MLB

You might have tuned into NBC Sports last night and thought, “Damn, this is a long Derek Jeter commercial.”

And you wouldn’t have been entirely wrong. Reality twisted into fiction at Yankee Stadium on Thursday night, with real life taking on the facile shimmer of an advertising fairy tale.

After quietly returning to the big leagues in 2014 after a one-year hiatus, New York Mets outfielder Bobby Abreu has officially called it a career.  

According to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com, Abreu made the announcement Friday with a simple, quiet message:

My mama always told me, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." Well, if you go by that philosophy, there hasn't been much to say about the Oakland A's over the past two months.

Fact: With Adrian Beltre's walk-off home run tonight, all 30 teams have a walk-off home runs in a season for the first time since 2003.

Source: ESPN Stats & Info

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

When things get tight at the end of the MLB season, some players show up and guide their teams into the playoffs.

Last season, it was right-hander Michael Wacha, who joined the St. Louis Cardinals starting rotation in early September and subsequently became one of the biggest stories of the postseason, as the rookie took home NLCS MVP honors and pitched his team into the World Series.

Los Angeles Angels pitcher Matt Shoemaker, who is hoping to return from an oblique injury for the playoffs, set a franchise rookie record in recording 16 wins this season, per MLB Stat of the Day. The previous record of 14 was held by Dean Chance (1962), Marcelino Lopez (1965) and Frank Tanana (1974).

Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard and outfielder Marlon Byrd are the first teammates in MLB history to each strike out 180 or more times in a season, per Lee Sinins of Complete Baseball Encyclopedia.

Justin Verlander has struggled this year.  Actually, that’s a bit generous. 

Sugarcoating aside, he has been terrible.  His current 4.54 ERA is the second-highest of his career, and his strikeout total is at its lowest since 2006, his first full season in the big leagues.  His 1.40 WHIP is tied for the highest in his career, and he just hasn’t been the dominant ace he once was.

Ah, yes. The old switcheroo.

The bait-and-switch is a mainstay of old ballpark cons, but one young ball boy wet his feet in the art at Yankee Stadium on Thursday night. 

A prospect-churning player development system is a luxury every organization throughout Major League Baseball would like to have. In St. Louis, the pipeline begins in Palm Beach, Florida, and ends under the Arch in front of the best fans in baseball. The Cardinals are loaded with prospects.