This Week in (Dumb) Baseball: MLB Draft version
It's time for This Week in (Dumb) Baseball. This time around, we'll talk draft.
Happy MLB Draft day! Oh, yes, it's also Monday which means it is time for another edition of This Week in (Dumb) Baseball. As regular readers already know, this feature has the title, sure, but it's mostly for fun-- a fact that eludes the masses but remains the case. If someone freaks out, set them straight and tell them to enjoy life!
For all This Week in (Dumb) Baseball columns, click here.
1. All the draft overreactions
Well, they haven't happened yet, as the draft begins Monday night, but they are coming.
My favorite fans are going to be the ones heartbroken they didn't draft a player they've never seen and know very little about
— Kevin Brown (@duyarvish) June 8, 2015
Pretty much. It's not just fans, though. There are media HOT TAKES all over the place. Remember when those poor Twins couldn't afford to draft the next Roger Clemens in Mark Prior or the most surefire stud in the draft, Mark Teixeira? They had to settle for local hero Joe Mauer.
How about two years ago when the power-heavy Cubs desperately needed an arm and had to hope the Astros would pass on Mark Appel or just take Jonathan Gray. Instead, they drafted another hitter in Kris Bryant amidst cries of "who is going to pitch?"
How about last season, when those same Cubs were mocked for taking a player many pegged in the 18-22 range fourth overall? Kyle Schwarber is now hitting .324/.445/.580 in Double-A.
While there will be some major misses in the first round Monday night, we can't possibly know which ones will be misses. One thing we do know is that the front office of each of the 30 MLB teams has done a lot more homework on each and every player than a run-of-the-mill columnist of fan blogger. Just keep that in mind when reading all the hot takes Monday and Tuesday.
2. Junior Lake vs. the Marlins
Lake is hitting .235/.278/.373 this season and the Cubs were trailing 6-2 after this blast. He pimped it like he was freaking Miguel Cabrera hitting a walk-off.
I generally despise discussions of proper decorum and this is no different (we'll get to that), but have some self-awareness here, Junior. Not only that, but when the Marlins were chirping from the dugout, he shushes them? Ridiculous.
Lake would apologize after the game and his manager, Joe Maddon, noted that it was unacceptable. That doesn't mean it gets a pass here, though. Dumb.
Of course ...
2a. Marlins hypocrisy
One of the most vocal Marlins was Jose Fernandez, who is still recovering from Tommy John surgery. Exchanges could be seen between the dugouts with Fernandez challenging Lake to a fight -- assumed to be a post-game scrap -- and Lake accepting.
We have several layers of dumb here. One is adults fighting. Nothing screams immaturity more than talking about physically fighting. The second is the reason for wanting to fight. An opposing player did something you don't like and you want to physically fight? Get a grip, man. This goes for every adult in most situations where one might decide to physically fight. That doesn't make you a better man, guys, in fact it makes you a smaller man. And if you don't like how someone acts after a home run, don't give them up. This goes for every team and every player in this sport. Quit whining. It's unbecoming and the complete opposite of manly.
Finally, how about the hypocrisy here? Does Jose Fernandez being involved in an altercation over proper home run decorum ring a bell? Anyone? Bueller?
Ah, yes. Fernandez did something pretty similar to Lake. I was -- and still am -- fully on Fernandez's side here. Just because we're here, I'll again say to get a life, Brian McCann and Chris Johnson. Ridiculous.
Anyway, Fernandez doesn't have a leg to stand on in the Lake altercation. He's done it before. The message? It's OK for me to do, but not you.
This feels like the 1,000th time I've had to repeat it, but I'm so sick and tired of players getting angry at opposing players for having fun. Stop being babies, guys. You are adults playing a game. If someone like Junior Lake wants to make a fool of himself, step aside and let him. You were winning at the time, after all.
3. There are now rules as to what questions can be asked
David Ortiz, one of the most fawned-over athletes of his generation by the local media, has a problem with being asked about him regressing at age 39. The quotes, via WEEI.com:
“I was asked on camera the other day if I was washed up. And I pretty much didn’t react to it, but I thought that was very disrespectful,” Ortiz said before Saturday’s 4-2 victory over the A’s. “You don’t disrespect people like that, you know what I’m saying? I’ve come a long way, and everyone knows my status, and to come and wipe it in my face just because things are not going well right now, I don’t think the question was fair. That tells tells me how things are around here. People forget too fast, and I don’t think it’s right.”
It's actually a legitimate question considering age and the slash line. He's awfully demanding. Maybe he should have a list of acceptable lines of questioning? That might make things easier.
The dumb is now out of our system, so let's close with some fun.

Accountable gentleman of the week
Last week, Kyle Seager attempted to bunt for a hit and Yankees starter CC Sabathia was able to get him at first. After the play, Sabathia was screaming in anger (I'm pretty sure he was saying "swing the (effing) bat!"). Had he dug in his heels after the game, he would have been included above in the "dumb" section. Instead, he did this:
Cc says he was wrong for his outburst towards Kyle Seager when seager bunted - "I can admit when im wrong." says it was a good play.
— Daniel Barbarisi (@DanBarbarisi) June 3, 2015
Good job, CC.
Baseball card of the week
From my Uncle Mike's stash, it's Tito!

Slide of the week
Rene Rivera, bring it.
Classic miscalculation. pic.twitter.com/x60y5GMeUU
— MLB GIFS (@MLBGIFs) June 2, 2015
Message of the week
This girl is going places.
Not all heroes wear capes pic.twitter.com/lbmJtvbgnL
— Adam Box Stadium (@AdamATVS) June 2, 2015
Goodies of the week
Beautiful, times two.
Jobu bobblehead!!! Thank you, @LCCaptains pic.twitter.com/4fv7za2xN6
— Matt Snyder (@MattSnyderCBS) June 8, 2015
Every once in a while, getting the mail is cool pic.twitter.com/9iRljsKXZg
— Matt Snyder (@MattSnyderCBS) June 1, 2015
Pop Culture tidbit of the week
As regulars here know, I'm a huge Seinfeld fan. This past week, we heard that Susan was killed off, basically, because the cast hated working with Heidi Swedberg (via nypost.com). Hilarious. It only makes me love Larry David more.
Pop culture idiocy
I'm a weird dude. I fully admit that. Here's an example of the types of things that cross my mind. Rocky IV was on this past week and I found my mind wandering to things like ...
What if this was real life? Surely there would be a segment of nutjobs with conspiracy theories, right? Such as: Rocky isn't actually friends with Apollo and he still hates him from when Apollo was being a jerk to him in Rocky II. So he secretly convinced Apollo to take a fight in which he'd die -- all the while refusing to throw in the towel and letting Apollo get killed. And then Ivan Drago is held up to this standard that he's unbeatable and this is when Rocky waltzes in and takes him down. It was his plan all along. Diabolical.
I mean, there would be some people who really believed that if it were real life and in the Internet era, right?
On that note, it's time to put a bow on this thing. Have a great week.
Suggestions (dumb stuff, random videos, baseball cards, pop culture rankings topics, etc.) or hate mail? Feel free to hit me up: matt.snyder@cbs.com or you could always go to Twitter (@MattSnyderCBS).















