Around Baseball 2018

[Ray]

JD Martinez is crushing the baseball this season. .329/.396/.654 with 25HR. Fastest Red Sox player to reach 25 HR before the end of June.

[Brownie19]

Wilner advocating for the Jays to pick up Goins on twitter.

 

Jesus f***.

[Slade]

Wilner advocating for the Jays to pick up Goins on twitter.

 

It's not a horrible idea, they do need someone to backup Diaz.

[Abomination]

It's not a horrible idea, they do need someone to backup Diaz.

 

We can call up Gurriel if necessary, or let Solarte handle it for the odd game.

[Captain Adama]

We can call up Gurriel if necessary, or let Solarte handle it for the odd game.

 

There are literally at least, 4 other internal options before even thinking of Ryan f***ing Goins.

[Brownie19]

It's not a horrible idea, they do need someone to backup Diaz.

 

It's an incredible f***ing horrible idea sir. I said good day sir.

[Jonn]

You know you suck when you get cut by the 2018 Kansas City Royals. That might be the least talented roster in Baseball.

[Krylian]

Goins is gonna be that ex that you just can't shake. She comes back after 2 years, bats her eyelashes, and you end up banging her only to have the worst feeling of regret right afterwards cause you know you've opened up a s*** storm again.

[Abomination]

Springer totally sold a foul ball off his foot. He took one later though as penance.

[Abomination]

Adames just fouled a ball off his foot, that then bounced up and knocked his helmet off. Don't think I've seen that before.

[TheHurl]

Oregon State won the CWS. Not sure if anyone saw footage of game 2 but Arkansas had three players under a foul ball to end it...they blew the game (first time in 42 games they lost with a lead in the 9th)

 

http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=23930843

[L54]

Oregon State won the CWS. Not sure if anyone saw footage of game 2 but Arkansas had three players under a foul ball to end it...they blew the game (first time in 42 games they lost with a lead in the 9th)

 

http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=23930843

 

That’s tough to stomach. My old Juco coach is now an assistant for Arkansas

[John_Havok]

Other sources have detailed it a little more, the actual comment has not been released, which is probably for the best. It can’t stay under wraps for long though.

 

Today, in an interview with USA Today, Bosio claimed that he had been fired over a misunderstanding with an African-American clubhouse attendant. According to Bosio, the attendant overheard Bosio call a white pitcher, Daniel Stumpf, “Spider Monkey,” which was the coach’s nickname for the player. From the article:

 

“Someone in our coaches’ room asked me (Monday afternoon) about Stumpf,’’ Bosio said. “And I said, “Oh, you mean, ‘Spider Monkey.’ That’s his nickname. He’s a skinny little white kid who makes all of these funny faces when he works out.

 

“The kid thought we were talking about him. He got all upset. He assumed we were talking about him. I said, “No, no, no. We’re talking about Stumpf.’

 

“And that was it. I swear on my mom and dad’s graves, there was nothing else to it.’’

 

 

 

If that is 100% true, then the firing is all kinds of stupid.

[TheHurl]

That’s tough to stomach. My old Juco coach is now an assistant for Arkansas

 

College version of Billy Buckner really

[King]

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-most-unhittable-arm-in-the-minors/

 

Jeff Sullivan is an absolute gem. I love these articles. Punt Sheryl Ring to the moon.

[Boxcar]

Today, in an interview with USA Today, Bosio claimed that he had been fired over a misunderstanding with an African-American clubhouse attendant. According to Bosio, the attendant overheard Bosio call a white pitcher, Daniel Stumpf, “Spider Monkey,” which was the coach’s nickname for the player. From the article:

 

“Someone in our coaches’ room asked me (Monday afternoon) about Stumpf,’’ Bosio said. “And I said, “Oh, you mean, ‘Spider Monkey.’ That’s his nickname. He’s a skinny little white kid who makes all of these funny faces when he works out.

 

“The kid thought we were talking about him. He got all upset. He assumed we were talking about him. I said, “No, no, no. We’re talking about Stumpf.’

 

“And that was it. I swear on my mom and dad’s graves, there was nothing else to it.’’

 

 

 

If that is 100% true, then the firing is all kinds of stupid.

 

Jesus Christ, this culture we live in today.

