Some 241 pitches were thrown in last night’s Game 2 of the National League Championship Series. Only one mattered. Only one out of 241 was anything anyone could do something with. In the top of the second inning, Cubs’ ace Kyle Hendricks, the NL ERA champ, put one lousy pitch […]
The two teams with the longest championship futility in baseball took one step to championship glory yesterday. The Cleveland Indians, fresh off winning the World Series in 1948, took a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven against Toronto, beating the Blue Jays 2-1. They won Game 2 pretty much the […]
So that’s how you beat the Toronto Blue Jays? With pitching. Who knew? What a novel concept. I hope the powers-that-be for the Texas Rangers were watching last night’s Game 1 of the American League Championship Series. It featured the team that has beaten theirs six consecutive times in the […]
Maybe the tide is turning. Maybe the concept is catching on. Major league baseball managers can be called a lot of things. Innovators is usually not one of them. There’s a book. They stick to it. By the letter. The only way they try something complete new and radically different is […]
Texas’s road to the World Series this year ended up dead ending in Toronto. The pieces were in place for a long run, it’s just the engine broke down before the car even got off the lot. Like buying an American car in the 80s. Now all that’s left to debate is, […]
Dominating pitcher who just struck out his ninth batter with ease. Check. Three-run lead in the top of the ninth. Check. Closer time. Check. By the book managing. Check. Loss. Check. It always amazes me when a manager pulls out his dominating starter in order to give the opposing […]
The thing about baseball is it’s honest. It doesn’t play politics. If you can do the job, you win. If you can’t, you don’t. Simple as that. There are no shortcuts to the top. No backstabbing to get ahead. No nepotism to get the corner office. Baseball doesn’t say, “Oh, […]
Thanks, Rangers. Thanks for the season. Thanks for all those come from behind wins. You have no idea how many times I drove home from the Ballpark full of adrenalin. The joy you brought your fans this season was incredible. Thanks for some great moments. Mazara throwing out Cano at […]
If this were a movie, it would be time for the rousing locker room speech. It would be time for the coach to challenge the team, tell them this is the opportunity for everyone in this locker room to show what they are really made of. The coach would dare them […]
These are the moments you build for. These are the reasons you sign them to those salaries. These are the reasons you trade for them. Sure, when you acquire a guy like Cole Hamels and you go out and pay for a guy like Yu Davish, you are doing it […]