Do not adjust your computer screens! Today is Thursday, and you are seeing my name instead of TC’s, we swapped our days this week and everything will be back to normal soon, do not panic.
Well, maybe panic a little bit because even by my standards, we’re going a little bit off the rails for this installment of The Best Things You Missed…
The Shawscoop
In 2009, Sri Lankan cricket legend Tillakaratne Mudiyanselage Dilshan invented a new batting stroke called The Dilscoop. Thanks to Jarrod Kimber’s turn on Effectively Wild’s Multisport Sabermetrics Exchange Series, I am lucky enough to have this piece of trivia lodged firmly in my brain.
The Dilscoop specifically involves hitting the ball behind you over the wicket because cricket is insane. You can see some examples in this highlight reel of the man himself demonstrating the stroke. This technique has been rattling around in my brain for the better part of a year with nowhere to go because, again, cricket is insane and I live in Brooklyn, but then tonight I saw that none other than his honor, the Mayor of Ding Dong City himself, Travis Shaw seemed to accidentally pull it off in the Yankees game:
"Did I just do what I think I did?" -Travis Shaw, probably pic.twitter.com/cZ2XLvwhYS
— Cut4 (@Cut4) September 17, 2020
Unfortunately for Shaw, the field of play in baseball only extends in front of the batsman, but maybe this is the beginning of a whole new era of two-sport players as guys go form baseball to cricket! Imagine the possibilities!
Heel Turn
New York wasn’t the only place where the influence of British sport showed up in our fine game, as out in Milwaukee it was Brandon Woodruff who played a sharp grounder off of his foot and deflected the ball… directly to first base.
Kick save. @B_Woody24 I #ThisIsMyCrew pic.twitter.com/mmZUWzooAA
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) September 16, 2020
Maybe “deflected” is the wrong word here as it seems like it shortchanges the accuracy there. Maybe Woodruff clearly intended to kick that ball directly over there. Yes, let’s go with that explanation.
LA Clinchers
|￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣|
| THE @Dodgers |
| CLINCHED A |
| POSTSEASON |
| SPOT |
| ＿＿＿＿＿_____ |
(__/) ||
(•ㅅ•) ||
/ づ pic.twitter.com/hexBRLvOXe— Cut4 (@Cut4) September 17, 2020
We got out first postseason clinch of the 2020 season yesterday when the Dodgers took down the Padres by a score of 7-5. In his post-game presser Dave Roberts said nobody on the team really knew this was a clincher game, and they do still have to wait to see if they hold on to the top spot in the NL West, but LA got the X next to their name in the standings.
Now, that’s all well and good for Dodgers fans, but it also serves as the perfect excuse to spotlight some wonderful work by Jessica Brand, who did some detective work on Wednesday morning. You see, the ball in the Dodgers logo is shown flying at 24 degrees, and Jessica looked back through the batted ball info for LAD hitters to find that this Corey Seager grand slam from May of 2019 matched that launch angle perfectly.
So today, celebrate LA clinching the first 2020 playoff berth by watching this, “the quintessential Dodger home run:”
https://gfycat.com/distortedethicalfrilledlizard
Cleveland Takes Cover
We got yet another drone delay on Wednesday, this time in Chicago. It was Cleveland’s first experience with this troublingly common phenomenon, and Francisco Lindor and José Ramírez turned to the umpires for protection.
https://gfycat.com/bowedinsecurecommabutterfly
https://gfycat.com/nearaggravatingfinnishspitz
Both bullpens also came out onto the field to see what all the fuss was about, which seems counterproductive given that they were in the middle of stopping play and clearing the players into their respective dugouts…
Willson Contreras had his own ideas about how to handle the high-tech interloper, and I’m starting to side more with him every time this happens.
https://twitter.com/MLBastian/status/1306410423688859650
Ducks on the Pond
We’ve seen fans hanging around certain stadiums during games when there’s either the potential to watch games or catch homers, and McCovey Cove right outside of Oracle Park in San Francisco is definitely an example of the latter. Wednesday night, the boaters that were gathered there didn’t have to wait for any splash hits, though, as the Giants decided to keep their reflexes fresh by feeding them some balls they seemed to have just laying around.
https://gfycat.com/grayboldangora
With the air quality getting markedly better around the Bay Area, chilling in a kayak shagging some balls seems like a pretty nice way to spend the afternoon. I hope that Dave and Steve enjoyed their time out there.
Hat Trick in Anaheim
The Diamondbacks/Angels game last night turned into a bit of a slugfest, including this bomb off the bat of Justin Upton in the 6th inning:
https://gfycat.com/bountifulwiltedhairstreakbutterfly
397 feet is an impressive feat, but I am equally impressed by what happened when the ball got to the bullpen:
https://gfycat.com/spotlessblankbeagle
That’s Noé Ramirez there with the casual hat catch, and then some well-deserved adulation from his fellow pitchers. Noe would later come into the game and throw two scoreless innings, so his mojo doesn’t end with defensive gems.