Dodgers Win, and Will Kevin Cash Ever Live THIS down?

Right off the bat, CONGRATULATIONS to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2020 World Series Champions.

Also, CONGRATULATIONS to Dodger pitcher Clayton Kershaw, one of the top two or three pitchers of his generation, but whose struggles over the  years in post-season play have been well documented, for shedding that particular monkey off of his back by going 2-0 in this World Series.  He can now call himself a World Series Champion.

And finally, CONGRATULATIONS to Major League Baseball and Commissioner Rob Manfred for pulling off a Major League season, albeit an abbreviated one, an expanded Playoff format, and being able to stage a World Series in this oh-so-weird year of 2020.  Back in June, and as late as early July, I would have bet you a month's mortgage payment that we would never see Major League Baseball in 2020, but they somehow managed to pull it off.

Now, as to the Series itself, and as to the question posed in the headline above, this one is going to be forever remembered as the one where Rays manager Kevin Cash, followed the dictates of the computer nerd data geeks of the Rays front office, and yanked a cruising Blake Snell with a 1-0 lead with one out in the sixth inning of Game Six, an elimination game for his team.  To recount for the record, Snell had been cruising through 5 and 1/3 innings: 73 pitches, 1 hit, no runs, 9 strike outs, including six K's of the Dodgers top three in the order (Mookie Betts, Corey Saeger, and Justin Turner), and only two balls hit out of the infield.  The second batter in the inning hits a soft single, and out pops Cash from the dugout, following the Rays' analytics algorithms, and removes Snell (a former Cy Young Award winner, it should also be noted).  Will Rays' fans (an oxymoron?) ever forget this scene?  I know sure as Hell that Blake Snell and his teammates never will....

What followed was as inevitable as it was predictable....a Betts double, a wild pitch to tie the game, a fielder's choice RBI by Saeger that allowed Betts to score from third that gave LA a 2-1 lead and, essentially, ended the World Series. The last nine outs by Tampa Bay were a mere formality.

What followed also was an interesting conversation by announcers Joe Buck and John Smotlz.  Smoltz made the case that managing by pure analytics over the course of a 162 game season is okay, and probably smart over the long grind of a normal baseball season, but in a short condensed series, which is what post-season baseball is all about, you simply CANNOT be a slave to the numbers, percentages, and probabilities.  You have to judge by seeing what your players are doing right NOW, right in front of you in the moment.  Buck said that managers now seem to be looking for every reason to take a guy OUT of a game, rather than seeing the reasons why a guy should stay IN a game.  They all but called Cash a complete dumb-shit for doing what he did, which he was, and it may very well have cost the Rays the opportunity to be playing in a Game Seven tonight.

Here's how Washington Post columnist Barry Svrluga described in in his column this morning:

This is the part of modern baseball that just, frankly, stinks. It is built on analysis and probability, and there’s nothing wrong with that — until it strips the human beings playing and running the game of the ability to make decisions based on what they feel, what they see. Any casual fan could see what Snell was working with, a pinpoint fastball and an absolute hammer of a curve. The Dodgers were befuddled.

FYI, here is the complete Svrluga column.  It's good reading:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/10/28/blake-snell-kevin-cash-world-series/

So, once again, congratulations to the Dodgers for winning, to the Rays for  winning the American League Pennant and making it an interesting Series, and to MLB for giving us a season in 2020.

Oh, and one final note: huge negative props for that Dodgers owner, whoever he is, for coming on stage to accept the World Series and reading a prepared speech that went about as long as campaign speech from the 45th President and was just about as irritating to sit through.  Nobody wants to hear from the Suits on occasions like this, pal.

The World Series in Review

As we all know by now, the Boston Red Sox won the 2018 World Series.  

I believe I had that. Although I said they'd need six games to do so, and they did it in five.

Some Thoughts-At-Large from The Grandstander on the just completed Fall Classic.

