Tag Archives: World Series

Quote of the Night (Obstruction)

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OBSTRUCTION is the act of a fielder who, while not in possession of the ball and not in the act of fielding the ball, impedes the progress of any runner.
Rule 2.00 (Obstruction) Comment: If a fielder is about to receive a thrown ball and if the ball is in flight directly toward and near enough to the fielder so he must occupy his position to receive the ball he may be considered “in the act of fielding a ball.” It is entirely up to the judgment of the umpire as to whether a fielder is in the act of fielding a ball. After a fielder has made an attempt to field a ball and missed, he can no longer be in the “act of fielding” the ball. For example: If an infielder dives at a ground ball and the ball passes him and he continues to lie on the ground and delays the progress of the runner, he very likely has obstructed the runner.

Headlines from around the Continuum: October 25, 2013

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Baseball-related headlines from the Newseum:

(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 headlines like “World Series Preview” or “Cardinals Win”)

Story: Cardinals even up series with 4-2 win in Game 2

News-Gazette (Champaign, Ill.): TURNING THE TABLES

The Hawk Eye (Burlington, Iowa): A big pick-me-up

Portland (Maine) Press Herald: One for the birds: Cardinals pull even

Boston Globe: Reversal of fortune at Fenway

Boston Herald: HOUSE OF CARDS

Herald News (Fall River, Mass.): OUTGUNNED

Cape Cod Times: Fall in Fenway

Joplin (Mo.) Globe: YOUNG GUNS

Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader: CARDINAL WAY

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: SAFELY HOME (this was the Sports Page headline, shown on ESPN this morning)

Providence Journal: Not enough this time

El Expreso de Campeche (San Francisco de Campeche, Mexico): PICOTAZO (roughly translates as “PECK” or “PECKED”)

 

(The rest are rather generic)

Mr. Octobers of Yesterday (October 24, 2013)

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The Mr. Octobers of last night are Carlos Martinez and David Ortiz. Yes, David Ortiz was on the losing team, but his two hits and two RBIs (the result of a HR) made him the biggest offensive force of the game. As for Martinez, he spent two innings making the Red Sox look like fools, including this utterly amazing pitch to finish Shane Victorino. It helped keep the Cardinals in the game.

Standings (PP= Position Player, P= Pitcher):

PP David Ortiz– 28

PP Carlos Beltran– 16

P Koji Uehara– 16

P Justin Verlander– 14

P Michael Wacha– 13

P Jon Lester– 13

P Clayton Kershaw– 11

P Max Scherzer– 11

PP Shane Victorino– 11

P Zack Greinke– 10

P Carlos Martinez- 10

P Adam Wainwright– 9

PP Jhonny Peralta – 8

PP Matt Holliday– 8

PP Adrian Gonzalez– 8

PP David Freese – 6

PP Miguel Cabrera– 6

P Anibal Sanchez – 5

P Hyun-jin Ryu– 5

PP Yasiel Puig– 5

P Carlos Martinez– 5

P John Lackey– 5

PP Austin Jackson– 5

P Doug Fister– 5

PP Mike Napoli– 5

P Sonny Gray-3

P Gerrit Cole– 3

PP Pedro Alvarez– 3

P Mike Minor– 3

PP Hanley Ramirez– 3

PP Yoenis Cespedes– 3

P Jason Grilli– 3

PP Carl Crawford– 3

P Chris Capuano– 3

PP Seth Smith– 3

P Dan Otero– 3

PP Jose Lobaton-3

P Jake McGee-3

PP Juan Uribe-3

PP (Position Player) Russell Martin– 1

P (Pitcher) Francisco Liriano– 1

PP Desmond Jennings– 1

P Alex Cobb– 1

2013 World Series Game 2 in one gif

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Holy cow, that Carlos Martinez slider is beautiful. And it also shows how much trouble the Red Sox found themselves when they ended up down after their disastrous defensive inning in the 7th: the Cardinals grow nasty relievers on trees, and that puts a monkey-wrench in the usual Red Sox strategy of working up the pitch-count of opposing starters and then going after the bullpens.

“Mr. Octobers” and “Headlines” are coming up in the coming hours, and by the end of the day, we have a very special edition of “Bizarre Baseball Culture”.

