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The Rays dropped a 2-1 contest to the Royals, ending the second longest win streak in franchise history at 11 games. But in the loss, Rich Hill was pretty good!
Elite company for the #Rays Rich Hill per below https://t.co/bfhrva9PiH
— Neil Solondz (@neilsolondz) May 26, 2021
If you're wondering, the record for swings and misses by a #Rays pitcher in one outing is 27.
— Neil Solondz (@neilsolondz) May 26, 2021
Rich Hill, at 41 years of age and 75 days, has 26 swings and misses and a career high 13Ks tonight.
Hill went on to tie the record at 27 after the final batter he faced, capping off a pretty great night.
3 pitchers have generated more than 45 called strikes + whiffs in a game in 2021:
— Jason Collette (@jasoncollette) May 26, 2021
Gerrit Cole
Shane Bieber
Rich Hillhttps://t.co/LXLSVUBP3a
Stu is getting sued by some of his erstwhile partners. It’s going to take a bit to figure out how much there is there, and how much is just rich people bickering with rich people. But it’s definitely worth keeping an eye on.
NEW: Tampa Bay Rays minority owners are suing principal owner Stuart Sternberg, saying he squeezed out other partners and started secretly negotiating a deal with Montreal back in 2014.
— Emily L. Mahoney (@mahoneysthename) May 24, 2021
W/ @ByJoshSolomon https://t.co/HRsijTIJYw
The team’s (or maybe just Stu’s) response.
The Tampa Bay Rays have issued the following statement: pic.twitter.com/ICP0dShCzM
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 25, 2021
Might anything good come of this law suit for Rays fans? Maybe!
Here’s @romano_tbtimes with some context on the lawsuit, @DickieV https://t.co/D6aeyB4ym5
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) May 25, 2021
New Era unveiled a new “Local Market” series of caps. They were … um … something.
New Era has released new "Local Market" caps for all 30 MLB teams. Here are a few examples.
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) May 25, 2021
Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/6f502iiXcP
Many of the caps featured area codes along with circa 1997 clip art. The Rays, for instance, utilized a palm tree, and the 813 area code. Which is of course Tampa’s area code, not St. Pete’s.
The Tampa Bay Rays play in Tampa, at least for those who consider New Era's “Local Market” cap to be the authority, apparently. https://t.co/YvkbCR9oVK
— FOX 13 Tampa Bay (@FOX13News) May 25, 2021
But hey, at least they didn’t put the 514 area code on it!
The Rays snafu was not the only problem with the area codes.
NewEra has released a "local market" line of MLB hats. While the Royals hat has the area codes of Kansas City, Kansas, the hat omits one important detail: the area code of Kansas City, Missouri.
— KOMU 8 News (@KOMUnews) May 25, 2021
PS: The Cardinals hat features toasted ravioli. https://t.co/RsbHY1PCRn
Or with the clip art.
New Era really nailed these local market hats #Reds pic.twitter.com/ZsdLuQDfyD
— Luke #CREW96 MLS CUP CHAMPIONS ⭐⭐ (@LukeShigeo) May 25, 2021
The response to the Local Market caps was so swift and so universally negative that New Era pulled the caps off their site. Thankfully, the tweets will live forever.
New bio, who dis? pic.twitter.com/60jhNHRDnZ
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) May 25, 2021
The Rays have cleared the 85% barrier and will enjoy some relaxed restrictions.
#Rays Glasnow said there's not a lot of immediate differences in having protocols relaxed, but "the no mask thing will be pretty cool.''
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) May 25, 2021
Joe West broke a record. People booed.
Joe West broke a record that had stood for 80 years Tuesday night in Chicago. https://t.co/BLfXFqXNgD
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) May 26, 2021
Ready for your childhood dreams to be crushed? Turns out, Fred McGriff never watched a Tom Emanski video.
Fred McGriff says that he's never actually seen the Tom Emanski defensive drills video (the instructional video that he said "gets results" in the commercial). pic.twitter.com/Of1iVCM5yM
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 25, 2021
This is interesting!
Wrote about strikeouts, and how actual batters aren't really whiffing more this year, but the reintroduction of ungodly bad pitcher hitting (47% K rate!) and the bad PH who PH for them has bumped the overall rate up anywayhttps://t.co/r3e8nMeGvW
— Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) May 25, 2021
This is also interesting!
Forget (Some of) What You Know About Runners on Third https://t.co/BM3yBIK4Ba
— FanGraphs Baseball (@fangraphs) May 25, 2021
Joe Ryan and the lost year.
Rays pitching prospect Joe Ryan, an old soul in a modern game, is the proxy for baseball's Lost Year, writes Tom Verducci https://t.co/nHl8MnfwSf
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) May 25, 2021
The return of the minor leagues.
The minors — forever quirky, forever beloved — make their return to ballparks across the country https://t.co/tit4WQDFcW
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) May 25, 2021
In his first start since tossing a no hitter, Corey Kluber left the game after three innings. He’s getting an MRI.
RHP Corey Kluber left tonight's game with tightness in his right shoulder. He will be further evaluated tomorrow, which will include MRI imaging.
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) May 26, 2021
Very important to always lock your doors.
the classic run through the wall, other team scores the go-ahead runs play https://t.co/jmSmp9KchQ
— Farm To Fame (@FarmToFame_) May 26, 2021
Finally, this is an actual puppy, not a windup toy.
His first swimming lesson.. pic.twitter.com/enSsrKQDi0
— Puppies (@POPULARPUPPlES) May 26, 2021