Quote of the day

The best possible thing in baseball is winning the World Series. The second-best thing is losing the World Series.

~Tommy Lasorda

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Tommy Lasorda with the Kansas City Athletics, 1956 (public domain)

2022 MLB World Series schedule

I confess that was rooting for neither the Phillies nor the Astros throughout the playoffs, but congratulations to both teams on their World Series berths! With the teams decided, the World Series schedule has been established and is set to begin this Friday. All times listed below are Eastern.

Friday, Oct. 28
Game 1, Phillies @ Astros, 8 p.m., FOX

Saturday, Oct. 29
Game 2, Phillies @ Astros, 8 p.m., FOX

Monday, Oct. 31
Game 3, Astros @ Phillies, 8 p.m., FOX

Tuesday, Nov. 1
Game 4, Astros @ Phillies, 8 p.m., FOX

Wednesday, Nov. 2
Game 5, Astros @ Phillies, 8 p.m., FOX (if necessary)

Friday, Nov. 4
Game 6, Phillies @ Astros, 8 p.m., FOX (if necessary)

Saturday, Nov. 5
Game 7, Phillies @ Astros, 8 p.m., FOX (if necessary)

(Erik Drost/Wikimedia Commons)

This day in baseball: Durocher named Manager for the Year

On October 23, 1951, Associated Press named New York Giants skipper Leo Durocher as the Manager of the Year. Under Durocher’s leadership, the Giants rallied from a 13 1/2-game deficit in mid-August to win the National League pennant. New York’s comeback was capped off against the Dodgers, in a three-game playoff series best remembered for Bobby Thomson’s fabled home run in the bottom of the ninth inning of the deciding game at the Polo Grounds.

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Leo Durocher (public domain)

Quote of the day

I have not burned the candle at both ends. I have not drank and I have not smoked since I was convinced it was not well for me to do so.

~Cap Anson

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Cap Anson (public domain)

2022 League Championship Series schedule

In spite of a couple delays in the Division Series games, the winners of each series have been determined, and tonight kicks off the American League and National League Championship Series. Here is the schedule for the ALCS and NLCS, all times Eastern.

Tuesday, Oct. 18
NLCS Game 1, Phillies @ Padres, 8:03 p.m., FS1

Wednesday, Oct. 19
NLCS Game 2, Phillies @ Padres, 4:35 p.m., FOX or FS1
ALCS Game 1, Yankees @ Astros, 7:37 p.m., TBS

Thursday, Oct. 20
ALCS Game 2, Yankees @ Astros, 7:37 p.m., TBS

Friday, Oct. 21
NLCS Game 3, Padres @ Phillies, 7:37 p.m., FS1

Saturday, Oct. 22
ALCS Game 3, Astros @ Yankees, 5:07 p.m., TBS
NLCS Game 4, Padres @ Phillies, 7:45 p.m., FOX

Sunday, Oct. 23
NLCS Game 5, Padres @ Phillies, 2:37 p.m., FS1 (if necessary)
ALCS Game 4, Astros @ Yankees, 7:07 p.m., TBS

Monday, Oct. 24
ALCS Game 5, Astros @ Yankees, 4:07 p.m., TBS (if necessary)
NLCS Game 6, Phillies @ San Diego, 8:03 p.m., FS1 (if necessary)

Tuesday, Oct. 25
ALCS Game 6, Yankees @ Astros, 6:07 p.m., TBS (if necessary)
NLCS Game 7, Phillies @ Padres, 8:03 p.m., FOX or FS1 (if necessary)

Wednesday, Oct. 26
ALCS Game 7, Yankees @ Astros, 7:37 p.m., TBS (if necessary)

Kansas-Nebraska exhibition game

The Kansas Jayhawks hosted the Nebraska Cornhuskers in an exhibition game at Hoglund Ballpark last night. Admission to the game was free and open to the public, so naturally, I reached out to a friend who agreed to attend with me.

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My previous two experiences attending Kansas ballgames proved disappointing, but I had reason to feel optimistic about this exhibition.  KU hired a new baseball coach at the end of last spring, Dan Fitzgerald, and Fitzgerald spent the summer on a recruiting tear, taking advantage of the NCAA Transfer Portal to attract a slew of new talent to Kansas.  

An estimated 500 spectators attended the exhibition, which surprised me a bit.  I imagine free admission proved a big draw, and the football watch party that was just exiting Allen Fieldhouse next door as the baseball game was starting likely contributed to the crowd.  As the game got underway and into the early innings, I could already tell this is a different team from what I’ve seen previously. 

 

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At the seventh inning stretch, the voice on PA system mentioned that the game was planned for a total of 14 innings. My friend and I looked at each other startled at that — we had not planned on 14 innings. We decided to wait until the ninth inning and see what was happening.

The game was tied at 5 at the end of nine innings. We decided to stick around for another inning to see what would happen. The Huskers were held scoreless in the top of the tenth. Then, in the bottom of the inning, the Jayhawks mounted a rally.

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Kansas scored 4 runs in the bottom of the tenth. At the end of the inning, we agreed it was a good time to go. Had this been a standard regulation baseball game, Kansas would have been declared victorious. And besides, I was cold — the temperature had dropped about 15 degrees since the game had started — and my friend was hungry.

I haven’t been able to find a final score after 14 innings, but the consensus seems to be that this team has a lot of promise. I look forward to the start of college baseball season in spring 2023.

Updated Division Series schedule

Due to inclement weather, Game 2 of the Yankees-Guardians series was postponed from yesterday to today. Aside from that, the remain games of the Division Series now have start times! Here is how the updated schedule is looking — all times Eastern.

Friday, October 14th
Game 2: Guardians vs. Yankees, 1:07 p.m., TBS
Game 3: Braves vs. Phillies, 4:37 p.m., FS1
Game 3: Dodgers vs. Padres, 8:37 p.m., FS1

Saturday, October 15th
Game 4: Braves vs. Phillies, 2:07 p.m., FS1
Game 4: Dodgers vs. Padres, 9:37 p.m., FS1
Game 3: Yankees vs. Guardians, 7:37 p.m., TBS
Game 3: Astros vs. Mariners, 4:07 p.m., TBS

Sunday, October 16th
Game 4: Yankees vs. Guardians (if necessary), 7:07 p.m., TBS
Game 4: Astros vs. Mariners 4 (if necessary), 3:07 p.m., TBS
Game 5: Braves vs. Phillies (if necessary), 4:37 p.m., FS1
Game 5: Dodgers vs. Padres (if necessary), 9:07 p.m., FS1

Monday, October 17th
Game 5: Yankees vs. Guardians (if necessary), 7:37 p.m., TBS
Game 5: Astros vs. Mariners (if necessary), 5:07 p.m., TNT

Randy Johnson, photographer

In case you missed it, Twitter blew up a bit yesterday with the news that former pitcher Randy Johnson now makes a living as a professional photographer.

A detail that makes this information even more fun is the logo for Randy Johnson Photography, clearly a tribute to that time that Johnson accidentally killed a bird with a fastball

Randy Johnson photography logo

If you’re interested in exploring further, you can check out some of Randy Johnson’s work at Randy Johnson Photography – Photography from Hall of Fame Pitcher Randy Johnson (rj51photos.com).