Cup of Coffee: August 31, 2023

Wander Franco is in hotter water, the Yankees and Mets are calling up well-known prospects, hiking, Oliver North, America's gerontocracy, and how not to defend yourself

Good morning! And welcome to Free Thursday!

I’m glad you’re here today, folks. Take a load off and get yourself caught up before the rest of your day gets going.

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And That Happened

Here are the scores. Here are the highlights:

Angels 10, Phillies 8: Trea Turner’s three-run shot in the sixth put Philly up after they had trailed almost all game long, but then then Hunter Renfroe knocked in two in the top of the eighth to give the Angels the lead. That’s when Bryce Harper’s 300th career home run — a two-run shot in the bottom of the eighth — turned that 7-6 Angels lead into an 8-7 Phillies lead. But that was not the last word here, as the Angels rallied for three runs off of Craig Kimbrel in the top of the ninth, capped by Brandon Drury’s tie-breaking, two-run homer to take the lead and ultimately the game.

As for Harper, 28 hitters have hit their 300th career home run before the end of their age-30 season. Of those 28, 15 have reached the 500 mark in their career. If Harper is to do that he’ll have to go on a run of better health than he’s had for most of his time in the bigs, but it’s doable. Especially given how long he’s slated to be under contract.

White Sox 10, Orioles 5: Baltimore had an early 4-0 lead but Luis Robert Jr., Andrew Vaughn, and Óscar Colás went deep for the Chisox, preventing a third straight blowout loss to the O’s. Baltimore starter Kyle Gibson was beaten up pretty badly, allowing seven runs on nine hits over four and a third.

Guardians 5, Twins 2: The Twins were one strike away from winning this thing in regulation but Jhoan Durán uncorked a wild pitch with a runner on third that tied the game. In the tenth the Guardians put runners on the corners before Kole Calhoun smacked a three-run homer that ended up giving the game to Cleveland. As a result of this loss the Twins lead in the Central is now down to five games. They have an upcoming three-game series against the Guardians in Cleveland next Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday so that race is not yet over, even if Cleveland basically gave up on it a month ago.

Cardinals 5, Padres 4: Josh Hader surrendered a walkoff two-run homer to Tommy Edman. This a day after he surrendered a walkoff RBI single to Edman. I’d say that the Padres shouldn’t pitch Josh Hader against the Cardinals again tonight, but given that the Padres host the Giants, that won’t happen. A lot of you have been talking about luck in general and the Padres bad luck specifically in the comments in recent days, so it’s worth noting now that San Diego is 6-22 in one-run games this year. Improbable to say the least.

Cubs 3, Brewers 2: The Cubs had only three hits in this game. The third and final one came via Cody Bellinger hitting a ball up the middle that slammed off the right ankle of Milwaukee reliever Joel Payamps and over to the third baseman, whose throw was not in time to get Bellinger at first, thereby allowing Mike Tauchman to score. Their other two hits came on an Ian Happ double in the first which also scored Tauchman and a Nico Hoerner single in the third that didn’t score anyone. Kyle Hendricks allowed one over six.

Blue Jays 7, Nationals 0: Eight shutout innings from Chris Bassitt was more pitching than the Jays needed but he was happy to oblige. The combined shutout constituted the 13th time Toronto has held a team scoreless this year. Two other teams — the Guardians and the Mariners — also have 13 shutouts. Only one team, Atlanta, which has 15, has blanked more opponents. Alejandro Kirk had three hits and three RBI, Santiago Espinal had two hits and two RBI, and Ernie Clement had two hits and drove in a run.

Reds 4, Giants 1: Christian Encarnacion-Strand had four hits including a home and drove in three. Hunter Greene allowed one run, unearned, while pitching into the sixth and four relievers blanked the Giants the rest of the way. Cincinnati avoids the sweep.

Astros 7, Red Sox 4: Framber Valdez took a shutout into the sixth before running out of gas, but he and his teammates were able to make like the Gimli Glider and set ‘er down without any critical damage. Houston completes the three-game sweep in Fenway and wins its fifth straight overall.

