What You Missed Last Night: Schwindel cheers, a 470-foot homer, grounds crew ‘ejected’
Chicago has become the “Schwindy City,” at least on the north side of town.
Cubs fans have fallen head-over-heels in love with former Royals farmhand Frank Schwindel. Affectionately nicknamed “Frank The Tank,” Schwindel was cast aside by the Royals in 2019, the Tigers a year ago and the A’s earlier this year.
Schwindel was claimed by the Cubs in July and was called up after the team traded stars Kris Bryant, Javier Báez and Anthony Rizzo. He’s been crushing the ball ever since.
On Wednesday night in Philadelphia, Schwindel hit a home run and a double in the Cubs’ 6-5 loss to the Phillies, to the delight of the friends and family who made the trip from his native New Jersey.
MLB.com estimated Schwindel had 50 supporters in the stands.
“It’s always fun when Frankie comes in the dugout after a home run, I’ll say that,” manager David Ross told MLB.com. “He’s always coming in with a lot of energy and pretty proud of himself when he comes in, and it shows. There’s a big smile on his face. He’s got a lot of people here, a lot of supporters who were loud tonight on that home run.”
NBC Sports in Chicago said Schwindel has reached “cult hero” status. He’s batting .362 with 12 homers in 40 games with the Cubs.
Grounds crew asked to leave
The Orioles were clinging to a one-run lead in the top of the ninth inning of their game against the Yankees, but rain was headed toward Baltimore.
The grounds crew assembled by the tarp when third-base umpire Tim Timmons, the crew chief, stopped the game. Timmons told the grounds crew to vacate the area around the tarp and it sure looked like they were all ejected.
This was quite a sight:
“I didn’t ‘eject’ the grounds crew,” Timmons wrote in a text to The Associated Press. “I just didn’t want all of them behind the tarp, especially with the infield in.”
The Yankees got a bloop hit that scored the two runs and, after rain started to fall, won 4-3.
Home-run race
Royals catcher Salvador Perez hit his 44th home run on Wednesday and tied Angels star Shohei Ohtani for second-most in the majors. Here’s the home-run leader board:
1. Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. (Tor) 45
2. Salvador Perez (KC) 44
3. Shohei Ohtani (LAA) 44
McBroom’s bomb
There is much to like for Royals fans when they look at their franchise’s Triple-A team, the Omaha Storm Chasers.
Prospects Bobby Witt Jr., Nick Pratto and MJ Melendez are having terrific seasons, but one player flying under the radar is first baseman Ryan McBroom. who hit his 30th home run of the season Wednesday night.
It was a no-doubter, traveling 470 feet. McBroom? More like McBoom.
Catch of the day
Orioles outfielder Cedric Mullins robbed a home run in that loss to New York on what could be a catch-of-the-year candidate.
In the second inning, the Yankees’ Gary Sanchez smashed a ball to right-center field that had the distance to be a home run at Camden Yards. Instead Mullins tracked the ball and made a fantastic catch.
Unseen video shown
ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary on the 1986 New York Mets included unseen footage from the epic win over the Red Sox in Game 6 of the World Series. Bill Buckner’s error on a grounder off the bat of Mookie Wilson allowed the Mets to win the game.
This clip shows Wilson celebrating on the field and going to the clubhouse after the win:
