Category: Sports News

Free of charge for the discerning reader.

Happy birthday to Jerry Mumphrey, and a mighty host of others.

Today in baseball history, in 1918 – In Game 4 of the World Series, Babe Ruth bats in two runs on a triple in the fourth and pitches seven scoreless innings before the Cubs tie it in the eighth, ending Ruth’s World Series record of 29.2 scoreless innings. Phil Douglas relieves Lefty Tyler for Chicago in the last of the eighth and throws away the game, first by a wild pitch, then with an error. Ruth is the winning pitcher, but Carl Mays relieves with two on and no out in the ninth; and 1938 – Lou Gehrig plays his 2,100th consecutive game and has four hits to bring his average over .300, and other stories as well.

Today in baseball history:

• 1916 – In Washington, Boston’s Babe Ruth tops the Senators and Walter Johnson, 2-1. Ruth gives up four hits while Johnson allows eight. It is the Babe’s fourth win this season versus Johnson. 
• 1932 – The Tigers beat the Yankees, 14-13, in a 14-inning game in which Lou Gehrig hits a grand slam and drives in eight runs. He has reached this RBI feat twice before. 
• 1951 – Sal Maglie wins his 20th game to give the Giants a 2-1 win over the Dodgers’ Ralph Branca. Monte Irvin‘s two-run homer in the fourth gives New York all its scoring, The Dodgers score in the eighth on a double by Duke Snider and a triple by Jackie Robinson. But 3B Bobby Thomson snags a ground ball, tags Robby, and throws to first for a double play.
• 1952 – The Cardinals’ Stan Musial gets his 2,000th hit, off Curt Simmons, as the Cardinals lose, 4-2.
• 1953 – Mickey Mantle‘s two-run home run off Chicago’s Billy Pierce caps a seven-run fifth inning, as New York wins, 9-3, at Yankee Stadium. Returning to CF after the fifth, Mantle is photographed blowing a huge bubble with a wad of gum. Manager Stengel will publicly rebuke the Mick, who will apologize for the indiscretion. However, Mantle does get an endorsement fee from the Bowman Gum company.
• 1976 – At Texas, Rod Carew hits a pinch grand slam in the seventh for the Twins, as Minnesota wins, 6-0. It is Carew’s third grand slam of the year. Dave Goltz twirls the shutout.
• 1987 – Striking out 12 of the final 13 hitters and a total of 16, Nolan Ryan beats the Giants, 4-2. The “Ryan Express” whiffs Mike Aldrete to end the seventh inning notching his 4,500th career strikeout.
• 1992 – Milwaukee OF Robin Yount gets the 3,000th hit of his career in his team’s 5-4 loss to the Indians. He also becomes only the second player in history to record 200 home runs, 200 stolen bases and 100 triples, duplicating Willie Mays‘ feat.
• 2002 – The Diamondbacks beat the Padres, 5-2, as Randy Johnson reaches 300 strikeouts for the fifth consecutive season, extending his major league record.
• 2007 – Todd Helton hits his 35th double of the season, this one against Joe Thatcher, in a 4-2 Rockies win. It makes him the first major leaguer ever to hit 35 or more doubles 10 years in a row; even the legendary Tris Speaker had only had nine such consecutive seasons.
• 2009 – Derek Jeter ties the New York Yankees franchise record for hits held by Lou Gehrig, with his 2,721st hit in the 7th against the Rays. He will pass Gehrig in two days. 

Today in Cubs history:

• 1915 – Sporting goods manufacturer Al Spalding, one of the original players, managers, and executives of the National League, dies at 65 in San Diego, CA.
• 1916 – Hippo Vaughn and Jimmy Lavender shut out the Pirates, 3-0 and 2-0, for a Cubs doubleheader victory.
• 1935 – Chicago tops the Braves, 5-1 and 2-1, behind the pitching of Larry French and Tex Carleton, cutting the Cardinals’ lead to a single game.
• 1958 – The Cardinals beat the Cubs, 8-7, with Jim Brosnan earning the win over his old team. Don Elston takes the loss. Ernie Banks hits his first home run in St. Louis in two years while Eddie Kasko cracks a grand slam.
• 1965 – Sandy Koufax‘s perfect game against the Cubs bests Bob Hendley‘s one-hit effort, 1-0. It is the Dodgers southpaw’s record fourth no-hitter.
• 1969 – With a 3-2 win, Tom Seaver hands Chicago its sixth straight loss, giving the Mets a sweep of two games. New York now trails the Cubs by half a game.
• 1975 – The Cubs’ Bill Madlock suffers an “incomplete fracture” of his right thumb when hit by a Bruce Kison pitch in a 6-5 win over the Pirates. He will be out for two weeks but will return and win his first batting title, finishing at .354.
• 1989 – The Cubs’ Luis Salazar singles in the tying run in 8th, then doubles in the winner in the 10th to give Chicago a 3-2 win over St. Louis. The Cubs now lead the Cards by one and a half games.
• 1999 – In the Cubs’ 5-3 loss to the Reds, Sammy Sosa hits his 59th homer. Sosa has more homers than the Cubs have wins: 56. They’ve lost 31 of their last 39 games.

