5 reasons why baseball was the best this week
It's time for your weekly dose of all that is good and right beyond the Major League Baseball box score. But no WAR, nothing average, just the stuff that makes a grueling, heartbreaking, adrenaline-pumping 162-game schedule worth our while every year.
It's five TV techs getting pied in the face by Adam Jones out of five.
This week in amazing:
Self-serve beer machines!!!!!
This year's Midsummer Classic is going to be fun. Sure, every star in both leagues will be playing on the same field on the same night in Minneapolis, but more importantly, fans in attendance can serve themselves beer! All by themselves (mostly)!
Yes, self-serve beer stations debut at Target Field this week, so Twins fans and All-Star Game attendees can do what they want with their beer cups.
In showing an ID to a cashier, fans pre-load a card with $10 or $20 on it. For the All-Star Game, $50 cards will be made available.
Then, the card is scanned at a machine, and the user chooses which beer and how much of it they want to pour. You're allowed up to 48 ounces of beer every 15 minutes at a cost of between 38 to 40 cents an ounce.
And we thought self-serve checkouts at the grocery store were awesome. LOL.
Everyone thinks Joey Votto is being traded because he's not a hoarder
Can't a guy just be neat and tidy without drawing trade speculation? (No.)
Votto's locker was empty at Great American Ball Park on Sunday morning and he wasn't in the lineup, prompting a flurry of tweets from media about the franchise player.
Joey Votto's locker empty at GABP, Tucker Barnhart here. No official word yet from #Reds
— Kevin Goheen (@FSOhio_KGoheen) July 6, 2014
And of course, a media meeting with Price - Bryan the manager of the Cincinnati Reds and not David Price the maybe-on-the-market starting pitcher from the Tampa Bay Rays - was delayed.
Something is going in. Media meeting with price delayed. Votto's not here. Will update. #reds
— John Fay (@johnfayman) July 6, 2014
In the end, Price had given Votto a day off and Votto just really hates a cluttered locker and/or watches a lot of Hoarders.
Forget last tweet (wish I could). Votto is here, just out of lineup today. Price said manager's decision. Over reaction on my part. #Reds
— Kevin Goheen (@FSOhio_KGoheen) July 6, 2014
Votto's locker was not empty. Period. He just had not come yet. He was in the clubhouse on time. #reds
— John Fay (@johnfayman) July 6, 2014
Elvis Andrus fields a weird ground ball
Shortstops have to be ready for anything. The quick hands and feet of Texas Rangers' Elvis Andrus have earned him All-Star nods in the past, so it's really not too unbelievable to see that he handles a ground balloon with ease.
Eduardo Nunez suggests greatest gift for Derek Jeter
Minnesota Twins beat writer Mike Berardino asked ex-Yankees utilityman Eduardo Nunez for gift ideas when the New York club visited Target Field over the weekend.
Shortstop Derek Jeter was playing his final road series against the Twins, and he's been collecting gifts from clubs along his farewell tour.
I asked ex-Yankee Eduardo Nunez if he had any gift ideas for Jeter today: "Starbucks gift card. He loves Starbucks. Twice a day! Starbucks."
— Mike Berardino (@MikeBerardino) July 5, 2014
The Twins didn't oblige, offering Jeter the last second base used at the Metrodome instead. Okay, that's basically as cool as a bunch of soy lattes.
Spelling Samardzija will always be hard
After all those years as a Cub, Jeff Samardzija probably could count on most people to sort of spell his name correctly.
Traded to the Oakland Athletics in a five-player deal this week, A's fans have a lot of catching up to do.
Shark probably works just fine for now and forever.
[Courtesy: MLB.com]