Category Archives: World Series

August 1, 2024

Flexible Series

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Here’s an idea whose time has come:

The World Series is slated to run from Oct. 25 to a potential Game 7 on Nov. 2, according to the schedule released by MLB on Thursday.

But if both championship series are decided within five games, the World Series would instead run from Oct. 22 to Oct. 30, allowing the postseason to conclude before the start of November for the first time since 2020.

ESPN.com

I would still like to see the second travel day eliminated in playoff series. Teams travel overnight all season. It would also make it tougher to hide a fifth starter in a seven-game series.

November 2, 2023

World Series Recap

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The Rangers beat the Diamondbacks Wednesday night 5-0 to take the best of seven World Series four games to one. The offense was not as lopsided as one might think from a five game series:

CategoryDiamondbacksRangers
Batting Average.270.218
On-Base Average.328.303
Slugging Average.391.408
2023 World Series Overall

During the broadcasts, John Smoltz said that the Diamondbacks had more ways to score runs because they could steal bases. That was not my opinion going into the series. The Rangers led the league in all three averages, and it’s tough to shut down all three. The Diamondbacks pitchers managed to limit hits, but they could not limit walks and power.

There was also a situational aspect to those limits:

CategoryDiamondbacksRangers
Batting Average.263.313
On-Base Average.326.378
Slugging Average.355.627
2023 World Series Men on Base

Five of the eight home runs hit by the Rangers came with men on base. The Rangers were not only able to extend rallies, they could finish them off as well.

Here are the series lines for the hitters. Note that the difference between Tommy Pham and Corey Seager is that Pham hit three doubles and a home run, Seager hit a double and three home runs.

Here are the series lines for the pitchers. Jon Gray certainly shone in relief. He pitched 4 2/3 innings in two appearances, allowing just two hits and striking out seven. Gray and Andrew Heaney, both starters moved to the bullpen, made a huge difference for Texas on the mound. The bullpen loomed as a weakness for the Rangers, but proper usage turned it into a strength in the end.

November 1, 2023 November 1, 2023

Rangers World Champions

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The Texas Rangers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-0 to win the 2023 World Series. Texas, a low seed, goes 11-0 on the road to bring the first World Championship to the franchise. The investment in free agents, especially Corey Seager, paid off. The hiring of Bruce Bochy as manager paid off, as he wins his fourth World Series title.

The team homered, the team played great defense, their two main starters pitched great in each series.

Congratulations to the Rangers on the win, and congratulations to the Diamondbacks on a great run. They showed a great never give up attitude, and their fans should be proud of them getting this far.

November 1, 2023

Bottom of the Ninth

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The Diamondbacks come up in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Rangers leading 5-0. A win gives Texas the World Series title. Geraldo Perdomo, Corbin Carroll, and Ketel Marte are scheduled to bat. Josh Sborz stays in to pitch.

Update: Perdomo falls behind 0-2. He strikes out looking a low breaking ball for the first out.

Update: Carroll pops up to the catcher in foul territory on a 1-0 pitch. Two down.

Update: Marte falls behind 1-2. He looks at a 2-2 pitch at the top of the strike zone, and the Rangers win the World Series!

November 1, 2023

Rangers Keep Hitting

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Josh Jung and Nathaniel Lowe of the Rangers both single opening the top of the ninth inning against Diamondbacks pitcher Paul Sewald. Jonah Heim comes up and knocks a single to centerfield, and the ball goes under the glove of Alek Thomas. The two runners score and Heim winds up at third. The Rangers now lead 3-0, needing three outs on defense to win the World Series.

Update: With two out, Marcus Semien homers to give Texas a 5-0 lead. That’s his second home run in the series in as many games.

Update: Evan Carter strikes out to end the inning. Now it’s up to the defense.

November 1, 2023

Championship Threat

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The Rangers load the bases with one out in the top of the eighth inning, Texas leading Arizona 1-0. A big inning here might cement the World Championship for the Rangers.

Update: Evan Carter strikes out against Kevin Ginkel. Two down.

Update: Mitch Garver falls behind 1-2. He grounds out to shortstop on a 2-2 pitch, and Arizona escapes another jam. The game goes to the bottom of the eighth inning, the Rangers leading 1-0.

