Maggie phoned her superior at around the same time, getting him on the second try. Joaquin left his boss a message at about 12:30 a.m. I told him one day this year maybe, you’re going to receive a phone call from me late at night letting you know that I’m not going to come to work for a few days because Zach got called up to the majors,” Joaquin said. “I already had pre-warned my boss when Zach got drafted (in 2022). Maggie, who helps set up phones and internet service for federal agencies and the White House, needed to assist Vice President Kamala Harris, who was on a trip to Los Angeles.įor both Neto parents, however, Zach’s major-league debut took priority. The next day was a Saturday, but both Joaquin, a mailman, and Maggie, an AT&T employee, were scheduled to work. In my story today about Angels rookie shortstop Zach Neto, I wrote about how his parents, Joaquin and Maggie, needed to quickly book flights to Boston from Miami after he informed them of his surprising promotion to the majors late on the night of April 14. Ken’s Corner: A good reason to call out of work Correlation does not always imply causation, but … it is a thing that happened. This comes after two nights in a row of Pirates manager Derek Shelton vehemently disagreeing with the umpiring crew. I don’t feel like an adjustment was made today.” We’re just asking for adjustments (by the umpire). “You can’t protect the strike zone and outside of the strike zone,” McCutchen said. It’s frustrating, but what can you do? There’s nothing you can do about it.” 'When we tried to get anything going, it was just being stripped away. The Pirates struck out 13 times.Īfter the game, Bucs veteran Andrew McCutchen didn’t hold back.Īfter being swept by the Rays, some Pirates players were unhappy with the umpire's strike zone. Pirates reliever Colin Holderman (hooray for nominative determinism!) threw an immaculate inning against baseball’s most dominant offense, and the Pirates, trailing by three, scored two runs in the ninth and had two runners on when Connor Joe struck out to end the game.īut the big drama came from home plate umpire Manny Gonzalez, who gave Rays starter Zach Eflin a strike zone that routinely crept a few inches above where Pirates hitters (and the K-Box on the television) would have cut it off.

Hooray for Hat! by Brian Won