 

Wow, reading more about the Bosio thing and it's actually making me angry. What kind of f***ing snowflake gets offended by simply HEARING the word monkey?

 

I hope Bosio wins his lawsuit. Poor f***er. Al Avila is a prick.

[TheHurl]

That’s tough to stomach. My old Juco coach is now an assistant for Arkansas

 

Did you play for Coach Brabant? I have a story for offline if yes

[John_Havok]

Jesus Christ, this culture we live in today.

 

Wow, reading more about the Bosio thing and it's actually making me angry. What kind of f***ing snowflake gets offended by simply HEARING the word monkey?

 

I hope Bosio wins his lawsuit. Poor f***er. Al Avila is a prick.

 

I guess the only real thing to prove would be that the kid's nickname actually is Spider Monkey.... then the whole thing just falls apart on the Tigers.

 

If that kid's nickname isn't that, then... as they say In ebonics. .. he be f***ed.

[Caper]

I guess the only real thing to prove would be that the kid's nickname actually is Spider Monkey.... then the whole thing just falls apart on the Tigers.

 

If that kid's nickname isn't that, then... as they say In ebonics. .. he be f***ed.

 

I feel she should be able to sue the tigers. That is really unbelievable.

[Abomination]

Jesus Christ, this culture we live in today.

 

Wow, reading more about the Bosio thing and it's actually making me angry. What kind of f***ing snowflake gets offended by simply HEARING the word monkey?

 

I hope Bosio wins his lawsuit. Poor f***er. Al Avila is a prick.

 

I find it highly unlikely that's how it happened. It was an internal matter. Unless they were looking for a reason to fire him anyway, it should have been a very quick and easy investigation to determine what actually happened. It sounds like there were several witnesses. This strongly feels like Bosio trying to save face.

[Bobthe4th]

 

[Bobthe4th]

Can’t wait for this to be back:

 

[onwego]

I find it highly unlikely that's how it happened. It was an internal matter. Unless they were looking for a reason to fire him anyway, it should have been a very quick and easy investigation to determine what actually happened. It sounds like there were several witnesses. This strongly feels like Bosio trying to save face.

 

Like I’d immediately believe a word Bosio said about this. The Tigers handled it well by not going into detail.

[BTS]

I'm kinda surprised an AL team hasn't given Jabari Blash an extended look as a DH. Dude has 22 homers and a 208 wRC+ in AAA this year.

 

The Angels are getting an 88 wRC+ out of Pujols this year. You'd have to think Blash could outproduce that if given a few hundred PA to adjust to MLB pitching.

[John_Havok]

I find it highly unlikely that's how it happened. It was an internal matter. Unless they were looking for a reason to fire him anyway, it should have been a very quick and easy investigation to determine what actually happened. It sounds like there were several witnesses. This strongly feels like Bosio trying to save face.

 

Even if it did go 100% as he said, teams would still fire him because of someone overhearing it and misconstruing. I've seen it happen at places I've worked where two people have a conversation, 1 person who isnt even involved overhears a portion of a sentence that contains a word, rats them out to the uppers because they're suddenly "unsafe" by hearing a word they don;t even have context for and those other 2 are fired.

 

It almost happened to me too except I was actually speaking to the person who lodged a complaint on me. I had an employee who had prescription pain killers at the office, she was newly hired and I mentioned the company policy that she needs to make sure she doesn't share them since they are prescription (common practice for people to share Tylenol or Advil or whatever for headaches). I was in the head honchos office the next day because apparently I accused her of being a drug dealer.

 

Luckily my boss wasn't a moron, talked to us both and got exactly what I had said from her and explained to her that the company has a policy of not sharing prescription meds because it can kill people, and that's all I was doing. Then she explained that I should have known that could have been taken the wrong way because of the area of the city in which she lived, because apparently drugs were common there - like I was f***ing expert on every block of the city and that populations drug habits.

[jays4life19]

Even if it did go 100% as he said, teams would still fire him because of someone overhearing it and misconstruing. I've seen it happen at places I've worked where two people have a conversation, 1 person who isnt even involved overhears a portion of a sentence that contains a word, rats them out to the uppers because they're suddenly "unsafe" by hearing a word they don;t even have context for and those other 2 are fired.

