From The Press Box – April

Rachel Steinberg returns to begin a regular column. You can find her BFN debut here.

Welcome to From the Press Box, a weekly attempt to round up the best of the UK media’s reporting on our favourite sport.

I’m not including game reports, but there’s absolutely an ‘I’ in ‘I’ve probably missed something out’ so let’s make this a team effort and post your favourite coverage in the comments. Sharing is caring, folks.

Without further ado, here are some of this week’s top stories.

Sunday:

“How Chris Davis snapped, embraced Baseball’s most epic oh-fer”

ESPN with a feature on Chris Davis finally breaking his record-setting hitless streak. Meanwhile, in Toronto, Socrates Brito seems to be vying for the title, recently surpassing the Blue Jays’ own franchise record by going 0-for-20.

“Meet ‘Baseball Brit’, the British guy travelling to 162 baseball games this season”

Ok, I admit, it’s in the American press, but I had to include this great feature on one of our own.

Tuesday

“Young baseball fans get puppy after dad’s home run promise”

Dad takes daughters to a Brewers game, promises them a puppy if Christian Yelich hits a homer. Yelich follows through. Family gets adorable pupper, calls him Yeli. Dad maybe regrets not choosing Chris Davis instead?

Thursday:

“Price criticises MLB for teams idle on Jackie Robinson Day”

The Daily Mail picked up this piece about David Price, who criticised MLB for having so few games scheduled on Jackie Robinson Day.

“Essex Arrows Baseball Club received £200 donation from Rainbow Estate Agents following unprovoked vandalism”

A bit more local: this is a feel-good tale about an Essex baseball club who received a generous donation after their equipment was stolen.

“Aberdeen Express’ Marina becomes first woman to start at pitcher in Scottish National League baseball match”

Congratulations to Marina DeAngelis, who recorded seven strikeouts in the Express’ victory.

Friday:

“Was this the first high five in history? How an iconic gesture made in 1977 by the first openly gay player in MLB went on to become a symbol of pride.”

The Daily Mail with this history of the high-five, which many believe first happened during a Dodgers game in 1977.

Bonus:

https://metro.co.uk/2019/04/17/elderly-woman-beats-massive-half-nude-attacker-baseball-bat-9242191/

When you get Google alerts about baseball and the UK, apparently you also get a comprehensive round-up of baseball bats used in crimes, like this delightful story about a 65-year-old former softball player who fought off a robber with a fierce swing.

What have I missed? Tell me in the comments!