Cup of Coffee: May 15, 2025

Good morning! And welcome to Free Thursday!

And away we go.

And That Happened

Here are the scores. Here are the highlights:

White Sox 4, Reds 2: A day after Rob Manfred reinstated Pete Rose the Reds went above and beyond to celebrate him last night. From ESPN:

There were chants of "Pete! Pete!" at Great American Ball Park. There was a pregame moment of silence, and a choir from Rose's Cincinnati high school performed the national anthem. And No. 14 was everywhere, from the replica jerseys in the stands to the highlights shown on the videoboard . . . Hall of Fame shortstop Barry Larkin and Eric Davis, who played for Rose when he managed the Reds, shared stories about their former manager during a pregame panel, joined by former Rose teammate George Foster. Members of Rose's family delivered the game ball.

The story added, "It was the type of all-out effort Rose would have appreciated." Which makes it appropriate that the Reds lost last night, because it's thereby easier to imagine that the club paid specific tribute to Rose by throwing the game.

People who aren't familiar with Cincinnati likely don't appreciate how much that club and a huge part of that city have continued to worship Pete Rose in spite of, or in some cases because of, the horrible things he did in his life. Any time a new revelation came out about Rose's character or behavior it was as if the city took it as an attack on itself and thus leaned into the ugliness as a means of protecting him and drawing closer to him. Now that he has been reinstated by Rob Manfred all of those years of apologizing for him and glorifying him have been validated. Going forward, rather than merely defending Pete Rose, Cincinnati will canonize him and will endeavor to erase his perfidies from the official record and from people's memories.

Thanks for enabling and encouraging that, Rob Manfred. Thanks for making Pete Rose, more than any of the thousands upon thousands of players who possess integrity and a moral compass, the face of baseball once again.

Tigers 6, Red Sox 5: The Tigers were in control behind Tarik Skubal until the seventh when Boston chased him during a three-run inning. Detroit rallied against Aroldis Chapman in the ninth, however, when Andy Ibáñez walked and then took third on a stolen base attempt which resulted in Connor Wong throwing the ball into center field. That's when Justyn-Henry Malloy hit a pinch-hit walkoff single to end things, completing Detroit's three-game sweep of Boston.

Despite the loss, the Red Sox had the highlight of the game when, in the bottom of the seventh, Wilyer Abreu went back to try to take a home run away from the Tigers Kerry Carpenter. Abreu jumped and stretched his glove over the wall and the ball tipped into the air, landing in the mitt of Ceddanne Rafaela, who had also gone back to try to make the play. I can't recall ever seeing an alley-oop/tip drill catch like that before, but it was pretty spiffy:

Twins 6, Orioles 3; Twins 8, Orioles 6: In the first one Brooks Lee hit a solo shot and Christian Vázquez hit a three-run home run in a four-run fourth to help bring Minnesota back from an early 3-0 deficit. In the second game the Twins blew an early four-run lead when the O's put up a six-spot in the third thanks in part to a grand slam by Cedric Mullins, but climbed back with a solo homer from Willi Castro in the fifth and a three-run jack from Kody Clemens in the eighth. With these two wins the Twins have now won ten in a row. Which sorta pisses me off that Tuesday was a rainout, because if they had just won one game at a time I could've used that Ferris Bueller "nine times" clip and now I can't, the bastards.

Phillies 2, Cardinals 1; Cardinals 14, Phillies 7:  Jesus Luzardo pitched seven strong innings in the first game, allowing just one run while Bryson Stott and Bryce Harper each drove in runs on infield singles in the seventh. Some haymakers were thrown early in the nightcap, with Philly putting up a five-run first and St. Louis putting up a five-run third. The Cardinals kept building after that, with three in the fourth, another three in the eighth, and two more in the ninth to win easily. Alex Burleson homered and drove in four. Masyn Winn and Lars Nootbaar also went deep.

Brewers 9, Guardians 5: After two consecutive shutouts the Milwaukee bats finally woke up. Particularly the bat of Rhys Hoskins, who had four hits and knocked in five via a two-run homer and a couple of RBI singles. It was actually a tie game in the top of the sixth when the Brewers turned it into a 5-2 lead after putting six straight runners aboard. Milwaukee avoids the sweep.

Diamondbacks 8, Giants 7: Ketel Marte hit two home runs and Eugenio Suárez added a three-run shot as Arizona built a big lead early and then held on as the Giants chipped away but could not chip quite enough. Every member of Arizona’s starting lineup had a hit except José Herrera, but he walked twice and that's pretty good too.

