Elephant Rumblings: Minor League Playoffs, Instructionals, and Cheating

Prospect Watch:

• AJ Puk strikes out eight over four scoreless frames; Rockhounds win, Ports lose, Lake Monsters game suspended...
• Oakland sending 55 prospects to Fall Instructional League...

ICYMI:

• Sean Manaea throws 116 pitches; A’s snap losing streak...
• Matt Chapman ejected; earns respect of teammates...
• Red Sox penalty for sign stealing expected to be ‘slap on wrist’...
• Whitney Mcintosh believes baseball should allow any and all types of cheating...
• Sonny Gray has invented a pitch...
• Baseball Prospectus attempts to design a five-way tiebreaker...
• It’s always interesting to see how other small market teams operate - Travis Sawchik believes there is a disconnect in Pittsburgh...
• The death of the sinker?
• Spahn and Sain and pray for rain, reconsidered...
• Will Middlebrooks, who is apparently still playing baseball, becomes the first player ever to record pinch-hit triples in both games of a doubleheader...
• Gene ‘Stick’ Michael, architect of New York’s “Core Four”, dies at 79...
• D-Backs win 13th straight, fall short of record...
• The Marlins will leave their roof partially open during Hurricane Irma...
• 2017 MLB stadiums ranked by fan sentiment...

Today in Baseball History:

• 1912 - Eddie Collins steals a 20th-century record six bases as the Athletics beat Detroit 9-7. He will repeat the feat on September 22nd.
• 1954 - If you think the attendance woes are bad at the Coliseum, the Senators drew just 460 fans in their 5-4 win over the A’s.
• 1970 - The White Sox use a Major League record 41 players in a doubleheader against the A’s. The A’s won both games.

Best of Twitter:

• Year of the streak, apparently...

• I’m not sure if he was actually framing this, but it’s funny all the same...

• You have to love old baseball pictures...