News you do want to miss.
By: Celeste Spaghetti (@SpaghettiC11)
Whew, what a week in Major League Baseball to kick off All Sports Scene’s newest weekly series: Sunday Lowlights: News You Do Want to Miss.
As with everything we do, we here at ASS strive to do things differently. So we will not be recapping this player’s insane catch or that rookie nearly hitting for the cycle (looking at you, Gunnar Henderson). Instead, in this new series, we are going to really lean into the Sunday Scaries by recapping the week’s worst news and plays from around the league. So without further ado:
Honorable Mention: “Fuck Off, Alex!”
Cora stopped the game to chat with the umpires after Verlander appeared to be having issues with his PitchCom device. Apparently, Cora accused Verlander of faking the technical difficulties to avoid a pitch clock violation, to which Verlander replied, “Fuck you, Alex!” the unmistakable F-bomb being clearly picked up on the broadcast.
Both Verlander and Cora later dismissed the comment as a little tongue-in-cheek jab with no hard feelings. The two have worked together previously, most notably on the tainted 2017 Astros team.
5. Stanky Yankees
Oh, how far they fall. Last-place Yankees are truly playing some atrocious ball this year.
4. Wong Place, Wong Time
Most people will remember August 23’s Red Sox versus Astros game for the amazing diving catch made by Red Sox relief pitcher Garrett Whitlock.
But that catch, a routine pop-up, only came into Whitlock’s jurisdiction because catcher Connor Wong and batter Alex Bregman were tied up at the plate, leading Wong to ram head-first into Bregman’s back. The jury is still out on whether this was intentional as Wong was attempting to catch a pop up and Bregman was in the way.
While home plate umpire Tod Hanahan ruled the play interference on behalf of Alex Bregman, feelings on the matter are largely divided by fan base.
3. Mets Gonna Met
Honestly, this one doesn’t need any commentary.
2. Two Star Pitchers Took UC-Ls
Two-way Angels’ phenom Shohei Ohtani and Orioles All-Star closer Félix Bautista both took massive Ls this week with injuries to their UCLs.
Unfortunately for Shohei and the slumping Angels organization, his pitching season was ended as this tear will require Tommy John surgery. Shohei elected to postpone the surgery, however, and continues to mash at DH where he leads all of MLB in home runs (44).
On the other hand (or should I say…elbow), we do not yet know the extent of Bautista’s injury nor whether it is season-ending.
Félix was placed on the 15-day IL, issuing a major blow to the first-place Orioles, who lost today’s game against the Colorado Rockies on a go-ahead RBI by Elías Díaz in the top of the ninth. While 2023 All-Star Yennier Canó is a solid replacement closer for the time being, losing Félix for the rest of the season would be devastating to this contending club.
1. Shots Fired(?)
Just when you thought things couldn’t get much worse for the Chicago White Sox, who just fired their GM Rick Hahn and VP Kenny Williams five days ago amid one of the most disappointing seasons in history, things somehow did get worse.
The prevailing theory from the Chicago Police Department is that the women were hit with a stray bullet from a shooting that occurred over a mile away. Conversely, the prevailing fan theories are either that White Sox security is so bad they let a gun in the park, or that it was an accidental shooting by an off-duty cop.
But any way you look at it, this incident is the rotten cherry on top of an abysmal year for the White Sox both on and off the field, and our hearts go out to the victims and those affected by the shooting.
Here with a statement is 90s rapper Vanilla Ice, whose “I Love 90s Tour” post-game concert was cancelled “due to technical difficulties” aka, the shooting:
All Sports Scene 
Leave a comment