There are bat flips and then there are Bat Flips. This is both. This is everything. This is all that a bat flip video needs to be. It is story. A saga of human achievement. The heights of euphoria and the depths of despair.
It is also encoded to prevent embedding. So we shall embark together on a journey. A journey to the very core of our own humanity. We will learn of both the agency of a man as well as his place in his realm.
Read on…
Minor League Baseball is giving fans the chance to cast their vote in a competition to declare the Greatest of the Gut Busters. Calories and high cholesterol levels for all!
MiLB is asking fans to vote on their website, or by using the hashtag #FoodFight. There are 16 food items to choose from, including the Lake Elsinore Storm’s ‘Homewrecker’ (pictured above), which is made of “three half-pound all-beef hot dogs, 1.5 pounds of French fries, two pounds of chili, three-quarters of a pound of cheese and diced onions and bacon”. On top of it all, the Homewrecker is free if eaten in 45 minutes or less. Sign me up.
The Philadelphia Phillies have signed free agent right-hander Carlos Zambrano to a minor league deal, Ken Rosenthal reports. As it was reported yesterday, Zambrano walked away from an agreement with the Long Island Ducks of the Independent Atlantic League in an effort to concentrate on landing a deal with a Major League team. A sound decision from Big Z’s camp, if he can crack the roster.
Zambrano bounced between the starting rotation and bullpen with the Miami Marlins last season, to mostly mediocre results. While Zambrano’s velocity has remained roughly the same over the last few seasons, his fastball usage has declined every year since 2007. The big righty has gradually increased the number of split-finger fastballs he’s thrown, relying on it 21.1% of the time in 2012. The longball has never really been a big problem for Zambrano, but he did raise his groundball rate to 49% last season, the highest total he’s registered since 2005.
The Phillies could use some help in their rotation with Roy Halladay on the shelf for the foreseeable future. Whether or not Zambrano will help fill that void depends on how effective he can prove himself to be in the minors.
To his eternal credit, Jeremy Guthrie is having a very unusual season. Unusual for Jeremy Guthrie in that he’s pitched very well and Jeremy Guthrie is the human embodiment of serviceable. He has a very low ERA and a sparkling 5-1 won/loss record. Before last night, it was a 5-0 record.
Last night, Jeremy Guthrie posted one of the weirdest pitching lines you’ll ever see. It was the anti-FIP start for the ages. And that was tip of Guthrie’s weirdness iceberg.
They call it a language “barrier” for a reason. It seems very easy for words and thoughts to be twisted, misconstrued or even misrepresented when passed through the many channels and filters required to turn one set of words into another.
Last night in Toronto, Melky Cabrera faced his former team for the first time since he was suspended 50 games for failing a drug test. Melky’s departure from San Francisco was an odd one, as he simply vanished from the clubhouse, failing to wish his teammates good luck or bid them fair well. Nothing, Melky was gone, told by someone that he was to leave immediately after his suspension was announced.
The Giants did quite well without Melky’s contributions, winning the 2012 World Series with Melky watching from home. He was not added to their post-season roster when he became available after the Division series, the Giants preferring to stick with the postseason group they had.
Last night was Melky’s chance to receive his World Series ring from the Giants, a thank you for his contributions during the first 110 games of the season. After some discussion between PR camps, it was decided — at Melky’s behest — to perform the ceremony quietly and away from the public eye.
Thus began an odd night of he said, she said.
Well if this isn’t just too cute I don’t even know what is. Something about Ryu brings out the best in people, be they K-Pop stars or little kids named Deuce.
This kid has quite an arm, I’m sure this clip will play well in his 2028 NL Rookie of the Year video montage.
Hat tip to Joe of Bleed Blue Crew
Forgive us for coming at you so late in the day, but the Getting Blanked podcast is here. We talked about the struggling Los Angels of Anaheim and the death of Scioscialism, and the great Bryce Harper-Mike Trout-Manny Machado discussion. Hit us up with your earholes.
Listen to the podcast directly here.
Subscribe to Getting Blanked on iTunes to ensure the podcast, daily video show and other life-changing materials goes straight to your device of choice each week. Or, you can hook up the RSS feed here if that is more your style.
Some (underlined) Mint Musical Interludes courtesy of The Constantines and Arts & Crafts Records and Deathwish Records. Check out the full catologue and buy what you like. It’s the right thing to do.
