Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and sometimes it rains.  And sometimes it pours.  As a result of the deluge in St. Louis last night, our Braves will play two today (of the day/night variety), followed by a one day trip to the Windy City tomorrow for a 4:10 makeup of an earlier rainout, followed by a return to Truist Park for a home stand beginning Friday.

They do get an off day next Monday, but then it’s 13 games in 13 days leading into the All-Star break.  All of that will put a strain on the strategy of giving the starters extra rest. It will be interesting to see if Sale and Lopez will continue to pitch on five or six games rest as opposed to four.

Lopez will start the first game today, followed (I believe) by Bryce Elder in the nightcap. That will allow Sale to pitch on five days rest instead of four, and Elder can be added as the 27th man for the double header without another corresponding roster move. Morton, Fried, and Schwellenbach will go on five days rest over the weekend, and Monday’s off day will allow another round for the regular rotation on five days’ rest. 

Today is the birthday of Abner Doubleday, so in a sense it’s the birthday of baseball itself.  The future General Doubleday invented the game on a field in Cooperstown, New York, in the summer of 1839.  That’s why the National Baseball Hall of Fame is in the little out of the way hamlet of Cooperstown.  The field where the HOF game is played is “Abner Doubleday Field,” with a plaque commemorating the spot as the “Birthplace of Baseball.”

Except that the entire story of Abner Doubleday creating baseball if false.  Everyone who has examined the claim has concluded that Doubleday had nothing to do with inventing baseball and that the events of 1839 commemorated in Cooperstown never happened.  On the other hand, Bud Selig as recently as 2010 that “I really believe that Abner Doubleday is the ‘Father of Baseball.'”  Who am I to question the credibility of that used car salesman?

Abner Doubleday himself was an impressive fellow, despite not having invented our national pastime.  He was a career U.S. Army officer and Major General in the Civil War. He fired the first shot in defense of Fort Sumter, the opening battle of the war, and had a pivotal role in the early fighting at Gettysburg. In San Francisco, after the war, he obtained a patent on the cable car railway that is such an iconic part of that city. But he did not invent baseball.

Perhaps there is no harm in celebrating the myth of Doubleday and Cooperstown and 1839. On the other hand, truth and factual accuracy have become undervalued in modern American society. One of the beauties of our little corner of the internet here is that although we may have different opinions, we try to base our comments on facts and evidence rather than gut feelings.

One thing we all agree on is that the Braves are the superior team to the devil magic Redbirds. Let’s go out and play well today, and don’t let their voodoo get to us.

And congratulations to our own Alex Remington, who got married over the weekend.  I hope your union is happy and blessed for decades to come.  My wife and I will celebrate 47 years of marriage later this summer.  Ryan asked us earlier to share with Alex advice about marriage. I’m not much for advice, but in my case I got very lucky and married exactly the right person.  And although it’s taken almost 47 years, she has become almost as big a fan of the Braves as I am. I am a blessed and happy man.