(EDITOR’S NOTE: This update was written Saturday morning, September 9. But BP didn’t update before we left at 9:45 AM to travel to Seattle to see Sam play soccer and visit with my daughter and her family. The update wasn’t done yet at 3:00 pm. It was done at 9:00 pm when I next checked. I plugged in the standings and the stats, but I didn’t alter what I had written. I apologize for any confusion caused by delaying the Friday update until after the Saturday games were done. )
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Yesterday I wanted to write a nice long post about things previously unseen, spinning off Ender Inciarte swiping both second base and Dee Gordon’s glove on the same play. But it was a busy day, and I only got the intro done.
Today I want to write about Michael Taylor.
.
If I recall correctly — it’s been a long time since I was there — championship teams get their occasions for celebration in bulk. They come in packages of hundreds — a hundred wins (if you’re in the EFL), a hundred dominant pitching performances, a hundred times when you have a hitter go 4 for 5, a hundred appearances on highlight reels, a hundred post-season innings. Championship teams buy their triumphs wholesale. They come cheap.
But when your team languishes all season near the bottom of the standings, you take delivery of your triumphs one at a time. One day a pitcher with a 5.60 ERA pitches a complete game shutout. Three weeks later your veteran slugger dominates for one day like he did in his long-lost prime. Just as that memory fades your misspent first round draft pick looks for three at-bats like what you used to think he’d look routinely. What comes in bulk are the days between your triumphs when your team OPSes under .300 and your pitchers spend the day delivering earned runs in boxes of 8. Triumphs are rare and precious for bottom-dwelling teams. Failures come in bulk.
As plentiful as those failures are, they still don’t come cheap. They empty your tank. They weigh you down.
For those of us in the frequent failure club, a single moment of triumph is a candle in a very dark place. So when there are two, or even three, on the same day, your dank cellar might as well be a park bathed in glorious sunshine. It’s like the woman who sweeps the entire house to find a lost coin. She celebrates with her neighbors.
Hello, neighbors.
…
| EFL | ||||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB | RS | RA |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 99 | 42 | .700 | — | 814.0 | 521.5 |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 93 | 48 | .659 | 5.8 | 724.4 | 521.4 |
| Haviland Dragons | 91 | 49 | .649 | 7.4 | 830.0 | 610.1 |
| Cottage Cheese | 87 | 54 | .618 | 11.6 | 758.9 | 592.7 |
| Portland Rosebuds | 83 | 58 | .590 | 15.6 | 801.4 | 655.4 |
| Peshastin Pears | 79 | 62 | .560 | 19.8 | 709.3 | 636.8 |
| Kaline Drive | 77 | 63 | .553 | 20.8 | 695.0 | 625.9 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 74 | 67 | .523 | 25 | 701.3 | 656.6 |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 67 | 74 | .472 | 32.1 | 667.8 | 711.9 |
| D.C. Balk | 55 | 86 | .393 | 43.3 | 694.1 | 867.2 |
Old Detroit: W 2, L (-1); 12 -3. (.484, .568, .903; 8 ip, 2 er) I think Michael Taylor was originally drafted as a rookie in 2015 by either the Kangaroos or the Pears. Either way, he didn’t blossom, so the Pears DFA’d him last winter. At our end of May meeting, I was desperate for OF at bats due to injuries and Kyle Schwarber. I picked Taylor off the scrap heap, opened the bidding for him at $1,000,000 for two years (in case he panned out) and no one bid me up. Going into last night’s game, Taylor was .262, .311, .466 — not terrible, but nothing spectacular for a 26-year old. I was happy to have him, but it wasn’t like he was a hero lifting the W’s out of their mediocrity.
Last night he was the second story on MLB’s news feed (after the Indians’ 16th straight win). He went 4 for 5, including a triple (which barely got a mention in the longer stories), a nifty throw from center to home to nab a greedy Philly at the plate, and … a grand slam inside the park home run.
Now, to be fair, Taylor’s throw home bounced and was up the line a bit toward third. It beat the runner, but Matt Wieters had to make a slick catch to apply the tag. Taylor scored on his homer because the throw home also bounced and was up the line toward third. The Phillies catcher didn’t do as well as Wieters. I am astonished how much I am enjoying Michael Taylor today.