Cubs Birthdays:Ben Brown, Billy Hamilton, Michael Bowden, Edwin Jackson, Todd Zeile, Jerry Mumphrey*, Earl Averill, Ed Mickelson, Abner Dalrymple, Frank Chance HOF. Also notable: Waite Hoyt HOF. Frankie Frisch HOF.

Today in history:

• 1839 – English scientist and astronomer John Herschel takes the first glass plate photograph.
• 1841 – Tom Hyer beats George McChester in 101 rounds (two hours and 55 minutes) at Caldwell’s Landing, NY, to become the first American heavyweight boxing champion.
• 1909 – Jack Johnson retains his heavyweight boxing title when he fights Al Kaufman to a no decision in 10 rounds at Coffroth’s Arena in San Francisco, California.
• 1919 – The hydrofoil designed by Alexander Graham Bell, his wife Mabel Bell, and F.W. Casey Baldwin sets a new water speed record of 114 km/h on Bras d’Or, Nova Scotia
• 1956 – Elvis Presley‘s first appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”
• 1971 – Apple Records releases John Lennon‘s second solo studio album, “Imagine,” in the US; it tops the charts in the US, UK, Australia, and three other countries.
• 2019 – Poet John Milton‘s own copy of Shakespeare‘s First Folio of 1623 survives with his annotations, according to scholar Jason Scott-Warren, in a Philadelphia library and could be the world’s most important modern literary discovery.

*pictured.

Triple-A: Syracuse Mets (38-37/35-28)

SYRACUSE 5, ST. PAUL 4 (BOX)

The Syracuse controlled the first half of the game, plating a run on the second batter of the game and added on a few insurance runs in the middle innings. Xzavion Curry was solid early on, but in the fifth he looked like he was running out of gas and allowed a run. His replacement, the newly promoted and much talked-about Garrett Stratton allowed a pair of runs to score in the sixth, and suddenly it was a one-run ballgame. Jack Weisenburger threw a clean seventh, but had trouble in the eighth and allowed the Saints to tie the game up at four apiece. The Syracuse bats did not let that stand, as Vidal Bruján walked and was driven in by Jose Ramos in the top of the ninth to retake the lead. Weisenburger remained out there for the ninth, recorded two outs, and then gave way to Matt Turner, who shut the door, giving Syracuse a much-needed win. With the win, Syracuse picked up a half-game on the Rochester Red Wings and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, both of whom were idle on Tuesday, and are 2.5 games out of first place and 1.5 behind Scranton.

·  CF D’Andre Smith: 1-4, R, BB, K, SB (9)

·  2B Émilien Pitre: 2-3, RBI, BB, K

·  SS Ronny Mauricio: 0-4, K

·  RF MJ Melendez: 1-2, 2 BB

·  1B Eric Wagaman: 0-4

·  DH Billy Amick: 2-4, R, HR (6), RBI, K

·  3B Vidal Bruján: 1-3, 2 R, HR (3), RBI, BB, K, SB (15)

·  C Hayden Senger: 0-4, E (4)

·  LF Jose Ramos: 2-4, R, 2B, RBI, SB (2)

·  RHP Xzavion Curry: 4.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, HBP

·  RHP Garrett Stratton: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, WP, HBP

·  RHP Jack Weisenburger: 2.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (3-5), BS (2)

·  LHP Matt Turner: 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, S (1)

ROSTER ALERT: Syracuse Mets placed RHP Zach Franklin on the 7-day injured list.

ROSTER ALERT: RHP Garrett Stratton assigned to Syracuse Mets from Binghamton Rumble Ponies.

Double-A: Binghamton Rumble Ponies (27-42/33-31)

PORTLAND 8, BINGHAMTON 6 (BOX)

Binghamton kicked off their final series of the 2026 season with a very costly loss against the Portland SeaDogs. Portland got on the board first, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first off of Noah Hall, but the offense bailed Hall out by scoring four runs of their own to take the lead. Hall allowed another two runs, but the offense chipped away, tying the game in the fourth and then taking a one-run lead in the fifth. In the bottom of the seventh, Felipe De La Cruz allowed the SeaDogs to tie the game up at six apiece, and in the bottom of the eighth, Cristofer Gomez gave up a two-run homer to give Portland the lead. Despite the loss, the first-place Reading Fightin’ Phils lost their game against the Erie SeaWolves, so the Rumble Ponies remain 3.5 games back.

·  2B Mitch Voit: 1-5, R, K, SB (8)

·  SS Marco Vargas: 2-5, R, RBI, 2 K, 2 SB (26, 27)

·  3B Jefferson Rojas: 0-4, R, BB, 2 K, SB (3)

·  1B Jacob Reimer: 1-2, RBI, 2 BB, CS (5)

·  C Chris Suero: 0-3, RBI, BB

·  LF Eli Serrano III: 0-4, 2 K

·  CF John Bay: 0-2, R, 2 BB, 2 K, 3 SB (8, 9, 10)

·  DH Corey Collins: 1-4, R, HR (9), RBI, 2 K

·  RF JT Benson: 0-3, R, BB, K

·  RHP Noah Hall: 3.1 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 4 K

·  RHP Douglas Orellana: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

·  REHAB ALERT P Cionel Pérez: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, H (1)

·  RHP Brendan Girton: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, H (7)

·  LHP Felipe De La Cruz: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, WP, BS (1)

·  RHP Cristofer Gomez: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, L (2-1)

ROSTER ALERT: RHP Ryan Dollar assigned to Binghamton Rumble Ponies from Brooklyn Cyclones.

ROSTER ALERT: RHP Parker Carlson assigned to Binghamton Rumble Ponies from Brooklyn Cyclones.

ROSTER ALERT: New York Mets sent LHP Cionel Pérez on a rehab assignment to Binghamton Rumble Ponies.

High-A: Brooklyn Cyclones (25-40/32-34)

NO GAME (SEASON OVER)

Single-A: St. Lucie Mets (33-33/25-39)

NO GAME (SEASON OVER)

Rookie: FCL Mets (24-33)

NO GAME (SEASON OVER)

STAR OF THE NIGHT

Jose Ramos

GOAT OF THE NIGHT

Cristofer Gomez

Good morning Birdland,

Things aren’t looking good for the Orioles. They got back to losing on Tuesday night, a 9-5 defeat to the Cleveland Guardians. That’s the main team they are chasing in the American League standings, so it hurt twice as bad as a normal loss. Their record is now 70-76 with 16 games left on the schedule. In order to make the playoffs they probably need to win at least 12 of the those remaining games. That is…unlikely.

On top of that, there are some injury concerns coming out of last night’s loss. Gunnar Henderson exited early after fouling a ball off his leg, and Blaze Alexander was removed with back spasms. Losing either one for any portion of this final stretch won’t be helpful, even considering Henderson’s less-than-ideal form for much of this season. The only (increasingly narrow) path to a postseason berth includes the shortstop playing like the MVP candidate he was supposed to be.

Realistically, this team’s shot at the playoffs died last week during their six-game losing streak. Everything from that point on was just playing out the string.

That allowed many in the fan base to work through all the five stages of grief for a baseball season that began with lofty expectations and eventually spiraled into a repeated display of mediocrity. I got to the acceptance stage over the weekend.

That shouldn’t mean these final 16 games are without value. The Orioles should still be trying to make themselves better for the future. Maybe that means giving Heston Kjerstad an extended run in the team to see what he’s got left in the tank, or letting a young pitcher like Trey Gibson come up and make a start or two to gain some experience. It should definitely mean getting Félix Bautista back on major league mound a time or two before the season ends.

Those sorts of changes would at least make the Orioles interesting to watch in these final weeks. With playoff aspirations gone, that’s really all I’m after.

Links

Gunnar, Blaze day to day with injuries as banged-up O’s drop crucial game to Guards | MLB.com
The Orioles will want to make sure Henderson and Alexander enter the offseason relatively healthy so that they can be 100% going into 2027. If that requires that they miss a few games these next two weeks, then so be it.

