An out-of-this-world bat flip, raising money for Manny and cover boy Keibert

It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s a …

Bat? Fernando Tatis, Jr. followed the lead of Willians Astudillo and not only hit a massive home run, but showed that his bat flip game is as strong as his swing.

However, this view of Tatis, Jr’s bat flip from “NASA” is out of this world – pun intended! The El Paso Chihuahuas posted this glorious video view of the Padres’ prospect flipping his bat into outer space after a walk-off home run. The team went loco for the flip and so did we.

Crowd funding Coin For Manny

A Yankees fan has started a GoFundMe page to help Yankees béisbol bring Manny Machado to NYC. The goal of $300 Million is currently only at $172. Only $172! Do Yanks fans really want Manny in NYC? From the looks of it, maybe not? Joshua Anderson, who started the page has declared “In the unlikely event that we’re unable to raise the full $300,000,000, all proceeds will be donated to the Coalition for the Homeless out of New York City.” Nice try Yankee fans, nice try.

Everything Is Bigger in Texas

Including the news that Edwin Rodríguez has been named manager of the El Paso Chihuahuas for 2019. Rodríguez’s resume includes being the Florida Marlins interim manager between 2010-2011 and the Puerto Rican National team manager during the 2013 and 2017 World Baseball Classics. With now four Latino managers coaching in MLB, including three Puerto Ricans, is this a stepping stone for Rodríguez to head back to the majors?

Cover Boy

Venezuelan catcher Keibert Ruiz made the January cover of Baseball America with text that included: Keibert Ruiz stands next in line in the Dodgers’ rich tradition of catchers. With Yasmani Grandal off to the Brewers, this may be Ruiz’s time to shine in Los Angeles. He’s got plenty of Venezuelan role model catchers to look up to including Willson Contreras, Wilson Ramos and Francisco Cervelli.

PRO POST OF THE DAY

Looks like a royal offseason for King Félix, who’s enjoying time with his daughter, Mia, aka his princesa. During this offseason, players can be seen either posting on social media their workouts or vacations with family. Nothing wrong with getting your workout on, but family time is the best time.

FAN POST OF THE DAY:  

Nacho average fan post of the day, but as we were scouring the Internet for our fan post of the day, these nachos stopped us in our tracks. Eat_food_nom shared this glorious photo of helmet nachos from Angels stadium in Anaheim and only made us envy the start of the season even more. Next time we visit Angels stadium, the nacho stand will be our first stop, no doubt.

Happy Birthday!

Manny Acta (b. 1969)
Rey Ordóñez (b. 1971)
Danny Salazar (b. 1990)

OTD

2010 – Aroldis Chapman signs a 6-year, $30.25 million contract with the Cincinnati Reds.

Featured Image: San Diego Padres Twitter