5 Things: Walk Off Magic, Playoff Races And Questionable Parenting
Bryan Altman, CBS Local Sports
Summer is winding down but baseball season is definitely heating up as we rapidly make our way towards September. All of the divisional and wild card races are tightly contested - well, save for the AL Central where the Royals are bullying around their divisional opponents like they're baseball's version of Ronda Rousey. Either way, the stretch run promises plenty of drama and there have already been some riveting moments this past week in alone.
Home Cookin'
In last week's edition of this piece we covered the fact that all 15 home teams won on the same night for the first time in 100 years. That was pretty cool. What's even cooler is the fact that the best teams in baseball are simply dominating at home this year. We still have a month left in the season and five of six of our division leaders have already won 40-plus games at home. Using Aug. 20 as a reference point, I went back 10 years and the most 40-plus game winners among division leaders at home at that point of the season was three in any other year. Whether it's newer ballpark designs that favor the home team's knowledge of their field or just the comfort factor, home cookin' is alive and well this year in baseball.
Walk Off Winner
The Mets have been a great story this year lead by their crying shortstop Wilmer Flores and their bevy of young pitching talent that has the entire NL on notice should they hold their ground on the Washington Nationals and make the playoffs. However, it was the Baltimore Orioles' 28-year-old rookie Henry Urrutia who stole the show from the Amazin's on Wednesday night.
Urrutia, who's been hovering around the .200 mark for the few games he's played this season, hit his first home run in the bottom of the ninth inning off of Carlos Torres to give the O's a 5-4 walk-off win and put the just a half a game out of the second AL Wild Card spot. And, for your 'Awww' moment of the week, the fan who caught the ball gave it back to Urrutia so he could give it to his 16-month old son. I swear I'm not crying.
David Denson Comes Out
Up until this past Sunday, first baseman David Denson was a just another unknown member of the Milwaukee Brewers minor league organization hoping for his shot at the big leagues. On Sunday, Denson came out publicly in a Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel piece after reportedly hearing a teammate of his make a gay slur. Denson is the first player within an MLB organization to come out publicly as gay.
Unfortunately, we still live in an era where we even had to gauge his potential future teammates' reaction to the news, but thankfully, all of them who spoke on the matter were supportive and at ease with the prospect of having an openly gay teammate join them in the clubhouse one day down the line. Ryan Braun, the new home run king of Milwaukee, perhaps put in best when speaking with the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:
"I think everybody is supportive. Overall, we realize it's a courageous decision by him, to come out and embrace his true self. I've never met him, but I hope baseball as a whole is at a point where we judge people by their ability and not their race, religion, ethnicity or sexuality. I can't speak for everybody on our team, but he would be accepted and supported by me. And I would hope all of my teammates feel the same way."
Defending The Skipper
The Tigers are mired in a not-so-impressive season to say the least. They were sellers at the trade deadline for the first time in a while and even though they are only three games back of .500 it's been a down year for them to be sure. Still, it's incredibly easy to find a silver lining in this lost season for the Tigers and it stems from a pretty likely source: Miguel Cabrera. The only thing that's ever been able to stop Miggy is injury and it held him out for a little while this season, but you can't keep one of the great hitters in baseball history down for too long. Cabrera is batting an insane .354 this year, and when he's not terrorizing opposing pitchers, he's got his manager Brad Ausmus' back.
After spotting a sign behind the Tigers dugout that read "Fire Ausmus" Cabrera stepped in and addressed the fan - far more politely than many others in his shoes would have. Cabrera offered the fan a ball in exchange for the sign and the fan obliged. The Detroit News caught up with the fan, identified as Justin Spiro.
"Cabrera is a great guy who had his manager's back in the most fan-friendly way possible," said Spiro, who just finished law school. "I was trying to get a ball for the kid next to me for two hours, so it all worked out."
Miggy can do no wrong.
Not-So-Super Dad
I don't have any kids and I have absolutely no doubt that being a parent is insanely hard. But I feel like there are a few very simple rules to follow when it comes to having kids, and this one is probably No. 1 in the 10 commandments of parenting.
1. Do not, under any circumstances, put your child in harms way.
Seems pretty simple, no?
I respect the effort to catch a home run ball as much as the next guy, but please, put the child down next time sir.
Bryan Altman is, for some reason, an unabashed fan of the Rangers, Jets and Mets. If he absolutely had to pick a basketball team it would be the Knicks, but he’d gladly trade them for just one championship for either of his other three teams.
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