 

It almost happened to me too except I was actually speaking to the person who lodged a complaint on me. I had an employee who had prescription pain killers at the office, she was newly hired and I mentioned the company policy that she needs to make sure she doesn't share them since they are prescription (common practice for people to share Tylenol or Advil or whatever for headaches). I was in the head honchos office the next day because apparently I accused her of being a drug dealer.

 

Luckily my boss wasn't a moron, talked to us both and got exactly what I had said from her and explained to her that the company has a policy of not sharing prescription meds because it can kill people, and that's all I was doing. Then she explained that I should have known that could have been taken the wrong way because of the area of the city in which she lived, because apparently drugs were common there - like I was f***ing expert on every block of the city and that populations drug habits.

 

Your company needs to explicitly say it's not okay to share prescription drugs at work? Lol.

[John_Havok]

Your company needs to explicitly say it's not okay to share prescription drugs at work? Lol.

 

Pretty much all companies have it written in their employment agreements. Yes I agree it's pretty common sense but....

[King]

I guess the only real thing to prove would be that the kid's nickname actually is Spider Monkey.... then the whole thing just falls apart on the Tigers.

 

If that kid's nickname isn't that, then... as they say In ebonics. .. he be f***ed.

Stumpf denied that ever being his nickname, so it's obvious he's just trying to save face. I also like how he thinks admitting to making fat jokes about the trainer helps his case.

 

https://theathletic.com/413630/2018/06/29/sources-chris-bosio-was-fired-for-directing-a-racial-slur-at-a-clubhouse-attendant/

Former Tigers pitching coach Chris Bosio directed a racial slur toward a clubhouse attendant following a game this past week, The Athletic has learned, precipitating his firing Wednesday.

 

Bosio called the attendant, who is African-American, a “monkey,” according to four team sources. The remark was directed toward the young man, who was collecting towels from the coaches’ room at the time, during a post-game gripe session in which Bosio was lamenting about a pitcher.

 

During this exchange, Bosio made a derogatory comment about one of the Tigers pitchers and then gestured toward the attendant before adding, “like this monkey here,” the sources said. The attendant pushed back at Bosio for the comment, and an additional team employee witnessed the exchange. Bosio was provided an opportunity to apologize to the attendant after his outburst but declined to do so, according to multiple sources.

 

These sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

 

It took less than 48 hours for the Tigers to conduct an internal investigation, led by general manager Al Avila and the team’s general counsel and assistant general manager John Westhoff, who is in his 15th season with the Tigers. Westhoff has a background in labor law and previously worked for Major League Baseball. The move was made swiftly and, according to one source, the decision to fire Bosio was unanimous, with essentially no dissent among team leadership.

 

In the statement issued by the team immediately following his dismissal, the Tigers noted that Bosio’s actions violated the “Uniform Employee contract” and that his “insensitive comments” violated team policy.

 

According to Avila, Bosio was fired prior to Wednesday’s game and the team was notified prior to the club’s 3-0 loss to the Oakland Athletics.

 

“For me, and our organization, we felt this was a much-needed move,” Avila said on Wednesday.

 

Bosio did not return messages seeking comment. Avila and Westhoff could not be immediately reached for comment on Friday. A spokesperson for team owner Chris Ilitch did not immediately return messages. The Tigers declined to comment on the specifics of the incident, beyond the team’s official statement on Wednesday.

 

In his first public comments following his dismissal, Bosio told USA Today on Thursday that he was “in shock” over what had transpired and the 55-year-old former MLB pitcher said that his comments were misinterpreted. Bosio claimed that he was referring to Tigers reliever Daniel Stumpf as “Spider Monkey” because of the strange faces the lefty makes when he works out. Bosio claimed that this is Stumpf’s nickname, and that the clubhouse attendant heard the word “monkey.”

 

“I’ve got [sic] protect myself someway,’’ Bosio said, according to USA Today, “because this is damaging as hell to me. I’ve got to fight for myself. Everyone knows this is not me. I didn’t use any profanity. There was no vulgarity. The N-word wasn’t used. No racial anything. It was a comment, and a nickname we used for a player.

 

“This kid and I had a great relationship. This kid played jokes on me all spring, and I told him, ‘Now you’re offended, because you heard the word ‘monkey,’ or ‘spider monkey,’ and it’s not even directed at you.’’

