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Greetings, fellow baseball enjoyers! And welcome to your thrice-weekly dose of baseball banter!
My name’s AJ… and this is Two-Strike Count.
Marcano ban raises Ohtani questions
When he banned Pete Rose for betting on baseball, Bart Giamatti probably didn’t think it would ever happen again. I’m guessing, at the time, no one did.
But here we are.
On Tuesday, MLB banned the Padres’ Tucupita Marcano for life for betting on Pirates games while playing for them. The league said Marcano bet more than $150,000 from October 2022 to November 2023. So that’s that. The 24 year-old’s career, which, to be fair, wasn’t anything to write home about, is over.
It seems like MLB had an open and shut case against Marcano. I mean, the investigation was only just announced Monday. MLB sure wrapped things up quickly. A little too quickly, if you ask me.
And that makes me wonder.
It makes me wonder about another gambling scandal… the one involving Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara. Why was the Ohtani investigation dragged out for so long only for the Dodgers superstar to be cleared? Why was Ohtani presumed innocent from the get-go? And most importantly, why was MLB so quick to exonerate Ohtani after Mizuhara plead guilty to fraud?
Because, ladies and gents, Tucupita Marcano isn’t Shohei Ohtani. Banning a Padres player no one’s ever heard of isn’t the same as banning an international superstar. People are likely to forget all about Marcano. Ohtani getting banned would be talked about for years and would do serious damage to MLB’s reputation… and its bottom line.
Lewis rejoins Twins
Over two months after getting hurt on Opening Day, Royce Lewis rejoined the Twins Tuesday night as they opened a three-game series against the Yankees.
Talk about perfect timing.
Even though they were six games over .500 while winning 26 of their last 39 games without Lewis, the Twins need him back on the field in a big way. But more than that, they need him to stay healthy. Lewis missed the entire 2021 season as well as parts of 2022, 2023, and this year.
Despite all that missed time, Lewis is a career .313 hitter with 18 home runs and 58 RBIs. And that’s just during the regular season. He dazzled in his playoff debut last October and was a key part of Minnesota’s run last fall.
But that was last year. And this is this year.
And if the Twins wanna get to the places they wanna go, like winning their first World Series title since 1991, Royce Lewis needs to stay healthy, stay on the field, and stay productive.
Rangers are tone deaf… at best
Celebrating Pride Month, and by extension celebrating equality, has become an important part of sports in recent years. Pretty much every major pro sports team has some kind of Pride celebration. And make no mistake… that’s a good thing.
Apparently, though, the Texas Rangers don’t agree.
The team, commenting on the lack of Pride Night at Globe Life Field, says they’re “committed to making everyone feel welcome at all games.”
Really? Cause it kinda feels like the opposite.
Especially after the Rangers changed their website banner from “Run it back” on May 29 to “Straight up Texas” on June 3. At the very best it’s bad timing and tone deaf. At the worst…it’s just plain antagonistic.
I mean, come on.
You’re the only team in MLB that refuses to celebrate Pride and you change your website banner to that?
Not exactly a great look.
Now, I’m not saying the Rangers have to have a Pride Night. But it kinda makes you wonder, doesn’t it? Why are they MLB’s only holdout?
It’s not because they play in Texas, because the Astros have Pride Night every year. But it might have something to do with the fact that their principal owner has donated over $200,000 to a certain anti-LGBT governor. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.
Whatever the reason, it’s ultimately the Rangers choice whether or not to have Pride Night at their ballpark. And if they choose not to have it, that’s fine. But just leave it at that. Don’t do stupid things like plastering the word “straight” on your website during Pride Month.
That’s the opposite of making everyone feel welcome.
That’s it for this edition of Two-Strike Count, baseball fans. Until next time!
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