• This just in.....The Red Sox are really, really good.  No surprise there.  108 wins in the season, beat the 100 win Yankees and the 103 win Astros in the AL Playoffs, and dusted off the Dodgers in five games in the Series.  Ruthless and efficient, that is what these Red Sox were in 2018.
• Aside from the Red Sox dominance, this was a rather unmemorable World Series.  After the first two games, I said on Facebook that unless the Dodgers did something to alter the course of events, this thus far juiceless World Series would go down as one of the more unmemorable ones in recent memory.  Well, Game Three turned that statement pretty much upside down when the teams played 18 innings over 7 hours and 20 minutes, both world Series records, that the Dodgers won with a Max Muncy walk off home run.
• No, I did not stay to the end of that game, which ended at 3:30 AM here in Pittsburgh.  I made it through eleven, and gave way to the sandman.  I just couldn't stay awake any longer.
• This was also the World Series where we were bludgeoned with endless streams of no, not cigarettes and magazines, but endless reams of 21st century baseball metrics and analytics.  Launch angles, exit velocities, catch probabilities, and such arcane minutia like percentage of curve balls thrown by pitcher Jock LeStrap when he has two strikes on right handed hitters in even numbered innings vs. odd numbered innings.  Stuff like that.  I am not a complete Luddite, and if baseball guys can use such analytics to win games, I say go for it, but please, please don't present it all to me in such mind-numbing detail.
• Speaking of analytics, both managers, Alex Cora and Dave Roberts, are strict analytics guys.  Every move that Cora made (with one exception) worked.  Every move that Roberts made blew up in his face like a cheap exploding cigar. 
• In Game Four with the Dodgers holding a 1-0 lead in the sixth inning, Yasiel Puig came to bat with two men on and Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez obviously laboring.  The Sox metrics guys said that despite all of that, Rodriguez should be the guy to pitch to Puig.  Puig then hit one that I believe has still yet to land on Southern California soil, and LA led 4-0, and appeared to be in a position to turn the Series around, but more on that in a bit.
• As for the Dodgers' metrics, and this is just one example, they somehow told Roberts not to start Cody Bellinger in three of the five games.  They also told him to keep using Ryan Madson in relief.  In three games, Madson came into pitch and inherited eight base runners, all of whom scored.  
• After that Puig home run in Game Four, we got a glimpse of the cold blooded efficiency of the Sox.  They responded with three runs in the seventh, one in the eighth, and five in the ninth on the way to a 9-6 win that removed all doubt, if any existed at all, as to how this Series was going to turn out.
• Getting back to metrics, they are great, I suppose, over the course of a 162 game season, but in a short, best-of-seven series, not so much.  Sometimes a manager has to know, just KNOW when to make a move and go against what the seam heads are telling you.  When to start a left handed hitter against a lefty, when to pull pitcher even if the book says leave him in, or when to leave him in the game.  In that pivotal fourth game, Cora left his pitcher in when he should have yanked him, and Roberts pulled Rich Hill when maybe he should have let him go for another couple of batters.  Cora's Sox bailed him out, though, whereas Roberts' lads did not.

A word about World Series Most Valuable Player Steve Pearce.

I think that it was a well deserved award, and I am delighted that a journeyman, and his career path is the very definition of that term, like Pearce gets this moment of glory and that fancy big ass Chevy truck.  Pirates fans will remember that he is a product  of the Bucco organization.  An eighth round draft pick in 2005, he was the team's Minor League Player of the Year in 2007.  He was a teammate of both Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker in Altoona and Indianapolis.  Of those three players, which one would YOU have predicted would one day be a World Series hero?  He made it to Pittsburgh in 2007 and spent parts of five seasons as a Pirate (I would never have guessed that he was here that long), but never made it like Cutch and Walker did.  In parts of five seasons as a Pirate, he played in 185 games and hit .232 with 9 HR and 52 RBI.  

After leaving Pittsburgh after the 2011 season, he kicked around with six other teams, landing in Boston midway through this season.  How fortuitous for him.

