Four years ago, then-Blue Jays catcher Reese McGuire was charged with exposing himself in his car in a shopping center parking lot. The incident happened in Dunedin, Florida during spring training, and McGuire ultimately pleaded no contest to disorderly conduct. Was he doing something predatory? It doesn’t sound like it, although I’ve never tried that hard to find the police report. Instead, it sounds like he was…well, I’ll let Cal Quantrill tell you:
That exchange happened on Wednesday. Quantrill yelled in celebration after getting McGuire to fly out, McGuire yelled at Quantrill for yelling, and Quantrill yelled that in response.
Turns out, Reese McGuire didn’t hear him. From MassLive yesterday:
Because there are no TVs in the dugout, it wasn’t until after the game, back in the visitor’s clubhouse, that most players, including McGuire, found out what Quantrill (as captured by cameras) said to McGuire on the field — and the stir it had caused online. That realization led to many Red Sox wanting to go back for more — with one prominent Sox player so incensed that he started asking stadium personnel where he could find the home clubhouse, where the Rockies were packing up for a road trip to San Francisco. Red Sox players were spotted waiting out by Colorado’s team bus at one point as well.
Trevor Story reportedly defused the situation, which is a funny development. Who was the prominent Red Sox player who was so upset? I’m not sure. The article mentions Jarren Duran and Nick Pivetta’s anger during the on-field portion of the proceedings. I am purely speculating here, but Tyler O’Neill certainly looks like a man you’d expect to angrily ask stadium personnel where he could find the home clubhouse.
Regardless, Wednesday was a bad day for Reese McGuire, and then on Saturday he had to answer questions about it, so Saturday was a bad day for Reese McGuire, and then on Sunday he got cut from the Red Sox when they traded for a different former Blue Jays catcher, Danny Jansen. Reese McGuire had a really, really bad week.
Did Jayson Tatum have it worse, though?
We’ve talked before about how everyone on The Internet™ is ready at all times to make fun of Jayson Tatum. We’ve also noticed that Jayson Tatum seems to only communicate in things he himself heard online. This implies that not only is Jayson Tatum chronically cyberbullied, but Jayson Tatum is aware he’s chronically cyberbullied, because Jayson Tatum is clearly also spending too much time on The Internet™. Jayson Tatum makes sixty million dollars a year and just won an NBA title. Jayson Tatum is still getting made fun of by teenagers online.
Summer is supposed to be downtime for Jayson Tatum’s haters. Tatum goes on vacation, Tatum’s bullies’ parents take them on vacation, everyone gets a break. Not this year, though. This year, there are Olympics. And how did Jayson Tatum spend his first Olympic game this year?
Steve Kerr has promised to play Tatum in Team USA’s second game. This should be a one-time thing. Tatum was also Team USA’s second-leading scorer in the last Olympics. But the fact Kerr had to say Tatum still has a role on Team USA is a testament to how effective the bullying became, as is the fact that we’re over here feeling sympathetic towards Jayson Tatum, having formerly been pretty on-board the Jayson Tatum Hatermobile. As it went with Reese McGuire, at some point it becomes sad. We’re at that point.
Etc.
- Tom Crean got some love from Dwyane Wade yesterday during the Olympic broadcast, and it made one wonder about Tom Crean’s legacy. It feels like it depends how his media stuff goes from here? The man has endearing star potential, and while others have him on Dan Dakich watch, I don’t think he’d have such a good relationship with Wade if he was fully of that ilk. Maybe he tries to get back into coaching, but even if he does, it feels like it’d be at FGCU or somewhere like that. Somewhere that would be more of an epilogue than its own chapter in the Tom Crean story.
- LeBron looked really cool carrying the flag on the boat on Friday. I’m not sure if we mentioned that on Friday. That was the coolest LeBron’s ever looked. And for all his flaws, and for how he managed to only look cool one time in Miami, LeBron James has often looked cool.
- Chase Budinger has become a favorite Olympic story among basketball fans, with the former McDonald’s All-American and NBA journeyman playing beach volleyball for Team USA. Do you think he’s trying to hang out with the NBA guys? Do you think they’re letting him?
- “I’m a second baseman,” said Gleyber Torres, asked if he might move to third base to open more playing time for Jazz Chisholm. “So I play second.” It does sound like Torres might agree to make the move, and the reason this is funny is not because Torres is so average defensively. The reason this is funny is that it’s second base! That’s not that hard of a position! Shortstops defending that they play shortstop makes sense. Ditto centerfielders. Closer? Yes. Starting pitchers? Of course. They might hurt their teams at times (see: Jeter, Derek), but having some ego at those positions is understandable. But second basemen?
- Bally Bet is live in Maryland, which has led to me learning that Bally’s was a gambling company before it became the name of a coalition of failing regional sports networks? And remains a gambling company? Evidently Bally’s Corporation* pays Diamond Sports Group for the RSN naming rights. I had no idea.
- “The four-time MVP was hotter than the sticky New Jersey weather,” reads this ESPN report on Aaron Rodgers getting angry at the Jets’ practice today. Why was he mad? From the sounds of it, the Jets were being the Jets. This is tangential, but I want to see an objective measurement of summer misery. Too many places in the U.S. claim to be unbearable in the summer. Let’s get some numbers on it.
*That’s the name. Bally’s Corporation. I also thought it was saying the corporation belonged to Bally.
