Frayed Knot

Yeah, Cora effectively pre-rejected the Phils in advance of them talking to him and then took himself out of the running for all jobs by saying he would manage nowhere this year (kids in school and getting (re-) married this summer). As far as the rest of the league goes ... So all three -in-season interim managers were hired permanently (BoSox, Mets, Phils). A couple of more teams have balls in the air at this point. The Mariners are looking within their division by talking with Joe Espada so I guess Houston has moved on. Diamondbacks and Angels also aren't set for next season. Info from Cot's Contracts (arm of Baseball Prospectus) but they don't always have terms of the deal. Unlike player contracts, manager contracts aren't always made public.

And yet Cleveland followed up on that revelation by going a less-then-impressive 4 - 7 over the two weeks after the Mets left town. Only after that did they suddenly go on a hot streak winning seven straight en route to a 24 - 11 finish which took them from 5 under .500 to 9 over.

A 2-out RBI single by Chase DeLauter brings the Guardians to within 3 - 1 This is my (and likely your) first extended look at DeLauter and he looks like he's going to be a good one. Turned 25 a few days ago, rookie season, 1st round (16th overall) draft pick in 2022 out of mighty James Madison University (meaning he was at JMU the same time as my niece), one of those rare guys to debut in the post-season (7 PAs in the 2025 WC series). All he's done this year is .287/.363/.457 // 820 (131 OPS+) in 133 games/559 PAs

Pedro called Conti his "white daddy".

Rare bad play by Ramirez at 3rd leads to three unearned runs vs Cleveland. And how 'bout Freddie Peralta tossing five shutout innings? Do we hear six?

We workshopped that idea and it didn't test well. Just sayin'.

Ohtani was IL'd much of September (played just 8 games in the month and was 6/30 w/5 singles) with "biceps inflammation". It was kind of passed off as if just a precaution so as to have him 'fresh' for the post-season, but that's still not something that would happen if he was completely healthy. And, of course, he hasn't pitched since July 3rd

I remember talking about F.R.A. here a couple of years prior to the 2024 series. Somebody noticed her and made mention of it and it was Monk who filled us in on the details of her minor/local celebrity status.

Pat Murphy is either playing his lefty & righty relievers perfectly, or he's pulling guys who are pitching well too early and it's going to come back and bite him But he's thru 8 now so who am I to complain.

And nearly 80 pitches ... 36 of them alone just to get two outs in the 3rd inning

So it turned out the be the low-scoring game everyone thought it would be ... only with less than anticipated contributions from the two marquee starters. Skoooball & Mis (ex-spouses who also help fight crime together. Catch it this season on CBS): 9.1 combined innings, 3 ER, 10 hits, 5 BBs, 12 K Meanwhile the bullpens combined for 7-2/3 IP, 0 R, 3 H, and 6 BBs (2 intentional) side note: Are all ballplayers named Ashby required by law to have an alliterative first name or is it just a coincidence. OK, yeah, there was an Earl Ashby back in the '40s. But since then we've had Alan (catcher 1970's - '80s), Andy (pitcher, 1991 - '04), and, since 2021, Brewer hurler Aaron

The problem with MFY fans, specifically the 'Bleacher Creatures' in RF/RCF, is that harassment, abuse, and sometimes criminal behavior towards out of town fans (and even locals who weren't part of 'the gang') was tolerated by stadium security as if the team itself had the same aim as the worst element just in a more passive, look-the-other-way kind of way. So it's not surprising that the two guys assaulting Betts did what they did so publicly and obviously. They simply didn't expect anyone to stop them or to suffer any repercussions. And even after the fact the team's first instinct was to kick them out of that game but welcome them back the next day. Business as usual, boys will be boys, nothing to see here.

For a while there it looked like the late (4:25) football game on FOX wasn't going to end by 8 PM

I'm going for Tampa v Milwaukee, two teams that have yet to win one. Although considering that Cleveland's last win dates back to the Truman administration, they're sort of an honorary never-won franchise.

