Tag Archives: 2014

Last Night’s Mister Octobers (October 25, 2014)

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In last night’s game, the Giants did work, scoring 10 unanswered runs! Who are the Mr. Octobers? I say they are Pablo Sandoval and Yusmeiro Petit. Really, the Giants have a thing with P. There’s Pablo/Panda, Petit, Posey, Pence, Panik…

Standings (PP= Position Player, P= Pitcher, * means eliminated from playoffs):

P Madison Bumgarner 21

P Yusmeiro Petit 18

P Kelvin Herrera 15

P Greg Holland 15

PP Pablo Sandoval 15

PP Alex Gordon 13

PP Eric Hosmer 13

PP Travis Ishikawa 10

PP Hunter Pence 10

PP Billy Butler 10

PP Mike Moustakas 8

P Andrew Miller 8*

PP Nelson Cruz 6*

PP Matt Carpenter 6*

P Wade Davis 5

PP Kolten Wong 5*

P Pat Neshek 5*

P Jeremy Affeldt 5

PP Lorenzo Cain 5

PP Buster Posey 5

P Kevin Gausman 3*

PP Delmon Young 3*

PP Joe Panik 3

P Jake Peavy 3

P Yordano Ventura 3

P Jered Weaver 3*

PP Brandon Belt 3

P Zack Greinke 3*

PP Matt Kemp 3*

P Bud Norris 3*

P James Shields 3

P Doug Fister 3*

PP Wilson Ramos 3*

P John Lackey 3*

PP Matt Adams 3*

P Trevor Rosenthal 3*

PP Bryce Harper 3*

P Ryan Vogelsong 3

PP Brandon Crawford 1

PP Brandon Moss 1*

P Brandon Finnegan 1

Last Night’s Mr. Octobers (October 24, 2014)

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Last night’s Mr. Octobers, for Game 3 of the World Series, are Greg Holland and Eric Hosmer (who’s excellent AB made it 3-0, and in hindsight proved the biggest run of the game).

Standings (PP= Position Player, P= Pitcher, * means eliminated from playoffs):

P Madison Bumgarner 21

P Kelvin Herrera 15

P Greg Holland 15

PP Alex Gordon 13

PP Eric Hosmer 13

PP Travis Ishikawa 10

PP Hunter Pence 10

PP Billy Butler 10

PP Mike Moustakas 8

P Andrew Miller 8*

P Yusmeiro Petit 8

PP Nelson Cruz 6*

PP Matt Carpenter 6*

P Wade Davis 5

PP Pablo Sandoval 5

PP Kolten Wong 5*

P Pat Neshek 5*

P Jeremy Affeldt 5

PP Lorenzo Cain 5

PP Buster Posey 5

P Kevin Gausman 3*

PP Delmon Young 3*

PP Joe Panik 3

P Jake Peavy 3

P Yordano Ventura 3

P Jered Weaver 3*

PP Brandon Belt 3

P Zack Greinke 3*

PP Matt Kemp 3*

P Bud Norris 3*

P James Shields 3

P Doug Fister 3*

PP Wilson Ramos 3*

P John Lackey 3*

PP Matt Adams 3*

P Trevor Rosenthal 3*

PP Bryce Harper 3*

P Ryan Vogelsong 3

PP Brandon Crawford 1

PP Brandon Moss 1*

P Brandon Finnegan 1

Headlines from around the Continuum: October 23, 2014

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A sampling of baseball-related headlines from the Newseum, with the occasional note from me on what they are talking about:

(Note that I try to copy the style of the paper as well, hence why some are in ALL CAPS while others aren’t. Also, I ignored extremely basic-and extremely common- headlines like “Royals win” or “Game 3 tomorrow”. I’ll occasionally make an exception for the team’s “home” newspapers)

Headline: Royals win Game 2

San Francisco Chronicle: Sweep talk swept away in big inning

San Francisco Examiner: Roasted rookie (on Hunter Strickland)

Kansas City Star: GAME ON

Appeal-Democrat (Marysville, CA): Great start, rough finish for Giants

Monterey Herald (Monterey, CA): ROUGHED UP

Oakland Tribune: NO RELIEF (also the title for the San Jose Mercury News)