Walker defying odds to become Orioles’ high-leverage lefty | Rock Kubatko
This Orioles bullpen is an interesting blend of speeds and approaches that often makes them tough to matchup against. Josh Walker is one of the arms that has come out of nowhere to be surprisingly effective. Can he repeat it in 2027?

Evaluating Craig Albernaz’s rocky first season | The Baltimore Banner Baseball Show
This is the age old question around what exactly a manager does anyway. The job that Albernaz does would seem a lot better if some of his marquee players simply had better seasons. I do have some qualms about the lineups he sends out there some days, as well as his bullpen decisions. Are those 100% his call though? It’s never clear.

Orioles offer complimentary tickets, say Flowers not at fault for Bird Bath promotion | CBS Sports
This whole situation has been a calamity. If fans bought a specific ticket package and did not receive what they were sold then just refund them their money. It should be simple.

Orioles birthdays

Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!

• Pat Valaika turns 34 today. He was a utility option for the Orioles from 2020-21 during the depths of their recent rebuild.
• Rhyne Hughes is 43 years old. The first baseman appeared in 14 big league games in his career, all of which took place with the Orioles in 2010.
• Edwin Jackson turns 43. Over his 17 seasons in the majors, this right-handed pitcher played for 15 different clubs. That included a three-game stint in Baltimore during the 2017 season.
• Kurt Ainsworth is 48 years old. He came to the Orioles from the Giants as part of the Sidney Ponson trade at the 2003 deadline.
• Todd Zeile turns 61. Acquired ahead of the playoff push in 1996, Zeile spent one month with the O’s that season and then signed elsewhere in the offseason.
• The late Jim Corsi (b. 1961, d. 2022) was born on this day. He pitched in 13 games for the 1999 Orioles, his final big league season.

This day in O’s history

1979 – The Orioles win a seventh game in a row, beating the Red Sox 16-4. Rick Dempsey leads the way with a grand slam as part of a six-run sixth inning,

2009 – Brian Roberts hits his 50th double of the season, becoming the fourth major leaguer to reach that mark three times in his career. The other three to achieve it are Tris Speaker, Paul Waner, and Stan Musial.

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders: Offday

Double-A Somerset Patriots:W, 7-2 vs. Hartford Yard Goats

CF Jace Avina 3-5, RBI, CS — really nice diving catch
SS Core Jackson 1-5, K
DH Roderick Arias 1-4, 2B, RBI, 2 K
RF DJ Gladney 1-4, 2 K
3B Coby Morales 1-4, K
C Manny Palencia 0-3, BB, K
1B Josh Moylan 2-4, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, K — 28th homer of the minor league season, combined between levels
LF Cole Gabrielson 3-4, 2 2B, RBI, SB
2B Connor McGinnis 0-3, 3 K, HBP — no-contact-except-literal-contact day

Geoff Gilbert 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K — Double-A debut for 2022 draft pick
Michael Arias 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K (win)
Matt Keating 2 IP, 1 H, 1 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 3 K, WP
Brady Kirtner 1.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 2 K
Hueston Morrill 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K

High-A Hudson Valley Renegades: Season over

Low-A Tampa Tarpons:W, 2-0 vs. Clearwater Threshers — Florida State League Division Series Game 1, Tampa leads best-of-three, 1-0

SS Dax Kilby 0-3, BB
CF Yostin Pena 2-3, BB, RBI, SB — singled in Escudero for the second run in the third
RF Wilberson De Pena 0-4, 2 K, GIDP
LF Paul Gutierrez-Contreras II 1-3, 2B, RBI, HBP — doubled off the right-field wall for Tampa’s run in the first (yes, that is in fact Nestor Cortes pitching for Clearwater; he’s rehabbing with the Phillies)
3B Anthony Potestio 0-2, 2 BB
1B Tyce Armstrong 1-3, BB, K
C Luis Puello 0-4, 2 K, GIDP
DH Luke Pettitte 0-3, 2 K
2B Luis Escudero 1-1, 2B, 2 BB, 2 SB — perfect day at bat and scored one of the two runs

J.T. Etheridge 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K, HBP (win)
Antonio Gomez 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K — topped out at 98.8-99.3 mph
Jose Ledesma 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K
Matthew Tippie 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (save)

Florida Complex League Yankees: Season over

Dominican Summer League Yankees: Season over

Dominican Summer League Bombers: Season over

The Detroit Tigers dropped the second game of their three-game home series against the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night, falling 3-2 in yet another disappointing outcome for the Olde English D. Drew Anderson gave up all three runs to take the loss while Kevin McGonigle continued his run for Rookie of the Year by providing all of his team’s offense.

