Here we are, friends, the last Monday recap of the 2021 Major League Baseball regular season. It has been a true honor to bring you these pieces throughout the year, second only, I’m sure, to the honor of being able to read them.
Haha, I kid. It is more like third or fourth.
Speaking of third or fourth, here is a list of teams eliminated from playoff contention as of yesterday:
15 teams have been eliminated from postseason contention pic.twitter.com/nwy9DbVnIX
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) September 27, 2021
Before we get to the final Monday main events from yesterday, here is your warm-up—your appetizer of baseball goodness. Of course, we must start with a stalwart of the round-up:
Shohei Ohtani cleaning up litter as he leaves the field. We must protect him at all costs 👏 pic.twitter.com/ySIJF4FP9m
— Baseball (@mlbelites_) September 27, 2021
And here is a little walk down memory lane, two ways:
Can’t posts just any picture on Mike Schmidt’s birthday, it’s gotta be a special one, and this fits the bill. By the way, the kid beside him is Mike Piazza. pic.twitter.com/aze9lNYDyC
— BaseballHistoryNut (@nut_history) September 27, 2021
There was this overmatched camera operator:
Our camera person got absolutely dusted following @AkilBaddoo into center field. pic.twitter.com/MrUrKN0nk0
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) September 27, 2021
And this link to Nick’s last edition of The List of the season begs the question: What in the world does he do in the winter with all of his free time? The world may never know:
It's the FINAL edition of The List!
I listed out every team's expected rotation for the final week of the season (Thanks @JeterHadNoRange!) + I've ranked EVERY single start in one massive table. It's dumb.
Next week is the Top 150 SP for 2022!https://t.co/G6obBQ5LDj
— Nick Pollack (@PitcherList) September 27, 2021
And, finally, this very astute MVP observation:
Honestly after the dominant start today by Shohei Ohtani I think it may come down to Vlad Jr’s final start on the mound to see who should win MVP
— Ben Verlander (@BenVerlander) September 26, 2021
Brother on Brother Crime
Bradley Zimmer, younger brother of Kyle Zimmer, went yard off his older brother in the Cleveland vs. Kansas City game:
Bradley Zimmer just took his older brother Kyle deep 👀 pic.twitter.com/ZxgbTa9BJc
— Baseball Quotes (@BaseballQuotes1) September 27, 2021
Bradley Zimmer homering off of Kyle Zimmer is the 4th time in the modern era (since 1900) that a brother has homered off his brother.
h/t: @EliasSports pic.twitter.com/HnkevHiHgB
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) September 27, 2021
This was the most amusing response:
bradley gets the front seat on the way home
— Cut4 (@Cut4) September 27, 2021
The Reds Be Rollin’
The Cincinnati Reds scored 13 runs yesterday. Some of them were loud, including Joey Votto going yard twice. I honestly wish it had been three times so that I could have used the word “thrice” in a piece this season, but there’s still hope for the playoffs!
Reds blow out the Pirates.
Recap ➡️ https://t.co/04NbMdd4fQ pic.twitter.com/w4N2E5NT6R
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) September 27, 2021
In his age-37 season, Joey Votto is the oldest NL player to reach 35+ HR in a season since Barry Bonds, Moises Alou, and Steve Finley all did it in 2004. pic.twitter.com/mLQLdTf1aa
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) September 27, 2021
No. 34 for Joey Votto.
What a year for the veteran. pic.twitter.com/gR68CQseMF
— MLB (@MLB) September 27, 2021
466 ft from Joey Votto on his second homer of the day 😱 pic.twitter.com/64fmjBU00V
— MLB (@MLB) September 27, 2021
Four straight games with a dinger for Nick Castellanos! 😤 pic.twitter.com/nSkbOiktLK
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) September 27, 2021
A 💣 for @JonathanIndia's first career four-hit game! pic.twitter.com/q2uarJkfSg
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) September 27, 2021
Another Four-hit Game
How many times do you think it would take for a player to have a four-hit game for it to be impressive? Three? Four? Is doing it even once a little mind-blowing at this point in baseball history?
How about six times in one season?
You don't have to stop us, but you've heard this before: Amed leads Major League Baseball with (6) 4-hit games this year.
Love him.#OurCLE pic.twitter.com/USBDoWbrJo
— Cleveland Indians (@Indians) September 27, 2021
.@Amed_Rosario is the first @Indians player to have 6 4-hit games in a season since Joe Carter in 1986. pic.twitter.com/oUTPxfKshO
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) September 27, 2021
That’s special.
NSFW Game Winner
If the All-Star game taught us anything, it was that Liam Hendriks should not be near a hot mic while he is on the mound and throwing baseballs, especially when really good or really bad things happen.
I guess somebody didn’t get the memo (Warning: Do not play out loud if you prefer the G-rating of these pieces, even though the cursing is much tougher to make out here than it was in the mid-season classic):
Liam brings playoff intensity to every game! 🔥🔥🔥
(⚠️NSFW audio⚠️) pic.twitter.com/FIjxS31QZ3— Codify, Inc. (@CodifyBaseball) September 27, 2021
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) September 27, 2021
Things Get Heated
Before Liam got the chance to darn some things to heck, the benches cleared in the White Sox and Tigers game. Now throughout the year, some people have been wont to point out that brawls, poor performances, and umpires being hit in the face with errant throws are not in keeping with the idea of “Best MLB Moments” in ways that subtly suggest I’m callous or perhaps a serial killer. I promise I am neither, although to be fair, the first thing a serial killer would say is “I’m definitely NOT a serial killer” so I’m not sure where that leaves us.
In truth, bizarre occurrences or odd happenings are the crème de la crème of these articles and, yes, sometimes they are unfortunate for certain participants. I do not condone violence at all, and what causes benches to clear and what does not is a mystery to me at this point, but it is a fairly significant thing that happened (of interest to many) on a day with five games. So, here it is:
Benches have cleared between the White Sox and Tigers after a Jose Abreu slide into 2nd.
(via @NBCSWhiteSox) pic.twitter.com/TlpKM75UOB
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) September 27, 2021
This also happened in that game:
Hi, Mom! Bye, baseball!@The_bigbaby74 | @NBCSChicago pic.twitter.com/RgmjwrYJ6U
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) September 27, 2021
A little something for everybody in that one (though I have no idea what role Eloy Jiménez‘s mom played in any of it).
A Couple Defensive Gems in Colorado
Here are a couple of great defensive plays by the Rockies:
The throwing impact from #Rockies RF Charlie Blackmon deserves examination. Witness his 14th outfield assist this season. He has never had more than six in a year previously. pic.twitter.com/1K1WZ3VWTr
— Thomas Harding (@harding_at_mlb) September 28, 2021
Slick diving play from @ghamp2 🦸♂️#Rockies pic.twitter.com/OW5PKHBLHv
— AT&T SportsNet™ | RM (@ATTSportsNetRM) September 28, 2021
And in the same game, one heck of an at-bat:
Foul
Foul
Ball
Foul
Ball
Ball
Foul
BallKeibert Ruiz works an 8-pitch, bases-loaded walk.
TOP 4 // #Nats 1, Rockies 0 pic.twitter.com/fzIFc6xnbo
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) September 28, 2021
There it is. A bittersweet moment for me in my rookie season at Pitcher List: the final Monday Moments article of the season.
Today, you get the standing ovation.
Thanks for all your support this year, Cleveland. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/rOCotv8yJ1
— Cleveland Indians (@Indians) September 27, 2021
Cross out Cleveland, add “internets and Pitcher List readers” and, well, you get the message. Thanks for all of your support of me, this series, and the site.
See you next week in the playoffs!
Photo by Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)