Baseball Season Winding Down

Our youthful obsessions, how hard it is to shed them! For much of my childhood and adolescence, and well into adulthood, I followed Major League Baseball avidly. Many testaments to this enthusiasm fill past pages of this blog, and although I haven't ceased watching professional baseball, my ardor has waned, especially after the revelations several years ago about the extensive use of performance enhancing drugs by a large number of players, including some, like the New York Yankees' superstar third baseball Álex Rodríguez, who had denied ever doping up.

Jason Heyward, St. Louis Cardinals

More than being disgusted at all these athletes, including the ones who repeatedly and consistently misled the public, I was most disgusted with and by Major League Baseball itself, and its handling of the crisis as it erupted over a series of several years. For much of the 1990s into the 2000s the pro teams had benefited from the juiced players and their almost superhuman feats. The Mark McGwire-Sammy Sosa home run battle in 1998, when McGwire hit 73 home runs to Sosa's 66, was the unmistakeable epitome of how PEDs had turned already great players into transhuman freaks, but Major League Baseball, attempting to draw audiences back after a strike and aiming to bank as much money as possible, aided and abetted the timber show, only later to denounce the two "heroes" for what was now clearly a PED-fed spectacle. (I must add that as far as I know, Sammy Sosa, once one of my favorite players, was never caught using PEDs.)

Perhaps even worse, by 2010, Major League Baseball had clear results of positive tests among a wide array of players, but rather than either exposing them and fining them or accepting the fact that supervised cycling could be beneficial for players and the sport, it appeared to hide the results until they later emerged as the result of a lawsuit, rendering the sport as believable as the theatrics on display with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It has taken years for me to surmount my distaste for MLB's debacles, but my support for the St. Louis Cardinals never completely died, nor did my interest in pro baseball in general, which brings me to the current 2015 season, now winding to a close.

Dee Gordon, Los Angeles Dodgers

So what does the coming playoff picture look like? Let's start with the NL. In the NL East, the New York Mets (84-65) have a 6-game lead over the Washington Senators; in the NL Central, the Cardinals (93-56) lead Pittsburgh's Pirates (89-60) by 4 games and the Chicago Cubs (87-62) by 6 games, with 10 the Cards' magic number and the other two teams likely to achieve Wild Card status easily; and in the NL West, the LA Dodgers (85-63) lead their closest competitors by 7.5 games, with 7 the magic number.

Thus far the Cardinals have set the pace with strong starting pitching and a solid position-playing lineup without any stars, unlike in past years, when future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols, and Cy Young Award-winning pitcher Chris Carpenter led them to 2 World Series wins in 5 years (2006 and 2011). All of these teams have real talent, though. The Mets have one of the best starting pitching staffs in the league; the Pirates have excellent young players; the Dodgers play more as individuals than a coherent whole, but have the pitching and hitting to go all the way. I'm rooting for the Cardinals, but whether they can get past all these challengers will be the test.

Chris Archer,
Tampa Bay Rays

In the American League, the East division leaders are the Toronto Blue Jays. Yes, the 85-64 Blue Jays, and not the Yankees. It's almost like a flashback to their 1992-1993 Cito Gaston years. The Yankees are only 2.5 games back, at 82-66, but have looked far less dominant than in recent years. In the AL West, which seems to be the perpetually weakest division, the Texas Rangers (80-69), who've had several continuous years of playoff success without winning the World Series, lead the Houston Astros (79-71) by 1.5 games. It's in the NL Central, though, where you can find the AL's real powerhouse, the Kansas City Royals (87-62). The Royals have a good but not dominant starting pitching staff, bolstered by the excellent Johnny Cueto acquisition from the Cincinnati Reds, but they do possess a punchy ineup and strong pitching relief.

It also has been 30 years (1985) since the Royals and Cardinals faced each other in the (in)famous "Interstate 70" series that involved a terrible umpiring call, the superb pitching of former Royals All Star Bret Saberhagen, and the only World Series appearance of Hall of Famer George Brett. That year the St. Louis Cardinals won 101 games and lost 61; this year they are grinding towards another 100 win season. The last two times they won 100 games, in 2004 and 2005, they lost the World Series to Boston and the National League Championship Series to Houston (now in the AL). In their recent World Series-winning seasons of 2006 and 2011, they had what appeared to be shaky records of 83-78 and 90-72. This is not to say that they cannot win the championship if they break the 100-win mark but I want to note that the last time they won the World Series in a season in which they won 100 games was 1967--and they had one of the greatest pitchers of all time, Bob Gibson, on the mound to defeat Boston in 7 games. However it goes, though, Cards, Royals, Yankees, Mets, or one of the other teams, I'll be watching!