Taking the mound in the series finale on Wednesday afternoon is right-hander Keider Montero, who will make his 24th start of the season. The 26-year-old’s last outing, which came against the Guardians in Cleveland, was the worst of his 2026 campaign, allowing six runs on eight hits (one home run) and one walk while striking out four over four frames for a no-decision in a 7-6 loss.

Montero faced Minnesota once before this summer back on June 11, when he tossed 6 1/3 innings of shutout ball on four hits and a walk, along with four strikeouts and a wild pitch. He earned his third win of the year in an 11-0 final that day.

For the Twins, fellow righty Zebby Matthews will climb the hill looking to bounce back from a rough outing of his own in his previous appearance. In the 26-year-old’s three previous starts prior to that, he posted an impressive 1.29 ERA and 2.62 FIP over 21 innings for a trio of wins; last time out against White Sox in Chicago, he was tagged for four runs on four hits (three home runs) and a walk while striking out four to earn his ninth loss of the year.

The Tigers did Matthews even dirtier in their previous meeting — also on June 11 — scoring seven runs on nine hits (three home runs) and a walk while striking out four times over six frames to hand the former eighth-round pick his fourth loss of the season. Hopefully, Detroit can replicate that effort once again.

Take a look below at how the two look on paper ahead of yet another pitching rematch between the two teams.

Detroit Tigers (66-79) vs. Minnesota Twins (69-76)

Time (ET): 1:10 p.m.
Place: Comerica Park, Detroit, Michigan
SB Nation Site:Twinkie Town
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network

Game 146: RHP Keider Montero (9-8, 3.52 ERA) vs. RHP Zebby Matthews (9-9, 4.69 ERA)

MONTERO

MATTHEWS

The fundamentals of this team are going to sink them in at least one key spot. There were at least three last night that cost them – the Brandon Marsh double play, whatever it was the Alec Bohm did running the bases and Edmundo Sosa watching the ball out of the box – that cost them runs.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• The Phillies have had issues in past Octobers. Those ghosts are starting to show up more often in games now ($).
• Aidan Miller, after one game in Clearwater, is moving to Double-A Reading to finish the season. Interesting move here.

MLB news:

• Expansion is (probably) coming to MLB with the A’s and Rays stadiums situated. Which cities have the best chances at bringing a franchise home?
• The Diamondbacks just got Corbin Burnes back from injury, now they’ll get another arm for their starting rotation.
• Boston is hopeful that they’ll also be able to add two very big arms to their pitching plans to help with the playoffs.

The last two weeks I have been writing in the hopes that the Cardinals make me look bad and go on a red hot streak, suddenly putting themselves in the middle of the wild card chase… but they keep sort of treading water, magnetically attracted to .500 baseball. They cannot sink, but they can only float around the surface. It is perhaps the ceiling of this team, or close to it. Save us, lifeboat! I’m sure things could have gone a little better, but events ended up more promising than expected.

What happened to the Cardinals hot start? I think it relates a lot to the outfield.

Going into May, the Cardinals were 18-13! Jordan Walker was at 148 wRC+. It was a crazy time to be alive. Crazy good! Walker’s May ended up maintaining his line at 150 wRC+. He was carrying the offense to some extent. When you have a hitter like that, it can be more difficult to lose. Eventually, the first major injury of the season happened. But it was not to Jordan Walker.

May 22nd, 2026

Nathan Church left the team injured with a left shoulder strain that tore down our two center fielder run prevent outfield that would mostly make up for Walker’s defense in right field. Nathan Church would not return until June 9th! In my opinion, this was the best outfield setup we could muster this year, because if you hit it to the center or left side of the outfield, you probably ended up in someone’s glove instead of on base. (Of course, Baez and Church should be better, but I don’t know that it is just yet). So, I see this as a major turning point of the season.

We would eventually lose a lot more run prevention in center field, though…

June 8th, 2026

Victor Scott II was demoted due to the return of Lars Nootbaar on June 5th, and because Nathan Church was activated from the Injured List the next day. That’s too many outfielders with your bench full of utility players.

Victor Scott’s demotion was far from surprising, because he was batting at .534 OPS. That’s really, really bad. However, I do believe that our pitching staff from top to bottom, relied on Victor Scott II’s defense. Perhaps especially the bullpen. I know his defensive metrics weren’t quite as flashy this year, but he still mattered a lot as far as run suppression, numbers be damned.

