As noted in my previous post, with the Dodgers out of the playoffs, I was pretty skittish about investing much emotional energy in the remaining ALCS battle as the Red Sox stormed back to force a seventh game against the Rays after being down 3-1. Moments after sitting down to Game Seven, I was IMing …
Well, my Dodgers-in-six prediction isn’t looking so hot these days. Here’s what I’ve been up to since then: • My rundown of the first two games of the NLCS, with a statistical look at the Phillies’ reliance on the home run ball for their scoring. • Some notes for Game Four that foreshadowed Derek Lowe’s early exit …
Continue reading ‘A Brief History of Amazing Letdowns… And Comebacks’ »
A few things: • The 12-minute spot I recorded on Wednesday morning for “The Young Guns” show on Boston’s WWZN 1510 AM is available here. Hopefully now that the show’s got a blog they’ll be archiving all of my appearances so I can share them here (you can listen to a web stream if you’re …
Continue reading ‘Clearing the Bases: Chitter Chatter Pitter Patter’ »
My National League Championship Series preview is up at Baseball Prospectus, and it’s free (it’s supposed to be mirrored on SI.com as well, but that link will have to wait). In the intro, I included a hat-tip to one of the storied rivalries of my youth. I don’t remember the 1977 wildness (recounted here and …
As I did on Opening Day, I awoke at virtually the crack of dawn this morning and did a handful of drive-time radio hits across the country, previewing the World Series for Fox News Radio. Starting at 7:10 AM, without benefit of coffee or an alarm besides the phone (some idiot who shall remain nameless …
I’ve got a Prospectus Hit and Run column up at BP today, loosely focused on the Rockies, who finished up their sweep of the Diamondbacks on Monday night. As improbable as their 21-1 run has been, the Rockies’ claim on National League superiority is legitimate. They finished the regular season with the best run differential …
Continue reading ‘Rox, Sox and Endlesss Organizational Talks’ »
By now, the Yankees are old news. Contrary to my sanguine assessment of Chien-Ming Wang’s chances while pitching at home, Wang made another early exit as the Yankees fell, 6-4. The loss didn’t merely end the team’s 2007 campaign, it may have drawn the curtain on the Joe Torre era. Since Tuesday, the national media’s …
The Yankees live to fight another day, thanks to some timely hitting by Johnny Damon, a spark on the basepaths by gimpy Hideki Matsui, some lousy defense by Cleveland’s Trot Nixon, and fine relief pitching from Philip Hughes. The latter was necessary after Roger Clemens departed in the third inning, trailing 2-0 and having aggravated …
Not a lot to say about the spot the Yankees find themselves in going into this evening’s ballgame. I watched Friday evening’s taut and thrilling pitching duel between Fausto Carmona and Andy Pettitte on TiVo delay, getting to the bugfest — the ickiest non-injury scenario I’ve ever seen on a ballfield — around 1 AM. …
Much to my chagrin, it looks as though I was right about one thing from my series preview of the Yankees and Indians: Chien-Ming Wang is not the same pitcher at home as on the road. Wang got the snot kicked out of him, allowing eight runs on nine hits and four walks in just …