baseball
Sabermetric analysis of all things baseball - on-and-off the field. Barry Bonds fan club.
Dodgers Capture NL West, but What's Next?
The Los Angeles Dodgers entered their Saturday game against the Seattle Mariners with two ways to clinch the National League West. One way was a win and one San Francisco Giants loss (the Giants were playing a doubleheader against the Colorado Rockies). A second route had the Giants losing both games of the doubleheader, and the Arizona Diamondbacks losing to the Chicago Cubs. The Giants did lose Game One of their doubleheader, meaning that all the Dodgers needed was a win. This was followed by the Giants losing the second game as well, while Arizona's game was back and forth and needed extra innings.
By Clyde E. Dawkins12 months ago in Unbalanced
Braves 1st to Clinch 2023 Postseason Spot
One thing that always fascinates me is the fact that Major League Baseball refers to their playoffs as the "Postseason." The other three main leagues use "playoffs," but baseball promotes the "Postseason." They are both one in the same, but still, I just love how baseball uses "Postseason," because it is a season--a brief season that takes place after the regular season ends. The length varies depending on the format and the league, though in the case of baseball, the Postseason lasts just over a month. For the second straight year, 12 teams are part of this entertaining madness, and on September 10, 2023, the first of the 12 teams locked in a spot in this year's Postseason.
By Clyde E. Dawkins12 months ago in Unbalanced
MLB Pennant Race 2023: Spoiler Alert
It's September, folks! The final month of the 2023 MLB season, that home stretch that comes before the postseason field is completed. Now, before I continue, I have to say this. I pride myself on punctuality when it comes to these stories, but circumstances can prevent such a thing from happening. In my case, I've been under the weather for the last few days, and during that time, my only obsession was relaxing and doing as little as possible. This is my third year posting such stories on Vocal, and I usually write these on Sunday nights, but the spirit wasn't quite willing just yet. However, on this Labor Day morning, I am close to feeling completely better, and I'm here with this weekly report of the pennant races.
By Clyde E. Dawkins12 months ago in Unbalanced
Miracle: A Look at the 1969 New York Mets
The 1960s saw a huge expansion boom in professional sports, and Major League Baseball was definitely no exception. MLB teams were relocating in the 1950s, but the 1960s saw teams placed all over the continent. By the end of the 1968 season, there were 20 teams in MLB, 10 in each league. They were not done, though, as 1969 saw four more teams added; the American League saw the debuts of the Kansas City Royals (one year after the Athletics left Kansas City and moved to Oakland) and the Seattle Pilots (who moved to Milwaukee a year later and became the Brewers), while the National League's newest teams were the San Diego Padres and the Montréal Expos.
By Clyde E. Dawkins12 months ago in Unbalanced
A Look at the 1968 Detroit Tigers
Before relocation and expansion became a big boom in the late 1950s and the 1960s, the American League had eight franchises. For the most part, it was the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees dominating the original American League, but some of the other franchises did their share of winning as well. And then there's the Detroit Tigers, who are quite hard luck. Entering this point, they had only won the World Series twice, but one of those two championships was the famous 1945 Series against the Chicago Cubs, who won their last pennant until 2016. The Tigers, sadly, were not used to success, but 23 years after adding to the Cubs' woes, they got it together.
By Clyde E. Dawkins12 months ago in Unbalanced
Perfection: A Look at the 1956 New York Yankees
On October 4, 1955, the New York Yankees were shut out in Game Seven of the World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers, handing the Dodgers their first championship and marking the first time that the Yankees lost the Fall Classic to the Dodgers. It was a shocking setback for the Casey Stengel-managed Bronx Bombers, but as the saying goes, "The best revenge is living well." In sports, when a team gets punched in the mouth, that motivates said team to hit back, and if any team knew how to hit back in explosive fashion, it was the New York Yankees.
By Clyde E. Dawkins12 months ago in Unbalanced
A Look at the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers
Throughout the history of professional sports, we have seen that one team who has a strong season, looks good enough to win the whole thing, is often favored to win it all, but fizzles out when it counts. My dad has a nickname for such teams: "fool ya teams." Each league has at least one. Smart aleck hockey fans would say that the Toronto Maple Leafs fit the bill, but the actual main "fool ya team" in the NHL is the Edmonton Oilers. The biggest such team in the NBA has to be the Philadelphia 76ers, though the Los Angeles Clippers are close, and regarding the NFL, the Los Angeles Chargers and the Minnesota Vikings definitely seem to fit the bill.
By Clyde E. Dawkins12 months ago in Unbalanced
The 2023 New York Yankees: The First 100 Games
Oh man, where do I even start with this? The 2023 New York Yankees season had a lot of promise. After all, this team was in the American League Championship Series in the previous year, and even though that ended in immense disaster, the promise was right there. Everything was going quite well for the Yankees at the start. Even with the Tampa Bay Rays winning games left and right, April and May looked really good for the Bronx Bombers.
By Clyde E. Dawkins12 months ago in Unbalanced
A Look at the 1948 Cleveland Indians
Those who have read a lot of my sports stories know that I've written about some memorable Stanley Cup championship runs in the NHL. With MLB in the second half of this season, I felt that it's time to write about a few notable World Series runs, and I may as well start with this one, because I don't think I'll have any chances to talk about this franchise. The name may have changed (and for the better), but one thing--unfortunately--hasn't changed: this team is immensely hard luck.
By Clyde E. Dawkins12 months ago in Unbalanced
The Turbulent History of the Montréal Expos
Some time ago, I wrote a story detailing the history of the NHL's Quebec Nordiques, who were part of the 1979 NHL-WHA merger and played for 16 seasons in the NHL before moving to Denver. The Nordiques were a hard luck team, but they did have a few moments. The same cannot be said about Quebec's other relocated major team. I've been fascinated with this team for quite a while, and oddly, the fascination increased after they relocated. Could they be back in some form? Who knows? Right now, it's time to tell the tale of one of the most extraordinarily hard luck teams in sports: the Montréal Expos.
By Clyde E. Dawkins12 months ago in Unbalanced
What in the World Has Happened to the American League Central?!
It's hard to believe, but the 2023 MLB season is actually the 30th year of this six-division format. Divisional Play began in 1969 with the American and National Leagues being split into two divisions: East and West. This exact format was last played in the 1993 season, and after that year ended, the divisions were realigned, with select teams from the East and West being placed together in each league, marking the birth of the Central Divisions in the AL and NL. The original American League Central consisted of the then-named Cleveland Indians (now the Cleveland Guardians), the Chicago White Sox, the Minnesota Twins, the Kansas City Royals, and the Milwaukee Brewers. 1998 saw the Brewers moved to the NL Central and replaced by the Detroit Tigers, which made way for the expansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays to replace Detroit in the AL East.
By Clyde E. Dawkins12 months ago in Unbalanced
World Series Game Six: Redemption?
Game Six of the 2022 World Series became part of baseball history days before it was even played. When the Houston Astros won Game Four to even the series, that forced a sixth game, and thanks to the rain postponement pushing everything back a day, Game Six took place on November 5--the latest date ever for a baseball game. The Series returned to Houston, with the Astros entering with a chance to clinch their second championship in franchise history. For the Philadelphia Phillies, they had to win back-to-back games on the road in order to win their first championship in 14 years.
By Clyde E. Dawkins12 months ago in Unbalanced
