Snake Bytes 10/31: Happy Halloween

[Sports Illustrated] Jorge Soler’s Pinch-Hit Home Run Lifts Atlanta to Victory in Game 4 - The pitch was a slider, hung over the plate, in the seventh inning of a tie game. Jorge Soler was ready for it. He swung, and he turned the ball into a pinch-hit, go-ahead home run. It came directly on the heels of another home run—that one from shortstop Dansby Swanson. The twin homers helped the Braves seize Game 4 to put the team within one win of a championship. They made history, too, as only the third pair of back-to-back game-tying and go-ahead home runs in the history of the World Series. (The first such pairing? Just Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.) But Soler’s home run was historic all on its own. For a go-ahead playoff home run to come from a pinch hitter is rare: Soler’s was just the fourth ever in the World Series. And yet it made perfect sense for these Braves. By virtue of the way that this roster is constructed, Soler has needed to develop a taste for pinch-hitting, and so have his fellow outfielders. This was a happy accident created at the trade deadline. But it’s become a notable asset for the Braves.

[CBS Sports] Braves’ Eddie Rosario makes best catch of 2021 World Series to rob Astros’ Jose Altuve of extra bases - The Braves had just taken the lead in Game 4 of the 2021 World Series with back-to-back homers from Dansby Swanson and Jorge Soler. A deep shot off the bat of Astros leadoff man Jose Altuve looked like it had a shot to even things back up. Instead, Braves left fielder Eddie Rosario made a possibly game-saving catch. First things first, we’ll point out that the ball certainly wasn’t going to leave the yard for a home run, save for some kind of freaky Jose Canseco off-the-head nonsense. But it was still dangerous. It was only a one-run lead and Altuve can run. With the way Rosario was approaching that ball, had he missed it, it’s pretty easy to see Altuve ending up on third base with a triple. Sure, there were two outs, but the tying run being only 90 feet away with Michael Brantley at the plate is a pretty scary proposition. One of the fun things about the catch was Rosario didn’t exactly look like the smoothest outfielders in the world on it. In fact, he revealed after the game that he basically just threw his glove at it.

[ABC News] Swing, then miss it: MLB pitchers could bat for final time - Grinning the whole time, Zack Greinke slipped into his Astros warmup jacket, joked with Freddie Freeman and got a friendly pat from the Atlanta star first baseman. Who doesn’t like to see a pitcher get a hit? Enjoy those fun moments while you can, fans. Because after Game 5 of the World Series, they could become almost extinct. There’s a good chance Major League Baseball will bring the designated hitter to the National League next year — likely forever. That means Sunday night’s game at Truist Park might mark the final time a pitcher ever appears in a big league batting order.

[The Spun] MLB World Pays Tribute To Legendary Announcer Jerry Remy - The baseball world suffered a devastating loss on Saturday. Jerry Remy, a Boston Red Sox broadcaster and former second baseman, passed away at the age of 68. Remy, who had called games for the AL East club for over three decades, was in the midst of a battle with lung cancer. He stepped away from the broadcast booth earlier this year to face a form of cancer for the seventh time.

[CNN Business] Minnesota man charged in hacking MLB and for trying to extort the league - A Minnesota man has been charged with hacking into computer systems used by Major League Baseball and trying to extort the league for $150,000, the US Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York said Thursday. In emails with an MLB executive, Joshua Streit, 30, threatened to publicize the vulnerability that he used to access the league’s website for streaming live games before asking for $150,000 for finding the technology flaw, according to charging documents. Streit allegedly renewed his extortion attempt in September, at a time of heightened scrutiny for the MLB as it was preparing for the playoffs.