Headlines from around the Continuum: October 24, 2013

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(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 headlines like “World Series Preview”)

Story: Red Sox beat Cardinals in Game 1, 8-1

Hartford (CT) Courant: Hot Start On A Cold Night

Belleville (IL) News-Democrat: Rough start for Wainwright, Cardinals

The News-Gazette (Champaign, IL): FOR PETE’S SAKE (with image of Pete Kozma’s error)

Messenger-Inquirer (Owensboro, Ky.): RED SOCKED

Boston Globe: Red Sox are the whole show

The Herald News (Fall River, Mass.): Coming out swinging

Cape Cod Times: Red Sox bring it

Taunton (Mass.) Daily Gazette: STRIKING EARLY

News Tribune (Jefferson City, Mo.): CARDS SOCKED

News-Leader (Springfield, Mo.): FENWAY FIASCO

(The St. Louis Post-Dispatch had a large ad at the top talking about a poster giveaway tomorrow, and a small cartoon at the bottom depicting a Cardinal having a ball hit it’s head with the caption “Beantown Bash”.)

Concord (NH) Monitor: Strong opening statement

Texarkana Gazette: LIVING THE DREAM (on how Texarkana natives Will Middlebrooks and Michael Wacha are both in the World Series)

El Universal (Cartagena, Colombia): Los Medias Rojas pegaron primero (roughly “The Red Sox strike first”)

Vanguardia (Saltillo, Mexico): !PEGA BOSTON PRIMERO! (Roughly translates as “Boston hits first!”)

(Most others, including those from other countries, are either extremely similar to the above ones or are extremely boring.)

Mr. Octobers of Yesterday (October 23, 2013)

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While some could argue the MVPs for the Red Sox yesterday were the Cardinals’ defense in the first three or so innings of the game, in reality the Mr. Octobers are Jon Lester (who pitched 7.2 shutout innings) and David Ortiz (who had 3 RBIs and would have had 4 more if not for Carlos Beltran sacrificing his ribs stopping a would-be grand slam).

We’re in the World Series now, so that means a 10-point addition for each of them! And that is good enough to shoot “Big Papi” to the top and place Lester above every “eliminated” player except for Justin Verlander.

Standings (PP= Position Player, P= Pitcher):

PP David Ortiz– 18

PP Carlos Beltran– 16

P Koji Uehara– 16

P Justin Verlander– 14

P Michael Wacha– 13

P Jon Lester– 13

P Clayton Kershaw– 11

P Max Scherzer– 11

PP Shane Victorino– 11

P Zack Greinke– 10

P Adam Wainwright– 9

PP Jhonny Peralta – 8

PP Matt Holliday– 8

PP Adrian Gonzalez– 8

PP David Freese – 6

PP Miguel Cabrera– 6

P Anibal Sanchez – 5

P Hyun-jin Ryu– 5

PP Yasiel Puig– 5

P Carlos Martinez– 5

P John Lackey– 5

PP Austin Jackson– 5

P Doug Fister– 5

PP Mike Napoli– 5

P Sonny Gray-3

P Gerrit Cole– 3

PP Pedro Alvarez– 3

P Mike Minor– 3

PP Hanley Ramirez– 3

PP Yoenis Cespedes– 3

P Jason Grilli– 3

PP Carl Crawford– 3

P Chris Capuano– 3

PP Seth Smith– 3

P Dan Otero– 3

PP Jose Lobaton-3

P Jake McGee-3

PP Juan Uribe-3

PP (Position Player) Russell Martin– 1

P (Pitcher) Francisco Liriano– 1

PP Desmond Jennings– 1

P Alex Cobb– 1

Headlines from around the Continuum: October 23, 2013

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Baseball-related headlines from the Newseum:

(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 headlines like “World Series Preview”)

Story: World Series starts tonight

Hartford Courant (Hartford, CT): RED TIDE RISING

Honolulu Star-Advertiser: WORLD SERIES FACE-OFF/THE PRIDE OF HAWAII (no doubt referring to Shane Victorino)

The Pantagraph (Bloomington, IL): Plenty of history in Cardinals-Red Sox matchup

Portland (Maine) Press: All eyes on Fenway as Sox host Game 1

The Sun Chronicle (Attleboro, Mass.): Wait until this year

Boston Globe: ONE BIG TEAM/Red Sox and bombing-scarred Boston rise together

Boston Herald: WELCOME TO OUR WORLD

Metro- Boston Edition: THE HUNT FOR THREE

Cape Cod Times: It’s hitting home

Standard-Times (New Bedford, Mass.): ALL EYES ON SOX

(The St. Louis Post Dispatch didn’t have a headline- just a big picture of Fenway Park above the fold.)

