World Series Note

The St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series after an extraordinary game 6 in which they came back from the dead twice to win in extras. Texas should have won that game, which was pivotal in so many ways. The game will live on as a classic, with great performances, bad performances, the whole works.

As is so often the case, the loser of a tough game 6 cannot bring it for a game 7. The Rangers jumped out to a 2 run lead in the first, but after that it was all Cardinals. David Freese (rhymes with Breese as in Super Bowl MVP Drew--that's how I remembered how to spell it!) was the MVP of the series. He's a hometown boy, with many Missouri connections.

It's about time we had an excellent world series. It must be noted that in a bit of a stunner, Tony LaRussa retired after the series--as in, the day after. I must admit I was surprised.

World Series: Rangers Up 3-2, In St. Louis Now

This has actually been a pretty fun series. The games have been pretty close mostly (one blow out--Monday's game was much closer than its final 4-0 Rangers score) and very dramatic, full of strategy and second guessing, a real nirvana for baseball fans. After the Cardinals first two wins, I was wondering if my prediction was going to be wrong, but when Texas took game 5 and put St. Louis in the position of two must wins, the prediction looked better.

Tonight's game was postponed. For the second time this post season, the Cards started a home stand after the very best weather had ended. Today's early morning Kansas City rain became a steadier St. Louis rain, and MLB decided they didn't want a stop-and-start game and they didn't want a potential series winning game played under less than ideal conditions, especially since once the rain is outta here, it will be dry again--a little nippy but dry.

Texas, in general, has gotten better hitting with men on base and better rates of hits when really needed. Matt Holliday left many men stranded Monday night. The best Ranger has been Mike Napoli, pictured above in game 4 action.

World Series To Start Tonight

Well, I hope the Rangers brought their woolies, because our wonderful fall weather has changed for the cooler--near freezing here in Kansas City and I anticipate similar in St. Louis tonight.

Of the four teams vying for spots in the World Series last week, the Rangers had the most unknown and possibly the least good pitching staff. Otherwise, they stacked up pretty well against any of their possible opponents. So the question this series to me boils down to this: Can the Texas Rangers' pitchers hold down the Cardinals hitters enough so that the Rangers are not always playing from behind/having to catch up? Which in this post season environment is a tough thing to do? That is the key to this series, to me.

Here is my prediction: I would love to see St. Louis win--they were left for dead during some parts of the season and are in as wild card--but I predict the Rangers in 6.

Texas Rangers Return to World Series

Alas, Detroit's good season came to an end as the Texas Rangers took Tigers pitching to the woodshed in the process of taking the league championship series in six games. It seemed as if the Tigers were working from behind the entire series. When Detroit was able to keep Texas down in the early innings it was much easier for the Tigers to win. If Texas got away early, as they did in game six with a seven run third, Detroit found it pretty tough going to come back.

Tiger pitching frequently failed, both starters and bullpen.

Texas awaits the NL champion, either the Cardinals or Brewers. Either of those teams will have an advantage in starting pitching over the Rangers but the question will be can the NL champ hold the blazing hot Texas offense?

A Lot Is Happening!

Really--Josh was on MNF--Chiefs won--Giants are doing OK--Jets in search of offense--Eagles crash and burn--Saints look ready to return to a Super Bowl--Vikings are terrible and Green Bay wonderful .

Only one series is over in the baseball post season and two are in game five tomorrow--the D-Backs are fighting to make it three game fives.

Missouri is likely leaving the Big 12, Nebraska got skunked by Wisconsin and Kansas State is in the top 25.

So see I am paying attention!

Baseball Drawing to a Close

Walk off wild pitch--hey, we take them however--wins the game for St. Louis over the Cubbies today. (www.mlb.com)

All the division races have been decided with about a week or so left in the regular season. Your champions are Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and Arizona in the NL and New York, Detroit, and Texas in the AL. The wildcard races are still being decided. In the AL, Boston has been fading over the past days, and is in a fight with Tampa Bay who is just 1.5 games behind. Lurking with an outside chance are the Angels of Anaheim or where ever. In the NL, it is between Atlanta and St. Louis, with the Braves ahead by 2 games. There will probably not be a repeat winner of the World Series as the Giants are 4.5 games out.

It has been a fun year for baseball in my opinion. The game has purged itself of the steroid pretenders, changing offense, and changing what is important. I like the way it is going, and to me, the grand old game of baseball is doing OK.

We'll touch on the Royals, and their season and future, in a later post, but suffice it to say for now that the Royals have an exciting future. They have played .500 baseball since early July (basically the All Star break on) and have been especially hot these past weeks. Now, I am not impressed by September success, since so many teams are mailing it in, but it just gives a glimpse of what can be. The team was 40-41 at home, and drew about 1.7 million to the K to watch. For a throw away year, it has been a lot of fun, and people paid more attention than you thought they might have.

The New York Mets surprised by playing around the .500 mark almost all year. 76-82 presently for a .481 winning percentage for a team that was essentially broke and whose ownership may go down with the Madoff ship. I don't know what all the Mets have in the pipeline, but they are good enough to watch. It is tough though, those Phillies are a very good team and they will be hard to overcome.

