My opinions about the Indians/Mariners series can be found here. As far as the other three Division Series are concerned: Braves/Astros There’s no question in my mind that when everyone is healthy, the Astros have a superior team to the Braves. Their pitching isn’t that far behind Atlanta’s, and their lineup is probably the best…
The general consensus is that this is a mismatch, with the greatest regular-season team in AL history taking on a fading dynasty on its last legs. The thing to remember is this: in a short series, anything can happen. Anything. Lineups (AVG/OBP/SLG/Equivalent Average) Seattle Mariners RF Ichiro Suzuki (.350/.381/.457/.311) SS Mark McLemore (.286/.384/.406/.306) DH Edgar…
My ballot for the Internet Baseball Awards, sponsored by Baseball Prospectus and coming to a browser near you this week. I’ve written about most of these at length elsewhere, so commentary will be brief. American League MVP 1. Jason Giambi, Athletics 2. Alex Rodriguez, Rangers 3. Bret Boone, Mariners 4. Roberto Alomar, Indians 5. Jim…
Superlatives are beginning to lose their meaning. Memories are being made nearly every single moment by some of the greatest players in history. Teams are battling desperately to become a great story, or to avoid becoming one. Is it possible that we’re seeing the greatest week in baseball history? Consider: From a team perspective: no…
Lots of stuff… Barry Bonds choked again last night, failing to hit a home run on any of the three strikes he saw in five plate appearances. At the rate he’s going, 180 walks is within reach, as is a .520 OBP. Anyone looking to criticize Bonds for his plate discipline should note that he…
The Braves did it again last night, wasting a good start by Greg Maddux and losing 2-1 to the Phillies, shortening their lead in the NL East to one game. This team’s inability to score against anyone not named Armando Benitez has gotten ridiculous, and may cost them a spot in the postseason, their first…
In one forum or another, I’ve chimed in on three of the four biggest postseason awards. I haven’t had the opportunity to talk about AL MVP yet, so I figured I’d take a look today. While there are still six days left in the AL season, it’s fair to say that not much about the…
This would have been the day after the end of the regular season, the dead day between the pennant races and the opening day of the Division Series. September 11 changed that schedule, leaving us with one more week of baseball before the playoffs begin. Of course, the American League is done. With the Indians…
About two months ago, there was a ton of focus on transactions. Which players would be going where to help what teams, and what would they bring in return? The trade deadline is always rife with speculation, and frankly, it’s a fun pastime. But the thing I try to remember is that of all the…
The dream died this weekend. The Twins, with one last chance to make a run in the AL Central, dropped two of three games to the Indians, making their tragic number six and basically ending the divisional race. The Twins scored just four runs in their two losses, continuing an offensive slide that is the…
The Mets are just five games out of first place in the NL East, so I was going to do a column on exactly how this happened. My mother is a big Mets fan, bless her heart, and when I mentioned my intention, she about disowned me, mindful of the evil things I’ve done to…
That was interesting. Four of the National League’s eight–and with the Mets six games out, I guess we have to say "nine"–contenders blew leads in the ninth inning yesterday: The Diamondbacks had the most spectacular implosion, blowing first a six-run first-inning lead, then watching Byung-Hyun Kim serve up back-to-back solo shots to Todd Helton and…
The National League has a tremendous wild-card race going, with five teams separated by four games. Throw in the division leaders, and half the league is within 8 1/2 games of each other. That’s a recipe for a great three weeks of baseball, perhaps comparable to the 1967 American League race, if we get lucky….
And on the sixth day, they played. Bud Selig and his colleagues made the correct decision. Perhaps for the wrong reasons–because the NFL cancelled–but they made the right decision. I believe that it was easier for the NFL to cancel its games because its commissioner and other league officials were in New York City last…
The good races in the National League, combined with the new ‘n improved unbalanced schedule, mean that there will be big games being played just about every day for the rest of the season. The stretch begins tonight in Atlanta, where the Phillies will try and make up for six weeks of mediocre baseball in…
I have been staring at my laptop for about three hours, trying to write a column. Or even just a paragraph. A sentence, perhaps. Any string of words about baseball that seem mildly interesting. Nothing’s coming, and I have a good idea why: I’m not getting to watch as much baseball as I usually do….