AL East

In the month of August, the Orioles, under new manager Buck Showalter, have become one of the hottest teams in the league.

MASN is getting its best rating all year, and fans are already starting to tune back in. However, the recent buzz in the big leagues has masked the success of a familiar name in AAA Norfolk: Nolan Reimold. 

The Boston Red Sox are at a crossroads right now. In the thick of a pennant race, their star closer is melting down before their very eyes.

Jonathan Papelbon is putting up the worst numbers of his career and is no longer one of the most intimidating closers in baseball.

There was a time when Jonathan Papelbon was considered one of the elite closers in baseball, among the likes of Mariano Rivera, Joe Nathan, and Francisco Rodriguez.

Between a mid-90s fastball that could hit 98 MPH, a plus splitter, a solid change-up, and a slider of the same description, Papelbon had a deathly arsenal that he could unleash at will on opposing hitters.

In his first full year in 2006 as the Red Sox closer, Papelbon was brilliant. He threw 68.1 dominant innings, striking out 75 and walking only 13 en route to a 0.92 ERA and an All-Star selection.

Back in the day, there was a pro wrestler who went by the moniker of The Genius. You may remember him.

As you could guess, The Genius' entire shtick was centered around his (supposed) immense level of intelligence. He wore a academic cap and graduation gown to the ring and mocked the audience with derogatory poems about the area in which their civic arena was located.

Via Baseball Reference:

Mariano Rivera is 40 years old, still pitching extremely well, and is first in baseball history in ERA+. Among active pitchers, he’s ranked first in ERA, WHIP, H/9IP, K/BB, HR/9IP, WPA, and fielding percentage. (Go ahead and carefully re-read that last sentence.)

In the winter before the 2005 season, Carl Pavano met with at least a half-dozen teams as he shopped his services in a Pavano Derby of sorts. As we all know, the Yankees were the unfortunate winners of that derby and the fans proceeded to suffer through four years of his “services.”

Via Wikipedia:

The Black Aces is a book written by former Major League pitcher James “Mudcat” Grant about the only African American pitchers who have won at least 20 Major League Baseball games in a single season.

The Yankees were facing the Royals with CC Sabathia on the mound, so you knew it was going to be a good night, and it was, as the Yankees got a good start and just enough offense to win 4-3.

Here are some notes:

The Yankees have a four-game weekend series against the Royals in Kansas City this weekend with CC Sabathia starting tonight against Bruce Chen. So not only will the Yankees get to face a weak team in the Royals, but since Zack Greinke pitched yesterday, they won’t have to face him this weekend.

Here are some notes: