Around the Empire: Yankees news - 4/26/18

Cut4 | Matt Monagan: Has anyone here seen the classic 2007 horror film The Mist? Perhaps I’m using the term “classic” loosely. I went and saw it in the theater and I have rarely laughed so hard at an ending to a movie. It was when the woman who left the grocery store to go save her kid was on the army truck, looking down at Thomas Jane’s character with this “TOLD YA SO!” look on her face. Okay, that’s enough about The Mist. Yankee Stadium was really really foggy last night. It was eerie and kind of awesome, similar to The Mist and the ending to The Mist. Okay, that’s truly enough about The Mist.

The Ringer | Zach Kram: Remember The Mist the complaints about Aaron Judge and striking out a lot last year? You know, even though he walked more than anyone else and hit those mammoth dingers and was a Jose Altuve away from being the MVP. It’s true though. Judge struck out quite a bit. As you may have noticed, Judge is having a fantastic start to the season. One such reason is that he’s striking out less. Judge already saw the ball well last year with the walks and the dongs and whatnot. Now he’s slowly eliminating his one flaw. Is 2018 Judge even his final form?? We shall see.

MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: Whenever I think about bullpen management, I think about The Mist. Wait no, that’s inaccurate. I actually think about how hard it would be to do that job. Dellin Betances would make that job even harder. We’ve all seen what happens when Good Dellin is out there. Filthy strikeouts with almost unhittable pitches. Then we see Bad Dellin with downright Mist-ifying lack of command. However, Aaron Boone does have faith in Betances and believes he’s close to figuring out what is wrong with his mechanics. Before Tuesday’s debacle, Dellin actually looked decent. Please be Good Dellin again. Please.

Newsday | Roger Rubin: The modesty of Sir Didi Gregorius is just one of the many things that makes him so lovable. The nine dingers he’s hit in the month of April are another. As are the singles, the double, the walks, the league leading RBI total, and the dingers. Even after cutting through The Mist with his ninth home run, Sir Didi still insists that he’s not a home run hitter. Maybe he’s just hoping Kramer doesn’t promise a kid that Sir Didi will hit two home runs for him. At this point, I wouldn’t put it past Sir Didi to accomplish such a feat.

Cut4 | MEARNS!!!: Alright. Enough of the boring news. It’s finally time to talk about Glove Popcorn Boy. This probably should have led off the link dump, but I just had The Mist on the brain. Glove Popcorn Boy brought his glove to the game. Most people, young and old, bring gloves to the game to catch baseballs. Being right down the third base line, he’s probably in a great position to do just that. I got my Bernie Williams foul ball on June 11th, 1997, when I sat down the third base line. I didn’t bring a glove though. If I did, I probably would not have filled that glove with salty, buttery, stadium priced popcorn. Glove Popcorn Boy did though. He was also willing to sacrifice said glove-filled popcorn for the foul ball he caught. I don’t blame him. Catching a foul ball is honestly one of the greatest feelings in the world. It’s just, why is the popcorn in your glove, Glove Popcorn Boy? Yankee Stadium has cups and buckets and various other containers that can be used for popcorn. They will even give you one of those folding cardboard box drink holder thingies for free if you ask them. Those technological marvels can easily hold popcorn. Gloves are for catching baseballs, not holding popcorn. Well, I guess they’re for both now. Anyway, kudos to you for catching that foul ball, Glove Popcorn Boy. You’ll always have April 25th, 2018. As will we all.

Didi Victory Tweet

So. modest.

I mean seriously! You can give yourself a modicum of credit, Sir Didi.