Before we start, let’s just realize how much the hurricane in Florida this week puts baseball into perspective. Just looking at the devastation to Tropicana Field shows how much damage was done. If you can send a few buck to the Red Cross to help out Helene and Milton victims, please do.
On to our usual programming….
This week was great for us die hard baseball fans. Games on day and night with most of them very exciting.
The New York Mets were the first team to punch a ticket to the next round, defeating NL East rival Philadelphia three games to one. Seemingly every game New York has played going back to the double header in Atlanta has been full of late inning magic and the clincher against Philly was no different.
On baseball’s biggest stage, one of baseball’s biggest stars had a career defining moment. Francisco Lindo cracked a grand slam off form Angel Carlos Esteves to essentially seal the deal for the Mets.
Of course, most of our eyes have been on the all SoCal series between the Dodgers and the Padres. This series has had two incredibly tight, dramatic games and two beat downs. Now we head to game 5 tonight.
A big story was Dodgers fans being Dodgers fans. Another was Dave Roberts thinking he was targeted by a ball. With his usual spunk, Jomboy broke it all down.
Ultimately that game ended and the series moved to San Diego tied at 1 game each. With such a short distance, many players and fans simply drove.
I kid, I kid. Most of my family and friends are Dodgers fans and only a few were on that bus.
Meanwhile the series getting little to no media attention might is taking place in the Rust Belt. As I type this, the Detroit Tigers are one win away from going to the ALCS. I wish I had $100 on my typing that sentence back in July.
I think real fans have known about Tarik Skubal this season. But he’s really gotten a chance to shine down the stretch and in October. On Monday he was simply dominant.
As most of you know, I’m a HUGE fan of defense. To the point I easily rate Willie Mays as my GOAT. There’s been too much leather flashed between Detroit and Cleveland to link it all, but this play by Steven Kwan absolutely has to be posted.
Tight, low scoring games. Threats wiped away by double plays and web gems. This series has eaten a chunk into my workday production this week.
Renewing an 80s rivalry are the MFY and the KC Royals. I love Salvador Perez. Franchise icon, post season performer, once caught all 162 games in a season despite playing in the heat and humidity of the Midwest. I’d put him into the HOF. So I was happy to see him have more signature moments.
I have a childhood friend who went to the University of Kansas and never moved back. He’s been in the KC metro area for about 30 years now and is an avid sports fan. We’ve been texting over this series and he told me Salvy is probably the third most popular athlete in the area behind Mahomes and possibly Kelce, and could be the second most popular. The fans definitely showed that.
Just imagine the heroes welcome we’d give Mike Trout after a decade or more out of the playoffs. I sincerely we get that chance.
Meanwhile for us non-playoff teams:
The Angels have 8 prospects playing in the Arizona Fall League, which kicked off this week.
I enjoyed watching Cole Fontenelle play at TCU and was happy when the Angels landed him in the 2023 draft. He’s probably the most likely in house solution to the Anthony Rendon albatross and is playing in the AFL after suffering a brutal injury in AA this season.
I’m sure it will take him a while to find his timing at the plate, but this is a kid who slashed .352/.473/.640 in a very tough Big 12 conference at the age of 21 while playing a decent hot corner. Turk’s Teeth is a better prospect hound than I am, but the kid looked good to me in the dozen or so games I saw him.
Red Sox and Cuban legend Luis Tiant went to the great big ballpark in the sky at age 83 and that link is a really good tribute to the man and player.
Oh to be a Minnessota Twins fan. The Pohlad family, who has run a far better franchise than Arte Moreno, is exploring a sale of the team. On the heels of their regional sports network collapsing, this is a tough time to sell.
Bored….. brains….
The Tigers are out. I am sad. I still love that team though. And it’s because of what some folks were complaining about in the play offs…. the few folks actually watching two central teams. You almost never knew exactly who was starting.
Why? For two months they actually did what I dream of. Basically only allowing starting pitchers to be a classic starter if it works really well. IE Skubal and Montero.
Since August 1st, when they were 7 games back and sellers at the deadline, they have averaged, even with Cy Young caliber starts every 5 games, less than 4 innings a start. I think that’s awesome. NINE different pitchers started for the Tigers since then, some with as many as 9 starts, most with around 3.
Maeda, Sammons and Hurder became “followers who pitched bulk innings after an “opener” and all became basically “aces” in bulk inning long relief. Maeda is a great example, dropped his WHIP by .51 after going to bulk relief after an opener. Ty Maddon also did great never seeing a line ups sluggers twice. They had almost a dozen pitchers who suddenly had high strike out rates and very low WHIPs since August and none of them were names you’d know.
Why is this a good plan long term?
Pitchers, all pitchers from best to worst, see an almost 1/2 run diff in ERA from 1st time through the order to third. Strike out rate drops from almost 24% to 19.5% in that same span. Hitters, all hitters, show it even more starkly. 1st time through the order MLB OPS is .696 this year. Second time, .729. Third time it’s .763. So the average MLB line up as a whole goes from being Kevin Pillar to being Zach Neto over that span.