Some people have said that the MVP Award should have gone to pitcher David Price, and a case can certainly be made for him, but I'm glad it went to Pearce.  Let's face it, Price is a star, he's cashed in on free agent gold at least once in his career, and may be able to do it again before he's through.  He is a five time All-Star, a Cy Young Award winner, and now he's a World Series champion and hero.  He's also made $144 million over the course of his career and is guaranteed to earn another $127 million under his current deal.  Pearce has kicked around with seven teams, made $23.2 million.  He's a free agent again, and while his World Series heroics may help him in free agency, he'll still be scrambling for another contract, and he won't come close to making what David Price makes.  So again, I'm happy for Steve Pearce.

In conclusion, this Series will be remembered, if it is much remembered at all outside of New England, for three things:

1. Total domination by a great team, the Boston Red Sox.
2. That monumental 18 inning, 7 hour and 20 minute third game.
3. The fact that wizened, gnome-like 84 year old Larry King hung  there for all 18 innings of that game.  

He never made it back for Games Four and Five.

Maybe that's why the Dodgers lost.

And The World Series Winner Will Be......

I didn't pay a lot of attention to the American League East throughout the 2018 season, but I know that the Boston Red Sox laid waste to that race by winning 108 games.  

I didn't pay a lot of attention to the American League Division Series as the Boston Red Sox laid waste to the New York Yankees.

I predicted that the defending World Series Champs and winners of 103 games Houston Astros would win the American League Championship series and then watched as the Boston Red Sox laid waste to them in five games.

So, I've learned my lesson, and I am predicting that the winner of the upcoming 2018 World Series will be.....

Not going to give a lot of analysis here.  Just calling the Sox to defeat the Dodgers in six games.

Oh, and in case you forgot, I also predicted that the Brewers would defeat the Dodgers in the NLCS.  I believe that I DIDN'T have that, so, as always, watch, but don't bet.

LCS Predictions

A friend mine at golf on Tuesday asked why I hadn't posted any baseball playoffs predictions in The Grandstander.  Apparently, some people actually do read this stuff!  Well, sometimes real life gets in the way of fun and games, so, no predictions earlier in this month.  Actually, after the Wild Card games - and isn't that one game playoff just fantastic?  I love it - I didn't see much of any of the four Division Series.  They all went pretty much according to chalk and offered little in the way of drama and suspense.

So, this leads us to the two best-of-seven League Championship Series, and I expect that the drama will ratchet up for all of us out here watching, if for no other reason than for what is at stake - a trip to the World Series.

Great match up in the American League.  The Red Sox won 108 games and blew past the 100 win Yankees in the LDS.  The defending World Series Champion Astros won 103 games and made similar short work of the Indians in the LDS.

I became somewhat familiar with the Astros while watching last year's Series, and I confess to not being all that familiar with the Sox.  I am guessing that Boston will be a slight betting favorite here, but I am going to pick the Astros to win this one for four reasons: Verlander, Kuechel, Cole, and Morton.  Stronger starting pitching triumphs.

In the National League, everything would seem to point to the Dodgers to defeat the Brewers.  Large payroll, great pitching, strong lineup, but I am going to just go on a hunch here and pick Milwaukee to win this one.

In actuality, I admit to picking the Brewers for the simple reason that this is the team that actually want to see win, and I can't believe I am saying that.  For years whenever I would write about the Brewers, I would usually refer to them as the "Hated Brewers", and you all know why - their dominance over the Pirates for much of this century, the steroid cheat Cryin' Ryan Braun....just always a team that I found easy to dislike.

Something changed, though, last off-season, when the Brewers, a team who could have chosen to sing the same "we're a small market and it's hard to compete" blues that the Pirates always sing went out and signed free agent outfielder Lorenzo Cain and swung a trade with Miami for  outfielder Christian Yelich, while the Pirates failed to sign a major league free agent, did sign guys like Josh Smoker, and continued to sing the Small Market Blues.  The Brewers are now in the LCS, four wins away from the World Series, and Yelich is the favorite to win the National League MVP Award.

So THAT is why I am rooting for the Brewers and would be happy to see them win the World Series.  Of course, if the Brewers should win it all, I can already hear Neal Huntington pointing the the Pirates' five game sweep of Milwaukee in July and saying, "See, we CAN compete with the best teams in the league."