How could I forget Harvey's Wallbangers?!?!?

So we've got the; Dodgers: been to the WS 23 times, won 9 of them including three times in the last six years Indians/Guardians: been to six, won twice but not since the first half of the 20th century [1920 & 1948] they lost the WS in 1954, 1995, 1997, 2016 Rays: Been to two WS (2008 & 2020) but lost both Brewers/Pilots: won none, been to none So you've got a multi-time regular plus two 'nevers' and one 'not since the Truman administration'. Or, as they'd say on Sesame Street, One of these things is not like the others ... I wonder if/how many Pacific Northwesterners who were baseball fans back in 1969 are still clinging allegiance to 'their' team and are therefore rooting for the Brewers over these next couple weeks? 53 players suited up for the lone Seattle Pilots squad. A couple years back I noted that just over half of those 53 were still living although there's likely a couple fewer by now. Be kinda cool if the Brewers invite the lot of living Pilots for introductions at one of their WS home games. Too late for Jim Bouton but I bet 90 y/o Jerry McNertney from Boone, Iowa would get a kick out of it. Or the youngest of the bunch, the now 78 y/o Gary Timberlake (I think I stayed a Camp Timberlake once) whose only two ML appearances both came for the Pilots. He pitched a total of six innings over two games allowing five earned on seven hits but he was still a ML player and I bet it's been a while since he was honored as such.

Game One: in Milwaukee, Sunday 10/11, 8:00 PM FOX -- Tarik Skubal vs Jacob Misioroski Brewers [103 - 59] won four of seven head-to-head during the season though Dodgers [100 - 62] were +2 in RS/RA

It's hard to say exactly where Garcia was at the critical moment. Those extra LF/RF umps tend to set up surprisingly close to 1B/3B so, even in YSII where the wall is only like 50' in back of 1st, the chances of him getting to the spot he needed to be for the best view of that particular call were pretty slim, great hustle or not. When we first see him he is near the wall and is pointing emphatically towards the stands as a way of saying that the ball cleared the wall on its own. No replay review in those days obviously and a tough call for any of the other six umps to claim that they had a better view, so it stood. As I mentioned in another thread, with the help of replay and hindsight Garcia eventually owned up to blowing the call although also adding that he still wouldn't have ruled it a catch but would have awarded Jeter a double based on doubt as to whether Tarasco would have caught the ball.

He had a rough time after leaving Queens

Parker Messick lasts just 4.1 & 2.1 innings in his two playoff starts: 6 H, 6 BB, and 4 R combined That's disappointing after such a good rookie season

btw, the dork from last night didn't catch the ball either. It also hit the heels of his hands and rolled up his arms into the stands, iow, he catches just as well as an 8 y/o. The difference last night is that the fielder's glove was a good foot and a half below the ball so he wasn't coming close to catching it. It was closer to going over the fence but was going to be short there too.

What freedom is being honored here, I wonder? - freedom to take drugs? - freedom to blame drug shipments to your house on your wife? - freedom to throw bat shards?

Oh yeah. I forgot this game was in SD and both teams have yellow. But we can still use it as an example anyway: if that ball was gloved by a fan then Shirley an out would have been called given the position of the fielder and the ball at the time. The RF ump who made that call eventually admitted that he blew it but then also said he would NOT have ruled it an out but rather a double which is a less wrong call than his first botched one but still a botch. Tarasco was virtually camped under the ball which was never clearing the fence until Maier stuck basically his entire arm into the field of play (a child's arm for sure but still) and the ball rolled up his arm* and into the first row. * so despite what is said and written almost universally, he did not catch the ball. He muffed it and eventually picked it up off the ground (or someone did so and handed it to him).

So this is the only series left. They'll play tonight at 8 (EDT) in Chicago then wait until Saturday at 8 to play Game 5 in Cleveland if the Guardians win #4