Here's what the Divisional Series look like so far:
Atlanta 1 - 1 Philadelphia
Los Angeles 0 - 2 Arizona
Baltimore 0 - 3 Texas
Houston 2 - 1 Minnesota
With the lone exception of Atlanta's come-from-behind victory in Game Two, this has to rank as one of the dullest collections of post-season baseball games played since the Yankees crushed everyone back in the late 1930's.
Today will be the last day of the year with three MLB games. Presumably the Twins will make a stand at home for their fans, but I don't know if they are good enough to hang with Houston. The Dodgers look like they'd rather be anywhere than at the ballpark, so I expect nothing from their game. But the Braves and Phillies have a genuine rivalry, and that should be a great game in front of the Philly fans, who are always excellent in October.
Of course, Kansas gets off with virtually no punishment for its many basketball scandals. No surprise there.
ReplyDeleteHold the phone. It does look as though KU will have to vacate some wins from the 2017-18 season. They currently lead us in the all-time wins list: 2,385 to 2,377. So it's possible that UK could move back into first place.
ReplyDeleteKU went 31-8 in the 2017-18 season. If they lose all 31 wins, then UK will be on top: 2,377 to 2,354.
ReplyDeleteAlso, KU would lose its 2018 Final Four appearance.
ReplyDeleteNow Matt Norlander is reporting that the ineligible player did not suit up for 16 of Kansas's wins in the 2017-18 season. So if KU gets to keep those wins, then UK would be ahead by only seven games: 2,377 to 2,370.
ReplyDeleteWikipedia has already been edited to show UK up 2,377 to 2,354. But my guess is that Norlander's view will hold, and KU will get 16 wins back.
ReplyDeleteWhoever jumped in and edited Wikipedia so quickly is my friend.
DeleteKentucky Sports Report now showing UK up 2,377 to 2,370.
DeleteAnd now Wikipedia shows it with UK up 2,377 to 2,370. So everyone appears to be in agreement.
DeleteUNC is third, with 2,343. Duke is fourth, with 2,273. Western is 16th, with 1,872.
DeleteFor what it's worth, U of L had to vacate 123 wins and the 2013 National Championship. Wikipedia shows U of L in 30th place, with only 1,776 wins -- seven wins behind Arkansas. If they hadn't had to vacate so many wins, they would be in 11th place, with 1,899 wins, only 14 wins behind Indiana.
ReplyDeleteNow other people are claiming that Wikipedia is wrong, and that UK only has 2,375 wins. So it's still not over.
ReplyDeleteOK, now it's time for the Braves and the Phillies from Citizens Bank Park. For some reason, I have the Spanish-Language broadcast, which is fine with me because I'm going to listen to the ESPN Radio team anyway. Anyway, the Spanish word for "home run" is "jonron."
ReplyDeleteThe "serie" is "empatada" at one game apiece. There's no score after one inning.
ReplyDeleteIn the top of the 3d, Ronald Acuna laces a double, and then Ozzie Albies singles him home. Atlanta leads 1-0. I think Ronald Acuna is the best player in the National League.
ReplyDeleteAcuna in 2023:
ReplyDelete.337 batting average
41 home runs
106 RBI's
73 stolen bases
217 hits
For a comparison, here is Rickey Henderson's best season -- 1990, when he was the MVP:
Delete.325 batting average
28 home runs
61 RBI's
65 stolen bases
159 hits
In 1990, Henderson scored 119 runs to lead the league. This year, Acuna scored 149 runs.
ReplyDeleteAnd now, in the bottom of the third, Nick Castellanos homers to tie the game at 1. This is more like it. I'm glad this is the first game so everyone can see it.
ReplyDeleteBryce Harper comes up with men on first and third, and blasts a "jonron con 3 carreras." The ball went way, way, up into the upper deck in right field. Harper gets revenge for being doubled off at the end of Game Two, and the Phillies lead 4-1 in the bottom of the third.
ReplyDeleteESPN has Jon Sciambi and Doug Glanville doing this game, and they are excellent. Also, the crowd noise from Philadelphia sounds fantastic.
ReplyDeletePhilly now has an 82 percent chance of victory.
ReplyDeleteMike Trout and Bryce Harper came up at the same time, and for a long time Trout overshadowed Harper. As of now, Mike Trout has 85.2 wins above replacement, and he was the MVP in 2014, 2016, and 2019. Harper has 46.2 wins above replacement, and he was the MVP in 2015 and 2021. So Trout is the better player. But Trout hasn't played more than 119 games in a season since 2019, and it's not clear how much he's got left. Also, Trout has a total of 12 post-season at-bats in his career. Harper has 151.
ReplyDeleteThe Braves change pitchers, but the Phillies are implacable. Realmuto blasts a double that scores two more runs, and Philadelphia is up 6-1 in the bottom of the third.
ReplyDeleteLast year, the Phillies and Braves split the first two games in Atlanta, and then Philly hammered Atlanta in Citizens Bank Park: 9-1 and 8-3. It looks like Philly intends to follow that same pattern this year.
ReplyDeleteThe Phillies are finally retired, but they lead 6-1 after 3, and they have a 92 percent chance of victory.
ReplyDeleteUK basketball is having its pro day, and apparently Seth Greenberg is reporting that Aaron Bradshaw and Ugonna Onyenso will be out for the first five weeks of the season. Based on UK's experience since 2015, I'm going to save time and say that they're out for the year. Again: in all the years Cal has been at UK, no player has ever missed the first two weeks of the season and then made a significant contribution to the season.
ReplyDeleteBack in 2017-18, I thought Jarred Vanderbilt would be an exception to this rule. He joined the team in SEC play and for 14 games, he was one of my favorite players we've ever had. But his last game was on March 3 at Florida, and he missed both the SEC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament.