Mariners 5, Athletics 4: The Mariners rallied from a pair of deficits thanks to Teoscar Hernández’s three-run homer in the third and J.P. Crawford’s two-run single in the seventh. The M’s take two of three and win their 21st game in the month of August. What a late season run they’re on.

Yankees 6, Tigers 2: Gleyber Torres homered for the third straight game and DJ LaMahieu and Giancarlo Stanton also put balls over the fence. Gerrit Cole allowed two runs and four hits in six. The win makes it three in a row for New York and ensures their first series win in their last 11 series.

Rays 3, Marlins 0: You don’t see many games go nil-nil through nine innings but this one did with Zach Eflin and Jesús Luzardo trading goose eggs and the pens keeping it quiet until the tenth. Then the Marlins put in David Robertson, who gave up singles to the first two batters he faced, one of which plated the Manfred Man. After that Randy Arozarena singled to put two more across for the Rays and that score held. The Rays take both games of the two-game set and have won four in a row overall.

Mets 6, Rangers 5: DJ Stewart did it all, homering twice, including an eighth inning two-run shot that tied it up and forced extras. It looked like Texas would take the lead by virtue of loading the bases with no outs in the top of the 10th, but they couldn’t score. The Mets loaded the bases in the bottom half and Stewart struck again. Or, well, he was struck. By an Aroldis Chapman pitch to be precise, forcing in the winning run.

Pirates 4, Royals 1: Starter Andre Jackson and four relievers held the Royals to one run on four hits while striking out ten and Bryan Reynolds and Jack Suwinski homered. Suwinski also singled one in. Pittsburgh completes the three-game sweep. Kansas City is only one ahead of Oakland in the loss column for the worst record in baseball.

Atlanta 7, Rockies 3: Atlanta can bash your head in. Or they can give a rookie his first big league start and tie you up. That’s what Darius Vines did, allowing two runs on four hits in six innings. Normally I’d say it’s cruel to force a rookie to make his debut in Coors Field but against this current Rockies team it’s not really a threat, elevation notwithstanding. To be clear, Atlanta did bash Colorado’s head in here too, with Kevin Pillar, Marcell Ozuna, and Orlando Arcia all going deep. Arcia’s was Atlanta’s 250th homer of the year, by the way. That’s a new franchise record and there’s still more than a month left in the season. Mercy.

Dodgers 7, Diamondbacks 0: Freddie Freeman and Jason Heyward each hit two-run homers and Mookie Betts had two hits to raise his batting average in August to .453 which is ridiculous. Dodgers starter Ryan Pepiot was making his third big league start and allowed just two hits in five shutout innings. Ryan Yarbrough handled the final four frames and kept the blanking going. Los Angeles has won four in a row and seven of eight and have a 14.5 game lead in the NL West. Feeeeeeel like that’s a safe margin.

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The Daily Briefing

Dominican Republic authorities investigating Wander Franco in connection with a third underage girl

Dominican Republic authorities were already formally investigating Rays shortstop Wander Franco in connection with an alleged inappropriate relationship with one underage girl, and there are allegations of an inappropriate relationship with a second girl, though no formal investigation has been launched because she is reportedly not cooperating with authorities. Now, ESPN reports, there’s a third girl:

A special prosecutor in the Dominican Republic is investigating a second formal complaint that Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco engaged in a relationship with a minor, the latest of three accusations against the 22-year-old, sources told ESPN's Juan Recio.

After the first complaint against Franco was filed July 17, another girl alleged to the specialized prosecutor's office for boys, girls and adolescents that she had a relationship with Franco as a minor, sources said. While the third girl has not spoken to authorities, they are still investigating her alleged relationship with Franco, sources said.

Yeah, this is not going in a good direction for Mr. Franco.

Yankees to call up Jasson Domínguez

Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports that the New York Yankees will promote outfield prospect Jasson Domínguez to the majors once rosters expand on September 1.

Domínguez, 20, who has turned heads since signing with the Yankees as a 16 year old out of the Dominican Republic, has only appeared in eight Triple-A games through Tuesday, but he’s been pretty great in those eight games, going 12-for-27 with two doubles and a triple. Before that he had hit .254/.367/.414 with 15 home runs and 37 stolen bases in Double-A this season.