As for the Astros, I would like to see them win because I would like to see Charlie Morton playing in the World Series, again, and I would like to see Gerrit Cole get a shot on that stage as well.  Call it a perverse form of baseball fan masochism, but I'd love to see these ex-Buccos holding that Series Trophy.

So, there you are:  The Astros and the Brewers  to face off in the World Series.  As always, watch, but don't bet!

Congratulations, Astros!

Earlier this morning, at 12:27 AM to be precise, I, The Grandstander, went LIVE!! on Facebook (channelling my inner Antonio Brown) to give my immediate thoughts on the Astros 5-1 Game 7 win last night.  You can find it on my Facebook timeline if you missed it and if you are interested.  Having done that, let me just give some final thoughts on the 2017 World Series and MLB Post-Season.

• It was a terrific Series.  Certainly one of the best and most exciting ones in my lifetime.  The Astros victory was well deserved and well earned.
• I was rooting for the Astros in the Series for many reasons, but one reason that I am glad it happened was that it will assure that that crazy and memorable Game 5 extra innings win will remain in memory as perhaps the best and most exciting baseball games ever.  Certainly in the Top Three to Five of such contests.  Ad the Astros lost the Series, it would soon have receded to just an interesting footnote in baseball history.
• For the most part, the Series included spectacular flame outs by the bullpens of both teams, and Houston manager AJ Hinch seemed to lose confidence in most if not all of his relievers.  But you manage a bullpen differently in a Game 7, and Hinch's use of season long relievers early, and starter Charlie Morton late in the game last night worked to perfection.
• Speaking of Hinch, throughout this entire post season, which included two Games Seven, Hinch at all times seemed to be the calmest man in the ball park, and Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts wasn't far behind him.  I can only imagine how many packs of cigarettes Jim Leyland would have gone through in just that fifth game, let alone the entire Series.
• And speaking of Charlie Morton, beginning in that Game Seven against the Yankees in the ALCS, and that four inning relief job in Game Seven of the WS, I found myself  rooting for him and being unbelievably, inexplicably happy for him.

• In seven seasons with the Pirates, Morton went 41-62 with a 4.41 ERA and a 1.427 WHIP.  While he showed signs at times of being a good pitcher, he was a general disappointment, and there was no hue and cry of disappointment when he was traded after the 2015 season to Philadelphia (for David Whitehead, and whatever happened to him?).  However, he always came across as a good guy, and he ran into hard luck (nine trips to the DL over the years), and I confess to being completely unaware to his resurgence with the Astros this season (14-7, 3.62).  When I saw him start Game 7 against the Yankees, I just wanted him to win, and seeing him go four innings and being on the mound to get the 27th out last night, well, it just felt good.  I can't explain it.
• Speaking of relief pitchers and Dave Roberts, I wonder how many people in LA are asking, "Why didn't Clayton Kershaw start Game Seven?"  I know that hindsight is 20/20, but when you saw what Kershaw did in relief last night, and when you know there was no "next game" until next April, and if this guy is supposed to be the "next Koufax", well, it's a question that has to be asked.
• And on the subject of ex-Pirates, it needs to be noted that Tony Watson was the winning pitcher in two of the Dodgers three wins.  And Francisco Liriano also pitched in Game Seven for the winning Astros.
• Jose Altuve is a great player, no question about it, but the ballplayer with whom I was most impressed throughout this Post Season was Astros outfielder George Springer.

• We all know what he did in the Series: five home runs, and every one of them seemed to be critical ones.  He also impressed me as a fabulous outfielder, and, yes, he did make one bad mistake in judgment in that fifth game out there in center field, but, man, do I wish he played for the Pirates.  The Series MVP is my newest baseball Mancrush.
• The television coverage of the WS by Fox was great, and, yes, I am including Joe Buck in that evaluation, despite the fact that at one point he made the serious grammatical error when he said "between the three of them..."  Color analyst John Smoltz was positively terrific,  maybe the best there is right now, and I can even forgive him for reminding us on more that one occasion that during his career he was called upon to start in three different Games Seven.  If I had something like that on my resume, I'd drop it onto the conversation as often as I could.

