2022

When we made our World Series picks entering the postseason, the Astros were the favorites in the American League, with five of our seven writers taking them to win the pennant. It’s true that only one of us (Emma Baccellieri) tabbed Houston to win the World Series, but that was more due to the strength of the top two National League teams, the Dodgers and the Braves.
The same cannot be said for the Phillies, who finished third in their division and had the worst record of any NL playoff team. None of our seven writers predicted that Philadelphia would make it this far. Instead, we split our NL pennant predictions between Atlanta (four) and Los Angeles (three).
The Phillies, however, have turned some of us into believers. Will faith and destiny be enough for Philadelphia to upset the Astros? Here are our picks:

Matchup: Astros vs. Phillies
Prediction: Astros in six games
World Series MVP: Justin Verlander
Don’t underestimate the Phillies. They have a locked-in superstar hitter, a cast around Bryce Harper playing with extreme confidence, three excellent starting pitchers and two lockdown relievers who throw a hundred. Trouble for them is Houston’s pitching is even deeper, and that shows up over a seven-game series. The Astros have an answer for every game and every jam without overworking or overexposing their arms. Stat to remember: Houston is +373 over its opponents in net strikeouts this year.

Major League Baseball has reached the World Series in the 2022 playoffs. MLB’s postseason started with 12 teams more than weeks ago, and now we’re down to the final two: the Houston Astros and Philadelphia Phillies. The Fall Classic kicked off over the weekend, with the teams splitting the first two games at Minute Maid Park. The World Series now shifts to Philadelphia for three games, starting with Game 3 on Monday night. Read more
2021


This morning’s top news
- Braves win 1st World Series title since 1995.
- Soler clears train tracks, hauls in Series MVP.
- Braves defy odds as unreal ride ends in glory.
- Freeman faces free agency with title in tow.

- Heartbreak? Yes. But Astros not going away.
- Homers told the story of this World Series.
- Over the course of the past few weeks, the Braves diligently attempted to kill the narrative about Atlanta teams constantly choking in the playoffs.
- Last night, they finished the job.
- Joc Pederson became just the ninth player in MLB history to win the World Series.
Jorge Soler named MVP
Soler becomes just the second Cuban to win the World Series MVP. Marlins pitcher Livan Hernandez won the award in 1997.
Out of the ballpark
Jorge Soler blasts spectacular 3-run HR out of the ballpark. Jorge Soler sends a 446-foot 3-run homer out of Minute Maid Park to give the Braves the lead. CLICK HERE
Read more
Click on links below:
- www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/32538742/jorge-soler-named-world-series-mvp-3-homers-atlanta-braves-6-game-victory
- https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/03/sports/baseball/jorge-soler-world-series-mvp.html
- www.cnn.com/2021/11/02/sport/atlanta-braves-win-world-series-spt/index.html

The Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros will meet in the 2021 World Series beginning on Tuesday, Oct. 26 to determine who is crowned Major League Baseball’s latest champion. The Braves reached this point after taking down the Milwaukee Brewers in four games in the National League Division Series before downing the Los Angeles Dodgers in six NLCS games. This is Atlanta’s first time in the World Series since 1999.
Conversely, this is the Astros’ third trip to the Fall Classic in five tries. The Astros downed the Chicago White Sox in four games in the American League Division Series to reach the AL Championship Series. Houston then prevailed against the Boston Red Sox, advancing in six games. The Astros (95-67) had a better regular season record than the Braves (88-74), so Houston has home-field advantage in the Fall Classic.

Read more
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_World_Series
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Series
Rays, White Sox, Astros out front followed by Red Sox, Indians and Mariners in American League Division run.
Then there are the Braves, Brewers and Giants followed by Phillies, Cardinals, and Dodgers in the hunt for National League Division title.
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2020 Champions
CONGRATULATIONS Dodgers!
Great offensive team and broke several records.
Pandemic will be memorable aspect of this season.
Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Blake Snell was shutting down the Los Angeles Dodgers’ offense through the first five innings of Game 6 of the 2020 World Series.
Snell had allowed just one hit and zero runs, which was enough for the Rays to get out to a 1-0 lead in the must-win elimination game.
However, Kevin Cash made a call to bullpen and Dodgers celebrate.
If you were Head Coach, would you have kept Snell in the game longer?
Yogi is smarter than the average bear
Wild Game 4 ends with unforgettable final play as Rays rally to even World Series
Hero of the game was Brett Phillips and he deserves to celebrate!!! During post game interview, I loved what he said about entire team effort and THANK GoD FOR THE OPPORTUNITY.
Mike Matheny said, “We will lose a lot of games”. Read more
My Christian faith is the guide for my life and I have never been one for forcing my faith down someone’s throat, but I also believe it to be cowardly, and hypocritical to shy away from what I believe. You as parents need to know for yourselves and for your boys, that when the opportunity presents itself, I will be honest with what I believe. That may make some people uncomfortable, but I did that as a player, and I hope to continue it in any endeavor that I get into. I am just trying to get as many potential issues out in the open from the beginning. I believe that the biggest role of the parent is to be a silent source of encouragement. I think if you ask most boys what they would want their parents to do during the game; they would say “NOTHING”. Once again, this is ALL about the boys. ~ Mike Matheny
What’s particularly interesting is the fact that the Dodgers made not one, but two critical errors to lose the game. A team I was coaching recently made over 10 errors in a single game including my son. He bobbled a ball and made a bad throwing error. If you add strikeouts, walks, and base running errors, there were more than 20.