Sacramento Bee: Giants lose their edge

San Mateo (CA) Daily Journal: A ROYAL PAIN

Marin Independent Journal (San Rafael, CA): ROYAL REVENGE

Loveland (CO) Reporter-Herald: 1 AND 1

Miami Herald: THE MARLINS’ MR. OCTOBER (On Laurence Leavy, AKA “Marlins Guy”, who has a habit of going to World Series games in full Marlins regalia even though they aren’t playing)

The Hawk Eye (Burlington, IA): Back in the game

Lawrence (KS) Journal-World: ROYAL SMACKDOWN

Ottawa (KS) Herald: ROYAL BLUE (for a story on local Royals fans)

Joplin (MO) Globe: ROYAL ROUT (The same headline was used in Springfield)

Bozeman (MT) Daily Chronicle: ALL EVEN

Poughkeepsie (NY) Journal: A FAMILY’S JOURNEY (On Joe Panik, who grew up and went to High School not far from Poughkeepsie)

News & Advance (Lynchburg, VA): A ROYAL REVIVAL

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Pride of Clintonville (on Royals 3B coach Mike Jirschele, a Clintonville, WI native)

El Universal (Cartagena, Colombia): BUENA REACCIÓN (“Good reaction” or “Good Response”)

El Norte (Monterrey, Mexico): UNA REACCIÓN REAL (“A Royal Response” or “A Royal Reaction”)

Check back throughout the series for more!

 

 

 

Mr. Octobers of Last Night (October 22, 2014)

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Last night’s Mr. Octobers? Why, Billy Butler and Kelvin Herrera! Butler for his go-ahead single, and Herrera for his excellent 1.2 innings of relief.

Standings (PP= Position Player, P= Pitcher, * means eliminated from playoffs):

P Madison Bumgarner 21

P Kelvin Herrera 15

PP Alex Gordon 13

PP Travis Ishikawa 10

PP Hunter Pence 10

PP Billy Butler 10

PP Mike Moustakas 8

P Andrew Miller 8*

P Yusmeiro Petit 8

PP Nelson Cruz 6*

PP Matt Carpenter 6*

P Wade Davis 5

PP Pablo Sandoval 5

PP Kolten Wong 5*

P Pat Neshek 5*

P Jeremy Affeldt 5

P Greg Holland 5

PP Lorenzo Cain 5

PP Buster Posey 5

P Kevin Gausman 3*

PP Delmon Young 3*

PP Joe Panik 3

P Jake Peavy 3

P Yordano Ventura 3

PP Eric Hosmer 3

P Jered Weaver 3*

PP Brandon Belt 3

P Zack Greinke 3*

PP Matt Kemp 3*

P Bud Norris 3*

P James Shields 3

P Doug Fister 3*

PP Wilson Ramos 3*

P John Lackey 3*

PP Matt Adams 3*

P Trevor Rosenthal 3*

PP Bryce Harper 3*

P Ryan Vogelsong 3

PP Brandon Crawford 1

PP Brandon Moss 1*

P Brandon Finnegan 1

Headlines from around the Continuum: October 22, 2014

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A sampling of baseball-related headlines from the Newseum, with the occasional note from me on what they are talking about:

(Note that I try to copy the style of the paper as well, hence why some are in ALL CAPS while others aren’t. Also, I ignored extremely basic-and extremely common- headlines like “Giants win” or “Game 2 tonight”. I’ll occasionally make an exception for the team’s “home” newspapers)

Headline: Giants win Game 1, 7-1

San Francisco Chronicle: To start, a royal drubbing

San Francisco Examiner: Giants strike early, often

Kansas City Star: BUMMER

Bakersfield Californian: DETHRONED (w/ image of sad Royals fans)

Appeal-Democrat (Marysville, CA): Giants deliver Royals pain in Game 1

Modesto Bee: S.F. OFF TO A GIANT START

Monterey (CA) Herald: ROYAL CRUSH (was also used in other papers, too)

Oakland Tribune: ONE GIANT STEP (the San Jose Mercury News had the same headline, as did others)

Sacramento Bee: A GIANT STATEMENT

San Mateo (CA) Daily Journal: ONE DOWN, THREE TO GO

The Record (Stockton, CA): SF fans gather to watch glory

Tampa Bay Times: WHAT A SHAME IN GAME 1 FOR BIG GAME JAMES (Note that James Shields got his start as a Ray)

The Hawk Eye (Burlington, IA): Royally Disappointed

Lawrence (KS) Journal-World: PUT AWAY YOUR BROOMS

Joplin (MO) Globe: ROUGH START

News-Leader (Springfield, MO): FEE-FI-FO-FUM (because Giants, get it?)

