Pedro Strop needed a day off and his manager was happy to oblige.
Strop did not pitch for the Chicago Cubs on Sunday against the St. Louis Cardinals, one day after helping Chicago get out of a ninth-inning jam to hold on to a 5-4 victory.
Cubs Manager Joe Maddon promised Strop that he'd give him "a day at the beach."
Strop couldn't actually go to the beach, but the Cubs set up a beach chair, an ice bucket full of beer bottles, a margarita and other beach items in front of Strop's locker.
"I wanted to really make it really emphatic that he was not playing," Maddon told reporters.
However, Maddon didn't contribute the beer to the beach party.
"I would have done the bloody mary if I had been given the opportunity," Maddon said. "I'm more of a bloody mary kind of guy, although that's definitely more of a margarita setting."
Entering Monday, Strop had made 72 appearances, second in the National League to St. Louis' Kevin Siegrist. Strop has a 2.95 earned-run average in 64 innings. Opponents are batting .169 against him this season.
Relax
The two-time defending NFC champion Seattle Seahawks are 0-2 after a 27-17 loss at Green Bay on Sunday night, but Dave Boling of the Tacoma (Wash.) News Tribune wrote that it's not time for the Seahawks or their fans to panic yet.
"Crawl off the ledge. Come on back. It's OK," Boling wrote.
"The Seattle Seahawks are 0-2, but it's a good 0-2. If there is such a thing.
"The problem at this point is that the Seahawks just aren't good enough to play so dumb.
"And that could haunt them later, when tiebreakers get calculated in January. Maybe that's premature talk.
"But maybe not, since we've been conditioned to the reality that the Seahawks have overcome worse. This grim start could be long forgotten if the Seahawks wise up and go on the kind of streaks they have in the past.
"They have the talent, but right now they don't have the discipline."
They said it
• Dwight Perry of The Seattle Times: "Caught smooching on the 'Kiss Cam' at Turner Field in Atlanta: former President Jimmy Carter, 90, and his wife Rosalynn. Though he insists he was just there to watch the Braves kiss their season goodbye."
• Bud Shaw of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, on the Cleveland Browns extending their opening-day losing streak to 11 years: "All records are made to be broken. Just not always in our lifetime."
• RJ Currie of SportsDeke.com, on reports that U.S. scientists designing an "invisibility cloak" that makes objects disappear: "Who have they been testing it on, the Nationals?"
'Honest' headlines
During the NFL season, the satirical sports website sportspickle.com runs a series called "Honest NFL headlines".
Here are some of the highlights:
• "Cowboys season ends even earlier than normal"
• "Sam Bradford defeats deer in headlights in staring competition"
• "Steelers run up score on beloved local plumber Jim Tomsula"
• "Jay Cutler injured on first career attempt at trying"
• "Is the Seattle Seahawks dynasty nearing an end?"
SPORTS QUIZ
What American League team did Joe Maddon manage to the World Series in 2008?
ANSWER
Tampa Bay Rays
Sports on 09/22/2015