The Baseball Continuum

PP Jose Bautista 11*

P Chris Young 10

PP Ben Zobrist 10

PP Eric Hosmer 10

PP Michael Conforto 10

PP Jorge Soler 6*

PP Alex Rios 6

PP Ryan Goins 5*

PP Lucas Duda 5

P Steven Matz 5

PP Rougned Odor 3*

P John Lackey 3*

P Travis Wood 3*

PP Chris Carter 3*

PP Carlos Correa 3*

PP Kevin Pillar 3*

P Pedro Strop 3*

PP Javier Baez 3*

PP Justin Turner 3*

PP Colby Rasmus 1*

MR. OCTOBERS of WORLD SERIES GAME 3

Posted on October 31, 2015 by danglickman

David Wright and Noah Syndergaard (who pitched better than his stats indicate), AKA Captain America and Thor, are the MR. OCTOBERs of last night.

STANDINGS (PP means Position Player, P means Pitcher, * means the team has been eliminated):

P Noah Syndergaard 18

P Johnny Cueto 16

PP David Wright 13

PP Daniel Murphy 11

PP Jose Bautista 11*

P Chris Young 10

PP Ben Zobrist 10

PP Eric Hosmer 10

PP Jorge Soler 6*

PP Alex Rios 6

PP Ryan Goins 5*

PP Lucas Duda 5

P Steven Matz 5

PP Rougned Odor 3*

P John Lackey 3*

P Travis Wood 3*

PP Chris Carter 3*

PP Carlos Correa 3*

PP Kevin Pillar 3*

P Pedro Strop 3*

PP Javier Baez 3*

PP Justin Turner 3*

PP Colby Rasmus 1*

MR. OCTOBERS of 2015 WORLD SERIES GAME 2

Posted on October 29, 2015 by danglickman

Johnny Cueto had the first complete-game for an AL starter since 1991 with a two-hitter, and Eric Hosmer had two RBIs, so they are the MR. OCTOBERS of Game 2.

STANDINGS (PP means Position Player, P means Pitcher, * means the team has been eliminated):

P Johnny Cueto 16

PP Daniel Murphy 11

PP Jose Bautista 11*

P Chris Young 10

PP Ben Zobrist 10

PP Eric Hosmer 10

P Noah Syndergaard 8

PP Jorge Soler 6*

PP Alex Rios 6

PP Ryan Goins 5*

PP Lucas Duda 5

P Steven Matz 5

PP Rougned Odor 3*

P John Lackey 3*

PP David Wright 3

P Travis Wood 3*

PP Chris Carter 3*

PP Carlos Correa 3*

PP Kevin Pillar 3*

P Pedro Strop 3*

PP Javier Baez 3*

PP Justin Turner 3*

PP Colby Rasmus 1*

MR. OCTOBERS of WORLD SERIES GAME 1

Posted on October 28, 2015 by danglickman

The MR. OCTOBERs of Game 1 were Ben Zobrist and Chris Young. Ten points to each of them!

STANDINGS (PP means Position Player, P means Pitcher, * means the team has been eliminated):

PP Daniel Murphy 11

PP Jose Bautista 11*

P Chris Young 10

PP Ben Zobrist 10

P Noah Syndergaard 8

PP Jorge Soler 6*

PP Alex Rios 6

P Johnny Cueto 6

PP Ryan Goins 5*

PP Lucas Duda 5

P Steven Matz 5

PP Rougned Odor 3*

P John Lackey 3*

PP David Wright 3

P Travis Wood 3*

PP Chris Carter 3*

PP Carlos Correa 3*

PP Kevin Pillar 3*

P Pedro Strop 3*

PP Javier Baez 3*

PP Justin Turner 3*

PP Colby Rasmus 1*

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Over at @HOVG, the Wisdom and Links World Series preview!

Aside

Now at Hall of Very Good, the latest Wisdom and Links looks at the World Series in every way except what actually matters. Check it out.

My Completely-Without-Explanation 2015 World Series Pick

Posted on October 27, 2015 by danglickman

Mets over Royals (in six).

