Yasiel Puig shows up late to the ballpark today, gets benched

By Craig CalcaterraApr 4, 2014, 2:01 PM EDT
60 Comments

Dude. I’ve done my damndest to defend you, but at some point you gotta help me help you:

Kemp was supposed to sit this one out, but Mattingly has benched Puig. Which — my past defenses of him notwithstanding — is exactly what he should do in this situation. Do the crime, such as it is, do the time.

My beef has never been with Mattingly or the Dodgers handling Puig the way he should be handled. It’s been about overreaction of the media with respect to his behavior and the implication that he’s not manageable via the same means via which any other ballplayer is subject.

This is a clear violation of Puig’s responsibilities. Mattingly has made him pay for it. Now let’s see if that’s good enough for everyone. I feel like it won’t be.

UPDATE: Nope, it isn’t. Read this for the most ridiculously over-heated response to this.

Jose Altuve leads all vote-getters in All-Star balloting

Getty Images
By Craig CalcaterraJun 19, 2018, 12:58 PM EDT
9 Comments

The latest update to the All-Star voting is in and it reveals that Astros second baseman Jose Altuve is the leading vote-getter in all of baseball. Altuve, on his way to his sixth All-Star appearance and fourth starting selection in a row, has has 1,572,101 votes. Altuve leads the Majors with a .342 batting average and 102 hits.

At other positions Tampa Bay Rays catcher Wilson Ramos has overtaken Gary Sánchez of the New York Yankees at catcher, José Abreu of the White Sox leads at first, third base is led by José Ramírez of the Indians, Manny Machado of Orioles leads at short, Boston’s J.D. Martinez paces the DHs and the Sox’ Mookie Betts, the Angels’ Mike Trout and the Yankees’ Aaron Judge round out the starters.

Vote totals: