#other since they were young. PACK IT UP CY

[itsalwaysforyou]

the thing about writing jal is that i am just writing the same thing over and over again

[akaashishotthighs]

Modern TID - Part 8

Part 7 - Part 9

“Are you sure about this?” It was Saturday morning. Tessa was packing a duffel bag to spend the weekend at Will’s house. She would finally meet his family, and with every second that passed, she could feel her nerves pressing down on her.

“Don’t be nervous. My family is gonna love you.” Will was seating on the floor, back against her bed, and was inspecting her two piles of books. She didn’t have a bookshelf, yet, so her books remained in a neatly organized collection on one of the corners of her bedroom.

“How are you so sure?” She was pressing her hands down on her clothes, as if she was doing CPR on them, to make sure everything fitted.

“It’s you.” He shrugged. “What’s not to love?” She felt her cheeks pink up as she zipped up the bag.

“Ready.” She put her hands on her hips and tilted her head, a content smile on her face.

Will got up and put the duffel bag’s strap on his shoulder. He took her face and pulled the rubber band down her hair, breaking her ponytail. Her hair fell in waves around her face. He smiled and bent down to press a small kiss on her lips. He took her hand, and they walked down together.

He stopped by the building’s front door and pulled out his phone. “Cyril should be here any second.”

“Cyril?”

“The chauffeur.” Will put his phone away in his back pocket.

“Wait.” She shook her head. “You were serious about that? I thought you were joking. Why didn’t you tell me you were serious?”

He shrugged. “I didn’t want you to freak out.”

“So to get me to not freak out, you decided to spring it on me at the last second?” She chuckled.

“It worked, didn’t it?” He gave her a crooked grin, it made him seem younger somehow.

“You’re excused this one time.” She said as a car pulled upfront. A young man came out of the driver seat. He was tall, muscular and had dark brown curling hair.

“Hi. I’m Cyril. It’s Tessa, isn’t it?” He put a hand out for her.

“Yes, it is. It’s nice to meet you, Cyril.” She shook his hand.

“Here, let me get your bag.” She was going to protest, but Will beat her to it.

“It’s okay, Cy. We got it.” He clapped a hand on Cyril’s back and pulled her towards the car. The car started up not too long afterwards. Will put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. “Since I’m disclosing former misconceptions, I should let you know that I wasn’t kidding about Bridget either.”

“So you really have a cook?” She asked.

He nodded. “Bridget is Irish, terribly morbid, and while she works, she constantly sings Irish songs about death and heartbreak.” He let his head fall on hers. “It drives us insane.” He shrugged. “But she’s family. They both are.”

She gave him a kiss on the cheek, making him lift an eyebrow in questioning. She didn’t answer. Simply pulled him closer and laid her head on his chest, a smile on her face.

~/~

Will hadn’t been kidding about the house. It was big. Really big. As in, her entire apartment could probably fit on the front porch. If she wasn’t nervous before, she was definitely nervous now. “So how fancy rich is your family?”

He chuckled. “Not fancy at all. Except for Jessamine. Fancy is an understatement when it comes to her. And Charlotte will be formal and might interrogate you, but she’s not fancy in any way.”

“And Jem?” She bit her lip.

He tilted his head and grinned. “Tessa Gray, are you nervous about meeting my best friend?”

“Well, he is your best friend.” She waved her hand. “You talk about him constantly, and your definition of your relationship status is ‘soulmates’.” Her eyes widened. “Me? I’m the flusie taking up all of your bromance time. That builds up bro-grudge, I don’t want that bro-grudge unleashed on me.”

He kissed her forehead. “You’ll be fine. I promise.” He pushed open the large oak door and pulled her in. She was hit with a wave of heat. She hadn’t realised how cold it was outside. Her jacket became a layer too much. “Here.” Will came forward and took her coat off her. He put it on top of many other jackets on the hanger by the door. “Come on. Let’s go before we’re-”

“Before you’re what? Swamped by us?” A girl, probably not much older than Tessa herself, leaned against a doorless threshold. Tessa looked behind her. She could see a bit of what was perhaps a large dining table.

She looked the girl up and down. She was about Tessa’s height, but she was thinner and slender. She wore an apron around her waist, and her hair was a few shades darker than Tessa’s. She was pretty, but her beauty was distorted by the thick, silvery ridged scar that slashed from the left corner of her mouth to her temple.

Tessa hadn’t noticed she was staring at it until she heard the girl clear her throat. She felt her cheeks pink up as she looked away. “Don’t worry Will. You’re safe, for now. Henry is down at the lab. Charlotte is with a client. And Jessamine is out shopping.”

“And Jem?” He leaned against the bannister. The girl didn’t speak, but Tessa saw her softly shaking her head. Will sighed. “I guess you’ll have to face all the wolves later at dinner, all at once.”

The girl crossed her arms. “Now, now, William. You know we prefer cats.”

He shrugged. “As long as it’s not ducks.”

Tessa was going to inquire about why ducks, but the girl spoke first. “I’m Sophie, by the way.”

“Tessa.” She smiled. Sophie acknowledged this with a nod and walked away, with a swift turn of her heels. Tessa sighed. “I don’t think she liked me very much.”

“You stared at her scar.” He shook his head. “She hates it when people do that.” Tessa dropped her head low, but Will took her chin and made her look up at him. “It was an honest mistake. We all did it when we met her. She’ll warm up to you. Don’t worry.” He softly pulled her up the stairs. “Come on. Step into my evil lair.”

She laughed, and the awkward encounter downstairs flew from her mind by Will’s radiant personality. He paused in front of a door on the second floor and came to stand behind her. He put his hands on her eyes as she giggled. “What are you doing?”

“I live for the pazzazz of life.” She could hear the mocking tone in his voice. She listened to the door being pushed open and felt him slightly pushing her forward. She walked until he gave her an indication to stop. The door made a giant thud as it closed, and now they were both giggling. “Ready?” He whispered in her ear between giggles.

“Just let me see it!” She shrieked.

He took his hand off her eyes. The room was large, but not as much as she initially thought. The walls were covered in a dark blue wallpaper with washed-out golden fleur de lis dressing it. The large bed was centred in the room, the large artistically carved headboard against the wall. The bed wasn’t made, which seemed like a very typical Will thing. The desk by the window was a mess, with papers askew covering all inches.

But none of that was what took her attention. A large bookshelf at the corner of the room, covering the entire wall from the edge to the window. It was the only thing neatly organised in the place. She made a beeline to it and caressed the spines of the books. She noted they were arranged alphabetically by author surname. The fact made her smile. She paused at a particular title which she pulled out while turning to Will.

He saw the book she was holding and scratched the back of his neck grinning. “You insisted on me rereading it much, so I got a copy.”

She walked to him slowly. “And...?”

He shrugged. “It was fine.”

She grinned. She was very close to Will now. “Fine, uh? Is that your way of saying I’m right? And that you were wrong?”

He smirked. “I will never admit such a thing.”

She started laughing, and Will took her moment of distraction to snatch the book from her hands. He put his hand on her lower back and with the other threw the book onto the desk. He pulled her towards him and bent down to kiss her. Her hands dug into his air and pulled him down, deepening the kiss. His other hand played with the tips of her hair.

Breaking the kiss, he took her hands and pulled her down to sit on the bed. More on instinct than intention, their lips locked together again. Her hands explored his chest while he buried his in her hair. Tessa didn’t know how long it had passed, time seemed like a fake concept at that moment. She did feel Will softly pushing her down - or maybe she was the one pulling him - she felt the environment shift.

And then someone knocked on the door.

[ask-de-writer]

DARING DO and the ADVENTURE of the X'IBIAN VASE! : MLP Fan Fiction : Part 6 of 21

Return to theMaster Story Index

Return to MLP Fan Fiction

DARING DO and the

ADVENTURE of the X'IBIAN VASE!

by

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck) @ask-de-writer​

And

Carmen Pondiego @askcarmenpondiego​

Cover Art by

Doctor Dimension

52630 words

© 2020 by Glen Ten-Eyck

Writing begun 08/26/15

All rights reserved.  This document may not be copied or distributed on or to any medium or placed in any mass storage system except by the express written consent of the author.

//////////////

Copyright fair use rules for Tumblr users

Users of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights.  They may reblog the story.  They may use the characters or original characters in my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical compositions, provided that such things are done without charge.  I will allow those who do commission art works to charge for their images.  

All sorts of fan art, cosplay, music or fictions is actively encouraged.

///////////////////////

Daring Do, being a pegasus, really had little magic.  It was all small and strictly practical. Truth testing, safe grip that allowed the picking up of cracked or damaged things without losing any parts or causing further damage, fast read (handy but you had to know the language fairly well first) and a few other spells of that sort.  They were all Non Equine Magic learned from the Non Equine University.

Truth testing was simple and unobtrusive.  First, it showed her that what they saw was real.  She could have sworn it was staged for effect!

“I am Captain Getsthere, of the Sea Sage.  Ship’s a bit obsolete, mixed sail and steam paddle wheeler.  She is sound, though, and will get you there.  I hear that you want to get to the Chineignese Empire.  Main port at Singapone and then up the Dunn See river to Cantrot.”

The Guardian said quietly, “Not to cast a doubt on your honorable self but all the docks are occupied by ships with Lading Deposits.  None are loading, however.”

Captain Getsthere smiled, showing yellowed teeth, some with gold or silver crowns.  “Legal trick there, Honorable One.  If we have cargo to load and a paid Lading Deposit, the Harbor Master HAS to move a vessel that is not loading out to the roadstead and let us have the dock space.”

Daring Do invited Captain Getsthere to sit and said, “Order what you wish.  We have the Lading Deposit in Gold and the cargo is in Dock Warehouse #4.  So, you can get us to Singapone?  What about river barge connections to Cantrot?”

The Captain was briefly busy with the waiter and then replied, “Sea Sage is shallow enough draft that we’ve been up to Cantrot six times.  At low water, too.  Make that whole run for you without transshipping once.”

Truth testing passed him completely, to Daring Do’s amazement.  She saw Cy nodding approval. She reached into her saddlebag and pulled out the bag of gold that was the deposit for the previous vessel.

Captain Getsthere carefully counted it out.  He shoved back a substantial sum.  “Sea Sage’s Lading Deposit is well known.  Won’t overcharge you first thing.”

Daring Do considered carefully. “Make us a proper receipt. Make us another for any refits that you think good.  We want the ship under us to be as sound as possible.”

At that he nodded acceptance. “I can do that.  Got a list, in fact.  Was going to use the deposit money to get it.”

He left to make arrangements with the Harbor Master and order his refitting supplies from the chandlers.

The group of them were sitting outside, watching the gulls fly and the coming and going of smaller boats.  The docks were full of idle ships.  Most of them had the wisp of smoke at the stack that indicated operational steam up.  That was required by the Royal Maritime Commission.  It let docks be cleared quickly for emergencies, a precaution that had paid off handsomely in the past.  

“Look!” Cy exclaimed.  “They are bringing up a tug to Dock and Warehouse 4!”

The Guardian said softly, “The Rising Whale does not have steam up as required.  They are pulling her out.  Her captain is protesting.  From the looks of the longshore ponies with axes to cut the hawser lines it will be a useless protest.”

He was right.  The captain had to get a gig to catch up to his idle ship, being towed out to the roadstead.

The Sea Sage was in place and ready to load in only a half hour or so.  Maneuvering a ship, even a smaller one, near a dock is tricky business and has to be done with care.

Their supplies were being loaded and the Sea Sage was taking on coal while they watched.  Daring Do called on her Magic Net mirror.  Looking up, she explained, “We will have three others from the Royal University joining us in a short time.  I sent them ahead and told them where to wait.  They are all experts in conservation and collection of delicate artifacts.”

Sure enough the three came trotting up in a little while.  One, a pale mauve pony, introduced himself, “I am Senior Graduate Student Horace.  These others are Jeremy, the orange guy there, and the big white mare is Soree Bea Shann.  She is a Saddle Arabian exchange student.

“I don’t know why they are along.  Jeremy barely made the cut for the program and HER?  Her folks back in the desert are RICH.  Her only qualification.”

The two were about to protest when Daring Do cut in, “THEY are along because I personally sent for them.  YOU muscled your way onto the team without my consent.  I am most curious as to WHY?”

Cy simply pounced.  She used a right foreleg thrust to the side of Horace’s neck.  He was not only knocked down, he was driven over a meter from where he had been standing a fraction of a second ago.  Cy was sitting on his neck to keep him down while she explained, “Horace, here, is in ROT’s pay. He was smart enough to demand gold up front and no written contract.

“His job is to report your expedition’s progress and the exact location of the tomb.  ROT will then swoop in and steal anything of value.  If a few ponies have to die, including you, Doctor Do, no big deal, as he sees it.  He will have money and perhaps fame.”

Daring Do considered for a moment.  “How can you know these things?  I have noticed other times that you knew what you really had no way of knowing.”

Going perfectly serious, Cy replied, “That is a matter of ERIS Supreme security, Doctor.  The Guardian knows.  In a private setting, he may tell you what he deems fit.”

With a pluck of her sleeve, the Guardian led her inside the Rusty Barnacle.  Looking about to be sure of not being overheard, he told her, “You have seen her eye and mane.  More was changed in her inheritance after the Mage Weapon Blast of two generations past than only her body.  The Watcher of the Most Exalted One can read minds.  More it is unwise to say.”

Daring Do, thinking back saw answers to many things.  “Her precise combat moves.  She knows were the enemy is without looking.  The trick with the sewers and fire fighting mains.  She was near enough to somepony who knew it!  I am glad that she is a Watcher for Eris.  So many try to harm her.”

They went back out where Cy was passing time by lightly popping Horace’s head against the ground. She looked up brightly as Daring Do approached.  “Can I?  Please? We know everything that he is aware of about the plot.  I would love to kill him!”

The eager puppy look to her single eye left no doubt about Cy’s sincerity.  Daring Do hated to disappoint her.  “I am afraid not, Cy.  I do believe you.  One test, though.  How was he to communicate with ROT?”

“Empty his left saddle bag. There is a hidden flap on the inside.  Lifting it will reveal the pocket holding a World Wide Magic Net mirror.  A small one but with plenty of reach.  We at ERIS cracked that algorithm about two years ago.  That type of mirror was still in development when we got it.”

Horace sort of gave up.  “Those are supposed to be totally private.  You heard my signals when I called them to say we were going to the ship.”

Cy looked down at him. “Something of that sort.  I waited to be sure that I had what you knew before I moved, that is all.”

Slumped even flatter, Horace asked, “Since I am not going along, can’t you just let me go?  I can’t hurt you now.”

Serenely digging out the mirror, Cy poked some codes.  “Hello, are you Mister Robber or Mister Overthrow?  Oh, you are Mister Tyrrany!  I am Cyrene Clopes.  I work for ERIS, Inc.  I just wanted you to know that we have taken your spy for Doctor Do’s expedition.

“What?  No.  We are letting him go for now.  The Royal Road Police will be handling the charge of Criminal Taking of Royal Funds.  We thought that since you are a law firm and have him on retainer, that you would likely want to defend him in the courts.

“This was purely a courtesy call, you understand.  Good bye.”  She closed the mirror and handed it back to Horace.

“Do be so good as to pack your things and leave, young pony.  We really don’t want you along.”

As Daring Do watched Horace go, she had a pang of conscience.  She turned to Cy and said softly, “They will kill him, won’t they?”

Cy smiled calmly, watching gulls wheel overhead.  “Almost certainly, Doctor Do.  I might have handled things differently if this was the only bad thing that he has done.  It is not.  He has cheated and trampled others for most of his life.”

Soon they were all picking staterooms aboard the Sea Sage.  They all rushed up to the deck to wave good bye to Cy, staying behind on the dock as the ship was towed free and the huge, nearly antique paddles began to churn the harbor’s water.  Her big whistle let loose a piercing scream and crewponies worked to unfurl the sails.

Heeling gracefully, the Sea Sage rounded the breakwater and swept out onto the swells of the open sea.

Soree, the Saddle Arabian, who had never been to sea before, was happily trotting all over, looking at all of the wonderful new sights!  She drew in deep breaths of the amazing salt air, the scent of smoke and lubricants from the massive two cylinder walking beam engine and the pitch on the rigging ropes.

Poor orange Jeremy was hanging his head over the rail and wishing that his heaving tummy would stop. It was emptied long ago!

Daring Do and the Guardian had a low table set up on the poop deck and were happily playing Mah Jongg, to the rattle of dice and the clacking of tiles.

Daring Do felt a deep contentment.  She was on the way; another expedition to find the unknown and learn the secrets of the ancient past.

The weather, which at sea, was native and wild, untamed by Cloudsdale or any other such authority, held fine.  Jeremy got over his sea-sickness.  Both he and Soree began to learn the ins and outs of Mah Jongg.  It is an excellent four hoof game.

The weather did not prove to be a problem.  The pirates, on the other hoof …

<== Previous   Next==>

Return to the Master Story Index

Return to MLP Fan Fiction

[husheduphistory]

The Groundbreaking Brain of Phineas Gage

Those who knew Phineas well were astonished by his recent behavior. He was rude, outspoken, impatient, and unpredictable, traits that never would have described him only a few years earlier. What should have shocked them more was that he was even still around to exhibit these behaviors. The accident should have killed him in the blink of an eye.

In the fall of 1848 Phineas Gage was twenty-five years old and working as a blasting foreman tasked with preparing a railroad bed near Cavendish, Vermont. Gage had no formal schooling, but he developed an excellent reputation of being a savvy businessman armed with intelligence, precision, and a huge amount of energy. He was described as a very physically fit and healthy young man who almost never succumbed to any form of illness. When Gage went to work on September 13th of that year nothing seemed out of the ordinary despite the work being extremely dangerous. Setting up a bed for the new railroad required a large number of explosives and blasting away rock to make way for the new lines.  A large hole was bored into the rock and filled with explosive materials and a fuse. Once the explosives were in place inside the rock the rest of the hole was filled with sand or clay which was then tightly packed in with a long metal rod called a tamping iron in order to ensure the force of the blast was contained inside the rock. At approximately 4:30pm Gage was hard at work when a tamping rod clipped a rock that was armed with an explosive charge. The hit created a spark which ignited the explosives inside sending the metal tamping rod shooting through the air…and straight through Gage’s head.

Dr. Williams heard Gage’s claims that he had been shot through the head with an iron rod but he initially didn’t believe him. He was here, alive, speaking and joking, how could his story possibly be true? But, the horrifying tale was quickly proven accurate to Dr. Williams who recounted:

Gage hit the ground and probably had no idea what just happened to him. The tamping rod was1.25” in diameter, forty-three inches long, weighed thirteen pounds, and sailed clear through his left cheek, through his brain, and out the top of his skull landing eighty feet away from its victim. What was even more shocking than the accident was that Gage was not just alive, he was fully conscious and able to walk himself to an oxcart and request a ride into town to see a doctor. Once arriving at the practice of Dr. Edward H. Williams he even quipped, “Here is business enough for you.”

 “I first noticed the wound upon the head before I alighted from my carriage, the pulsations of the brain being very distinct. Mr. Gage, during the time I was examining this wound, was relating the manner in which he was injured to the bystanders. I did not believe Mr. Gage's statement at that time but thought he was deceived. Mr. Gage persisted in saying that the bar went through his head… Mr. G. got up and vomited; the effort of vomiting pressed out about half a teacupful of the brain, which fell upon the floor."

Later that evening the case of Phineas Gage was handed over to Dr. John Martyn Harlow who treated the wounds and continued to observe his new patient. According to Harlow’s later description, Gage remained fully conscious that night, was able to recount what happened, recalled the names of his coworkers, and even said he didn’t need to see any of his friends because he would be back to work in “a day or two.”

 Gage may have anticipated bouncing back to work in a matter of days, but his plans were derailed when he developed an infection. Laying in a semi-comatose state, the doctors believed Gage’s luck ran out and this was the long-delayed end of their patient. From September 23rd to October 3rd Gage languished but then he suddenly began to improve. On October 7th he took his first steps out of bed and by the 11th his intellect began to re-emerge. Gage could remember the accident, the day and time it happened, and his coworkers. But, he now had difficulty with other functions like understanding size and calculating sums of money. While there were some obvious changes, most did not question them. After all, the man just survived a metal spike being launched through his head. By the end of the month Gage left medical care and went to his parent’s home in New Hampshire to continue his recovery.

Illustrations of the injuries suffered by Gage.

Gage amazed those around him by continuing to physically heal and improve, but the changes in his personality became more and more concerning. Before the accident the foreman was hard working, intelligent, and highly respected by his employers who considered him “the most efficient and capable foreman in their employ.” However, as time moved on deep transformations revealed themselves. In later observations by Dr. Harlow he noted that Gage:

 “Remembers passing and past events correctly, as well before as since the injury. Intellectual manifestations feeble, being exceedingly capricious and childish, but with a will as indomitable as ever; is particularly obstinate; will not yield to restraint when it conflicts with his desires.”

 “He is fitful, irreverent, indulging at times in the grossest profanity (which was not previously his custom), manifesting but little deference for his fellows, impatient of restraint or advice when it conflicts with his desires.... A child in his intellectual capacity and manifestations, he has the animal passions of a strong man.”

 By the middle of 1849 Gage was eager to get back to work but there was a problem, his personality changes were so severe that his former employers refused to hire him back. They were not the only ones seeing the massive shift in the man. His friends put it bluntly. The man appeared the same, but he was “no longer Gage.”

 Unwelcome at his former job Gage was forced to find other ways to support himself and he took on a variety of new professions, one of which was to simply show up. He took work at a livery stable in New Hampshire, but Gage also made appearances throughout New England where he promoted himself and his impossible survival. His most high-profile venue was none other than the Barnum American Museum in New York City. In 1852 Gage was given the opportunity to travel to Chile and work as a stagecoach driver while caring for horses. He remained in Chile until approximately 1859 when his health declined. He left the country and made the journey to San Francisco where his mother and sister relocated to at the same approximate time that he moved to South America. According to his mother, the sight of her son was grim and he was “…in a feeble condition, having failed very much since he left New Hampshire…Had many ill turns while in Valparaiso, especially during the last year, and suffered much from hardship and exposure."

An advertisement for Phineas Gage appearance shortly before his move to Chile.

 Once Gage recovered in San Francisco he was again eager to get back to work and he found employment on a farm, but his time there did not last long. In 1860 Gage began having seizures that rapidly grew in severity. On May 16th 1860 Gage went into violent convulsions and never recovered, he died at the age of 36 years old.

 Dr. Harlow had not treated Gage for many years but when he heard of his death in California he requested that the family send him his former patient’s skull. They obliged and sent Harlow not only Gage’s skull, but also the thing that made it so desirable. The tamping iron that went through his skull was Gage’s near constant companion for some years, it was even inscribed with its story:

 “This is the bar that was shot through the head of Mr Phinehas[sic] P. Gage at Cavendish Vermont Sept 14,[sic] 1848. He fully recovered from the injury & deposited this bar in the Museum of the Medical College of Harvard University.

Phinehas P. Gage  •   Lebanon Grafton Cy N–H  •   Jan 6 1850”

Gage pictured with the tamping rod that went through his head.

After studying the skull and iron Dr. Harlow donated both pieces to Harvard Medical School’s Warren Anatomical Museum where it remains today. The rest of Gage was originally buried in San Francisco’s Lone Mountain Cemetery but in 1940 his remains were moved to Cypress Lawn Memorial Park located in Colma, California.

Throughout his treatment of Gage, Dr. Harlow had suspicions about why his patient’s personality changed so drastically after his accident but the connection between personality and brain injury were still years away from being recognized. It took another decade until the experimental work of David Ferrier came to light describing how damage to the frontal cortex of the brain resulted in “a very decided alteration in the animal’s character and behavior.” Gage, who sustained extreme damage to up to 4% of the cerebral cortex and 1% of the white matter in the frontal lobe, became one of the earliest examples in medical history that the frontal cortex was involved in personality and behavior.  

 September 13th 1848 was a life changing day for Gage in ways that he never could have expected. It was the day he almost died, the day he became a legend, and a day that changed the early days of neuroscience. To this day the skull of Phineas Gage is still being studied and still giving insight into the connection between brain and behavior, a horrific workplace accident still making medical history 171 years later.

The skull of Phineas Gage and the tamping rod from his accident.

[newstechreviews]

Sports fans learn a basic lesson at an early age; almost anything can happen on the field. After all, the 1969 New York Mets—the Miracle Mets—won the World Series.

Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver—whose death at age 75 following complications from Lewy body dementia and COVID-19 was announced Wednesday—was the unquestioned star of that much-remembered team; Seaver was nicknamed “The Franchise.” He won the first of his three Cy Young Awards the Mets in 1969; the Mets were 10 games behind the Chicago Cubs on Aug. 14, but went 38-11 the rest of the way. After Aug. 5, Seaver did not lose a game for the rest of the season.

The Mets, an expansion franchise awarded to New York City after its two National League teams, the Dodgers and the Giants, switched coasts, were a joke before Seaver arrived in 1967 and won Rookie Of The Year honors. “Can’t anybody here play this game?” manager Casey Stengel uttered while managing the inaugural ’62 squad, which finished 40-120. The Mets never had a winning record before 1969; thanks to “Tom Terrific,” they were honored with a ticker tape parade that October. For a generation of Americans, Seaver and the ’69 Mets showcased what’s possible in sports.

Supremely confident and unafraid to speak his mind, Seaver knew he had sway. Seaver, who grew up in Fresno, Calif., and attended the University of Southern California, said before the Mets faced the Baltimore Orioles in the 1969 World Series that if the Mets won, he was going to buy an ad in a newspaper saying “if the Mets can win the World Series, then we can get out of Vietnam.”

“I think it’s perfectly ridiculous what we’re doing about the Vietnam situation,” Seaver said. “It’s absurd.”

On the mound, Seaver studied his mechanics and the habits of his opponents with a scientist’s eye. He famously dragged his right knee on the mound when unleashing a fastball. “As Seaver fans are well aware,” wrote Sports Illustrated, “when he gets a dirt smudge on the right knee of his pants, it means he’s sharp.” In 1970 against the San Diego Padres, he struck out 10 straight batters in a game; no pitcher has done so since. The Mets reached another improbable World Series in 1973—the team finished the regular season with just an 82-79 record, but still won its division, but lost to the Oakland A’s in Game 7. Seaver collected another Cy Young that season, and a third in 1975.