 

“We crack fat jokes on our trainer every day. All kinds of things are said in a baseball clubhouse. And for this to happen to me?

 

“I don’t know what else to say, but I know I don’t deserve this.’’

 

Stumpf told The Detroit Free Press Thursday night that he was not aware of that nickname. All four sources who spoke to The Athletic disputed Bosio’s account.

 

The rebuilding Tigers brought in Bosio to work with the club’s young staff because of his reputation as a shrewd teacher whose hand-on methods seemed to coax the most out of his charges. He was, from all indications, very well liked by the club’s pitchers, many of whom were already thriving under Bosio’s tutelage and enjoyed his fastidious and individually-tailored approach.

 

Players were stunned to hear the news and some said they had no knowledge of what happened until that team meeting on Wednesday.

 

“We all understand the nature of this business and the world we live in, and some things are unacceptable,” Wilson said. “From what we were told, it crossed those lines, and it is what it is. I don’t know the exact content of what was said. I just know it crossed a barrier that is unforgivable.”

 

In the wake of Bosio’s sudden dismissal, former bullpen coach Rick Anderson has been promoted to working with the team’s pitchers. Anderson spent over a decade as manager Ron Gardenhire’s pitching coach during their time with the Twins organization and is already familiar with the team’s staff.

 

“We’re just going to go about our business, and it’ll be fine,” Gardenhire said on Thursday. “It happens and we can’t do too much about it.”

 

While Bosio seemed to enjoy strong reviews among his pitchers prior to the incident, the same support was not shared in all corners of the clubhouse. Several sources told The Athletic that his personality grated on fellow members of the team’s coaching staff as well as support staff members, and that he had become increasingly alienated as a result.

 

According to these sources, Bosio was forceful about his own objectives (defensive shifts were a source of particular frustration) and showed little receptivity to outside ideas. His brash demeanor and unwillingness to work collaboratively caused clashes with other personalities on staff.

 

One MLB source described Bosio as “ornery” and another indicated that his polarizing personality was what hastened his departure from the Chicago Cubs in 2017. Though Bosio helped mold a staff that went on to win a World Series title in 2016, he was not retained this offseason, when the club announced in October that it would not exercise the 2018 club option on Bosio’s contract. It was a move that was initially met with some surprise, though Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein had previously indicated that the team was displeased with the staff’s high walk rate, which he deemed “unacceptable.”

 

If Bosio decides to pursue a lawsuit against the Tigers, it will not be his only pending legal action. Bosio has multiple liens and judgments against him and he continues to be embroiled in proceedings with his ex-wife, Suzanne, for whom he filed for divorce in 2012 and was granted a divorce in 2014.

[Brownie19]

I have no idea what was said - and don't really care, but I could see "spider monkey" being a name that the coaching staff refers to Stumpf by. That doesn't it's a nickname that Stumpf goes by on a regular basis. The example would be I work with a guy who's notoriously cheap. Co-worker may refer to him as "the cheapskate"....like "hey, get cheapskate to find you a deal on shoes - he gets a deal on EVERYTHING" or "cheapskate is going to review that plan".......but nobody calls him that to his face, nor is that a regular nickname for him - so he may have no idea that people refer to him as that.

 

I've worked with a guy who co-workers and even Town staff referred to as "Tomato" because he was a red head who's face when red in the sun. I've also worked with a guy who's initials were M.C. and he was known to be super anal about everything so people called him MC Hammer, which morphed into "the Hammer". But they didn't know people called them that. I don't think there's a major issue with this type of behavior. Maybe it's a little insensitive.

 

Christ - my nickname is "Brownie" and I remember being in LIDS with friends one day. It was just us, plus the LIDS employee, who was middle eastern. My buddy called from across the store to me "hey Brownie - what's that Jays hat cost" and the employee was like "are you talking to me?" I mean we all just burst into laughter and then explained to the guy that my nickname is Brownie.

 

The oddest part is that Bosio refused to apologize. You'd think if it was a misunderstanding that he'd simply apologize, explain who he was talking about and they'd all move on.

[onwego]

it would be tougher today with Johnny “Ugly” Dickshot on your team

 

Just sitting through the NYG roster for a 1939 MLB sim league....