NLDS: Atlanta Braves Vs LA Dodgers

Finally! The long, dry spell for devout Braves fans is over. Atlanta will face the LA Dodgers at Chavez Ravine Thursday night.

The Atlanta Braves are headed back to the postseason for the first time since 2013.

The news of the day comes at you at such a furious pace it’s a little like drinking from a fire hose and for that reason I am looking forward to tuning in to watch my beloved Bravos and wash away the dreck of the day.

Every Sports Illustrated “expert”, save one, is predicting the Dodgers will emerge victorious over Atlanta.  That may well be the case, but that will not dampen my hope they could be very wrong.

The Braves might be the best in late-game situations. Their three game-winning homers are tied for most in the bigs with the Cards. Over the last two seasons, they’ve scored 37% of their runs in the 7th inning or later. They've scored 100 runs in the seventh inning or later this year, the most in the National League, while hitting a league-best .262 and posting a majors-best .351 on-base percentage in late situations.

It’s been a long time since America’s Team won an unprecedented 14 consecutive division titles.  Dodgers right fielder Yasiel Puig boasted when LA clinched the NL West Division, “Hey, Atlanta, I’ll see you soon baby! And the next one─Chicago, Colorado, no matter who’s going─we’re gonna beat it.  And we’re going to the World Series again.  And this time, we’re going to win the World Series.”

I know some fellas who would like nothing better than to make Puig eat those words.

The Boys Of Summer: Braves Vs Yankees

Major League Baseball reached the halfway mark in the 2018 season over the weekend.  The All-Star Game is right around the corner and the Atlanta Braves are leading in the National League.

The Braves were the best ball club from 1991-2005. Those were the glory days I remember fondly. After that they were on a skid.  In fact, the last time the team was in first place beyond the second week of the season was back in 2014.

Yesterday, in 92ºF heat and a heat index of 103, the Braves swept the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. It marked their first sweep in St. Louis since 2012. It was so oppressively hot that just a 4-hour drive away in Chicago the fire department was forced to hose down the Michigan Avenue Bridge after the extreme heat expanded the steel reducing the clearance for passing boats.

Tonight, my beloved Bravos face the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.  The Braves are a respectable 25-17 on the road, but the Yankees are 31-12 at home.  They’re going to have their hands full with the Bronx Bombers given the fact they walloped the Red Sox 11-1 on Sunday.

Jonathan Loaisiga and Anibal Sanchez represent the pitching matchup for Game 1.  Domingo German will pitch for the Yankees and Sean Newcomb will be the hurler for the Braves in Game 2.  Game 3 will feature C.C. Sabathia vs Julio Teheran.

I’ve been really stoked by how well my Boys of Summer have been playing. It’s been like déjà vu for me.  I can think of no better way to celebrate Independence Day than watching America’s favorite pastime and maybe, just maybe, a Braves’ win or three against the Pinstripers.

Mets Legend Rusty Staub Has Died

What a sad start to Opening Day in baseball.

Daniel Joseph “Rusty” Staub was born in New Orleans on April 1, 1944. He signed with the Houston Colt .45s organization in September 1961 out of Jesuit High School. The franchise, which later became the Astros, was preparing along with the Mets to enter the National League the next season as an expansion team.

Staub received his nickname from a nurse shortly after his birth when it was clear he would have a bright red mane. Staub carried that moniker cheerfully through 23 big league seasons.

After playing in the minors, Staub made his debut with Houston in 1963. His breakout season came in 1967, when he batted .333 with a league-leading 44 doubles and was an All-Star for the first time.

He retired after the Mets’ 1985 season with 1,466 runs batted in and a career batting average of .279 to go with his 292 homers and 2,716 hits.

A 6-foot-2 left-hander with a sweet swing weighed 240 pounds late in his career — by then he was a gourmet cook and a restaurant owner — Staub cut an unmistakable figure at the plate.

“He had curly red hair, choked up three inches on his bat, wore his uniform pants high and ran like molasses in winter,” The National Post once said of him.

But he could hit — and play outfield and first base as well. In his 23 seasons, he amassed 2,716 hits and 292 home runs while being named to six All-Star teams.

Staub founded the New York Police and Fire Widows' and Children's Benefit Fund. Founded in 1985, the year he retired, it raised more than $100 million after the 2001 terror attacks.

Saddened to hear about the passing of #Mets icon Rusty Staub. We'll always remember the laughs shared with him over the years. RIP, friend. pic.twitter.com/v1EV6K7Dur

— Yogi Berra Museum (@Yogi_Museum) March 29, 2018

Houston, We Have A World Champion!

I thought NK's team.was called the Pyongyang Pricks. Ya learn something new everyday.

— Captain Sam (@NJDevilNYGuy) November 2, 2017

One Win Away

When I was knee-high to a grasshopper and television was broadcast in black and white, I remember joining my dad in the living room of our home to watch the New York Yankees play ball. I fell in love with the game and legendary players like Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Roger Maris, Tony Kubek, Mel Stottlemeyer and Mickey Mantle.  Back in the day, games were called by LA Dodgers HOFer Pee Wee Reese and St. Louis Browns’ HOFer Dizzy Dean on NBC and by Pee Wee and Curt Gowdy on CBS.  My dad would always laugh when ‘ol Dizzy would say, “He slud into third.”