Update: The Diamondbacks get a hit in the bottom of the eighth but do not score. The Rangers are three outs away from their first World Championship.

November 1, 2023

Seager Singles

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Corey Seager of the Rangers leads off the top of the seventh inning with a single to the left side. The Diamondbacks were shifted to the right, and the ball went through where the third baseman normally plays. That breaks up the Zac Gallen no-hitter. Evan Carter follows with a double to right-center, and the Rangers have runners on second and third with none out in a scoreless game.

Update: Mitch Garver singles up the middle to drive in Seager and the Rangers take a 1-0 lead over the Diamondbacks.

Update: Gallen strikes out Josh Jung for the first out, but comes out of the game after 83 pitches. He did his job in keeping Arizona in the game. It will be up to the bullpen to keep the two runners on base, and the offense to generate some runs.

Update: Kevin Ginkel comes on in relief and gets a ground ball to first. Christian Walker throws home, and they get the lead runner in a run down for the second out. The Rangers have men on first and second.

Update: Jonah Heim pops out to end the inning. Ginkel does a great job of limiting the damage.

November 1, 2023 November 1, 2023

Loaded Situation

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Nathan Eovaldi of the Rangers loads the bases with Diamondbacks as he issues two two-out walks. After a visit from the pitching coach, he gets Lourdes Gurriel Jr.to ground out to shortstop on the first pitch. Arizona is now 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position, while the Rangers have had only one batter reach base, via a walk. Both led to zero runs in the game.

November 1, 2023

Gallen Faces Fifteen

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Zac Gallen of the Diamondbacks retires the Rangers in order in the top of the fifth inning to preserve his perfect game. Lourdes Gurriel Jr.ran down a fly ball deep in the left-center gap for the first out, a very nice play by the Arizona leftfielder. Gallen threw just 59 pitches so far, 40 for strikes. He struck out four batters, which is still on the low side for him, but the Rangers have not been able to find a hole on their 11 balls in play.

There is still no score in the game.

Correction: I missed the walk to Nathaniel Lowe. Not perfect, but still a no hitter.

November 1, 2023

Bend, Don’t Break

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The Diamondbacks saw their leadoff hitter reach in each of the first three innings. Each time, they made it into scoring position, and each time Nathan Eovaldi of the Rangers got out of the jam. In the third inning, the first two runners reached. A bunt put both in scoring position, but a K and a ground out ended the threat. Arizona is already 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position. Batters are now 5 for 27 against Eovaldi in that situation this post-season.

Meanwhile, Zac Gallen retired the first ten Rangers batters.

Update: Gallen is perfect through four. Geraldo Perdomo made a fantastic play on the Marcus Semien leading off the inning to preserve the perfecto.

November 1, 2023

Good Start for Gallen

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Zac Gallen of the Diamondbacks retires the Rangers in order in the first inning, getting a grounder, fly ball, and a strikeout. He needs to up his K game in game five, with the season on the line. The Diamondbacks come to bat with no score in the game.

Update: Nathan Eovaldi is a bit wild in the first inning, walking two batters. He doesn’t allow a hit, however, and the game is scoreless after one inning.

November 1, 2023

Low Ratings

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All of the first three games of the World Series get the title of least watched in the history of tracking viewers:

Games 2 and 3 are the least-watched on record according to Nielsen. Monday’s 3-1 victory by the Rangers averaged 8.13 million on Fox, according to fast national figures. Saturday’s 9-1 Diamondbacks’ win averaged 8.15 million.

Before this year, the least-watched World Series game was Game 3 in 2020 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays, which averaged 8.34 million.

Game 1 was also the least-watched World Series opener recorded. The three-game average of 8.48 million is on pace to become the least-viewed Series ever, fewer than the 9.79 million in 2020 that watched the Dodgers beat the Rays in six games.

ESPN.com

A Diamondbacks comeback to force a game seven would help. People also might tune in tonight to see a potential first-time championship for the Rangers.