Yankees 3, Mariners 2: Julio Rodríguez robbed Trent Grisham of a leadoff home run and knocked in two on a double in the third but that's all Seattle would get. The Yankees picked up their three runs one at a time, with Jasson Domínguez doubling in one in the sixth, Paul Goldschmidt hitting a pinch-hit homer in the seventh, and Aaron Judge hitting the go-ahead homer in the eighth. New York got four innings of shutout bullpen work. The Bombers have won six of their last eight games.

Blue Jays 3, Rays 1: Alejandro Kirk's three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth was all the scoring Toronto would get but it was all the scoring Toronto would need thanks to a strong effort from Chris Bassitt (5.2 IP, 7 H, 1 ER) and the Jays pen (3.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER). Toronto has won five of six.

Marlins 3, Cubs 1: All four of the runs in this game came via solo homers with Kyle Stowers of the Marlins hitting two of them and his teammate Agustín Ramírez hitting another. Five innings of one-run ball from Ryan Weathers – he gave up a solo shot to Seiya Suzuki in the fourth – and four innings of shutout ball from the Marlins pen handled the rest of the game's important business. Miami ends a three-game slide.

Pirates 4, Mets 0:  Matt Gorski and Jared Triolo each hit two-run homers off of Clay Holmes while five Pirates pitchers combined for a six-hit shutout to help avoid the sweep. Despite the win, Pittsburgh has still gone 20 games without scoring more than four runs in a game. I'm imagining Superintendent Chalmers exclaiming to Principal Skinner, "The Dead Ball Era? At this year in history? Localized entirely among the Pittsburgh Pirates?"

In other news, a raccoon was on the loose in Citi Field last night. I wish the Mets were worse this year so I could make a garbage joke but sometimes this sort of thing just happens.

Nationals 5, Atlanta 4: Washington ends its seven-game skid thanks to two unearned runs in the seventh and two runs in the eighth via an Amed Rosario RBI single and James Wood's eighth inning RBI double. All of that wasted a strong Bryce Elder start (6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER).

Rangers 8, Rockies 3: Wyatt Langford and Adolis García each hit two-run home runs and Patrick Corbin struck out nine – six of them coming consecutively – as Texas cruised. At some point we'll stop saying the Rockies are off to the worst start of any team ever and will simply say they are among the worst teams ever, full stop, but for now their 7-36 record is the worst start of any team through 43 games in the modern era.

Astros 4, Royals 3: Jeremy Peña had four hits, including an RBI double to make it a one-run game in the sixth and a tie-breaking RBI single in the eighth. Isaac Paredes homered and Marcel Dubón doubled in the tying run just before Peña's go-ahead hit. The Astros bullpen starred here too, tossing four and two-thirds shutout innings to make way for the comeback win.

Padres 5, Angels 1: Xander Bogaerts hit a three-run homer in the first and scored one of the two runs Brandon Lockridge plated with an RBI single in the eighth. Randy Vasquez allowed just one over six and the bullpen was perfect over the final three frames. Manny Machado extended his hitting streak to 13 games with two hits and two walks. The Padres took two of three from the Angels.

Dodgers 9, Athletics 3: L.A. got homers from Shohei Ohtani, Andy Pages, Hyeseong Kim, and Max Muncy – who hit a three-run shot – to help them easily win a game in which they trailed after four innings. It was Kim's first homer in the U.S. The clubs play the rubber match in their three-game set tonight before opening a crosstown series against the Angels this weekend.

The Daily Briefing

Take Bart Giamatti's name out of your damn mouth, Bud Selig

In the wake of Rob Manfred reinstating Pete Rose, the Chicago Black Sox players, and others, former commissioner Bud Selig piped up to defend his protege and to put words in the mouth of the dead. Selig:

“I understand and respect Commissioner Rob Manfred’s decision regarding the removal of Pete Rose and 16 other deceased individuals from the ineligible list. Given my affection for my friend, the late Bart Giamatti, MLB’s seventh Commissioner who disciplined Mr. Rose for gambling on his own team all those years ago, I believe Bart would understand and respect the decision as well.”

Wow, good thing Bart Giamatti has been dead for 36 years and can't dispute you, Bud. We do, however, have newspaper archives which strongly suggest that you're full of shit here.

