Daily Clips

September 4, 2018

LOCALJunis dominates as Royals win sixth straightRighty pitches seven scoreless innings; O'Hearn hits two of four homersSeptember 3, 2018 By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.comhttps://www.mlb.com/royals/news/jakob-junis-dominates-as-royals-beat-indians/c-293198458

O'Hearn makes Royals history in 2-HR gameSeptember 3, 2018 By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.comhttps://www.mlb.com/royals/news/ryan-ohearn-records-first-multihomer-game/c-293200534

Royals have put together a scoring streak unseen in the majors this seasonSeptember 4, 2018 By Pete Grathoff/KC Starhttps://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/for-petes-sake/article217784835.html

MINORSRecord-Breaking Schwindel Ends Season with 6-5 WinChasers outlast Baby Cakes in 10 innings as Schwindel writes himself into franchise historySeptember 3, 2018 By Omaha Storm Chasershttps://www.milb.com/omaha/news/record-breaking-schwindel-ends-season-with-6-5-win/c-293169086

Flores claims batting title but Naturals fall in finaleInfielder Jecksson Flores becomes just the second Natural to win the Texas League Batting TitleSeptember 3, 2018 By NW Arkansas Naturalshttps://www.milb.com/northwest-arkansas/news/flores-claims-batting-title-but-naturals-fall-in-finale/c-293196946

Blue Rocks Rally Falls Short in Season FinaleWilmington's Season Comes to an End in Thrilling Extra-Inning AffairSeptember 3, 2018 By Wilmington Blue Rockshttps://www.milb.com/wilmington/news/blue-rocks-rally-falls-short-in-season-finale/c-293174722

NATIONALWil Myers contrite over online remarks on GreenSeptember 3, 2018 By AJ Cassavell/MLB.com

https://www.mlb.com/padres/news/wil-myers-apologizes-to-manager-andy-green/c-293200344

Jansen may miss set vs. Rockies as precautionCloser had irregular heartbeat during last series in ColoradoSeptember 3, 2018 By Ken Gurnick/MLB.comhttps://www.mlb.com/dodgers/news/kenley-jansen-may-miss-series-against-rockies/c-293208700

What we’ve learned on Labor DaySeptember 3, 2018 By Jayson Stark/The Athletichttps://theathletic.com/502393/2018/09/03/stark-what-weve-learned-on-labor-day/

On Labor Day, how the MLBPA went from $6,000 and a filing cabinet to a powerful force for its membersSeptember 3, 2018 By Cliff Corcoran/The Athletichttps://theathletic.com/502837/2018/09/03/on-labor-day-how-the-mlbpa-went-from-6000-and-a-filing-cabinet-to-a-powerful-force-for-its-members/

MLB TRANSACTIONSSeptember 4, 2018 •.CBSSports.comhttp://www.cbssports.com/mlb/transactions

LOCALJunis dominates as Royals win sixth straightRighty pitches seven scoreless innings; O'Hearn hits two of four homersSeptember 3, 2018 By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.comhttps://www.mlb.com/royals/news/jakob-junis-dominates-as-royals-beat-indians/c-293198458

Royals right-hander Jakob Junis continues to look like the dominant pitcher he was early this season.

One start after tossing his first career complete game, Junis handled the American League Central-leading Indians in Monday's 5-1 win at Progressive Field. Junis tossed seven shutout innings, giving up just two singles.

The Royals extended their season-high winning streak to six games. They have won eight of nine.

"It shows what we can do," said rookie first baseman Ryan O'Hearn, who homered twice. "We've got a lot of young guys and some veterans; it's a good mix right now."

Junis has a 1.89 ERA over his last six starts.

"That was my goal since the All-Star break, to come out strong, finish strong," Junis said. "I went through that rough stretch in the middle of the season, and I want to put that behind me."

Junis, who has been leaning on his fastball more recently, walked none and struck out six. Junis' out pitch normally is his slider, but four of those strikeouts came on his fastball. In

his last outing, five of his seven strikeouts were via the heater.

"We talked about establishing the fastball and pitching off it, especially when you have a swing-and-miss slider like Jake has," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "He did a great job."

Added Junis: "That's just part of the game plan we've had the last couple games. Playing teams in the division, they see my slider a lot, so we thought we'd mix it up. It has paid off."

O'Hearn continued his impressive start to his career. O'Hearn belted a home run off Adam Plutko to lead off the fourth, making it, 2-0, Royals. O'Hearn topped that with a two-run shot off Plutko in the sixth, a no-doubter to right field on a 1-0 changeup. He also doubled.

O'Hearn became the first Royal to have at least nine home runs and 22 RBIs in his first 24 games.

Royals right fielder Jorge Bonifacio also homered -- his second this season -- on a 1-2 four-seamer from Plutko. Third baseman Hunter Dozier gave the Royals a 5-0 lead with his ninth home run in the eighth.

MOMENT THAT MATTEREDThe Royals had a little trouble closing this one out. Closer Wily Peralta surrendered a home run to Francisco Lindor in the ninth and then loaded the bases by giving up a single with two walks. But lefty Tim Hill came on and got pinch-hitter Yandy Diaz to hit into a game-ending 4-6-3 double play for his second career save.

SOUND SMARTThe surging Royals have scored five runs or more in nine straight games for the first time since 2016. The club record is 11 straight, set in 1979.

YOU GOTTA SEE THISThe Royals defended the Tribe's delayed double-steal attempt perfectly in the third inning. With runners at the corners and two outs, Lindor drifted off first base and stopped between first and second, purposely getting in a rundown as speedy Greg Allen hovered off third base. Shortstop Adalberto Mondesi and first baseman O'Hearn took turns running down Lindor, all the while keeping an eye on Allen. With Allen then starting to break for home, second baseman Whit Merrifield took a throw from O'Hearn and threw a strike to catcher Cam Gallagher, who tagged out Allen.

CALLUPS COMINGThe Royals are expected to make a few more September callups on Tuesday, Yost said. They would include pitchers Eric Skoglund, Glenn Sparkman and recently acquired Jerry Vasto.

UP NEXTLeft-hander Danny Duffy (8-11, 4.72 ERA) takes the mound for the Royals in game two of the series in Cleveland at 6:10 p.m. CT on Tuesday. Right-hander Mike Clevinger (10-7, 3.17 ERA) will pitch for the Indians. Duffy, who will be making his 28th start this season, dominated the Tigers last Wednesday, giving up just two hits and one run over six innings. He retired 16 of the final 19 hitters he faced.

O'Hearn makes Royals history in 2-HR gameSeptember 3, 2018 By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com

https://www.mlb.com/royals/news/ryan-ohearn-records-first-multihomer-game/c-293200534

Royals rookie first baseman Ryan O'Hearn continues to raise eyebrows throughout the American League.

O'Hearn, who was called up in late July, ripped two home runs in his first three at-bats in Monday's 5-1 win over the Indians at Progressive Field. O'Hearn also added a double.

"That's cool," O'Hearn said of his first career multihomer game. "Days like that you never forget. Good to get that out of the way."

The 25-year-old first baseman is the first Royals player to have at least nine home runs and 22 RBIs in his first 24 games.

O'Hearn blasted a 3-2 four-seam fastball from right-hander Adam Plutko over the center-field fence to lead off the fourth. He then smashed a no-doubter to right field off Plutko in the sixth with Hunter Dozier aboard to give the Royals a 4-0 lead.

