THE 2026 BASEBALL SEASON

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Harrison Bader, who absolutely NEVER gets hurt, crashed his scooter the day before he was to fly to a foot specialist regarding his plantar fasciitis, but he now has additional injuries to that foot.

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Baseball is good for one or two of these every year: In the middle of a game, some unsuspecting animal — usually a cat, but we’ve seen pigeons, snakes, geese, rabbits and even bees — causes play to screech to a halt.

You can’t blame the animals, who categorically do not comprehend even the simplest of baseball rules. They are innocent wanderers, out on a normal curiosity walk, and all of a sudden, here come a bunch of humans with towels and mitts, doing their best to restore order without injuring an animal on live television.

That was the task at hand for the Tigers grounds crew last night as they tried to evict a squirrel at Comerica Park.

Tigers play-by-play announcer Jason Benetti was absolutely up for the challenge of calling the squirrel’s action, including improvisations such as: “Hemmed in? NO! I won’t be hemmed in! I have freedom on my mind!” and “The force field is activated! Towels can’t stop him!”

The commentary highlights a video so weird it defies description. Watch Leody Taveras, surrounded by crew members in various states of discombobulation, use his glove to … flip the squirrel toward the stands?

“I just was trying to stop it. When it got into my glove, I don’t want to squeeze it, so I was just trying to bring it up. I wasn’t trying to do that,” Taveras told MLB.com reporter Jake Rill after the game, explaining the flip.

The squirrel was fine, by the way. They routinely jump from much higher heights, and for further evidence, it showed absolutely no ill effects as it proceeded to elude the crew.

Even stranger, after the interloper was apprehended, umpire Bill Miller used his field microphone to encourage Tigers fans to give the grounds crew a round of applause.

You can see their whole attempt in a video here (you owe this to yourself): 

https://x.com/JomboyMedia/status/2081910904602411420?s=20

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How will Mr. El-Moussa deal with being the second most famous Tarik in L.A.?

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Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing has a partial tear of the UCL in his right elbow, The second-year backstop landed on the 10-day injured list yesterday with what the team initially called elbow inflammation.

Rushing will continue to hit but is being shut down from throwing. That could last as long as 4-6 weeks and potentially threaten his ability to throw for the remainder of the season. Catching suddenly looks like a significant question mark for them with Will Smith on the 60-day injured list with a lingering neck issue, though he has resumed baseball activities
 

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The two most valuable players in baseball this season went at it...

Ohtani, who led off the game with a homer, just hit a two run shot to cap a five run eighth to bring LA within 7-6

Fortunately, PCA, who led off the bottom of the first with a homer, also had a 3 run shot (and a double) and the cubs held on.

PCA suddenly began taking A LOT of walks a couple of months ago and is looking like the superstar he appeared to be the first half of last season.  They signed him to an extension after the second half swoon that now looks like a mega bargain.

If Atlanta wins tonight they tie the Dodgers for the second best record, so the Dodgers MIGHT not get a first round bye.