How the 2021 season, which begins Thursday, might play out. Or not.
April
1: Marlins beat Rays, 5-4, before an Opening Day crowd of 8,500. Writer says to Marlins manager Don Mattingly, “Imagine the excitement when you’re playing at full capacity with no crowd restrictions.” Mattingly says: “We are at full capacity.” When informed they’re not, Mattingly says, “Who could tell?”
1: Astros open at Oakland where Athletics hand out miniature trash cans to the COVID-restricted crowd to bang while the Astros are batting. Alex Bregman hits two home runs and tells reporters, “Bang this.”
2: Carlos Correa, in the last year of his contract, reiterates that he won’t negotiate during the season. Astros ask if there’s a disabled list exception for the shortstop who hasn’t played more than 110 games since 2016.
4: Blake Snell takes a 3-0 lead into the fifth inning against the Diamondbacks, who then go walk, homer, double, homer to take a 4-3 lead. “Where’s Kevin Cash when you need him?” asks one of the Padres broadcasters.
6: Ke’Bryan Hayes starts the season 4-for-10 with two home runs for Pirates, and refuses again to sign a team-friendly long-term contract. Pirates, looking at a $37 million payroll, say they will look into the possibility of trading Hayes.
9: Dodgers split first six games on road, then lose home opener to Nationals as World Series rings are handed out and banner is unfurled in the outfield. Los Angeles Times sports columnist Bill Plaschke writes a column blaming Yasiel Puig, who hasn’t played in the majors since 2019 and hasn’t been a Dodger since 2018.
30: White Sox beat Indians to complete a 20-7 start to the season in the first month, lead second-place Twins by four games. “How’s that for launch angle?” asks White Sox manager Tony La Russa, age 76.
May
1: Saddled in last-place in the AL West, Mariners fire manager Scott Servais and hire Lou Piniella, age 77. Jamie Moyer, age 58, says he’s willing to throw for Piniella. “When your three speeds are slow, slower and slowest,” he says, “you don’t lose much.”
4: Astros and Yankees meet for first time since Astros cheating scandal was revealed. Astros blank Yankees, 7-0, and throw two runners out trying to steal on pitchouts. How’d you do it, Astros manager Dusty Baker is asked. “Stole their signs,” Baker says with a smile. “The old-fashioned way.”
11: David Price, 0-2 with a 7.56 ERA, goes on the IL. Inspired by Dodgers fans who rented a billboard outside Fenway Park to thank the Red Sox for Mookie Betts, Red Sox fans lease a billboard outside Dodger Stadium and return a message to Dodgers fans: “The Price is $32 million. Thanks for paying it.”
12: Plaschke sees the billboard for the first time and writes a column blaming Yasiel Puig.
17: Pirates outfielder Brian Reynolds, off to a .333 start after a .314 rookie season in 2019, says he rebuffed the Pirates when they approached him to sign a team-friendly long-term contract. Pirates, last in the NL attendance, say they will have to look into the possibility of trading Reynolds.
23: White Sox beat Yankees, 6-1, to win two of three in New York after sweeping the Twins. With 5-1 road trip completed and in first place by seven games, La Russa asks reporters: “How’s that for exit velocity?”
June
3: Stuck at .500 and seven games behind the first-place Braves, Mets fire manager Luis Rojas and bring back Davey Johnson, age 78. Writes one New York columnist: “I’m OK with it as long as he doesn’t bring Lenny Dykstra with him.”
7: Correa goes on the injured list with oblique injury. Astros say they’ll negotiate only if Correa fires his masseuse.
9: Dodgers’ Trevor Bauer blanks Pirates, 4-0, which as one Pittsburgh writer points out, should surprise no one. At $40 million, Bauer is paid more than the Pirates’ entire team.
14: Having moved there because he said people weren’t nice in Boston (he wasn’t all wrong), Curt Schilling announces he’s leaving Tennessee. He says the people aren’t all that nice there, either. No word on where he’s going but northern Idaho is the betting line favorite.
23: Fernando Tatis Jr. homers twice and Snell pitches season-long six innings to lead sweep of Dodgers. Padres lead NL West by five games. LA Times’ Bill Plaschke pens a column blaming Yasiel Puig.
July
11: Phillies reach the All-Star Game nine games behind the Braves, and ninth in the NL in runs scored. They fire manager Joe Girardi and bring back Charlie Manuel, age 77. “There’s no pressure in baseball,” says Manuel, who apparently isn’t listening to sports-talk radio in town. Ryan Howard hears the news, says it won’t take him long to hone his swing.
16: Pirates prospect Nick Gonzales, their 2020 No. 1 draft pick, is hitting .333 at Class A Greensboro and says organization approached him about signing a team-friendly long-term deal. Gonzales said he told Pirates it’s too soon. Last in the NL Central, Pirates say they’ll have to look into trading Gonzales and building for the future.
22: Rays’ Tyler Glasnow pitches around two walks and a hit batter in the first, walks first two batters in the second and is pulled by manager Kevin Cash. Ten relievers go on to combine with Glasnow on 3-0, no-hit victory over the Indians. “I know what the first question is going to be,” Cash says as he meets media. “Why did I stick so long with Glasnow?”