However, in baseball when you make a bad play or don’t get a hit, they are called “Physical Errors” and that’s part of the game. The team we lost to actually made plenty of errors including errors the previous game. Often the score does not reflect the competitiveness of the game. Many times the losing team can follow-up the next day and beat the pants off a dominating team. Read more
By the middle innings Saturday night of Game 4 of the World Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers were beginning to take on that look. You know the one: Where a two-run lead starts to feel like a dozen. Where they seemed to be toying with the other team. Where they might be convinced, with some justification, that this was simply their year. Read more

Like I heard years ago from a great coach, “There are so many lessons you can learn about life in the game of baseball“.
How Brett Phillips, the last man on the Rays’ roster, started the most bizarre World Series ending you will ever see
Los Angeles Dodgers were a strike away from having the World Series in an iron grip on Saturday night, one more pitch from Kenley Jansen to put away the last hitter on the roster the Tampa Bay Rays wanted at the plate with the game on the line. But Brett Phillips made contact and what followed was one of the most bizarre endings of any baseball game, postseason or otherwise. Read more
It is a privilege and honor to coach! However, I still struggle with unresolved issues in leadership and authority.
You’ve got a lotta nerve to say you are my friend. When I was down you just stood there grinnin’. You’ve got a lotta nerve to say you got a helping hand to lend. You just want to be on the side that’s winnin’. You say I let you down, ya know its not like that. If you’re so hurt, why then don’t you show it? You say you’ve lost your faith, but that’s not where its at. You have no faith to lose, and ya know it. I know the reason, that you talked behind my back. I used to be among the crowd you’re in with. Do you take me for such a fool, to think I’d make contact. With the one who tries to hide what he don’t know to begin with? You see me on the street, you always act surprised. You say “how are you?”, “good luck”, but ya don’t mean it. Positively 4th Street. ~Bob Dylan
The bible teaches me to be “Quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger” ~ James 1:19. I learned a recent colloquialism, “Tea at Three” – blowing a small problem out of proportion.
Besides spelling (i.e. heavy, not heave) I have many shortcomings. Interestingly enough phonetically they can be pronounced the same but have different meanings. You may have a “heavy burden”. But a heave can be a euphoric sigh of relief.

I was reminded by my assistant coach recently, that impulsive decisions can sometimes backfire like pulling a pitcher too soon when they are getting into trouble.
I learned early on the 3 most important goals: Have fun, try your best and good sportsmanship. I love the game, I have many role models who have taught me how to be a good coach and I’m always learning new things.
I was recently reminded that some of the best Head Coaches make mistakes as well. Now that I umpire, I often make mistakes and get booed by the fans. It’s real easy to blame a single error on a player or even a coach. I was watching the ALCS and noticed the relationship Dusty Baker had with his players. In addition, Davey Johnson who not only had a lot to do with the Washington Nationals winning the World Series, he also coached the Orioles. He had a reputation of not getting along with “the back office, upper management or owner of the team he was managing”. Read more
2019 Results
Besides the news about Nats making History by winning the WS, what I found very interesting was
“first time in history of sporting championships including basketball, hockey, etc. that home team lost every game on their own turf”
What do you think of Dave Martinez? He may not have had the best record this year, but he certainly knows how to win when it counts! What do you think about Davey Johnson? Click here. Here is another article I wrote couple years ago (click here).
I don’t think anyone expected 12 runs off NLCS champion Stros. WOW! Statistically, teams that won 1st two games went on to win series more than 80% of the time. Also, the NATs’ offensive “runs scored” performance is highest record in over 60 years.
2019 Current Schedule:

