The bottom is a big fool

Consider the big fool. Scruffy, rude, built like a truck. Large gloves, and a legendary Derrière, a home run that helps crouch down for hours, professional careers and hits Bodious. Few catchers have received the same attention as Seattle Mariners’ Cal Raleigh and the big ass of the same name. He deserves more. Raleigh goes to the back of the season, and even if his work eventually slows down, it is one of the most amazing all-around performances of all time. Raleigh had 38 home runs before the All-Star Game last week. He only needed eleven times to break the catcher’s single-season record, and 17 broke Mickey Mantle’s single-season record. He is working on breaking Ken Griffey, Jr. He has surpassed his own season. He has more than the big pie than the big one. Judge Aaron.

All of this is enough to attract some admiration. But Raleigh also showed his worst position on the court, and he was one of the best. A good catcher must anchor the rotation, fool the referee, surpass the batsman, keep the runners checked, make countless quick decisions and adjustments, and be the last omnipotent wall for the team’s defense. Raleigh won the Golden Gloves last season and led all the catchers in the game and behind the plate. He caught more basic runners than any other catcher in the league to try to steal. He is one of the leaders of the franchise courts – the hits of the ball, especially the edge balls appear – known as defensive runs in more complex statistics. He did all of this while lifting the rotation after the injury.

The catcher stands behind the center of the action: the batsman, the mask and filler, in the frame, but mostly invisible. As we all know, Raleigh would be satisfied with relative anonymity. The judge is a folk hero in baseball, Paul Bunyan. Raleigh looks like he’ll be at home in the Beer League (holding the actual beer) than shooting beer. But his glorious rear hindered it.

The nickname was created by his teammate Jarred Kelenic, who first raised this when Raleigh fell into a receiver stance in the minor league. Kelenic made it public when Raleigh was summoned to the Grand Slam. “Big slut of the show,” he tweeted. Raleigh didn’t seem excited about the ribs, even though he had his own fun. While playing for the single Modesto Nuts, he, like a player named Keegan McGovern, announced himself and McGovern The Beef Boys. He even wrote a national anthem with a tune of “Drifting”: “Beef Boy, Free My Soul/I Want to Be Lost in Your Claypot, Drifting.”

His parents owned a screen printing business in North Carolina, making the T-shirt that read “100% pure beef: no added steroids or fillers” and made the T-shirt with the outline of a cow. At that time, Raleigh was sitting in his groove. He was the seventh pick in the 2018 draft, the seventh receiver. The Scouts and executives think he must eventually give up on the capture, or forget the switch hits and selects one side. In Modesto, he struggled for a while, but he was stubborn, a hardworking man, and a fast learner. A tip to hit the coach will move his hand forward as soon as possible and be more decisive on the plate, causing a surge in strength. When he arrived at the pro, he struggled again: in 2021, his batting average was below .200, and at the beginning of the 2022 season, he hit a .083 percentage point, with a pedal and slip percentage dropping. He was sent back to the minor. A week later, he was called the backup, when the usual starter was injured and he began to find his swing. At the end of the 2022 season, he hit a full-cost, pinched home run, sending the Mariners into the playoffs for two decades. This big fool is now a Seattle hero.

This is a child’s dream. Meanwhile, the nickname is the dream of a marketer, at least in the minds of PR people working for sailors, who know a golden butt when they see one. The team sold the jerseys with Raleigh’s phone number, lower than the “big fool”. For babies, there are large matte jumpsuits. According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, there is a walking playlist made entirely from swag songs, including “Baby Got Recal” by Seattle native Sir Mix-a-Lot. They encourage fans who try to abandon someone to send emails to bigdumper@mariners.comguarantee that Raleigh will help. (Last week, the team’s X account appeared to serve the CEO’s wife as a big fool, who played another woman at a Coldplay concert.

Meanwhile, he won the home run derby. (His father threw it – accidentally stuffed him up – his younger brother served as the receiver.) He also started the All-Star game, played singles and almost got another one, and only Kyle Tucker could catch the sleek capture when he lined up from Clayton Kershaw’s field. “Suck it, big fool,” Kershaw replied jokingly.

No one knows the edge better than the receiver. Rolei was almost eliminated from the first round of the derby before continuing to win the game. Sometimes you suck it, sometimes you suck it. (The Derby isn’t his only big win this month: sportsthe waiter at the Sailors Club recently awarded his Golden Storage Award for having the cleanest and most organized lockers. Catchers need a break, and return is every baseball nerd’s favorite word. In July, in the All-Star Game, Raleigh hit only .135 this month. (All his hits are home runs.) But forget about the predictions and get happy with the rear view. Raleigh not only made everything possible, but something impossible had happened. Mickey mantle breaks the record? Sixty home runs? Sailor, argue? Take a glass of beer, beef, boy. ♦