ATLANTA, GA - OCTOBER 07: A catchers mitt in the dugout during the NLDS game 4 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Atlanta Braves on October 7, 2026 at Truist Park in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Okay, this functionally works as news and not a question, but…
Last night, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reported that current Braves assistant general manager Ben Sestanovich was in the running for the Houston Astros’ vacant front office head honcho position.
The Braves are no strangers to having their Alex Anthopoulos proteges depart to baseball ops departments with… tricky… ownership situations. Perry Minasian was the top of the card in Anaheim, for better or worse, until he wasn’t. Dana Brown went to Houston, where he was sacked a couple of months ago, leading to the current opening.
It strikes me as odd that Astros owner Jim Crane would show Brown the door, only to then hire another guy from the Braves’ front office… but Crane does Crane things, so that perhaps fits.
Sestanovich is one of five guys with his “assistant GM” title at present, with a focus on player development. He was the Padres’ head of player development before the Braves offered him the promotion and brought him on ahead of the 2020 campaign. If he does end up moving on to Houston, it would be the second time that Crane handed his keys to a Braves staffer focused on non-MLB talent, as Dana Brown was the Braves’ vice president of scouting.
While the Braves are fairly coy about specifics on what their staffers do and achieve, my main Sestanovich nugget is that he was the guy that helped Kyle Wright break out by having him change his pitch mix to be an east-west, sinker/curve guy. (Having Wright do this was a popular plea in the comments around here for quite a while before it happened, but apparently Sestanovich was the guy who broke through in this regard.)
Anyway, what do you think? Is Sestanovich going to be Brown’s replacement in a time is a flat circle way?
The Boston Red Sox are stuck. If you’re the type of person who is content finishing third within the division and being bounced by your arch rivals in just a handful of games in back-to-back seasons, you might disagree. If you’re not an idiot, you know difficult decisions need to be made and that things need to change.
I’ve decided to task myself with analyzing which players can be part of the turnaround and which should be shown the door, all as a way to take the heat off chief baseball officer Craig Breslow. If you’re not down with that, I’ve got two words for ya: Problem or Solution?
Jarren Duran
It’s time to rip the band-aid off and talk about the most polarizing player in the organization…
Jarren Duran has not-so-slowly devolved from being the heart and soul of the team to dead weight, doing it within three seasons. I’ll go ahead and lay out the numbers for you below, which illustrate just part of the reason we’re even having this conversation…
… with the other reason(s) being his penchant for getting into trouble by flipping off fans, using homophobic slurs, threatening to beat up podcasters, and all sorts of other stuff. I’d like to stick to on-field factors, but it’s kind of impossible with this guy in particular.
WHAT WE KNOW Duran has worn out his welcome, with all of the things we previously laid out seemingly working together to limit his effectiveness on the field.
Duran still showcased an ability to hit for power and cause havoc on the base paths last season, but the consistency was gone and much of that had to do with the fact that he wasn’t entrusted with a full-time role until Roman Anthony was injured on May 4. I’d imagine they aren’t going to suddenly trust him more after the season he just had season, especially with the organization expected to lean on that trio of Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Wilyer Abreu.
WHAT WE DON’T KNOW If any of those three players get hurt, which history tells us is just a matter of time, there will be tons of questions surrounding the overall depth of the outfield.
Nate Eaton, Jahmai Jones, and Mickey Gasper were getting significant at-bats down the stretch, dude. I don’t have to tell you how bad that is, so while it hurts me to admit, there is at least a track record to look back at with Duran.
I’d also like to point out the fact that everything we’ve seen from him over the last two seasons, as well as the impending lockout and an expected uneasiness floating over potential player acquisitions this winter, would tell you that it’s going to be nearly impossible to come to a point where you feel like you’re not getting fleeced in a deal where you send the guy away — so long as he can’t be pawned off on an idiotic franchise like the San Diego Padres or Philadelphia Phillies.
Philadelphia wants another “gritty guy who plays the game the right way” and gives you a lottery ticket to acquire him.
WORST-CASE SCENARIO Breslow doesn’t want to get duped, holds onto the asset, and we do this whole song and dance all over again.
CONCLUSION It’s addition by subtraction, folks.
The Red Sox need to move on from the player and the person — he’s too much of a headache for the production you’ve gotten since the midway point of last season and there’s little reason to expect that he’ll turn things around as he gets older and starts to wear thin.