But, after a feud with Mets management and New York sports columnist Dick Young, who wrote that Seaver’s wife was jealous of Nolan Ryan’s wife since Ryan was making more money, Seaver demanded a trade. In today’s struggling sports media environment, the notion of a local journalist running a star out of town seems absurd. In 1977, Seaver was dealt to the Cincinnati Reds; two other Mets players were also moved to other teams. Seaver gave a tearful press conference: it was dubbed the Midnight Massacre.

Without Seaver, the Mets entered a late-70s/early-80s malaise. He returned to the team in 1983, and made a memorable opening day start at Shea Stadium. After finishing his pre-game warmups, Seaver walked from the bullpen to the dugout as a packed house roared, welcoming him home. The Mets won that day, but finished last again; they failed to protect Seaver that off-season in a free-agent compensation pool, thinking no team would take the 39-year-old. The Chicago White Sox selected him—shocking and saddening both Seaver and the Mets. In 1985, Seaver won his 300th game in a White Sox uniform—at Yankee Stadium, no less. It was a cruel twist for Mets fans convinced Seaver should have accomplished this milestone in Queens, with their team. Losing Seaver, however, opened opportunities for New York’s promising young pitchers of that era. In 1986, the Mets won the World Series. They haven’t won the title since.

Baseball historian Bill James, godfather baseball analytics. defined the 1970s as the “Tom Seaver Era” in a 2019 article about pitchers of that time. Seaver was just that good. He’s sixth on the all-time strikeout list, finishing with 3,640 strikeouts over his 20 seasons. He K’d more than 200 hitters for nine straight seasons, from 1968 through 1976, his last full season with the Mets before the Midnight Massacre. In 1992, Seaver was named on 98.8% of Hall of Fame ballots, a record percentage at the time.

After engineering an early sports miracle, and establishing consistent excellence over a decade, Seaver will long be remembered. “He is the greatest Met of all-time,” former Mets first baseman Keith Hernandez tweeted Wednesday. “No one will ever surpass him who wears the orange and blue.”

[topicprinter]

Hey guys,If no one minds, I’m going to try to update these more than once a month since they’re becoming too long to properly dive into everything. It’s only been two weeks since my last update. You can find the previous installment here.To recap, in my spare time, I enjoy buying and selling baseball cards. I am fairly active in the hobby and have a bit of success “flipping” cards. I wanted to track $1,000 through the year and see what I can turn it into. I am documenting that here. In part one, I purchased this for $950 before buyer's premium, coming to $1,165 with shipping. After fees, I sold the set for $2,622.79.What SoldThat t206 Cy Young portrait sold for $685.00. This was the last card in that random star lot I purchase from Goldin Auctions back in May. With this sale, it brought the final tally for the lot at $928.91 after fees, a $132.91 profit. Not terrible, I was hoping that the other cards would sell slightly better, but it was a pretty effortless group of cards to sell, so I’m not complaining. What’s interesting is that this was the first time I ever sold a card through eBay’s new “Seller Best Offer” feature - I had 4 watchers and it allowed me to send an offer to each of the four watchers, I did and one accepted! Pretty neat.I was able to list a bunch of those Sandy Koufax cards last week, which ended over the weekend for a combined $1,315.00. The lot was led by the 1965 Topps PSA 7 and the 1971 Mattel sold for over $200! I was not expecting that. After fees, the sale comes to $1,117.75, which is nice because I purchased the group for only $869.60 and still have $300-400 of cards that I am sending to PSA (once I have enough for a bulk rate).I listed every 1952 Bowman Small signed football cards as individual BIN’s. Within 24 hours, 12 of 38 had sold for a combined $1,201.05, so $1,020.89 after fees. I still have the other 26 cards listed and will likely sell a few more in the coming weeks, but will inevitably sell the remaining cards via BIN. I should do very well on this lot.PurchasedI bought this neat group 1961 Topps Magic Rub-Offs on Heritage last night. After buyer’s premium and shipping, it came to $112.72. These are extremely condition sensitive since the paper is so fragile and the edges are serrated. I think I scored these for a good price, I will try to list these BIN when I have them in hand.I also bought a complete 1957 Swift Meats set from the same Heritage auction last night. After buyer’s premium and shipping, it came to $800.00. I cannot tell you how many times I have bid on one of these sets and lost. The “cards” are actually pieces of a game that were issued in six-card panels. The important players include Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson’s rookie and Richie Ashburn. PSA grades the individual cards, but also two-card panels. I may send in the complete six-card panels to see if I can convince them to encapsulate in a jumbo holder.PSA UpdateI was finally able to get enough oversized cards together for a bulk rate submission. I sent in the remaining 1936 Goudey cards, Hank Aaron cards and oversized Sandy Koufax cards to PSA last week. I will keep everyone updated on that.I received back some of the remaining Hank Aaron cards that were with PSA. The 1954 and 1955 Johnston Cookies cards both came back PSA 1 (not a huge surprise) and the 1968 Bazooka card came back a PSA 5. The 68 Bazooka was a little disappointing, the card seemed perfect. I’ll need to look at it again.I sent the 1978 cello packs I won from Huggins to PSA, this should take 4-6 months to return – it’s normally not worth it to me to tie up funds for that long, but it’s only $100-150 each.I am working on a spreadsheet to more accurately track the PSA cards and costs (maybe a Google Doc). I will keep you guys posted.So, to update the summary:ItemCostSoldFeesInventory^Profit1972 Kellogg’s Set$1,165.00$3,085.64($462.85)$1,457.791960’s Mantle Postcards$27.99$82.55($12.38)$42.181966 Topps Lot$20.50$46.00($6.90)$18.601967 Vene. Topps Mantle$432.80$825.00($123.75)$268.451960’s Insert Lot$420.00$1,004.88($150.73)$434.151960’s Empty Boxes$645.00$1,914.60($287.19)$982.411956 Adventure Gum Set$956.13$1,405.40($210.81)$238.461961 Golden Press Set$3,451.20$3,956.15($593.42)($88.47)1957 Topps Partial Set$122.01$190.01($28.50)$39.501909-Moderm “Grab-Bag”$796.00$1,092.83($163.92)$132.911936 Goudey R314 Lot*$288.00$714.55($107.18)$50.00$369.371969-1973 Topps Yankees Lot$2,771.20$6,200.10($930.02)$2,498.89Hank Aaron “Odd-Ball” Collection*$1,086.68$2,388.04($358.21)$750.00$1,693.15Pre-WWII card lot w/ Cobb & Mathewson*$1,882.55$1,882.55$0N154 Duke Presidential BB Club Pair*$390.20$390.20$01934-36 Batter Up Low Number (1-80) Complete Set$1,437.81$2,120.35($318.05)$364.49(23) Sandy Koufax 1950's and 1960's card lot*$869.601,315.00($197.25)$300.00$548.151934 Goudey "Big League Chewing Gum" Wrappers Trio*$84.00$84.00$01977-1979 Topps Baseball Rack & Cello Packs (6)*$1,090.00$1,090.00$0Perez-Steele "Great Moments" set w/ 28 signed*$570.00$570.00$0Perez-Steele "Great Moments" set w/ 42 signed*$720.00$720.00$01952 Bowman Football Small Signed Lot (38)*$1,140.00$1,201.05($180.16)$600.00$480.891961-62 Fleer Basketball Oscar Robertson Signed Lot (2)*$690.00$690.00$01969 Topps & Deckle Edge Baseball lot w/ PSA graded*$276.00$276.00$0(5) 1961 Topps Magic Rub-Offs PSA Graded Lot*$122.72$122.721957 Swift Meats Baseball Game Complete Set (18)*$800.00$800.00$22,245.39$27,542.15($4,131.32)$8,315.47$9,480.91*-denotes inventory still on hand (see below).^ -inventory on hand is valued at a conservative estimate of fair market value for remaining items.Grading Fees: $435 (just assuming $15 per card to keep everything easy) – 29 cards have been sent to PSA. I am going to update this tracker with something a little more precise.Current On HandCash: $1,895.44Inventory1936 Goudey Al Simmons (at PSA)1936 Goudey Gabby Hartnett (at PSA)1968 Bazooka Hank Aaron (back from PSA)1954 Johnston Cookies Hank Aaron (back from PSA)1955 Johnston Cookies Hank Aaron (back from PSA)1975 Topps Deckle Edge Proof Hank Aaron (back from PSA)1972 Topps Cloth Hank Aaron (at PSA)4-5 oversized Hank Aaron cards (1970 Topps Super, 1971 Topps Super) (at PSA)16 Pre-WWII card lot (in hand)N154 Duke Presidential BB Club Pair (in hand)(23) Sandy Koufax 1950's and 1960's card lot (graded sold, raw cards to PSA)1934 Goudey "Big League Chewing Gum" Wrappers Trio (in hand)1977-1979 Topps Baseball Rack & Cello Packs (6) (in hand, cello packs to PSA)Perez-Steele "Great Moments" set w/ 28 signed (in hand)Perez-Steele "Great Moments" set w/ 42 signed (in hand)1952 Bowman Football Small Signed Lot (38) (listed on eBay)1961-62 Fleer Basketball Oscar Robertson Signed Lot (2) (in hand)1969 Topps & Deckle Edge Baseball lot w/ PSA graded (in hand)(5) 1961 Topps Magic Rub-Offs PSA Graded Lot (in transit from AH)1957 Swift Meats Baseball Game Complete Set (18) (in transit from AH)There are a few auctions over the next couple weeks. Hopefully I can get some stuff sold before then!ALSO! If anyone is interested in what the financials for this project would look like:As of 9/9/2019AmountCash$1,895.44Inventory^$8,315.47Initial Capital($1,165.00)Revenue($27,542.15)Cost of Goods Sold$13,929.92Fees (15% of CoGS)$4,131.32PSA Fees$435.00I look forward to continuing to update everyone on this. Hope you enjoy as much as I do.Jason

[elricwest]

For all those Nalu fans out there, here is my newest fanfic. Chapters are posted on fanfiction.net if you want to read there.

---------------------------------------------------

"Things are looking up, oh finally…" For the first time in Lucy's life, things were actually really great. She had a great job as an editor for a publishing firm in the city she always dreamed of living in, Crocus. Her apartment wasn't what she'd always imagined she'd live in but it was a lot better than some of the places around town. But, her proudest achievement, she was in a solid relationship!

So many guys had come along but none had made the cut. From wish washy to self absorbed to complete asshole, Lucy had pretty much dated them all and had sworn off men… until she met him. They met through a friend and seemed to click immediately.

He was kind and sweet, considerate and doted on her every minute they were together… which most times wasn't long because of his job, according to him. He claimed he was some manager of the stars or at least of some important people.

They had been dating now for nearly eight months and Lucy deemed it time for the next step… meeting the parents. Or at least parent. Her mother had died a long time ago in a car accident when she young but her father, Jude, was still around. The small town she grew up in, Magnolia, was having their annual town festival and with many of Lucy's childhood friends coming home, it was the perfect time to introduce him. Her prince charming… Dan Straight.

She switched between humming and singing along to the Paramore song as she packed her bags for the week long trip. She hadn't been home in quite some time but she felt ready, well, namely all the expected check marks were checked off the list and no one could berate her anymore!

The sound of chimes tore her attention away from her suitcase momentarily. The familiar tone coming from her phone sitting on the dresser behind her alerted her who was calling. Ecstatic, Lucy picked up the phone, "Levy-chan!"

"Lu-chan! It's so good to hear from you! We haven't talked in a few weeks!" Lucy chuckled at her best friend. If you bottled pure joy into a bottle and mixed in some sunshine, that was Levy to a T. "Are you excited about the festival?"

Lucy held the phone between her cheek and her shoulder so she could continue packing. "Yes I am! I mean I am finally bringing a man along with me so everyone can stop asking me when I am going to find someone."

"Oh I know, I'm bringing Gajeel with me so he can join in the amazing pastimes of our quaint little town."

"You mean sitting around drinking alcohol and talking about one another?"

Levy paused before responding, " Umm… yeah pretty much." Lucy giggled in response. "so who is this mystery man you're bringing home?"

"I'm not telling…" Lucy replied coyly.

"Whaaaaa… not fair. I told you who I was bringing."

"You and Gajeel have been dating for months know that's no surprise."

"True, True. Hey! You excited for a good ol' Fairy Tail reunion?!"

Fairy Tail High… the place where teens of Magnolia discovered who they were and where that would lead them in life. Mostly for Lucy it was a time to break away from the dramatic life she lived. Her dad was constantly working and became a bit of a hermit after her mother died. What made it worse were the murmurs around town about her and her family, her only solace was her friends at school. But unfortunately they all went their separate ways after they graduated. This trip would be the first time in 5 years they would all be together!

Her feet mindlessly moved her away from the suitcase and towards the bookshelf in the other room. She pulled the familiar yearbook from its place on the shelf and sat down onto the nearest chair.

"Did you hear that Erza and Jellal confirmed?" Levy stated.

"Really? I thought they couldn't with their kids?"

"Erza's mom was able to babysit for them so they are coming out!" Lucy flipped through her senior year book, her eyes falling on a picture of Jellal and Erza. They always were the power couple. Her eyes landed on a picture of Juvia laughing right after she slammed a whip cream pie into Gray's face. "And Juiva and Gray are coming… has he asked her out yet?"

"I think their relationship is a mutual pining." Levy explained. "I heard Natsu confirmed."

Lucy's heart stopped… Natsu, her best friend growing up. The two of them were inseparable since they first met at the age of 5. They used to live right next door to one another, that is until her father's business went belly up and they had to move. Well, that and her father's health hasn't been the best lately so he moved into a two-bedroom house with their caretaker Mrs. Spetzo.

