A dark alleyway.
A cloaked figure stood between the outer walls of two buildings, his form barely visible from the shadows creeping around him created by the flickering streetlight from the nearby corner. A man in a trench coat appeared under the light, illuminated by the golden hue. He popped the collar of his coat up so his neck was completely covered, attempting to shield himself from the soggy drizzle the refused to let up.
The figured waited, content to watch the man pace under the streetlight. Finally he spoke.
"Do not move," the man in the alleyway said, his voice hushed and gravelly.
The man on the sidewalk froze where he stood, his hand unmoving from it’s place atop his head where he adjusted his fedora.
"Do not act so surprised to hear from me. You called this meeting, did you not?" the gravelly voice continued.
"Look," the other man answered, trying to hide the quake in his voice, "I never asked for this. I just wanted to give people a more exciting game."
"I did what you asked. The game is more exciting now. What more do you want?"
"Don’t you see? Home runs are being hit left and right... and even deep center. It is not right!"
"So what?"
"So what?" the man adjusted his fedora again, "So what is that people have noticed. The home run per fly ball rate is over 17.5% this year. Seventeen point five! I’ve got veterans coming out of the woodwork telling the press something is off. They know what we did."
"They know what you did," the figure answered smugly.
"Now wait a minute, fella -"
"You wanted me to be invisible. I was invisible. You wanted more excitement. You have more home runs. As far as the world is concerned, I do not exist and our deal is done, Robert."
"I never asked you to juice the baseballs, dammit!"
But there was no response from the alleyway. The cloaked figure had gone, disappeared into the night. Rob Manfred was left alone on a street corner, the only noise the pitter-patter of raindrops slapping the pavement.
Is MLB's ball juiced? Pitchers strongly believe something's not right | USA Today
Juiced baseballs even more likely to be responsible for all these homers | SBNation.com
In MLB’s New Home Run Era, It’s The Baseballs That Are Juicing | FiveThirtyEight
The Juiced Ball Is Back | The Ringer
what else is going on in baseball...
- Overlooked candidates for the MLB All-Star Game. | Sports on Earth
- The best Home Run Derby candidate on every team. | Sports on Earth
- A closer look at teams with unusual home/road splits. | Sports on Earth
- MLB's ace pitcher club has gotten more exclusive. | Sports on Earth
- John Tumpane: America’s Favorite Umpire | FanGraphs Baseball
- Technically, Baseball Really Is More Boring | FanGraphs Baseball
- Judge vs. Bellinger: The Tale of the Tape | FanGraphs Baseball
- The Angels Won on a Walk-Off Strikeout* | FanGraphs Baseball
- Assessing the Trade Value of Giancarlo Stanton | FanGraphs Baseball
- Yankees rookie Dustin Fowler injures knee in 1st inning of major league debut | SBNation.com
- Fan who chucked beer can from upper deck banned from MLB games for year | SBNation.com
- 2017 MLBRank Top 100: Players ranked Nos. 60-41 | ESPN
what the cardinals are up to...
- Assessing the trade value of key Cardinals | Jesus Ortiz | stltoday.com
- Pham, Voit deliver as Cards raise pinch-hit average to NL-best .349 | St. Louis Cardinals | stltoday.com
- The Cardinals Played Good Baseball at Arizona. Was It a Tease or Will They Build on It? | 101Sports.com
- St Louis Gets Going Late, Beats Arizona 10-4 | Viva El Birdos
KNOW THINE ENEMY...
the worshington nationals
- Washington Nationals’ lose Trea Turner to fractured right wrist; 8-10 weeks without Turner? | Federal Baseball
- A Washington Nationals Community | Federal Baseball
- Series Preview: Cardinals vs. Nationals | St. Louis Cardinals | stltoday.com
- Cardinals should destroy the Nationals | Viva El Birdos
the nl central
- If Reds’ Zack Cozart becomes an All-Star, Joey Votto will buy him a donkey | SBNation.com
- This year's Chicago Cubs are still looking for their identity | Chicago Cubs Blog | ESPN
viva el stuff...
- FANPOSTS:
Statcast Released a Speed Stat...and the Cardinals Are Bad | Viva El Birdos
The Only Statistic that matters | Viva El Birdos
What Statcast Tells Us About the Cardinals' Defensive Efficiency | Viva El Birdos - Viva El Birdos Podcast: Episode 88 | Viva El Birdos
other things...
- VIDEO: Happy Birthday, Dan Dierdorf...Enjoy Some of the Football Legend's Highlights | 101Sports.com
- Soccer’s ugly sexism is keeping women from coaching the beautiful game | SBNation.com
- Nicki Minaj made good on her promise to name-drop Giants punter Brad Wing | SBNation.com
- Brent Burns, Joe Thornton, and their beards gave us an iconic ‘ESPN Body Issue’ cover | SBNation.com
- Chris Paul and Phil Jackson shook up NBA free agency before it even began | SBNation.com
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