MLB the ninth: Juan Soto, between frankness and the politically correct

ByDavid Mitchell
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  • Damián L. Delgado Averhoff18 of APR, 2025, 15:41

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      He is passionate about sport. He was a sports editor in Bohemia magazine in Cuba. From 2005 to date it has reported important international events. He currently writes about baseball and boxing at Espndeportes.com.

Juan Soto’s sincerity brought many problems to the Dominican star, MLB’s little severity against intentional pitching and much more in AM850’s novena.

1. Juan Soto, in the Public Pillory

Did Juan Soto ever thought that his words would cause a great media stir in the major league baseball? Probably … no. Soto is one of the players who talks best with the wood in his hand and, his contract of $ 765 million for 15 years with the New York Mets endorses. But New York could be said that it is like Saturn, devours their “biological” children and also the “adoptives.” Playing there is a serious thing, more than we understand as rational. Soto already knew for his stay on the opposite plot, the Bronx, during the 2024 season. Dendated the media decibels of his historic jacket change for American professional sport, Soto was sincere with The New York Post about what his situation in the alignment with his new team is like. “It is definitely different. I had (in 2024) for the best baseball batter behind me (Aaron Judge). They attacked me more and had more releases in the Strike area; less bases for intentional balls and things like that. Last year they threw me differently.”

2. And Troy burned after Juan Soto’s words

The Big Apple media, and beyond, made their August. Some argued that Soto’s words in a way broke the harmony of the Mets wardrobe, others that was a way to belittle Pete Alonso, the player who protects Soto in the alignment. Anyway, the theories emerged. They threw with everything to the 26 -year -old Dominican billionaire, and I am convinced that for no reason. Judge, twice MVP in the last three years, is one of the three best batters in recent years and was an open secret that rival teams were going to prefer to face Alonso than Soto. He said nothing new. It was Vox Populi; Even so, and I will paraphrase a famous writer, the controversy was armed by controversy. We have to pole something … and there we go. I don’t know, but I prefer Soto sincere and not politically correct, at the end of the story, they will always speak.

3. The almost impunity of the pipers must end

I am already tired of repeating the same, MLB should sanction more severely the pitchers who try to hit the opposite batters on purpose. No matter the reason, justified or not. A bolet at more than 90 mph can be lethal if it impacts the wrong place. This week could happen, when Jorge Lopez de los Washington Nationals launched a rectazo at 92 mph that almost rang the head of veteran Andrew McCutchen of the Pittsburgh Pirates. MLB sanctioned López for three games for believing that the pitching was intentional and the manager of the NATs, Dave Martínez, with a game. I don’t want to seem extremist, but the sanction still seems mild. Three games for a pitcher is practically nothing. Due to the characteristics of the position, the pitcher is almost obliged to rest to avoid overloading his arm, more when he just started the season and needs to dose the work to get with strength after an exhausting 162 games campaign. Twenty -five non -paying games, that would be a fair sanction and that would make the pitchers think every time he would hover in his mind the idea of ​​hitting a classmate.

4. Bruce Bochy reaches Baker and chases Sparky

As a player Bruce Bochy did not transcend. He did not even reach the thousand shifts in the largest, despite playing nine seasons as a receiver in three teams (Houston Astros, Mets and San Diego Padres). However, the one born in Landes, France, on April 16, 1955, took advantage of his time in the bank to learn from the game and then became an important reference when talking about leaders. Bochy debuted as a manager in 1995 at the head of the parents and has been 28 seasons fulfilling that function since then. At 70 years old, Bochy can boast four world series rings (San Francisco Giants in 2010, 2012 and 2014 and Texas Rangers in 2023) and being the most winning seventh manager in history. This Thursday Bochy arrived at the figure of 2,183 victories, matching Dusty Baker in the position. Baker is already retired and Bochy will soon become the sixth with more victories, surpassing Spark Anderson (2,194).

5. What happens when you bother Ohtani?

Think what you want, it is your right. I still believe that Ohtani is the best player who has stepped on baseball. Question of taste. When he concludes his career we will know if he really made merits to be in the conversation with Babe Ruth, to whom a percent of the connoisseurs see how the Goat (Greatest of All Time). The only player with whom he can be compared is Ruth himself. For what has been done so far, it is very likely that he will sit at the table next to him. Meanwhile, enjoy it and do not cuque it, the play can go wrong. Ask the fans of the Toronto Blue Jays that booed him in the Rogers Center.

Let’s be honest. Baseball is difficult. There is a pile of “dead” out there that give them players and can barely swing the bat against sexagenarians (and I am not just talking about my friend and colleague Jorge Morejón) that throw the soft ball. But that is the incentive or space to which we have to go a good part of the mortals lacking the qualities to reach the stage that many we dream of children: the major leagues. And precisely that arrival, that transfer of the minor leagues threshold is something unique. That achievement is forbidden for many, being a privilege of a few. It is not surprising that men, facts and rights, are almost transformed into small leagues guns externalizing their emotions after knowing that they will have the possibility of playing in the elderly. Yes, with all capital intention. I had already confessed to an informal conversation the member of the Hall of Fame, David Ortiz, “you can paste 800 homers in a league, 400 in another, but where you have to give them it is here (in MLB), where the horses are truly.” Welcome to the big leagues Edgar Quero.

7. Umpir or knife 2.0?

I don’t know, I don’t know how to tell you what happened, but from this referee I was ashamed. I am writing to you quasi singing because this man is a criminal and I can’t think of a better way of sweetening nonsense. I do not know how the Umpires will tell in your country with propensity to make mistakes, in mine (Cuba), we call them clashes, but this “impartial” is 2.0 knife level.

8. Ed Rommel, first referee in using mlb

Since we talk above a half -blind umpire -judging by the images -coincidentally on April 18, but from 1956, the referee Ed Rommel It became the first major league impartial to wear glasses. According to Baseball Reference, curiosity occurred in a match between the New York Yankees and the Washington Senators. Rommel, then 58 years old, and who had played 13 seasons in the Major (between 1920 and 1932) with 171 victories and 119 losses as a pitcher, imparted justice in the third pad in the victory of the Yankees in the Griffith Stadium of Washington. On April 24, 1956, the American League referee, Frank Umont, wore glasses for a match between the tigers and athletics in Kansas City. Several journalists noticed him and the next day the newspapers reflected that it was the first time it happened in the majors. In fact, Umont’s daughter offered the Cooperstown Hall of Fame the glasses used by her father, after her death, in that 1956 game. However, Rommel and the referee of the National League, Larry Goetz, confirmed that they had already done it: Rommel on April 18 and Goetz in the second match of a double billboard on April 22 in Philadelphia.

9. To go to heaven you need …

This trapped left me almost speechless. I barely managed to babble a wow! There are other more colorful plays, but if we limit ourselves only to complexity, there are few that exceed this philage that occurred in the United States collegial baseball. I don’t dilate anymore and I leave you with the play to check it for yourself.

David Mitchell
David Mitchell

As a passionate sports journalist with over a decade of experience, I strive to uncover the heart and soul behind every game. Supported by a dedicated team of fellow enthusiasts and storytellers, I am committed to delivering insightful and engaging content that connects fans worldwide. Together, we celebrate the victories, challenges, and unifying spirit of sports through every article we craft.