Rico Brogna for hitting coach? Really?

By Craig CalcaterraNov 12, 2013, 5:33 PM EDT

And now your weird rumor of the day:

Heard that former Mets first baseman Rico Brogna is close to joining Angels staff, possibly as assistant hitting coach.

— Mike Puma (@NYPost_Mets) November 12, 2013

This is not weird simply because Brogna was a pretty bad hitter with a pretty bad approach to hitting for much of his career. I mean, there are a lot of hitting coaches who weren’t themselves good hitters. It’s more about communication and identification of others’ flaws. By the same token, just because you could hit doesn’t mean you’d make a good hitting coach. You want Manny Ramirez to coach your hitters? Does he even know why he murdered baseballs so effectively? Not gonna bet a lot on it!

But it is weird in that Brogna has spent almost his entire post-playing career coaching high school football and basketball and stuff. He spent a year managing in minor league baseball, but for the most part he’s been a multi-sport journeyman coach, making tons of stops. The lack of obvious hitting coach bona fides and the fact that he’s been mostly away from the game for a decade plus is what makes this weird.

But hey, it’s just the assistant hitting coach’s job. And that’s a job that didn’t really exist a couple of years ago, so let us not get too hung up about it.

Cardinals walk off on controversial double by Yadier Molina

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By Bill BaerSep 29, 2016, 10:52 PM EDT

Update (11:09 PM EDT):

#MLB clarification, from second talk with umps: The rule at end of game is for an "immediate" challenge by #reds. 10/30 rule doesn't apply.

— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) September 30, 2016

From unlucky to lucky, the Cardinals maintained their position in the National League Wild Card race with walk-off victory over the Reds on Thursday night.

The Cardinals went into the top of the ninth with a 3-2 lead over the Reds, but saw the game tied when Scott Schebler dribbled a two-strike, two out ground ball down the third base line. It seemed as if the baseball gods had turned their backs on the Cardinals.

In the bottom of the ninth against reliever Blake Wood, Matt Carpenter drew a one-out walk. Randal Grichuk then struck out, leaving all of the Cardinals’ hopes on Yadier Molina. Molina went ahead 2-0 in the count, then ripped a 95 MPH fastball to left field. The ball bounced high and over the left field fence for what seemed like an obvious ground-rule double. Carpenter motored around third base and scored the winning run.

The Cardinals poured onto the field in celebration and the umpires walked off the field. Manager Bryan Price wanted to have the play reviewed, but when he went onto the field, the umpires were nowhere to be found. Price chased after them but to no avail. As the Cardinals left the field and the stadium emptied, the Reds remained in the dugout. The Reds’ relievers were left in a bit of purgatory, standing aimlessly in left field after exiting the bullpen. Finally, the game was announced as complete over the P.A. system at Busch Stadium. The results are great if you’re a Cardinals fan, but terrible if you’re a Mets or Giants fan.

As Jon Morosi points out, the rules clearly state that the signage above the fence in left field is out of the field of play. The umpires got it wrong.

Price, however, also took too long to speak to the umpires. Per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Spoke to umpires and #reds did not show an intent to challenge w/in 10 seconds (per rule), did not challenge w/in 30 (per rule). #cardinals

— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) September 30, 2016

If this happened between two teams playing a meaningless game, it would’ve been a lot easier to swallow, but Thursday’s Reds-Cardinals game had implications on not only the Cardinals’ future, but the Mets’ and Giants’ as well.

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Freddie Freeman’s hitting streak ends at 30 games

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