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Jake Arrieta, Chicago Cubs

The statistical leaders thus far, in a season that has included six no-hitters, by Chris Heston (SF) against the New York Mets; Max Scherzer (WAS) against the Pittsburgh Pirates; Cole Hamels (PHI) against the Chicago Cubs; Hisashi Iwakuma (SEA) against the Baltimore Orioles; Mike Fiers (HOU) against the LA Dodgers; and Jake Arrieta (CHC) against the Dodgers, and Zack Greinke's 45 2/3 innings scoreless streak:

AL Batting Leaders: Miguel Cabrera (DET) .338, Xander Bogaerts (BOS) .322, Michael Brantley (CLE) .315

AL Home Run Leaders: Chris Davis (BAL) 43, Nelson Cruz (SEA) 42, Mike Trout (LAA) 39

AL RBI Leaders: Jason Donaldson (TOR) 120, Chris Davis (BAL) 109, Kendry Morales (KC) 105

AL ERA Leaders: Dave Price (TOR) 2.42, Dallas Keuchel (HOU) 2.56, Sonny Gray (OAK) 2.72

AL Wins Leaders: "King Félix" Hernández (SEA) 18, Collin McHugh (HOU) 17, Dallas Keuchel (HOU) 17

AL Strikeout Leaders: Chris Sale (CWS) 259, Chris Archer (TB) 243, Corey Kluber (CLE) 224

NL Batting Leaders: Bryce Harper (WAS) .343, Dee Gordon (MIA) .332, Buster Posey (SF) .327

NL Home Run Leaders: Bryce Harper (WAS) 41, Nolan Arenado (COL) 39, Carlos González (COL) 37

NL RBI Leaders: Nolan Arenado (COL) 114, Paul Goldschmidt (ARI) 100, Matt Kemp (SD) 98

NL ERA Leaders: Zack Greinke (LAD) 1.65, Jake Arrieta (CHC) 1.96, Clayton Kershaw (LAD) 2.18

NL Wins Leaders: Jake Arrieta (CHC) 19, Zack Greinke (LAD) 18, Madison Bumgarner (SF) 18,

NL Strikeout Leaders: Clayton Kershaw (LAD) 272, Mike Scherzer (WAS) 237, Madison Bumgarner (SF) 219

Cardinals Win World Series!

World Series MVP David Freese

The Saint Louis Cardinals, Major League Baseball's most improbable post-season team, has won the 2011 World Series! This is the Cardinals' 11th Series win, second only to the New York Yankees' 22, and their second in the last 5 years, when they defeated Detroit in 4 games in 2006. As I previously wrote, the Cardinals listed through most of the regular season, until righting themselves in the final two months to come back from a 10 1/2 deficit and pass Atlanta's collapsing squad to slip into the playoffs with 90-72 record. The Cardinals then defeated the National League's most successful regular-season team, the 102-60 Philadelphia Phillies, winning 3 games to 2, before vanquishing their division rivals, the Milwaukee Brewers (96-66), in 6 games (4-2), to win the National League Championship and face the American League champions, the Texas Rangers.
While the Cardinals were still battling the Brewers, a good friend and far more knowledgeable sports commentator suggested that the Rangers were the team to beat, as they'd rolled over their first-round opponents, Cardinalian Tampa Bay Rays, also last-day-of-the season entry after the media favorite Boston Red Sox suffered their own disintegration, and then the very talented Detroit Tigers team, which had gone 95-67 and featured the likely American League Cy Young Award winner, Justin Verlander (24-5, 2.40 ERA). Texas walloped Tampa Bay 3-1, following this with a 4-2 victory over the Tigers. I suggested to my friend that no one should count either the Cardinals or the Brewers, had they made it to the Series, out; not only did the National League teams have home-field advantage because their all stars won the All Star Game (a great shift that gives that contest a new layer of seriousness), but each team had a true ace (for the Cardinals the aging but still sharp Chris Carpenter, whose shutout on the regular season's final day sealed their victory), but also several weapons, including the Cardinals' certain Hall of Famer, Albert Pujols, and for a the Brewers, a rising star, the keg-barrel of a slugger, Prince Fielder.

Future Hall of Fame manager Tony LaRussa

Still it did not look like a good matchup on paper. I don't know what the now dominant Sabremetric crowd had to say about it, either, but I felt from the beginning that whichever National League team made it would win it all. The Cardinals also had a solid lineup, which included talented veterans like Lance Berkman and Rafael Furcal, their excellent catcher, Yadier Molina, and a number of skilled younger players, including Saint Louisan David Freese, who ended up being the Series hero. They also had that very gifted relief corps to fill in for the shaky non-Carpenter starters, and, perhaps as importantly, their manager, Tony LaRussa, who, as any Cardinals fan knows, can swing between the most appallingly dismal strategizing and Gary Kasparovesque moves that would leave the opposing team in a daze.

