On-Base Perception

Look out New York: Godzilla is coming back to the Bronx.

At least for a day.

The Yankees announced that slugger Hideki Matsui will sign a one-day minor league contract on July 28 so he can retire as a Yankee before the game that day.

Technically, Matsui announced his retirement in December, so this is more of a brief “comeback” followed by yet another retirement. Roger Clemens,...

It is one of those rare statistical treats in baseball, the guy whose home run total is more than half of his RBI total.

Of the top 100 players on MLB's home run leaderboard through games of May 29, only the Nationals' Bryce Harper and the Mariners' Michael Morse have accomplished this feat.

Harper: 12 home runs, 23 RBI (52.2 percent)

Morse: 11 home runs, 21 RBI (52.4 percent)

It...

John Buck has seen all this Matt Harvey mania before, only then the phenom went by a different name: Zack Greinke.

It took Greinke, the No. 14 prospect in MLB before the 2004 season, a little longer to establish himself as one of the game’s best. He suffered from two conditions that Harvey doesn’t have to worry about:

1) A social anxiety disorder that nearly caused him to leave the game

2)...

This night couldn't have gone much better for the Mets.

They began the game by honoring the greatest closer to ever play the game and ended it by beating him. Their young phenom lived up to the hype and struck out 10 Yankees in eight innings, allowing just a single run.

And they avoided a potential rain out.

Listen to inside-the-game insights from the important actors in it: Matt...

There was still a steady rain falling on the tarp at Citi Field just a few minutes before the scheduled start of Yankees vs. Mets Round 2, and amid conflicting weather reports, Yankees manager Joe Girardi offered what appeared to be the simplest - but probably most reasonable - prediction for when the game would start: "I guess it's one of those things you look up in the sky and see if it's...

Mariano Rivera has made a Hall of Fame career out of throwing the final pitch in baseball games. Tuesday night, he'll throw the first one.

The Yankees closer will throw out the ceremonial first pitch of Tuesday night's Subway Series game between the Yankees and the Mets at Citi Field, weather permitting.

Mets COO Jeff Wilpon and FDNY commissioner Salvatore Cassano presented Rivera with...

There is a good chance that all the self-proclaimed experts out there, who wanted to send Ike Davis to the minors or move Davis’ batting stance closer to the plate or put poor Davis on a psychiatrist’s coach, never could have delivered the two-run eighth-inning single that Davis struck Sunday night to give the Mets an unlikely 4-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves.

For the pundits and geniuses,...

“Another endorsement from the manager, another disappointing day for Ike Davis. The first baseman knows the deal, and whatever management may say, Davis knows he has to hit to stay with the team.”

The above description of a struggling Davis wasn’t written yesterday, last week or last month. Newsday’s Steven Marcus wrote that lede for an article on the Mets’ first baseman June 4, 2012 – nearly...

The Blue Jays beat the Orioles on a walkoff double from shortstop Munenori Kawasaki. Kawasaki got his chance with the Jays when Jose Reyes was injured sliding into second base.

So yea, great hit. But even better? The postgame interview he delivered, which is in the running -- nay, the leader in the clubhouse -- for Best. Interview. Ever.

Don't believe us? See for yourself:

...

59 Seconds of video showing an Astros vendor using the men’s room with his tray of snow cones on the floor of the stall. The vendor was fired, and the incident made for an uncomfortable first week for new team president Reid Ryan, the son of Nolan. As if the Astros’ season wasn’t bad enough.

36 Braves retired in a row by the Pirates’ Harvey Haddix, who had a perfect game for 12 innings before...