Tag Archives: postseason

Yesterday’s MR. OCTOBERS (LDS Day 2)

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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

Headlines From Around The Continuum (October 9, 2015)

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

Headline: Rangers go up 1-0 on Blue Jays

Dallas Morning News: Rangers take Game 1

Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Rangers turn the tables, beat Blue Jays with homers

(Toronto) Globe and Mail: Everything goes bizarrely wrong for Blue Jays

Metro Toronto: OUCH! (on Donaldson’s injury)

National Post: TWO INJURIES AND A LOSS AT JAYS OPENER

Toronto Star: Relax: They’re down, not out

Other Canadian Metro Papers (Edmonton, Calgary, Halifax, etc.): JAYS BANGED UP BY TEXAS IN GAME 1

Calgary Herald: JAYS STUMBLE IN GAME 1

Longview (TX) News-Journal: RANGERS TAKE DOWN BLUE JAYS

Hamilton (Ont.) Spectator: ROUGH GAME

Ottawa Citizen: HIT BY A TEXAS STORM

Winnipeg Free Press: Jets fly, Jays Crash (on how the Winnipeg Jets won their opening game of the season, but the Jays lost)

El Vigia (Ensenada, Mexico): Yovani Gallardo pega primero (roughly “Yovani Gallardo strikes first”, referring to the Mexican-born Texas starter)

El Nacional (Caracas, VZ): Poder venezolano guió a los Rangers (“Venezuelan power led the Rangers”)

 

Headline: Astros defeat Royals to take 1-0 lead

Houston Chronicle: 2 out of 3 ain’t bad (referring to fact that three Houston teams- including the Astros, were in action yesterday, and two of them won)

Kansas City Star: GAME 1… GONE

Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader: HOMER-HAPPY ASTROS

Hutchinson (KS) News: SORRY SERIES START

Omaha World-Herald: Postseason thud for Kansas City

The Eagle (Bryan-College Station, TX): SO FAR, SO GOOD

 

Yesterday’s MR. OCTOBERS (LDS Day 1)

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The Mr. Octobers in the Texas-Toronto game were Jake Diekman (pitcher) and Rougned Odor (position player), while the Mr. Octobers in Houston-Kansas City game were Colin McHugh (pitcher) and Kendrys Morales (position player, even though they lost).

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

P Jake Diekman 3

PP Rougned Odor 3

P Colin McHugh 3

PP Kendrys Morales 3

P Dallas Keuchel 1

PP Colby Rasmus 1

PP Kyle Schwarber 1

P Jake Arrieta 1

 

My Completely-Without-Explanation 2015 Postseason Picks

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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!

The Best Unofficial Baseball Shirts for Postseason Teams!

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Last month’s look at unofficial and unlicensed baseball shirts was a big hit, even being picked up by SI.com’s Extra Mustard. So, since I’m never the type to quit while I’m ahead, I’ll do another. So, with the postseason starting tomorrow, here are the best unofficial and/or unlicensed (or, in extreme circumstances, just plain cool) t-shirts for those teams. Click the links to be brought to the stores that are selling them.

(Note: Some of these are not technically unofficial, but are rather licensed by individual players or the Hall of Fame. You’ll see, for example, a HOF Reggie Jackson shirt that conspicuously doesn’t have any Yankees logos on it.)

(GO BELOW THE JUMP FOR MORE)

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WE HAVE OUR FIRST SONG OF OCTOBER FOR 2015

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The postseason is full of traditions. And the use of songs again and again by MLB and it’s network affiliates are… one of them. However, we have yet to truly learn what shall be played this year so much that we make memes out of it and/or threaten to throttle somebody whenever we hear them.

And, while they haven’t made it official yet, we can now safely say that the National League side of things on TBS will be having the Zac Brown Band song “Heavy Is The Head” playing, at least if this promo video I found on YouTube is anything to go on:

I don’t like it. Not good enough to be good, nor bad enough to be meme-worthy. Of course, I’m sure after a few games my opinion will be changed based on how Twitter reacts to it.

And so, we now wait/worry on FOX, MLB Network, perhaps ESPN and MLB itself to see/hear what, if anything, they will be adding to the October Song repertoire. Rest assured, I’ll be updating the “Songs of October” database far earlier this year than I did last year.

FINALLY UPDATED FOR 2014! Songs of October: A Retrospective (Because Why Not?)- 2014 Edition

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For the far-too-late update on what happened in 2014, go to the bottom of the post after the jump.

In 2013, there was a sensation that spread across the nation: Mups. Their spread was unstoppable, to the point where some like the “Cespedes Family BBQ” and Jesse Spector had begun to engage in a “#Mupwatch”. But some wondered: What was a Mup? Were they some sort of Muppet? Were they dangerous? And why were they being lit on fire?

Well, the answer lay in the commercials that had been playing in the lead-up to and during the post-season, featuring Fall Out Boy’s “My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark”. Here is an example of such a commercial. While officially they were saying “Light ’em up”, it sounded, especially during the echoing segments, like they were actually talking about things called “mups”.

And thus continued a long tradition of October songs that have graced our televisions and infected our ears, whether we liked them or not. And, usually, if we DID like them at the start of the postseason, we ended up being sick of them by the end just from hearing them so many times.

And, what’s more, these songs and how they have become memes aren’t from a universal source. Most of them, for example, have been part of TBS’ coverage, but others, including the Fall Out Boy song, have actually been of MLB’s doing. In 2013, for example, TBS was using a different song*, and MLB Network itself also had a different song for the commercials for it’s two games**. Rarely if ever have they been actually about baseball, usually selected more for their choruses or imagery.

*Using Google searches of the lyrics I was able to decipher, I’ve figured out it’s 30 Seconds to Mars’ “Do or Die”.

**Again using Google, I’ve found that the commercials use the chorus from Papa Roach’s “Still Swingin’“.

Still, with that out of the way, here’s a history (after the jump) of the Songs of October:

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Last Night’s and This October’s MR. OCTOBERS

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It’s over. And, once again Madison Bumgarner is last night’s Mister October for pitching. For position player Mr. October, it’s Pablo Sandoval.

And that means that MADISON BUMGARNER AND PABLO SANDOVAL’S ARE 2014’S MR. OCTOBERS!

 

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

P Madison Bumgarner 51

PP Pablo Sandoval 35

P Yusmeiro Petit 18

P Kelvin Herrera 15*

P Greg Holland 15*

PP Lorenzo Cain 15*

PP Alex Gordon 13*

PP Eric Hosmer 13*

P Yordano Ventura 13*

PP Brandon Crawford 11

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 Buster Posey 5

P Kevin Gausman 3*

PP Delmon Young 3*

PP Joe Panik 3

P Jake Peavy 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 Moss 1*

P Brandon Finnegan 1*

Last Night’s Mr. Octobers (October 28, 2014)

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Yordano Ventura and Lorenzo Cain were the Mr. Octobers of last night’s rout.

Tonight: Game 7. While Madison Bumgarner has basically clinched being the pitching Mr. October, the position player title also is up for grabs. And, of course, the MLB title.

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

P Madison Bumgarner 31

P Yusmeiro Petit 18

P Kelvin Herrera 15

P Greg Holland 15

PP Pablo Sandoval 15

PP Lorenzo Cain 15

PP Alex Gordon 13

PP Eric Hosmer 13

P Yordano Ventura 13

PP Brandon Crawford 11

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 Buster Posey 5

P Kevin Gausman 3*

PP Delmon Young 3*

PP Joe Panik 3

P Jake Peavy 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 Moss 1*

P Brandon Finnegan 1