In most years the Yankees aren’t in the business of giving kids look-sees in September because they’re too busy jockeying for postseason position. Not so in 2023. Which is good for Domínguez and for fans who want to see him in The Bronx.  

The Mets are calling up a prospect too

Domínguez is not the only top prospect for a New York team who will make his big league debut soon. Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports that the Mets are going to call up top prospect Ronny Mauricio before Friday’s series opener against the Mariners.

Mauricio, 22, was signed by the Mets out of the Dominican Republic in 2017. He may not have had the initial fanfare that Domínguez got, but he has improved steadily over his time in the minors and is generally considered a top-5 overall prospect. This year he has hit .292/.346/.506 with 23 home runs over 116 games at Triple-A Syracuse.

I wish . . .

. . . I could be present for Trevor Frickin’ Bauer’s deposition, which is taking place today in the civil case filed against him by the San Diego woman who has credibly accused him of brutally assaulting her. I just cannot imagine a party to a case who would be easier to rattle and whose arrogance would cause him to say all kinds of things he shouldn’t say more than Bauer.

I don’t miss much about the law, but I always loved taking depositions. I truly enjoyed it. Especially when the witness is a hothead who thinks he’s smart despite being pretty friggin’ dumb. Those are the best. I would pay to be able to question Bauer for about eight or ten hours.

Jon Weisman returns to the Dodgers

I’m guessing most of you know Jon Weisman, either through his O.G. baseball blog Dodger Thoughts, his books, 100 Things Dodgers Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die and The Best of Dodger Thoughts, or his Substack newsletter Slayed by Voices. Beyond that Jon is just one of those guys who has been around the online baseball conversation forever.

From 2013 through 2017, Jon worked for the Los Angeles Dodgers, overseeing digital and print content for the club. Things like the magazine the Dodgers put out. Before and after that he worked in mainstream entertainment, working for Variety many years ago and, through today, as a Vice President at Showtime. As of tomorrow he’s back with the Dodgers once again:

Cannot be happier for Jon who, in addition to being eminently qualified for the gig, is an all around good dude.

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Other Stuff

Twelve milers

The general advice for getting ready to hike Wainwright’s Coast to Coast, apart from just being in decent shape and being mentally prepared and properly equipped to walk 192 damn miles, is to do two 12-mile hikes over two days on four occasions prior to departure. So, in addition to my gym work and my general walking around town and stuff, I did a 12-mile hike on a Friday and again on a Saturday in late July and then did it again a couple of weeks ago. I land in the UK two weeks from today so I have two weekends left and had planned to do my final two back-to-back 12 milers on those weekends.

Except I looked at the weather forecast for this weekend and saw that it was going to be in the 90s again and Jumpin’ Jesus on a pogo stick I am sick and damn tired of hiking in 90 degree weather. Since yesterday was an unseasonably cool 72 and today is expected to also be in the 70s before it begins to heat back up again, I decided to jump the gun and get my third back-to-back 12 milers in mid-week. So after I posted the newsletter yesterday I took off to a local Metropark and did my 12 miles between around 7:30 and 11:30AM. As you’re reading this I’m doing it again.

While that takes care of some essential training, it’s sort of sub-optimal for my midweek workflow. I tend to find almost all of my Other Stuff items in the morning while reading the various newspapers and other publications which I consume each day, but that didn’t happen yesterday due to the hiking. As such, today’s Other Stuff consists of some sorta low-hanging political stuff as opposed to weird cultural stories which I tend to enjoy much more. Sorry about that.

Still: the 12 milers have been pretty easy. While it’s not perfect preparation given that hills are hard to come by in central Ohio, I feel like I’m about ready to do this thing.

Old heads know

I realize that Oliver North-related humor is about 35 years out of date — quick, someone exhume Mark Russell and his piano! — but all sturdy genres can evolve with the times. Plus, he set his own ass up here:

Holy aiding and abetting in the obstruction of a congressional inquiry, Batman!