I will end his post by stealing from pal Joe Risacher an observation that he made on Facebook late last night.  One could - could -  say that in 2015, after winning 98 games, the Pirates and the Astros were in the same relative positions, baseball-wise. After that season, the Pirates elected to, if not blow up, then certainly not build upon that season's success.  The Astros continued to build and when the opportunity came two seasons later to really "go for it", the Astros did, spent money (the Justin Verlander deal being the most obvious example, but there were others), and today they are World Series Champions.  The Pirates are coming off of back-to-back losing seasons.  Too simplistic a comparison?  Perhaps, but it is hard not to draw some very bad conclusions if you are a Bucco fan.

It was a really bad year for the City of Houston, Texas.  I am glad that they now have the chance to celebrate their baseball team.

That Crazy Game 5

If you missed that Game Five of this year's World Series last night, and chances are you did if you live east of the Mississippi and had to get up for work or school on Monday morning, here's how it played out:

• It was 4-0 Dodgers in the top of the fourth inning with Clayton Kershaw pitching.
• It was 4-4 in the bottom of the fourth.
• It was 7-4 Dodgers in the top of the fifth.
• It was 7-7 in the bottom of the fifth.
• It was 8-7 Dodgers in the top of the seventh.
• It was It was 11-8 Astros in the bottom of the seventh.
• It was 11-9 in the top of the eighth.
• It was 12-9 in the bottom of the eighth.
• It was 12-12 in the top of the ninth.
• Astros walk-off 13-12 in the bottom of the tenth.
• The Astros hit five home runs, the Dodgers hit two.
• Perhaps the best player on either team, George Springer, made a bonehead play in the outfield that caused the Dodgers to take the lead in the seventh inning.
• Springer then led off the bottom of the seventh  by hitting the first pitch he saw about nine miles for a home run that tied the game, and sparked a four run rally for the Astros.
• Each team used seven pitchers.  
• Each team started it's best pitcher.  Kershaw was knocked out of the game in the fifth inning.  Dallas Keuchel was knocked out in the fourth.
• Each team's bullpen was abominable.
• The game lasted 5 hours and 17 minutes, and ended at close to 1:30 AM in the East.

It was a game that took too long to play, that featured marginal to awful pitching, that featured some glaring mistakes by the managers, and it just may well have been the most exciting and dramatic sporting event, not just the most exciting and dramatic baseball game, that I have seen in, I don't know, ten years, twenty years?  Name me something comparable.  I'm willing to listen and argue the point with you.  

And this Game Five comes four days after an eleven inning 7-6 Astros win in Game Two that was similarly exciting and almost epic, but Game Five topped it in spades.

Me, I was watching the Steelers game and switching the the baseball game during commercials.  I did see the Jose Altuve three-run homer that tied it at 7-7 in the fifth inning.  The Steelers game ended at around 11:30 or so, and I then switched to the Series game, which by then was only at the end of the sixth inning.  Little did I realize what was to come over the next two or so hours.  As I said, it may have been the most compelling and dramatic baseball game ever, considering what was at stake.

Just how this game will sit in the pantheon of All-Time Great Games will depend on who ends up winning the World Series. If Houston prevails, then this one becomes one of the Top Two to Five games ever.  If the Dodgers win, then Game Five becomes an interesting historical footnote with each passing year.

So, how does it end?  The Series now goes back to LA with Houston up 3-2 and Justin Verlander pitching for them.  You have to like their chances, and given how the Astros bullpen has been, I am guessing that AJ Hinch will make him pitch until his arm falls off.  I like Houston's chances in Game Six, but if it goes to a seventh game, well, I had called for the Dodgers in seven at the outset, so I guess that I will stand by that.

Regardless of how it ends up, these two teams have thus far, given us a World Series for the ages.

Speaking of Sports....

It's been awhile since I've commented on the sporting scene, so let's play a little catch-up, shall we.....

Two weeks ago, the Steelers lost, badly so, to the Jax Jaguars, and were headed on the road to play the undefeated KayCee Chiefs.  It was looking grim, and a poor performance against the Chiefs could have sent the Steelers season in the wrong direction.  