ST. PETERSBURG, FL - OCTOBER 19: Victor Mesa Jr. #25 and Junior Caminero #13 of the Tampa Bay Rays celebrate after defeating the Cleveland Guardians in Game Six of the American League Championship Series at Tropicana Field on Monday, October 19, 2026 in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Mike Carlson/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Meet the Mets
One of the major questions for the Mets going into the offseason is who will take over first base in 2027, after a grabbag of (mostly) underwhelming options in 2026.
One of the candidates for the Mets hitting coach opening is Cubs assistant hitting coach John Mallee, who formed a close connection with MVP frontrunner Pete Crow-Armstrong in recent eyars.
Around the National League East
Dave Dombrowski is looking for ways bolster the Phillies outfield and keep the veteran players fresh in 2027.
Around Major League Baseball
Brewers assistant GM Matt Kleine has become a serious contender for the Houston Astros general manager vacancy.
After 78 years, a championship has continued to prove elusive for the Cleveland Guardians.
No matter who wins, this year’s World Series champion will be a first time winner.
This year’s World Series is unlike any we’ve seen in a long while.
The Brewers’ success stems from knowing who they are and believing in their way of baseball, as attested to by outfielder Sal Frelick.
The Rays have a unique approach that carried them from early season long-shots to American League champions.
Either World Series champion would be a liability for sportsbooks, with the Brewers looking to be a worse outcome for the house.
Jacob Misiorowski enters the World Series with hopes to finally showcase the dominance he showed in the regular season.
Milwaukee’s potential World Series win would be a rare feat in the current iteration of postseason sports.
The Rays winning the ALCS when they did may allow them to perfectly line up their rotation and fully rest their bullpen.
Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither were the Tampa Bay Rays.
While Brandon Woodruff making his return to the field as the longest tenured member of the Brewers would be a great story, league rules may make that impossible.
Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue
Chris McShane reviewed Freddy Peralta’s half-season with the Mets in 2026—and what came of him after being dealt to the Rays.
Steve Sypa profiled Teruaki Sato, the NPB Triple Crown winner who has been posted for MLB teams to bid on this offseason.
This Date in Mets History
26 years ago Timo Perez learned the hard way not to count your home run chickens before they hatch.
ATLANTA, GA - MAY 14: Aaron Bummer #49 of the Atlanta Braves pitches in the ninth inning during the game against the Chicago Cubs at Truist Park on May 14, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Matthew Grimes Jr./Atlanta Braves/Getty Images) | Getty Images
With a few days off before the World Series gets underway, there is plenty of opportunity to look back on the Atlanta Braves’ 2026 season. Our player review series continues with left-hander Aaron Bummer, followed by a look back at the top 10 game-changing hits for the Braves throughout the 2026 campaign.
MLB News:
The New York Mets have reportedly shown interest in John Mallee as they continue their search for a hitting coach.
From the Feed:
The Braves have a few needs that should be addressed this offseason with some notable free agents available. Between Seiya Suzuki and Randy Arozarena, who should the Braves go after?
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 15: Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Alex Vesia (51) delivers a pitch during the fifth inning of game four of NLCS between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Milwaukee Brewers at Dodger Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Among the 2026 Dodgers set to hit free agency following the conclusion of the World Series, Tarik Skubal ranks among the top available options this offseason. The Dodgers will certainly be in the hunt for a reunion for the still-reigning two-time American League Cy Young award winner.
One of the more under-the-radar impending free agents is that of left-handed reliever Alex Vesia. Vesia has been with the team since being acquired from the Miami Marlins for Dylan Floro following the Dodgers’ 2020 World Series victory. Through the ups and downs, both on and off the field, Vesia had been one of the more reliable relief options for a wildly turbulent bullpen over the last six seasons.
With his future with the Dodgers now uncertain, Vesia took to his Instagram account where he thanked and expressed gratitude towards the fanbase.
“I don’t know what the future holds, but I do want to say thank you to Dodger Nation for showing me so much love over the past 6 years, especially this year. I’m just a man on a mission!”
Should Vesia find a new home this offseason, he’ll finish with a combined 22-13 record with a 2.87 ERA over 328 regular season innings and a 1.59 ERA across 22 2/3 postseason innings as a Dodger.
One of the most prominent international free agents this offseason is 27-year-old outfielder Teruaki Sato. Sato will be posted after having an incredible season with the Hanshin Tigers, slashing .303/.383/.609 with 39 home runs and 106 RBI.