Great Moments in Our Gerontocracy

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell froze for several seconds yesterday while taking questions from reporters. This was basically the same thing that happened to him back in late July, complete with the freezing, followed by staffers claiming he was suffering from “lightheadedness.”

I’m no doctor, but if those episodes were lightheadedness I’m Cecily Neville, Duchess of York. Indeed, I’d bet my vast land holdings and my varied titles and honours that they were transient ischemic attacks, some catatonic stupor, not unlike that which befell Henry VI in 1453, or something in that general bucket. But like I said, I’m no doctor.¹

I obviously do not much care for Mitch McConnell and the nihilistic and power-mad way in which he has ruled his party in the Senate, but I do not wish him or anyone else ill health, death or anything like that. I understand people vary when it comes to that sort of thing — and to be clear, I don’t give a flying fuck about him or what happens to him — but my personal code, such as I have one, believes actively desiring such things to be bad juju so I am content to let the fates do what the fates will do rather than offer them suggestions.

I mention this, though, because McConnell — along with Diane Feinstein, and any number of other politicians in positions of power these days — represent much of what it wrong with American politics.

While age itself is no disqualifier in my view — and while I strongly oppose term limits — age is not nothing, and the fact that a great many of our leaders are over 80 and have consistently refused to pass the torch to younger people is an indictment of the country’s political health. It’s the product of public officials who seek power as its own end and who consistently choose to maintain that power as opposed to pursuing acts, both official and personal, which prioritize the well being of the country. And of course, the more incapacitated or ineffective people like McConnell and Feinstein become, the less likely it is that others in positions of prominence are willing to say anything about it because they think it’s rude or ageist or something to do so.

Sorry, not on board with that. McConnell is one of the most powerful people in government and he’s manifestly unwell. Same goes for Feinstein. Same goes for some others. Folks in their conditions should step down.

My personal code notwithstanding . . .

. . . I’m on Team Tree:

That’s Ron DeSantis’ governor’s mansion. Just missed. Pity.

How not to defend yourself

You never should defend yourself if you’re charged with a crime. Like, don’t do it. Not only are you virtually assured of losing, but you’re almost certain to wind up with a worse result for yourself than if you had lost with an actual lawyer defending you. If you doubt that, just look at what poor dumb Brandon Fellows, January 6 rioter, got himself into.

Fellows is on trial for breaching the Capitol and then sparking up a J while sitting at the desk of Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley. Points for style, I’ll give him that, but that’s pretty bad. However, with a little lawyering, a little remorse — which your lawyer will educate you about how to show — and a whole lot of shutting up, you might be able to get off with a relatively light sentence in that situation. Fellows, however, decided to take a different tack. He is defending himself and, yep, he put himself on the stand. It’s not going well!

“I didn’t know it was a senator’s desk,” Fellows said on the stand when asked if he knew whose chair he had been photographed sitting in while sparking up that doobie. “It felt very comfy.” He then testified that he believed he was fighting “the corrupt government” and that, while claiming that he didn’t participate in any violence during the insurrection, he said he supported it, saying “It’s the people’s house. We had the right to overthrow it.” He further added that he “liked the fact that those senators and congressmen were in fear for their lives.” Too bad someone wasn’t around to explain to him the elements of the crimes for which he’s charged!

Later, when he made a procedural blunder that an actual lawyer would not have allowed him to make and was thus not allowed to offer rebuttal testimony following his cross examination, he said to the judge “I would expect nothing less from a kangaroo court.” After that he was held in contempt, at which time he called the proceedings a “Nazi court.” As a result, he was sentenced to five months in jail just on the contempt charge. He will get more in the extraordinarily likely event that he is convicted of the crimes for which he is on trial.

Folks: hire a lawyer. You’re entitled to representation, and you will almost certainly benefit from it, even if you’re a complete dumbass like our friend Mr. Fellows here.

Have a great day everyone.

1. Also: reading that history of the War of the Roses is starting to infect both my waking and sleeping thoughts. I just got to the part where — spoiler alert — Richard, Duke of York, was slain at the Battle of Wakefield. That fuckin’ guy.