"Sometimes you have to tell people things you're doing so that you can inspire others to do other things also," Wainwright said. "So it's not why we do it, to achieve any kind of award or trophy, but it is certainly nice to be recognized for it."

The phone rang. But it wasn’t Cooperstown on the other end. It was his son, Richard. Allen had once again fallen short, this time by a heartbreakingly close margin: He needed 12 votes from the 16-person committee. He received 11.Cincinnati Reds Face Masks

Thankfully, my friend Max is a schoolteacher in South Florida, and he said he'd be happy to hustle over to the police department and request the documents. A few hours and 17 cellphone pics later, we had the full file -- and a story about Chapman allegedly firing a gun indoors that scuttled the Reds' trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers, which wound up landing him with the Yankees, and eventually led to the first suspension under MLB's new domestic violence policy.Colorado Rockies Face Masks

Shoulder's OK! Belli goes deep in Game 1

Bellinger entered the game 5-for-44 (.114) in 12 career World Series games. The blast marked his second World Series big fly and was his fourth homer of this postseason, tying him for the third-most homers by a Dodgers player in a single postseason, behind teammate and NLCS MVP Corey Seager in 2020 (six) and Davey Lopes in 1978 (five).

Including his NLCS-clinching homer in Game 7 on Sunday, the 25-year-old has gone deep in successive games. Bill Madlock is the only player in Dodgers history to homer in three straight playoff games, having done so in the 1985 NLCS.

"It was one of those where it's the first time I challenged it, and I closed to the wall, I dropped it, and then my shoulder hit the wall,” Bellinger said. “And then, I was, 'OK. I'm fine.' Mookie and [Chris Taylor] are like, 'All right, listen. Now you know. You're going to come up with a catch later in the game.’

Still not feeling good enough to take his chances with another elbow bump, though. The foot tap is funnier, anyway.

“I think I'll continue to do that,” Bellinger said. “Maybe my whole career -- who knows?”MLB Face Masks

You can actually see this failure in two stages. In the first stage -- the pre-rebuild stage -- the Phillies had a weak farm system and nearly every player at the top of their system failed. Consider, for example, their prospects in 2013, when they were widely recognized to have one of the worst systems in baseball.

Bradford Doolittle: The San Francisco Giants' signing of Barry Bonds during the 1992 winter meetings was seismic. It's not every day a franchise acquires a best-in-the-game player in the prime of his career. Love Bonds or hate Bonds, it was a watershed move in baseball annals.

Instead of crowding into the lobby of the Omni Dallas Hotel and the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, where the 2020 winter meetings were scheduled to be held this week, the gatherings will be held virtually. That leaves our collection of baseball reporters to recall winter meetings past, including their favorite blockbuster deals and rumors, moments they'll never forget, what they'll miss (and what they won't) with the meetings being held through computer screens and their favorite untold tales from the lobby.Cleveland Indians Face Masks