Petriello: Bregman’s split-second call preserves shutout

With apologies to Judge, this is the defensive play everyone not named Sterling and Suzyn will remember.

...Given the risk involved, and the fact that Bregman was already facing home plate and would have needed to turn his body to throw back to second, he made the right decision.

That’s in part because of past experience. Speaking to FS1’s postgame show, Bregman referenced a similar opportunity against the Angels on Sept. 24, except that time, he did try for two. It didn’t go well, as he got ...

Astros’ Justin Verlander named ALCS MVP after two dominant starts vs. Yankees

The Astros are the American League pennant winner, thanks in part to a 4-0 (box score) Game 7 ALCS win over the Yankees on Saturday night. Among the post-game housekeeping items is naming an MVP and MLB has done so, with starting pitcher Justin Verlander taking the honors.

In two starts in the series, Verlander was 2-0 with a 0.56 ERA, 0.75 WHIP and 21 strikeouts in 16 innings.

ALCS Game 7 OMNICHATTER, for October 21, 2017

GAME SEVEN!

Cubs Fire Bosio

@BNightengale

The #Cubs have fired respected pitching coach Chris Bosio, and now could reach out to Jim Hickey,who’s a top candidate for #STLCards opening

I don’t know if firing a pitching coach is worth a posting here, but Bosio seems to get credit for Arrieta and Hendricks. Those are some pretty big feathers in his cap.

Astros beat Yankees to force Game 7 in ALCS | MLB.com

The Verlander trade has worked out well for the Astros.

Angell: Bringing the Yankees Home?

Wednesday’s game, at the Stadium, allowed me to continue work on my monograph about Keuchel’s whiskers. Mr. Weirdbeard shows a dense mid-chest curtain of hair depending from spaghetti-strap sideburns that might actually hook over his ears. Further observations offer a different possibility. His long, pale neck is smooth-shaven and stretches up to a high haircut trim close to his cap. The effect, seen from a slight angle astern, suggests a silken Dolce & Gabbana evening bag or, more likely, ...

OT: Winter Soccer Thread

November 4 Borussia Dortmund v. Bayern Munich
November 5 Chelsea v. ManU
November 9 & 12 - Northern Ireland v. Switzerland/Croatia v. Greece
November 10 &  13 - Sweden v. Italy
November 11 & 14 - Denmark v. Ireland
November 10 & 15 - Honduras v. Australia
November 11 & 15 - New Zealand v. Peru
November 14 - Portugal v. USA (friendly #&!^#&)
December 1 - Napoli v. Juventus
December 10 - ManU v. ManCity
December 11 - Champions League Round of 16 draw
December 20 - Real Madrid v. Barcelona (how ...

Theo Epstein: Joe Maddon has taken enough heat, don’t blame NLCS on Cubs manager | NBC Sports Chicago

“It’s not manager against manager,” Epstein said. “That stuff just gets under the microscope so much this time of year. It’s players performing. And when you get a lead in the series – and when you’ve got a bunch of relievers throwing well – you can make tactically aggressive decisions. Your strategies tend to work.

“When you’re in a tough spot late in the game – and you’re searching for consistency in the ‘pen – it just puts all managers in tough spots.”

ALCS Game 6 OMNICHATTER, for October 20, 2017

Yankees lead the Astros, 3-2.

Dusty Baker Will Not Be Back as Manager

The Nationals on Friday announced that Dusty Baker would not return as the team’s manager in 2018. Baker this past season led the Nationals to 97 wins a second-straight NL East title. However, the team once again failed to advance past the division series in the playoffs. In two seasons on the job in Washington, the Nationals on Baker’s watch posted a winning percentage of .593.
Baker’s now managed for 22 seasons, and over that span his teams have gone 1,863-1,636. Those 1,863 wins rank 14th ...

Dodgers crush Cubs in Game 5 to advance to the World Series for first time since 1988 - LA Times

I’m not a fan of the Dodgers but I am a fan of the best teams getting to the World Series. The Dodgers were clearly the best team in the NL.

“I’ve always felt like part of the job for the front office of this organization was being the caretaker of the greatest pitcher of this generation,” Zaidi said. “I really believe that’s what he is. Sometimes we all forget he’s 29 years old, because he’s been around for so long, and carried such a burden for this franchise for so long. To be ...

Astros have plans for Ric Flair if Yankees series goes to Game 7 - Houston Chronicle

The Astros-Yankees American League Championship Series gets to a Game 7, the Astros will have pro wrestling superstar Ric Flair call out “Play Ball!” before the game in a video message.
Astros right fielder Josh Reddick is a huge wrestling fan and uses Flair’s entrance music every time he steps to the plate at Minute Maid Park. Fans also have adopted the wrestler’s “Woo!” yell throughout the season.

Severino, Verlander ready for G6 in Houston | MLB.com

Must watch. Hopefully I can stay awake for the whole thing.

Baseball News, Scores, Analysis, Schedules

But there is a corollary consideration to such status: the game’s talent is being consolidated increasingly in the teams that are in their championship windows. The distinction between have- and have-not status seems more extreme than it has in some time – at least since the start of this decade, and perhaps beyond – with teams appearing increasingly willing to define themselves in one of those two camps. Zach Kram of The Ringer explored the phenomenon earlier in the month.

