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What’s Happening in Baseball Today
The First Pitch: May 29, 2026
A day after the players’ union presents its first proposal for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, the owners present theirs—and it’s just as dissed by the other side.
Not surprisingly, the owners’ proposal insists on a salary cap, to be initially set at $245.3 million—but they also set $171.2 million as a salary floor, which would be a first as presented by management. Owners also call for a 50-50 split in revenue, and a centralized fund from local broadcast revenue that would be evenly doled out to the 30 MLB teams.
Union head Bruce Meyer is not a fan of management’s offer. “Billionaire owners are not seeking to cap their profits or asset values, only player salaries,” he says in a statement. “It’s a play to control costs, increase profits and maximize franchise values—all at the expense of players, past, present and future.”
The good news out of all of this: There’s six months for both sides to close the gap and come to an agreement before the current pact expires—and MLB likely declares a lockout of the players.
Congrats, Your Box Score Line Was the Best (Hitters Edition)
3-1-1-4—Ronald Acuna Jr., Atlanta
It’s rare that we reward a guy in this category who notched just one hit, but Acuna contributed a bit more than the box score suggests. The one hit was his fourth career grand slam; he walked twice; and he stole two bases, giving him 10 on the year—one more than all of last season—to help the Braves rout the Red Sox at Boston, 10-2. Overall, it’s not been a great year thus far for the former MVP, with a .238 batting average and just three homers over 43 games, but Braves fans will remain hopeful for Acuna’s return to star form after performances like this.
Congrats, Your Box Score Line Was the Best (Pitchers Edition)
6-2-1-1-2-5—Davis Martin, Chicago White Sox
The fourth-year Chisox hurler—is his middle name “Sinatra”?—continued a breakout campaign with another stellar effort, capturing his AL-leading eighth win while lowering his season ERA to an even 2.00 in Chicago’s 6-2 home win over the Twins. It’s a reassuring outing for Martin, who came off his worst start of the year last Friday at San Francisco.
It Was Whatever-Something Years Ago Today
1905: Brooklyn rookie pitcher Elmer Stricklett defeats the Giants, 4-3. The historical significance of the game, so it has been told, is that Stricklett becomes the first major league pitcher to throw a spitball. The claim is impossible to verify and subject to criticism, since tales of spitball usage in the majors before Stricklett are widespread. There is less debate that Stricklett was a proponent of the spitter and taught it to other pitchers.
1922: The long-delayed, long-running antitrust suit against major league owners by those of the defunct Federal League franchise in Baltimore comes to an end, with the Supreme Court unanimously ruling against the plaintiffs. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, speaking for the court, states that baseball is a sport and not a true form of “interstate commerce.” The ruling cements baseball’s antitrust exemption, which along with the reserve clause will become two of the most frequently assailed documents outside of baseball’s front offices.
1982: Baltimore rookie Cal Ripken Jr., still shaking off an abhorrent batting slump to begin his major league career, is asked to sit out the second game of a doubleheader against Toronto. The next time Ripken will sit and watch an entire Orioles game from the dugout will be September 20, 1998—16 years and a record 2,632 games later.
2000: Five years after turning an unassisted triple play for the Yankees in Spring Training, Randy Velarde will do it again—this time in a regular season game against the Yankees in the uniform of the Oakland A’s. Velarde accomplishes the solo triple play the way it usually happens, with a hit-and-run that backfires—a line drive by Shane Spencer caught by Velarde, who steps on second to double up one runner (Tino Martinez) and tagging out the runner (Jorge Posada) coming from first. It’s only the 10th unassisted triple play in regular season annals—but it doesn’t help the A’s, who lose at New York, 4-1.
2010: At Anaheim, the Angels’ Kendrys Morales hits a game-ending grand slam in the 10th inning against the Mariners, and as teammates empty out of the dugout to celebrate, Morales jumps on home plate—and breaks his leg. Morales, who had a breakout campaign in 2009 and was following it up with another stellar effort in 2010, will miss the next year and a half of action as he recovers from the injury.
2010: The Phillies’ Roy Halladay throws the second perfect game in Phillies history, retiring all 27 Marlins he faces in a 1-0 Philadelphia win at Miami. Halladay will later throw a no-hitter in the postseason against the Reds.
2019: A somber moment during a game at Houston, when a two-year young girl suffers a fractured skull from a foul ball off the bat of the Chicago Cubs’ Albert Almora Jr., sounds the alarms for MLB teams to extend protective netting further down the lines from the dugouts—where they had been extended just a few years earlier. By the end of the season, 16 teams extend the netting close to or at the foul poles; the remaining 14 will do the same for 2020.
You Say It’s Your Birthday
Happy birthday to:
Paul Skenes (24), instant ace for the Pirates, 2024 NL Rookie of the Year, 2025 NL Cy Young winner
Switch-hitting Cleveland catcher Patrick Bailey (27), recipient of two Gold Gloves
Trevor Rosenthal (36), closer of 132 saves including 45+ in back-to-back years (2013-14) for the Cardinals
Jerry Hairston (50), 16-year utility guy, mostly used at second base; 1,126 career hits and 147 steals
Eric Davis (64), remarkable five-tool talent whose career was marred by numerous injuries and bout with cancer; two-time All-Star and recipient of two Gold Gloves in outfield; top NL hitter of 1987
Born on this date:
John. Kennedy (1941), infielder of 13 seasons; member of 1969 Seattle Pilots; TGG interview subject
George McQuinn (1910), steady, six-time All-Star first baseman with Yankees and St. Louis Browns
Shameless Link of the Day
The San Diego Padres begin a weekend series against the Nationals in Washington, the city they nearly moved to 52 years ago. The guy who saved the Padres from leaving California was McDonalds founder Ray Kroc, who didn’t necessarily endear himself to his players after what he did in #2 on our list of the team’s most memorable games.
Join Us on X and BlueSky
Besides our growing and active presence on X, TGG has spread its social media wings to BlueSky for those who’ve found the X culture too toxic. For those who are wondering, we provide the same posts on both platforms, and they’re non-political. We’re just talking baseball.
Meanwhile, we’ve given up our fight trying to reactivate our Facebook page, which was hacked last year. The page remains up but is frozen in time, as we are unable to access it—and Facebook, in all its infinite lack of wisdom, continues to provide absolutely no customer support in the matter as they literally have none. All the more reason to join us on X and BlueSky.
To Whom It May Concern
We are proud of what we have built at This Great Game, but we also admit it is not perfect. Occasionally, fans from all walks of life check in and point out errors, and we are grateful to these external editors. Our site is all the better because of you.
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