It won't be long for the first round of playoffs to start--next weekend as a matter of fact. Post season baseball is coming.

Meantime, Over in Baseball...

Whoops, almost published a blank space!

Although if we were just talking about the Royals and trade deadline action, we would indeed have nothing to say, because nothing is happening or happened. Cabrera, Frenchy and all the rest are all still here. Wilson Betemit's trade to Detroit is the only action so far from the Royals who have pitching bits that might intrigue teams more than the position players.

Meantime, the Giants won the Beltran sweepstakes, the Phils grabbed Hunter Pence, the Cards and Jays added to their rosters with multiplayer trades. The trade deadline is Sunday, July 31 at 3 p.m. CT.

Awesome Fan Catch at Home Run Derby!

Check this out!

What a catch! A little risky, but the other folks were looking out for him. And if you look carefully, he hung on to his drink in his throwing hand as he caught the ball in the glove!

Carlos Beltran to Start as DH--and Something Interesting

I did not know this. Carlos Beltran, the extraordinary 5 tool player the Royals had to let go not too long ago, well, his Topps rookie baseball card was an uncorrected error. I was looking for pics of Beltran as a Royal to put in this post congratulating him on having a nice bounce back year and the honor of starting the All Star game tomorrow when I found this:

I thought the person in the photo looked a little too slender, especially in the face, and the eye brows were too bushy. I've seen Beltran in person and he has a round baby face. (He's good looking, in case you were wondering...)

Yup, this is him. Much better looking guy, bigger neck, more powerful. Very stern look. Did someone forget how to tell him to smile in Spanish? Turns out the names were reversed, and it was never fixed. Anyhow, kudos to Carlos Beltran and congratulations. His next trick? Getting out of New York and helping a contending team win.

MLB All Star Break--12 Thoughts

Well, here we are at the half way point of the baseball season and the analysis has been going full bore. Here are just a few cents worth from this vantage point.

1. American League Wild Card will come out of the East. This division is the best in the league hands down. Boston and New York are playing .600 ball and Tampa Bay is not far behind.

2. AL Central is not very good. Detroit, especially if the pitching holds out, is probably the class of the division. Minnesota, ordinarily very good is struggling, and Cleveland is fading.

3. Expect Texas and Angels of Anaheim to fight it out to the last in the West.

4. Jose Bautista seems to be real.

5. Pittsburgh Pirates over .500. Wow!

6. Offense is generally down. Hard to say if that's because pitching is better, or hitting is worse. No steroids = no power? But I think the game is pretty exciting--I don't have to have a bunch of home runs to enjoy a game. Yesterday's Tigers-Royals tilt with Jeff Francis and Justin Verlander matching each other just about pitch for pitch is a perfect example of a great watchable game that doesn't have a high score.

7. SF Giants in a position to repeat at this point.

8. Boy did that guy eff up the LA Dodgers.

9. Phillies also in a position to return to the playoffs, just quietly going about their business.

10. Can't help but note that the Mets are one game over .500 but still in third place. Can't help but wonder if everyone but Reyes and pitching is trade bait to restock their depleted farm system.

11. NL Central is also a bastion of the only-good. Brewers and Cards tied for first with 49-43 records. Jury still out for Milwaukee fans on Greinke trade. We certainly like that little shortstop you all sent us :)!

12. The Royals. People are getting discouraged with the continued losing and the continued promises of "wait until the youngsters get here." However, the team really does allow for a pinch of optimism: keeping games close, playing smarter baseball, good team chemistry, excellent defense and relief pitching in general. There's a lot wrong--we wouldn't be on a pace to lose 90+ games if all was peaches and cream--the starting pitching, lack of power and consistency in hitting, the mental errors from inexperience are just a few items that reflect the fact that this team needs more talent and experience to contend. Position players are developing well, but pitching is lagging behind, both at the major and minor league levels. As development continues, we may need to consider looking outside for pitching help, via trade and/or free agency to complete our transition from a losing team to a winner.

Meantime, this fan really hates the All-Star break. Whatyamean there's no baseball game tonight or Wednesday night?

Royals AAA Club Changes Name--Most of Omaha Hates It

The Omaha Royals are no more. They are now the Storm Chasers. The majority of the comments to this linked article hate it. Check it out, including the mascots and unis, and the video. What do you think?

(I like the naming of minor league affiliates after the parent clubs, but that's just me. With new names and such, there can be more merchandising--unfortunately an important part of any sports team now.)

World Series: Giants Prevailing

Just a short note for what might very well be a short World Series. The SF Giants are up 3-1 with game 5 tonight in San Fran. It's a rematch of game one, and I bet it will be long on pitching, as it is an ace rematch, Lee and Lincecum.

Ron Washington, the Rangers manager, took some heat for not starting his ace, Cliff Lee, in the forth game, which the Rangers lost by shut out last night, leaving them 3-1 and having to win 3 in a row, including the last two in San Fran. The Rangers have looked tight and inexperienced in the series, especially at the plate.

Tonight's game, though, does have "classic" potential...

World Series: Not the Yankees or the Phillies!