(The explanation I didn’t include: The Mets have better starting pitching, more power hitters, and Terry Collins is way less likely than Ned Yost to do something crazy like leaving a pitcher in too long.)

FALLOUT 4 BASEBALL UPDATE: “Big Leagues” Microteaser

Posted on October 27, 2015 by danglickman

Note: The following may have minor spoilers about Fallout 4.

Like many gamers, I am eagerly awaiting the release of Fallout 4, the latest in the line of quasi-50s retro-futuristic post-apocalyptic action-adventure RPGs. Heck, I’ve even splurged for the collector’s edition! But it’s not just the opportunity to fight post-nuclear abominations that have me hyped… it’s also due to the fact that this installment of Fallout will be in Boston and will feature a society (“Diamond City”) that lives in a post-apocalyptic Fenway Park.

However, it appears that Bethesda Game Studios, the creators of this installment of the series, have gone even further, and baseball will actually be a part of the game. Take a look at this leaked achievement (you can get achievements for doing special things in-game):

Yes, apparently, you can hit a homer in Fallout 4 (there’s also an achievement for scoring a touchdown, but this is a baseball blog).

And, what’s more, Bethesda has gotten into the World Series spirit by tweeting this out:

Team with most votes gets this perk. RT for @Mets, Fav for @Royals. #WorldSeries pic.twitter.com/wlvCFs6Hs2

— BethesdaGameStudios (@BethesdaStudios) October 27, 2015

It appears that there will be a special “perk”, called “Big Leagues”, which will make it easier for you to use baseball bats and other “melee” weapons in combat, perhaps leading to what the game describes as a chance to “grand slam their head clean off!”. Needless to say, this game is rated M for Mature.

I want that vault-boy baseball uniform to wear for Halloween next year. Assuming, of course, I don’t just go with the BASEBALL ARMOR THAT IS IN THE GAME:

And, say, look behind the vault-dweller here. It looks like while the Green Monster itself has some holes in it, the hand-operated scoreboard still exists in the Fallout Universe, and there was a AL East, which is somewhat surprising since in the Fallout Universe most cultural progress (music, television, fashion, car design, etc.) ended around 1960, so I would have thought that they never would have implemented divisions in baseball there and oh-my-god-I’m-considering-the-pre-apocalyptic-baseball-set-up-of-a-fictional-post-apocalyptic-video-game-universe-this-is-the-geekiest-thing-I’ve-ever-done.

Oh, and the guards of Diamond City look like catchers or umpires, albeit ones wearing helmets that look like they just walked off the set of a Mad Max movie:

I wonder what other sort of baseball references they will have in Fallout 4? Will some Red Sox greats have voice roles (don’t laugh, Wayne Newton did voicework in the game that was set in Las Vegas)? Will there be a big friendly green monster named Wally who lives in Diamond City? Apparently the plot involves your character being put in a cryogenic freeze, so maybe they will make a Ted Williams joke?

Time will tell. Time will tell.

The MR. OCTOBERS of ALCS Game 6

Posted on October 24, 2015 by danglickman

The MR. OCTOBERS of yesterday’s ALCS Game 6 were Wade Davis and Jose Bautista (even though they lost and his poorly chosen throwing target were partly to blame).

So now, with the LCS round done, we go to the WORLD SERIES, where every MR. OCTOBER gets 10 points!

STANDINGS (PP means Position Player, P means Pitcher, * means the team has been eliminated):

PP Daniel Murphy 11

PP Jose Bautista 11*

P Noah Syndergaard 8

PP Jorge Soler 6*

PP Alex Rios 6

P Johnny Cueto 6

PP Ryan Goins 5*

PP Lucas Duda 5

P Steven Matz 5

PP Rougned Odor 3*

P John Lackey 3*

PP David Wright 3

P Travis Wood 3*

PP Chris Carter 3*

PP Carlos Correa 3*

PP Kevin Pillar 3*

P Pedro Strop 3*

PP Javier Baez 3*

PP Justin Turner 3*

PP Colby Rasmus 1*