Freese after his Game 6-winning home run

LaRussa did not disappoint. In a debacle that will surely be forgotten because of the Cardinals' final victory, LaRussa twice in Game 5 called the bullpen to order up the regular closer, Jason Motte, only to have his bullpen coach mishear him twice, instead sending Lance Lynn, the game 3 winner, into the game; Texas scored two runs at home in Arlington Stadium and won 4-2. Yet the next night, in what will certainly go down as one of the most thrilling and sloppily played World Series games in decades, the 6th game featured LaRussa at his best, and the Cardinals embodying what they had shown all throughout September. Two times, in the 9th and 10th innings the Rangers were one strike away from the World Series crown, and both times, the Cardinals came back to tie up the game, with LaRussa using starter Jason Lohse to bunt to advance runners and starter Kyle Westbrook to pitch a scoreless 1lth, until Freese came to the plate and hit a walk-off home run to give the Cardinals the 10-9 victory.  It was an astonishing comeback and win.

At Busch III Stadium

That was all the Cardinals needed. Ace Chris Carpenter returned to pitch his third game of the series, on 3 days rest (because of the initial rain-out of Game 6 in St. Louis), and after surrendering 2 runs in the first inning, he and the relief pitchers Arthur Rhodes, Octavio Dotel, Lynn, and Motte, pitched beautifully, allowing no more runs, and giving Saint Louis the victory. It was a fitting tribute to determination and using every shred of talent and luck the comes your way.  Sometimes the underdog, even in a sport heavily overdetermined by teams' wealth and skill at using statistics these days, does triumph. It also was a fitting valediction for Albert Pujols, who became only the third player ever to hit 3 home runs in a World Series game, and Chris Carpenter in case the Cardinals do not resign them, and for manager Tony LaRussa if he doesn't resign with them either. He has now moved into third place on the all-time win list with 2728 wins vs. 2365 losses, and in 33 years of managing, he won 6 pennants, 3 in the American League and 3 in the National League, and led his team to 3 World Series victories, 1 in the AL with Oakland A's in 1989, and 2 with the Cardinals in 2006 and 2011.

Future Hall of Famer (& ex-Cardinal?) Albert Pujols

Texas will return next year with almost the entire core of its team intact, including its masterful manager Ron Washington. Last year the Rangers went to Series and lost to the San Francisco Giants, and this year they went down against the Cardinals. Although the Yankees, the Tigers, Tampa Bay, the California Angels, and the Red Sox will all be in the hunt next year, Washington has the personnel to make three times a charm. I don't think he'll be facing the Cardinals next year, or the Brewers if they lose Fielder. Could it be Philadelphia? Pittsburgh? Arizona? The Mets? Come back next spring and we'll resume the conversation!

The Saint Louis Rally Squirrel!

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE TEAM THAT SHOWED IT COULD, DESPITE THE ODDS, THE 2011 SAINT LOUIS CARDINALS!!!

Phillies Take Series 4-1

Amidst some of the worst umpiring in years, and despite rugby weather and a three-day game, the Philadelphia Phillies have won the World Series, 4 games to 1. It's their first World Series win since 1980, and second in their 120 year history. The Most Valuable Player was starting pitcher Cole Hamels.


Philadelphia Phillies' Pedro Feliz singles off Tampa Bay Rays relief pitcher Chad Bradford to drive in Eric Bruntlett during the seventh inning of Game 5 of the baseball World Series in Philadelphia, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2008. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

The Tampa Bay Rays have the nucleus of a multi-year playoff team, if they're willing to keep these exciting young players on staff. With better, timely hitting, and competent umpires, they could have held their own.

Unfortunately for the Phillies or fortunately for the Rays, hardly anyone watched. The Houston Chronicle points out that viewership was abysmal (an 8.4 rating and 14 share), lower than the dismal 10.1 rating for the Cardinals-Tigers series in 2006 (which the Cardinals won, by the way). Short series are ratings killers, and small market teams (i.e., someone other than the teams based in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, etc.) draw fewer viewers. The weather issues didn't help. Perhaps doubling up on a few more double headers to trim the regular season might be a plan, though it would mean less money in owners' pockets.

I just hope Bud Selig, a font of bad leadership, doesn't decide to follow the NFL's lead and picking AL and NL domed or warm-city stadia might be a good idea for the Series. Could you imagine if the Cubs finally made it to the World Series with a team that looked capable of winning it all, and then their poor fans realized they had to travel to Anaheim or Atlanta or Miami to see them play?

