Every year, on April 15, baseball pays homage to the debut of a great athlete and an outstanding person. On April 15, we appreciate Jackie Robinson, who bravely stood on the field and withstood verbal, mental, and physical abuse from players, coaches, fans, and the press. He was attacked for the color of his skin, not for his baseball skill or his character, and stood strong so that others could follow in his footsteps. On April 15, we pay homage to Robinson, who courageously opened doors for athletes and fans of all colors, and Branch Rickey, who helped give Robinson the opportunity to break baseball’s color barrier.
I’m not sure how much of this moment is made up for the sake of the movie, but it still gets me teary-eyed every time.
For #42
Normally, this column is just for the lighthearted, fun parts of baseball. But, given that yesterday was a very special day for baseball, I thought we could take a look at what some teams did to honor Jackie Robinson.
Dear Jackie.
Players from across MLB share what Jackie Robinson means to them. #Jackie42 pic.twitter.com/yGbREqTcPL
— MLB (@MLB) April 15, 2021
I highly recommend reading the whole thread and exploring the rest of these letters on MLB.com. It goes way beyond Archer, Flaherty, Bradley Jr., and Chisholm.
#Jackie42 pic.twitter.com/AjGtCGrB4s
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) April 15, 2021
4️⃣2️⃣ pic.twitter.com/0WqLZNHNlm
— Red Sox (@RedSox) April 15, 2021
42 showed us how. pic.twitter.com/egHn8dQRL4
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) April 15, 2021
April 15 is still a day for baseball, as much as it is a celebration for Robinson’s trailblazing, so there’s plenty of wacky to go around.
Weathering the Storm
Apparently, in Minneapolis, severe weather needs to be appreciated? I don’t know about the rest of you guys, but I’d be freaking out if a siren started blaring before my AB. It wouldn’t even matter if it was just a test, the mere presence of these sirens blaring would definitely take me out of whatever zone I was in. I guess that’s the only reason I’m not a major league ballplayer! Real ballplayer Hunter Renfroe was able to work a walk, so it looks like Michael Pineda was the one more thrown off by the sirens than Renfroe.
The Twins game had a 4-minute delay with storm sirens blaring, for “Severe Weather Appreciation Week”
Baseball is fantastically weird pic.twitter.com/WgVVQQkx0I
— Very Baseball Moments (@verymlb) April 15, 2021
Thankfully, the siren incident created all kinds of promising pun opportunities, like this one from Bally Sports:
🚨 SEVERE WEATHER SIRENS 🚨
It’s Sano-ing at Target Field! pic.twitter.com/8IlWKYzLR0
— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) April 15, 2021
The guys over at NESN were less than pleased. It was just a test, guys!
In the Arms of an Angel
One of the little things that makes baseball so unique is the stadiums in which the game is played. MLB allows its teams to build their stadiums out in all kinds of wacky ways, so long as the diamond and various other parts of the field meet their criteria. As such, baseball stadiums have many different quirks, like the Green Monster, the short porches at Yankee Stadium, or the catwalks at Tropicana Field, which can lead to some wacky results.
Those catwalks became important in yesterday’s game, thanks to a pop-up from Willy Adames:
https://twitter.com/MLBWalk_Offs/status/1382890096806883329
Adames hit that one a mile high. It’s too bad that he couldn’t have hit that one a mile high towards the outfield because the Tropicana Field ground rules state that if Adames had hit that one high into the rafters in fair territory, it could have automatically gone for a home run.
The bottom line: Keep baseball weird. There is no other sport that could have a wacky moment like this.
Equipment Malfunction
Maikel Franco threw a ball *through* Trey Mancini’s glove 👀 pic.twitter.com/AQ3v3eEzQb
— Very Baseball Moments (@verymlb) April 15, 2021
How do we score this one? E3? Seems a little unfair to Mancini, who did everything right except reinforce his glove with steel mesh to prevent hard-thrown balls from getting through. Infield singles have been awarded for far more egregious plays by the infielders. And, couldn’t the scorekeeper have given the home team here? Just charge the hit to Travis Lakins and help a guy out.
The scorers ultimately ruled it a “Missed Catch Error” on Mancini. Lakins and Catcher Rio Ruiz were unaffected by the mysteriously missed catch and threw Trammell out at second base on a stealing attempt. Nice work, guys. Way to recover!
Brett Phillips Must Have Felix Felicis or Something
Brett Phillips does it again!
Brett Phillips MAKES. THINGS. HAPPEN.
The @RaysBaseball tie things up thanks to Maverick forcing the issue on the basepaths!#RaysUp pic.twitter.com/X8scu3yqwr
— Bally Sports Florida & Bally Sports Sun (@BallySportsFL) April 16, 2021
I’m a sucker for a good comedy of errors. Speaking of scoring, here’s how the scorekeepers at Tropicana Field saw this one go down:
Don’t throw pickoff attempts to second, kids. Or, at least make sure your second baseman is paying attention when you try it.
Even More Errors
Speaking of teams that felt the curse of Brett Phillips:
— MLB Errors (@mlberrors) April 16, 2021
If it’s any consolation, at least these errors weren’t made with the game on the line and broadcasted on national TV!
Photo by Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)