O'Hearn once again showed he can use all fields: the double went to left, and the homers traveled to center and to right.

"Hitting it where it's pitched is a big part of my game, especially nowadays with the shift," O'Hearn said. "You can't be one-dimensional. Just try to have good at-bats."

Royals have put together a scoring streak unseen in the majors this seasonSeptember 4, 2018 By Pete Grathoff/KC Starhttps://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/for-petes-sake/article217784835.html

Not only are the Royals the hottest team in baseball with six straight wins, but they also have put together a scoring streak unseen in Major League Baseball this season.

While the Boston Red Sox (752) and New York Yankees (713) are the highest-scoring teams, neither has a streak of nine straight games of scoring five runs or more. Neither have the AL Central-leading Indians or the Astros, who sit atop the AL West.

No, the only team in the majors to accomplish that feat in 2018 is the Royals, who are at nine games and counting after Monday’s 5-1 win over the Indians.

Fox Sports Kansas City’s Ryan Lefebvre revealed that stat during Monday’s game.

“The young guys are really stepping up and producing some offense for us,” Royals manager Ned Yost said after the game, per MLB.com.

Indeed. Outfielder Jorge Bonifacio and third baseman Hunter Dozier both hit home runs, and first baseman Ryan O’Hearn hit a homer to right field, one to center and lined a double to left field.

“He’s really swung the bat well,” Indians manager Terry Francona said of O’Hearn to reporters after the game. “He’s hit the ball all directions with power and he’s hurt us.”

The Royals have scored 60 runs total in the last nine games.

That’s a far cry from June when the Royals went 19 straight games without scoring five runs. In that stretch, the Royals scored 36 runs total.

Lefebvre noted that the Royals are the only team in Major League Baseball history to have a 19-game streak without scoring five runs and a streak of nine games with five or more runs in the same season.

O’Hearn has been scorching hot. He has nine home runs and 22 RBIs in his first 24 games in the majors. Kurtis Seabolt of WHB (810 AM) tweeted that only eight players have done that in major-league history:

@KSeaboldt Updating the Ryan O’Hearn stat from Friday night. Players with 9 HRs and 22 RBI in their first 24 games:

Mandy Brooks (1925)George Scott (1966)Alvin Davis (1984)Jose Abreu (2014)Trey Mancini (2016-17)Rhys Hoskins (2017)Cody Bellinger (2017)RYAN O’HEARN (2018)

“He’s putting together some great at-bats,” Yost said after the game. “Three hits today, two homers and a double and playing pretty good first base, too. It’s been fun to watch.”

Here are O’Hearn’s home runs from Monday:

Click the link to view the video.

MINORSRecord-Breaking Schwindel Ends Season with 6-5 WinChasers outlast Baby Cakes in 10 innings as Schwindel writes himself into franchise historySeptember 3, 2018 By Omaha Storm Chasershttps://www.milb.com/omaha/news/record-breaking-schwindel-ends-season-with-6-5-win/c-293169086

Frank Schwindel set a new single-season franchise record for doubles with his 38th of the year, then delivered the game winning hit in the 10th inning as the Storm Chasers defeated New Orleans 6-5 in the final game of the season at The Shrine On Airline.

Schwindel's record-setting hit came in the midst of a 2-out rally in the top of the 1st. Nicky Lopez walked, and Schwindel followed with his historic knock, putting runners at 2nd and 3rd. Paulo Orlando then crushed a 3-run homer, putting Omaha ahead 3-0.

The Chasers added to their lead in the top of the 4th. Donnie DeWees doubled, went to 3rd on a balk, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Elier Hernandez to make it 4-0.

Dillon Peters allowed 4 runs, 6 hits, and 1 walk in 5 innings. He struck out 4.

New Orleans scored in the bottom of the 6th; Tomas Telis reached on an error, Jonathan Rodriguez singled, and Braxton Lee singled to load the bases. Zach Lovvorn replaced Jake Kalish , and induced a run-scoring double play from Chris Diaz. Lovvorn then retired Peter Mooney to end the threat, and keep Omaha's lead at 4-1.

Kalish was charged with 1 run in 5+ innings. He scattered 8 hits, struck out 5, and walked 1.

The 'Cakes tied it in the last of the 7th. Christopher Bostick and JB Shuck singled, and the runners both advanced on a groundout. Peter O'Brien brought in Bostick with an RBI groundout, and Tomas Telis singled in Shuck, cutting Omaha's lead to 4-3. Jonathan Rodriguez continued the rally with a 2-out single, and when Ramon Torres made an errant throw on a grounder by Braxton Lee, Telis scored to make it 4-4.

Lovvorn (W, 2-6) recovered to pitch scoreless innings in the 8th and 9th, sending the final game into extra innings.

In the top of the 10th, Luis Villegas began as the automatic runner on 2nd, and Jack Lopez walked. Ramon Torres put down a sacrifice bunt, and everyone was safe when New Orleans couldn't make a play at any base, loading the bases. With 1 out, Frank Schwindel delivered a 2-run single against Jose Quijada (L, 2-4).

Richard Lovelady (S, 9) closed out the bottom of the 10th to send Omaha into the offseason with a win. It didn't come easily, as Braxton Lee singled and stole 2nd, and Peter Mooney reached on an infield single, making it 6-5 and sending the tying run to 3rd. But Lovelady struck out Chris Bostick, and retired JB Shuck on a popup, sealing the game for the Chasers.

With the victory, the Storm Chasers finished their 50th season at 66-74.

Flores claims batting title but Naturals fall in finaleInfielder Jecksson Flores becomes just the second Natural to win the Texas League Batting TitleSeptember 3, 2018 By NW Arkansas Naturalshttps://www.milb.com/northwest-arkansas/news/flores-claims-batting-title-but-naturals-fall-in-finale/c-293196946

Naturals' infielder Jecksson Flores claimed the Texas League Batting Title, accomplishing a feat only done once prior in franchise history, but Northwest Arkansas (35-35, 70-70) would fall to the Arkansas Travelers (36-33, 71-68) by a 8-3 score in the finale of the 2018 season. With the loss, Northwest Arkansas finishes with an overall record of 70-70 this year.

The 24-year-old Flores finished the season with a .314 batting average to become just the second Natural to win the batting title. The infielder out of Cuidad Bolivar, Venezuela took over the top spot from former teammate Nicky Lopez on August 16 and never looked back. He led the category the rest of the way and ultimately topped Midland's Eli White by eight points. Clint Robinson , the previous winner for Northwest Arkansas, won the batting title during his Triple Crown winning season of 2010.

Outside of the Flores accomplishment, Arkansas did most of the celebrating during the finale on Labor Day. Facing Ian Kennedy (L, 0-1) on MLB rehab assignment from Kansas City, the Travelers jumped out to an early lead and never relinquished it.

The visitors scored three runs in a first on a RBI single by Joey Curletta and a two-run double by Chris Mariscal . Northwest Arkansas would respond with a run in the home half as Samir Duenez cranked his 10th home run of the year to make it 3-1.

The game remained 3-1 into the fourth before the Travelers extended the lead to 5-1. Mariscal doubled to begin the inning and scored on a triple by Donnie Walton to the wall in deep right-center before Amaral brought home Walton with a sacrifice fly.

Kennedy's day was done after 77 pitches, 50 of which went for strikes. The veteran right-hander gave up six runs on seven hits in 4.0 complete innings of work in his rehab assignment. In the fifth, Northwest Arkansas turned to Foster Griffin , the pitcher originally scheduled to start today's finale, but the Travs were able to get to him for a pair on a two-run double by Walton.

North Little Rock added yet another tally in the sixth to extend the lead to 8-1 as Chuck Taylor drove home Amaral with a single; however, Northwest Arkansas would cut the deficit back to 8-2 in the seventh on a solo homer from Alfredo Escalera . Escalera would add another solo shot in the ninth for his first two-homer game of the year to set the final score at 8-3.

A day after a former Natural in Matt Tenuta took the loss for the Travelers, a former Natural right-hander Ashton Goudeau (W, 4-5) was not as friendly as the tall right-hander picked up his fourth win of the year by tossing 6.0 innings of one-run baseball.

Even with the loss, the Naturals won the series over the Arkansas Travelers. Northwest Arkansas finishes 19-19-5 in series.

Today's game against the Travelers marked the conclusion of the Texas League's 2018 regular season. Northwest Arkansas will now head into the off-season while the Arkansas Travelers (Mariners) will host the Tulsa Drillers (Dodgers) in Game 1 of the Texas League North Divisional Series on Wednesday, September 5 in North Little Rock. The Naturals will return to Arvest Ballpark next year on Thursday, April 4, 2019 when they'll host the Springfield Cardinals on Opening Night of the 2019 season.

Blue Rocks Rally Falls Short in Season FinaleWilmington's Season Comes to an End in Thrilling Extra-Inning AffairSeptember 3, 2018 By Wilmington Blue Rockshttps://www.milb.com/wilmington/news/blue-rocks-rally-falls-short-in-season-finale/c-293174722

The Wilmington Blue Rocks (68-72/37-33) attempted to rally in the bottom of the 10th inning, but ultimately fell short by the score of 5-4 against the Potomac Nationals (74-62/37-32) at Frawley Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The Blue Rocks had the tying and game-winning runs on base before the rally and game came to an end. Wilmington starter Ofreidy Gomez

ended his season in style. The righty went seven full innings giving up only five hits, one run, and one walk while also totaling five strikeouts in a no-decision.

The Blue Rocks did not go down without a fight in their final inning of the season. With Emmanuel Rivera on second base, Chase Vallot singled into left center to bring Rivera around to score and make it a 5-3 ballgame. After a Vance Vizcaino walk to load the bases, Angelo Castellano roped a sacrifice fly into right to score Vallot and cut the lead to 5-4. Wilmington loaded the bases again with two outs, but D.J. Burt hit a fly ball into right field to end the game.

Potomac regained the lead in the top of the tenth inning. With Telmito Agustin on second, Bryan Mejia singled up the middle to score Agustin and put the Nationals in front 3-2. Later in the inning, Sagdal hit a double down the line to bring Mejia home and extend the lead to 4-2. Andruw Monasterio followed up with a sacrifice fly to score Garcia and put Potomac up, 5-2.

Potomac took the early lead in the top of the first. Luis Garcia singled to right to put a runner on first with one out. Ian Sagdal doubled deep into center, Garcia was tagged out at the plate by Blue Rocks' catcher Vallot to keep the game scoreless. With Aldrem Corredor at the plate, Gomez threw a wild pitch that allowed Sagdal to advance to third, Vallot overthrew the bag at third while Sagdal came home to score and put the Nationals on top 1-0.

The Blue Rocks responded in the bottom of the second. Gabriel Cancel started the inning with a double into right. After a Rivera strikeout and a Vallot pop out, Travis Jones smacked a ground rule double over the left field fence to tie the game, 1-1. Jones stole third to put the winning run 90 feet away. Vizcaino singled to left to score Jones and put the Rocks on top 2-1.

The Nationals tied the game in the top of the eighth. After a full count walk by Matt Reistetter, Bryan Mejia singled to right to put runners on first and second with no outs. Garcia grounded into a fielder's choice, Reistetter moved to third, Mejia was forced out at second to put runners on the corners with one out. Sagdal hit a sacrifice fly that was deep enough to score Reistetter and tie the game at 2-2.

NATIONALWil Myers contrite over online remarks on GreenSeptember 3, 2018 By AJ Cassavell/MLB.comhttps://www.mlb.com/padres/news/wil-myers-apologizes-to-manager-andy-green/c-293200344

Padres slugger Wil Myers has apologized for an online video in which he's heard criticizing manager Andy Green for holding extra defensive drills before a game last week.

In the video, which has since been deleted, second baseman Carlos Asuaje -- currently with Triple-A El Paso -- is streaming himself as he plays Fortnite, a popular video game. Myers' voice is also heard in the stream.

"The Padres are doing cutoff and relays tomorrow at 3 o'clock -- in September, dude," Myers is heard saying.

He continued: "Oh my god. It's so miserable, man. It's insane. Andy could not be any worse than he is right now."

"Dude," Asuaje interjects, "I'm streaming this."

Before their games on Thursday and Friday against Colorado, the Padres went through an assortment of fielding drills, which included cutoffs and relays. The drills, typically reserved for Spring Training, were an effort for a young team to hone its fundamentals after some recent mishaps.

Green and Myers met to discuss the incident Monday morning, and Myers expressed remorse.

"I love Andy, and I love playing for him," Myers said. "He's a guy that has taught me a lot in this game. At times, you get into a mood where you get frustrated, no matter what's going on with a team or individually, and you say some things you shouldn't say in a conversation that you think's private. The reality is, now we're in 2018. ... I'm incredibly sorry, obviously to Andy, to my teammates, to the fans. This is a distraction we don't need."

Both Green and Myers said the incident was quashed by their meeting. Green understood Myers' words were never meant for public consumption. In a long season, Green said, players often gripe privately about extra work. Who, Green added, hasn't complained about being assigned extra work by his or her boss?

"There were no excuses," Green said. "There was just ownership and an apology. There was, on my end, an understanding I've done the same thing to my boss at some point in time in my life. It just wasn't 2018, where everything's recorded or streamed live."

Myers' comments came after the Padres were swept in Los Angeles on Aug. 24-26. Green scheduled team defensive drills prior to last week's series against the Rockies -- a way to address a handful of recent fundamental breakdowns.

"For us, we're pretty determined to create some accountability and standards, and sometimes that asks for certain drills to be done at certain times of the year, even if it's not pleasant or fun or normal to do them at that time of year," Green said.

When Myers first saw the video of his comments on Twitter, he said, "My stomach dropped."

"I can't say those types of things, even if it is in private," Myers said. "Obviously, I'm terribly sorry about it. You can't complain about drills, especially when you're trying to get better. It was not even necessarily about the drill or Andy himself. That was just coming off being swept in L.A., and there was some frustration there."

Green, who played 11 professional seasons as a utility infielder, can relate to that.

"Chip Hale probably impacted my career more positively than any other professional coach or manager I've had," Green said. "I remember specifically complaining like crazy to teammates when he made me go out in August to do PFPs and turn double plays with pitchers in 120-degree weather in Tucson. I didn't understand that.

"I was upset, I was frustrated. I didn't want to do that. I complained. Does that make me the worst person in the world? No. It makes me just like pretty much everybody else

that looked at their boss at some point in time and said, 'Why are you making me do this?' I think we've all done that."

Myers was in the lineup against Arizona on Monday, batting fifth.

Three weeks ago, Myers moved from the outfield to third base, where he's played every game since. Ultimately, the Padres have plans for him to become a versatile roster piece who can shift between third and the outfield, where he's spent most of his six-year career.

"He came in immediately today, apologized, took ownership, and at the end of the day, I love Wil," Green said. "Wil's worked incredibly hard to learn how to play third base. He's putting in work. He's not afraid of the work.

"We have different vantage points. His is focused on himself playing well. Mine is focused on the whole 25 guys -- or 28 guys, whatever. Sometimes we ask for everybody to be a part of something so some people can improve on it."

Thus far, it's been a struggle for Myers at third base, where he's committed five errors in 16 games -- though that was perhaps to be expected, considering the demands of the position. Myers is hitting .254/.310/.462 in 61 games this season, as he's spent time on the DL with arm, oblique and foot injuries.

Green is in his third season as manager of the Padres, who are 54-85 this year.

Jansen may miss set vs. Rockies as precautionCloser had irregular heartbeat during last series in ColoradoSeptember 3, 2018 By Ken Gurnick/MLB.comhttps://www.mlb.com/dodgers/news/kenley-jansen-may-miss-series-against-rockies/c-293208700

For precautionary reasons, Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen might miss this week's series in Colorado, where he showed symptoms of an irregular heartbeat less than a month ago.

Jansen said his status is uncertain, as the club and medical professionals are debating the risks of returning him to the Mile High City, where Jansen also had an irregular heartbeat in 2012, leading to offseason ablation surgery. He expects to have another procedure this winter.

"It's being debated," Jansen said. "It's tough."

The Dodgers have a three-game series in Denver this Friday through Sunday, then visit the Reds for three games and the Cardinals for four. If Jansen skips Colorado, he would meet the team in Cincinnati.

"With Kenley and altitude and going to Denver, it's certainly going to be a conversation we're going to revisit during this series," manager Dave Roberts said on Monday. "The No. 1 priority that we're all aligned on is that Kenley's health is first and foremost the priority. If there's any hesitation on his part or the doctors say the altitude can affect him in any way, then for us, it's a no-brainer to have him stay back. So we haven't made a decision yet. We'll have those conversations and make that decision in the next couple of days."

With expanded rosters and the acquisition of Ryan Madson, the Dodgers are better equipped to withstand Jansen's absence than last month. They are also targeting the Rockies series for the return of All-Star Ross Stripling to the bullpen, providing added depth.

After experiencing atrial fibrillation in Denver, Jansen spent 10 days on the disabled list. He returned on medication and experienced the worst four-game stretch of his career before rebounding off the medication to collect two saves and a win in the last three games against Arizona.

Jansen said he doesn't fear for his health by returning to Denver, but is concerned about handicapping the club should he suffer another episode and require another lengthy stay on the bench while the team is in a pennant race.

What we’ve learned on Labor DaySeptember 3, 2018 By Jayson Stark/The Athletichttps://theathletic.com/502393/2018/09/03/stark-what-weve-learned-on-labor-day/

Labor Day, to you, probably means one last walk on the beach, one last long weekend with the kids, one last barbecue in the sun before you start calculating wind-chill factors.

In baseball, on the other hand, Labor Day has a slightly different meaning – because finally, after all these months, you can see the finish line. Listen closely. You can almost hear a faint voice, off in the distance, bellowing: “And down the stretch they come.”

So as we reach the top of that stretch, what have we learned so far? Glad you asked, because we can help you with that. Yes, here it comes, your essential list of 10 Things We’ve Learned on Labor Day.

THE NATIONAL LEAGUE IS ON FULL CHAOS ALERTSo what would happen if the season comes to an end and there’s an eight-way tie for every single playoff spot in the National League? Hahahahaha. Nobody knows what would happen because baseball doesn’t even have an eight-team tie-breaker, since obviously, that could never happen.

Oh, wait.

My friend Joel Sherman tweeted recently about how easy it would be for that exact scenario to go down in the National League this year. Here’s an updated version of his rundown of just what it would take, heading into Labor Day, for all of these teams to finish at 88-74:

Phillies 16-10Diamondbacks 14-11Rockies 14-12Dodgers 13-12Cardinals 12-13Braves 12-14Brewers 11-13Cubs 7-19

We’ll concede that the likelihood of the Cubs going 7-19 isn’t real high. But if you look at the rest of that chart, you’ll get the idea. A seven-way tie for four spots is a heart-thumping, fun-filled possibility. And even if that doesn’t happen, much to the dismay of chaos lovers everywhere, it’s a reminder of something else:

The National League is headed for a total free-for-all.

We woke up on the morning of Sept. 1 and found eight teams within two games of a playoff spot – and within seven games of each other. We’ve never seen that, as September dawned, in any season in the wild-card era, in either league. So that part of this is very cool.

But now ask yourself the next logical question: Who’s the favorite in this league?

“My God,” said an executive of one contender when I posed that question last week. “I can’t even tell you who is going to make it, let alone who’s the favorite.”

The Cubs are probably most likely to win their division… The Dodgers might have the most talent, if they can remember to start getting the last three outs… The Cardinals haven’t lost a series since July 25… The Braves feel like the 2015 Astros reincarnate… The Diamondbacks are about to start a streak of 20 straight games against teams in some sort of race… The Rockies play 19 of their last 26 at scenic Coors Field… The Brewers still have 15 games left against teams with losing records… The Phillies are trying to become the first NL team in history to make the postseason with a team batting average under .240 (currently .237).

What. A. Race.

“This last month,” said a GM of one NL contender, “is going to be nuts.”

THE AL IS A LEAGUE OF SUPER-POWERSMeanwhile, over in the American League, they’re gearing up this month for a different kind of fun. They call it October.

All you need to know is this: If the postseason started right now, the two teams in the AL Wild Card game would have more wins than any division winner in the National League.

Of course, some of that disparity, one NL exec argued, is a direct result of playing in a league in which four free-falling teams — the Orioles, Royals, Tigers and White Sox – have a shot to finish a combined 200 games under .500. But let’s not get too fixated on that.

“The American League, compared to the National League,” said one AL exec, “is almost like the varsity and the junior varsity at this point.”

Over in the AL, there’s almost no September drama – barring an epic collapse by somebody or a 22-game winning streak by the Mariners, the only non-playoff team within eight games of the Fab Five (Red Sox, Yankees, Astros, A’s and Indians).

So September, in the AL, is a month for wondering:

Will Chris Sale get healthy enough in Boston to MadBum his way through October?Will Aaron Judge’s wrist heal fast enough in New York to turn him back into a potential postseason game-changer?Can the Indians get Cody Allen and Andrew Miller straightened out, or have those 500-plus innings they’ve combined for since 2015 taken too great a toll?Will the Astros’ offense (12thin the AL in runs scored since the break) rediscover its 2017 mojo now that it’s survived two months of not seeing George Springer, Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve on the same lineup card?

Do the A’s have enough starting pitching to survive September – and if not, what’s the downside to a Hudson/Mulder/Zito reunion tour?“Every one of these teams basically knew they were in the playoffs a month ago,” said an exec of one AL contender. “So we’re all just lining up our teams for the postseason. Then we’ll see what happens.”

THE TRADES FORGOT TO STOP AT THE TRADE DEADLINEIt was just last Aug. 31 that the most season-altering trade of 2017 went down. Justin Verlander woke up in Detroit, wound up in Houston, and you know the rest.

So is there any chance that the most important trade of 2018 also took place in August? Uh, probably not. But we’ll get back to you on that on Halloween.

Who knows what Andrew McCutchen (now a Yankee) and Josh Donaldson (now a Clevelander) have in store for us in September and October? But our friends at Stats LLC tell us they’re already the first pair of former MVPs to be traded in the same year since 2008 (Ken Griffey Jr., Pudge Rodriguez). And McCutchen and Donaldson both got traded on the same day, Aug. 31 – a month after the supposed trade “deadline.”

Daniel Murphy has already had one magical October (.328, with seven unforgettable homers, in 2015). And the Cubs are 10-1 in games he’s appeared in since he arrived at Wrigley on Aug. 21.

Also on the move last month, in after-hours trading: A former home run champ (José Bautista, to the Phillies)… a former World Series MVP (David Freese, to the Dodgers)… and a former All-Star closer (Fernando Rodney, to the A’s), All-Star starter (Gio González, to the Brewers) and All-Star outfielder (Curtis Granderson, also to the Brewers). Not to mention Ryan Madson, Keone Kela, Matt Adams, Mike Fiers, Tyson Ross, Lucas Duda, Corey Gearrin, Jake Diekman, Luis Avilán and Adeiny Hechavarria (twice!).

There’s a trade “deadline” in July. Then along comes August – and thanks to the miracle of waiver-wire artistry by front offices across our land, more than two dozen more trades arrive in a Transactions column near you.

We counted 10 contenders that made at least marginally significant deals to add depth and fill holes last month, almost all at discount prices compared with July. But we couldn’t find anyone, in any front office, who thinks this whole deal-via-waiver-claim process makes sense.

“I don’t know why we need to have the August system,” said one AL exec. “I know if I worked in New York (i.e., the commissioner’s office), I’d be asking: ‘Why do we do this?’ If it were up to me, I’d get rid of the waiver deadline and move the (July) deadline back to Aug. 15. I just know there are more GMs who can squint at the standings on July 31 and say, ‘We’re in it,’ and then by the middle of August, they’re saying, ‘We’re not in it.’”

THE CUBS ARE THE WHEELER-DEALERS OF THE YEARSix starts into his Cubs career, Cole Hamels has given up a total of four runs (for a ridiculous 0.69 ERA).

A week and a half into his Cubs career, Daniel Murphy is hitting .306/.333/.551 – and as we mentioned, they pretty much never lose when he plays.

And then there’s Jesse Chavez. We don’t recall anyone writing that he was the bullpen steal of the year when he got shipped from Texas to Chicago on July 19. But of course he has been to the mound 19 times since then and has a 1.07 ERA, because, well, of course he has.

That’s three extremely impactful deals, for minimal prospect return, that have already added up to 3.7 wins worth of bWAR, in a very short period of time, by one of the most astute, most creative front offices in any sport. But these trades were actually even more significant than that, said one rival NL exec.

“Remember, they lost Brandon Morrow, they lost Yu Darvish, and they’ve been missing Kris Bryant,” the exec said. “So they lost an MVP-caliber hitter in Bryant and replaced him with an MVP-caliber hitter in Murphy. They have Cole Hamels, who’s performing at the level they would have expected Darvish to perform. And they lost an excellent closer, but they added Chavez, who is pitching like an elite late-inning guy. So basically, they’ve replaced every key guy they lost with guys who replaced the production they projected from those guys.”

And that, in essence, is July/August deal-making at its finest.

WE’RE MISSING THE BIG STORY IN THE NL CY YOUNG RACEIt wasn’t so long ago that a pitcher who won two games all season won a Cy Young award. OK, it was Eric Gagne in 2003. And he was a closer for a living. But just sayin’.

We bring this up because we have what should be the greatest Cy Young race in history going, in the National League, as we speak. And all we’re going to wind up talking about is:

Do “wins” matter?

Here’s why we shouldn’t be obsessed with that: Because Max Scherzer, Jacob deGrom and Aaron Nola have been totally freaking stupendous. That’s why.

Because all three of them have an adjusted ERA+ of 186 or better. That’s why. And because they’re all going to pile up north of 200 innings worth of brilliance. That’s why.

So what’s so cool about that, you ask? Oh, only the fact that we’ve never seen this before. Not in the same league. Not in the same year. That’s all.

Earned runs became an official stat in 1913. In the 105 years since, there has never been a season in which one league produced three starting pitchers with 200-plus innings and an ERA-Plus of 180 or better, according to baseball-reference.com. Right. Never.

But we’re not going to spend nearly enough time on that, are we? All because deGrom is going to wind up with a record of, like, 9-9, 1.67. And this entire debate will turn into a referendum on “The Win.”

We can do better, people. We can debate the things that really matter. We won’t, though, just to warn you. What have we learned about Cy Young voting? That we’re not ready to stop debating the stuff that people debated 50 years ago. That’s what. And don’t you hate when that happens?

FEWEST WINS, CY YOUNG STARTER *13 – Felix Hernandez, 2010

15 – Tim Lincecum, 2009(* in non-strike-shortened seasons)

THE OTHER AWARDS ARE ALL IN PLAY Have we ever reached Labor Day and had every single major award – MVPs, Cy Youngs, Rookies of the Year – so completely up for grabs? It’s awesome when September writes these stories for us. And boy, is that happening.

NL MVP – What we have here is about an eight-man demolition derby. Check out the Offensive Wins Above Replacement leaderboard in the NL. Ten players within .8 of each other? That’s never happened, over any full season, in the expansion era (1961-present). So September is turning into the land of MVP opportunity – for Javy Báez, Nolan Arenado, Matt Carpenter, Paul Goldschmidt, Christian Yelich, Freddie Freeman, Aaron Nola, Max Scherzer, Jacob deGrom, Lorenzo Cain and maybe some other heroic figure who is about to sneak up on us over the next few weeks. Awesome.

AL MVP – This race isn’t quite as nuts or quite as jammed together into the same statistical space. But not one NL player ranks ahead of José Ramírez, Mookie Betts, Francisco Lindor, J.D. Martinez, Alex Bregman or that Mike Trout guy in Offensive Wins Above Replacement. I could make eloquent MVP cases for every one of them. But all we know now is that somebody is a huge September away from having to clear space on his shelf for this trophy.

AL CY YOUNG – Chris Sale is the greatest pitcher in this sport who has never won a Cy Young. And this felt like his year. But uh-oh – with every start he misses, the more he opens the door for Blake Snell, Trevor Bauer, Justin Verlander, Corey Kluber or Gerrit Cole. There’s already a 50-inning gap between Sale and Kluber, for instance. And volume matters. In a season in which the top three in ERA (Sale, Snell, Bauer) have all been on the DL, this is shaping up as a really difficult vote.

NL ROOKIE – Once, this felt like Juan Soto’s award to win. Then Ronald Acuña Jr. came along in August and fired off the first .336/.405/.698/11 HR month by a 20-year-old in almost 90 years. And maybe Cliff Corcoran’s choice – Miami’s Brian Anderson– will wind up stealing this thing. But our bet is that Acuña and Soto become the first players ever to finish 1-2 in any rookie-of-the-year race at age 20 or younger.

AL ROOKIE – With all due respect to Gleyber Torres, Miguel Andújar, Joey Wendle or anyone else, our feeling about this award deserves a section of this opus all to itself. So …

WE’VE BEEN IGNORING THE GREATNESS OF SHOH-TIMEDue to technical ligament difficulties beyond our control, Shohei Ohtani never threw a pitch between June 6 and Sunday. So for some reason, we pretty much decided, as a baseball-watching nation, to forget he was still a unique force of nature.

Well, we’re here with this quick reminder: Don’t let that happen again!

Ohtani has had a way busier season than many of you apparently realized. He has made 270 plate appearances as a hitter. He has faced 211 hitters as a pitcher. And it’s been 100 years since anyone in baseball faced that many hitters as a pitcher and made that many trips to the plate as a hitter. That

anyone was Babe Ruth, of course. You were expecting maybe Brooks Kieschnick?

And guess what? Ohtani has been truly great at whatever the heck he’s been up to. Take a look:

OPS-Plus as a hitter: 142Better than: Freddie Freeman (140), Nolan Arenado (136), Khris Davis (135), José Altuve (134)

ERA-Plus as a pitcher: 129Better than: Cole Hamels (127), Carlos Carrasco (125), Jon Lester (122), David Price (121)

It’s not my place to tell anyone how to vote for anything. But we’ve still got a month before those AL rookie-of-the-year ballots have to be filled out. So there’s still time to cure this case of Ohtani amnesia that’s been sweeping our fair land!

THE AL CENTRAL – WORST DIVISION IN HISTORYDivision play has been around for 50 seasons now. The wild-card era has been around for more than 20 years now. So when we tell you that the 2018 edition of the American League Central is the worst division ever, you’re supposed to be appropriately impressed. After all, we’re stacking this up against decades worth of ineptitude.

But five months into this season, it’s pretty much a done deal. Thanks to our friends in the research department at MLB Network, we have the math to prove it.

Lowest Combined Winning Percentage vs. Other Divisions

YEAR DIV W-L WIN PCT2018 AL Central 148-240 .3812002 AL Central 177-253 0.4121994 AL West 144-201 0.4172003 AL Central 180-250 0.4192005 NL West 189-255 0.426So that’s not good. But you already knew that. Instead, we should be asking ourselves: How did this happen? And: What’s the ripple effect of having an entire division that’s this bad at baseball?

All right, first things first. How did this happen? Important note: This is not a tanking situation, because none of these teams knew they were tanking. The Royals, Tigers and Twins meant to be reasonably competitive, but stuff happened. The White Sox were rebuilding, but if they were tanking, they’d have dumped James Shields and traded José Abreu long ago, right?

“I really don’t see this as part of the tanking problem,” said one AL executive. “They just happened to catch everyone in the same cycle.”

So the No. 1 ripple effect of all this losing has been this: The Indians clinched this division on April Fools’ Day.

Oh, all right, not mathematically. But realistically, said the same exec, the Indians “looked up at the beginning of the year and everyone in their clubhouse knew that if they just finished over .500, they’d make the playoffs.”So the Indians have basically been gearing up for October since April. Or at least June. Which makes their season incredibly difficult to evaluate – but makes them no less dangerous in October.

There has been one other major ripple effect, though. And that’s on the wild-card race – in the National League. If three

teams in the NL Central wind up in the postseason – meaning the second-place and third-place teams show up in the Wild Card Game – remember this:

The Cubs, Cardinals and Brewers have gone 27-13 (.675 win pct.) in interleague play this year against the bottom four teams in the AL Central. But over in the NL East, the Braves, Phillies and Nationals have gone 19-25 (.432 win pct.) against the portion of the mighty AL East not known as “the Orioles.” In a race as bunched up as the NL wild-card derby, the historic ineptitude of the AL Central could easily wind up determining who plays baseball in October and who goes fishing.

SHILDT HAPPENS Mike Matheny managed over 1,000 games in St. Louis. Did you know that only once in those 1,000 games did his teams have as hot a stretch, over any span of 41 games, as Mike Shildt’s Cardinals had in his first 41 games as a big-league manager (29-12)? That’s a fact.

So how does a fellow go from almost total anonymity to interim manager to permanent manager – with a three-year contract – in less than two months? That’ll do it. Restore order. Restore the culture. Restore the luster of the St. Louis Cardinals. And also win every darned night. Excellent formula.

It’s a funny thing, though. Once the Cardinals awarded Shildt that contract and zapped the “interim” tag off his job description, a lot of people deduced that this was a tide-shifting development in this sport. Maybe, the theory went, teams would now start hiring guys like Shildt and Atlanta’s Brian Snitker again – you know, men with actual minor-league experience at managing a baseball team.

Well, maybe. And I’d be all for it. But I’m not sensing that. I ran that theory past several big-league executives, and they saw the hiring – and success – of men like Shildt and Snitker as part of a different trend, one that was already in progress:

The Disappearance of the Rock-Star Big-Name Manager.

“I think what’s actually happening,” said one of the NL execs quoted earlier, “is that collaboration between managers and front offices is becoming more important.”

So after decades of teams recycling the same old faces in these jobs – and years where the immense presence of men like Tony La Russa, Joe Torre and Lou Piniella allowed them to tower over their franchises – the full-time hiring of Mike Shildt is really a sign that clubs are trending away from that style of manager these days.

“The amount of communication that takes place now between managers, coaching staffs and front offices is so much greater,” said an AL exec. “It’s not two separate worlds anymore. There’s not a wall between the manager’s office and the front office the way there was for so many years.

“When a guy is sitting in that manager’s office with the credibility of a Mike Scioscia or a Buck Showalter, I think GMs and front-office guys are much less inclined to go down there and say, ‘This is how we’d like to run the game.’ But that’s where baseball is heading. So I think that’s what has changed.”

Is that good for the game? Bad for the game? We’ll let you judge. But take a few moments to consider the difference in stature between Mike Shildt and Tony La Russa, even though

they’ve both sat at the same desk in the same manager’s office. Got it now? It’s not just a new manager. It’s a new world.

THE RAYS ARE THE MOST UNORTHODOX TEAM EVERThe Tampa Bay Rays are 10 games over .500. Could you even name, say, seven guys on their team? I bet you can’t.

Go on. Try it. Kevin Kiermaier, Blake Snell, Sergio Romo, Carlos Gomez and who else? This seems like an excellent game to play on a bar stool some night with your friends. But who knew it would also be an excellent way to build an actual winning team.

There was a time this season, right after the trade deadline, when the Rays didn’t have a real starting pitcher on their active roster. Never saw that before. There was also a time last week when the Rays had more rookies on their active roster (13) than non-rookies (12). Never saw that before, either.

Over the last calendar year, they’ve jettisoned Evan Longoria, Chris Archer, Jake Odorizzi, Alex Cobb, Alex Colomé, Wilson Ramos, Steven Souza Jr., Corey Dickerson, Logan Morrison and just about everyone else on their team whom you might have recognized if they sat down next to you on a flight to Tampa.

Hasn’t mattered. According to baseball-reference, they’re just the second team – in the 20 years their franchise has existed – to use eight rookie pitchers in at least a dozen games and at least eight rookie position players in at least a dozen games in the same season. The other was the 2013 Astros. That team lost 111 games. And this Rays team is 10 games over .500. Amazing.

It’s way too simplistic, though, to say they’ve thought outside the box. They’ve actually built a whole new box. And maybe they’re the only team that could have – because they have so few fans in the seats and such low expectations that they’re free to try any innovation they want, with very little pressure.