He defended her against the vicious bullies in the second grade, he taught her how to ride a bike when she was 7, he helped her make her volcano for her science project in the 5th grade, he stole her first kiss when she was 13, he had helped her through her mother's passing when she was 16… they vowed to stay in contact with one another after graduation… but what happened?

"Oh…" was all her mouth could seem to udder. She turned the page to see a picture of the two of them flexing their arms at the Field Day event.

A honk from outside drew her attention away from the book. Lucy stood up in such a hurry, she didn't notice the book fall to the floor. Lucy peered out the front window to see Dan sitting in his brand new convertible. She waved and signaled she'd be down in a second but Dan just waved her off.

"I gotta go, Levy-chan, my ride is here."

"Ooooh, enjoy, I will see you soon!" Lucy hung up, quickly grabbed her jacket and purse and took off out the door. Lucy practically skipped all the way to the car, a huge grin adorning her face.

"Hey babe!" she yelled as she opened the door and took a seat on the passenger side. Dan didn't seem to react to her presence at all so she decided to take her frustration out on the door. "Watch it!" Dan yelled. Lucy stared at him in shock. "Be gentle with her, she's new," Dan cooed as he leaned over her lap to pet the car door.

Lucy, obviously annoyed, said, "So where are we going tonight?" an straightened back up and began to drive away, "The fanciest restaurant in town."

"That sounds romantic!"

The ride to the restaurant was mostly silence mixed in with a splash of awkward conversation, mostly about Dan's new car. Lucy was happy to step foot out of it, hoping without the car Dan would actually take the time and talk to her.

"How many sir?" the hostess asked.

Dan wrapped an arm around Lucy's waist as he spoke, "Two and I believe I have a reservation under Straight." Lucy (pretended) not to notice his wink after talking to her and the blush of the hostess. As the two waited to be sat, Lucy took the time to look around the restaurant. The décor was beautiful and serene, an excellent place to go on a date.

"Dan?! Is that you?" The blonde turned to see an unknown man and woman walking up to Dan. "W-what are you guys doing here?"

"We are celebrating our anniversary tonight. Oh are you here with Angel?"

"Uhh…"

Lucy stepped forward and peered around Dan's shoulder. "Hello, I'm Lucy." The couple seemed very surprised to see her but was even more surprised when the male began to reach out to take her extended hand but the woman swatted it away. "Who are you?" she questioned.

"Lu…cy, I'm Dan's girlfriend."

The woman froze before slowly growing angry, "Interesting, considering Dan is married."

It didn't take two seconds before Lucy stormed out of the restaurant and began walking down the street back to her apartment. "Lucy! Lucy wait!" she heard in the distance. Lucy wrapped her jacket around her tighter and began walking faster. "Lucy, stop!"

"Why?!" she yelled as she whipped around to face the man she thought was 'the one.'

"We need to talk about this."

"About what?! How you deceived me for 8 months. Ugh, and to think I wanted to marry you!"

"Well, if I told you I was married, you never would have slept with me!" She snapped… Lucy balled up her fist as tight as she could, until her knuckles turned white, and she swung as hard as she could towards his stupid, cheating face. The impact sent Dan flying back onto the ground and left him knocked out cold.

…

Lucy threw open her apartment door, ran to her bedroom and collapsed on her bed. She couldn't hold it in any longer as the tears flowed from her eyes. It looks like her track record for men still held true; well, now she could add cheater to the list. Why was her dating life so bad?! Was she doomed to be single the rest of her life?!

Her phone next to her began to chime. She glanced up long enough to see it was her father calling. Lucy reached up, grabbed the phone from the nightstand and declined the call. She let her face fall back into the pillow, not caring of the mascara that was definitely running down her cheeks and onto the pillow.

Within a few seconds, her phone sounded again. Lucy looked at the phone and saw her father's image on the screen. With a loud groan and as much enthusiasm as she could muster, she accepted the call. "Hey, Dad." She loved her dad, really, just sometimes he was a bit pushy with his expectations of her. Also… now really wasn't the time.

"Hi, honey, all packed for the trip?"

Lucy looked down at her thrown together suitcase, "Almost."

"I'm so glad you are coming home. It feels like it's been forever since you've been here."

"Yeah it's been some time…" Lucy said throwing a sigh in there.

"You know… I've been thinking…" Ugh! Not this again, she thought as she sat up.

When her dad though it was usually about her future, specifically with relationships. "You're almost 27 now and you're getting to that point where you've reached your peak physical attraction level…"

"Oh my Mavis, Dad!"

"What?! I just want my daughter to not be single for the rest of her life." Lucy face palmed, great way to bring this up.

"Why are you so invested in my dating life anyway?!" she yelled back. This was the last straw; she was tired of all the pressure to get married. When she was younger, it was about arranged marriages to better the company but since it went under its been about letting her pick who she married but it had to be sooner rather than later.

She had had enough of the constant nagging, I was time to take a stand.

"Because I would like to at least meet my future son-in-law before I die!" Lucy paused.

"What do you mean?"

Her father's sigh was audible on her end of the phone. "I met with the specialist today… He said it's the Big C and terminal."

"B-but you were doing great last week…" Lucy almost couldn't believe what she was hearing. She reverted to what she knew… logic.

"I have good days and bad days, but they seem to be few and far between nowadays." Lucy couldn't do much but stare down at the ground. Her mind was blank, her chest tight, and she couldn't seem to breathe.

"All I want, as a man in my last few days, is to meet the man you are going to spend the rest of your life with… to make sure you're taken care of after I'm gone."

"Dad…"

"But at least there's hope, right? This man you're bringing to the festival…" Crap! She forgot about that for a second. What was she gonna tell him?! "Dad… about that…" I was dating a married man so at least he would know the tips and tricks to a great marriage, right?! Ugh…

She took a deep breath to respond to her father, hopefully the truth wouldn't break his heart. As she breathed in, her foot hit something hard. Confused, Lucy looked down to see her yearbook she was looking at earlier face down on the ground. With a sigh, she bent down to pick it up.

"This 'mystery man…' Is he the one for you?" he asked. Lucy grabbed the book and stood up to place it back on the shelf, which only released some loose papers inside of it. Lucy sighed even harder before stooping down to pick them up.

Lucy turned over the first picture to see it was a collage of pictures of herself and Natsu throughout their lives. Her father continued going on about something in her hear but she was captivated by the images in front of her. She glanced over a photo of the two of them in a kiddie pool when they were younger, of Natsu in his football uniform and her in her cheerleader uniform… Her eyes lanced over all the photos until she flipped the paper over. The backside was covered with a handwritten letter from Natsu, his 'goodbye' letter which is customarily written in the yearbooks themselves.

Her eyes looked at every word before the signature on the bottom… the name she knew all too well. Beside the signature was a selfie he had taken of the two of the their senior year. Her head was slightly down and she was laughing because Natsu was kissing her temple. She smiled at the memory… she was so happy around him.

Her eyes began to widen, and her head turned and raised. Before she could think about what she was doing, she spoke, "Dad… what if I told you, you've already met him?"

[thrashermaxey]

Ramblings: The annual Dobby Awards. Also some playoff thoughts, Matthews vs. Marner and more (Apr 08)

Ramblings: The annual Dobby Awards. Also some playoff thoughts, Matthews vs. Marner and more (Apr 08)

***

Now available – the 13th annual Interactive Playoff Draft List. Order it here, download immediately. I updated this Sunday with the latest and will update it again before the playoffs start. Tons of notes and insight on this list as well as my own picks. If you bought the Ultimate Fantasy Pack in the summer, this will be included in that purchase. It is not included in the Keeper Fantasy Pack. I did update this Sunday morning and I had to update it again in the evening because there was a problem getting goalies to appear. That is fixed now.

*

First, join my NHL Bracket Challenge – the DobberHockey League of Winners.

Second, join my Dobbernomics playoff game. It’s free, it’s fun, and frankly it’s pretty challenging. You can put in your team right now under a salary cap, and then keep changing them around because transactions are unlimited until the playoffs begin.

*

For all the hype that Auston Matthews gets and Mitch Marner does not – Marner has kept up with him in production, and this year is out-producing him badly. Yes, injuries…but injuries are a part of a player’s value. Marner doesn’t seem to get hurt, Matthews seems to be a lock for missing 10 games or more just from his style of play. One thing I noticed in reviewing for playoff pools – Marner had nine points in seven games last spring while Matthews had just two. Matthews brings high value as an elite sniper with size and strength in the center position – a rare commodity. But isn’t Patrick Kane a pretty rare commodity, too? Yes, I’m comparing Marner to Kane. Marner deserves more dough than Matthews. Curious to see if he gets it. The reality is, the Leafs need both players.

You know who they don’t need? William Nylander. Still shaking my head over that “not trading Nylander” comment from Kyle Dubas. He’s a great top six forward, perhaps even a first liner. But there are several dozen of him in the league. Most definitely not a rare commodity. And if he costs the team keeping the likes of Andreas Johnsson or Kasperi Kapanen (I won’t even consider them losing Marner over keeping Nylander, I shudder), then that’s too big a sacrifice.

*

It’s still happening. Mark Stone joining Vegas’ 1B line hasn’t really helped that line, since it was already fairly productive. But it has had a huge impact on the 1A line. William Karlsson, Reilly Smith and Jonathan Marchessault have been red hot over the past month. Since the trade deadline:

Marchessault – 17 points in 19 games (0.89 vs. 0.67 prior to that)

Karlsson – 17 points in 19 games (0.89 vs. 0.62)

Smith – 18 points in 18 games (1.00 vs. 0.63)

Stone – 11 points in 18 games (0.61 vs. 1.05)

Stastny – 17 points in 17 games (1.00 vs. 0.76)

Pacioretty – 8 points in 16 games (0.50 vs. 0.64)

Tuch – 9 points in 19 games (0.47 vs. 0.78)

A lot of this can be explained. Tuch’s dropoff is from his being bumped from the second line. The top line, or 1A, was heavily defended against in the first half, with the opposition shutting them down and thus giving themselves the best chance to win. But with Stone there, how do you focus on anyone else? Stone has the most talent and is the biggest game breaker. How do you put your best shutdown D on the Karlsson line and leave Stone free to do as he will? You can’t. And I’m curious to see if he can step up his game and boost that line’s production in the playoffs. Right now I’m more bullish on the Karlsson line when it comes to drafting in playoff pools.

*

You can so very clearly see which GMs weren’t thinking ahead and adapting, simply by looking at the overall scoring. Scoring is up this year. By a lot: 3.01 goals per game and that’s up over the 3.00 mark for the first time since 2006.. The top scoring team has 325 goals. Twenty-five teams have at least 225 goals. And then Anaheim, Los Angeles, Dallas, Minnesota and Arizona have fewer than 215? The Ducks didn’t even reach 200? Talk about being caught sleeping. With more of the net being visible thanks to smaller goalie pads, the clutching and grabbing by slower, bigger players no longer works. Now it’s about speed, and puck movement starting at D. Arizona recognizes this and are moving towards it. Minnesota also seems to suddenly get it, based on their Deadline moves. The Ducks have a solid prospect pipeline so there’s still hope there. But what of Los Angeles? Things could actually get worse there before they get better.

 *

This year’s Dobby’s!

Biggest Fantasy Surprise: Erik Gustafsson. Of course. This one is probably unanimous. To hit the 60-point mark as a defenseman when we weren’t even sure if he’d be a regular roster player is pretty fantastic. Six defensemen reached 60 points this season and a virtual unknown was one of them. Runner-Up: Jordan Binnington. Winnington indeed.

Lucky Linemate Award: While much of the prognosticators and journalists were going nuts over Calgary’s signing of James Neal, crowning him a potential comeback player and already christening him as Johnny Gaudreau’s linemate…I held firm on my belief in this year’s winner Elias Lindholm. As a right-shot and a backup centerman who could take faceoffs when needed, it was just too good a fit. Why would Calgary bother making that trade if not to put Lindholm on the big line? I didn’t waver and in fact traded one of my 12 keepers last summer to sub Lindholm as a keeper in his place (Clayton Keller). Just one point in his last nine games prevented him from reaching 80 points (he hit 78). Runner-Up: Cam Atkinson, who also fell short of a milestone, stopping at 69 points thanks to just six points in the last 14 games. He did hit 41 goals though.

Second-Half Stud Award: Patrick Kane’s 59 points in 39 games tied Nikita Kucherov in scoring since January 5. It was also a nice jump from his already-solid first-half pace of 51 points in 42 games. Runner-Up: Sean Couturier, who had 47 points in the last 42 games after starting out with 29 in 38. This was despite managing just three points and going minus-9 in the final seven contests.

Cha-Ching Player Trade Award: Dylan Strome. Six points in 20 games for Arizona, then off to Chicago where he picked up 51 in 58. Runner-Up: Ryan Donato. He had 16 points in 22 games after the trade. But unlike with Strome, we were still fairly comfortable with Donato eventually coming around. The trade just expedited things. Donato ended the season with just one point in seven games and minus-8, so by no means is 2019-20 guaranteed to be “the year” for him.

Second-Half Swoon Award: Patrik Laine had 20 measly points in the last 49 games after starting the season with 30 in 33. Runner-Up: Jeff Skinner was a revelation with 44 points in 45 games to start the year. He was going to demolish his career high of 63 points, no question about it. That is, until he didn’t. Just 19 in his last 37 to finish up with, you guessed it, 63 points. Congrats to anyone who traded either of these players in January.