Heyman | Tigers To Hire Ron Gardenhire

The Detroit Tigers have agreed to hire Ron Gardenhire to fill their vacant manager position, a source tells FanRag Sports. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic was the first to report the news.

Must C: Hernandez’s trio of HRs | MLB.com

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 10-20-2017

Richmond [Indiana] Palladium, October 20, 1917:

Byron Bancroft Johnson, president of the American league, is preparing today to leave for Washington, D.C., where he will offer his services to the government in any capacity. Johnson will not express preference for any branch of the service, leaving that matter entirely to the government.

Because of the probability that Johnson will be in the service of the country within a short time, the annual American league meeting scheduled for December in ...

Dodgers crush Cubs in Game 5 to advance to the World Series for first time since 1988 | LA Times

On a night when a 28-season drought ended, Kershaw reaped the benefits of an offensive bounty. Enrique Hernandez supplied a trio of home runs, including a grand slam in the third inning that transformed Wrigley Field into a tomb and a two-run blast in the ninth that turned the Dodgers dugout into a mosh pit. The Dodgers led by seven runs after three innings and by nine midway through four. Kershaw responded to the largess with six innings of one-run baseball. He will be ready to start Game 1 of ...

NLCS Game 5 OMNICHATTER, for October 19, 2017

Dodgers lead the Cubs, 3-1.

TBO: Trop Flop Brings Hillsborough Hunt

The devil is always lost in the details.

But broadening the hunt at this point — 22 months after St. Petersburg allowed the Rays to search for a new home away from Tropicana Field — can only be seen as a step backward for an effort many hoped would have been wrapped up by now.

Hagan once expressed optimism he could announce Tampa’s preferred stadium location at the start of 2017. Now it’s unclear if anything will be formalized by the end of this year.

The window for the Rays search ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 10-19-2017

New York Sun, October 19, 1917:

That Urban Faber, who pitched the White Sox to victory over the Giants in the deciding game of the world’s series at New York on Monday, collapsed in the clubhouse immediately after the contest was the statement made by Mel Wolfgang, one of the Chicago pitchers, [yesterday].
...
“Faber, who pitched that last game for us, walked off the field as cool and composed as though he were going to church, but just as soon as he got in the clubhouse he collapsed. His jaw ...

Yankees Thumbs Down Guy is now getting his own bobblehead

Of course he’s a Mets fan.

Deadspin: Please Enjoy(?) 21 Years Of Joe Buck Hyping Forgotten Fox Shows

Matthew Callan deserves hazard pay for compiling this video of the last 21 seasons of Joe Buck doing postseason promo reads for Fox’s fall lineups.

Yankees, Masahiro Tanaka take 3-2 ALCS lead | MLB.com

How quickly things can change in the playoffs.

Cubs hold off Dodgers in Game 4 of NLCS | MLB.com

These 9 PM East Coast starts are a killer. I fell asleep around the third inning. It looks like I missed a good game.

TV Simpsons documentary about ‘Homer at the Bat’ episode to air Sunday

Twenty-five years ago, with the sum of one million dollars on the line, Mr. Burns ordered Smithers to assemble the greatest softball team ever seen so he could beat a rival nuclear power plant’s squad. (“Scour the professional ranks! The American League, the National League, the Negro League!”) Enter: Ken Griffey, Jr., Roger Clemens, Wade Boggs, Don Mattingly, and other MLB studs, though it would be Homer’s head that proved to be the championship game’s MVP. Today, season 3’s ...

How the mob, politics, a burlesque dancer and The Babe shaped the ‘32 World Series

There’s a story here. This building used to be the Sheffield House Hotel, and before that it was the Hotel Carlos, as the baroque carvings on the entryway still announce. All of that, though, was before a reported 53 code violations ended the building’s days as a single-room occupancy hotel. It’s now luxury condos.
Back in the 1930s, the Hotel Carlos was a popular choice for Cubs players seeking a place to live during the season. Shortstop Billy Jurges, who toiled for the Cubs from 1931 through ...

Angell: Yanks Get Even

C. C. will become a free agent this year, and it’s not a certainty that the Yankees will come through with an expensive new contract. He’s a different pitcher these days from what he was when he arrived, in 2009, as a high-strikeout star from the Brewers, and now thrives on angles and corners and a commanding elder presence. He went 14–5 in the regular season, but, like others, I most want to hold onto the look of him out there: the tent-like uni top, the billowing pajama pants. His cap ...

The story behind Los Angeles Dodgers utility man Chris Taylor’s unbelievable season

Adding to the mystery, I’d been told that spectral forces outside the big league ecosystem are responsible for transforming Taylor, 27, from a 4A—too good for Triple-A, not good enough for the majors—player with the Mariners into a revelation. It’s a little dicey; big league coaches are proprietary and for the most part conventional. There’s an ongoing jiu-jitsu between them and the growing number of individual gurus whose teachings often begin on the margins and stray from there.

My search ...

ALCS Notebook: Cashman on Yankee Analytics, Luhnow on Hiring Hinch | FanGraphs Baseball

He might actually be the perfect fit in Boston after all.

On Monday, Hinch called Alex Cora (a former infielder) “the hottest managerial candidate on the planet and deservedly so.” Shortly before he shared that hard-to-argue-with opinion, Carlos Beltran weighed in on the Astros’ bench coach:

“Alex brings a lot to the table. He’s a guy that always is looking for information that he could use against the opposite team [and] he provides that information to the players. He has good ...