Elephant Rumblings: Chapman falls short as Vlad Jr., Alonso shine in epic Home Run Derby

A’s Coverage:

• Castrovince: Chapman dazzled by Vlad Jr.’s Derby display...
• McManamon: Uphill climb as A’s Matt Chapman is out early in Home Run Derby...
• Slusser: A’s mailbag — Trade deadline, second base plans and lots of Nick Martini...
• Poindexter: A’s week in review — The wild card is within reach at the All-Star break after a B+ of a first half... ($)
• Jacob: Taking Flight With Jorge Mateo...
• Byrne: This Date In Transactions History — Athletics Land An Eventual Superstar...

Best of AN:

• Moriarty: A’s Farm Report — June’s Hottest Hitters...
• DeClercq: Quick Look — Yusmeiro Petit’s Quiet Consistency...
• Fatrolf’s Monday Sketches: Hurlin Hendriks Has a Heroic First Half Edition...

MLB News:

• Mitchell: Yankees, Twins have checked in with Blue Jays on possible Marcus Stroman/Ken Giles package...
• Sherman: Mets launch Zack Wheeler trade talks with Red Sox, many others...
• Rosenthal: The market for Bumgarner; the Cubs’ true talent level; the Yankees’ search for pitching; more notes... ($)
• Plunkett: Dodgers to activate shortstop Corey Seager, outfielder A.J. Pollock from IL on Friday...
• Castrovince: All-Star Game starting pitchers, lineups, fun facts...
• Keri: The 30 — White Sox pitchers build a foundation, bleak news for Boston’s bullpen and Shane Bieber keeps rocking... ($)

Baseball Interest Stories:

• Stark: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. & Co. put on a Home Run Derby show for the ages... ($)
• Miller: How the Home Run Derby became America’s national pastime*...
• Cooper: Longtime minor leaguer Cody Decker belts walk-off home run, promptly retires...
• Drellich: “You’ve got to pay correctly” — Rob Manfred is optimistic about negotiations to pay minor leaguers more... ($)
• Fink: A Mathematical Approach to Predicting the Home Run Derby...
• Clemens: A Quick Note on Situational Pitching...

Today in Baseball History:

• 1971 — The A’s beat the Angels, 1 - 0, in the longest shutout in American League history - 20 innings. Vida Blue strikes out 17 batters in 11 innings for the A’s, while the Angels’ Billy Cowan ties a major-league record by fanning six times. Both teams combine for 43 strikeouts, a new major-league record for incompetence (or pitching dominance, depending on one’s perspective).

Best of Twitter:

• Monday night’s Derby was just awesome, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. really took center stage...

• There might be room for Jim Chapman in the Mets’ bullpen...

• Let’s hope Chappy gets another chance to show off in Tuesday night’s All-Star Game...