HBT Weekend Wrapup

Observed about the NFL, based on reading my twitter feed: no one likes any team. I swear, the number of tweets I saw this weekend that were basically “God, I can’t stand Team X,” or “Is it possible for both teams to lose this game?” or “I hate Team X, but I hate Team Y more, so I suppose I hope Team X wins I guess,” was staggering. For every on basic “Go team!” tweet, there were 50 of the others.

Is following the NFL really that negative an experience? Is it all “you suck!”? Because I really don’t think I could handle that at all. Aside from the occasional eye-roll at yet another hyped-up Yankees-Red Sox series, you never see that in baseball. And even then, the ire is directed more at the network for forcing coverage than it is the teams.

Oh well. Different strokes for different, vastly different sports, one of which is awesome and the other of which seems to bring out the worst in humanity. Now, the links you missed:

The Yankees would consider trading Joba Chamberlain for a starter. Imagine how much more they’d get for him if they hadn’t run his value straight into the ground.
FOX is lending Frank McCourt money to keep the Dodgers afloat. Imagine how much more awesome that team would be if he hadn’t run its value straight into the ground.
119 players filed for arbitration. Only a dozen or so will actually go through an arbitration hearing. Please, think of all of the attorneys who have had their time wasted drafting unnecessary documents and preparing unused arguments.
News about Red Sox shortstops is like news about Spinal Tap drummers.
Ron Santo is going to get a statue at Wrigley Field. The Hall of Fame Veteran’s Committee will hold a vote about whether they like it and ultimately will say, no, they do not.
Jim Thome left money on the table to stay with the Twins. I didn’t read the article, but I bet if Thome commented on it, the comment started with “Gosh, I …” Even if it didn’t make the article you know he said it and the reporter just dropped that part of the quote.
Brian Cashman has the Steinbrenners’ full confidence. Observed: whenever something good happens with the Yankees, Cashman is praised as a genius. Whenever something bad happens, it’s “Cashman’s hands are being tied by ownership.” We worry about him sometimes, but it’s actually a pretty sweet gig to be Brian Cashman.
Ozzie Canseco got a DUI. Watch: Jose will get one next, and it will be way, way better.
Pablo Sandoval is in the best shape of his life. Or not. Look, I don’t want to hate on Sandoval, but I remember when Oprah went on that crash diet and looked pretty awesome too and that didn’t work out so well. Hell, I remember last winter when people were talking about him being in better shape post-Camp Panda. Yes, the picture is impressive, but I’ll believe the Panda has gotten into great shape when he looks the same in September that he looks in January and when it doesn’t seem like he’s sweating gravy when he goes after a ball at third.
Joey Votto gets a three-year, $38 million extension from the Reds. Seems like a great deal for the Reds.
Astros prospoect Delino DeShields Jr. got a DUI. Watch: his dad will get one next, and it will be way, way better.
Drew Silva is an educated Cardinals fan, and he breaks down the Albert Pujols negotiations for those of us who are neither of those things.
I used to think that Jim Hendry had pictures of the Cubs’ owners engaged in some scandalous behavior in order to keep his job. Now that he’s had such inexplicable job security across two ownership regimes, I need to think of another explanation.
The Cardinals wisely decide that having one outfielder out of position is enough.

Now, let us begin a week of people saying why the Bears, Packers, Jets and Steelers all suck.

We’re about an hour and a half separated from the first pitch of Wednesday night’s Marlins/Braves game that featured Marlins starter José Ureña hitting Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña on the elbow with a first-pitch, 97.5 MPH fastball. The benches emptied, Ureña was ejected, and the game went on. Acuña left the game not long after to tend to his injured elbow.

After the game, when the Marlins speak to the media, they will almost certainly deny any ill intent towards Acuña, who had hit leadoff home runs in three consecutive games against them. When they do so, they will be lying. Watch how catcher J.T. Realmuto sets up on the first pitch.

ESPN Stats & Info notes that Ureña’s 97.5 MPH fastball was in the 99th percentile in terms of velocity of the 2,125 pitches he has thrown this season. It was also the fastest pitch Ureña has ever thrown to begin a game. Ureña put a little extra mustard on this pitch, for some reason.

Ureña has a 6.8 percent walk rate, which ranks 37th out of 95 starters with at least 100 innings of work this season. The major league average is eight percent. Control isn’t typically something with which he struggles.

Furthermore, Acuña isn’t the only player who has drawn Ureña’s ire:

Rhys Hoskins has been prepared to fight Jose Urena on multiple occasions this season, including 2 weeks ago at CBP. Tonight Urena drills Ronald Acuna with the first pitch he throws because Acuna has been hitting too many HR against his team. Nonsense. https://t.co/reR7m4HKyu

— Sean Kane (@SKaneNBCS) August 16, 2018

Ureña wanted nothing to do with Hoskins — even though Hoskins has yet to get a hit off of him — in his August 4 start at home against the Phillies, walking him twice which included a few up-and-in pitches.

Ureña will almost certainly be fined and suspended for his actions on Wednesday night against Acuña. But will his punishment be enough to deter him and others from wielding a baseball as a weapon? Probably not. On June 19, when Marlins starter Dan Straily intentionally threw at Buster Posey, he received a five-game suspension and manager Don Mattingly was suspended one game. If you look at Straily’s game logs, you can’t even tell he was suspended. He started six days later on June 25 against the Diamondbacks and again on July 1 and 6. Because starters only pitch once every five days, it was like he wasn’t even suspended at all.

Major League Baseball needs to levy harsher punishments on players who attempt to injure other players. A 15-game suspension, for example, would force Ureña to miss at least two starts and it would inconvenience the Marlins enough to more seriously weigh the pros and cons of exacting revenge. The Marlins couldn’t work around it the way they did Straily by pushing back his scheduled start one day.

Major League Baseball also needs to make a legitimate effort to do away with this culture of revenge against players who are just a little bit too happy. Batters get thrown at when they flip their bats, when they yell at themselves in frustration, and even when they’re just hitting well. Baseball’s stagnating audience is very old, very white, and very male. It is not going to bring in fans from diverse backgrounds by keeping this antiquated culture that prevents baseball players from showing their personalities and being emotive. In the event Acuña needs to go on the disabled list for a couple weeks, that’s two weeks that Acuña isn’t on SportsCenter’s top-10, isn’t on the front page of MLB.com, and isn’t in articles like this. The culture of revenge is actively harming MLB’s ability to market its bright, young stars. If ending this culture of revenge doesn’t hit MLB from a moral angle, it should absolutely hit home from a business angle.

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