I don’t know the answer here. Part of the problem could be cable cutting. I have an antenna, so I get Fox over the air. If you don’t have a cable provider or the stream equivalent, however, it’s difficult to stream the series

Part of it, of course, is that baseball is not quite as popular as it once was.

Part of it is fans are fans of a particular team, not of the game in general. When a five seed is playing a six seed, there may be less reason to tune in. There is something to be said for having the best teams in the World Series.

There is also a lack of local sports reporting. Through most of my life, local news shows had a dedicated sports reporter with a dedicated segment. While most of the reporting covered local teams, they certainly would devote time to promoting championships like the World Series.

MLB needs to figure out a way to turn the World Series into an event. It’s much tougher to do with seven games than one.

November 1, 2023

Playoffs Today

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Game five of the 2023 starts at 8:00 PM EDT in Phoenix as the Rangers attempt to beat the Diamondbacks and win the first World Championship in franchise history. They would be the last of the original expansion teams (1961-1962) to take home the trophy. The Mets won in 1969, the Angels in 2002, and the Astros in 2017.

Nathan Eovaldi takes the hill for the Rangers, the team undefeated on the road. He make his fourth road start of the playoffs. Away from home he stands 3-0 with a 2.84 ERA in 19 innings, pitching at least six innings in every start. He allowed just four walks while striking out twenty one batters. Opponents in those games are just 2 for 13 against him with runners in scoring position.

To thwart the Rangers championship ambition, the Diamondbacks send Zac Gallen to the mound. Gallen won his first two starts of this post season, but since then ran into some trouble. Even in his first two starts, Gallen’s strikeouts are down. Both the Phillies and the Rangers took advantage of putting the ball in play hard against Gallen. He likely needs to find his strikeout pitch to be effective Wednesday night.

Enjoy!

October 31, 2023

Bochy Mistake?

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With a six run led and two men on base and two out in the bottom of the ninth, Rangers manager Bruce Bochy goes to his closer, Jose Leclerc. He comes in and gives up a two-run single to Gabriel Moreno to close the gap to 11-7. He gets the next batter to pop up, but Arizona gets another look at the closer, and now they can get a hit off him.

It was nice to see both teams play like this game wasn’t decided. The Diamondbacks didn’t give up or give in, and came a long way back.

Unfortunately, they did lose the game to go down three games to one in the World Series. Texas gets three chances to bring home their first MLB Championship.

October 31, 2023 October 31, 2023 October 31, 2023

Who Needs Garcia?

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Travis Jankowski is doing a very good Adolis Garcia impression. He just doubled with the bases loaded in the top of the third inning to give the Rangers a 7-0 lead. That gives him half a cycle. Marcus Semien gets the other half as he follows with a three-run homer to go with his triple, and the Rangers lead 10-0.

October 31, 2023

Jung Run

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Josh Jung of the Rangers leads off the top of the second inning with a double. He makes it to third with two out, and a Miguel Castro wild pitch bring Jung home with the first run of the game. Castro, facing his second batter in relief, then walks Leody Taveras and gives up a seeing eye base hit to Travis Jankowski, in for the injured Adolis Garcia. The Rangers have the lead and a threat.

Update: Marcus Semien tripled in the two runners and the Rangers lead the Diamondbacks 3-0. That’s the ninth triple of the post-season, the most since 2017, when there were 12.

Update: Kyle Nelson comes in to face Corey Seager, and Seager homers for a 5-0 Rangers lead. That’s his sixth home run of the post-season and third of the World Series.

Update: The Rangers hit for the cycle in the inning.

October 31, 2023

Marte at 20

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Ketel Marte of the Diamondbacks wastes no time in extending his post-season hitting streak to 20. He leads off the bottom of the first with a single off Andrew Heaney of the Rangers. World Series game four is in the bottom of the first with no score.

Update: Marte makes the third out of the inning trying to steal second. There’s no score at the end of the first inning.

October 31, 2023

Texas Down Two

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The Rangers lost Adolis Garcia and Max Scherzer to injuries:

Rangers All-Star right fielder Adolis Garcia, who has eight home runs and a record 22 RBI this postseason, was diagnosed with a strained oblique Tuesday while Max Scherzer was dealing with back tightness – and both were removed from the World Series roster ahead of Game 4.

