Luke Scott: "Obama does not represent America ... he was not born here" - MLB

Yesterday Orioles’ DH Luke Scott came into the media room here at the Winter Meetings. No real reason, it seemed. He was with Buck Showalter when Showalter was doing his manager availability, and was kind of standing around. I snapped this picture of him because I thought it was pretty sweet that he was walking around with a new beard, a trucker’s cap and an 8×10 glossy of deer that he killed.

After I took the pic Dave Brown of Yahoo! went over to talk to Scott. For those who don’t know, Dave is a fantastic interviewer, with his Answer Man columns easily topping any Q and A out there. He always manages to elicit fun stuff from his subjects. I’m not sure what he got out of Scott can be classified as “fun,” however. More like “nutsy, unhinged crapola.”

After a lot of conversation about hunting, Scott made some comments about socialism. Dave asked him what he thought of the job Obama is doing. Scott launched into outer space:

Obama … hmm … Obama does not represent America. Nor does he represent anything what our forefathers stood for … He was not born here. That’s my belief. I was born here. If someone accuses me of not being born here, I can go — within 10 minutes — to my filing cabinet and I can pick up my real birth certificate and I can go, “See? Look! Here it is.

At which point in the column Dave provides a link and an image of Obama’s birth certificate. Because it exists and it is valid and people who argue to the contrary are either idiots or liars or sheep or all three.

So, Luke Scott: excellent hitter. Polite fellow in person. Complete nutjob.

Audio of Scott’s comments is available on this MSNBC report.

TAMPA, Fla. — Anthony Volpe grew up watching Derek Jeter star at shortstop for the New York Yankees.

Now, the 21-year-old is getting the chance to be the Yankees’ opening day shortstop against the San Francisco Giants.

The team announced after a 6-2 win over Toronto in spring training that Volpe had won the spot. New York manager Aaron Boone called the kid into his office to deliver the news.

“My heart was beating pretty hard,” said Volpe, rated one of baseball’s best prospects. “Incredible. I’m just so excited. It’s hard for me to even put into words.”

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, hitting coach Dillon Lawson and bench coach Carlos Mendoza were also present.

Volpe was able to share the news with his parents and other family members near the Yankees’ dugout and said it is something he will never forget.

“It was pretty emotional,” Volpe said. “It was just an unbelievable moment to share with them.”

Volpe, who grew up a Yankees fan, lived in Manhattan as a child before moving to New Jersey. Jeter was his favorite player.

“It’s very surreal,” Volpe said. “I’ve only ever been to games at Yankee Stadium and for the most part only watched him play there.”

Volpe is hitting .314 with three homers, five RBIs and a .417 on-base percentage in 17 Grapefruit League games. He has just 22 games of experience at Triple-A.

Spring training started with Volpe, Oswald Peraza and holdover Isiah Kiner-Falefa competing for the everyday shortstop job. Kiner-Falefa was shifted into a utility role midway through camp, and Peraza was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Sunday evening.

“While certainly the performance was there, he killed it between the lines,” Boone said of Volpe. “All the other things that we’ve been hearing about showed up. There’s an energy he plays the game with, and an instinct that he has that is evident. He really checked every box that we could have had for him. Absolutely kicked the door in and earned his opportunity.”

Volpe arrived in Florida in December to work out at the Yankees’ minor league complex.

“He’s earned the right to take that spot, and we’re excited for him and excited for us,” Cashman said. “He just dominated all sides of the ball during February and March, and that bodes well obviously for him as we move forward.”

Volpe was selected out of high school with the 30th overall pick in the 2019 draft from Delbarton School in New Jersey. He passed up a college commitment to Vanderbilt to sign with the Yankees.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get into the organization,” Volpe said. “This day, this feeling, this moment was kind of what I’ve worked my whole life for when I made that big decision.”

“Right now it’s crazy,” he added. “I don’t even know what lies ahead but Thursday I just want to go out and play, and have fun.”

Luke Scott: “Obama does not represent America … he was not born here”

Anthony Volpe, 21, wins Yankees’ starting shortstop job