What should’ve been: Three-fifths of Tigers’ 2012-14 rotation is in the World Series.
Former Tigers Anibal Sanchez, Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander are in the World Series, which starts Tuesday. It’s 35 years and counting since the Detroit Tigers won the World Series, which now is the longest championship drought in the franchise’s 119-year history. But those ex-Tigers? Well, they’re racking up rings in bulk these days, and the collection will grow in the coming week-and-a-half, regardless of whether the Houston Astros or Washington Nationals are left holding the Commissioner’s Trophy. In fact, three-fifths of the Tigers’ rotation from 2012-14 are in this year’s World Series. There’s Justin Verlander with the Astros, of course. He wasted little time getting his ring after leaving Detroit, helping Houston to its first World Series title in 2017, less than two months after the Tigers dealt him away in a cost-cutting move that was finalized just momemts before the August waiver trade deadline. Then there’s Max Scherzer and Anibal Sanchez on the other side, helping the Nationals stun the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first round, then roll past the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship Series. Scherzer and Sanchez, for all their individual success — Scherzer has three Cy Young awards and two no-hitters in that career that’s looking increasingly Hall-of-Fame worthy, Sanchez has an ERA title and a no-hitter of his own — are looking for their first World Series championship. Scherzer and Sanchez have appeared in one other World Series, with the Tigers in 2012. That was a four-game sweep by the San Francisco Giants. Read moreI’m pulling for Nats since Washington hasn’t won WS since 20’s and Walter Johnson. It should definitely be a great series. NATs have a lot of positive momentum sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals 4-0. That will give them a lot of confidence offensively and perhaps intimidate the powerful Stros pitching. Incidentally, both teams share the same spring training site (beautiful park) in West Palm Beach. They often play each other during off season.
The Washington Nationals are a Major League Baseball team formed in 1969 as the Montreal Expos. In 2005, the Expos moved to Washington, D.C. and were renamed the Nationals. The franchise has never won a World Series or National League pennant, but has won its division five times. Read moreThe Lerner Family is the majority owner of the franchise, controlling over 90% of the shares. Lerner retired as principal owner in 2018, ceding the role to his son, Mark Lerner. Read more
Minutes after D.J. LeMahieu tied the game in the top of the ninth, Jose Altuve hit a game-winning home run in the bottom half to send the Astros to the World Series and end the Yankees bid. Read more
ALCS goes to Game 6, but Yankees come up short. Watch Jose Altuve “Walk-off HR“. Houston Astros will host Washington Nationals in the 2019 World Series (see schedule below). I’m from Baltimore, so I will be cheering for the Nats. Game 3, 4 & 5 (Home Game 1-3) Fri-Sun, October 25, 26 & 27, 2019.https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2019/10/20/three-fifths-detroit-tigers-2012-14-rotation-world-series/4046299002https://youtu.be/XC34yua88z0



