**EDITORS NOTE – Greg doesn’t hate, dislike or even think Ohtani isn’t great. It’s a running joke that Josh and I know nothing about baseball, so we chose our champion and he’s working out. F*** Stephen A Smith.**
Last night, Major League Baseball did it’s best job once again to draw in the casual fan by letting us watch the world’s most athletic lumberjacks hack away at pitches sent in by people throwing lollypops. (For the record if I ever magically make it to any form of a HR Derby, loosen up that arm Chipper) It’s a wonderful event of athleticism and excitement that brings some banging dingers (or whatever they’re called) combined with the occasional fan dying for a ball hit his direction.
Look, let’s just start right here. Catching a Home Run ball in a normal game, exciting as can be. Killing yourself for a Home Run ball at the Home Run Derby though, a little weird. Would I also kill myself for that ball? You bet your sweet buttkowski, but it’s still weird.
Now the story of the night wasn’t quite that Met’s first baseman Pete Alonso won BACK-TO-BACK Home Run Derby’s. Honestly, the story of the night wasn’t even about Greg’s mortal enemy stealing the show. To me, it was about finding out that Pete Alsonso’s nickname is Polar Bear.
“Todd Frazier. In Spring Training, he said ‘You look like a big, damn polar bear.’ And then it just kind of stuck,” Alonso told reporters Monday night in Cleveland. “So if any of you guys know Todd Frazier, he’s a loud mouth from Jersey. He tells it how it is. But I love that guy. He’s a great teammate. But he’s quite the character. He’s a clown. But definitely got it from him.”
Noah Syndergaard was the first to bring the arctic moniker to the public, dubbing him “Pete the Polar Bear” after the Mets’ opening series win against the Nationals.
NY Post
I don’t want this article to seem like it isn’t about Pete asserting his dominance, but in a night of celebration for TFTB’s Favorite Stickballer, Malek chose to not address the fact that he did NOT stand by myself and Elsass a month back when we dubbed Shohei Ohtani the greatest baseball player ever. Instead, he chose to thank the winner like some insane person.
Ohtani was eliminted in the 1st round by Juan Soto, but let’s just sit here and enjoy this guy for a second. My dude isn’t just an All-Star Pitcher AND an All-Star Fielder, but had the guts to step up as the current HR Leader and perform in the HR Derby.
Honestly though, Malek has a point. If Shohei Ohtani was THAT GOOD at Baseball…why didn’t he pitch to himself last night? Really makes you think.
thoughtsfromthebench.com 