Fantasy Player of the Year: Andrei Vasilevskiy. It’s not a coincidence that the teams that won each of my leagues that involve goalies, owned Vas. As I noted to one GM when we were discussing the fairness of the goalie points system in that league: “Owning Vasilevskiy under these rules right now is like owning Gretzky in 1986.” He only played 53 games thanks to a broken foot, and yet he still managed 39 wins. If healthy all year, he may have taken a run at 50. He also boasted a 0.925 SV% in an era where goaltenders don’t really do that very often. Runner-Up: Nikita Kucherov, who finished with 128 points, 12 more than the next player and the highest total in 23 years.

Fantasy Rookie of the Year: Jordan Winnington. I wrestled with this one for a long time because I’m a huge Elias Pettersson fan and feel he will be an elite player. As in – Top 5 in the league. Meanwhile, Binnington could Jim Carrey his way out of the NHL and become this massive bust. But we’ll always remember this year. In the end, I asked myself – which rookie did the most to help a fantasy owner win. And frankly, Winnington turned more than a few fantasy squads around on his own this year. So even though I would much sooner own Runner-Up Pettersson and Honorable Mention Rasmus Dahlin by a wide, wide, ridiculously wide margin in keeper leagues – Binnington has to be the ROY in fantasy hockey.

Fourth Year Magic Award: Dylan Larkin teased in Year 3 with 63 points and then took another huge step this season with 73. This is quite the feat when you consider that no other Detroit player reached 55. Runner-Up: Max Domi jumped from 45 points in his third year to 72. He was a big reason why the Habs made it to Game 81 before finally being eliminated from the playoffs.

Best Cap Bargain: Only one player was paid less than $10,000 per point scored, and that was Brayden Point. He had 92 points on a $650,000 salary, for just over $7,000 each. Runner-Up: Alex DeBrincat.

Cy Young Award: Viktor Arvidsson only played 58 games but he still managed 34 goals. But he had just 14 assists. Runner-Up: Tie between Jeff Skinner (40-23) and Cam Atkinson (41-28).

The Power-Play Crutch: Keith Yandle wins this one because nobody relied more heavily on the man advantage for his production than the Florida defenseman. He had just 23 points at even strength, but a whopping 39 on the power play. Nobody was even close to that ratio here. Runner-Up, and a distant one: Mike Hoffman who was at 35 for ES and 35 on the PP.

I hope you enjoyed this year’s Dobby’s!

*

Two other players I looked at for a fantasy boost after being traded: Tanner Pearson (the second time he was dealt), Jordan Weal (the second time he was dealt) and Jared McCann. In 19 games with Vancouver, Pearson had 12 points. Not great, but still quite the improvement. It looks even better, though, when you see that he ended the year with nine points in nine games. He showed great chemistry with Bo Horvat towards the end and I think he can get back to that 45-to-55 potential we saw in him earlier.

Jordan Weal has teased us at the end of the season like this before. And the last time he did it, he was set to become a UFA and earned himself a two-year, one-way contract. I think his progress was derailed by the Flyers lucking into the draft lottery win and adding Nolan Patrick to the lineup. It nudged Weal down the roster and he hasn’t done much of anything since. Here he is, set to become a UFA again and he ends things in Montreal with eight points in nine games. What kind of contract he earns from that should determine how much of a chance he will get. And to be fair – he had plenty of top-six opportunities in Arizona, but couldn’t find the chemistry. He is clearly a guy who will lean on chemistry with a talented player for his points.

And McCann, of course, had that wonderful run as Sidney Crosby’s linemate and picking up 10 points in eight games just after the deadline. But the magic seemed to vanish as he managed just four points in the final 12 contests. Next year could almost be considered his fourth (he played 29 games in 2016-17), so that definitely nudges me towards drafting him in the summer as a sleeper pick. He has played 244 career games so it’s right in that wheelhouse for a breakout.

*

I didn’t know that Joe Thornton had 29 points in his last 33 games. He’s sailing into the postseason truly on a roll and if you like the Sharks to go deep, you may want to nudge him up your playoff draft lists.

*

The reason I am not a big fan of Alex Nylander in keeper leagues – injuries. He had himself a nice season this year taking a big step forward in his pro career after a couple of steps backward. But he had a different injury wipe out two of his training camps, back-to-back, and then finally getting an opportunity with Buffalo that looks as though he is there to stay – and he gets hurt again. If every time he gets some sort of opportunity or gets on a role he suffers an injury, he’s never going to get going. There are too many other prospects to roll the dice on, so I’ll leave the younger Nylander to someone else.

I just realized I’m kinda trashing on both Nylander brothers today. Time to write something nice: Both have tremendous upside and I really like William as a potential first-liner – no matter what team he plays for. In fact I think it’s better for both him and the Leafs if he went somewhere else. He would flourish elsewhere, and they would address some serious needs. I also don’t rule out Alex as a potential top sixer, to be clear what I wrote above was that other GMs can take a chance on him, I will look at other prospects who aren’t getting hurt.

*

See you next Monday. Good luck in your playoff pool drafts, and that link again for the Draft List is here.

    from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-the-annual-dobby-awards-also-some-playoff-thoughts-matthews-vs-marner-and-more-apr-08/

[investmart007]

NEW YORK | A pitcher for NL MVP? The numbers make a compelling case

New Post has been published on https://www.stl.news/new-york-a-pitcher-for-nl-mvp-the-numbers-make-a-compelling-case/169578/

NEW YORK | A pitcher for NL MVP? The numbers make a compelling case

NEW YORK — Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer and Aaron Nola are going pitch for pitch in the NL Cy Young Award race. Problem is, that prize might not do the trio justice. Not according to baseball’s advanced analytics.

With 2½ weeks left in the season, it’s time to ask: Should one of those three be MVP?

“It’s the best player in the league,” deGrom said. “If that happens to be a pitcher and they can win it, then it’s well deserved.”

There’s no debating deGrom’s dominance, even if it’s not translating into wins for the struggling New York Mets. Scherzer’s awards-season resume is more traditional, bolstered by league-leading totals in victories and strikeouts. And Nola is right there, too, in a breakout season with the Philadelphia Phillies.

But an MVP? For three pitchers who are going to miss the postseason? Some don’t think pitchers should even be considered for the award, though they’ve won 25 times before.

The stats devised by sabermetricians suggest it would be a swing and a miss not to consider a pitcher — certainly not in a year when the crop of NL hitters just doesn’t add up.

The National League has produced at least one hitter worth 6.0 wins above replacement (WAR) each season since the Chicago Cubs’ Hack Wilson topped 1926 at 5.7, according to Fangraphs.

This year’s group is equally underwhelming, strictly by the numbers. Milwaukee teammates Lorenzo Cain (5.4) and Christian Yelich (5.3) top the circuit, followed by Arizona’s Paul Goldschmidt (5.2), St. Louis’ Matt Carpenter (5.2), Chicago’s Javier Baez (4.9) and Colorado’s Nolan Arenado (4.8).

For a catch-all stat like WAR — which measures contributions on offense, defense, baserunning and pitching — that 0.6 gap from Arenado on up is nearly negligible. Can’t go wrong choosing among them.

But that group is far behind the league’s top pitchers by the same measure. DeGrom leads the NL with 8.1 WAR, and Scherzer, Nola and Diamondbacks ace Patrick Corbin are also ahead of the hitters. Over at Baseball-Reference, which has its own WAR formula, Scherzer (9.7) holds the top spot way ahead of Cain (6.3), with Nola, deGrom and Rockies left-hander Kyle Freeland all beating the batters.

It’s unusual, but not unheard of, for a pitcher to lead a league in WAR. By Baseball-Reference’s math, Clayton Kershaw did it when he won NL MVP in 2014, as did Justin Verlander for his AL MVP in 2011. Corey Kluber, Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay and Zack Greinke each did it over the past decade, too. But in the age of ever-tighter pitch counts and innings limits, it’s not as common as it once was and figures to keep getting tougher.

Of the 25 pitcher MVPs, 14 were awarded before the Cy Young Award was introduced in 1956. Prior to Kershaw and Verlander, the previous pitcher winner was reliever Dennis Eckersley in 1992, and the prior starter to take MVP was Roger Clemens in 1986.

Marlins manager and 1985 AL MVP Don Mattingly was the runner-up to Clemens that year — and wasn’t thrilled about it.

“Hard for me as a player, to kind of know I play 160 games or whatever it is and then somebody has 30, 35 starts,” Mattingly said. He’s changed his mind since becoming a manager. Doesn’t hurt that he was leading the Dodgers when Kershaw won MVP.

“If you’re talking about them as Cy Young and MVPs, they’re guys that are basically taking care of your bullpen that day, stopping any kind of streaks, adding to streaks — a guy you know you can count on,” Mattingly said.

Mattingly has seen plenty of deGrom, Scherzer and Nola in the NL East.

“I can see where you could look at them as being most valuable player,” he said.

The cases for those pitchers are a little different from their predecessors — especially for deGrom.

The Mets ace is just 8-9, putting him in the historic position of having more WAR than wins. According to Baseball-Reference’s records, deGrom would be just the second qualified pitcher ever to have more WAR than wins, following Eddie Smith (4-17 record, 4.1 WAR) with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1937.

At this point, deGrom’s underwhelming win total probably won’t hurt him much in Cy Young balloting. Voters set aside the stat when crowning Seattle’s Felix Hernandez in 2010 despite a 13-12 mark, and the electorate seems to agree that victories aren’t paramount to being the best pitcher.

But to be the most valuable? Voters might still be stuck on wins there. Opinions are all over the board on how to quantify value — some voters insist MVPs have to come from winning teams, others see winning as something of a tiebreaker, and a growing number of progressive writers try to separate a player’s performance from that of his teammates entirely.

That’s where deGrom’s candidacy could fall apart. Of the 21 starting pitchers to win MVP, all of them won at least 20 games. DeGrom is going to have a hard time winning 10.

That’s not deGrom’s fault, of course. He has a 1.71 ERA this season, and yet New York is 12-17 behind him thanks to minimal run support.

DeGrom has taken to helping himself, driving in four runs since Aug. 3, including New York’s only RBIs in 2-1 losses to the Braves and Cubs.

Scherzer has been even better with the bat. He’s hitting .270 with six RBIs and a stolen base. Those contributions won’t help him stave off deGrom in his pursuit for a fourth Cy Young and third straight in the NL, but it could sway some MVP voters.

Nola’s pitch seems to have lost a little steam as the Phillies have faded out of the playoff picture. Philadelphia dropped 6½ games behind Atlanta in the NL East after getting swept by the Nationals in a doubleheader Tuesday. Nola was 16-4 with a 2.29 ERA prior to a start Wednesday and wasn’t far behind Scherzer with 8.9 WAR, per Baseball-Reference.

Unless a hitter separates from the pack over the final couple weeks, one of those three just might be an MVP.

“It’s been done before,” Mets manager Mickey Callaway said. “They should be considered.”

By Associated Press

[newsforday-blog]