Throughout the 1970’s and 80’s the Braves were pretty much the worst team in baseball, but when Ted Turner decided to buy the team in 1976 he began broadcasting the Braves’ game on TBS and after a while the Braves became known as “America’s Team” garnering fans everywhere as Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray, and Joe Simpson called the games. 

I lived in Atlanta for four years when the Braves started their miracle run to the World Series.  The Braves won 14 titles from 1991-2005.  The Braves won the 1995 World Series against the Cleveland Indians.  Their decade of dominance ended shortly thereafter.

Last year, the Chicago Cubs, the team with the longest title drought in baseball history defeated the Cleveland Indians.  This World Series I’m rootin’ for the Astros.

Thousands of people lost their homes and dozens lost their lives when Hurricane Harvey deluged Houston with 52 inches of rain.  The Astros faithful are still picking through their rain-soaked belongings and homes.  The Houston players and coaches say they are on a mission to give their fans something to celebrate.

Some nights you never forget.  After more than 400 pitches and more than five hours, the Houston Astros managed to make one Dodger lead after another disappear.  They emerged with a 13-12 10th-inning victory in front of a Minute Maid Park crowd of more than 43,000 ecstatic fans─a testament to the magic of the World Series and the timeless power of baseball.  

Our national pastime has on more than one occasion helped a nation in need of healing.  For three nights in 2001 in the Bronx, anxiety and gloom momentarily gave way to a unifying moment following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

God, I love the game of baseball.

HOUSTON ASTROS: World Series Game 6 Trailer (Edited By: Me) #EarnHistory pic.twitter.com/lVQnM0Fztg

— Bonda (@BenOndaTop) October 30, 2017

FOR SALE: One Goat, Slightly Used

History. #FlyTheW pic.twitter.com/S8vVDYA87T

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) November 3, 2016

Russell Andrews of South Bend has carried a #ChicagoCubs fan club card in his wallet since 1940. Next year came today. #FlyTheW Mr.Andrews! pic.twitter.com/EJtHgNJYYq

— Hilary Powell WSBT (@mshilary) November 3, 2016

Hi Harry. It's Chicago. We have some good news for you. #WorldSeries #Game7 #ChicagoCubs #Cubs pic.twitter.com/V8OPJNl7Dz

— Eric Alper (@ThatEricAlper) November 3, 2016

The Wrigley Field marquee looks beautiful tonight. #FlyTheW pic.twitter.com/lj45V4shRd

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) November 3, 2016

Steve Bartman, all is forgiven.

— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) November 3, 2016

Will 108 Years Of Heartbreak End Tonight? Go Cubs Go!

Zobrist's collision at home plate was a modern art masterpiece @Cubs #FlyTheW

— Joseph Maddon (@JosephMaddon) November 2, 2016

There's nothing left to say. The door to eternity yawns wide. Who steps through it tomorrow? #FlyTheW pic.twitter.com/ZjLB32vNj2

— Randall J. Sanders (@RandallJSanders) November 2, 2016

Wrigleyville: Never Count The Cubbies Out!

Bill Murray: scene stealer. #Cubs pic.twitter.com/9WUGrsM6Da

— Todd Vaziri (@tvaziri) October 31, 2016

Want some more good news? Schwarber is back in the lineup Tuesday... #Cubs pic.twitter.com/J10I1eNGHf

— Laurence Holmes (@LaurenceWHolmes) October 31, 2016

A Century Of Cubs Futility

I think we can agree the Cubs played sloppy baseball last night.  They’re one game away from adding to a century of futility.  Only 5 of 44 teams to fall behind 3-1 in the World Series have come back to win the crown.

Joe Maddon’s got his top three starting pitchers lined up for tonight’s game:  Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta and Kyle Hendricks.  With lights-out pitching in his arsenal Maddon needs, no, must find a way to get Kyle Schwarber in the lineup.  The Cubs desperately need Schwarber’s bat.  The guy can swing the lumber!

When the cameras pan the stands at Wrigley you see so many elderly fans who’ve been waiting a lifetime for the Cubbies to win the World Series.  I hope they can pull off the comeback of the ages for them.  I can think of nothing more wonderful.  It’d be one for the history books.

GO CUBS GO!

Root, Root, Root For The Cubbies!

Those “Loveable Losers” are losers no more.  From his broadcast booth in baseball heaven Harry Caray was shouting “Holy Cow!” at the historic news the Chicago Cubs won the NLCS against the LA Dodgers and a trip to the World Series.  The World Series I tell ya!

Seventy-one years removed from their last pennant, and 108 years since their last World Series crown, the Cubbies begin the series at Progressive Field in Cleveland.  The first pitch will be tonight at 8:08 PM ET on FOX.

My beloved Atlanta Braves were awful this year but I remember well the utter euphoria in 1995 as the Braves won the World Series against the Cleveland Indians.  I have a soft spot for the Cubbies.  How can you not root hard for a team that has the longest title drought in baseball history?

Indians first baseman Mike Napoli said, “The baseball gods are really happy right now.  I wanted the Cubs to win just because I knew how cool it would be to be a part of it.  I think it’s going to be a special World Series.  There’s two droughts and there’s going to be a winner.”

Cutest thing I've seen #FlyTheW pic.twitter.com/KjEajrZJgF

— Taylor Mathis (@Tmath11792) October 23, 2016

Our road to the World Series. #FlyTheW pic.twitter.com/Wqd9RlwoR7

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) October 23, 2016