Edgy MD

And while you're thinking about the oldschool NL East, please pause in honor of Larry Christensen, the 1973-1983 Phillies rotation fixture who wasn't Steve Carlton. Larry died unexpectedly yesterday during a phamily phishing trip. Larry came up at 19. Phillies phans know him from their division-winning 1977-78 teams, their 1980 championship under Dallas Green, and their unexpected 1983 pennant, when everybody on the team was at or near the end of the line. Larry was the starting pitcher on the one day (May 19, 1979) the Phillies wore their all-burgundy uniforms. The team lost, rebelled against the threads, and told management they wouldn't wear them again.

I don't believe so, but that's a name that goes way back.

Not a very momentous time.

Tying run time. Batytime.

Mets trying to walk their way out of this one.

Lavender brought into a cruel situation, but Varsho hit one off of his shoetops.

We need to fix the grounded-into-double-play.

And Varsho lobs a parachute to third. Sheebus. If this is their defense, the Mets have to exploit it and put pressure on them all weekend.

Dites au revoir à Jacques Doucet, la voix légendaire des Expos de Montréal.

The Mets have seen several relay throws against them this season bizarrely thrown into some absolute nowhere region between third and home. I'm starting to think the Mets have deployed some sort of disorienting device against relaying opposition infielders.

Jose Altuve has had a terrific career, but I would disagree that this is the "start" of the decline, but with is numbers gradually decreasing each year since 2022, I would say his decline has not only been at work for four years, but has been almost elegant in its slope. Also, he gives me the icks because I can't see him without thinking of the facepalming cracks the president made when he had the Astros to The White House.

Whatever juice has been missing rom Cal Raleigh's diet in 2026 has ended up in Yordan Alvarez' refrigerator. The Houston DH/once-a-week-LF has long been a good, and sometimes very good player. This year, however, he has enjoyed a season-long vacation at BarryBondsWorld, slashing at .319 / .434 / .609 // 1.044. Each of these numbers leads the league in the category. Whatever he is drinking, though, he isn't sharing very often. Leadoff hitter and shortstop Jeremy Peña is doing a solid job in front of him and thirdbaseman Isaac Paredes likewise behind him, So he shares with his circle of protection but once you get past those guys it's a AAA lineup. While Alvarez is generally too valuable to use in the outfield, the guys Houston has put out there are what Keith would call "El stinkeroonie." For most of the year, that has been Taylor Trammell, Jake Myers, and Cam Smith, but Myers has been farmed out and now you'll probably see more of veteran Daulton Varsho, gobbled up at the trade deadline, out there in the middle. And a guy name Daulton Varsho is always good for giving the team a 90s feel. Cam Smith is kinda like Mark Vientos, these days. His batting average and on-base percentage is paltry, but if you take him for granted, he can still run into one — living up to his colorful nickname, "The Aircraft Carrier." I'll let somebody else fill you in further, but the starting pitching has cratered, leading the Astros to add venerable organizational pitching coordinator Brent Strom to the big league staff. Strom is closing in on 78 years old, and is mostly known to me as the guy on the 1972 Mets who had the worst season on the whole team, but still retained enough value to be traded for Phil Hennigan, which allowed him to appear in a lot of limericks, if nothing else. Checking his bio, it turns out that Strom was the second-ever recipient of Dr. Frank Jobe's ligament reconstruction surgery, commonly called Tommy John Surgery, which I guess now makes him the longest-surviving recipient of the procedure.

I hope you all brought your Jackson Chourio records, because tonight is Chourio Demolition Night.

And the NFL and NBA don't have an explicit anti-trust exemption — although to different degrees, they functionally operate with a tacit one.

Two on in the seventh, and Mizzy out of the game!

Alvarez has got to get closer to the plateplateplate.

It stands!! Welcome to the Mets, Christopher Morel!!

They're going to look at this for a half hour and then overturn it.

A hit! A run! An insane throw by Hamilton!

Damn. Can't even get the bounces.

Wasting challenges isn't going to be the trick in solving this guy.

Alvarez has got to get closer to the plate.

Playing "Wild Thing" and "Born to Be Wild" sound cues continues to be totally minor league.

The Washington Senators fired Walter Johnson. The Texas Rangers didn't fire Ted Willliams, but they encouraged him to resign, as teams often do with living legends to save them dignity. I'm more concerned with whether he's the right guy to hire than a tough guy to fire.

Chelsea Janes is way ahead of you, kicking around that question without answering it in the column-filling manner that is the mark of a future Spink Award winner.