Monday, April 14, 2025
Bobble Slams and Other Bounces
Well, figure that one if you can. The Dodgers punted on a golden opportunity to send President Trump a powerful message that it's not nice to diss the man who cracked baseball's disgraceful color line. They gave him a jersey with "TRUMP 47" on the back, not Jackie Robinson's number 42. So what's happened since?
Easy. They lost ownership of the National League West for now. At this writing, they've been 2-2, but outscored by 4 runs. Early in the season it is, of course, but they're tied for second in the division with their usually hated rivals from San Fran. Not very nice if you're a Dodger or a Dodger fan.
Of course, these are the Dodgers, and they're not liable to stay down so damn long that it looks like up to them. (Thank you, Los Angeles icon Jim Morrison.) Meanwhile, elsewhere around the bases...
Head in the Game Dept. — Leave it Elly De La Cruz to come up with the perfect thank you for his bobblehead night. Not to mention the better reply after Pirates starter Andrew Heaney plunked the two guys ahead of the Reds' shortstop in the Saturday lineup to load the pillows with two outs in the bottom of the third in the first place.
De La Cruz worked his way to a full count before sending Heaney's meaty fastball into the left field seats. Giving his Reds a 4-0 lead that ended up in a 5-2 Reds win. Sweetening the proverbial pot: This was only the ninth time the switch-hitting De La Cruz left the yard swinging right-handed.
Bobble, Bobble, Toil and Trouble Dept. — On the other hand, Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman returned from the injured list Friday on his bobblehead night. (His figurine depicted him smacking his walk-off grand salami in Game One of last year's World Series.) Did he do anything even half as dramatic as De La Cruz?
No such luck. Freeman did score a run, though — the hard way, having been hit by a pitch from Cubs pitcher Matthew Boyd to set up first and second for Teoscar Hernández in the bottom of the sixth. Hernández got to perform the big blast, sending a three-run homer over the left field fence, busting a scoreless tie and proving just what the Dodgers needed: they won, 3-0.
Fair Over Foul Dept. — The Angels thought Mike Trout had the Astros's Yainer Diaz's foul down the right field line as he reached over the wall to catch it. So did Trout. Astros fan Jared Whelan thought his young son was going to get it — right in the proverbial kisser, unless Dad reached for it. Dad did, catching it right out of Trout's glove.
Turned out Whelan reached for the ball he saw coming like a bullet just seconds before Trout took a leap to try catching it. Owitch! But after the play was ruled foul with no interference, the story didn't quite end there. Whelan and son were moved to other seats, after apologizing to Trout on the spot, but they got a postgame surprise — from Trout himself.
The future Hall of Famer met father and son, and Trout handed the boy both an autographed bat and the signed foul ball. It was all Trout's idea. "I got kids myself," said the father of a four-year-old son himself. "The way he reacted, he obviously didn't do it on purpose. Well, I don't know if he didn't do it on purpose. But just the way he reacted, and his kid, and they got moved. They probably spent hard (earned) money on those tickets."
After a slow season opening, the newly-healthy Trout has been on a bit of a tear in his past nine games — 6 home runs (including a monstrous blast above and past Houston's Crawford Boxes Friday) and a 1.137 OPS. In other words, he's begun doing Trout things again. Including showing nothing but class whenever he meets fans even under strange circumstances.
Crotchety, Wasn't He Dept. — Garrett Crochet not only signed a delicious extension with the Red Sox (six years, $170 million), but he almost stuck it all the way back down the throats of his former White Sox. He no-hit the White Sox through seven with 11 punch-outs. The bad news: White Sox third baseman Chase Meidroth ended the no-no bid with one out in the eighth, singling to left. Red Sox manager Alex Cora pulled Crochet from the game post haste; the Red Sox went on to win, 3-1.
Crochet admitted postgame he wasn't necessarily sorry about his trade to Boston, even after he got a warm standing ovation from the Rate Field crowd when the no-no was busted: "For me, it was not very hard to move on, honestly. Especially with going to the Red Sox, such a storied franchise. I was excited, quite frankly, and I still am for what this team could accomplish this season."
Getting traded away from the team who broke the record for losses in a season does that for you, too.