The Dodgers have notoriously dipped into the international free agent market over the last three offseasons, and they will be a team that has their eyes on Sato, per Joseph Zucker of Bleacher Report.
One of those international signings was utility man Hyeseong Kim, and the Dodgers’ “Swiss Army knife” has failed to keep a stable role with the big league club over the last two seasons. Kim took the time to post to his Instagram account that he doesn’t regret signing with the Dodgers despite the lack of playing time, but he’s disappointed with the way he’s performed the last two years.
I love the Dodgers, and I have never once been disappointed in this team. It was my choice, and I haven’t regretted it for a single moment. My only disappointment was in myself. I have nothing but gratitude for the team and all the Dodgers fans!
SCOTTSDALE, AZ - SEPTEMBER 30: Vance Honeycutt #25 of the Baltimore Orioles poses for a photo during the 2026 Arizona Fall League media day at Scottsdale Stadium on Wednesday, September 30, 2026 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Anyone could be forgiven for having written off Vance Honeycutt heading into the 2026 season. His was a familiar story: Late first-round pick runs into a speedbump in his development and never recovers. In Honeycutt’s particular case, the speedbump was one that any draft evaluator would not have been surprised to see in the road. The guy struck out too much. He’s always struck out too much. Surprisingly, even in the middle of a season where he spent most of it failing in predictable ways, Honeycutt ended up having a 2026 campaign that’s at least worth some discussion.
The interesting part started in spring training. Although the Orioles did not invite Honeycutt to major league camp, they kept bringing him over to hang around as a “just in case” guy who might get an at-bat later in games, especially early in spring training. They put him in a game and he hit a homer. Fast forward some days and they put him in and he hit a homer.
This didn’t happen just once or even twice. Honeycutt took ten at-bats over ten spring games and he hit four home runs, leading all O’s in Grapefruit League action. Even a hard-hearted non-believer like me couldn’t help but wonder, what if something interesting clicked over the offseason?
The Orioles assigned Honeycutt to High-A Frederick to start the season, the same level that he played all last season while striking out an eye-popping 40.9% of the time. It was apparent that nothing had changed. By the end of June, he was batting .190/.282/.360 with a 42.4% strikeout rate. Nothing much else to see here. Right? Bust. Move on. Maybe think harder about drafting such a high-risk guy with a first round pick next time.
Except, actually, some things had changed. That’s an ugly batting line. There’s no getting around that. It was better than 2025 in this way: Honeycutt was actually hitting home runs for the first time as a professional. He cracked ten homers in 63 games with Frederick after hitting just five in 101 games with Aberdeen a year ago. Add in continually intriguing speed – he stole 28 bases in 32 attempts – and reports on his defense that remain incredibly positive about his being able to play center field at a high level.
What’s interesting about this compared to before is that, before he wasn’t even showing some of his strengths while having terrible overall numbers. There was nothing redeemable at all. Now, he’s at least putting a good foot forward, sometimes, which creates more of a tantalizing possibility of, what if he can mitigate his flaws just enough to be a good player?
It’s hard to quit on a guy like that, especially at a point in his pro career where there’s little downside to letting him keep trying. If only there could be something figured out to cut down the swing-and-miss… the Orioles player development people must have been thinking about this a lot. As they should have been! Developing Honeycutt into a 20/20 HR/SB center fielder – if you could ever be optimistic enough, maybe even 30/30 – who plays strong defense would be a huge coup for the team.
In July, Honeycutt was placed on the injured list with an oblique injury. I figured that was probably the end of it. He would come back from that, nothing would be different, and he could be written off.
The Orioles thought otherwise. Not long after Honeycutt returned from the injured list, despite absolutely nothing about his overall High-A performance seeming to warrant it, the team gave Honeycutt a promotion to the Double-A level, giving him the chance to play the last month with Chesapeake. There, in defiance of everyone who gave up on him, Honeycutt made things interesting again. Over 20 games with the Baysox, he hit five homers and batted .288/.381/.616, with a perfectly-livable strikeout rate of 25%.
What the heck was going on there? Could there be any possibility of that being something real? The Athletic’s Keith Law wrote a little later that Honeycutt had apparently done some work with a hitting instructor outside the organization when he was on the injured list. So, maybe something did get figured out, something that the Orioles development people were incapable of figuring out. Or maybe it has nothing much to do with anything. I am very curious what newly-hired general manager Jared Banner, and the people Banner helps to hire, is going to make of this situation.