2008 World Series Contenders + SNL + Late Blooming

Last night, the World Series lineup was set: the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Boston Red Sox to win the 2008 American League pennant, and will now face the National League's Philadelphia Phillies. The Ray's ascendance is remarkable; they are only a decade old, and only twice have they not finished last in their division: in 2004, and this year. The Phillies have also known futility. Playing in the same division as formerly dominant Atlanta, the always-contending New York Mets, and the ever surprising Florida Marlins, who have managed to win 2 World Series despite constantly being stripped of their best players, the Phillies haven't been to the World Series since 1980, and with some of the most enthusiastic fans in the league, probably feel they have a debt to remit.

It will be an exciting matchup. Both teams have prodigious homerun hitters (the Phillies have the NL's best in St. Louisan Ryan Howard, above right, with Jimmy Rollins (AP Photo/Tom Mihalek), who hit 48 during the regular season and drove in 146 runs; the Rays got hot when the playoffs rolled around, and Carlos Peña (at center above, with Fernando Pérez, biting on the league trophy, and Michel Hernández, Doug Pensinger/Getty Images), Evan Longoria, and the relatively light-hitting B. J. Upton), strong defense, and decent starting pitching, though the Rays have the stronger starting corps and the Phillies have the edge in their closer, Brad Lidge. Because of the All Star game results, the Rays have home field advantage. At the risk of saying the most obvious thing possible, I believe it'll come down to pitching--which team's relievers, in particular, hold up best--and whether the Rays' relative youth and inexperience prove a liability.

William Rhoden talks up one noteworthy angle I broached several posts in a recent piece Bernie sent along. In addition, both teams also have players from Japan and the Dominican Republic, and the Rays also have players from Venezuela and Australia, while there are Phillies natives of Canada and Panama, an indication of the now unremarkable internationalization of the league.

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I caught Governor Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live two nights ago, and it became clear to me what her calling is: a media personality. She appaers to know even less and be far more telegenic that the vast majority of the on-air punditocracy, so if she ever decides that Alaska is too small and remote for her, I can foresee a thoroughly scripted, hour-long show, probably more in the variety vein than a chatfest, with her at the helm. On Fox, of course. (She can keep the beat pretty well, I must say.)

Best non-Tina Fey bit: Kristin Wiig as the crazy McCain supporter, with the hair all over her head, who thought Obama was an "Arab."

They're starting to fall off from the first few episodes of this season, though. And they've got to find a better Obama-impersonator. Fred Armisen, not so good.

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I was recently speaking about the following article with a friend of mine who confessed his own anxieties over, to put it simply, not being a prodigy. We all know how our culture in particular extols and exoticizes them, but it's not just the US. Nevertheless, play Mozart and Chopin before learning to crawl or solve problems in topology at the age of 7, which would admittedly be quite extraordinary, and you'll certainly appearing on 60 Minutes with Morley Safer slobbering his delight with you before millions of equally admiring viewers.

The literary arts also love a quick and prodigious study: the younger and more accomplished the painter, sculptor, and especially author, the more cash and attention she or he can command. As Malcolm Gladwell's recent New Yorker article notes, there's something to be said for the late bloomer, though. It isn't all in her or his hands, he argues, as he goes on to explore the parallel careers of Pablo Picasso and Paul Cézanne on the one hand, and Ben Fountain and--let me suppress a gag--Jonathan Safran Foer. Lots of other things have to fall into place, both within and outside the artist's control. Above all, contingency, persistence, practice and a certain amount of struggle are the begetters of late genius, I guess you could put it. But then this is true of most career pursuits, isn't it, for all but a very few?

(Well, there are some careers, like physics, where youthfulness might be integral to exceptional accomplishment. Hmmm.)

At any rate, here's a quote from Gladwell:

“All these qualities of his inner vision were continually hampered and obstructed by Cézanne’s incapacity to give sufficient verisimilitude to the personae of his drama,” the great English art critic Roger Fry wrote of the early Cézanne. “With all his rare endowments, he happened to lack the comparatively common gift of illustration, the gift that any draughtsman for the illustrated papers learns in a school of commercial art; whereas, to realize such visions as Cézanne’s required this gift in high degree.” In other words, the young Cézanne couldn’t draw. Of “The Banquet,” which Cézanne painted at thirty-one, Fry writes, “It is no use to deny that Cézanne has made a very poor job of it.” Fry goes on, “More happily endowed and more integral personalities have been able to express themselves harmoniously from the very first. But such rich, complex, and conflicting natures as Cézanne’s require a long period of fermentation.” Cézanne was trying something so elusive that he couldn’t master it until he’d spent decades practicing.

Ah yes, those decades....Best not to think of how finite they really are. I do think my friend felt better, though, after reading the article. I certainly did, and I certainly am nobody's Cézanne.

Red Sox Win Series in 4 Game Sweep

Big Papi David Ortiz, Julio Lugo, Manny Ramírez, and Bobby Kielty celebrating Kielty's homer in the 8th inning. The Red Sox won their second World Series in 4 years, in a four-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies (Boston.com, Reuters Photo)