Congratulations to the Los Angeles Dodgers on their second consecutive World Series championship! Regardless of how you might feel about the Dodgers, this Series was undeniably an exciting one, full of drama and emotional roller coasters. And congratulations to Yoshinobu Yamamoto on being named World Series MVP!
I hope everyone has a fun and safe holiday, whether you are Trick-or-Treating or watching Game 6 of the World Series!
ICYMI: A couple days ago, MLB posted the covers of old World Series programs on their Instagram. These go as far back as the first World Series in 1903 and features some of the best designs over the years.
Congratulations to the Toronto Blue Jays and the Los Angeles Dodgers on their World Series berth! This year’s Fall Classic begins tonight in Toronto. Here is the anticipated schedule for this best-of-seven match up (all times Eastern):
| Game 1 | Friday, Oct. 24 | Toronto | 8 p.m. | Fox |
| Game 2 | Saturday, Oct. 25 | Toronto | 8 p.m. | Fox |
| Game 3 | Monday, Oct. 27 | Los Angeles | 8 p.m. | Fox |
| Game 4 | Tuesday, Oct. 28 | Los Angeles | 8 p.m. | Fox |
| Game 5* | Wednesday, Oct. 29 | Los Angeles | 8 p.m. | Fox |
| Game 6* | Friday, Oct. 31 | Toronto | 8 p.m. | Fox |
| Game 7* | Saturday, Nov. 1 | Toronto | 8 p.m. | Fox |
*if needed
Here is a video from 1957, featuring Phil Foster on the Ed Sullivan Show. No doubt the sentiment of “Let’s Keep The Dodgers In Brooklyn” was a widespread one at the time. Broken hearts abounded in New York that year.
In honor of the Seattle Mariners, who won their ALDS battle against the Tigers in exhausting-but-exhilarating fashion last night, here is a poem from 2001 that is a parody of the original “Tinker to Evers to Chance” rhyme. In place of the original Cubs trio from Franklin Pierce Adams’s “Baseball’s Sad Lexicon” are the infielders from the 2001 Mariners team: Carlos Guillen, Bret Boone, and John Olerud.
*
Under lights in the dark at the edge of the Sound
With a crack of the bat the ball flashes to ground
And leaps to the left through the glorious green
Of the SAFECO Field grass to a fielding machine
Comes a grab that is sure and a toss that is shrewd
Guillen to Boone to Olerud
The big hits distributed, heroes galore
Edgar and Ichiro, Mark McLemore
With Wilson or Lampkin ready to score
And Sprague in the circle, poised for one more
But second to none in their plate fortitude
Guillen and Boone and Olerud
A shot to the gap but a double it’s not
For Cameron’s a-sweeping, he’ll run it down hot
A towering pop-up a mile in the air
To Martin or Gipson or Stan Javier
Or a grounder to Bell, the outcome’s the same
The table is set for an end to the frame
In the stands and the mezzanine, bleachers and box
As one the fans rise, the stadium rocks
From Freddy to start or Sasaki to end
It’s the pitch upon which we’ve all come to depend
A fastball inside, Fang at low latitude
Guillen to Boone to Olerud
When everybody’s clicking, we can put a lot of runs on the board.
~Bobby Cox
On September 19, 1883 at the Bank Street Grounds, the Red Stockings’ John Reilly completed his second cycle in eight days as Cincinnati beat Philadelphia, 12-3, at the Bank Street Grounds. The previous week, the 24-year-old first baseman collected three singles, a double, a triple, and a homer in a 27-5 rout of Pittsburgh Alleghenys.
Yours truly spent the week last week in the Seattle area. Now that I have been back home a few days and have semi-caught up on my usual routines, it is time to share my experience attending the Mariners game I attended whilst there.
We took the light rail out to T-Mobile Park on Tuesday evening, September 9th. It was my first time on Seattle’s light rail, but it was not my first time in this ballpark. I attended a Mariners game almost twenty years ago — the stadium still called Safeco Field at the time — watching the action from the left field bleachers. This time around, we were able to get lower-level seats just to the third base side behind home plate.
It was a giveaway night, and we made a point to arrive early enough to snag a Logan Gilbert Funko Pop. I’ve never owned a Pop prior to this one, but I suppose if I’m going to have one, it’s nice to have one of a baseball player.
And I am a huge fan of having a hot dog while at the ballpark, so we traversed the concourse until we were able to score Seattle Dogs and cans of cider.
The game itself proved an exciting one, complete with home runs, a couple stolen bases, a caught-stealing, double plays on both sides, and more. St. Louis struck first, scoring two runs in the top of the second. Then Seattle took the lead in the bottom of the third before the Cardinals tied it up in the top of the fourth. However, the Mariners managed to pull ahead, 5-3, in the bottom of the fourth, and this went on to be the final score for the game. As a Royals fan, it was quite satisfying to watch the Cardinals lose.
Failure is a part of success. There is no such thing as a bed of roses all your life. But failure will never stand in the way of success if you learn from it.
~Hank Aaron