I’ve put off writing about Honeycutt until last for me in this prospect series, because Honeycutt is out in the Arizona Fall League. Maybe there would be something interesting to say about him! Alas, he has only played in eight games. That’s a small sample size even by AFL standards. He’s homered three times and stolen three bases in those games, which is nice for him. He is striking out a lot, though less than his times of total failure. It adds up to a .217/.457/.652 batting line.
The AFL schedule will be ongoing through November 14, so maybe there will be a little more worth saying about Honeycutt by then. Or maybe he will continue roughly on this path: A low batting average while walking a lot, hitting for power, and striking out a lot.
What a confusing guy. That he’s at least become interesting to be confusing is, actually, an improvement for him compared to what Honeycutt was before this season. It still doesn’t mean he’s on track to be a real prospect, or even a half-decent prospect. There are a lot of outfield prospects coming up from below. If they catch up and start going by him, there probably won’t be anything to say about Honeycutt beyond right now.
ST. PETERSBURG, FL - OCTOBER 12: Jorge Mateo #9 of the Tampa Bay Rays sits in the dugout prior to Game One of the American League Championship Series between the Cleveland Guardians and the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on Monday, October 12, 2026 in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Rob Tringali/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
The World Series doesn’t start until Friday, meaning the baseball world doesn’t have much to do in the meantime.
Sports fans do at least have a couple of NHL games to watch today while the NBA season officially started last night. Unfortunately, the Denver Nuggets don’t start until Thursday.
So, in the meantime, we are left searching for any sort of action. If you get the chance, try to catch an Arizona Fall League game online where you just might see Jack O’Dowd (HM PuRP) hit a home run.
Otherwise, it’s just perusing the internet for news and content, which is what brings us here today. So, without further ado, here are a bit of rumblings going on for the Rockies and MLB!
Scott Roche pinpoints Willi Castro as an intriguing piece that the Rockies could dangle as trade bait to teams. I like what Castro did for the Rockies this year, but he really is a decent piece that could net a modest little return.
Ben Clemens voted for the Fielding Bible Awards and reveals how he voted at each infield position, ranking five players. TJ Rumfield gets a mention at No. 5 on his first baseman list.
Cade Lalim highlights top players hitting arbitration for the first time this season, and coming in at No. 4 is Hunter Goodman, who is bound for a nice little payday.
This week, Evan Lang and I discuss the Rockies’ decision to fire Alon Leichman after just one year as the pitching coach. We then talk about the Gold Glove nomination of TJ Rumfield followed by talking about Tyler Freeman becoming a free agent. Finally, the Dodgers are out of the playoffs, and we celebrate what should be a fun World Series!
Also, if you weren’t aware, our podcast is available on YouTube!
The Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays don’t face off until Friday, so in the meantime, some of the writers over at MLB.com provide a bit of info to help you out with some helpful facts and info.
Karl Rasmussen runs through the mistake for each team eliminated from the playoffs. Most of it boiled down to how the managers utilized their pitching staffs.
In a rare instance, baseball executives sided with disgruntled fans after a number of Timeless Ticket holders (a program where 1,000 people could pay $1,000 for a ticket to sit in the best available seats at any future home game, including the postseason). Fans trying to redeem it for the World Series were offered seats in the fourth-level or standing-room-only seats, which isn’t exactly the best type available. The Brewers decided those fans that tried to redeem can attend the World Series in those seats while still holding onto the Timeless Ticket to be used in the future.
I used to love watching Intentional Talk on MLB Network in my later days of high school when we had the channel. However, I haven’t watched since Chris Rose was kicked off the show, and I also don’t have access to the channel. Still, it’s sad to see a staple of MLB Network end.
Happy Wednesday, everyone! Well, we finally know what our World Series matchup will be, and it won’t be featuring the Cubs’ 2016 foes, the Cleveland Guardians. Cleveland was bested by the Tampa Bay Rays in six games, despite taking an early series lead, they simply couldn’t overcome the Rays. Now we’ll be watching a very intriguing small-market matchup of the Rays versus the Milwaukee Brewers. And while it would have been nicer to see a different NL Central team in the World Series, I suppose it’s too late to change it now.
This should make for a very fun match to watch over the coming week as we wait to see who will reign supreme. In the meantime, we’ve got lots of postseason discussion and other fun tidbits to get you through your Wednesday, so let’s just jump right into it.
