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The 7 Best MLB Moments from Friday

What an exciting Friday! Let's have another trade deadline next week!

Alex Kleinman
Best MLB Moments 7/31/2021

One word to describe yesterday?

Chaos.

It was the most insane trade deadline in recent memory. Multiple teams embraced a complete fire sale and even more clubs went full-blown manic shopping mode for this season. Then, after all this drama ended at 4 p.m., we had 15 games filling the night slate.

For those of you who couldn’t stay on top of every little twist and turn on Friday, here are the best highlights.

 

Teams May Fall Apart, but the W Flies Forever

 

In an extremely bittersweet moment for the city of Chicago, the Cubs said farewell to some of their most iconic modern players. Ever since the Cubs drafted Kris Bryant with the 2nd overall pick of the 2013 draft, fans had sky-high expectations.

And somehow he exceeded them.

 

In 2014, he was named Baseball America‘s Minor League Player of the Year. The next year, he was the NL Rookie of the Year. Finally, in 2016, the MVP-winning Bryant brought a World Series title to a team that had been starved of championships for over a century.

He did it all with a smile on his face.

But unfortunately for Cubs fans, that team would eventually have to split up. Yesterday, Bryant got the news: he was going to San Francisco. Here is his reaction.

Unfortunately for Cubs fans, Bryant wasn’t the only team icon that would be saying goodbye.

Anthony Rizzo, another cornerstone of that championship team, got traded away to the Yankees. And in his first game with the Bronx Bombers, he hit an absolute moonshot.

Despite wearing a jersey saying “New York,” his Chicago flag-themed batting gloves showed he would always love the Windy City.

You may be able to take these players off the Cubs, but you can’t take the Chicago out of their blood.

 

Don’t Forget About the South Side!

 

Meanwhile, that other Chicago team had quite an eventful day of their own.

First, they had some big acquisitions like getting Craig Kimbrel to create arguably baseball’s deadliest bullpen duo with Liam Hendriks. Then, there was this insane home run by Yoán Moncada as Cleveland’s outfield did their best Jose Canseco impersonation.

Later on, in a huge bases-loaded situation, benches cleared after James Karinchak plunked José Abreu in the helmet with a 96 MPH fastball. Abreu was wobbly, and Karinchak looked immediately shaken up as well. It was a pretty scary scene, but you can watch what happened right here. Tony La Russa sprinted out (I guess that’s the proper term here) to immediately check on Abreu and keep Roberto Pérez at bay.

Despite the scary scene and obviously high tensions in the moment, Abreu and Karinchak were able to hug it out.

To cap it all off, AL Cy Young candidate Lance Lynn appeared in the post-game press conference with a statement of his own.

 

The Yankees Outfield Has Reached New Heights

 

Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Joey Gallo hit the ball hard and far. They are also massive human beings. Just how huge are they?

Yesterday, they all played in the outfield for the first time together. Their combined height is tied for the tallest trio ever. Who else holds the record?

Randy Johnson?!?! It happened in just one inning of the meaningless final game of 1993 when the Mariners were well out of playoff contention. Unfortunately, no batted balls found their way to Johnson. He did set a record by becoming the tallest position player ever.

Oh, by the way, here’s a photo of a clean shaven Gallo. Thoughts?

 

Danny Duffy Helps Out a Fellow Kansas Citian

 

The Cubs and Nationals weren’t the only teams that traded away some lifelong, home-grown stars: the Royals parted with their 11-year veteran Danny Duffy.

Kansas City has been Duffy’s home since he was drafted out of high school in 2007. He was with the Royals from the dark years of the early 2010s to the exuberant highs of 2014/2015 to the lackluster present day. For the first time in Duffy’s professional career, he will now wear the uniform of another organization (the Los Angeles Dodgers).

One instagram user, @eric__a__fain, posted about a heartwarming encounter he had with Duffy during his final days in Kansas City.

 

It’s Déjà Vu All Over Again

 

Player-fan interaction is the best. It’s what I’ve always loved most about the experience of going to a baseball game. If you are in Atlanta and want to have a special moment like that, I know exactly where you have to sit.

Remember earlier this season when a young fan robbed Kole Calhoun of a catch and immediately earned Calhoun’s respect? Well something similar happened in that exact same spot yesterday with Joc Pederson.

Now you know: want to get the attention of your dream right fielder? Go to Atlanta!

 

Just How Historic Was This Deadline?

 

It seemed like every other team either shipped away or acquired an All-Star. And that’s because it’s true.

Six teams (ARI, CHC, MIN, PIT, TEX, WSH) traded a 2021 All-Star, while nine other clubs (BOS, CWS, LAD, MIL, NYY, PHI, SD, SF, TBR) got one. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the 10 All-Stars who changed teams is the most ever in just one year.

 

The Jerseys in Savannah Are Bananas

 

The Savannah Bananas like to go… well, bananas. Their unique traditions and promotions have earned this Coastal Plain League team comprised of college players a lot of media publicity.

Yesterday, they debuted some new apparel that is truly in your face.

Yes, those are jerseys made up entirely of their own faces.

I like the creativity, but let’s not give New Era any new ideas.

 

Photo by Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)

Alex Kleinman

Journalist who loves the Yankees and the Bears. One gives me strength, the other leads me to existential dread. When I'm not obsessing over baseball, you can find me at a concert, hiking in a National Park or chasing my dog, Frankie, who has probably stolen one of my socks.

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