INDIANS VERSUS RED SOX “You might say we’re celebrating a little too hard, but after a series like this, you have to kick off your shoes a little bit.” — Bret Saberhagen, Red Sox pitcher “We were shorthanded, beat up and we still went out and gave a great effort. We battled but we just…
Mike Hargrove‘s abrupt dismissal–"Hey, we could wait to fire you and keep it discreet, but we’d rather rub salt in that wound and embarrass the heck out of you now"–will cause a lot of head-scratching around baseball over the next few days. But while Hargrove arguably deserved to go after five years of early playoff…
Who were the best pitchers of the 1990s? Almost everyone would rank Greg Maddux number one, and you probably wouldn’t get too much argument by picking Roger Clemens number two, but after that it gets a little more controversial. With the voting for the Team of the 1990s in the home stretch, we thought it…
Before The Game Keith Law: Braves in FOUR? Oh, we’re going to get hate mail… Joe Sheehan: I can see the Mets winning a game…I just can’t fathom which one, or how. Rany Jazayerli: The chances for a Braves’ sweep are about as high as that of a career revival for anyone who has appeared…
Possibly the best baseball rivalry in its biggest series since 1978. The atmosphere in both parks will be electric. Will the games live up to it? Lineups The Yankees led the majors in Equivalent Average with a .281 mark, something of a surprise given that only Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams had particularly good years….
America’s Team against the Amazin’ Mets. Does anyone think the boys from Queens have a chance? Lineups The Mets’ best chance to win this series is to get the games into the six- and seven-run area. They have one of the best offenses in the league, driven by a league-leading .363 OBP and seven above-average…
ANAHEIM ANGELS Announced the resignation of GM Bill Bavasi, and shunted him off to a position as special assistant to team president Tony Tavares. [10/1] Any chance Bill has an evil twin, Scuzzie? Scuzzie would have no moral qualms about fixing this team’s problems. Tim Belcher under contract? Not if he tragically disappears during a…
CLOSURE “Tonight we say goodbye. But we will not forget. Open your eyes, take a look around, and take a mental picture. Moments like this will live on.” — Ernie Harwell, former Tigers announcer, on the closing of Tiger Stadium “Tiger Stadium is life, as far as I’m concerned.” — Willie Horton, former Tigers player…
The thousand-run team against the man who has put up possibly the best single-season pitching performance ever, and a bunch of his friends. Is it a lopsided matchup? Lineups The Indians have offense in spades, which made life considerably easier for them over the course of 162 games. Now that we’re into a short season,…
A rematch of the 1997 pairing that turned out to be no match, with the Braves handily beating the Astros in three straight. The Braves come into this series as heavy favorites, due both to their strong September and the Astros’ struggles in the last two weeks. Lineups The Astrodome masks the fact that the…
The Arizona Diamondbacks are the new kids on the block: the quickest to 100 wins–and the playoffs–of any team in history. The New York Mets were the popular choice for the wild card, but it took a playoff with the upstart Cincinnati Reds to get them to the postseason. The D’Backs owned the Mets in…
Episode Three in their ongoing saga. The Yankees bounced the Rangers in the Division Series in 1996 and 1998 on their way to World Series titles. The Rangers, in fact, are the only team the Yankees have beaten in the first round, losing to Seattle in 1995 and Cleveland in 1997. Lineups These are the…
THE RACES “We’re building a lot of character right now. Let’s hope it’s character we can use in the playoffs.” — Orel Hershiser, Mets pitcher “We just didn’t need the added frustration of playing a game like this with these umpires. The season is over within a week, so we don’t have to deal with…
Just one week ago, the New York Mets seemed in firm possession of the National League wild-card spot, a position they had held for several months. There was even a solid chance at a National League East title, with six games against Atlanta looming. Despite the formidable schedule, it seemed like they had little to…
DOWN TO THE WIRE "We don’t have a big lead, but we have enough of a lead." — Larry Dierker, Astros manager, after the Astros lead dropped to 2.5 games over Cincinnati "We still have the Giants right where we want them. We still control our own destiny." — Luis Gonzalez, Diamondbacks outfielder, after cutting…
"So, I was sitting at my desk today, putting the final touches on the latest Transaction Analysis by Chris Kahrl, when out of the blue, I felt someone jump on my back. I was able to shake him off, and I’m OK except for a few cuts and bruises. Just another day at the office,…