Omaha World-Herald: SERIES BEGINS, STREAK ENDS

El Universal (Cartagena, Colombia): SERIE GIGANTE (Giant Series)

Novedades de Quintana Roo (Quintana Roo, Mexico): Gigantes da el primer golpe (“Giants tee off” or “Giants land the first blow” or something along those lines)

Vanguardia (Saltillo, Mexico): GIGANTES ROMPEN RACHA (“Giants break streak”)

La Prensa (Managua, Nicaragua): Bumgarner estuvo gigante (“Bumgarner was giant”)

El Nuevo Dia (San Juan, Puerto Rico): PALIZA GIGANTE A KANSAS CITY (Could range, depending on translation, from simply saying that the Giants beat Kansas City to something like “Giant beating of Kansas City”)

Check back throughout the World Series for more headlines!

Mr. Octobers of Last Night (October 21, 2014)

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It’s the World Series, where true October heroes are made! If you do well in the World Series, it doesn’t matter how well you did in the LDS and LCS. 10 points for every MVP of a game! 20 points if a Game 7!

Last night’s MVPs are (pitching) Madison Bumgarner (because he was amazing) and Hunter Pence (because his HR opened the floodgates, and he also had a double).

Standings (PP= Position Player, P= Pitcher, * means eliminated from playoffs):

P Madison Bumgarner 21

PP Alex Gordon 13

PP Travis Ishikawa 10

PP Hunter Pence 10

PP Mike Moustakas 8

P Andrew Miller 8*

P Yusmeiro Petit 8

PP Nelson Cruz 6*

PP Matt Carpenter 6*

P Wade Davis 5

PP Pablo Sandoval 5

PP Kolten Wong 5*

P Pat Neshek 5*

P Jeremy Affeldt 5

P Greg Holland 5

PP Lorenzo Cain 5

P Kelvin Herrera 5

PP Buster Posey 5

P Kevin Gausman 3*

PP Delmon Young 3*

PP Joe Panik 3

P Jake Peavy 3

P Yordano Ventura 3

PP Eric Hosmer 3

P Jered Weaver 3*

PP Brandon Belt 3

P Zack Greinke 3*

PP Matt Kemp 3*

P Bud Norris 3*

P James Shields 3

P Doug Fister 3*

PP Wilson Ramos 3*

P John Lackey 3*

PP Matt Adams 3*

P Trevor Rosenthal 3*

PP Bryce Harper 3*

P Ryan Vogelsong 3

PP Brandon Crawford 1

PP Brandon Moss 1*

P Brandon Finnegan 1

Headlines from around the Continuum: October 21, 2014

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A sampling of baseball-related headlines from the Newseum, with the occasional note from me on what they are talking about:

(Note that I try to copy the style of the paper as well, hence why some are in ALL CAPS while others aren’t. Also, I ignored extremely basic-and extremely common- headlines like “World Series Preview” or “Game tonight”. I’ll occasionally make an exception for the team’s “home” newspapers)

Headline: World Series starts tonight!

San Francisco Chronicle: Tight-knit pitchers give Giants a Southern accent

San Francisco Examiner: Winning Formula: Giants tap red-hot ‘MadBum’ for Game 1

Kansas City Star: KC: A BASEBALL TOWN

TimesDaily (Florence, AL): SHOALS IN THE SERIES (Sergio Romo and Josh Willingham, both in the World Series, had played for the Florence-based University of North Alabama in the past)

Bakersfield Californian: DYNASTY VS. DESTINY

Merced (CA) Sun-Star: Giants-sized gear purchases (On the demand for San Francisco Giants gear)

Modesto Bee: S.F. Fans getting geared up (On Modesto-area Giants fans)