Pitchers are tired less often. Hitters have seen their stuff less and are easier to fool. The manager gets to pick the lead off match up both at the start of games and the start of several innings throughout a three game series. Two pitch pitchers with only two really good pitches are far more effective. They are also more common and develop fast. Lefty righty match ups matter less. Serious arm injuries are less crippling to a roster. Your AAA pitching staff becomes an asset as pitchers can be shuttled up when needed to replace injured or failing arms with a “new look” that is also easily replaced. Plus, you don’t end up with a 30M dollar a year starter out for the season gumming up your works as often.
The Rays, Braves, Brewers and Guardians have all has similar but less glaringly different pitcher use since about 2020. I think The Platypus’s love of bullpen arms leans this way. I also think it’s prudent for us Angels fans to learn to love this since Arte obviously hates gambling on paying starters and I honestly can’t blame him. But if you can let go of your romantic connection to Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, which you have to do anyway because there aren’t any 300 inning starters anymore, you can see how this can really work for us.
Take Sam Bachman. He is exactly who can develop into a 7-9 out pitcher. We have a lot of guys like that in the system. It’s also easier to sign and develop these guys as MLB players. THIS means we may not need to wait 4 years for the team to develop some quality starters or waste 70M on 30 year old semi-aces that will break down half the years they are under contract. THIS means you can sign position players as needed more often with your 180M payroll.
THIS will make doing IIWPMs hard. But I am still all for it.
And no. Arte doesn’t need to go out and get an ace caliber pitcher.
2024 WSC over the Yankees NO LESS!!
Will be the second straight yr that a team that won by spending big and wheeling and dealing big {Braves in 21, Rangers in 23} MLB isn’t kind to small market America. Congrats once again to the 2015 KC Royals!!!
Do we get a game thread?
Looks like no.
My apologies.
Made rudimentary one while in vaccine detention
I don’t think one has to look too far in any of the major sports to find a club that is desperate for different owners. Heck, as much as I hate Arte, I can’t imagine being a fan of a team owned by chief d-bag John Fisher. So no, I don’t think the Angels have claim to the team most despised by God. I’m happy for the Twins!
But there’s one thing the Angels have that the Brewers, Twins, A’s, Pirates, etc. don’t. That’s the claim to the longest MLB active postseason drought. So would I like an owner to be a cheapskate, bilk the revenue sharing system, and use a pro team as his/her little NFT? No, of course not. But if you produce a team that can make it into the playoffs, where anything can happen, I’d much more willing to overlook some other questionable decisions.
Congrats, Twins, I hope your new owner is very rich and lavish (hopefully not from insider trading and cheating the US economy). I hope you can remember the FOUR times you made it to the post season since 2017. And btw, remember 2019 when you won 101 games? Sheesh.
Science says that there is no longer a cell in my body that witnessed an Angels playoff victory (15 years for skeletal muscles). I also barely have any hair from last month (or really at all) so no luck there for cells either.
TLDR; Lots of sports team owners suck. Arte Moreno may note be president of that club, but he’s definitely in the C-Suite.
I don’t buy the “you think it’s miserable to be an Angels fan?! Just look at the Twins, Rays, etc.”
Yes, they may have cheapskate owners, but their teams have tasted more success in the last 10 years compared to the Angels. Heck, I’d be happy with the Twins’ performance. Some really competitive years, some so-so, a 101-win season, etc.
The Rays? Always competitive despite the shitty stadium and below market budget. Can be depended on to compete for the division or the WC each year.
So just because the Twins owner made money from the revenue sharing or however else, and then now is saying “see ya later,” to the fans, doesn’t mean we Angels fans are in a better position. Despite the Twins owners running the team as a business, the team has had some great years along the way. That’s all I could ask for as a fan. Don’t care if Arte makes bajillions from his Angels billboard, TV deals, etc. I just want the Angels to be competitive each year and not be irrelevant by May.
Nothing hurts quite like my hurt hurts
Those teams are all small market teams in the worst sports league for these kind of teams {no salary cap and revenue sharing} there’s no damm excuse for a team in the nation’s second biggest TV market to have a 8 yr run of consecutive losing seasons.
Yup. That’s why the Angels at least have hope. If they can get their heads out of their ass and find some way to break their shitty ju ju curse they at least have the market/money to push for a trophy and maybe keep a good team together long term.
If the Brewers win a title the team will still get taken apart piece by piece pretty quick.
I hear Arte went to a payroll seminar, and is possibly planning to sign $1 billion worth of players in the off-season…. and defer payment until 2046. That should be interesting.
F the Doyers!
The problem with that is he would still be making all the decisions. I’m done with old people making decisions. Jerry Jones is 81 yrs old.
You are playing it up, but you’re right. If Arte’s learned anything in the last 15 years it is DO NOT try to spend a billion dollars to buy your way out of a hole. Even if it can be deferred. Jokes aside, I don’t think any team can handle the failure rate of big contract players, but especially us.
