Welcome to The Pregame Lineup, a weekday newsletter that gets you up to speed on everything you need to know for today’s games, while catching you up on fun and interesting stories you might have missed. Thanks for being here. Gender reveals are a fun way for expecting parents to make a special moment even more unforgettable. With Bryce Harper and his wife, Kayla, expecting their fourth child, the Phillies slugger cooked up an idea that felt perfectly on brand for a player who never fails to make a statement with his style choices.
How did Harper reveal the big news? With a color-coordinated bat, of course.
As Todd Zolecki details, Harper ordered two custom-made bats -- one pink, one blue -- and asked teammate Trea Turner to give him the correct one before his first at-bat on Monday. (It’s a boy!) Naturally, Turner couldn’t resist milking the suspense before handing over the right bat.
“I got a text message with the gender,” Turner said. “I messed with him a little bit in the dugout. I picked up the pink one and swung it around a little bit. He thought he was having a girl, so I had to mess with him a little bit. Sure enough, it was a boy. I ended up handing him the blue one, and he was pretty happy.”
The reveal was fitting for Harper, who is always finding ways to express himself with his on-field fashion choices -- going all the way back to his days as a high school phenom, when his overabundance of eye black made him look more like a pro wrestler or hair metal band member than baseball player. Speaking of hair, Harper has rocked a variety of styles over the years. But whether it’s long locks, a fresh fade or a trimmed beard, he has always managed to keep the look dialed in.
Harper has also been known to weave his love of country into his on-field look, from his American flag-themed cleats on the Fourth of July to his Captain America-esque getup during the 2018 Home Run Derby, which he won in front of the hometown fans at Nationals Park.
Since joining the Phillies after the 2018 season, Harper has frequently paid homage to the club’s beloved green mascot, the Phillie Phanatic, both on and off the field. The Phanatic has shown up on Harper’s cleats, shin guard, sliding glove and headband. Harper has swung a special-edition Phanatic bat and he’s worn a suit lined with Phanatic photos. He even has a Phanatic tattoo.
Monday’s flourish wasn’t the first time Harper has brought his kids into the fold, either -- he once enlisted them to decorate some of his bats with their crayon drawings. -- Thomas Harrigan |
THE FIRST BALLPARK WHERE JACKIE MADE HISTORY |
The crowd settles in as the sun dips low. A warm breeze carries the scent of ballpark snacks. The home team takes the field, a ripple of cheers sweeping through the stands. On the surface, it feels like any other Minor League game, an experience shared in countless parks across the country. But few parks can match the legacy of this one in Daytona Beach, Fla.
While April 15, 1947, is etched into baseball’s fabric as the day Jackie Robinson shattered the sport’s color barrier when he stepped onto Ebbets Field as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers, the stage for Robinson’s historic debut was actually set a year earlier in this far humbler setting -- one you can still visit today.
While Ebbets Field was the ultimate destination, the first step for Robinson came in Daytona Beach on March 17, 1946, when he played an exhibition game for Triple-A Montreal against the parent-club Dodgers. It marked the first time an American League or National League organization fielded an integrated team.
The Dodgers initially had another location in mind, but resistance to integration in nearby Sanford forced a relocation, making Daytona Beach the unlikely setting for history. Nearly 80 years later, the park that held that momentous exhibition contest is still hosting games as the home of the Florida State League's Daytona Tortugas (Single-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds).
As we celebrate Jackie Robinson Day, be sure to check out Benjamin Hill’s story about the venue formerly known as City Island Ballpark, as well as the research efforts that led to the park being rechristened Jackie Robinson Ballpark in 1990. -- Thomas Harrigan |
- Giants @ Phillies: (6:45 p.m. ET, MLB.TV): These maybe no longer surprising Giants took the first game of this series to improve to 12-4 – and their biggest free-agent acquisition, Willy Adames, only hit his first homer last night! Justin Verlander gets the ball opposite Jesús Luzardo, who’s been the Phillies’ best pitcher early on.
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Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. is often credited with planting the seeds of a league-wide Jackie Robinson tribute, so it’s no real surprise that this year’s commemorative cleat for the April 15 celebration is based on Nike’s classic Griffey 2 MCS model. The main design on the 2025 model has side panels with No. 42 in every team’s font.
Our resident shoe guru (shoeru?) Bryan Horowitz caught up with Griffey to discuss much more than just the cleats, with The Kid discussing Jackie’s legacy and his own desire to leave the sport in a better place than he found it.
“It’s always a responsibility to pay it forward when it comes to the game you love,” Griffey said. |
IT’S THE PITCH THAT KEEPS ON WHIFFING |
This is a pitch that will make you question reality. It’s not a knuckleball, it just resembles one -- except for the fact that it comes in at 90 mph (!). So what is this pitch, then? It’s D-backs reliever Justin Martinez’s unicorn splitter, seen here making the great Aaron Judge swing out of his shoes. Mesmerized? Same. But if you manage to stop yourself from watching this clip on an endless loop, check out Mike Petriello’s breakdown of how this pitch is even possible. |
Can you guess today’s mystery player using clues like age, league, division, position and place of birth? You’ll have nine tries to get it right. Good luck! Play here >> |
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