Oakland Tribune: Giants’ toughness starts at the top (On Brian Sabean, Giants GM)

The Tribune (San Luis Obispo, CA): VETERAN BULLPEN EYES THIRD RING

Orange County Register: WILD-CARD WORLD SERIES

South Florida Sun-Sentinel: THEY’VE HIT IT BIG (On Eric Hosmer and Michael Morse, who played high school ball in Broward County, FL)

Des Moines Register: Loyals to the crown (on Iowa fans of the Royals)

News-Gazette (Champaign, IL): Series business (I had to include this simply because of the bad pun)

Redeye (Chicago, IL): LOVABLE LONGSHOTS (On the Royals- there’s a picture of a container of barbecue sauce with them on it)

Lawrence (KS) Journal-World: ROYAL FEVER

Ottawa (KS) Herald: WORLD APART (on how a Ottawa native’s brother lives in San Francisco, leading to the two of them rooting for different teams in the World Series)

Wichita Eagle: Royals fans in Wichita are living a dream

Joplin (MO) Globe: Royal Rhythm (On how Missouri Southern’s drumline will be performing in Kansas City for World Series festivities) Also on the front page: LONG WAIT ENDS TODAY

News-Leader (Springfield, MO): Hopping on Royals bandwagon?

McDowell (County, NC) News: Down to Earth in the World Series (on Greg Holland, who went to High School in McDowell County, NC.)

Argus Leader (Sioux Falls, SD): MOST UNLIKELY WORLD SERIES

Yankton (SD) Daily Press: SERIOUS SERIES (on local fans of Royals and Giants)

Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Former TCU ace could be factor as World Series opens tonight (The ace is Brandon Finnegan)

USA Today: Royal underdogs vs. Giant legacy

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: NED YOST DOESN’T CARE WHAT YOU THINK

Hamilton (Canada) Spectator: 2014 WORLD SERIES: The party crashers vs. the old pros

Vanguardia (Saltillo, Mexico): BUSCAN HACER HISTORIA! (“Looking to make history!”)

El Nacional (Caracas, Venezuela): Siete venezolanos en play (Seven Venezuelans Play)

 

 

Check back throughout the World Series for more headlines!

 

 

 

Is this the end of the Curse of the Colonel?

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Okay, jump into your nearest Wayback Machine, DeLorean, TARDIS, or George Carlin-approved Phone Booth, and go to the year 1985, to the Kansai Region of Japan. The Osaka area, to be exact. The Hanshin Tigers have just beaten the Seibu Lions, 4 games to 2, to win the Japan Series. It’s the first time they’ve won the NPB championship, and the first time the team has been Japan’s champion since 1947, three years before the founding of NPB.

In celebration, fans of the Tigers* gathered near a local river, with fans shouting out the names of star players followed by people who resembled the player then jumping in. However, there was one problem: The team’s star player, Randy Bass, was not Japanese, but instead a bearded American named Randy Bass. With nobody around who resembled him, they instead grabbed a statue of Colonel Sanders from a nearby KFC and threw it in instead.

The following year, they fell to third in the Central League. The year after that, they were last. The year after that, they were last again. In fact, they would prove to generally be asecond-division team every year until 2003. In that time, an explanation was come up with- it was a curse. A curse from Colonel Sanders.

Visits to the Japan Series in 2003 and 2005 ended in defeat, and four playoff appearances since had seen them go out in the first stage of the “Climax Series” (the first stage of the “Climax Series” is roughly analogous to the LDS round of MLB, although the fact it pits the 2nd and 3rd best teams in each league make it a bit similar to the Wild Card Play-In).

But then, this year, they got through the first stage of the Climax Series (defeating Hiroshima) and got to Stage 2 against their rivals, the Yomiuri Giants. Now, Stage 2 of the Climax Series is a weird thing to American eyes. While it essentially is a LCS round, it’s a best-of-6. Yes, you read that right: best-of-six. The team with the better record/home field gets a 1-game advantage to start the series, meaning that they only need to win 3 games, while the other team needs to win 4.