Lars Nootbaar ended up playing 48 games for the Cardinals in 2026, batting at a .687 OPS clip. Nootbaar isn’t as bad in the outfield this year, but his defense is still lackluster. His defense, combined with Church’s less valuable than Scott’s center field defense, wasn’t the answer, because neither were hitting that well. I can see where you might disagree with this narrative, but hear me out…

The Cardinals were 28-21 when Nathan Church went down injured, leaving Victor Scott II with left fielders like Torres, Fermin, Saggese. Not as bad of fielders as Nootbaar, potentially, but not the best options. When Nootbaar was promoted and Scott sent down to AAA, the Cardinals were 35-28. It felt like the team could build upon some success at this point, with the familiar Nootbaar’s return, but the Cardinals have floundered ever since. The production out of center and left field has been a sticking point for the team this season.

And the outfield in general has been centered around Jordan Walker’s hitting, in effect. His defense has been passable, but still a liability despite the amazing throwing arm. The Cardinals would go 9-10 for the rest of June, with Scott’s exit and Nootbaar’s return.

July of 2026, a Helluva (not good) Month

During the month of July, the Cardinals went 10-18 and played 28 games within a possible 27 days, since only 27 days of July were available for regular season baseball. The mighty All-Star Break forced a 4 game detour for the team, while the schedule expected of them a game every damn day, plus one double header. With the summer ramping up, the Cardinals played a ton of baseball, got a long break, then played a ton more baseball. The JJ Wetherholt extension and multiple Cardinal All Star appearances, coupled with Jordan Walker’s Home Run Derby championship, all proved to be distractions rather than the big-time happy moments that they were. Or, the team simply ran out of gas despite the exhibition break. It was not a good month for the win-loss columns.

You might think Jordan Walker’s offense fell off that horrible month, but his floor was in June where he was just a league average hitter. Walker’s July wasn’t scorching hot, but it was well above average. During August, Jordan went on a tear again, this time more of a pure hitter than a power hitter: 136 wRC+. Unfortunately in September, he seems to be hitting the ball more into the ground again and chasing after breaking pitches outside the zone. He’s back to league average so far in September. He will need to turn that around to not leave us remembering a slumping Walker as a recency bias. I think he might put something together down the stretch.

Whatever ruined the hot start for the Cardinals, it was probably bound to happen. No team ever has a perfect, storybook season. Many good teams battle injuries, and who knows what else behind the scenes. Unpredictability reigns supreme. But at least the Cardinals outdid the worst expectations.

What do you think, did losing the double center fielder tandem in LF/CF Church and Scott, create a ripple that could not be righted? Does our pitching staff need rather staunch defense in left and center, with Walker in right and with our particular blend of pitchers? I think it really does. But I’ll never know. I think it needs Winn and Wetherholt in the middle infield even more, but when you add another two elite defenders in the outfield, that really helps. Of course, avoiding injuries always helps too, but it wasn’t until more recently that a wave of injuries happened. It’s just funny that one injury to a young player appeared to create a ripple effect down the timeline of the season. Or are we just following Jordan Walker’s lead on offense?

More On 1996 Music

I’m not a moron! I’m just providing you more on a year of music that I wrote about already last week. All the time I could muster was towards my absolute favorite A+ albums of 1996, including albums by bands The Swirlies, Meat Beat Manifesto, Ministry, Squarepusher, Unwound, and Dr Octagon. All total classics to me.

This week I am going more into my research into 1996, showcasing some albums that I wasn’t expecting to put on the list, plus some classics from my 90s collection that have been with me a while (but were not in my top 6). And of course, my Heavy Metal list for 1996 will have to be postponed! Running out of fumes at the finish line again.

