IT CAME FROM MLB.COM AUCTIONS: The Tigers’ Snack Container

Due to freelance duties, there will be no “Headlines From Around The Continuum” today. However, to make up for it, I bring you another weird internet baseball auction! To be more specific, this one isn’t on eBay, but from MLB.com’s own auction site. I present to you, the 2015 Frito Lay Snack Container from the Detroit Tigers Dugout!

Screen Shot 2015-10-17 at 9.38.46 AM

Yes, you can own a snack container that may have been grabbed-from by Justin Verlander, Miguel Cabrera, pre-trade Yoenis Cespedes and David Price, and Jose Iglesias! Just think of the sesame seeds taken from this container that were then chewed by such greatness! If not for the insane 15 dollars shipping, I would surely be first in line to bid for this piece of baseball history*!

I mean, yeah, you could be going after the jersey that Jose Bautista was wearing when he unleashed the Bat-Flip of the Gods, but that’s just one player! This snack container represents the history of an entire (last-place) team!

Bid now!

 

*No, no I wouldn’t. It’s a freaking snack container. This entire thing is tongue-in-cheek, as you probably figured out.

The MR. OCTOBERS of the LDS Game 5s

I decided to hold back on declaring MR. OCTOBERS for the League Division Game 5s until all three Game 5s were done, thus allowing me to wrap up the LDS round in a nice bow. Now, since Game 5 (or, in 7-game series, Game 7) are worth double points, the MR. OCTOBERS of these games got double points, in this case, six points.

So, who were the MR. OCTOBERS?

In Texas vs. Toronto, the Mr. Octobers were Marcus Stroman, and Jose Bautista, who unleashed the Bat-Flip Of The Gods.

In Kansas City vs. Houston, the Mr. Octobers were Alex Rios and Johnny Cueto.

And, finally, in last night’s Dodgers-Mets game, they were Daniel Murphy and Jeurys Familia.

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

P Jeurys Familia 9

PP Jorge Soler 6

P Marcus Stroman 6

PP Jose Bautista 6

PP Alex Rios 6

P Johnny Cueto 6

PP Daniel Murphy 6

P Dallas Keuchel 4*

P Jake Diekman 3*

PP Rougned Odor 3*

P Collin McHugh 3*

PP Kendrys Morales 3

P Shawn Tolleson 3*

PP Delino DeShields 3*

PP Salvador Perez 3

P Ryan Madson 3

P John Lackey 3*

PP Stephen Piscotty 3*

P Jacob deGrom 3

PP David Wright 3

P Travis Wood 3

P Noah Syndergaard 3

PP Adrian Gonzalez 3*

PP Chris Carter 3*

P Marco Estrada 3

PP Troy Tulowitzki 3

P Wade Davis 3

PP Carlos Correa 3*

P Roberto Osuna 3

PP Kevin Pillar 3

P Pedro Strop 3

PP Yoenis Cespedes 3

P Justin Grimm 3

PP Javier Baez 3

P Clayton Kershaw 3*

PP Justin Turner 3*

PP Colby Rasmus 1*

PP Kyle Schwarber 1

P Jake Arrieta 1

Yesterday’s MR. OCTOBERS (LDS Day 6)

Yesterday’s Mr. Octobers were….

Cubs-Cardinals: Justin Grimm (pitcher) and Javier Baez (position player)

Mets-Dodgers: Clayton Kershaw and Justin Turner.

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

PP Jorge Soler 6

P Dallas Keuchel 4

P Jake Diekman 3

PP Rougned Odor 3

P Collin McHugh 3

PP Kendrys Morales 3

P Shawn Tolleson 3

PP Delino DeShields 3

PP Salvador Perez 3

P Ryan Madson 3

P John Lackey 3*

PP Stephen Piscotty 3*

P Jacob deGrom 3

PP David Wright 3

P Travis Wood 3

P Noah Syndergaard 3

PP Adrian Gonzalez 3

PP Chris Carter 3

P Marco Estrada 3

PP Troy Tulowitzki 3

P Wade Davis 3

PP Carlos Correa 3

P Roberto Osuna 3

PP Kevin Pillar 3

P Pedro Strop 3

P Jeurys Familia 3

PP Yoenis Cespedes 3

P Justin Grimm 3

PP Javier Baez 3

P Clayton Kershaw 3

PP Justin Turner 3

PP Colby Rasmus 1

PP Kyle Schwarber 1

P Jake Arrieta 1

Yesterday’s MR. OCTOBERS (LDS Day 5)

The Mr. Octobers of yesterday are….

