The outcome was merely a formality. The two best teams, by far, in the American League are going to meet in an epic Championship Series. It just took Houston longer than expected to dispose of Tampa Bay. New York had the equivalent of a first-round bye. It played Minnesota. So […]
The best thing about baseball is its capacity for redemption. In Game 1 of the Nationals-Dodgers series, Howard Kendrick made a critical error in the fifth inning to allow the Dodgers second run to score. It was his second error of the game. The Nationals lost 6-0. The Nationals moved […]
Never mind launch angles. And spin rates. And shifts. Last night, baseball fans witnessed something that has not been talked about in baseball for a long, long time. Fundamentals. Lost in the three-outcome de-evolution of the game has been any mention or even concern with fundamentals. Honestly, when was the […]
This season Minnesota set a major league record with 309 home runs this season. It came out of nowhere to surprise Cleveland and win the A.L Central, which, until this year, had been a one-team division. It won 101 games. It bowed out of the playoffs yesterday. This season Minnesoty […]
Another four playoff games today. With the very real chance of four Champaign-soaked celebrations, all in visitor’s clubhouses. It’s hard to see anybody beating the Astros or Yankees this year. They are just way too tough. Which makes these first rounds just the unwanted entrée to the main course. They […]
Before the Division Series began, the Twins front office printed up t-shirts with the slogan, “Slay The Dragon.” It was a reference to their not being able to get past the Yankees in the playoffs, having lost six consecutive playoff series to New York. Talk is cheap. But not as […]
Twins fans, we feel your pain. For years, the Texas Rangers ran up against the New York Yankees in the playoffs. And they went home empty. In the Division Series in 1996, the Rangers won the first game, then proceeded to drop the next three. In 1998, the Yankees swept […]
Other than opening day, today is the best baseball day of the season. Four playoff games in one day. For baseball fans, it’s like Christmas in October. Maybe one day one of those playoff teams could be the Texas Rangers. In the Jon Daniels regime, this is now the second […]
Beware of September results. On the surface, it looked like Oakland was running out a dominating starter last night against Tampa Bay. Sean Manaea came into last night’s wild card game with a sparkling 4-0 record and an ERA of 1.21, having made just five last-season starts after missing the […]
What do you do when you’ve ignored starting pitching in the off-season and suddenly find yourself in a wild card game? You start totting out your bullpen. And what do you do when you’ve been deploying this same move all season long and your bullpen arms are dead tired? You […]
