G-Fafif

Cody Bellinger three-run homer to tie it at 5 in the 8th is a very Dodgers gonna Dodger moment.

Devin Mesoraco didn't want to be the fourth guy. https://metsmerizedonline.com/2021/10/mmo-exclusive-former-mets-catcher-devin-mesoraco.html/https://metsmerizedonline.com/2021/10/mmo-exclusive-former-mets-catcher-devin-mesoraco.html/

The Athletic says Billy Beane has ixnayed Metsian overtures. Joel Sherman says the Brewers ain't giving the Mets permission to pursue David Stearns.

Good Game Two, actually. A game between two teams I loathe, called by announcers I can't tolerate. Not really sure how that could be good. I'm pretty much checked out on the 2021 MLB season. A good game, pending one's tolerance for its principals. Can't tolerate Ron Darling? (This isn't the Joe Buck series.) https://pressroom.warnermedia.com/us/media-release/turner-sports/tbs-be-exclusive-home-2021-national-league-championship-series-presented-loandepothttps://pressroom.warnermedia.com/us/media-release/turner-sports/tbs-be-exclusive-home-2021-national-league-championship-series-presented-loandepot

Wonderful exploration by Joe Capozzi of a photograph that captured the capturing of a World Series 50 years ago, featuring Steve Blass, Manny Sanguillen and Rusty Kennedy. IT UNFOLDED IN the blink of a photographer's eye. Catcher Manny Sanguillen running for joy, raising his glove and mask in glory. Suddenly, into the frame came pitcher Steve Blass, knees rising to his chest, arms reaching for the sky. Watching through a 600mm lens, 400 feet away on a platform riser behind the centerfield wall at Baltimore's Memorial Stadium, Rusty Kennedy was about to press the shutter button on his Nikon when he noticed a fatal flaw in the frame. Blass was blurry. It was Oct. 17, 1971, 50 years ago this month, 29 years before cameras were first added to cell phones and about 15 before Nikon cameras were first adapted with a technological advancement called autofocus. Kennedy, a young Associated Press photographer, had a split-second to react. Somehow, he was able to manually adjust the focus and fire the shutter just in time to capture poetry in motion, a masterpiece not unlike a classic Renaissance painting, as the celebrated essayist Roger Angell would eloquently write. There were other dramatic photographs taken at the 1971 World Series, but none would carry the emotional clout of Kennedy's euphoric shot of Blass and Sanguillen celebrating like crazed kids in the initial moments after the underdog Pittsburgh Pirates knocked off the favored Baltimore Orioles. The picture would find its way to the walls of countless taverns, offices and dens across western Pennsylvania and beyond over the next 50 years, joining James Klingensmith's iconic photograph of Bill Mazeroski's 1960 home run as reminders of the greatness that once defined Pittsburgh's baseball team. For one of the men in the photo, it would offer a source of comfort after his on-field tribulations gave way to gut-wrenching trials that ended his career just three years later. And for Kennedy's photography peers, it would offer inspiration and awe. “It's a timeless photo, absolutely timeless,'' said George Widman, a longtime AP photographer and Pulitzer Prize finalist. “It's like that famous speech James Earl Jones gives about baseball in (the movie) 'Field of Dreams.' That's what that picture is.'' Perhaps most remarkable was Kennedy's ability, in a rapidly fleeting window of opportunity, to get Blass into focus and capture the image. “It's a picture that's very difficult to make,'' said Brian Horton, a former AP senior photo editor who oversaw the agency's global sports photo coverage. "From a photographer's standout, it's just a freaking miracle is what it is.'' And it all started with Kennedy being in the right place at the right time. Except in his case, the right place happened to be about as far from the action as a photographer could be. https://www.byjoecapozzi.com/post/the-freaking-miracle-of-the-iconic-1971-world-series-photograph-that-nearly-wasn-thttps://www.byjoecapozzi.com/post/the-freaking-miracle-of-the-iconic-1971-world-series-photograph-that-nearly-wasn-t

Good Game Two, actually.

Braves not that impressed by Dodgers. Certainly not intimidated.

”Damn, 15 years?” Indeed, it has been that long. Tuesday, Oct. 19 is the 15th anniversary of Chavez tracking Scott Rolen's deep fly ball, leaping with reckless abandon toward the left-field fence, and coming back with a snow-coned home run robbery to keep Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS tied at one run apiece. *** “I just kind of grimaced and went, ‘You gotta be s---ting me,'” says Rolen. “I'm not going to lie to you, when the ball left my bat I wasn't seeing a double-play ball.” Nice Endyversary dive (or leap) in the Snooze https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/ny-endy-chavez-catch-anniversary-nlcs-20211016-uwe62vdsobc2xkgherqyhuklai-story.htmlhttps://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/ny-endy-chavez-catch-anniversary-nlcs-20211016-uwe62vdsobc2xkgherqyhuklai-story.html

This series doesn't seem worth wasting a comet on, though I will request one be held in reserve just in case the participants become too overbearing to take.