Dominant Nola fans 11, bats get to Thor in win

After Aaron Nola's last begin, the Phillies expert said contributing a flag race is "irresistible." He is normally a held speaker, so the remark vocalized what important baseball in August does to somebody who had tossed for a principally last-put group in his young profession. Friday night's 4-2 prevail upon the Mets at Citizens Bank Park just promoted the thought that the Phillies need to wish they could bolster Nola's propensity for overwhelming restricting lineups more regularly than each fifth diversion. "He meets people's high expectations," Phillies director Gabe Kapler said. "He's prepared for the greatest minute. He prefers the brightest spotlight." Nola permitted only one earned keep running on three hits more than seven innings to bring down his ERA to 2.24, the most minimal sign of any Phillies pitcher through 25 begins since 1964. The 25-year-old right-hander strolled one and hit a player while striking out 11 to end up the most youthful Phillies pitcher since Ray Culp in 1963 to record five twofold digit strikeout amusements in a season. Twenty times this season Nola has permitted two or less runs. Also, with his win check now at 14, twofold that of Mets Cy Young contender Jacob deGrom, Nola is a genuine possibility for the honor. The race is basically down to Nola, deGrom and Nationals expert Max Scherzer. Begins like this lone help Nola's motivation. "To be up there in the best with those other two folks - those folks are entirely great," Nola said. "We'll see one of them tomorrow. I'm simply endeavoring to win for this group, however." A division title is Nola's primary target, and Friday's exertion, combined with the Braves' misfortune to Colorado, brought the Phillies to inside a half-round of Atlanta for the lead position in the National League East. With each Nola begin, it's ending up more conceivable to picture him tossing here in October. On the off chance that there is something that will keep that picture from being understood, it's feasible an absence of offense. That was not an issue Friday. The Phillies scored three keeps running on Noah Syndergaard in the principal inning on account of four hits and RBIs from Asdrubal Cabrera and Nick Williams. That immediately killed the likelihood of the one thing that has tormented the Phillies when they have their expert on the hill: a peaceful night at the plate. Philadelphia has lost just seven of Nola's begins in 2018. In those diversions, the club has found the middle value of only 2.14 runs. "Scoring early is critical," Nola said. "It takes a little worry off. You truly can assault the zone when they set up runs from the get-go in the diversion." The main pressure originated from the six baserunners Nola let on, yet he said his capacity to tolerate down more was what empowered him to limit harm. The Phillies are utilized to it. "He just raises his amusement," Kapler said. "What's more, we saw that today around evening time." Minutes THAT MATTERED Insane bend: Nola gathered 13 swinging hits with his curveball, including one at 81 mph to Michael Conforto in the fourth and one at 79 mph to get Wilmer Flores to strike out to end the seventh inning. That was Nola's 108th and last pitch, and it looked sufficient to have been his first. "I was tossing it harder," Nola said. "I felt like my arm quality was better this evening. My conveyance felt superior to anything it has recently. I can toss it for strikes. I can toss it out of the zone and down with some profundity. I imagine that is the reason it was compelling." Weigh down: After falling behind Syndergaard 2-0 with two sprinters on and no outs in the fifth, Nola battled back to hit out Syndergaard with a 3-2 fastball. Jack Reinheimer met a similar destiny in the following at-bat with a 1-2 changeup, and Amed Rosario grounded out to end the casing. Right when Nola's order had vanished, he could dial back in and keep the baserunners he put on from progressing. "In spite of what's happening around him, he has an alternate level of trust in himself," Kapler said. Go out with a bang: Victor Arano struck out the initial two players in the eighth, yet then surrendered continuous hits to enable the Mets to convey the score to 4-2. Kapler approached left-hander Adam Morgan to confront Conforto, who spoke to the tying run. Morgan struck him out on a 3-2 slider, and Pat Neshek spared the amusement with a scoreless ninth. SOUND SMART Other than Nola, the main different Phillies pitchers to record five twofold digit-strikeout amusements in a season were Cliff Lee, Steve Carlton, Jim Bunning, Curt Schilling, Chris Short and Culp. YOU GOTTA SEE THIS The Phillies were obviously forceful on the basepaths, which Kapler said was a direct result of Syndergaard's ease back way to deal with the plate. Maikel Franco stole his a respectable starting point since 2016. Jorge Alfaro swiped the initial two sacks of his profession. Cesar Hernandez and Carlos Santana likewise included a stolen base each, and the Phillies stole five packs out of the blue since July 23, 2016. "We needed to keep running as much as posible," Roman Quinn said. " Flores pulled us to the side and resembled, 'Yo, we have to take more bases." HE SAID IT "It's truly awful. I really have seen it in live BP once previously, and it's not something you need to remain before. He completed an extraordinary activity today around evening time." - Quinn, on Nola's curveball UP NEXT Another huge name pitching matchup features the last session of the arrangement in Philadelphia before the Phillies and Mets finish their five-diversion set at the Little League Classic in Williamsport, Pa., as Jake Arrieta (9-7, 3.33 ERA) faces deGrom (7-7, 1.81) on Saturday. Arrieta battled in his last excursion, permitting five keeps running in five innings against the Padres, yet posted a 1.29 ERA in the three begins earlier. First pitch is set for 4:05 p.m. ET. Read the full article

[hsews]

When assessing managers, I’m always reminded of a quote attributed to Yogi Berra: “It ain’t like football. You can’t make up no trick plays.” It does help, however, to make sure your team bats in the correct order.

The Mets and Yankees are meeting for three games this weekend at Citi Field, and their first Subway Series comes with the clubs spinning in opposite directions and some heat starting to fall on Mets manager Mickey Callaway. After the Yankees’ 4-1 victory in the series opener Friday night, the Mets have lost seven games in a row, a stretch in which they’ve scored just eight runs. They haven’t won two games in a row since May 20-21, falling from 24-19 and 2½ games out of first place to 27-33 and closer to the last-place Marlins than to the top of the division.

Meanwhile, Aaron Boone, Callaway’s fellow rookie skipper, has helped engineer the Yankees to a 41-18 start, including an 8-1 record their past nine games as they battle the Red Sox for American League East supremacy. The Yankees also haven’t batted out of order. That happened to the Mets on May 9 in a game they would lose 2-1 to the Reds in 10 innings, drawing them coveted front-page honors in the New York Daily News and New York Post — for all the wrong reasons:

A tale of two NYC teams…

Thursday’s back page:

MLB-best Yankees rally to top Boston, take over first in AL East https://t.co/2d1Mg7rt2H

and on the front:

Mets bat out of order, lose on walkoff HR https://t.co/yQzB8Lj6bF@espn @MLBNetwork @APSE_sportmedia @BackPageGuyNYDN pic.twitter.com/YuYwVrHbfn

— Nick Parco (@nick_parco) May 10, 2018

The back page: A Little League-like mistake puts #Mets on the brink of .500 https://t.co/DvhPPgZcu4 pic.twitter.com/MnZQwOoAj2

— New York Post Sports (@nypostsports) May 9, 2018

Callaway quickly learned there is no leniency in New York, even with a slew of injuries. Indeed, the current disabled list includes Noah Syndergaard, Yoenis Cespedes, Wilmer Flores, Juan Lagares, Travis d’Arnaud and AJ Ramos, with various degrees of severity (d’Arnaud is out for the season and Lagares is likely out as well). Syndergaard was set to start the series finale Sunday before a setback kept him sidelined, and Todd Frazier just returned after missing nearly a month of action, so the Mets are at least closer to their best health status since starting the season 11-1.

Ahh, yes, early April was a more joyous time for the Mets and their manager:

Here’s the @NYDNSports back page for Saturday. @BackPageGuyNYDN @SNYtv @MLBNetwork https://t.co/g8uSerNPB4 pic.twitter.com/T7NBLExf5r

— MikeMatvey (@MikeMatvey) April 14, 2018

Since that 11-1 start, however, the only team with a worse winning percentage is the Orioles — and the O’s swept a two-game series between the two teams this week. Apparently, this is the new low for the Mets:

Here is the @NYDNSports back page for Thursday. @BackPageGuyNYDN @MLBNetwork @espn https://t.co/3CmKZGnTCG pic.twitter.com/FFvuAZADgQ

— MikeMatvey (@MikeMatvey) June 7, 2018

The back page: #Mets offense stinks it up again as their skid hits six https://t.co/qD37BallyB pic.twitter.com/55ySzL1RpC

— New York Post Sports (@nypostsports) June 7, 2018

Of course, with the Yankees on pace for 113 wins, it’s easy to forget they got off to a rocky start. They were 9-9 before reeling off a 17-1 streak. An anticipated Luis Severino–Chris Sale showdown turned into a 14-1 rout for the Red Sox, the much-vaunted bullpen had blown a couple leads, and Giancarlo Stanton was striking out in droves:

Here’s our @nydnsports back page. @yankees @mets @redsox #giancarlostanton @weei @apse_sportmedia @mlb @mlbnetworkhttps://t.co/ADsh2NgENe pic.twitter.com/zEHpoW9IMq

— Back Page Guy NYDN (@BackPageGuyNYDN) April 11, 2018

Boone wasn’t about to panic. He kept Brett Gardner in the leadoff spot even after a slow start. He’s kept Aaron Judge in the 2-hole all season because that’s where he wants Judge to hit. Stanton has hit third or fourth all season (with one start in the No. 2 slot the other day when Judge got a day off) as Boone wisely ignored calls to move him down in the order.

Despite the impressive record, the Yankees haven’t been without their own problems — as much as Mets fans think they have the market covered in injuries. Jordan Montgomery is now out with Tommy John surgery. Greg Bird is back at first base, but has played just 10 games after an injury late in spring training. Brandon Drury was supposed to be the everyday third baseman, but played just eight games before he started suffering from migraines and blurred vision. Tommy Kahnle has been injured and ineffective. Sonny Gray was terrible for months, although has looked much better his past two starts. And Masahiro Tanaka exited Friday night’s game early after tagging up on a Judge sac fly.

It’s not that Boone hasn’t escaped his own criticism, however. In an April 1 loss to the Blue Jays, the Yankees blew a 4-1 lead as Justin Smoak hit a grand slam off David Robertson in the eighth inning — after an intentional walk to Josh Donaldson had loaded the bases. The move was questionable if defendable (until it didn’t work): Robertson does have a sizable reverse platoon split and Donaldson is Donaldson, but loading the bases also leaves no margin for error. You could imagine the reaction before the papers went to press:

Our @NYDNSports back page: The second-guessing of rookie skipper Aaron Boone begins as risky call gets slammed in Yankees’ loss to Blue Jays. @PeterBotte — https://t.co/Jb4qLyAIEa pic.twitter.com/vAJ4yXW4tc

— Tom Biersdorfer (@TomBiersdorfer) April 2, 2018

That’s the beauty of New York, whether you’re a player or manager: the unconditional love and passion when things are going well, mixed with the expectation that things better always go well. Boone has the perfect demeanor for the job. He’s enthusiastic and media-friendly, two traits that weren’t among his predecessor Joe Girardi’s strong suits, and he’s going to be an excellent communicator with his players. In this era with few stolen bases, few hit-and-runs, the death of the pitchout and bunt, that’s the manager’s primary job, other than not screwing up the bullpen moves.

Boone might have lacked managerial or coaching experience, but Callaway was arguably more of the wild card as a potential manager. He had rightfully earned a great deal of credit as the pitching coach for the Indians, but major league history is littered with pitching coaches who failed as managers. Indeed, Callaway and Bud Black are the only current managers who were pitchers.

The Mets have scored seven runs in their past six games, all losses, and on Wednesday they even made the Orioles look good.

The Bombers, in clear need of starting pitching, face the Mets’ aces this weekend. If not them, whom might the Yanks add by the deadline?

1 Related

Hired as the Indians’ pitching coach in 2013, he helped turn Corey Kluber into a two-time Cy Young winner. He let Trevor Bauer be Trevor Bauer after the Diamondbacks quickly gave up on him. Carlos Carrasco developed into one of the better starters in the league. Cody Allen had just reached the majors in 2012. Danny Salazar was a rookie in 2013. Mike Clevinger had a breakout season in 2017. Few teams have developed pitchers like the Indians in recent years.

So that’s why the Mets hired him. The World Series team in 2015 had a 3.43 ERA/111 ERA+ and allowed the fifth-fewest runs in the National League. The 2017 Mets had 5.01 ERA/84 ERA+ and allowed the second-most runs in the NL. A team that was supposed to be built around its pitching had little of it. The returns so far have been marginally better, but that’s mostly because of Jacob deGrom, who is 4-1 with a 1.57 ERA. Overall, the club has a 4.10 ERA and is in the middle of the pack in runs allowed.

Callaway has also had a few more ongoing difficult issues than Boone. While the Yankees skipper has seen rookies Gleyber Torres and Miguel Andujar rise to the occasion and pick up the slack for the so-so starts from Stanton and Gary Sanchez, Callaway has had to deal with Matt Harvey and Cespedes. That’s led to plenty of back-page fodder:

Our late edition @NYDNSports back page: Defiant Matt Harvey insists several times he’s “a starting pitcher” after another poor outing as Mets fall to Braves, but Mickey Callaway won’t commit to the former Dark Knight making his next start. — https://t.co/Mb7VNB0mju pic.twitter.com/MULtO0xCst

— Tom Biersdorfer (@TomBiersdorfer) April 20, 2018

The Mets also seem reluctant to admit Jose Reyes is cooked. He was worth minus-0.6 WAR last season and has been even worse this season, with minus-1.0 WAR while hitting .141. Yet the Mets have apparently been reluctant to release him because of his legacy with the franchise. Please.

The back page: The Jose Reyes #Mets era could be nearing an end pic.twitter.com/KvbUgu7pVk

— New York Post Sports (@nypostsports) May 23, 2018

And let’s just say Callaway’s team meeting last week didn’t exactly work. The Mets haven’t won since:

Saturday’s back page…

THE WRONG ‘WAY’ Mickey Callaway, after complaining about Yoenis Cespedes still being on DL, calls meeting as Mets fall below .500 for first time this season with loss to Cubs https://t.co/R9VxWDhudn @ESPN @MLBNetwork @APSE_sportmedia pic.twitter.com/dOOiX12Kq0

— NY Daily News Sports (@NYDNSports) June 2, 2018

What’s interesting about all this is in many ways there might actually be more pressure now on Boone the rest of the way. The Yankees obviously want to avoid the wild-card game, and with this AL East race expected to go down to the wire, that makes every game and every decision all that more important.

Callaway and the Mets? Well, at this point, even Mr. Met is afraid to watch:

Hold off on thr fire Sale…..Vargas pitched a good enough for a @mets win!!! @SportsFrontPage @WFANmornings @EvanRobertsWFAN @MetsBooth #lgm pic.twitter.com/LoDFTUIgM7

— Metsbackpage2018 (@Metsbackpage1) May 31, 2018

Oh, the Mets also haven’t won since that headline declared things couldn’t get much worse. With two Subway Series games still to play, this sets up an exciting weekend — at least for the tabloid headline writers.

Source link

The post How Big Apple has treated Yankees’ Aaron Boone, Mets’ Mickey Callaway appeared first on HS NEWS.

[giantsfootball0]

Justin Verlander brings World Series hope to Astros and city of Houston

This story appears in ESPN The Magazine’s Oct. 2 MLB Playoffs issue. Subscribe today!

Aug. 31, 20,000 feet above Texas

All the navigation instruments indicate that the Astros’ team plane is back over Texas and, at long last, approaching Houston. But below, all anyone can see is water.

Anxious players and coaches retreat from the windows and sag back into their seats. After several minutes, they try again to sight land, pressing their foreheads against the top of every window. Nothing has changed: water, everywhere.