What followed was convincing win against the Chiefs, and that was then followed with an even more convincing win over the Cincinnati Bengals.  Not coincidentally, both wins featured strong performances by this guy...

Le'Veon Bell

....who may very well be the best running back in the NFL.  Bell has shown knucklehead tendencies in the past, but it cannot be disputed just how good he is.

Both of these past two Steelers wins have also been highlighted by strong defensive performances, and now, just two weeks after that woeful game against the Jags, the team appears to be one of the strongest in the NFL.  Of concern, however, is the Steelers mystifying inability to turn First and Goal opportunities into touchdowns and settling for field goals instead.  It hasn't hurt them too much so far, but there will come a time, against a strong opponent, when I fear that that deficiency will bite them in the posterior.  Until then, though, let's enjoy the ride.

********

Is there anything that can cure Steelers Sluggishness more that playing against the Cincy Bengals?  Once again, the Bengals turned into the Bungles when playing the Steelers yesterday.  At no time was this more apparent than at the end of the first half.  The Steelers have the ball inside their own twenty-five yard line, under two minutes to play, and only one time out.  What happens? A Bengals penalty for having twelve men on the field gives the Steelers a crucial first down, and that was then followed up by a forty yard pass interference penalty that gave the Steelers the ball on the Bengals five yard line.  And all of that was followed by a Bengal second half where Andy Dalton and his mates redefined the term "hapless".

As I have often said, Death, Taxes, and Unbelievable Screw-ups by the Cincy Bengals.  Three absolutes in life.

********

Two weeks ago, I sat in Heinz Field and watched Pitt get thoroughly beaten by North Carolina State and fall to 2-4.  Really, there was nothing positive to take from that game.  Poor line play, which led to no running game and inept quarterback play.  It was discussed among my ticket group that it was possible that the Panthers might not win another game all season.

What happens?  Pitt travels to Duke and lays a beat down on the Blue Devils, a win that featured a 200+ yard rushing performance from Darrin Hall.  Go figure.

Pitt now has to go 3-2 the rest of the way to become bowl eligible.  Can they do it?  I suppose it is possible, but I give it a less than 50/50 chance unless some spark is lit at the quarterback position.  Makes you realize how good a college QB Nate Peterman was.

Anyway, bowl eligibility now becomes the Panther goal, but how good are you really going to feel about a 6-6 season?

********

The World Series begins tomorrow night!  Once the premier sporting event in all of America, the World Series is still a pretty big deal to me, and this year's battle between the Dodgers....

Dodgers defeat Cubs

and Astros....

Astros defeat Yankees

certainly has the possibility to be an exciting one.  

Both teams won over 100 games, and the Dodgers, save for an inexplicable 20 for so game stretch game in late August, steamrolled through the regular season and the NL Playoffs.  Likewise, the Astros blew through the AL West in the regular season, and won a thrilling LCS in seven games over the Yankees.

(Before I go on, a word about the Yankees.  They are young and they are good, and unlike Yankees teams from the George Steinbrenner/Billy Martin Era, they are hard not to like. [With the exception of Aroldis Chapman; I can't see myself ever liking him.] With guys like Judge, Bird, Sanchez, and Severino, they have the makings of a team that we shall be seeing in the post-season for years to come.  They also have a really good manager in Joe Girardi. They'll be back.)

The Astros and Dodgers.  Both teams have terrific starting pitching and terrific hitting.  Both have deep benches.  The Dodgers have an absolutely unbelievable bullpen, and that is where I give them a significant edge over the Astros.  The Astros, given the depths that the team was in earlier in the decade, and given what the City of Houston has experienced this past summer, will be the easier team for which to root, but I think that the bullpen will be the edge that will give the Dodgers the ultimate victory.

In my Pirates preview post of April 2, 2017 (you can look it up), I ended with the following sentence:

The Los Angles Dodgers will defeat the Boston Red Sox in the World Series.

Okay, I had the AL team wrong, but I will stay with that original sentiment and call it a Dodgers win in seven games.  As always, watch but don't bet.

