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October 23, 2012

A few playoff nuggets

— How have the Tigers and Giants fared against each other in previous postseason encounters? Actually, they've never faced one another in the playoffs. Heading into the League Championship Series, this was the only one of the four potential World Series match-ups that never had happened before.

The Yankees and (New York and San Francisco) Giants have met seven times (1921, '22, '23, '36, '37, '51, '62), with the Bronx Bombers holding a 5-2 advantage. The Cardinals and Yankees have faced off five times (1926, '28, '42, 43, '64), with St. Louis winning three titles. The Cardinals and Tigers have squared off three times (1934, '68, 2006), with the Cards emerging victorious twice.

— Could we be watching both Most Valuable Players in this year's Fall Classic? Buster Posey seems to be the favorite in the National League, while Miguel Cabrera has a strong shot in the American League if those nerdy stats geeks focus just on the numbers.

You know, the Triple Crown, which contains one category (home runs) of obvious value, another (batting average) that is worthwhile in limited situations, and a third (RBI) that has as much to do with the guys hitting in front of a player as with that player's actually ability.

— The Giants are the second team in history to win three do-or-die games twice is a single postseason, joining the 1985 Royals. Kansas City came back from 3-1 deficits against Toronto in the ALCS and St. Louis in the World Series. As we just witnessed, San Francisco overcame a 2-0 hole in this year's best-of-five NLDS against Cincinnati and rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the NLCS.

— In its four League Championship Series wins, San Francisco outscored St. Louis, 27-2. The Cardinals and Yankees combined to score eight runs in their eight LCS losses, with New York looking like a relative powerhouse by plating six runners.

— The Redbirds are the first team to lose four playoff series after having a three-games-to-one lead. They also were the first, and still only, team to lose in three such scenarios. In addition to this season and the '85 World Series mentioned above, St. Louis dropped the 1968 championship to Detroit and the '96 NLCS to Atlanta.

— Boston is the only team to overcome a 3-1 series deficit three times, including the remarkable comeback from a 3-0 hole versus New York in the 2004 ALCS. The Red Sox also rallied against the Angels in the '86 American League Championship Series and the Indians in the 2007 ALCS.

The Royals the Pirates have achieved this feat twice each. KC's triumphs were mentioned above, while Pittsburgh defeated the Washington Senators in the 1925 World Series and Baltimore in the '79 Fall Classic.
Posted by: Greg Simons

October 29, 2011

World Series live blog: Game Seven

Hardball Times copy editor Greg Simons is not one of those people the TV moguls feared would be put off by a Middle America World Series. He's a lifelong Cardinals fan. As with Games One, Two, Three, Four, Five, and Six, we asked him to put on his red cap and share his observations as he watches.

Pregame
Writing this about an hour before game time, I'm reminded that within a few hours, regardless of which team you root for—St. Louis, Texas or another franchise—the baseball season will be over shortly.

After six wonderful months, with the last several weeks giving us some of the most memorable games of my lifetime, the fields will go silent as winter looms. There will be other diversions, in sports and otherwise, but for those of us who give our loyalty first and foremost to baseball, tonight is our last chance to witness the best of the best playing the greatest game ever created.

Will we see all the best players on the field tonight? Well, we know we won't see the Cardinals' Matt Holliday. His injured finger had led to him being deactivated Friday morning. Allen Craig will take his spot in left field, while Adron Chambers now occupies his spot on the active roster and serves as a potential pinch runner and defensive replacement.

For the Rangers, somehow Mike Napoli didn't destroy his ankle at second base Thursday night and looks to start with little or no ill effect. Nelson Cruz has a tweaked hammy, but he's also in the starting lineup. Derek Holland pitched last night, so he may not be available for Game Seven, but this is a kitchen sink game, so you never know.

Now let's get to the action.
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Posted by: Greg Simons

October 28, 2011

World Series live blog: Game Six

Hardball Times copy editor Greg Simons is not one of those people the TV moguls feared would will be put off by a Middle America World Series. He's a lifelong Cardinals fan. As with all the previous World Series games, we asked him to put on his red cap and share his observations as he watches.

Pregame
Who has the most pressure tonight? Is it the Rangers, who hope to avoid a Game Seven on the road? Is it the Cardinals, with their backs against the wall and their hometown fans aching for victory? Is it Tony La Russa, who utterly collapsed mentally in Game Five? Maybe it's Albert Pujols, who has had one stellar game and no other hits, and who has free agency looming.

Truthfully, there's plenty of pressure on everyone, and plenty of fun ahead for all of us.

Stan Musial, Red Schoendienst, Bob Gibson, Lou Brock and (my all-time favorite) Ozzie Smith—that's some nice inspiration for the team and the fans. What a collection of talent.

Mike Napoli certainly deserves that feature, because he's been awesome.

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Posted by: Greg Simons

October 27, 2011

How good has Mike Napoli’s World Series been?

With the World Series having shifted to St. Louis for good, we won't be able to hear the catchy "Na-Po-Li!" chant echo throughout Arlington anymore. However, Texas' catcher will still be heard and felt in a big way for the rest of the series and will likely be named series MVP if the Rangers close out their first world championship.

Mike Napoli has been so strong offensively in the eighth spot in the Rangers lineup that he's outperformed every player in this series except, perhaps, Cardinals hitter Albert Pujols. Even Pujols' batting average, RBI and slugging percentage don't match up to Napoli's production over the first five World Series games. In fact, if we look back at the cleanup hitters in the past five Fall Classics, it seems like Napoli has out-produced them all.

	             Slash Line	HR	RBI	R	XBH
Napoli 2011	.308/.389/.846	2	9	2	3
C. Ross  2010	.235/.381/.471	1	2	5	2
Guerrero 2010	.071/.125/.071	0	2	0	0
A-Rod 2009	.250/.423/.550	1	6	5	4
Howard 2009	.174/.240/.391	1	3	3	3
Howard 2008	.286/.375/.762	3	6	3	4
C. Pena 2008	.118/.250/.176	0	2	1	1
M. Ramirez 2007	.250/.333/.313	0	2	3	1
M. Holliday 2007.294/.294/.471	1	3	1	1

Posted by: Shlomo Sprung

October 25, 2011

World Series live blog: Game Five

Hardball Times copy editor Greg Simons is not one of those people the TV moguls feared would will be put off by a Middle America World Series. He's a lifelong Cardinals fan. As with Games One, Two, Three and Four , we asked him to put on his red cap and share his observations as he watches.

Pregame
Nice subtle shot by A.J. Pierzynski about Ron Washington not "selling his players out to the media." Gee, what manager might A.J. know who does something like that? I'm looking at you, Ozzie Guillen. I can't wait to see how Guillen gets along with Logan Morrison.



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Posted by: Greg Simons


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