ReplyDeleteWow, Bryce Harper.
ReplyDeleteIn the bottom of the 5th, Bryce Harper steps up and crushes a "jonron solitario" to the deepest part of the ballpark, and Philly leads 7-1. The Braves won 104 games in the regular season, and Philly won only 90, but those numbers do not matter anymore. Atlanta will be facing elimination tomorrow night.
ReplyDeleteCalipari, in an interview with SportsCenter, says that his Bradshaw and Onyenso are out for at least "5-6 weeks." I'm saying right now they won't be on the team when the NCAA Tournament starts.
ReplyDeleteCalipari says that they could have won the National Championship in 2020 with Maxey and Quickley. I don't think that team could have won the title, but I do think that team could have gone to the Final Four. I loved that team.
ReplyDeleteCalipari says that UK's guard play will be really good, but he's worried they won't have anybody who can defend the rim.
ReplyDeleteI have the same concern. Last year, UK had the 17th best offense in the country, but was 68th on defense. The year before that, they had the 5th best offense, and was 36th on defense. Their last good defensive team was in 2018-19, when they were 8th in the country. That was also the last time they reached the Elite Eight.
DeleteDesperately seeking a competitive game, we go to Minnesota, where the Twins are trying to save their season. As soon as we get there, Jose Abreu crushes a two-run homer, and the Astros lead 3-1 in the top of the 4th. Houston now has a 70 percent chance of eliminating the Twins.
ReplyDeleteAfter 4, Houston leads 3-1.
ReplyDeleteThe Phillies pound the Braves 10-2 and are one win away from eliminating the Braves.
ReplyDeleteOh, my. In the bottom of the 6th, Edouard Julien homers to make the score 3-2. This is the only close game I've seen in the playoffs so far.
ReplyDeleteHouston leads 3-2 after 6. Astros have a 70 percent chance of winning.
ReplyDeleteAstros go down 1-2-3 in the top of the 7th.
ReplyDeleteTwins go down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 7th. Houston leads 3-2, and they now have a 75 percent chance of winning.
ReplyDeleteMinnesota brings in its closer, Jhoan Duran, and he mows down the Astros 1-2-3 in the top of the 8th.
ReplyDeleteFor once, the Dodgers got through the first inning without falling way behind. We have no score in Arizona after one and one-half innings.
ReplyDeleteThe Twins go down 1-2-3 in the 8th, and Houston leads 3-2 with one inning to go. The Astros now have an 84 percent chance of winning.
ReplyDeleteHouston gets a two-out single, but can do nothing with it. It's 3-2 going into the bottom of the 9th. On a cold night in Minnesota, the teams have combined for only nine hits -- six for Houston and three for the Twins.
ReplyDeleteStill no score in Arizona after two.
ReplyDeleteHouston brings in Ryan Pressly to close out the Twins.
ReplyDeleteOn the first two batters, Pressly goes to a full count and then strikes out the batter.
ReplyDeleteOn the last batter, Pressly goes to another full count -- and gets a called third strike. The game is over, and Houston is going to the American League Championship Series for the SEVENTH year in a row.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, the Dodgers are sunk. They have had no pitching in this series, and now Arizona slams three home runs in the bottom of the third. The D-Backs are up 3-0, and that should be enough to eliminate the Dodgers.
ReplyDeleteOK, this is actually one of the worst moments in the history of the Dodgers. And I know them all. Here's what happened. In the history of baseball, no team has ever hit four home runs in one inning of a post season game. The D-Backs come out in the bottom of the third:
ReplyDeleteGeraldo Perdomo homers to right center (AZ leads, 1-0)
Corbin Carroll grounds out.
Ketel Marte homers to right field (2-0)
Tommy Pham grounds out.
Christian Walker homers on a line drive to left (3-0).
Gabriel Moreno skies a drive that appears to land just inside the right field foul line. He starts trotting around the bases. The Arizona fans go nuts. But the Dodgers say, "No! That ball was foul." So they do a review, and sure enough, the ball was foul. Moreno goes back to the plate.
And then Moreno slams a home run over the left center field wall to set the record (4-0).
I've studied the history of the Dodgers since I was about seven years old, and I really think this is the worst post-season performance in their history. In Game One, they were down 9-0 after two innings and lost 11-2. In Game Two, they fell behind 4-0 and lost 4-2. Now they've given up four homers in one inning, and the rout is on. At no point have they been in the lead. And only in the first two innings of this game were they ever even tied.
ReplyDeleteIn 1966, the Dodgers were humiliated in the World Series by Baltimore. They lost 5-2, 6-0, 1-0, and 1-0. They scored zero runs in the last 33 innings of the World Series. And that was the end of a great Dodger team. The Dodgers had won the Series in 1959, gone to an NL playoff in 1962, won the Series in 1963, won the Series in 1965, and won the NL in 1966. That was the best team the Dodgers have ever had. But after that disastrous 1966 Series, they didn't return to the playoffs for eight years.
ReplyDeleteIt will be very interesting to see what the Dodgers do after this. Last year, they were humiliated 3 games to 1 by the Padres. This year, they've been blown out by the D-Backs. They seem to have no pitching at all. It's hard to believe that they'll want to risk a replay of this debacle again next year. But on the other hand, they did win 100 games, and you can't break up a team with that many wins.
ReplyDeleteOne final point: I take back the point about everyone swinging for the fences. The Phillies and the D-Backs are just clubbing the Braves and Dodgers with home runs. The Phillies hit six homers tonight in their tiny ballpark, and the D-Backs hit four in one inning.
ReplyDeleteMy proposed solution, by the way, is that the Dodgers should send Freddie Freeman back to the Braves. Neither the Braves nor the Dodgers have won a playoff series since Freeman came to L.A.
ReplyDelete