Ballgame’s Points

“If it doesn’t happen, so who cares? There’s always next year. It’s not like it’s the end of the world.” - Manny Ramirez, before Game 5 of the ALCS —————————————————————————————————————————- Three days after the Red Sox won their second title in four years, I found myself thinking one thing: this was Manny’s October. Of course, [Read More...]

The whys and hows associated with extraordinary happenings in sports can only be thoroughly assessed with the assistance of hindsight. That’s the beauty of The Moment: it rips you from reality, sweeps you up, and spits you out in a state of euphoria. Reflection is not possible when living The Moment. [Read More...]

One swing away from going up 2-0 and suddenly down 2-1. That’s October baseball. That’s the Red Sox 2007 ALCS summed up in a single statement. But there’s more, much more, inside why the Sox are now facing an uphill battle in the playoffs for the first time since 2004. (Note: For the purposes of this [Read More...]

It was just another pop foul, but Manny’s career must have flashed before his eyes. With the Red Sox trailing, 3-2, in Game 2 against the Angels, Manny was up with Dustin Pedroia representing the tying run ninety feet away. His partner in crime, David Ortiz (aka Senor Octubre), had been intentionally walked. The Angels [Read More...]

With three of the four divisional series set, let’s use a Q+A format to assess each team and its opponent in the first round of the playoffs. Yankees at Indians How did the Indians get here? With pitching. There was a lot of speculation that the Indians pitching staff would be woefully [Read More...]

NL East The Mets have turned it on the last two weeks (9-4) and have all but sewn up a second consecutive NL East title. Carlos Beltran has been the catalyst of the recent Mets-surge (5 home runs, 19 RBIs). With Beltran back, the Mets lineup is at last starting [Read More...]

Walking to the hardware store in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn this afternoon, I had the luck of running into one of my pinstripe-loving neighbors. He wore a sly grin as he approached from the opposite direction with his toddler. Guiding his son’s stroller with his left hand he raised his right hand [Read More...]

As I laid out in my April Fantasy Points most big-name player movement takes place on or around the July 31st non-waiver trading deadline. That was the case again this year, as the two biggest fish on the block, Mark Teixeira and Eric Gagne, changed uniforms mere hours before the deadline passed. Braves [Read More...]

The first week after the All Star break is usually a good indicator of how a team will perform in the second half. For already-contending teams it’s vital to slip back into a winning groove, while for underachievers the last 70 games can take on a rebirth of sorts. The two squads I [Read More...]

With the 78th All Star game on tap it’s about that time to divvy out some midseason awards, reassess World Series contenders (as well as a couple of big-money sleepers) and address the biggest burning question of this 2007 campaign. Let’s get to it. AL MVP Alex Rodriguez Some say Magglio Ordonez, others [Read More...]