Kansas City-Houston: Wade Davis (pitcher) and Carlos Correa (Position player, even though they lost and his muffed ball was a reason why)

Texas-Toronto: Roberto Osuna (pitcher) and Kevin Pillar (position player)

Cubs-Cardinals: Pedro Strop (pitcher) and Jorge Soler (position player)

Mets-Dodgers: Jeurys Familia (pitcher) and Yoenis Cespedes (position player)

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

PP Jorge Soler 6

P Dallas Keuchel 4

P Jake Diekman 3

PP Rougned Odor 3

P Collin McHugh 3

PP Kendrys Morales 3

P Shawn Tolleson 3

PP Delino DeShields 3

PP Salvador Perez 3

P Ryan Madson 3

P Jon Lackey 3

PP Stephen Piscotty 3

P Jacob deGrom 3

PP David Wright 3

P Travis Wood 3

P Noah Syndergaard 3

PP Adrian Gonzalez 3

PP Chris Carter 3

P Marco Estrada 3

PP Troy Tulowitzki 3

P Wade Davis 3

PP Carlos Correa 3

P Roberto Osuna 3

PP Kevin Pillar 3

P Pedro Strop 3P Jeurys Familia 3PP Yoenis Cespedes 3

PP Colby Rasmus 1

PP Kyle Schwarber 1

P Jake Arrieta 1

Nothing good can happen tonight in Mets-Dodgers

(The following is about 90% sarcastic. I hope.)

Given that Chase Utley is going to be eligible, here are a few possibilities of what could happen tonight:

Scenario One: Nothing.

Utley doesn’t play. There are boos and stuff during the pre-game and during the game, but no retaliation is done and it more-or-less is uneventful. However, this just means that the bad stuff will happen later. This is the least-bad scenario.

Scenario Two: The Mets Go Bad

The Mets are America’s darlings right now and most everyone is feeling for them after what happened. However, imagine if tonight Chase Utley doesn’t play, but the Mets go for their vengeance anyway. Perhaps they do a hard slide against a Dodgers middle-infielder, or decide that Adrian Gonzalez would make a nice substitute for Utley at the plate? Then, all the sudden the Mets look like just as big of bullies as the Dodgers, and while the home crowd will eat it up, almost everyone else will be disgusted.

Scenario Three: The Carousel of Boos

Utley plays, but doesn’t do much at the plate or in the field and the Mets don’t retaliate either. He just hears very loud boos all night long. One of the least-bad scenarios.

Scenario Four: Taken Vengeance

This scenario is simple: Harvey or another Mets pitcher pegs Chase Utley with a pitch. Maybe they get thrown out, maybe they don’t. Whatever happens, though, Utley just walks to first, knowing that he deserved that. The score more-or-less settled, the game goes on.

Scenario Five: Throwdown in Flushing

Like the above scenario, except Utley, possessed by some strange demon, charges the mound. Low-level fisticuffs are had, people’s mothers are insulted, there is pushing and shoving, and both Utley and the pitcher who hit him is sent to the showers, perhaps with other players as well. It’s a bad look for MLB and the two teams.

Scenario Six: Doomsday

You’d think the above would be the worst scenario. You would be wrong. Here’s the worst scenario:

Utley plays. In his first AB, he homers or does some other big play that scores runs for the the Dodgers. The fans are incensed, especially because they believe he should have been suspended. Things are thrown on the field, the game is delayed for a time, security is heightened.

And then things get worse. The Dodgers start to go nuts at the plate, running up the score. And then, during his second AB, Utley gets beaned. All hell breaks loose. The benches clear, the bullpens empty, actual punches are thrown. In the chaos, fans who have been drinking for most of the day (it’s Columbus Day and some will have been off, after all) begin to rush the field. NYPD and stadium security is hapless as anarchy descends upon CitiField. Bartolo Colon throws a trident. One player is caught on camera knocking out a drunk with one punch. Mr. Met’s head inexplicably ends up on eBay.