From his seat in the emergency exit row near the middle of the plane, outfielder George Springer says it looks “like we’re over an ocean somehow.” No one speaks.

Flying back from Tampa, Florida, where their home series against the Rangers had been relocated due to Hurricane Harvey, the Astros sit together for the final 30 minutes of the flight, staring down at the colossal swath of destruction left behind by one of the worst storms in U.S. history.

Seated in his usual spot in the front right seat of the plane, manager A.J. Hinch checks the map, the TV and the internet. Then he checks again. “They all said we were over land again, except we weren’t — the water, it never stopped, nothing was spared,” he says. “I took a picture on my cellphone and I’ll keep it forever. That was our first bit of reality.”

General Manager Jeff Luhnow was desperate to deliver a savior to Houston. With an Aug. 31 deadline to finalize playoff-roster eligibility hours away, Luhnow and owner Jim Crane suddenly found themselves on the edge of a potential blockbuster deal — the chance to land 2011 AL Cy Young winner Justin Verlander.

As Luhnow put it to Hinch in Tampa, the feeling around the Astros had become “pretty bleak.” Injuries and a lack of action at the July 31 nonwaiver trade deadline had sent the young and explosive team into a deep August funk. The Astros had lost 14 of their last 25, and when Harvey hit, the streaking Indians had already begun chopping away at the team’s overall lead in the American League.

Hinch was back at home with his wife, Erin, and two teenage daughters when the flurry of texts began. He’d gotten off the team plane and into his car, then struggled to find his way back to his neighborhood, his normal exit blocked by flooding. Hinch and Erin caught up about the storm and the trip they were taking downtown the next afternoon to visit evacuees at the George R. Brown Convention Center. He hadn’t given much thought to the trade deadline. He was actually texting with his coaches about college football when he noticed a call. It was Luhnow with news about the prospect of acquiring Verlander — a last-chance effort for the Astros to upgrade their roster for a legitimate run at the World Series. “Disbelief is the wrong word, but I was shocked, definitely,” Hinch says. “I knew right then I wasn’t going to bed any time soon.”

Aug. 27, Houston, 12:15 a.m.

With floodwaters pushing past the sidewalk and the giant old oak tree out front about to give way, Katie Bracamonte calls to update her husband, longtime Astros bullpen catcher Javier Bracamonte, who is riding out the storm with the rest of the team in Anaheim, California. “The water’s coming,” she tells him. “Be safe,” they repeat to each other. A few hours later, the water inching closer, Katie and her two groggy daughters pile into a closet for safety after a string of tornadoes threatens the area.

Sitting in the dark, Katie notices her half-asleep teenager clinging to something in her hand.

“What’s that?” she whispers.

“It’s a Sharpie,” replies the girl. “We’re supposed to write our names and Social Security numbers on our arms … so they can identify us.”

Similar stories unfold across Houston. Houses with 14 feet of water in them. Storm surges so strong they swept away huge concrete traffic barriers like twigs in a stream. Neighborhoods hit with such destruction and despair that people nail their house keys to the front door with notes that read: “You can have it.”

Jaelyn Bracamonte, daughter of bullpen catcher Javier Bracamonte, collected donations before Houston’s first game back home. Michael Starghill for ESPN

HINCH COULDN’T BELIEVE what he was hearing. The Astros had been pursuing a deal for Verlander, the Tigers’ ace, since July. And now, with 45 minutes until the roster deadline, the negotiations had heated up once again. Luhnow would call Hinch, say things are looking promising, then hang up. A few minutes later he’d call back, say the deal was likely off, then hang up again. Twitter was going nuts.

With every new update, the mood in the players’ group-text chain shifted wildly. A series of sad and angry GIFs were followed by a long string of smiling-face-with-waving-hands emojis. There are unconfirmed reports of a cat GIF, or three.

“A move like this can make good teams great and great teams legendary,” says Astros lefty Dallas Keuchel, who was critical of the front office’s paralysis in July. “So it was like putting something big on your Christmas wish list as a kid. You didn’t want to get your hopes up too high.”

In between calls, Hinch nerded out with pitching rotation combinations. By his estimate, Verlander’s last 10 starts were some of the best of his career. His résumé would also instantly double the postseason experience of the Astros’ starting pitching staff. But there was more. “Credibility, presence, I mean, just listen to him, look at him, talk to him,” Hinch says. “Verlander is as big of a potential impact as we could possibly imagine.”

The two teams were in agreement on the major components of the deal — Verlander and $16 million in exchange for three of the Astros’ top prospects — but they had reached an impasse on granting Verlander full no-trade rights and, especially, voiding the option year (2020) in his contract. It seemed like a small price to pay after what Astros fans have endured during a rebuilding process that included 502 losses from 2010 to 2014. “If I was an Astros fan in 2012, I wouldn’t want to come to the park either,” says Keuchel, who was a rookie that season. “It was awful.”

Finally, before going back to the Tigers one more time about voiding Verlander’s option year, Luhnow and Crane discussed the third party in the negotiation: Harvey. “It led to the last concession we needed to get the deal over the top, wanting to give something back to this city in its time of need,” Luhnow says. “Our fans have supported us through thick and thin, and there was a lot of thin in there. We wanted to repay the favor. It’s not always about something more than baseball, but this time it was.”

A minute after the deadline, Hinch’s phone buzzed. He read the text from Luhnow and, without saying a word, turned the phone toward Erin.

WE GOT HIM, it said.

Aug. 26, Anaheim, 4 p.m.

As the storm continues battering Houston, the Astros are 1,500 miles away, trapped in Anaheim. Hinch glances in the clubhouse and sees Jose Altuve, his second baseman and American League MVP front-runner, staring at the Weather Channel.

Altuve’s wife, Nina, made the trip to Anaheim, but the couple’s infant daughter, Melanie, is back in Houston with family. A few minutes pass, Altuve watching the radar, its purple and red and orange blobs pouring 50-plus inches of rain onto Houston and everywhere around it. Nearly broken, Altuve walks over to Hinch.

“How long am I going to have to play like this?” he asks.

No one knows. The next day, they finish out a 2-1 series against the Angels, but catastrophic flooding prevents an immediate return home. Instead, the Astros fly to Dallas, where they wait for word on where they’ll play the Rangers. They’re only 240 miles away and they can feel it. As time wears on, the Astros begin considering something along the lines of a humanitarian-driven clubhouse mutiny.

“There’s just such a detachment and isolation from what had actually happened,” pitcher Charlie Morton says. “You feel guilty that you weren’t there to do something.”

Altuve, Morton, pitcher Luke Gregerson and others begin planning a mission to reach their stranded families. Renting a helicopter is discussed. There is also talk of buying inflatable rafts in Dallas, packing them into rental cars and driving as far south as they can get before ditching the cars for dinghies.

Once word begins trickling back in that Melanie and others are safe and dry, for the most part, the plans are put on hold. But not the guilt. That remains.

The post Justin Verlander brings World Series hope to Astros and city of Houston appeared first on Daily Star Sports.

from https://dailystarsports.com/2017/09/22/justin-verlander-brings-world-series-hope-to-astros-and-city-of-houston/ from https://dailystarsports.tumblr.com/post/165621332346

[dusskml-blog]

Detroit Tigers - as it happened cheap vikings jerseys

Established in New York in 1883, and long known as the Brooklyn Dodgers, the team breeds drama. It fielded Jackie Robinson, the first black player in Major League Baseball, and in 1957 moved to California, cheap vintage jerseys nba becoming, for better or worse, associated with Hollywood and a reputation for showmanship. Rupert Murdoch bought the team and stadium in 1998 as a way to boost audiences for Fox Entertainment Group, and sold it in 2003 for $430m to Frank McCourt, a Boston-based property developer.It was a wretched reign. McCourt spun a revolving door of personnel, sold assets and hiked prices, leaving stadiums half-empty. His divorce from his wife Jamie, cheap volleyball jerseys the team's CEO, exposed the couple's extravagant lifestyle – including daily haircuts – at Dodger expense. The Dodgers staggered into bankruptcy in 2011. The brutal beating of a San Francisco Giants fan in the Dodger stadium parking lot capped a terrible year. In 2012, amid the ashes, came a stunning announcement: a consortium known as the Guggenheim group bought the franchise for $2.15bn. Murdoch, having sold too soon, could only weep. It seemed an insane sum until the group signed a $7bn television rights deal with Time Warner.The season started with febrile expectations. “When you spend that amount of money, fans think you'll go all the way,” said Suchon. “Part of the Dodger brand is not just how often they win but their proximity to Hollywood. cheap wnba jerseys In LA it's all about star power, and Johnson really added to that.” But sub-par performances and injuries tumbled the Dodgers to the bottom of the league, sowing doubt about manager Don Mattingly and the money men behind him. The team's mid-season recovery and winning the division by 11 games restored faith and packed the stadium. And spared vanities.“The beauty of baseball is it's a 162-game marathon, and with this team, the playing talent caught up with the expenditure,” said Johnson, cheap yankees jerseys the author. “Mysterious people from hedge funds with more money than God were directing the team, and they got the job done.” Puig, a mercurial Cuban right-fielder, has taken a lot of the credit with thunderous batting and threatrical celebrations. Shortstop Ramirez, pitcher Clayton Kershaw and, latterly, first baseman Adrian Gonzalez have also earned acclaim.The Dodgers' season came to grief on Friday in game six of the NLCS, beaten 9-0 by the Cardinals. St Louis punched their ticket to the World Series with a 4-2 series win, cheap youth jerseys nba while LA were left to rue a disappointing display by ace pitcher Kershaw and a pair of errors in the field by Puig. But few doubt the LA powerhouse will endure. The money, the pool of young players and Mattingly were a formidable combination, said Johnson. “Even if they didn't win this year you know the Dodgers will be around for years to come. When the Dodgers are successful it's good for baseball and good for American sports. discount jerseys usa But as a Giants fan I do worry about the challenge my team faces.” On Wednesday, the Boston Red Sox and the St Louis Cardinals will meet again in the World Series, the title of best team in baseball on the line. It will be the first time these two long-running franchises have met in the World Series since 2004, when the wild-card Red Sox swept the 100-game winning Cardinals for their first world championship since 1918. Plenty has changed in the world of Major League Baseball over the last nine years – for instance back in 2004 plenty of casual fans were actually rooting for a Boston team to win, discount vikings jerseys a scenario that seems absolutely like science-fiction these days. Still, in a way, the fortunes of the Red Sox have gone full circle as this 2013 team's road to the sport's biggest stage might be as unlikely as that taken by the 2004 Red Sox. Looking back at the 2004 team now, without the burden of 86 years of futility, the success of that particular Red Sox team doesn't seem so surprising in a big picture sort of scale. After all, jerseys 4 cheap they had a stating pitcher rotation that featured Pedro Martinez, only a few years removed from the most dominant stretches any starting pitcher has had in baseball history, and a newly signed Curt Schilling, who was second only to an unworldly Johann Santana in that year's Cy Young voting. The Sox offense featured Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz at their peaks, a combination that drew legitimate, non-crazy comparisons to Ruth and Gehrig. They had peak-era Johnny Damon hitting lead-off, and 2003's batting title winner Bill Mueller hitting lower in the lineup. Under any other circumstance, the Red Sox would have been a consensus pick as one of the best teams in baseball, despite the fact that they lost out on the services of Alex Rodriguez during the offseason. (This was seen as a cruel blow of fate for the Red Sox, another big time example of how much things can change in a sport in less than a decade.) Of course, this wasn't any other circumstance, this was the season following the 2003 American League Championship Series against the New York Yankees, where the Red Sox lost in heartbreaking fashion when manager Grady Little left Pedro Martinez in game seven several batters too long, allowing the Yankees to tie the game before winning in extra innings with Aaron Boone's solo shot against Tim Wakefield. If the Curse of the Bambino, the idea that the Red Sox were being punished by the baseball gods for letting Babe Ruth head to the Yankees, never really flourished until after Boston's stunning loss to the New York Mets in 1986, it reached its absolute peak as a media creation in the aftermath of the Yankees loss. In the aftermath, the Red Sox fired manager Grady Little and replaced him with Terry Francona, who was best known for an unsuccessful tenure as the manager of the Philadelphia Phillies.

[madpicks]

New Post has been published on https://www.madpicks.com/sports/mlb/predicting-outcome-2017-mlb-postseason/

Predicting The Outcome Of The 2017 MLB Postseason

Predicting The Outcome Of The 2017 MLB Postseason

With the 2017 MLB season entering its final month-and-a-half of play, many fans are just counting down the days until the postseason starts. Unlike most years, there aren’t very many big division races this late in the season — which has been a cause for boredom.

The only divisional race is the National League central between the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals. Every other division leader is winning it by comfortable margins. It seems like a sure-thing that the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies will play in the N.L. Wild Card Game, but things are wide open in the A.L.

So while some fans try to see if their teams can squeak in, most of the World Series contenders are just sitting back with feet on their couch, waiting for the real games to arrive. It’s not far off, so now’s a good time to play the fun game and see how the 2017 postseason will go down.

*Stats courtesy of ESPN.com and are as of Aug. 14*

AL Wild Card

Minnesota Twins vs. New York Yankees

As things look right now, the American League Wild Card Game will feature a pair of teams that barely finish over .500. Last year, the Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles both required 89 wins to play in the wild card game.