MSN.com

 Ezequiel Duran and Brock Burke take their places. Duran has a bit of pop, while Burke owned a 4.37 ERA, mostly due to home runs. He struck out 52 and walked just nine in 59 2/3 innings.

October 31, 2023

Playoffs Today

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Game four of the 2023 World Series takes place at 8 PM EDT in Phoenix, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Andrew Heaney of the Rangers faces Joe Mantiply of the Diamondbacks. This is a bullpen game, although more for the Diamondbacks than for the Rangers. Andrew Heaney only made starts from 2015 through the first half of 2021. After moving to the Yankees in the middle of that season, he began working as both a starter and a reliever. For Texas this season he made 28 starts, going 9-6 with a 4.08 ERA in 136 2/3 innings. As a reliever, he posted a 5.06 ERA in 10 2/3 innings, but struck out 14. In the post-season, he made two starts and two relief appearances, and pitched better as a reliever.

For Texas, however, Heaney is capable of giving them three or four innings, which means the Rangers might be able to avoid their worst relievers.

Mantiply made three opens during the regular season. He averaged an inning per start, so expect to see lots of pitchers used by the Diamondbacks tonight. Arizona relievers held opponents to a .218/.321/.329 slash line. The ability to limit power is important against Texas, so there is a chance this strategy works.

Enjoy!

October 30, 2023

Rangers Win

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The Rangers defeat the Diamondbacks 3-1 to a take two games to one lead in the 2023 World Series. Texas pitcher Jon Gray served as the hero, coming on in relief early after an injury to Max Scherzer. Gray pitched three shutout innings, allowing one hit and no walks. That allowed the Rangers to save most of their relievers for the bullpen game on Tuesday.

The game came in at two hours and fifty one minutes, rather short for the World Series.

October 30, 2023

Cat and Mouse

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The Diamondbacks send a lefty to the plate to force the Rangers to go to Aroldis Chapman in relief. Once Chapman comes in, Emmanuel Rivera pinch hits and doubles deep down the rightfield line. The Diamond win that battle, and then Geraldo Perdomo comes through with a single to put the Diamondbacks on the board. Texas now leads 3-1.

Update: Chapman strikes out Corbin Carroll for the first out.

Update: Ketel Marte hits the first pitch to short, where Corey Seager makes a nice play to start a GDP and end the inning. The Rangers take a 3-1 lead into the ninth.

October 30, 2023

Pick Pocket

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Ketel Marte of the Diamondbacks extends his post-season hit streak to 19 games as he hits a ball so hard, Rangers second baseman Marcus Semien cannot keep it in his webbing. At first, I thought Semien’s glove broke, but the ball spun out of the edge of the webbing. The two out single does not lead to anything as the Rangers continue to lead Game 3 of the World Series 3-0.

October 30, 2023

Pfaadt Finished

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Brandon Pfaadt of the Diamondbacks walks Adolis Garcia with one out in the sixth inning, and Arizona pulls him from the game trailing 3-0. He walked two and struck out four in his 5 1/3 innings of work, but allowed three runs on three hits in the third inning, the big blow a Corey Seager home run. Miguel Castro comes on in relief.

October 30, 2023 October 30, 2023

Marcus Makes His Mark

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Nathaniel Lowe of the Rangers doubles leading off the top of the third inning, but finds himself at third base with two out. Marcus Semien breaks his slump with a single to put the Rangers on top 1-0. Before Brandon Pfaadt can catch his breath, Corey Seager puts the first pitch he sees into the rightfield stands for a home run, and the Rangers lead the Diamondbacks 3-0.

October 30, 2023

Walker Ran

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Christian Walker of the Diamondbacks led off the bottom of the second inning with a double, then tries to score on a single by Tommy Pham to Adolis Garcia in right. At first the third base coach was waving him home, then threw up the stop sign. Walker didn’t see the change and ran into an out at the plate. It looked like the Diamondbacks had Max Scherzer in a pickle, but Alek Thomas hits Scherzer in the back with a batted ball, which ricochets to the third baseman, who throws Thomas out a first to end the inning.

A nice threat goes by the board, and the game remains scoreless after two innings.