When the dust finally settles, the game is called and the Mets forfeit Game 3, leading to outright soccer-style rioting outside of the stadium that eventually leads to the Mets also forfeiting Game 4 and thus the series. The entire incident goes down in history as the ugliest fan moment in baseball history since at least Disco Demolition Night.

 

So, yeah, this could ugly.

Yesterday’s MR. OCTOBERS (LDS DAY 4)

In Game 3 of Kansas City vs. Houston, the Mr. Octobers were Dallas Keuchel (pitcher) and Chris Carter (position player).

The Mr. Octobers of Toronto’s win against Texas were Marco Estrada (pitcher) and Troy Tulowitzki (position player).

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

P Dallas Keuchel 4

P Jake Diekman 3

PP Rougned Odor 3

P Collin McHugh 3

PP Kendrys Morales 3

P Shawn Tolleson 3

PP Delino DeShields 3

PP Salvador Perez 3

P Ryan Madson 3

P Jon Lackey 3

PP Stephen Piscotty 3

P Jacob deGrom 3

PP David Wright 3

P Travis Wood 3

PP Jorge Soler 3

P Noah Syndergaard 3

PP Adrian Gonzalez 3

PP Chris Carter 3

P Marco Estrada 3

PP Troy Tulowitzki 3

PP Colby Rasmus 1

PP Kyle Schwarber 1

P Jake Arrieta 1

Yesterday’s MR. OCTOBERS (LDS Day 3)

For the Cubs/Cardinals game, the Mr. Octobers were Travis Wood (pitcher) and Jorge Soler (position player).

For the Mets/Dodgers game, the Mr. October were Noah Syndergaard (even though they ended up losing) and Adrian Gonzalez.

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

P Jake Diekman 3

PP Rougned Odor 3

P Collin McHugh 3

PP Kendrys Morales 3

P Shawn Tolleson 3

PP Delino DeShields 3

PP Salvador Perez 3

P Ryan Madson 3

P Jon Lackey 3

PP Stephen Piscotty 3

P Jacob deGrom 3

PP David Wright 3

P Travis Wood 3

PP Jorge Soler 3

P Noah Syndergaard 3

PP Adrian Gonzalez 3

P Dallas Keuchel 1

PP Colby Rasmus 1

PP Kyle Schwarber 1

P Jake Arrieta 1

Yesterday’s MR. OCTOBERS (LDS Day 2)

The Mr. Octobers of Yesterday…

In Texas/Toronto, they were Shawn Tolleson (pitcher) and Delino DeShields (position player).

In Royals/Astros, they were Salvador Perez (position player) and Ryan Madson (pitcher).

In Cubs/Cards, they were Jon Lackey (pitcher) and Stephen Piscotty (position player).

And, finally, in Mets/Dodgers, they were Jacob deGrom (pitcher) and David Wright (position player). An interesting thing to note is that while deGrom tied Tom Seaver‘s Mets single-game postseason strikeout record (set in Game 1 of the 1973 NLCS), he did it in 7.0 IP, while Seaver had 8.1 IP in that game.

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

P Jake Diekman 3

PP Rougned Odor 3

P Collin McHugh 3

PP Kendrys Morales 3

P Shawn Tolleson 3

PP Delino DeShields 3

PP Salvador Perez 3

P Ryan Madson 3

P Jon Lackey 3

PP Stephen Piscotty 3

P Jacob deGrom 3

PP David Wright 3

P Dallas Keuchel 1

PP Colby Rasmus 1

PP Kyle Schwarber 1

P Jake Arrieta 1

My Completely-Without-Explanation 2015 Postseason Picks

I predict…

WILD CARDS:

Yankees over Astros

Cubs over Pirates

LDSes:

Royals over Yankees (in four)

Blue Jays over Rangers (in five)

Cardinals over Cubs (in five)

Dodgers over Mets (in five)

LCSes:

Blue Jays over Royals (in six)

Dodgers over Cardinals (in six)

WORLD SERIES:

Blue Jays over Dodgers (in six)

Over at @HOVG: Wisdom and Links looks at the Theme Songs of Postseason Teams

Aside

Over at the Hall of Very Good, the latest Wisdom and Links looks at the theme songs of the 2015 postseason teams, and also has links!

Check it out!