FYI: No Sim Season broadcast today, but we will have a recap of the events up later this afternoon.
Did Matt Holliday actually touch home plate? | MLB.com
I’m willing to go on record with the statement that the answer to this question doesn’t matter because he was ruled safe and the Rockies won the game and that’s all that matters. In fact, I have several beefs with this question even being asked, especially with the Zapruder-like footage breakdowns (look it up, kids) we often see, especially from Padres fans. And, for my money, the definitive article was written nearly three years ago and was linked in yesterday’s Rockpile.
So why do I like this here? For one thing, it’s a solid in-depth analysis that tries to approach the subject dispassionately, which I can appreciate. Second, the author links to one of the best Rockies commercials ever. But most importantly, it gives justice to Garrett Akins, pointing out that even if replay would’ve overturned Holliday’s slide home, it would’ve already given Atkins a two-run donger instead of an RBI double in the sixth. This would’ve had the Rockie celebrating in the top of the ninth instead of the bottom of the thirteenth. So, give it a read and know it deserves credit for telling the whole story.
What happened to those 2012 Double-A All-Stars? | Roxpile
One thing that I have Purple Row to thank is for turning my attention to following the minor leagues, especially during the fallow years of Rockies baseball. My first ever post on the site (maybe even before my first comment) was this piece about driving 2-1/2 hours to see Jon Gray pitch in a Double-A game in Arkansas back when he was a top 3 PuRP.
So trips down memory lane are fantastic opportunities to check and see how our various predictions fared. Kevin Henry takes a trip to the 2012 Texas League All-Star game, a game in which many Rockies farmhands made an appearance. I’ll spot you Nolan Arenado but I wonder: how many of the seven 2012 Tulsa Drillers made the All-Star squad that year?
Fauci, Leading Fight Against Coronavirus, Misses Baseball, Too | New York Times
First off, can we all agree that Dr. Anthony Fauci (and Dr. Deborah Birx, and probably a host of other epidemiological leaders) deserves a Presidential Medal of Freedom—or better—once all this mess is over? Anyway, it’s nice to hear that those of us missing baseball and desperate to get the games back on the field are not alone and not without a voice in the highest offices in the land.
To relieve the stress, he runs daily. But what he really wants, like so many sports fans, is just to go to a baseball game.
“I don’t think there’s any place that I relax more than sitting in Nats Park and watching my now world champion Nats play a game,” Fauci, 79, who grew up in Brooklyn rooting for the Yankees and is now a Washington Nationals fan, said in an interview this week.
The article is not behind a paywall so you can read the whole thing. One interesting bit of information buried in the interview is that Fauci acknowledges that certain parts of the country are in a better position to return to normalcy due to the lower rate of infection and the response capabilities and he specifically names “the Mountain region.” Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean Colorado, it does lend a semblance of hope to the idea that maybe, just maybe, baseball can get back to Coors Field soon, even if we can’t all get together and watch it in person.