And that’s to say nothing about Trea Turner, who was on the DL when I paid the Pears a Kluber-sized ransom. Turner went three for four with a walk, a double and a homer in the same game. Nor about Jeimer Candelario, plucked from the Rosebuds in the First Machado Trade, who started a beautiful triple play for the Tigers. Watch this video, and notice his footwork as he spun to his right, snagged the ball, and then used third base to stop his spin and square up for his throw to second. (Also notice how none of the announcers — all masters of their craft — could keep up with the play in their descriptions. And how they mispronounced “Candelahrio” as “Candelairio”.) Nor about Matt Chapman, for whom a week ago I bid everything the Dragons had so his 3 for 4 with a homer could happen in Old Detroit. Nor about Shane Greene, snagged in last winter’s Rule 5 draft from the insufficiently appreciative Kangaroos. Greene pitched a scoreless inning to save the Tigers’ 5-4 win. Nor about Matt Moore, for whom we all agree I vastly overpaid, who turned in another strong start (6.7 ip, 2 er). Nor even about Emilio Pagan, also just drafted, who threw a total of three pitches, all sliders for strikes.
One of the pop companies has a pair of annoying ads, aimed like a laser at callow college freshmen, encouraging them to celebrate tiny triumphs like getting a text from a cute “girl” or “boy” by drinking an entire can of their product. Anybody who routinely follows that company’s advice will render themselves so unattractive they would, indeed, have cause to throw a party to celebrate a text message. Thank you, patient neighbors, for attending my party celebrating a baker’s half-dozen text messages from the baseball goddesses on a single day. Now pardon me while I finish my six-pack of pop.
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Canberra: W 0, L 2; 5 – 16. (.091, .231, .091; 1 ip, 0 er) Carson Smith didn’t get anyone out, but he did surrender 3 earned runs. It was all in a good cause, though — a crucial part of the Yankee’s 11-10 loss. (Yes, I know, the Rangers are competing with the Mariners for the final wild card spot, so there was a downside. But do you really think the M’s are playoff material? So why not savor the positives in Carson Smith’s performance?)
| AL East | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 93 | 48 | .659 | — |
| Boston Red Sox | 80 | 61 | .567 | 12.9 |
| New York Yankees | 75 | 65 | .536 | 17.4 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 74 | 67 | .523 | 19.2 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 71 | 70 | .504 | 21.9 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 70 | 72 | .493 | 23.4 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 64 | 77 | .454 | 28.9 |
| NL East | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Washington Nationals | 87 | 54 | .617 | — |
| Miami Marlins | 68 | 73 | .482 | 19 |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 67 | 74 | .472 | 20.4 |
| Atlanta Braves | 62 | 78 | .443 | 24.5 |
| New York Mets | 62 | 79 | .440 | 25 |
| D.C. Balk | 55 | 86 | .393 | 31.6 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 53 | 88 | .376 | 34 |
| AL Central | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 99 | 42 | .700 | — |
| Cleveland Indians | 85 | 56 | .603 | 13.7 |
| Minnesota Twins | 74 | 67 | .525 | 24.7 |
| Kansas City Royals | 69 | 71 | .493 | 29.2 |
| Detroit Tigers | 60 | 80 | .429 | 38.2 |
| Chicago White Sox | 54 | 86 | .386 | 44.2 |
| NL Central | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Cottage Cheese | 87 | 54 | .618 | — |
| Chicago Cubs | 77 | 64 | .546 | 10.2 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 73 | 68 | .518 | 14.2 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 73 | 68 | .518 | 14.2 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 67 | 75 | .472 | 20.7 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 61 | 81 | .430 | 26.7 |
| AL West | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Haviland Dragons | 91 | 49 | .649 | — |
| Houston Astros | 86 | 54 | .614 | 4.8 |
| Kaline Drive | 77 | 63 | .553 | 13.4 |
| Los Angeles Angels | 72 | 69 | .511 | 19.3 |
| Texas Rangers | 71 | 69 | .507 | 19.8 |
| Seattle Mariners | 70 | 71 | .496 | 21.3 |
| Oakland A’s | 60 | 80 | .429 | 30.8 |
| NL West | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 92 | 49 | .652 | — |
| Portland Rosebuds | 83 | 58 | .590 | 8.8 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 82 | 59 | .582 | 10 |
| Peshastin Pears | 79 | 62 | .560 | 13.1 |
| Colorado Rockies | 76 | 65 | .539 | 16 |
| San Diego Padres | 64 | 78 | .451 | 28.5 |
| San Francisco Giants | ||||