There's a lot of baseball every day. It's part of what makes the sport so great. But we get it, you can't possibly keep up with everything that happens in a week. That's where we come in. Here's a quick refresher on the five most fun moments you may have missed.
1. The Yermínator
Yermín Mercedes just may be the story of the year (unless Jacob deGrom has something to say -- we'll get to him later). The 28-year-old rookie burst onto the scene with hits in his first eight at-bats to start the season, has launched the longest home run of the year with this 485-foot blast and now has the best haircut in the sport.
I would love to have seen the barber's reaction after the request:
Mercedes has been in a slump for the last few weeks, but as everyone knows, a good haircut is just the thing to shake someone out of the doldrums.
2. Southside vs. Wrigleyville
The Cubs-White Sox rivalry is a fierce one as the clubs compete for the hearts of Chicago's faithful. I mean, there's a reason why they have a Crosstown Cup awarded to the victor of the regular season series:
Well, this year, with the launch of the new Nike City Connect jerseys, that rivalry has been taken to a new level with the local neighborhoods represented directly on the uniforms.
The White Sox, who are from the south side of Chicago, released intimidating all-black pinstriped uniforms with a pretty great new cap:
On Tuesday, the Cubs returned the volley with their own unis. They've got navy blue Wrigleyville togs, with some pretty nice Chicago-area touches like the iconic Chicago Y on the shoulder patch and the red star from the city flag on the cap:
3. Train in vain
OK, so this is the Minor Leagues, but sometimes truly great moments occur away from the big league field. On Saturday afternoon, Red Sox Minor Leaguer Johan Mieses came to the plate for the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox and proceeded to hit a once-in-a-lifetime home run. That's because his massive shot came at the same time that a train was rolling past the stadium:
The big league Red Sox were having a pretty good weekend, too. Boston swept the Yankees in their first matchup of the season. Not only that, but it also ended a streak of 11 straight losses for the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium.
4. Jacob deGrom is unstoppable
In 1968, during the first Year of the Pitcher, Bob Gibson put up the kind of numbers most people thought we'd never see again. Across 34 starts, Gibson posted a 1.12 ERA -- the lowest in Major League history for a starting pitcher.
The Mets' deGrom is looking to break that. Through his first nine starts this year, deGrom's ERA is nearly half that with a miniscule 0.62 ERA. (For comparison's sake, the league average ERA is 4.07.)
Not only that, but deGrom is ahead of the pace, too:
It remains to be seen if deGrom can keep up the pace all year, but it was still enough for Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell to join the discourse:
5. Stressing the fundamentals
One of the first things they teach you in Little League is to run through the bag at first base. Diving for the base not only slows you down, but it prevents you from being ready to advance if the throw gets away.
Turns out, there's a third reason not to dive: You might just miss the base entirely. Trying to beat out an infield single, the Cubs' Eric Sogard didn't just dive for the base, but he leaped over the bag.
Whoops.