When it comes to these short introductions for my newsletter, I tend to just browse various corners of the internet for something fun. Sometimes it's sports. Sometimes it's wrestling. Sometimes it's something different altogether.
I just want a fun little tidbit.
Boy, I tell you what, there's a lot of dark and unhappy stuff in the cursory glance I took for something for this intro.
Let's just get to the sports, to the distraction, to the chance to connect and enjoy something that doesn't matter. Because it's the chance to connect that does matter. And we need it more than ever.
Today:
- The most obvious outcome in baseball this season, until it wasn't
- Could I bunt better than a modern big league hitter?
- Another thing about Shohei Ohtani, because why not?
Outdone by Tanner Gordon
It's not often that you come across an opportunity that is actually "once in a lifetime." This past Wednesday, I think I was actually presented with one of those opportunities. I had the chance to go see Shohei Ohtani in a game where he was both the starting pitcher and the lead-off hitter.
It's unlikely we'll see another player like Ohtani ever again. Even if there is another player who manages to play both ways, I can't imagine that player will simultaneously be one of the best pitchers and one of the best hitters in all of baseball.
In Ohtani's case, he's one of the best hitters in history. And anytime he pitches, he at least has the upside to be as good as anybody else. He was top 5 in Cy Young voting in 2022, after all.
Back here in 2025, Ohtani was at the peak of his powers entering the game where I got to see him live. His offensive production is once again elite, with 45 home runs and a 1.008 OPS (177 OPS+). His return to pitching has seen some hiccups, but he seemed to be rounding into form leading up to last week's start.
All of that before I mention that last Wednesday's game was against the lowly Colorado Rockies. It looked like it all lined up for some Shohei dominance.
I'll always cheer for the Rockies, but I was also going to be just fine if that game turned into the Ohtani show. Getting to see Ohtani dominate is, as we covered, a once-in-a-lifetime chance.
I'm not sure I can think of a regular season game that seemed more obviously tilted towards one team. The first place Dodgers had Ohtani on the mound, and even with a roster that has been battered by injuries, they had the obviously better lineup.
Meanwhile, the Rockies just recently distanced themselves from a "possible worst team ever" pace with by bunching together some wins. One of their starting hitters was Orlando Arcia, a journeyman who entered the game with a sub-.200 batting average and a sub-.600 OPS, yet somehow was not the nine-hole hitter.
Tanner Gordon was the starting pitcher for the Rockies. A rookie, Gordon entered his match-up with a Hall of Famer with a 7.85 ERA.
So yes, this game seemed like an easy win for the Dodgers. And if you haven't figured out where all this is going by now, a bunch of chaotic baseball things ensued.
The Rockies won 8-3.
Where should I even start with the wacky facts about the game? Let's just fire some off, in no particular order:
- Ohtani surrendered five earned runs on nine hits, as the Rockies absolutely wore him out with multiple rallies
- Gordon went six innings and allowed just one run
- Hilariously, Gordon's season ERA is down to 7.11 after that effort
- The aforementioned Orlando Arcia had a sacrifice fly and a hit off Ohtani
- If Arcia getting a hit wasn't enough, that hit smacked Ohtani in the thigh and cut his night short
It was a fun night at Coors Field. I sat with my son and cheered for my team. They got a bunch of hits off a great pitcher. They won the game.
As for the once-in-a-lifetime part with Ohtani, that obviously didn't go as planned. But I'll still always remember the presence he had, both on the field and at the plate. To borrow another cliché from baseball lore, he felt larger than life. It's just different with him on the field. I'll always remember how smooth and effortless his double was on the first pitch of the game. I'll always remember seeing Ohtani live.
And then I'll get to laugh about how baseball happened that night. Over a lifetime of games, that's just as fitting as it would have been for Ohtani to put on a show.
If that's a good bunter, who are the bad ones?
The Seattle Mariners lost a crusher to the Oakland A's this past Saturday night. They lost 2-1 in extra innings on a night when they squandered a number of offensive opportunities.
Down 2-1 in the bottom of the 10th inning, they blew a golden chance to walk off with the win. Having started the inning with a Jorge Polanco walk to put the winning run on behind the zombie runner on second base, they sent outfield Victor Robles up to the plate with nobody out.
A couple things are noteworthy about the decision to bat Robles there. The first, obviously, is the fact that Robles is less than a month removed from throwing the actual bat at a pitcher during his stint rehabbing an injury in the minor leagues.
I was entertained by that clip, obviously, and I also write about pro wrestling. This clip has a pro wrestling feel to it. I can't mention Robles and not share this clip.
Anyway, the second noteworthy thing is that the Mariners were originally going to pinch hit. In a scenario where they needed a hit, their plan was to send Luke Raley to the plate. But when the plan changed to a bunt, Robles stayed in the game.
He stayed in the game because he is one of their best bunters. Or at least that's what the home broadcast told me and the other kind fans watching on TV.
Robles jabbed at the first pitch in an unsuccessful attempt to bunt. The ball popped up harmlessly in foul territory on the third base side. The Oakland catcher made an easy play. One out.
That shouldn't have been a rally killer. But it still felt like it took the wind out of the rally, at least a little bit. The disappointment was immediate.
This is why teams don't bunt very often in 2025. I get that. But this play left me wondering: do these teams even practice bunting?
I remember batting practice as I got older. In high school, for example, I had to lay down three bunts before I could start swinging. We had to practice bunting every time we had a bat in our hands in practice.
I was a darn good bunter, by the way. The key was to catch the ball with the bat, rather than poke at it. I'm not saying I could bunt better than Robles or any other big league hitter, because I would collapse in a heap if I saw Major League pitching. But I am saying that the gap between me and them isn't nearly as big as it should be.
I'm not sure any of us are getting the bunt down there.
If they aren't already, maybe teams should get back to practicing those bunts. At least for the good bunters. For example, Victor Robles should probably practice bunting. Even if there probably isn't anyone who want to be the messenger on that one after seeing that video clip.
One more Shohei Ohtani thing
Some Padres fan made a point of heckling Ohtani all game during a key NL West showdown this week. It didn't work out for him, in that Ohtani did this:
But it also kind of did work out for him, because he got to high-five Shohei Ohtani. Sarcastic and mocking high five or otherwise, he got to high-five the player I was just describing as "once in a lifetime" and "larger than life."
Tom Ley summed it up nicely at Defector in the title of his post: "Heckler Achieves Impossible Task Of Making Shohei Ohtani Even Cooler Than He Already Was."
One last bit of good news from that clip: looks like Ohtani's thigh is OK.
Odds and ends
- Cal Raleigh is up to 50 home runs on the season. That's a record for a catcher. He joins Ken Griffey, Jr. as the players in Mariners history to hit that mark. It's all so fun, and I am fully on board with him winning MVP over a more-deserving Aaron Judge (MLB.com).
- The Rockies partook in another game that seemed like an obvious loss this weekend, this time against Paul Skenes. That one went predictably, with Skenes throwing seven shutout innings (Purple Row).
- Jacob deGrom is one of the best pitchers I have ever seen. Dan Szymbroski writes about his eventual Hall of Fame case (FanGraphs).
How about some fun wrestling entrances to cap this one off and send you to the rest of your Monday?