• Polvo – ‘Exploded Drawing’ absolutely epic sounding double album, and one of my favorite album covers. Polvo continue their crusade of melding alternative tunings with math rock and indie on the weird side of things. The magic within the two guitarists creates this weird, mystical sound that is again, not easy to describe… might I recommend the songs “Bridesmaid Blues”, “Snowstorm In Iowa”, and “The Purple Bear”? Can I get a “Taste of Your Mind” hear?
• Bowery Electric – ‘Beat’ if you lived through the 90s, checking out new music all the time, you know the terms shoegaze and triphop. They were two of the primary new genres of the 90s. There were other new genres too, because the 1990s were about innovations if nothing else… but Bowery Electric walked the line between those two super hip music genres. This may be their most minimalist album, but don’t let that turn you off, it’s really quite good ear candy.
• Failure – ‘Fantastic Planet’ Failure’s magnum opus according to the critics, this is where the band starts to command their own production and become next level on that front. I consider the album prior to be just as good, but Fantastic Planet was the album that really put Failure on the map. And they continue to release music today. Great freakin’ alt rock band, not easy to describe their sound as it straddles several genres.
• Rage Against The Machine – ‘Evil Empire’ this album was out for my community college years and it was a good party soundtrack for the times. My friends and I used to call it Rage’s “black sabbath” album. It really rocks, and stands out just as much as their debut. They would never quite match the ferocity of their first two again, but what a high it was. I don’t really agree with much of the internet thinking of them as a bit of a joke, they really meant what they were writing about in the 90’s. And it freakin rocked!
• Stereolab – ‘Emperor Tomato Ketchup’ this was the album that made me a fan of the ‘Lab. I don’t know if anyone calls them that, but I do it affectionately. I love this band! French and fantasticly fun. Some were calling them electronic music around this time, because it was getting popular, but they’re so much more.
• DJ Krush and Toshinori Kondo – ‘Ki Oku’ triphop DJ beats mixed with trumpeter extraordinaire Toshinori Kondo = a winning combination and an all-time downtempo classic listening experience. Sit down, chill the eff out, and hit play for a while.
• Drunken Fish Records Space Rock Comp – ‘Harmony of the Spheres’ stumbled upon this and I love it! The first 3 bands on it, Bardo Pond, Flying Saucer Attack, and Jessamine, are all top notch. Psychedelic rock in the 90s got to be pretty underground outside of the big names, so it’s nice to hear some of this movement.
• TOOL – ‘Aenima’ there was a time where I would have said this was my favorite album of 1996! I still love it as Tool’s best album. And I think the best songs on it are the sleeper cuts like H. and Jimmy. Perhaps even better than the music: the liner notes introduced me to Bill Hicks, Timothy Leary, and Aleister Crowley. And they did always have cool stop motion videos as a big part of the appeal.
• Ween – ‘12 Golden Country Greats’ I bet you thought I wouldn’t put any country music on the list! Here Ween take a sidestep and make a really well-done classic country album with a humorous bent. You’ll either love it or hate it! I find it entertaining and another dimension to a many-headed band.
• Orbital – ‘Insides’ this is one of those electronic music albums that was actually well ahead of its time, but is finally starting to sound a bit dated. Still, it’s worth a listen as a peak into what was very high tech at the time and full of innovative, fun sounds. I must admit I do not listen to Orbital much anymore, but they were a huge influence on me musically, at the time.
• Lycia – ‘Cold’ a goth album for the winter, gotta have that. And it’s a new find! exciting. If you like your music dark, forboding, but eerily beautiful and full of chorused out guitars, this is for you.
• Juggaknots – ‘Clear Blue Skies’ outside of Dr Octagon and DJ Krush, this is my favorite hiphop album of 1996, and a really good find! I know what I like…
• De La Soul – ‘Stakes Is High’ and my other favorite hiphop album of 1996 goes to De La Soul. Somehow I had never heard of this album before, but it’s really good!
• Fiona Apple – ‘Tidal’ is it possible an entire streaming service is named after this album? I kid! But I like Fiona Apple too much to leave Tidal off the list. You probably know this alternative rock classic with nods towards triphop, singer songwriter, pop, jazz and other genres. That voice!

Oh look! I actually had time to put all this into a playlist *including last week’s top 6! https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZiGGAEhEUeQ&si=XuBBdaZtTq-GXltW

I have to punt 1996 heavy metal to next week since I value sleep even more than ever. The Cardinals play at 2:45 PM CST in San Francisco today. You can watch on Cardinals.TV. Thursday is an off day, and then the Cardinals throw some Cardinals related festivities this weekend while hosting the first place White Sox (who are 6 games over .500). According to Fangraphs, our fate is all but sealed. There is only a .2% chance of a wild card at this point.

Thinking back about that moment in time, Todd Zeile doesn't talk about the at-bats, the Mike Piazza home run or even the nervousness from that Sept. 21, 2001 game. The first Major League Baseball contest played in New York City after the Sept. 11 terror attacks has been boiled down to those video clips over the years.

But, Zeile, who started at first base that night for the New York Mets, remembers the hugs.

The Mets' first game back at Shea after the attacks was a huge moment for a city that had not had any normalcy in the 10 days since two airliners hit the World Trade Center and sent them crumbling to the ground. Piazza's home run that gave the Mets a 3-2 win that night became the signature image for the nation and history, but for the players on the field it was the emotions.