The Giants are winners of 35 Central League titles and 22 Japan Series titles in their history. When you consider that the modern NPB was founded in 1950, you can see why they are called the “Yankees of Japan”. And this year, they again had great success, winning the Central League by 7 games over Hiroshima and Hanshin and racking up the best record in Japanese baseball.

But, what do you know? The Tigers swept them 4-straight, winning game four by a 8-4 score, with home runs by Matt Murton, Tsuyoshi Nishioka and Kosuke Fukudome and a late 2-run double by Mauro Gomez. You can see highlights here.

Their fans celebrated, of course, by jumping into the river:

So, now, the Tigers head to the Japan Series. They will face either Soft Bank or Nippon Ham. Will they win? I don’t know. But there is something to be noted here. Something that is different from the last few post-curse times they reached the Japan Series.

You see, a few years ago, a good chunk of the Colonel Sanders statue was found. This will be the Tigers’ first appearance in the Japanese Series since the Colonel was recovered. And so, it won’t be long until the world learns… whether the Colonel’s Curse lives.

Stay tuned.

 

*You may remember the Hanshin Tigers from my discussion of a Pokemon baseball episode.

Mr. Octobers of Last Night (October 16, 2014)

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The Mr. Octobers of last night are Madison Bumgarner and walk-off HR hero Travis Ishikawa.

Standings (PP= Position Player, P= Pitcher, * means eliminated from playoffs):

PP Alex Gordon 13

P Madison Bumgarner 11

PP Travis Ishikawa 10

PP Mike Moustakas 8

P Andrew Miller 8*

P Yusmeiro Petit 8

PP Nelson Cruz 6*

PP Matt Carpenter 6*

P Wade Davis 5

PP Pablo Sandoval 5

PP Kolten Wong 5*

P Pat Neshek 5*

P Jeremy Affeldt 5

P Greg Holland 5

PP Lorenzo Cain 5

P Kelvin Herrera 5

PP Buster Posey 5

P Kevin Gausman 3*

PP Delmon Young 3*

PP Joe Panik 3

P Jake Peavy 3

P Yordano Ventura 3

PP Eric Hosmer 3

P Jered Weaver 3*

PP Brandon Belt 3

P Zack Greinke 3*

PP Matt Kemp 3*

P Bud Norris 3*

P James Shields 3

P Doug Fister 3*

PP Wilson Ramos 3*

P John Lackey 3*

PP Matt Adams 3*

P Trevor Rosenthal 3*

PP Bryce Harper 3*

P Ryan Vogelsong 3

PP Brandon Crawford 1

PP Brandon Moss 1*

P Brandon Finnegan 1

Last Night’s Mister Octobers (October 15, 2014)

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Yesterday’s Mr. Octobers:

Orioles/Royals: Kelvin Herrera (the whole bullpen for the Royals was fantastic, but Herrera went longest) and Alex Gordon (simply for that amazing catch, if anything. I mean, jeez, I thought he’d get killed doing that.)

Cardinals/Giants: Yusmeiro Petit and Buster Posey.

 

Standings (PP= Position Player, P= Pitcher, * means eliminated from playoffs):

PP Alex Gordon 13

PP Mike Moustakas 8

P Andrew Miller 8*

P Yusmeiro Petit 8

PP Nelson Cruz 6*

PP Matt Carpenter 6

P Madison Bumgarner 6

P Wade Davis 5

PP Pablo Sandoval 5

PP Kolten Wong 5

P Pat Neshek 5

P Jeremy Affeldt 5

PP Travis Ishikawa 5

P Greg Holland 5

PP Lorenzo Cain 5

P Kelvin Herrera 5

PP Buster Posey

P Kevin Gausman 3*

PP Delmon Young 3*

PP Joe Panik 3

P Jake Peavy 3

P Yordano Ventura 3

PP Eric Hosmer 3

P Jered Weaver 3*

PP Brandon Belt 3

P Zack Greinke 3*

PP Matt Kemp 3*

P Bud Norris 3*

P James Shields 3

P Doug Fister 3*

PP Wilson Ramos 3*

P John Lackey 3

PP Matt Adams 3

P Trevor Rosenthal 3

PP Bryce Harper 3*

P Ryan Vogelsong 3

PP Brandon Crawford 1

PP Brandon Moss 1*

P Brandon Finnegan 1