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You have probably noticed that the days have been getting longer recently, and despite the cold nip in the air in many places across North America, it is becoming more and more clear that spring is right around the corner.
With the change of season comes the joys of our national pastime as the boys of summer begin reporting for their spring training assignments in the coming days. And soon, we will once again hear the sweet sounds of leather and wood out on the baseball diamond that is, if the sport can successfully navigate through the gauntlet of the coronavirus pandemic.
January 17, 2021
Chris Perez didn’t get many opportunities to swing the bat during his seven big-league seasons. As a short reliever who played primarily in the American League, that was to be expected. Somewhat less expected was what happened when he did have a chance to dig into the batters box.
“I had two [plate appearances], and I’m bitter about one of them,” Perez told me recently. “In 2008, my rookie year with St. Louis, we were in Florida at the old stadium, playing the Marlins. I came into the game in the eighth inning with one out, and got a double play with the bases loaded. When I went back to the dugout, Tony La Russa told me, ‘Hey, Chris, you’re still in there. Stay focused, because you’ve got the ninth.’”
Good
afternoon evening, Athletics Nation!
The Oakland A’s had 10 free agents come off their roster at the end of the 2020 season, and one of them officially found a new home this week. The Detroit Tigers signed outfielder
Grossman spent the last two seasons on the A’s, and built a promising resume on both sides of the ball. In 2019 he was a finalist for the Gold Glove in LF, and in 2020 he enjoyed a breakout at the plate that included a 126 wRC+ and a career-high .482 slugging percentage. He’ll need to prove the strong hitting wasn’t a short-season fluke, but it’s no surprise to see him earn a multi-year deal and just two winters after being non-tendered by the Twins.
Welcome to the first post of 2021 C.E. here on
Bless You Boys and we cannot tell you how happy we are that the past year is finally in the rearview mirror. While there are still plenty of hurdles in the coming months, our collective fingers are crossed that things will get better.
To kick off the new calendar, we have a couple of tender morsels for your reading pleasure, featuring a quick review of how Tigers players have fared in the various winter leagues as well as a look back on one of the weirder parts of an already fever dream-like year that was 2020.