Mack’s Apples – Ronny Mauricio, Adrian Gonzalez, Jackie Robinson, Unwritten Rules, Beaning Girls

Fangraphs  https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/top-18-prospects-new-york-mets/   Top 18 Mets Prospects -

       4. Ronny Mauricio, SS

      Signed: July 2nd Period, 2017 from Dominican Republic

      Age   16       Height           6’3      Weight          166     Bat/Throw   S/R

        

        The stringy Mauricio was our third-ranked player in the 2017 July 2 class and the only 45 FV prospect. New York signed him for a franchise-record $2.1 million. He featured the most physical projection of his peers, and some scouts think his frame has room to add about 30 pounds while still retaining the range and flexibility for shortstop. Mauricio’s endless limbs spear down to corral ground balls, and he has shocking body control for an athlete of his age and build. He isn’t strong with the bat just yet, but his swing has some natural loft from both sides of the plate, and if his body matures in the Goldilocks Zone that allows him to stay at short and do damage with the stick, he could be a star.

Rotographs on A-Gon:

          

Boy, how the mighty have fallen! When the Mets signed Gonzalez, suggesting they didn’t believe prospect Dominic Smith wasn’t quite ready for the starting first base job, we all laughed. Since 2015, Gonzalez has missed significant time with back issues, and those aren’t the type to suddenly go away. This is especially true for a 35 year old. So after a career worst .275 wOBA over 252 plate appearances last season, we essentially left him for dead.

But he may have been revived! Tiny sample size caveats apply of course, BUT…

-He’s walking like crazy, posting a mark in the mid-teens, driven by his lowest Swing% since 2009 and lowest O-Swing% since 2010

-Welcome back power! Check out his fly ball exit velocity trend:

We can’t be confident Gonzalez makes it through the entire season healthy, but for the time being, there’s a greater chance that his offense has returned than we had thought before the season started. That makes him worth adding in even 15-team mixed leagues.

Jackie Robinson's Battles for Equality On and Off the Baseball Field –

        

         With his college education, and high marks in marksmanship and character, Jackie seemed a shoe-in for Officers’ Candidate School, but his application, along with those of several other black applicants, was rejected. Jackie turned to his friend, and fellow resident at Fort Riley in Kansas, heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis. Although Louis wasn’t an officer, he wielded some power at Fort Riley, and within a few weeks, Jackie and the other applicants were accepted into the OCS.

Most of baseball’s unwritten rules are stupid and strange –

I’m not sure which one of those unwritten rules is more chuckleheaded.

On the other hand, there are some lesser-known unwritten rules of baseball that kind of make sense:

Don’t spit out sunflower seeds on a teammate’s shoe during the last                           game of a home stand.

Don’t bring a pet into the batting cage.

Don’t show up at the visiting team’s hotel the night before a day game.

Don’t leave the on-deck circle dirtier than you found it.

Don’t shower next to a pitcher scheduled to start the following day.

Don’t buy gold chains at Target

Don’t call your manager “Skipper” in front of a sommelier.

Don’t check your swing if you have change in your pocket.

Don’t play cards on a train with a fella named Big Daddy (circa 1918).

Don’t play HQ Trivia while taxiing on a Delta flight (updated version).

Don’t waste a pitch during a recession.

Don’t order the “cream” and the “clear” online from an unprotected                            site.

Don’t eat baked beans before a doubleheader.

Don’t charge the mound without a credit card.

Don’t throw a four-seam fastball to a five-tool player.

Don’t interrupt a bullpen-by-committee in session.

Report: New Hampshire Youth Baseball Coaches Planned To Bean Their League's Lone Girl Player Into Quitting -

In another hideous example of adults and men being absolute shit, the father of a New Hampshire little league baseball player says two coaches in his daughter’s league conspired to have her beaned so that she would quit the league, according to a Foster’s Daily Democrat report:

In an email to [Oyster River Youth Association] board of directors Chair Ben Genes, Dan Klein, of Madbury, alleges that two coaches said they would instruct a player to “bean” Klein’s daughter — strike her in the head with a baseball during practice — in order to intimidate her into leaving the baseball program. The conversation allegedly took place during a draft meeting to assign players to team rosters.