houston astros

Mark Appel was a can't-miss prospect when he was drafted by Houston, and when he pitched for the ValleyCats, but didn't make his MLB Debut until this Wednesday.

In between innings at Yankee Stadium this weekend, a New York fan decided to test Justin Verlander's skills in "Rock, Paper Scissors", and it did not go well.

Having worked in minor league baseball, one learns that in-between-innings promotions with little kids don't always go exactly how planned. In fact, even in the big leagues a six-year-old does what, well, a six-year-old does! Who knows what that is going to be? Tuesday night, as the Mets were taking on the Astros, the Houston promotional staff and players got a big surprise from six-year-old "Oliver," during a fan contest.

Some things are pretty simple. Cheating is cheating. There is no, "well, they sort of cheated" in Major League Baseball, where franchises are worth billions and players salaries are predicated on performance. Or maybe there is. On Tuesday, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred's 2017 infamous "Yankee letter" was released, as directed by a judge.

The colors and the name across the chest were new. The long blonde hair on the 6' 6" frame was all too familiar. Former New York Mets right-handed pitcher, Noah Syndergaard threw his first regular season pitches for his new team on Saturday. He wore number 34, like he did with the Mets. However, an Angels player had not worn that number in 13 years, exactly.

According to reports Sunday night by MLB network's Jon Heyman, the Mets have narrowed down their search to 3 and believe it or not, it looks like they picked the right 3. Buck Showalter, Joe Espada and Bethlehem Central High School grad Matt Quatraro are the 3 finalists. Eppler almost hired Showalter in Anaheim and has ties to Espada from their days in the Yankees organization. They were the first two names reported on Sunday by Heyman, maybe that was intentional, maybe not.