AP photo

Tonight was the start of the World Series, in San Francisco, with the Giants beating Texas 11-7. This should be a pretty good series, with hitting and pitching. The Rangers may have better defense. Game one was an out of character slugfest for both starters Lee and Lincecum.

No Yankees! Sorry Yankee lovers.

Also no charming Northeast weather. San Fran can get chilly at night, but games should start at about 5:30 western time and avoid the worst of night chill. Play ball!

Checking in With Baseball

A quick check of baseball here.

Yankees-Rangers tied 1-1. They are playing in Texas and the Yankees came back from behind on Friday to defeat the Rangers, just like they did against the Twins in the Divisional series. This time, the loss did not break the competition and the Rangers came back and tied the series. Now, it goes to New York for 3 games. Go Texas! So sick of the Yankees!

Giants-Phillies have had one game and it went to the Giants, a close 4-3 victory that featured 2 home runs off of Roy Halladay. They are playing in Philadelphia. Game 2 tomorrow--features Jonathan Sanchez against Roy Oswalt. Should be a good one.

Paul Lukas of the Uniwatch Blog notes that teams playing at home and wearing colored tops (rather than dressing in all white) have lost every game at home wearing those colored tops. Rangers, Phils, stick to white at home please!

Baseball: Two Series Wrapped Up, Two Still Going

The Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Yankees both swept their division championship series against the Cincinnati Reds and the Minnesota Twins respectively. The Phils did it with awesome pitching including the second ever no hitter thrown in post season play by Roy Halliday.

The Yankees just did it by being a much better team, beating the Twins twice at Target Field, including a demoralizing come from behind win at the Twins' home field.

Tampa Bay and Texas are tied 2-2 with the final winner take all game tomorrow night in Tampa. The Giants and Braves are playing their game 4 right now with the score tied 2-2 in the top of the seventh inning. Editor's Update: Giants won, taking the series 3-1. They will play Philadelphia, starting Friday night.

Photos from mlb.com of the Phils and Yanks playing in the champaign.

Baseball Post Season Set

OK, the regular season is over...the envelopes please!

In the AL, we have Texas, Minnesota, and Tampa Bay for division champs. The New York Yankees are the wild card. Texas will play Minnesota and New York will play Tampa Bay.

In the NL, we have San Francisco, Cincinnati, and Philadelphia for division champs. The wild card is Atlanta. The Reds will play the Phillies and the Giants will play the Braves.

And as this article from mlb.com documents, heads are already starting to roll from the managers and executives of teams that fell short of expectations this past year.

Yes, New York Mets, I am looking at you!

Baseball Slogs On--End Is In Sight

Royals losing more than winning but looking at a lot of guys and setting up for next year. There are some positives coming out of these games, and we are not going to lose 100 games this year either.

With regard to pennant races, Tampa Bay and the Yankees are in a dogfight for the division championship, but it's not to the death. Loser gets the wild card spot as a consolation prize. Kind of takes some of the edge off. Rangers and Twins counting magic numbers now in the west and central respectively.

Over in the NL, the west is a total fight, Giants and Pads within one game of each other, with the Rockies lurking. For the wild card, it's the Giants, Padres and Braves who have slipped enough to allow the Phillies to take the lead in the NL east. The Reds are far ahead of disappointing St. Louis and the Phillies would have to have a significant collapse to allow the Braves back in it in the east.

Regular season wraps up October 3--then it is on to the play offs and World Series. Guess Fall is really here!!

Baseball All Star Game Coming to KC in 2012

Commish Bud Selig announces the news we all knew. (KC Star photo)

Assuming the Mayan calender isn't right, and we aren't having the Apocalypse, the 2012 Major League Baseball All-Star game will be played right here in little old K.C. at our renovated stadium. The rumor for this got out about two weeks ago, but today it was made official in a news conference--just before the rains came.

A nice feather in the city's cap and a fun event to boot.

Blown Call In Detroit

Armando Galarraga pitched a near perfect game last night. Perfect until this blown call on a ground ball. This should have been a routine 3-1 ground out but no--an ump screwed up big time.

This blown call is really bad. Now what I don't understand is why the umpires don't get together and help each other, like refs in every other sport.

I'm beating up You Tube today between the blogs--here are the pros--note the baffled commentary...

Here is a video from someone in the stands. You can clearly see here that all the umpires are just standing around, even though they know their colleague just totally missed the call, instead of running over and saying, "Well, actually, Jim, he was out."

Word today is that commish Bud Selig is not reversing or doing anything with this horrible, horrible call. Gack!

Ken Griffey Jr. Retires

Ken Griffey Jr has decided to retire. He felt that he was more of a distraction then a help to the Seattle Mariners at this point. Griffey has been in the bigs since 1989, and for several years was considered one of the best. He has had a HOF career in my book.

I posted this pic of a BB card from his AA days as a Vermont Mariner. His time playing in Burlington was limited due to injury, but we all knew, from the very first day, that he was the real deal. He proved it to us by jumping the next year from our AA club to the major leagues. He never looked back. The game will miss him. I count it a privilege to have seen him play in person.