What’s Happening in Baseball Today

The First Pitch: May 15, 2026

Under the file of “stop us if you’ve heard this one before,” the Tampa Bay Rays along with local area politicians announce a $2.3 billion Memorandum of Understanding to build a new ballpark in Tampa, walking distance from Steinbrenner Field (the Yankees’ spring home and temporary Rays ballpark from last season), and Raymond James Stadium, home of the NFL’s Buccaneers. The budgeted cost will include $967 million in tax dollars to be accessed from both the City of Tampa and Hillsborough County; both entities are scheduled to vote on the MOU next week. 

Are the Mets finally snapping out of it? At New York against the Tigers, the Mets crank out five home runs—one short of their all-time high at Citi Field—including the first from A.J. Ewing, who impressed in his first major league series. The three-game sweep of Detroit is the first by the Mets since last August; in between those two sweeps, New York was 26-43.

Congrats, Your Box Score Line Was the Best (Hitters Edition)

5-2-3-6—JJ Bleday, Cincinnati                                 
A career .215 hitter picked up by the Reds during the offseason, Bleday was cranking it at the Triple-A level to start the season. Okay, thought the Reds, maybe he can do a little something for us up here in Cincinnati. Talk about exceeding expectations; in the Reds’ 15-1 mashing of the visiting Nationals, the 28-year-old outfielder enjoyed his third career multi-homer game and second with six RBIs—the other also coming against Washington, last August while employed by the A’s. This particular performance was not a one-off; since joining the parent club less than three weeks ago, Bleday is batting .321 with six homers, 18 RBIs and more walks (13) than strikeouts (10).

Congrats, Your Box Score Line Was the Best (Pitchers Edition)

7-4-0-0-1-5—Zebby Matthews, Minnesota                                   
Like Bleday, the 25-year-old Matthews also began the season being sent down to the minors after failing to impress enough in camp. In fact, Matthews was brought up by the Twins to give the rest of the rotation a breather, an indication that his presence in Minnesota would amount to no more than a cameo. But his sterling start in a 9-1 win against the visiting Marlins now has the Twins’ front office scratching their heads on whether he should have his stay extended. It’s the third time in 26 career starts that Matthews has thrown seven innings—but the first of those in which he didn’t allow a run.

It Was Whatever-Something Years Ago Today

1918: In the first Sunday game ever allowed to be played in Washington, Senators ace Walter Johnson gives the fans a doubleheader’s worth of pitching excellence. The Big Train pitches an 18-inning shutout to give the Senators a 1-0 victory over the White Sox. It is the longest shutout ever thrown in the AL; Carl Hubbell will match Johnson for the NL in 1933. Opposing starter Lefty Williams goes the distance as well, allowing the game’s only run on a wild pitch. 

1981: Indians pitcher Len Barker fires baseball’s first perfect game since 1968 when he retires all 27 Toronto Blue Jays he faces at Cleveland. Barker strikes out 11 and throws 103 pitches in a 3-0 win; it’s the last no-hitter thrown by a Cleveland pitcher to date. 

2003: The Red Sox defeat the Rangers, 12-3, before a sellout crowd at Boston’s Fenway Park; it’s the first of 827 consecutive home games in which no seat is left unsold, a North American pro sports record.

You Say It’s Your Birthday

Happy birthday to:

Michael Brantley (39), superior, underrated contact hitter who batted a career .298; member of five All-Star teams; three times hit 40 or more doubles 

2010s slugger Brian Dozier (39), 2015 All-Star and 2017 Gold Glove recipient at second base; topped out at 42 home runs in 2016 

Canadian-born first baseman Justin Morneau (45), four-time All-Star, 2006 AL MVP and 2014 NL batting champ with Colorado 

Pitcher Josh Beckett (46), owner of 138-106 record split between Marlins, Red Sox and Dodgers; owner of two World Series rings and three postseason shutouts; threw no-hitter in his final season (2014) 

Hall-of-Fame pitcher John Smoltz (59), eight-time All-Star; two-time league leader in wins; briefly converted to closer, saving 144 games over three-year stretch; current national TV analyst 

George Brett (73), Hall-of-Fame infielder who secured 3,154 hits, 13 All-Star roster spots, three batting titles (each in a different decade) and flirted with .400 average in winning 1980 World Series with the Royals 

Speedy outfielder Bill North (78), two-time league leader in steals and member of two championship teams in Oakland 

Born on this date:

Tip O’Neill (1860), not to be confused with 1980s Speaker of the House; had arguably the greatest season by a player during the 1800s by batting .435 with 52 doubles, 19 triples, 14 home runs and 123 RBIs for 1887 St. Louis Brown Stockings 

Fred Goldsmith (1856), posted 112-68 record over six seasons; four straight years winning at least 20 games

Shameless Link of the Day

The Braves are the first team to reach 30 wins this season. Are they truly back? Here’s a look at their last world title, not very long ago.

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.

Also, we have had many folks chime in on our various lists in the Lists and Teams sections, many of them disagreeing with some of our choices. Since all lists are made to be argued, this is to be expected. If your arguments are respectful, we will respond in kind and join in a civilized debate—and we’ll often see your viewpoints, since no list should qualify as The Gospel. But if your responses contain the sort of vitriol found so often these days in social media circles, you’re going to get ignored. So please, respond respectfully, engage in polite conversation with us, and enjoy the site!