The Morning Briefing: Move over wearables, a Smart Baseball is coming.

From Smart Baseballs, to Martian Luther King Jr. Day, here are the latest Washington Nationals and Major Leauge Baseball Headlines and more.

by Richard Wachtel

Updated January 18, 2021

Good Monday Morning, Washington Nationals Fans.

Thank you for starting the week with us.

Today's Morning Briefing is brought to you by The Nats Report. Please take a minute to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for the latest news and headlines about the Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball.

Today's top story: Move over wearables, a Smart baseball is coming.

Yesterday, Richard wrote about a technology company that is developing a Smart baseball. From the article: "A Smart Baseball might become the latest tool in a teams toolbox to help better understand and help pitchers attain optimal training results. The Strike smart baseball developed by Jingletek, is going to help make that all possible." [Click here to read the full article]

Happy Martin Luther King Jr Day. Today we celebrate a true leader and visionary: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Did you know that two years after Dr. King's death, Major League baseball heald an All-Star Game was held in his honor? The game was called "East-West Major League Baseball Classic" -- an homage to the old East-West All-Star Games held in the Negro Leagues. According to reports, more than 30,000 fans attended the game, with Joe DiMaggio managing the East team and Roy Campanella managing the West.

Emmett Ashford, the first African-American umpire in Baseball, worked behind the plate. Coretta Scott King, MLK's widow, threw out the first pitch.

On the Nats Report, we have some great content for you to listen to and read today. First, listen to Richard's interview with the President of the Negro League Baseball Hall of Fame Bob Kendrick, and then read Richard's Special Report on The Homestead Grays and Its Impact on Washington D.C.

[Interested in learning more about the connection King had with Baseball? Here is a great article that we found.]

In Case You Missed It. Friday was a hectic day in Baseball and with the Washington Nationals. From signing 10 International League Baseball Players to avoiding salary Arbitration with Juan Soto, Trea Turner, and Josh Bell, the Nationals were extremely busy. Get caught up with the latest by clicking here to find out about the Arbitration details and click here to learn more about 16 year old shortstop Armando Cruz.

The 2019 Washington Nationals are in the rearview mirror. If you needed any more indication that the Washington Nationals have moved on from players from the 2019 World Series team, yesterday signings closed the book. From Howie Kendrick retiring, Adam Eaton signing with the Chicago White Sox, and now, catcher Kurt Suzuki has inked a one-year, $1.5M contract with the Los Angeles Angels. Additionally, according to Robert Murray of FanSided, former Washington Nationals infielder Wilmer Difo signed a minor league deal worth $1MM with incentives should Difo make the Major League roster with the Pittsburg Pirates. Difo had spent the past decade-plus in the Nationals' system, with Washington initially adding him as an international amateur. He has picked up big league playing time in each of the past six years, with the bulk of that work coming from 2017-18.

Are you on Twitter? Looking for some great Washington Nationals Twitter handles to follow besides us? Well, we have a full list of Twitter handles that you can follow. One handle that we want to point out is our friend TalkNats2. They are an excellent resource for all things Washington Nationals and must follow handles for Nationals baseball. So follow them today and tell them that The Nats Report sent you!

and finally....

Podcast Alert: It's going to be a busy week, "In the Clubhouse." Up now is an interview Richard did with Mike Carozza, President of What the Pros Wear, where they discussed how technology had improved the baseball glove over time. It's a great interview and worth the listen. The podcast is on all your favorite podcasting platforms.

Apple

Spotify

Sticher

In addition to this episode, this week we will be publishing two, yes, two additional episodes. One with Chris Russell, AKA The Rooster from 106.7 The Fan, and Al Galdi host of The Al Galdi Show on the Team 980 and covers the Nationals. Make sure that you subscribe to the podcast to get notified when those episodes drop.