For example, there was a whole damn press conference when Giamatti banned Rose and specifically said that the only way Major League Baseball would ever consider reinstating him was if he demonstrated, "a redirected, reconfigured, rehabilitated life," which of course Rose never even attempted to do. Quite the contrary, actually, as Rose spent his last several decades lying, self-promoting, and only pretending to own up to what he did in order to sell a book.

Beyond that, on August 10, 1989, three weeks before Giamatti's death, he had a chance to consider an actual rehabilitation petition and rejected it:

Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti has turned down a request to consider reinstating Shoeless Joe Jackson to major league baseball, saying he did not "wish to play God with history." Jackson, who died in 1951 at age 63 in his native South Carolina, was one of eight Chicago White Sox players banned from baseball for their part in the infamous 1919 Black Sox Scandal. In a letter to South Carolina state Sen. Ernest Passailaigue, Giamatti said he and other commissioners have received letters urging them to review Jackson's case. Passailaigue made the letter public today. "For good reason, there has not been a reconsideration," Giamatti wrote. "I share the view that a resurrection by me of the case today would not be appropriate . . . Giamatti said the events around the 1919 World Series "and its aftermath cannot be recreated . . . I, for one, do not wish to play God with history. The Jackson case is now best given to historical analysis and debate as opposed to a present-day review with an eye to reinstatement."

If Bart Giamatti did not believe there was any reason to reconsider a then-70-year ban of Jackson, the suggestion that he'd be fine with the reinstatement of Rose after far less time had passed and despite the fact that his transgressions and character were far, far worse, is preposterous and insulting to Giamatti's memory. And that's before you get to the fact that many have attributed the stress over the Rose matter as a contributing factor in Giamatti's untimely death barely a week after his ban was imposed.

Bud Selig's invocation of Giamatti's name here is disgraceful. You'd think a man who is 90 years old himself and likely doesn't have much time left himself might have more respect for the legacies of the dead. But then again this is Bud Selig we're talking about.

In related news . . .

A few years ago I shared a website run by Cup of Coffee subscriber Greg Nix, who creates and sells lefty/progressive baseball T-shirts under the banner Southpaw shirts. Stuff like Karl Marx playing shortstop with the slogan "Seize the means of run production" or a design that looks a lot like a Dodgers jersey but says "Black Lives Matter" over the number 42.

Greg had an older design on there that he's rolling back out again in light of this week's events:

Proceeds from the "Rob Manfred Sucks" shirts will be donated to the Cincinnati Children's Hospital. I suggest your order two.

Dodgers designate Austin Barnes for assignment

In a surprise move the Los Angeles Dodgers designated catcher Austin Barnes for assignment yesterday. They then added 24 year-old top prospect Dalton Rushing to the roster in his place.

Barnes, 35, had been the Dodgers' longtime backup and, while the club doesn't use this terminology, he's basically been Clayton Kershaw's personal catcher for a decade, having taken over from A.J. Ellis in that role. While that has provided Kershaw with a nice security blanket, Barnes is not versatile defensively like Rushing, who can play the outfield and first base as well. Nor does Barnes have any untapped upside at this point in his career. Rushing, meanwhile, has raked over four minor league seasons and stands as one of the top prospects in the game.

Barnes will likely see interest on the waiver wire, but it’s totally possible that he'll stay in the organization as depth if no one else selects him.

Matt Carpenter retires

Former Silver Slugger and three-time All-Star Matt Carpenter has retired from Major League Baseball. Carpenter made the announcement yesterday while appearing on former teammate Scott Linebrink's podcast. You know, just like Lou Gehrig did.

Carpenter, 39, played in 14 big league seasons, hitting .259/.366/.449 (122 OPS+) with 179 home runs and 329 doubles. In his best season, 2013, he led the league in runs (126), hits (199), and doubles (55) while hitting .318/.392/.481 (140 OPS+) and helping lead the Cards to the NL pennant. He finished fourth in the MVP voting that year and got some downballot consideration in 2015 and 2018 as well.

Time comes for everyone, of course, but rarely does it come as hard as it does for second basemen in their 30s. Like a lot of those folks, Carpenter's production declined steeply when he reached that age. With the exception of an almost shockingly hot 49 games for the 2022 Yankees, 2018 was his last truly solid season. Following a brief stop in San Diego he played his final 59 games after returning to the Cardinals for a final go-around last year. He was not signed on the free-agent market this past winter, however, and that was that.

Happy trails to Matt Carpenter, who had a really damn fine career.

A.I. seems to be humming along just fine

Seen on BlueSky:

I do not know, nor do I wish to know, the context for this screenshot, but I am going to have these sentences in my head forever now.