Buffalo News: Boston rises above horror

Providence Journal: LIVING THE DREAM

USA TODAY: CLOSE SHAVES IN THIS SERIES? NOT LIKELY (with pictures of bearded Red Sox players)

National Post (Toronto): ACES WILD (on the starting pitchers and others to watch in the series)

El Universal (Cartagena, Colombia): ¡Play ball!

El Informador (Guadalajara, Mexico): Retoman rivalidad (roughly translated as “Rivalry renewed”)

Vanguardia (Saltillo, Mexico): ¡Chocan los mejores! (roughly translated as “The best collide!”)

El Expreso de Campeche (San Francisco de Campeche, Mexico): QUE INICIE LA FIESTA (“Let the party begin!”)

De Volksrant (Amsterdam, Netherlands): Big in the U.S.A. (on Aruban/Dutch Xander Bogaerts being in the World Series)

El Nuevo Dia (San Juan, Puerto Rico): Choque de titanes en Boston (“Clash of titans in Boston.”)

El Nacional (Caracas, Venezuela): Fiesta mundial en Boston (Either “Global Party in Boston” or “World festivities in Boston”)

The 2013 World Series Preview/Prediction Spectacular

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It’s time to preview the 2013 World Series!

…After the jump, of course:

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Headlines from around the Continuum: October 20, 2013

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Baseball-related headlines from the Newseum:

Story: Red Sox win Game 6, advance to World Series

Hartford Courant (Hartford, CT): A GRAND VICTORY

Honolulu Star-Advertiser: VICTORINO GRAND SLAM SENDS BOSTON TO THE WORLD SERIES

Boston Globe: The improbable dream team soars into World Series

Boston Herald: VICTORINO LAP!

Herald News (Fall River, Mass.): WE’RE BACK, BABY

Metro West Daily News (Framingham, Mass.): AIN’T IT GRAND

Cape Cod Times: GRAND FINALE

Detroit Free Press: SLAMMED SHUT

La Prensa (Managua, Nicarauga): Del sótano a la Serie Mundial (Roughly “From the basement to the World Series”)

(There were also plenty of other front page headlines, including some from Mexico, Venezuela and Asian countries, but they were all either rather generic or in a script that I can’t put into a Google translator. Oh, there was also some headline from Mexico that seemed to be about how a government official was in Boston watching the playoffs, but I wasn’t sure enough to include it.)

If this is the end of Josh Beckett, his tale is a tragedy

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Over the past few years, Josh Beckett‘s life has been a dark comedy. There were the fights with the media, the failure to live up to his contracts, and the whole thing with the fact he was one of the Red Sox who apparently were having chicken and beer over games of Call of Duty while the 2011 Red Sox burned.

But now, it looks like it will instead be a full-on tragedy, as the Los Angeles Times reports that Beckett has been feeling numbness in his pitching hand, something that could well end his career.

And that stinks. Because, while Beckett’s career has been in free-fall this decade, at his peak he was one of the best pitchers in the game, and, what’s more, he was awesome in the post-season.

In fact, it’s the post-season where, if this is the end, we will probably most remember Beckett. His first appearance on the national stage came in 2003, when he was the World Series MVP with the Marlins, finishing off the Yankees on short rest with a complete game shutout in Game 6.

That is more than can be said for many pitchers, but in 2007, he did it again, going 4-0 in his starts for the Red Sox, including winning the MVP of the ALCS, where he had a absurdly low ERA 1.93 ERA… which was actually higher than his ERA in the other two series he pitched in (although, admittedly, those series were sweeps where he only had one start).

Of course, after that, his career took a downturn. His postseason performances did a downturn first, with him going 1-1 with no ERA below 5.40 in the three series he’s pitched since 2007.  While he was a regular season All-Star in 2008 and 2011*, he was no longer the above-all ace he once was. Since 2011, in fact, he is 7-19 with a 4.76 ERA in the regular season.

But, perhaps if this is the end, we should try to remember where he was best: the World Series. In his three starts (so admittedly a small sample size) and 23.1 innings pitched in the Fall Classic, Josh Beckett went 2-1 with a 1.16 ERA.

And that’s impressive.

*Before the ASG in 2011, Beckett was 8-3 with a 2.27 ERA, but the second half saw him be a just-okay 5-4 with a 3.73 ERA.