For Zeile, it was an impromptu moment long before then. Nobody planned it, but after the moment of silence and the national anthem, the players all walked to the middle of the field. The Braves and Mets players met and hugged before the game began.

"It was completely improved, organic hugs in the middle of the field, with guys that were our arch nemesis. It became less about the competition of that game and more about sportsmanship and camaraderie of guys from all over seeing the same thing. The beauty of the moment," Zeile said.

That moment, or really the emotions of all the moments, days, weeks, months and even years after the shock of the attacks is what has Zeile looking back now 25 years later as an executive producer on MLB Network's "When America Took the Field," debuting Thursday, Sept. 10 at 10 p.m. ET.

Zeile took about a decade off after retiring in 2004 to build his production company. He spent two seasons as co-executive producer on FX's "Anger Management" with Charlie Sheen. He got back into baseball as a guest analyst for SNY's Mets coverage.

Now was the time for him to combine both his baseball and film experience to make sure those moments are preserved as well as the Piazza home run and George W. Bush first pitch at the 2001 World Series.

"This, not just the documentary, just us being alive and going through this period, is the closest thing to the history being made in real time," he said. "people are going to read about it and know about it, and I am like 'Oh yeah, I was there for that. I saw that. I felt that.'"

That's why every anniversary he and his Mets teammates, who were at Ground Zero and New York City firehouses in the days after, keep telling their stories. So people don't forget.

Zeile wants to make sure his children and the next generations learn about what happened in the aftermath and the small part baseball played in the recovery.

That brought him back to New York, so he returned to the firehouses he visited in the aftermath of the attacks. He met the young firefighters who were the kids of the firefighters who were at Ground Zero. He saw their pride of carrying on that tradition and keeping the memories alive. That sparked his motivation about getting this on film while those who lived through it are still here to tell the stories for these kids.

Andrew Brenner directed the documentary and he had to figure out how to tell the story of one of the most infamous events in recent history with a fresh lens.

What Zeile and Brennen wanted from the film wasn't another retelling of the 10 days everybody knows about: Shea Stadium as a staging area for rescue workers and the Piazza home run. The pieces he was interested in were the ones that "had been at least lost or never told."

He wanted to make sure the story was about the months and years after, the "continued involvement and the continued passion that baseball as a whole has had for the (9/11) community." That's the community he lived through it with in 2001 and the families that are still connected to it now. That thread is what made the collaboration with MLB feel so different to him.

Zeile admits he was not sure baseball should have been played so soon after the attacks. Nobody was. What changed his mind is the trip the players took to Ground Zero.

"I recognized that the fire department and police department needed a little bit of a break from what they were doing, and baseball gave them that reprieve," he said. "It gave up more confidence to not feel like we were intruding or doing something that could be deemed inappropriate."

And after, as the Mets hit the road, something unusual happened.

"There certainly was a sense of pride, because we were representing New York and wherever we went guys (from other teams) would ask us 'What's it like there?' Or say 'I like that you are wearing the (NYPD and FDNY) hats' or 'How's the city?'" Zeile said. "It gave us an identity that was a little bit different, maybe a responsibility, in our interactions with other teams."

Those moments and the community that came out of the tragedy is what Zeile hopes people remember from this film.

They found three families with connections to baseball that were affected by the tragedy, they told the story of Joe Maddon, who was on the West Coast, but who lost a dear friend on one of the planes, and they found the story of the Secret Service agent who dressed up as an umpire and went on the field for George W. Bush's emotional first pitch of Game 3 of the 2001 World Series at Yankee Stadium.

Brenner, who was 22 and in Hoboken on that day, remembers driving out of town and listening to the news on the radio. He said that he and Zeile used those memories and emotions, but also wanted to zoom out from just those moments in New York that have been so well documented.

One moment from making the film that has stayed with Brennen more than any other was of a boy who was nine at the time of the attacks. He is one of the families woven through the documentary and he told the film crew that he can no longer separate what he actually remembers about that day from what he's simply been told happened.

"When he said that, it really struck me that putting together a film like this gives people like that a chance to learn," Brennen said. "It's so personal, so raw, they share these gut-wrenching emotions with us. But at certain times, they don't really know exactly what happened.

"It's a great way for people to learn some new stories and never forget."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The hugs at Shea Stadium that still define former Met’s post-9/11 memories