“There’s a lot less marquee value in ‘Ryan Stanek versus Chris Sale’ than there is in ‘Chris Archer versus Chris Sale,’ but they’re not concerned at all with marquee value,” said one rival exec. “So it’s so much easier for them to exist outside that world than it is for the rest of us.”

In their world, they could conceivably finish the season with a better record than maybe half of the NL playoff field – and still finish 20 games out of first place. Wrong division. Wrong year. But as one AL exec quipped, “I hope they enjoy their Wins Per Payroll title.”

On Labor Day, how the MLBPA went from $6,000 and a filing cabinet to a powerful force for its membersSeptember 3, 2018 By Cliff Corcoran/The Athletichttps://theathletic.com/502837/2018/09/03/on-labor-day-how-the-mlbpa-went-from-6000-and-a-filing-cabinet-to-a-powerful-force-for-its-members/

Over the past decade, Major League Baseball has made a show of celebrating the holidays and days of remembrance that fall within the limits of the regular season, outfitting its players in special uniforms and caps. The questionable

aesthetics of these are balanced by the charities they serve, even if they have occasionally missed the mark on the meaning of the day being celebrated (something MLB has made strides to correct). Baseball has even invented new occasions for such displays. However, you won’t find the players donning Major League Baseball Players Association caps or patches, or any other such celebratory garb, for Labor Day.

That isn’t surprising. After all, the MLBPA’s founding executive director, Marvin Miller, one of the four or five most significant figures in baseball over the last century, remains locked out of the Hall of Fame, while the bumbling commissioner who was so often his overmatched adversary was inducted a decade ago. It is the commissioner’s office which mandates all of the celebration on display on other holidays throughout the season, and the adversarial relationship between the union and the commissioner—who, despite pretenses of impartiality, is the owners’ representative—would seem to preclude a proper acknowledgment of the union’s proud history, despite the existence of a national holiday dedicated to it.

Still, MLB’s failure to acknowledge not only the meaning of Labor Day, but the corresponding significance of the MLBPA as one of the most successful unions in the nation’s history, is disappointing. That is true not only in contrast to MLB’s increasingly visible celebrations of other summer holidays, which date back to the Independence Day caps of 2008, but in light of the decline in private-sector union membership in the decades since the disastrous Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization strike of 1981, as well as the current government’s ongoing opposition to labor unions in an time of increased economic disparity.

Labor Day has been a federal holiday since 1894. It was set aside to honor workers in general but, more specifically, to recognize the importance of organized labor unions and the gains in workers’ rights and quality of life made possible by the solidarity of their members. On Labor Day, the success of the MLBPA should be held up as an example of the potential of that collective spirit. If baseball won’t do it, I will.

The Players Association existed in name only when future Hall of Fame pitcher Robin Roberts instigated the search for a proper union head in late 1965. Roberts knew the players’ pension plan was due to expire in March 1967 and anticipated the players getting a raw deal in a climate of rising television revenues. He successfully lobbied his cohorts to find a proper negotiator. Yet, despite the opportunity to hire Miller, one of the most accomplished labor negotiators in the country with a quarter of a century of experience that included sweatbox negotiations at the White House in his role as chief economist for the United Steelworkers, the players initially voted to retain incumbent counsel Judge Robert Cannon, who was literally bought and paid for by the owners.

Only Cannon’s excessive demands—including, ironically, an increase in pension—prompted the players to double-back to Miller. Even then, the initial reaction to Miller was negative as players coached by Cannon, including Angels player representative Buck Rodgers, spoke out against Miller in the press.

Though Miller did ultimately win over enough players to win election by a 489-136 vote, his work at the union started nearly from scratch. The union’s assets on Miller’s first day consisted of less than $6,000 and a file cabinet in the office of licensing agent Frank Scott. Despite multiple attempts to

unionize dating back to 1885, the players’ victories, prior to Miller’s arrival, were limited to those achieved under Robert Murphy and his short-lived American Baseball Guild in 1946.

Thanks in large part to the pressure put on the owners by the Mexican League’s attempt to lure players away from the majors, Murphy was able to establish a major league minimum salary of $5,000, a spring training allowance of $25 a week (known as Murphy Money), and a pension plan. However, the owners quashed Murphy’s Guild before the 1946 season was over, and in the intervening 19 years, the major league minimum salary had increased just once, to $6,000. Simply adjusting that $5,000 for inflation would have increased it to $7,500 by 1966.

At the time of Miller’s arrival in July 1966, the players, as workers, lacked even the most basic rights and benefits. Most significantly, the reserve clause, which dated back to 1879, bound the players to their teams for life. They may have had personal freedom, but they had none professionally. Teams could buy, sell, and trade them like property, and players had no recourse other than to leave the country or find another line of work.

Or so the owners had them to believe. When he actually read the reserve clause, Miller was flabbergasted. Read by an experienced labor man like Miller, the clause appeared to grant ownership a one-year option on a player’s services after his signed contract expired, not a lifetime of indentured servitude. That knowledge did neither the players nor Miller much good in 1966, however, as baseball had no formal grievance procedure. The only recourse then for a player dissatisfied with his contract was to appeal to the mercy of his owner. His only leverage in salary negotiations was to hold out at the start of the season, a tactic which, when employed by an individual, even one as accomplished as Joe DiMaggio, rarely yielded satisfactory results.

Miller got to work quickly. First he teamed with Scott to license the players’ images collectively, initially to provide the union with a revenue stream until the players’ dues began to arrive the following summer, though such licensing would ultimately yield tens of millions of dollars for the players. Then he banged out a new pension deal with the owners, shifting the fund from one to which the players contributed to one funded solely by ownership, while repurposing the players’ contributions as voluntary union dues. Miller not only got the owners to nearly double their contribution to the fund, but obtained health insurance, life insurance, and widow’s benefits for the players for the first time.

Given the players’ initial suspicions about Miller, and unions in general, the early years of the union were a test of their collective resolve. That 99 percent of the players sent in their voluntary dues was a good early indication. Miller’s next test came after the 1967 season, when he asked the players not to sign their annual baseball card contracts with Topps Chewing Gum, whose compensation for the exclusive rights to sell the players’ photographs (alone or with confectionary products) Miller considered far from sufficient. It was a small request, given that Topps only paid each major leaguer $125 a year, but an important test. The players passed it, and Miller negotiated not only an increase in fee with Topps, but a percentage of royalties and restrictions on their exclusivity, ultimately turning that paltry fee into another multi-million-dollar revenue stream.

In February 1968, the union and the owners came to terms on the first collective bargaining agreement in professional

sports history. Among the players’ gains were increases in the cash allowances for meals and incidentals throughout the season, as well as for spring training, during which players do not draw a salary, improved travel conditions, new scheduling rules addressing off-days and double-headers, severance pay for players released during the season, a revised standardized contract, and a reduction in the maximum pay cut. Most significantly, the minimum salary was raised to $10,000, finally catching up to and surpassing the rise in the cost of living since 1947, and a grievance procedure was established, which would allow players to take their disputes with ownership to the commissioner.

That December, Miller again tested the solidarity of the players in reaction to the owners’ hard line on pension negotiations, which were then separate from the CBA. Fortunately for Miller, the pension plan had long been the player’s top priority. Explaining that the pension was a part of their compensation, he asked the players to refrain from signing their contracts for the 1969 season until the matter was resolved. Nearly all complied, including all of the game’s biggest stars. Even Carl Yastrzemski, who was notoriously resistant to the union and Miller due to his close relationship with, and hefty salary from, Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey, refused to sign. When the new plan was finally agreed to in February 1969, the owners not only increased their contribution, but lowered pension eligibility from five to four years of service, lowered the collecting age from 50 to 45, and added a dental plan.