Good tick-tock by former Mets beat writer Andy McCullough, now of The Athletic, on how the Dodgers arrived at their Game Five pitching strategy. (Excerpt here and link below; The Athletic is a subscription operation.) The Giants were, in the words of a rival evaluator, “an incredible situational baseball team.” The Dodgers had grown to respect that over the course of this season. San Francisco positioned its defenders with precision. Manager Gabe Kapler used his relievers effectively. And the lineup featured a variety of trapdoors that allowed Kapler to gain an extra scintilla of advantage. “They do an extremely good job of maximizing their leverage points,” Prior said. After evening the series in Game 4, and again before flying to San Francisco on Thursday afternoon, the Dodgers wondered how to minimize those moments. Slater brought up the idea of using relievers to begin the game. He had supporting evidence. Knebel had opened games before. He had not pitched in Game 4. He pitched without a notable platoon split, so the Giants could not make an easy counter. His presence also might entice San Francisco to stack right-handed hitters later in the lineup, allowing a right-handed pitcher like Graterol a path to a clean inning. They could also keep Urías away from Giants catcher Buster Posey, who tagged him for a double in Game 2. It looked good on paper. But perhaps you have heard: These games are not played on a Strat-O-Matic board, and the players are human. When the Dodgers officials decided on this plan, they agreed to hit the kill switch if any player raised an objection. Roberts trusted Urías with the assignment. The Dodgers rode Urías' flexibility to a championship in 2020. Inside the Texas bubble, Urías was nominally a starting pitcher. Yet when Roberts needed someone to close the show in Game 7 of both the NLCS and the World Series, he turned to the lefty from Culiacán. The on-field reputation of Urías had only swelled in the subsequent months. He became the only 20-game winner in the majors this season. On several occasions, he expressed gratitude about the Dodgers allowing him to flourish as a starter. Team officials needed his endorsement before moving forward. “He earned the right to pitch in this game,” Prior said. “If he said, ‘No, I want it,' he was going to get it.” On the flight to the Bay Area, Roberts and Prior approached Urías. The 25-year-old listened to the strategy. He agreed to go along with it. He understood the value of stealing outs atop the game and forcing the Giants to empty the bench. Knebel and Graterol were also keen on it. The coaches canvassed a variety of clubhouse leaders. They checked with Scherzer and Clayton Kershaw and Walker Buehler. They met with Treinen and Jansen. They asked Mookie Betts, Justin Turner and Corey Seager. There was no dissent. “When they were on board, it made sense,” Prior said. “Everyone is in it to win it. Let's go.” At that point, the Dodgers officials finalized their approach. The main drawback, they decided, was potential embarrassment. If Urías started the game and pitched poorly, no one would rip the front office. If the openers or Urías stumbled, though, Roberts and Friedman would get blamed for sabotaging a 106-win season by trying to get too cute. “I think that what it does is it opens up for criticism,” Roberts said. “But I think that you can't do a job for fear of failure or potential criticism. I think that you have to do your job given whatever you feel is the best way to win the game.” https://theathletic.com/2891046/2021/10/15/mccullough-inside-the-dodgers-decision-to-open-their-way-back-to-the-nlcs/https://theathletic.com/2891046/2021/10/15/mccullough-inside-the-dodgers-decision-to-open-their-way-back-to-the-nlcs/

Those plucky Wild Card Dodgers travel to Atlanta to take on the four-time defending NL East champion Braves…will probably not be the primary NLCS storyline.

Wilmer was boned, though it was hard to believe a reprieve would have gotten him anywhere (though that's when Wilmer's traditionally most dangerous). Swell series. Braves' best chance will be Dodgers letting down after having won what felt like a championship series.

https://twitter.com/retronewsnow/status/1448835258720395266

https://twitter.com/mets/status/1415043643308756992 Walker began to suck almost as soon as this picture was taken. He gave up an ASG HR, bolted with the missus before the Midsummer Classic was over and was mostly Carlos Carrasco in the second half. But by the looks of things, he's probably doin' alright.

The SFGs… La Stella 2B Ruf LF Posey C Crawford SS Bryant CF Yastrzemski LF Flores 1B Longoria 3B Webb P The LADs… Betts RF Seager SS T. Turner 2B Smith C J. Turner 3B Lux CF Bellinger 1B Taylor LF Knebel P

An opener as prelude to bringing in your 20-game winner. It's either good to be LA or whoa with the overthinking!

Astros eliminated MFYs in 2017 and 2019. Red Sox eliminated MFYs in 2018 and 2021. They both have my gratitude.

Never thought Vin Scully would have to answer for potential recency bias.

This guy oughta know.

Cardinals have had enough of that Shildt. Mike is out as St. Loo skipper.

Broadcaster and catcher Ray Fosse, who didn't tag Bud Harrelson, 74, after a long battle with cancer.

Denny didn't need a plane ticket. He was literally across town. Willie was indeed honorary captain, a pretty good counterpoint to the AL's figurehead Joe DiMaggio.

SF 109-57 — LA 109-58 1/2 Game Five to determine the final semi-finalist — lordy!

Where Bob Uecker said he was, Denny Sommers actually was: in the front row! https://www.pinterest.com/pin/502151427172378456/https://www.pinterest.com/pin/502151427172378456/

Denny Sommers, who coached for both Joe Frazier and Joe Torre and served on Sparky Anderson's NL All-Star staff at MFYS II) died last year without much notice from the MLB community. He was 80. https://www.clinehansonfuneralhome.com/obituary/denny-sommershttps://www.clinehansonfuneralhome.com/obituary/denny-sommers