Some Random Thoughts

 The World Series

The Toronto Blue Jays bounced back from what had to have been a gut wrenching loss in that 18 inning Game Three by winning Games Four and Five in Los Angeles,  thus taking a 3-2 lead in the Series, which could end tonight in Toronto.  This Series has proven to be notable in a couple of regards.  One, is the remarkable performance of Shohei Ohtani.  Another is that remarkable eighteen inning game on Sunday night. And the third is the performance of 22 year old rookie Jays pitchers Trey Yesavage.

If you've followed the Series, you know the story.  He pitched for four different teams in the Blue Jays minor league system this season (Rookie, A, AA, and AAA), arrived in Toronto late in the season and has now started more post-season games than regular season games.  In Game Five, he went seven innings, gave up one run, no walks, and struck out 12 batters.

What I came to learn from my niece, Jill, is that Yesavage graduated from Boyertown High School in 2022 with her daughter, Cale, and played on the same Boyertown American Legion and high school teams with her son, Gavin.

The Boyertown Bears, circa 2019:

Top row, fifth from left, wearing number 6, is a 16 year old Trey Yesavage, now a genuine World Series hero.  If you watched Trey pitch in this post-season, you can see that he has experienced a significant growth spurt  since 2019. (My great-nephew Gavin is also in this photo, but without having the permission of either he or his mother, I am not going to identify him here.)

Baseball Royalty and the Other Kind of Royalty

On Pardon the Interuption last night, both Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon expressed how thrilling and awe-full it was to see Sandy Koufax - SANDY KOUFAX!!!! - sitting in the stands at Dodger Stadium watching the World Series games this week, and I couldn't agree more.  Koufax will turn 90 in December, and he looks at least fifteen years younger than that.  It is also true that it has been fifty-nine years since he last pitched in a major league game, so most people watching have never seen him play, and cannot possibly have any idea just how Capital G Great he was.  Much has been made that Dodger pitcher Clayton Kershaw, a sure fire first ballot Hall of Famer is retiring this year (and didn't he go out on a great note by retiring one batter with the bases loaded in that extra inning game on Sunday?).  Kershaw was a great pitcher, no doubt, but, and trust me on this, kids, he couldn't hold Sandy Koufax's spikes when it came to greatness on the mound.  So, yes, when you see a shot like this on your TV screen, it really is thrilling to old guys like The Grandstander.

And while Sandy Koufax represents baseball royalty, we were also treated to a screen shot of these two during Game Four:

Yep, that is Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, taking in the ol' ball game.  I have seen several posts on social media in the days since then of people, mostly Dodgers fans and hide-bound traditionalists expressing their outrage of Sandy Koufax being forced to sit in the second row behind a second string British Royal.  To those folks I say this:  If your life is such that THIS is what gets you "outraged", then you have a lousy sense of what is important in life.

Steelers Lose Second in a Row

The Steelers laid a colossal egg this past Sunday night in losing their second game in a row, this time to the Green Bay Packers.  In these last two losses, the Steelers defense, which is the highest paid such unit in the NFL, has surrendered sixty-eight (68) points.  They are now 4-3, still in first place in the AFC North, and improbably, still have a legit shot at winning that division, only because that division has shown itself to be incredibly mediocre this season.

This week they face the surprisingly good Indianapolis Colts, who are 7-1 and have the highest scoring offense in the League thus far.  The possibility of the Steelers getting boat-raced on their home field on Sunday is a very real one.

Let's just say that things aren't looking good for the Steelers at this point in this season.

"Only Murders In The Building"

Last night Linda and I finished watching Season 5 of "Only Murders In The Building", a series that we have enjoyed throughout its five season run, but I have to be honest in saying that perhaps they pushed the envelope a bit too far in producing this fifth season.  Has the show jumped the shark?  Maybe not, but we didn't find ourselves compelled to watch the show this season as we have in the past.  A couple of weeks went by between our watching some of the episodes.  This tends to take some of the excitement out of watching as you, or at least me, tend to forget just what happened last episode, and just what is the crime that the crew is investigating right now?

Still, the show did have its moments, and the chemistry among the three stars remains kind of charming, so, yes, we will be watching when Season 6, which will be set in London, debuts next year.

Only Two and One-Half Grandstander Stars for Season 5 of OMITB.

The World Series Begins Tonight!

 

You all have no doubt been asking the question "Grandstander, why haven't you been writing about some of the great moments of the 2025 MLB Post Season?"

Well, that's because I've been very busy watching  the 2025 MLB Post Season.  And the NFL.  And the WNBA Playoffs.  And the Penguins season started.  And the NBA.  Oh, and there was that trip to Nashville over the weekend.

You get the idea.

Before getting into the World Series, let me just comment on a couple of things from this MLB Post Season.

First, a comment on a simply amazing Game 5 of the National League Division Series, won by the Dodgers 2-1 in an epic eleven inning game.  It was scoreless through six innings, the Phillies scored in the top of the seventh, and the Dodgers tied it in the bottom of the seventh.  It then went into extra innings, and the Dodgers won when Phillies pitcher Orion Kerkering inexplicably fielded a ground ball with two outs and the bases loaded and, rather than throwing to first base to end the inning, he threw to the plate. The throw was high and to the left, the run scored, the Dodgers won, and the series was over.  As I heard one commentator, I think it was Tim Kurkjian, say that it was a case of the game moving too fast for the young pitcher Kerkering, he got caught in the moment, and just made the wrong play.  I hope that the kid doesn't let it affect him mentally as he moves forward in his career.

Me, my mind flashed back to Bob Moose's wild pitch that ended the 1972 NLCS.  If you know, you know.

Then there was Game Four, the final game of the NLCS, a game that will forever be know as The Shohei Ohtani Game.

You all know what happened.  Ohtani started the game pitching, went six scoreless innings, gave up 3 hits and struck out ten batters.  TEN STRIKE OUTS!  And he hit three home runs.  THREE HOME RUNS!.  It has been called the greatest single game that any baseball player has ever had.

Me, I have no other words for it.

In contrast the Dodgers sweep of the Phillies, the Mariners-Blue Jays series went the full seven games, and it was a Game 7 well worth its name.  Seattle held a 3-1 lead, thanks to solo home runs by Julio Rodriguez and Cal "The Big Dumper" Raleigh until George Springer hit a three run dinger that put the Jays up 4-3.  The bullpen held the lead, and Toronto secured its first trip to the World Series since 1992.

I have no strong rooting interest one way or the other in this Series.  I suppose that as the games progress I may develop such an interest, but until then, I will hope only for a competitive and exciting Series.  I'll also say that I hope that we get to see something historic from Shohei Ohtani, although I don't know how he can top that show he put on in Game 4 of the LCS.  As for a prediction, most of the "experts" out there are telling you that should the Dodgers starting pitchers continue to perform as they have thus far in the post season, they will win in the end.

I'll follow that party line and say the Dodgers win it in six games.