Wow! Another “Cinderella Story”… Nats over Dodgers. Game #5. NLDS Champs. Score: 7-3 (Grand Slam in the 10th). October baseball. Great weather. And, now it actually COUNTS. As of September 10, 2019 the leaderboard has Yankees, Twins, Astros in AL and Braves, Cardinals and Dodgers in the NL.https://youtu.be/cTibRn5TLMo
October baseball. Great weather. And, now it actually COUNTS. As of September 10, 2019 the leaderboard has Yankees, Twins, Astros in AL and Braves, Cardinals and Dodgers in the NL.
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball in North America, contested since 1903 between the American League champion team and the National League champion team. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff, and the winning team is awarded the Commissioner’s Trophy. As the series is played during the fall season in North America, it is sometimes referred to as the Fall Classic. Prior to 1969, the team with the best regular season win-loss record in each league automatically advanced to the World Series; since then each league has conducted a championship series ) preceding the World Series to determine which teams will advance. As of 2018, the World Series has been contested 114 times, with the AL winning 66 and the NL winning 48. In 2018 the Boston Red Sox won the series in five games against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Read more
In 2018, the Boston Red Sox closed out the series on the road against the Dodgers to win their fourth World Series championship in 15 years. USA TODAYNeeding a win Sunday to finish off the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Red Sox scored two runs in the first inning to take an early lead and would never relinquish it en route to a 5-1 victory in Game 5. Postseason hero Steve Pearce clubbed Clayton Kershaw’s sixth pitch of the evening over the left-field wall at Dodger Stadium, and Los Angeles never recovered. He added a solo homer in the eighth inning.After allowing a home run to David Freese on his very first pitch of the night, David Price took over. The 33-year-old lefty cruised through seven-plus innings, mixing four- and two-seam fastballs with his reinvigorated changeup to flummox the Dodgers’ lineup as it faced elimination. Read more
The baseball season ends just as the discussion about this Boston Red Sox club’s place in the sport’s long and layered history begins. It’s not enough to simply state that the Red Sox put the finishing touches on their ninth title — and fourth since 2004 — with a clear and convincing 5-1 victory over the Dodgers in Game 5 of the World Series on Sunday night at Dodger Stadium.Game Date Results
Gm 1 Oct. 23 BOS 8, LAD 4
Gm 2 Oct. 24 BOS 4, LAD 2
Gm 3 Oct. 26 LAD 3, BOS 2 (18)
Gm 4 Oct. 27 BOS 9, LAD 6
Gm 5 Oct. 28 BOS 5, LAD 1No, a team this talented, a march this methodical deserves a deeper appreciation. The Red Sox began 2018 by blowing an eighth-inning Opening Day lead and sending their fans into a Twitter tizzy. Then the club with a rookie skipper named Alex Cora won 119 times in all — a mark bested only by the 1998 Yankees (125) and the 2001 Mariners (120). The Red Sox needed just one game north of the minimum each to take down the 100-win Yankees in the American League Division Series, the defending World Series champion Astros in the AL Championship Series and the two-time National League champion Dodgers in the Fall Classic. Read more
The Boston Red Sox defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-1, on Sunday night at Dodger Stadium to win their fourth World Series since 2004.Powered by a dominant performance by David Price, who pitched into the seventh inning of Game 5, and clutch hitting from first baseman Steve Pearce, the Red Sox won the series in five games. Chris Sale stuck out Dodgers shortstop Manny Machado to clinch the series.The Red Sox rebounded from losing a marathon 18-inning game on Friday night that bled into Saturday morning, by winning the next two games to capture the Commissioner’s Trophy. Read more
2018 has the LA Dodgers coming back 2nd year in a row. This time facing the ALDS Boston Red Sox.

VS.

Markus Lynn “Mookie” Betts (born October 7, 1992) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball. He stands 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m) tall and weighs 180 pounds (82 kg). He bats and throws right handed.Betts was drafted by the Red Sox in 2011, and made his MLB debut in the 2014 season, sharing time between second base and the outfield. He became the Red Sox starting center fielder in 2014, before moving to right field in 2016.

As a relatively short natural second baseman with a high contact rate and a high level of production when pulling the ball, Betts has been compared to fellow Red Sox player Dustin Pedroia.Betts is also a professional bowler for the Professional Bowlers Association(PBA). He once bowled a perfect 300 score in the PBA World Series of Bowling Read more
Houston Astros defeat LA Dodgers in 2017

Things started going awry for the Dodgers early in Game 7, and they couldn’t find a way to right the ship and win the World Series for the first time in 29 years.
Game 7
Instead, the Astros took home their first World Series since the franchise started in 1962 by beating LA 5-1 on their own field. Winning it in Houston might have been sweeter, but something makes me think they don’t particularly care where they lift the trophy postgame, just that they lifted it at all.A lot happened in Game 7, which seems right since it was a Game 7 after all. If a Game 7 can’t be a little crazy then what are we doing here?Yu Darvish got pulled after just 1 2⁄3 innings for the second game in a row, and gave up five runs (four earned) while he was at it. Lance McCullers only lasted 2 1⁄3 innings for the Astros. Clayton Kershaw pitched four shutout innings, letting up only two hits and striking out four Houston batters. Brandon Morrow, Chris Devenski, and Francisco Liriano all pitched one out for their respective teams.The Astros won it with Charlie Morton pitching four innings in relief and didn’t use a closer. Morton ended up getting the win instead of the save, and didn’t allow a baserunner for the last three innings of the game. Kenley Jansen, Alex Wood, and Brad Peacock all made appearances as well.And that was just the pitching!George Springer set or tied home run and extra-base hit records. Cody Bellinger set the record for most strikeouts in one series with 17, breaking the one Aaron Judge just set in the ALDS this October. Alex Bregman, who is not allowed to make fielding mistakes at this point, made a mistake. Read more
Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, the 2017 World Series will begin with Game 1 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros. The Dodgers are playing in their first World Series since 1988. The Astros were in the World Series as recently as 2005, though as an NL team. This is their first since moving to the AL.http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2014/09/30/top-5-mlb-playoff-sweeps-since-2000