This Date in Baseball - August 24, 2017

We will not know for certain just how significant the above date will be in terms of the 2017 Major League Baseball season until the World Series is over several weeks from now, but from the vantage point of today, September 13, something  happened to flip a switch in the fortunes of two MLB teams or about that date.

On August 24, the Dodgers defeated the Pirates 5-2 in Pittsburgh to complete a 3-of-4 series victory over the Pirates.  The next night, they defeated the Brewers in LA and pushed their record to an astonishing 91-36, a pace that would have them winning 116 games over a full season.  As I said, astonishing, and talk of the Dodgers being a Super Team was being bandied about freely.  

Over the next seventeen games since then, the Dodgers have gone 1-16, and 3-16 over the next nineteen games (they are now on a two game winning streak).  What was a 21 game lead over Arizona in the NL West has now shrunk to a 10 game lead.  It is still almost inconceivable that thay will not win their division, but all talk of then being a super team has long been abandoned, and they are as shaky as the San Andreas Fault upon which they sit as they enter into the MLB post-season.

Maybe Rich Hill losing that no-hitter on Josh Harrison's tenth inning walk off home run on August 23 took more out of them than we realized at the time.

Meanwhile, over in the American League Central, on the morning of August 24, the Cleveland Indians were chugging along nicely at 69-56 and had a 4.5 game lead in the Central over the Minnesota Twins.  That night they beat the Boston Red Sox, 13-6, and THEY HAVE NOT LOST A GAME SINCE THEN!!!!  Their winning streak is now at 21 games, they are 90-56, and hold a 13.5 game lead over the Twins.

Like I say, a remarkable turn of events for two different MLB teams, and it all began on August 24 (sort of).

A New SS for the Pirates? and Dodgers Thoughts

The Angels this week "designated for assignment" (translation: we don't want this guy any more) short stop Brandon Wood. If you are like me, you never heard of Brandon Wood, so here's the skinny on him.

A one time #1 draft pick of the Angels, Wood shot through the Angels system and made it to the big club in 2007, but as often happens with hotshot, can't-miss prospects, things became different in the major leagues (can you say "Chad Hermansen"). With the Angels Wood has managed to play in 173 games in five MLB seasons and put together a career batting average of .168. That is not a misprint. His BA is One-Six-Eight. He has hit 11 home runs and driven in 33 runs in those 173 games. He has walked 13 times, and struck out 153 times.

Reports are that the Pirates will be "all over" Wood as he travels through waivers. Hard to imagine that the Pirates, in looking for a short stop to replace Ronny Cedeno would be able to come up with a player who was actually worse than Cedeno, but it looks like GM Neal is going to do exactly that.

I'll say this for Huntington - he doesn't embarrass easily. He has to know the ridicule that he will face if the Pirates claim this guy and put him in the line-up at PNC Park, but if the reports are accurate, it looks like he's going to do it anyway. It might make us long for the glory days of Brian Bixler at short.

Of course, maybe the theory is that a change of scenery will work wonders for Brandon Wood. On the other hand, that same theory never worked for Chad Hermansen in Chicago, LA or Toronto.

*****
Speaking of L.A. the news that Major League Baseball will be taking over the operations of the Los Angeles Dodgers has to be shocking to long time fans of the game. You would probably not get any arguments if you said that apart from the New York Yankees, the Dodgers, both in Brooklyn and Los Angeles, have been the most important, historical, successful and stable franchises in the history of the sport. That the shaky finances and marital squabbles of the McCorts has brought this franchise to this point is sad to behold.

I made a comment about this on my Facebook page the other day and it elicited a lot of comments. Some were pretty good, like..."why doesn't MLB take over the Pirates"...."as happened with the Expos, maybe MLB will allow the team to move; I hear that Brooklyn needs a team." My own comment was that there are surely some still-bitter old fans in Brooklyn who are now screaming "serves you right."

However, I will leave you with this snippet from LA Times columnist Bill Plaschke on the matter:

"Since buying the team in 2004 with more smug than money, Frank McCourt kept his hands in his pockets while the stadium became a dump, the fan base become dangerously belligerent, and the team became the Pittsburgh Pirates."

Ouch!