The New York Yankees were once in the A.L. East race, but a brutal showing in July and for most of August thus far means they’ll likely settle for a wild card spot. Aaron Judge has carried them this far, but now he’s in a huge slump. The rotation looks sub-par at best, with Masahiro Tanaka and newcomer Sonny Gray struggling. But the big bats will propel the Bronx Bombers to the top wild card spot.

Facing the Yankees? The Minnesota Twins — who are finally piecing it all together after spending nearly a decade rebuilding. Brian Dozier, Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario are all enjoying fine seasons. Their terrific lineup helps Minny barely nab the second wild card spot over a half-dozen other playoff hopefuls.

AL Wild Card Winner

Minnesota Twins

The Yankees better hope that Luis Severino will be able to start this game; that they don’t have to use him for Game 161 or 162. He’s their only reliable pitcher in that rotation. But even then, I have to give the advantage to Twins ace Ervin Santana — who has 12 wins and a 3.26 ERA this season.

Minnesota’s lineup has more depth than the Yankees, who have non-coincidentally been lifeless at the plate with Aaron Judge in the midst of an awful slump. That doesn’t bode well for a team trying to win a one-game playoff.

The Twins have a great combination of speed, athleticism and power in their lineup. They don’t rely solely on homers like the Yankees are guilty of. With Santana on the mound, the Twins win their first playoff game since 2004.

NL Wild Card 

Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Colorado Rockies

Two extremely feel-good stories will face off in the National League Wild Card Game. For the Diamondbacks, it’ll be their first playoff berth in six years, while the Rockies will play postseason ball for the first time since 2009.

Both teams feature high-powered lineups. Colorado ranks third in runs scored, while Arizona ranks sixth. The Rockies feature a ton of elite hitters in Nolan Arenado, Charlie Blackmon, Mark Reynolds, D.J. LeMahieu and Jonathan Lucroy.

Meanwhile, Arizona features Paul Goldschmidt — a darkhorse NL MVP candidate, plus Jake Lamb, David Peralta and Chris Owings. But the D-Backs are also powered by a terrific pitching staff that’s 3.59 team ERA is only bested by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Arizona is a well-balanced team all over, but the Rockies lineup has been tough for opponents to stop. Something’s gotta give.

NL Wild Card Winner

Arizona Diamondbacks

Pitching wins in the postseason, and the Diamondbacks undoubtedly have the edge here. As mentioned earlier, their 3.59 ERA is the second best in baseball. The Rockies rank 21st at 4.67.

Arizona has two legitimate aces in Zack Greinke and Robbie Ray, but everyone knows that the former will be on the mound for the single-game elimination. The Rockies will likely counter with Kyle Freeland, who has 11 wins and a 3.70 ERA. Solid, but not quite spectacular.

But the Diamondbacks also get the nod because of their far superior bullpen; one that carries a 3.70 ERA. The Rockies? 4.50 with opponents batting a respectable .258. Arizona has the better pitcher and the more reliable bullpen. So they punch their ticket to the NLDS.

ALDS  

Boston Red Sox vs. Cleveland Indians

The defending AL champions will face the Boston Red Sox in the ALDS for the second consecutive year. Despite fielding the best offence and 2016 Cy Young winner Rick Porcello, the Red Sox were embarrassed by the Indians — who swept them with ease in three games.

Right now, the Red Sox are playing better than the 2016 team we saw get swept. They have Chris Sale putting up a historic season, but Indians’ ace Corey Kluber is not far off. Boston also doesn’t have feared slugger David Ortiz, whereas the Indians will have a pair of power hitters in Edwin Encarnacion and Jay Bruce this time around.

Both teams have terrific bullpens, a well-balanced lineup and star aces. But Cleveland and Boston don’t have much depth in their respective rotations, which is cause for concern. These teams are evenly matched on paper. So who takes it?

ALDS Winner

Cleveland Indians, 3-1

Last year’s Red Sox were filled with young players that couldn’t seem to handle the postseason pressure. Andrew Miller was a huge weapon in the playoffs, and should be able to once again take down Boston’s top hitters.

Will Chris Sale rise up in the playoffs? Many aces like Zack Greinke, Clayton Kershaw and David Price have disappointed in postseason games. But Kluber nearly guided the Indians to a World Series, and he’s proven to be money in the playoffs.

I also like Cleveland’s lineup way more. Jose Ramirez, Francisco Lindor, Edwin Encarnacion, Carlos Santana and Michael Brantley bring terrific balance of speed and power. Dustin Pedroia is battling a knee injury, and the Red Sox don’t have any true power hitters.

Cleveland uses Kluber, its elite bullpen and a strong lineup to once again eliminate the Red Sox in the ALDS. They’ll need one extra game to do it, though.

NLDS

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Washington Nationals

Thanks to victories in eight of their last nine games, the Cardinals are suddenly in position to make a run at the NL Central crown. The Chicago Cubs inconsistency and the unraveling of the Milwaukee Brewers will give St. Louis yet another NL Central crown. Go figure.

The Cardinals record isn’t sexy, but they sure are dangerous. Six of their regulars are batting .270 or better, and that doesn’t include 2016 World Series hero Dexter Fowler — who’s money in the postseason. St. Louis also has a strong rotation, led by Lance Lynn, Mike Leake and Carlos Martinez.

But the Washington Nationals are no slouches, either. They have a Cy Young candidate in Max Scherzer, plus other gems in Gio Gonzalez and Stephen Strasburg on the mound. Their offence is second-best in baseball, only trailing the Houston Astros. Bryce Harper, Ryan Zimmerman and Daniel Murphy form one potent lineup.

St. Louis is looking for its third World Series in the 21st century. The Nats are awaiting their first. Who wins this clash between two perennial juggernauts?

NLDS Winner

Washington Nationals, 3-0

At the end of the day, the Nationals are the much better team on paper. When two teams that each consist of multiple aces face off, it often comes down to the club that has the superior bats. There is zero debating that the Nationals hold the advantage in that regard.

Only the Astros have scored more runs and own a better team batting average than the Nationals. Washington has a possible MVP winner in Bryce Harper, plus a possible NL batting champion in Ryan Zimmerman. Murphy, Harper and Zimmerman are all batting above .300, with Anthony Rendon not far behind at .298.

The Cardinals team BA of .259 ranks eighth in the majors, but they’re in the middle-of-the-pack in runs scored. It’s simple: If you can’t score runs, you can’t win games. The Nationals have a better rotation and a much better lineup. They sweep the Cardinals for their first postseason series win since relocating from Montreal.

ALDS

Houston Astros vs. Minnesota Twins

The Astros looked primed and poised to win their first playoff series since the NLCS in 2005. They’re far-and-away the best team in the American League, fueled by baseball’s best offence that includes George Springer, Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa and others. Houston is undoubtedly the favourite to win the American League pennant.

They also have one of baseball’s top rotations, led by Dallas Keuchel, Mike Fiers and Brad Peacock. The Astros have all of the pieces needed to make a run at the championship, but they’ll have the young and hungry Minnesota Twins in their path.

Though the Twins definitely have solid balance in their lineup, they don’t have the starpower and depth that Houston boasts. Outside of Ervin Santana, they don’t have the depth in the rotation that racks up against the Astros. But can they find a way to pull off the upset?

ALDS Winner

Houston Astros, 3-0

Sorry Minnesota, but prime time just isn’t ready for you yet.

The Astros feature a number of veterans who have seen plenty of postseason action, including Josh Reddick, Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran. This Astros team also made the playoffs in 2015 and pushed the eventual champion Kansas City Royals to five games. They know what it takes to win in the playoffs.

Minnesota just doesn’t have the star power or the pitchers to match up against the Astros. Houston is as complete as it gets, with a star-studded lineup and a terrific rotation that boasts three quality starters.

Anything can happen in the playoffs, but it’s very tough to see the young and inexperienced Twins knocking off the top team in the American League. This won’t be their year. Houston moves on.

NLDS

Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers are on a quest to be the best team in MLB history. They are on pace to win over 110 games, and with relative ease. Los Angeles has baseball’s best ERA, powered by an elite rotation that consists of Clayton Kershaw, trade deadline acquisition Yu Darvish and veterans Rich Hill and Alex Wood. The Dodgers rotation is way better than any other right now.

They also have the came’s top closer in Kenley Jansen, who is sort of unhittable. L.A. also boasts a dangerous lineup that includes Adrian Gonzalez, Justin Turner, Corey Seager and Cody Bellinger.

But the Diamondbacks aren’t far off from the Dodgers. Their lineup is nearly as good, and the pitching tandem of Greinke and Ray can match Kershaw and Darvish. Arizona is undoubtedly the team that the Dodgers should fear most, but can the D-Backs pull off the upset?

NLDS Winner

Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-1

Unfortunately for the Diamondbacks, there won’t be a Cinderella story like the 2001 team that won the World Series championship. That’s not taking anything away from what has been a terrific 2017 season for Arizona, it’s just that the Dodgers are heads-and-shoulders above everyone else right now.

Though Greinke is an ace, he hasn’t been exactly unbeatable in the playoffs — sporting a 3.55 career ERA in the postseason. Arizona also doesn’t have the experience that the Dodgers boast. Remember, L.A. fell just two games short of reaching the World Series last year.

The Dodgers are just better in every aspect right now. They have the best rotation in baseball, arguably the best bullpen and a dangerous lineup. They have the advantage everywhere, and they finish off their division rivals in four games.

ALCS

Cleveland Indians vs. Houston Astros

This will be quite the ALCS showdown. It’ll be the defending AL champions against the favorites to capture the AL pennant. You’ll have Dallas Keuchel presumably duking it out against Corey Kluber. Two of the top aces in baseball.

You’ll have the Indians dangerous bullpen of Andrew Miller, Bryan Shaw and Cody Allen trying to take care of the best lineup in all of baseball. Can they handle a team that leads the league in both runs scored and batting average? That will likely determine this series.

It’s worth noting that Cleveland slugger Edwin Encarnacion was reportedly close to joining the Houston Astros, but he chose the Indians. He’ll have to back up his decision by hitting another iconic postseason homer.

The Astros may have the superior record by a wide margin, but these teams look quite even on paper. So who takes it?

ALCS Winner

Houston Astros, 4-2

This should be a series dominated by pitching, regardless of how great both lineups are. We saw the Indians take down the Toronto Blue Jays in five games during last year’s ALCS, because they came up with the more timely hits despite batting just .168 in the whole series.

But can Andrew Miller really repeat his insane heroics during last year’s postseason? That remains to be seen. Cleveland’s rotation will be healthy, meaning they won’t be boasting just three starters throughout the playoffs. That means less Miller time.

So the Astros get the nod here. All of their hitters can come up with that timely hit at any given time. Cleveland doesn’t have much outside of their top-five hitters, and they strike out as a team far too much.

Cleveland will give Houston a run for their money, but the Astros finish off the series in six games and head back to the World Series.

NLCS

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Washington Nationals

These two teams met in a memorable NLDS series last year, with the Dodgers barely squeaking away with a victory in the decisive fifth game. It was a pitcher’s duel in 2016, and it sure as heck will be again.

Just think about the possible pitching matchups: Kershaw vs. Scherzer. Darvish vs. Strasburg. Hill vs. Gonzalez. This series will surely come down to whichever dominant pitchers end up being well, more dominant.

Yes, both teams have terrific lineups which consist of clutch batters that can come through at any given moment. But we all know playoff baseball comes down to pitching. On paper, this is a big toss-up. Both the Dodgers and Nationals have a trio of great starters, so which team punches its ticket to the World Series?

NLCS Winner

Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-2

Put it this way: The Nationals were a bit better than the Dodgers last year yet couldn’t close out the series at home. This year, the Dodgers are historically great with new faces in Yu Darvish and rookie sensation Cody Bellinger. Oh, and the Dodgers will have home field advantage. And they’re pretty tough to beat at Dodger Stadium.

The Nationals have been constant underachievers, whereas the Dodgers find themselves in the playoffs every year and have a handful of NLCS appearances under their belts. Los Angeles is simply a better team. They have home advantage. They’ve proven to be a more money team in the postseason than Washington.

And oh, the Dodgers 3.02 bullpen ERA is best in the NL. The Nationals rank last in the NL with a 4.87 ERA that consists of 15 losses. So yeah, take the more clutch Dodgers in this one.

World Series

Houston Astros vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

With that, the World Series will feature the top team from each league. The Dodgers will look to win their first championship in 29 years, whereas the Astros attempt to win their first World Series in franchise history.

Josh Reddick helped the Dodgers reach the NLCS a year ago, but now he gets the chance to crush the dreams of his former team. It’ll be baseball’s best pitching staff against baseball’s best lineup. The unstoppable force vs. the immovable object. Two powerhouses that have been feel-good stories all season long.

The Dodgers will get home field advantage, which could be the main factor between a pair of teams that have been extremely tough to beat in their respective ballparks. So who takes the 2017 World Series?

World Series Winner

Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-1

The Dodgers will complete their quest of being the top team of the 21st century, and maybe ever. With all due respect to the Astros and the top lineup in baseball, I’ll remind one more time that the World Series is usually won by pitching more so than big bats.

No team in the N.L. can hit off the Dodgers pitching. No team in the A.L. can stop the Astros hitting. Something will have to give in this series, but we know that it’s going to be next to impossible for a team to damage this entire Dodgers rotation in one small playoff series.

The Dodgers bats can easily make work of the Astros solid (but not quite elite), rotation. They can easily squeak out a ton of low-scoring games, if need be. The Dodgers finally win the championship, finishing off Houston in five games.

[td_smart_list_end]