2017

Spooky …

When two once-in-a-generation talents appear in the SAME generation.

Whose side are you on? pic.twitter.com/p1JjLip4Gb

— MLB (@MLB) August 8, 2017

Stat-urday, 8/12/2017

Trey Mancini is the first @Orioles rookie to hit 20 HRs since Cal Ripken Jr. https://t.co/pZsReP86ut pic.twitter.com/t8zS18QvR0

— Baseball Reference (@baseball_ref) August 11, 2017

We All Have One of Those Coworkers

I’ve noted before that sociologists view sports as a microcosm of society. This can definitely be said of baseball – and while I have no direct proof of what was happening behind the scenes at the Bowie Baysox game Wednesday night, the interaction between Ryan Flaherty and his fellow Baysox players certainly seemed to reflect coworker interactions we’ve all experienced.

Flaherty, who was on a rehab assignment with the Baysox, finished his work for the evening after the seventh inning. As he walked off the field, he stopped to talk to some teammates on his way to the clubhouse:

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What happened next, perhaps only Ryan knows, but if baseball imitates life, I imagine it went something like this: Ryan stopped to talk to his teammates. They were friendly, perhaps even having a great conversation. But at some point, maybe that conversation started getting a little too long, and Ryan found himself trying to figure out how to extricate himself from his overly chatty coworker. I mean, we’ve all been there haven’t we? We’ve all had to deal with one of those coworkers.

I watched the action unfold from across the ballpark. At first, Ryan seemed to get in to the conversation, and sets his gear down:

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The conversation drags on; Ryan untucks his shirt and starts to fidget and stretch:

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But the coworker keeps talking, so he tries paying more attention to something – anything – than the conversation at hand, like watching the game (this is a common tactic designed to send the message to the overly chatty person that you have better things to do):

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Perhaps he even tried to say goodbye and make his escape as another player walked by:

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But, alas, Ryan wasn’t the one who was able to escape, and now he’s wondering how else he might disentangle himself:

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So he tries backing away slowly, though the world appears to be speeding by as he’s stuck in place:

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The next strategy is usually to keep backing away from the person who won’t stop talking, looking uncomfortable if you think it will help:

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If it doesn’t work, you might have to resign yourself to being stuck there a little while longer:

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But keep hoping someone else will come by to save you:

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Then, slowly start making your move to escape again:

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When you seen an opportunity, get out of there as fast as you can:

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It matters not if someone else gets stuck with your chatty coworker – at least you have saved yourself:

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Happy Friday! Enjoy some time off from your coworkers!

~ baseballrebecca

The Importance of Having Cedric

Cedric Mullins is batting .315 this season with the Bowie Baysox. But that’s not the whole story.

The Bowie Baysox are 60-55 and in first place in the Eastern League Western Division. So far they are 3-5 this month, though they have outscored their opponents 49 to 43. But that’s not the whole story, either.

Last night, the Baysox hit five home runs, scored 14 runs, and beat the Harrisburg Senators 14-2. The Senators, for their part, hit two home runs. Most of the home runs scored in the game can be attributed to Cedric. Yet only one of those home runs was hit by Cedric himself.

This is the story: Last night the Bowie Baysox played the Harrisburg Senators. It also happened to be a night in which a group of boys, approximately 10 to 16 years old, were in attendance at the Baysox game. They were loud and exuberant and they immediately took a liking to the Baysox’ leadoff batter Cedric Mullins.

In the first inning, they began chanting, “Ced-ric Mul-lins” followed by the rhythmic clap, clap, clap-clap-clap so often heard at baseball stadiums. In response, Cedric hit a home run, immediately putting Bowie on the board.

So the boys kept chanting Cedric’s name; it did not matter if the rest of the players were not named Cedric Mullins. After Mullins’ lead off home run, the next batter, Baltimore Orioles rehabbing infielder Ryan Flaherty, singled. The boys chanted. After the next batter made an out, the rehabbing Anthony Santander homered, and the boys chanted.