Yes, where’s V Stiviano when you need her {the woman who took down former Clipper’s owner Donald Sterling}?
Watching some Ohtani clips it appears he can say “let’s go!” and “f—-!” in English
RIP Luis Tiant. “El Tiante” was a larger than life character in the classic 1975 World Series which was during the formative years that I was falling deeply in love with baseball. He ended his career as an Angel in 1982.
It’s hard to imagine the chaos of living through a hurricane and returning to normal life afterward. Lt. Dan seems to be doing okay, but for those unfamiliar with his story, it’s worth a quick search. Maybe someone should start a GoFundMe to get him a new boat!
On a personal note, I can’t believe I promised my girlfriend I’d go ice skating tonight instead of watching the Padres game. Balancing the early stages of a relationship is tricky, but I guess love conquers all, right? I’m in my 50’s and have dated many, you’d think I’d know this by now.
I’ve become quite fond of the Mets, not just because they would give the MFY fans something to worry about. Does that make me a bad person? Or is it like rooting against the “Evil Empire” in Star Wars? I mean, were they really evil, or is it just written from the Rebels’ point of view? History is always written by the victors, and as someone who teaches history, however I’m siding with the Rebels for now—unless I see evidence to the contrary.
Switching gears, let’s talk baseball greatness. Willie Mays is the GOAT of position players in my eyes also, but there’s even a video out there that makes a case for Nolan Ryan as the greatest athlete of all time. While Trout isn’t the GOAT (Blasphemy!), he’s certainly the best of my lifetime. (O who?)
As for the playoff format, Grandpa Baseball has a good point about extending the division series to seven games. I wouldn’t mind shortening the regular season a bit to make it happen. And honestly, the idea of going back to just one wild card per league with all seven-game series has some appeal—there’s something special about the drama of a Game 7. I’d even be okay with eliminating interleague play altogether. The mystery of how teams from different leagues stack up against each other, like when the Reds swept the heavily favored A’s in 1990, is something I kind of miss.
As always, I love reading this site every day. Thanks.
What do you guys think? Should MLB shake things up with the postseason, or leave it as is?
If it was up to me, I’d have the team with the best record in each league duke it out like they did pre-division play. Got a tie record in the league, play a single elimination game for the right to go to the world series. But baseball makes more money with the expanded number of teams in the playoffs, so that won’t change. I just hope they don’t do like the NBA and play a season to eliminate only one third of the teams.
good call on the ice skating
i’d like to see just 4 teams from each league. 3 divisions winners and one WC.
i suppose it’d be ok to have more than 1 WC, but all those WCs would have to have 1-game playoffs against each other with just one surviving to play the division winners.
And i agree – Willie and Nolie – bestest ever.
I was following along and rooting for Lieutenant Dan, too…
Unfortunately, this surfaced, Lieutenant Dan, is not a good man.
https://x.com/ResisttheMS/status/1844474498365653360
After having a winning season after 162 games and winning your division just means you get to be like the majority of us watching the World Series at home, why not play 154 game season and lengthen the first two series out? It really is about getting hot in October and being the World Series winner, not the best teams facing each other. MLB playoffs are really very boring. The Mets could make the next Series vs the Padres. The best were the Dodgers and Phillies. There is really no difference in the leagues any longer. Schedule-the same, the Men in Blue-same idiots, ballparks the same, so really, it’s not National League vs American League as to it being more who is the hottest team in October. It should really be about the best and that would mean Yankees vs Dodgers, but that was 55 years ago and things do change.
I actually have grown to love the 3 games series as everything has higher stakes. If you want a longer playoff series, win more game and you get a break. Wild Cards and play in teams are playing with house money as it is since they would already be watching if things hadn’t been expanded.
I hate twelve teams. I wish there were only four. I also think teams should travel by train
or Stagecoach?
Also require them to wear freshly brushed suits on the train. Then pay them so little that they need to sell shoes in the offseason. Obviously require them to answer reporters questions with stuff like “gee that fella is a heck of a ball player and we all think he’s swell!”
Seriously, I remember Dave Stewart working in a hardware store during a player strike, maybe 1981
Yep
https://www.csmonitor.com/1981/0710/071036.html
Brutal injury to recover 100% from. I really hope Cole makes it all the way back.
For us hoping Arte sells – the Twinkies beat him to it. We won’t see two teams on the market at the same time. The next window for “Artexit” opens once the Twins situation is resolved.
Does that injury remind anyone else of Kendrys Morales? Brutal! I will certainly be pulling for the kid.
I was at Tropicana Field for a visit in 2000. Without question it is the most unusual MLB stadium I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen nineteen of them. From a distance the roof is at an angle. But the angle does not increase towards centerfield as you would expect. The angle increases towards first base. Obviously the roof is symmetrical inside…odd!
Maybe this will be the driver for the new stadium that the Rays have been asking for.
For all you down there that made it through Helena and Milton hang in there.
For those who didn’t may you rest in peace…we pray for your families.