Things accelerated from there. When Curt Flood opted to sue Major League Baseball over its antitrust exemption following the 1969 season rather than allow himself to be traded, the player representatives voted unanimously to pay Flood’s legal fees. Negotiations for the second collective bargaining agreement took place in the shadow of Flood’s initial trial in the U.S. District Court in New York, and the pressure of Flood’s case motivated the owners to make a crucial concession to Miller and the union.

As Miller wrote in his compulsively readable, score-settling autobiography, A Whole Different Ballgame, “In order to maintain in court the fiction that baseball was governed impartially and not by the commissioner, a paid employee of the owners, the owners (or at least their lawyers) had to concede that any disagreement about the meaning of the provisions of the collective bargaining agreement would be resolved by impartial, binding arbitration.”

Independent arbitration, agreed to in the second CBA, was the means by which Miller’s reading of the reserve clause could be tested, and by which the players would ultimately obtain their professional freedom.

In the meantime, Miller and the union continued to make gains. The second CBA, signed in June 1970, included additional increases in the minimum salary, up to $13,500 by 1972, increases in the players’ share of the playoff pool, in severance for players cut during the season or, for the first time, spring training, in spring training allowances, and in travel conditions. It established January 15 as a deadline for teams to tender contracts to unsigned players, and, for the first time, granted players the right to use agents in salary negotiations.

When the pension plan came up for renewal again in early 1972, it was the owners who tried to test the union. Effectively forcing a strike by refusing to agree to a modest cost-of-living increase in pension benefits, most of which could have been drawn from an existing surplus in the fund,

the owners were blindsided by a 663-10 player vote in favor of a strike and no sign of fracture in the union as the strike bled into the regular season. The owners ultimately caved. In their attempt to break the union, they had only made it stronger.

After a brief lockout by the owners, the third collective bargaining agreement finally merged the pension plan and the CBA into a single negotiation. Signed in February 1973, the third CBA again increased spring training allowances, playoff shares, and the major league minimum (to $16,000 by 1975). It moved the deadline to tender contracts to December 20. It also added the first real restrictions on player movement and accelerators in player salary. Under the new agreement, players with five years of service time couldn’t be sent to the minors without their consent. Players with ten years of service time, the last five with the same club, had the right to veto a trade. Most significantly, all players with at least two years of service time were eligible for salary arbitration. That December, longtime Cubs third baseman Ron Santo would become the first player to enact his 10-and-5 rights, vetoing a trade to the Angels (he was dealt to the cross-town White Sox instead). The following February, Twins righty Dick Woodson would win the first salary arbitration case in major league history, receiving $29,000 for the coming season rather than the team’s $23,000 offer.

Though Flood ultimately lost his case in the Supreme Court, the independent arbitration the union obtained in the shadow of his case proved to be the key to unlocking the reserve clause. With neutral arbitration in place, Miller had begun advising players to play out their renewed contracts, unsigned, in an effort to test his theory about the reserve clause. In both 1972 and 1973, players, including Cardinals catcher Ted Simmons and Twins lefty Jim Kaat, attempted to test Miller’s theory but ultimately agreed to what seemed like generous contract offers as the season progressed.

Then serendipity struck. As a method of deferring half of his salary, Oakland A’s ace Jim “Catfish” Hunter had language put in his 1974 contract that required team owner Charlie Finely to use half of each of Hunter’s bimonthly paychecks to purchase a deferred annuity from a life insurance company. Only later realizing that would prevent half of Hunter’s $100,000 salary from being tax deductible, Finley failed to comply, attempting instead to offer Hunter the $50,000 in a lump sum at the end of the season. Hunter responded by filing a grievance that October. In December, arbitrator Peter Seitz found Finley in breach of contract and declared Hunter a free agent available to all teams.

Here was a test, not of the reserve clause, but of the earning potential of a star player on the free market. Hunter was that year’s American League Cy Young award winner, the ace of a team that had just won three straight World Series, had gone 7-1 with a 2.24 ERA over the previous three postseasons, and, at a time when it mattered, had won at least 21 games for the last four years. In 1974, the highest-paid player in the game was White Sox first baseman, and 1972 AL MVP, Dick Allen, who earned, depending on the source, somewhere between $200,000 and $250,000. Hunter signed with the Yankees for $3.75 million over five years, an average annual value of $750,000, or three times Allen’s salary, guaranteed for the next five seasons.

The following year, Dodgers ace Andy Messersmith became the first player to reach the end of the season with an unsigned contract. Joined in his suit by former Orioles lefty Dave McNally, who had retired from the Expos mid-season without signing his contract, Messersmith filed a grievance to

test Miller’s theory about the reserve clause and won. On December 23, 1975, Seitz ruled exactly as Miller had anticipated, that the reserve clause only guaranteed a team a one-year renewal on a player’s contract, declaring both Messersmith and McNally free agents. The owners fired Seitz before chief negotiator John Gaherin’s signature had dried on the decision — but their perpetual hold on a players’ services was dead.

In less than ten years, Miller and the union had increased the formerly stagnant major league minimum salary by 167 percent, obtained independent grievance arbitration, salary arbitration, the right of veteran players to reject trades or reassignment to the minors, the right of all players to use agents in contract negotiations, improved travel conditions and scheduling, placed the operational rules of the leagues (waivers, options, scheduling) under the jurisdiction of collective bargaining, established a deadline for tendering contracts to unsigned players, reduced the maximum pay cut, obtained dramatic increases in spring training and regular season allowances, playoff shares, severance pay, licensing revenues, and the pension fund, while eliminating player contributions to the last of those, and eradicated the reserve clause. Through solidarity and collective activism, the players completely upended the nearly century-old power dynamic between themselves and the owners, becoming partners, rather than mere pawns, in Baseball’s rapid growth. That growth continues to this day, despite the owners’ repeated cries of poverty.

In Miller’s own words, when he arrived in baseball in late 1965, he discovered a workforce that, lacking proper leadership, had repeatedly failed to act in its own interest, and a ruling class whose pettiness and arrogance led it to act as though it was above the law. The awakening he delivered to both set an example that would serve us well today, and that should be honored on this day of national celebration of the collective power of the people to right the wrongs they see in the world.

MLB TRANSACTIONSSeptember 4, 2018 •.CBSSports.comhttp://www.cbssports.com/mlb/transactions

T E A M P L A Y E R T R A N S A C T I O N

BOS

Rafael Devers

Recalled From Minors Rehab Assignment

BOS

Rafael Devers

Removed From 10-Day DL (Strained left hamstring)

BOS

Brandon Phillips Purchased From Minors

T E A M P L A Y E R T R A N S A C T I O N

MIN

John Curtiss Called Up from Minors

MIN

Logan Morrison

Transferred to 60-Day DL (Left hip impingement)

MIN

Gregorio Petit Purchased From Minors

MIN

Chase De Jong Called Up from Minors

TB

Jake Faria Called Up from Minors

TEX

Willie Calhoun Called Up from Minors

WAS

Joe RossRemoved From 60-Day DL (Recovery from right elbow surgery)

WAS

Joe Ross Recalled From Minors Rehab Assignment

WAS

Victor Robles Called Up from Minors