FIELD OF DUDS

While FOX did a fantastic job handling this Field of Dreams game of the Chicago White Sox vs. the New York Yankees... the Yankees just couldn't pull off the win and that's what is mostly disappointing.  I mean, the Yankees showed life and I loved the energy with homers by Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton.  

Even DJ LeMahieu was looking good last night.  But you need to maybe question the pitching in starting Andrew Heaney. You need to wonder why the Yankees are obsessed with Tyler Wade... because lord knows... that experiement is definitely over.  

It was fun though. Alot of connections with the film and last night's game and the players loved it just as much as the fans.  Can't beat that.

Stanton just wanted a pregame snack 🌽#MLBatFieldofDreams pic.twitter.com/iPncYv9Cfx

— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) August 12, 2021

While it was a gimmick, I enjoyed it very much.  What I'd love to see next is a game at an old Negro Leagues ballpark, like the Pop Lloyd Stadium in Atlantic City. 

A rundown ballpark named after Pop Lloyd, one of the best Negro League players to ever play the game.   Or how about play outside of Yankee stadium one night at the old spot of Yankee stadium. That could be cool too. Have the players were close that resemble the Sandlot characters.  I love the idea of gimmicks, and with these other locations around the country, why not try it again. FOX did it right last night... it was cool.

But in the realm of the actual game itself, the bottom line is, while it was a beautiful night for baseball... while everything seemed perfect... the Yankees lost and it was a heartbreak.

The New York Post writes:

"The Yankees thought they had crafted a Hollywood ending in the top of the ninth inning on Thursday with a pair of two-run homers from Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton to overcome a three-run deficit to take a one-run lead.

But playing in a stadium built on the set of the “Field of Dreams” in Dyersville, Iowa, Tim Anderson and the White Sox flipped the script in the bottom of the inning, as Anderson crushed a game-winning, two-run homer off Zack Britton with one out to send the Yankees to another crushing loss, 9-8.

“Definitely not the way you want it to end,’’ Stanton said."

No Yankee fan wanted to see that. 

But that's baseball.  And it wasn't our home field in the Bronx anyway...

it was Iowa.

THE ONLY THING THAT ROB MANFRED HAS DONE RIGHT!

 It's about damn time... and it's a great day in baseball!

Major League Baseball is doing what they should have done years ago, recognize black athletes before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. The New York Times writes:

"On Wednesday, Major League Baseball took one of its biggest steps to redress past racial wrongs: It formally recognized several of the Negro leagues as on par with the American and National leagues, a distinction that will alter the official record books to acknowledge a quality of competition that the long-excluded players never doubted.

Photo of Larry LeGrande

With the change, more than 3,400 players from seven distinct Negro leagues that operated between 1920 and 1948 will be recognized as major leaguers. And the statistical records will be updated.

“All of us who love baseball have long known that the Negro Leagues produced many of our game’s best players, innovations and triumphs against a backdrop of injustice,” Rob Manfred, the commissioner of Major League Baseball, said in a statement."

So what does it mean for players that came in to the major leagues? Well... they get their Negro League stats added to their MLB stats.  The Times writes:

"Records for some of the game’s biggest stars will receive at least mild adjustments. The Hall of Famer Willie Mays, for example, is likely to be credited with 17 more hits, though no home runs, from his time with the Birmingham Black Barons in 1948. 

Photo of : John Henry "Pop" Lloyd

That would bring his career total, including hits from his time with the Giants and the Mets, to 3,300. The actual adjustments will be made after a review of available data by the Elias Sports Bureau, keeper of Major League Baseball’s official statistics."

and ESPN writes:

Photo of Josh Gibson

"...Monte Irvin's big league batting average should climb over .300, and Satchel Paige might add nearly 150 victories to his total.

Josh Gibson, the greatest of all Negro League sluggers, might just wind up with a major league record too."

It's just an incredible breakthrough and something important for humanity. I am so happy about this learning about 10 years about the Negro Leagues and all these incredible players. It's amazing!!!