25: Derek Jeter is inducted into the Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, gives his speech and walks eight steps to his left to reach his seat on the stage. “That’s funny,” grumbles one writer sarcastically. “I didn’t know he could go more than three steps to his left.”
26: Pete Rose signs 4,256 baseballs across the street from the Hall of Fame, one for each one of his hits. All balls available for $114.14 to honor Rose’s number. Those who use PayPal, Venmo or Apple Pay will receive Pete’s 2021 NFL fantasy tips. For amusement only.
29: Swept at home by Twins and with their lead cut to four games, White Sox rebound with a 6-1 road trip, sweep four from the Royals and build their lead back up to six-and-a-half games. “There’s some spin rate for you,” says La Russa.
August
7: Schilling announces he’s leaving northern Idaho. Says the only other person in the town where his family moved isn’t very nice.
11: Twins honor 1991 World Series champions. Biggest ovations go to Jack Morris, who pitched 10-inning shutout in Game 7, Gene Larkin, who delivered Series-winning hit, and Braves’ Lonnie Smith, who was deked out by Chuck Knoblauch and failed to score on Terry Pendleton’s Game 7 double.
28: Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera hits 13th home run — most he’s hit in a season since 2017 — and 500th of his career. Writer asks if he’ll play long enough to hit 600. Answers Cabrera: “Do I look like Albert Pujols to you?”
29: White Sox beat Cubs to take two of three and claim supremacy in Chcago. Series win puts White Sox 10 games up as final month approaches. “How’s our lead distance?” asks La Russa.
30: Last again in NL East and last in NL in attendance, Marlins fire manager Don Mattingly and bring back Jack McKeon, age 90. “I never solicited a job,” McKeon says. “But here I am again.” Josh Beckett asks if he’s got any years left on his contract.
September
3: Giants salute 70th anniversary of the Miracle of Coogan’s Bluff, even though the franchise now plays 3,000 miles away from that part of Manhattan which housed the Polo Grounds. With Giants 12 games back and 28 games to play, backup catcher Chadwick Tromp offers to reprise the role of 1951 backup catcher Sal Yvars, who relayed opposing signs stolen by telescope to the Giant at bat. Says Giants manager Gabe Kapler: “You’ve got the name for it.”
10: Gregory Polanco, about to enter free agency and completing another .242, 10 homers, 42 RBIs season with more stints on the injured list (three) than stolen bases (two), approaches Pirates and offers to sign a team-friendly long-term deal. Pirates decline.
17: Schilling’s ex-neighbor in Idaho is finally contacted after ignoring a slew of Boston Globe emails and phone calls. Asked what went wrong, he says he’s not sure. “But things seemed to go bad after I told him I thought he wasn’t a Hall of Famer.” Asked where Schilling was headed next he said he wasn’t sure about that either. “But it’s not Rhode Island,” he says, referring to the state which loaned a Schilling company $75 million before the company went bankrupt.
22: Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera gets 134th hit of 2021, an opposite-field single, and 3,000th of his career. Writer asks if he’ll play long enough to get 4,000 hits. Answers Cabrera: “Do I look like Pete Rose to you? Don’t bet on it.”
25: Yankees beat Red Sox in Fenway Park to win 95th game and clinch AL East. Alex Cora visits Yankees locker room to congratulate counterpart Aaron Boone and wish him luck in the postseason. When asked what advice he had for Boone and the Yankees, 2018 Series-winning manager says: “Change your signs.”
26: Yankees fire manager Aaron Boone and hire Joe Torre, age 80. Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner says it gives the team the best chance to neutralize White Sox’s La Russa advantage in the postseason. Jeter wonders if it’s legal to own one team and play for another.
October
13: Astros’ Jose Altuve hits game-winning homer off Yankees’ Aroldis Chapman in deciding Game 5 of their divisional series, crosses the plate and strips off his shirt. “Nothing up my sleeve,” he says. Yankees fans on Twitter aren’t convinced, and suggest one of Altuve’s tattoos is really a buzzer.
14: Astros announce Correa suffered an eye injury when sprayed with Champagne in celebration after beating Yankees. He’s out for the playoffs.
15: Dodgers eliminated in five games by Braves. When reached for comment, Yasiel Puig says, “Not my fault.”
16: Los Angeles columnist who’s not Bill Plaschke blames Trevor Bauer, who pitched 13 innings in two NLDS starts, allowed two runs, and had no decisions. “There’s a lot of zeroes in his contract,” begins the column. “Here’s another — zero wins.”
24: Braves take lead in Game 7 of NLCS but baserunning blunders and bullpen meltdown lead to 6-4 Padres victory. “SOBs,” begins one Atlanta writer’s next-day column. “Same old Braves.”
25: White Sox finish off Astros in matchup of two 70-plus-year-old managers. “Apparently,” says La Russa, “our range factor extends to the World Series.”
27: Blake Snell goes seven innings to win World Series opener. Asked how it felt to come so close to a complete game, Snell answers a question with a question, “That wasn’t one?” Told there were two more innings after he left, Snell says, “Who knew?”
31: Padres beat White Sox in five games in World Series as Tatis homers three times. But MVP is James Shields, the pitcher traded by the Padres to the White Sox to get Tatis. Asked if there’s an analytic expression to describe the deal, La Russa sighs. “I think they call that ultimate blown trading,” he finally says softly.
once upon a .406 