[a few minutes pass]

OK, I now know the context. And based on it and other similar datapoints, I'm pretty sure that we're past the point of redeeming this world.

Other Stuff

The Trump Regime is full of antisemites and Nazi sympathizers

This good, detailed NPR article serves as reminder is that the White House is full of Nazis and Nazi sympathizers and that the Trump Regime's constant claim to be "fighting antisemitism" is a transparent pretext to punish protesters, universities, and other people and entities they hate.

Remember that the next time you come across a news article or a piece of commentary which credulously repeats the claim that the Regime's authoritarian crackdown is somehow being done to "combat antisemitism" or that it in any way constitutes a defense of Jewish people. It shouldn't be hard, as such patently disingenuous statements are published nearly every day.

Trump and many of his senior advisors at best, see Jewish people as mere tools they can use to advance their own agenda. At worst, they view them with hatred and disdain. Their words, their deeds – deeds such as granting political asylum and permanent residency to a man who posted ‘Jews are dangerous’ and who shares Holocaust denial content online – and their associations make that plain.

New "Superman" trailer has dropped

Check it out, y'all:

I'll accept a nearly omnipotent alien being coming to earth and fighting fantastical monsters, but a reporter asking hard questions of power without hedging or trafficking in euphemism is so unlikely that it takes me out of this trailer.

HBO is HBO again

First, there was HBO. It's a company that had its roots all the way back in the 1960s, when cable television was basically experimental. It became known as Home Box Office and launched commercially in the early 70s.

Then there was Cinemax. Owned by HBO, and specializing in movies only, it launched in 1980. Rumor has it that they showed soft-core films late at night for a time during my adolescence and early adulthood but I am sure I know absolutely nothing about that.

Then things started to get exponentially confusing:

• Over the years HBO and Cinemax were cloned into multiple channels so that content offerings could be expanded. This was not that big a deal because when this happened we were all still watching linear television and it was easy to see the extra channels in the guide;
• In 2010 HBO launched its first streaming product, HBO Go, which was available to HBO subscribers. OK, we're still following;
• In 2015 the company launched HBO Now, a different streamer that could be paid for without an HBO subscription. This was a bit trickier because in these years I sometimes had an HBO subscription and sometimes didn't and was never sure what to use for streaming purposes;
• In 2020, both HBO Go and HBO Now were subsumed into HBO Max. This was simpler. It pretty comprehensively communicated that this was where you went for HBO and/or Cinemax products and everything else related to those brands. It seemed pretty optimal in the Netflix Era;
• In 2023, Warner Brothers Discovery, HBO's owner, changed the name of HBO Max to just "Max." This was confusing because HBO was, by far, the more established brand. Indeed, it was a brand that actually had a lot of goodwill attached to it. Max, on the other hand, made little sense because Cinemax was always just a sub-brand. Indeed, it seems that even Warner knew this was confusing because it simultaneously created the tagline “the one to watch for HBO.” This idea, of course, was implicit when the channel had the word "HBO" in the name. It was like McDonald's renaming themselves "Filet-o-Fish Land" and having a tagline "the restaurant to go to when you want McDonald's."

Now, however, in the year 2025, Max is HBO Max once more:

Streaming service Max is yet again changing its name, but users will be familiar with the new branding: HBO Max. The decision was announced Wednesday by Warner Bros. Discovery during a presentation in New York. The change in name is slated for this summer.

So everything old is new again.

The guy who runs Warner, and thus whatever you want to call HBO, is named David Zaslav. He made $51.9 million last year because that's just what you have to pay bold leaders and visionaries in America these days. Who knows where that company would be if his steady and consistent hand was not on the tiller.

I am frightened yet intrigued

Meanwhile, in the Large Hadron Collider . . .

While smashing lead atoms into each other at extremely high speeds in an effort to mimic the state of the universe just after the Big Bang, physicists working on the ALICE experiment at the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland incidentally produced small amounts of gold.

I don't know anything about particle physics, but I do know that alchemists wasted, like, 1,000 years trying to do this and failed, and now here we are.

Which puts me in a weird place, because I can't decide if this means that we should 100% shut off the Large Hadron Collider and pretend it never existed due to the horrors it might unleash or if we should just set it to "shuffle" and see what madness ensues. My guess is that if we do, it'll look a lot like that Looney Tunes short in which Daffy Duck argues with the animator and things descend into madness.

Have a great day everyone.