 was thought to be 85%. I do not though recall where I read that stat. But what is success anyway? You throw as good or better or you make a major league roster? I know of one pitcher that came back to throw a no hitter a few weeks ago, Cory Kluber.
Your arm don’t fall off.
Seriously, is it a successful operation, or a successful return to form?
85% successful operation is probably not great, haha! If the other 15% of the time your arm falls off
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.si.com/.amp/mlb/2021/06/09/gerrit-cole-yankees-ace-foreign-substances-answer-mlb-cheating
A very good article on the spin rate cheating scandal. Watch the last video where a pitched ball actually sticks to Yadier Molina’s chest protector. Which team has shown the greatest increase in spin rate? Glad you asked – the MF Dodgers!
Oh the MY Favorite Dodgers….. This is just like the Steroid era in that there are too many on every club participating in the use of “sticky substances”. As we know it was an Angel employee who was one of the biggest suppliers.. It also did not help that the Manfred ball lowered the gripable seams in the ball also. MLB has known that this was going on for a long time and only in recent times is acting like it did not have knowledge of this cheating.
Like Steroid years it is the Commissioner that keep it sweep under the rug and then acted surprised to learn that it was taking place.
So we are clear GPB. We “Angel Fans” are Henry…..The neighbors that get an ass beating are Doyers Fans……you’s understand?
https://youtu.be/-xG3UGetZro
I love this movie so much.
Grandpa, shhh! Angel players are NEVER wrong, never!
Actually played on a team with Bubba in the 80s. Always seemed like a good dude and had great baseball clubhouse stories.
“It seems like there are games where we score a bunch of runs and then the next game it is pretty quiet,” he said. “It’s tough being on the bench. You know, there’s only so much you can do and you want to be out there.”
Spot On insight from MNT. Maybe he wants to manage too?
Call to the pen: ” Manager Trout wants to know ‘Who wants the ball?’ . He seen you raise your hand Bobby B. Mike says ‘Atta boy Bobby. Go gett’um’.”
“The Marlins are now the worst team in MLB history based on win percentage. Padres passed them this year.”
Yet they still have two WS trophies… which is 2 more than the Padres and 1 more than the Angels have. I’d take that as a fan of that team.
It’s an interesting question. Clearly the attendance in their old and new stadium suggest their fans have other things they value more than titles 20+ years ago.
I imagine Marlins fans would immediately trade those titles to consistently be a team like this year’s Padres – fun, competitive, nationally relevant — even if it didn’t result in any rings.
Rings with humiliating doormat status every other year is like a weird monkey paw curse.
Monkey paw !??
Boy those Houston Trashtros were cheating all over the place including on the mound. All we used to hear about was the banging of trash cans. But it’s pretty clear their pitchers (like Cole) were cheating too. I can recall all the spin rate discussions as we heard about guys like Verlander becoming more dominant or reviving their careers in Houston due to spin rate.
Like the steroids of the late-90s and 2000s did for batters, these substances have resulted in enormous contracts for pitchers. It became worth the risk – particularly as MLB really turned a blind eye.
It would be so great if Cole and Bauer (and others) became ordinary as a result of not being able to cheat anymore.
I have a feeling there are going to be a lot of seriously pissed owners that found out they laid out big bucks for suddenly ordinary pitchers. Gotta wonder how this will all shake out. I think it’s pretty likely there will be a MLB certified pitching goop that ends up being legal, but not sure how you’d enforce this. Love to see Angel Hernandez running a sample through a mass spectrometer.
He’d run it through a mass spectrometer, and still get the call wrong.
Then call NY, ignore their input, and then make a second attempt and get the call even wronger. He the WORSY.
My opinion- MLB needs to have “teeth” on this and come down hard on pitchers that are cheating. But they probably won’t. If players aee not punished for trash can bashing and buzzers, then pitchers will skate on this as well.
The only difference here is that spin rate is killing offense and making the game more ‘boring’ to the casual fan. That may cause MLB to take a strong stance here since we all know that chicks dig the long ball.
If this game is to have any integrity and the numbers any historical relevance, all sticky/tacky substances that can be used to increase grip and spin rate should be banned.
They won’t because they make more money not coming down.
They made money when it wasn’t being discussed, now they make money because people are discussing.
People love this kind of controversy. Pay good money to boo the other team, not caring if their teams wins against the bad dudes, just that when the bad dudes win, they boo a little louder.
Also, there have been no broken laws, just rules, that change, with time, strangely.
And the money these bad dudes made from the owners while cheating. Paid back in spades. The owners thank thee.
If this became a huge scandal the MLB would lose. It would parlay well with the last cheating scandal that went unpunished….
But you are correct, they make money in all way possible..But if they come down, they will have a credibility issue, will have a massive (2 part) cheating scandal……best they sweep it under the rug while trying to control it behind closed doors.
Chicks dig the long ball..and they might dig strikeouts too… maybe not as much as the long ball, but strikeouts are sexy. Seems the featured highlights involve strikeout montages.
They do love the long ball…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjkuJPvMrI8
MLB-certified goop would be the worst path to take. It would allow pitchers to make their own variations that is visually identical and can’t be reasonably detected during a game.
Either enforce a ban or let pitchers use anything pine-tar based.
maybe they’ll grandfather it in, like they did with spitballs, so anyone currently using goop can continue until they retire but it’ll be illegal for anyone else to start using it.
Smart Arte not wasting money on Top Pitching Free Agents that may not be that good.
The elephant in the room for everyone is that they really do need something on the baseball to prevent guys from getting hurt. Allowing pine tar to be used and not something that is basically a better version of pine tar is tricky to enforce. Personally I wish they would just better address how the balls are prepped for games and not use some ancient recipe for Mississippi mud to rub the balls up. The MLB balls have been too slick for decades and with everyone now throwing 97mph it is dangerous. It doesn’t seem like the other professional baseball leagues have the same issue.
Delaware mud, git your old-fashioned sludge hole correct.
https://www.si.com/mlb/2019/08/07/baseball-mud-rawlings
Ha, such an amazing Baccellieri article. She writes about the most random things, and somehow I’m always interested in the subject.
Speaking of sludge…Slugers pitched 2 scoreless innings last night at AAA.
That’s an interesting perspective. I guess if there was consistency it’s less of a problem. However you know how many of these players are with bog dollars at stake – give them an inch and they will take 100 miles.
If was really just the overly dangeresque slippery ball that we are concerned about here. Then where is all the commotion from the position players while fielding the ball on defense?
You would think some of these amateurish tossers, compared to the multi-millionaire professional pitchers, would be killing at least some shitty umpires. If not offish, current bum, first baseman that wear their age on their back, or fans in the great towns of the AL East, getting plunked where they stand, just stand, always.
You’re not wrong. Like most things, there probably isn’t one simple answer. Going back decades, I have heard for years from buddies that I played with that the MLB ball (also now AAA) does feel different. Seams are smaller, wound tighter and is slippery. Diamond A1 college ball you can really grip well but even in A ball I was glad that I no longer pitched as that MiLB ball (1980s) has no seams IMHO. I have an old teammate that pitched in Japan and MLB who thought that the Japanese ball was better to throw. Back in the day you would hear stories about infielders flipping a ball to the pitcher that had split seams or a rip hoping that they could use it to their advantage. Now if a ball touches the ground it is thrown out…always make me wonder if they inspect them and put them back in the rotation.