:rolleyes:
Jose Altuve for AL MVP?
If Houston doesn’t make the playoffs it would be really hard to justify Altuve over Trout.
Three weeks ago Altuve looked good, but he has hit poorly in September.
52 years ago today, the Phillies were feeling the same. Compared to 1964, Dave Roberts could have a better finish to his season.
The Giants are just trying to ensure that the Dodgers don’t have a chance to clinch at AT&T park again this season.
Yeah, though he did manage hit 200 today. If he can manage 6 more RBI this season (pretty reasonable chance) he’ll have an absurd collection of big round numbers for the year (200 hits, 100 runs, 100 rbi, 20 or 25 home runs, 25 or 30 stolen bases).
Very interesting feature article on Theo Epstein in ESPN The Magazine today. Well worth the read if you have time. He comes off as incredibly intense to the point of being slightly manic-depressive and a bit obnoxious, but a fascinating guy. And the writer managed to get through the whole piece without writing “Larry Lucchino” once, though his presence was there between the lines.
Weird play in tonight’s Houston/Oakland game. Houston had a runner on first base. The batter popped up towards first, and Oakland’s first baseman let the ball drop, he then picked it up and charged for the runner, who slid face first across the bag and was called safe. But the runner hadn’t left the bag. The A’s challenged the call, and in the meantime while they were arguing that the batter had actually been tagged out, the original runner at first stepped off the bag, and the first baseman tagged him. Double play, right? After review, though, the umpires ruled that the batter had, indeed, been tagged out, but because the runner was acting on the incorrect call, even though he was tagged out, he was allowed to stay on the bag.
Apparently Cueto didn’t get the memo.
He tried, though. As soon as he noticed he was ‘messing up’, he pulled a groin muscle…and for good measure he got Brandon Crawford to dislocate his pinkie.
Unfortunately, the bullpen continued its trend of being completely useless, and threw 3.2 innings of shutout ball to save the game.
Kluber, Verlander and Tanaka have a case, but Porcello has been rock solid down the stretch. A year ago I was saying he proved me right because I hated the signing. Now I guess he’s proving me wrong. 11 straight starts with no more than 3 earned runs. The last time he gave up 5 earned was June 2.
Among the select company of great (but little-known) pitchers, we should pay homage to Phenomenal Smith of the Baltimore Orioles.
In 1887 he won 25 games for the third-place club.*
*he also lost 30. 
Well, Cy Young has the most wins in baseball history, but he also has the most losses.
Good article, thanks for the link.
Wright Thompson. Thanks for the link to the article containing “explicit language”, for those of us who don’t want just another mealy-mouthed monograph. Theo Epstein, “a kind of championship whisperer”, has had his actions speak louder than words.
For those who also appreciate more mellifluous messengers, Sports Reference now has Jonah Gardner’s article, “A Statistical Trip Thru Vin Scully’s Extraordinary Career”, here.
So, remaining schedules in the AL wild card race, in descending order of difficulty:
Toronto (4 NYY, 3 BAL, 3 BOS)
New York (1 TAM, 4 TOR, 3 BAL, 3 BOS)
Baltimore (1 BOS, 3 ARI, 3 TOR, 3 NYY)
Detroit (1 MIN, 3 KC, 4 CLE, 3 ATL)
Houston (4 LAAOACPE*, 3 SEA, 3 LAAOACPE)
Seattle (3 MIN, 3 HOU, 4 OAK)
- Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, California, Planet Earth
Speaking of ESPN, Jayson Stark has (as I learned from Dodger broadcaster Charley Steiner) an article about Vin Scully including recollections from Vin’s colleagues. See here. fun memories. (Also see here for a Scully lexicon.)
Vin has the easy-going knack of casually weaving fascinating trivia into his broadcast of a game. For example, during the bottom of the third of September 21st’s Giants-Dodgers game at Dodger Stadium…
Later, with the end-of-inning wrap-up after the Dodgers had scored two more runs, Vin concluded
Toronto used nine relief pitchers, including their worst starter, in a 12-inning game in which they gave up only two runs. Four of them. prior to Dickey, were used to get just one out, two to get two outs. This is a team that has to play again today.
I was fit to be tied. It’s extra innings, you bring in Danny Barnes, he gets a guy out and… boom, he’s gone for Aaron Loup, a terrible pitcher. (Loup, of course, walked two of three men he faced.) It’s EXTRA INNINGS. You don’t know how long the game will go. Maybe try to get an inning or two out of these guys so you don’t end up bringing in the broken down knuckleballer?
ETA: I misread the schedule, Toronto does not play today.
The Red Sox are lucky, and I guess luck favors the prepared. But things are really going their way right now. Let’s lock up the AL East and start getting lined up for the post season.