Cade Smith, after giving up a HR to Junior Caminero then watching him take his time around the bases while celebrating in an exaggerated manner: “It's not my style but I guess if I don’t like it, I shouldn’t give up home runs.”
ST. PETERSBURG, FL - OCTOBER 05: Jazz Chisholm Jr. #13 of the New York Yankees looks on during Game Two of the American League Division Series presented by Booking.com between the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on Monday, October 5, 2026 in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Mike Carlson/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
In the abstract, if you had told me going into the season that Jazz Chisholm, Jr. would hit 19 home runs, steal 40 bags, and be the second-most valuable second baseman in the American League by FanGraphs WAR, I probably would have signed up for that in a heartbeat (while complaining about the lack of power).
And that’s an excellent example of how cherry-picked statistics are the world’s most malleable clay. You can paint any picture you want with them. I apologize for mixing my metaphor. Anyway, the story of Jazz Chisholm, Jr.’s season is more complicated than that and even more disappointing. And uglier than a pair of used bowling shoes, to boot, at least offensively.
With his free agency looming, we’ve probably seen the last of Jazz in pinstripes. If nothing else, he was an exceptionally fun and likeable player when things are going well.
In hindsight, maybe this season was doomed to failure when Jazz proclaimed his mission to go 50-50 in his walk year and earn a $300 million-plus free agent contract. Talk about setting an unreasonably high bar by which to be judged. To be fair, he’d clubbed 31 round-trippers and swiped the same number of bags the season prior, all while missing more than a month worth of games. After becoming the third Yankee in history to go 30-30 in that smaller sample, some optimism was not unwarranted heading into 2026.
But it was quickly apparent that Jazz wasn’t going to have anything close to a 50-50 season. A putrid start to the season left him barely north of the Mendoza Line (.202 BA) with almost no power (3 HR and a .330 SLG) by the end of April. As late as April 23rd, he languished at .188 with zero home runs. Once that start baked in, the only question was whether Chisholm could begin the slow climb to respectability.
May made us wonder. “So you’re saying there’s a chance.” Easily Jazz’s best stretch of the season offensively, it looked like maybe he could climb the mountain after all. The power still was not there (3 HR for the month) but he drastically cut his strikeout rate and his batting average for the month was 80 points higher than it was in the opening month-plus of the season. Little did we know, we’d seen the best 2026 Jazz had to offer.
The rest of the season was a testament to mediocrity offensively, as Chisholm spent months flirting with league average at the plate. To add injury to underperformance, a sprained thumb in September cost him two weeks.
In retrospect, a look under the hood from the year before makes Jazz’s 2026 a lot less surprising. Even as he went 30-30 in 2025, the batted-ball data was less than ideal. He didn’t hit the ball hard (35th percentile average exit velo), he didn’t square the ball up (8th percentile Squared-Up%), and there was entirely too much swing-and-miss in his game (7th percentile Whiff% and 8th percentile K%). In 2026, his batted-ball metrics cratered.
This is not to say Jazz’s entire season was a catastrophe. Again, his baserunning and fielding value were such that, at least according to FanGraphs, he was the second-best player at his position in the Junior Circuit in 2026. That is off little solace to Jazz, the Yankees, and New York fans, however, considering his 2025 campaign and the tantalizing possibility he could put together a spectacular walk year.
Speaking of free agency, Chisholm is eligible to receive the qualifying offer from the Yankees. If they chose to tender one and Chisholm accepted, they would be on the hook for $23.15 million for 2027. I suspect though that the Yankees will pass. First, they seemed to reveal their confidence in Chisholm (or specifically, their lack thereof) when they had him riding pine to begin Game 3 of the ALDS versus the Rays. If you’re not starting him over one of Anthony Volpe and José Caballero, you’re not giving him $23 million in 2027.
Second, it would likely be entirely too tempting for Jazz to say yes. As Chris Kirschner remarked in The Athletic yesterday, “he could accept it and try to reset his market entering the 2028 free-agent class.”
Personally, I am of two minds. On one hand, Chisholm plays way too much Yankee Baseball (boneheaded errors, TOOTBLANs, the baseball awareness of a literal baseball). I’ve had enough of that for a lifetime.
On the other, if you subscribe to the old axiom that 1 WAR is worth somewhere between $8-11 million in free agency, his 2026 (perhaps his worst offensive season) had a value between $28-38.5 million because of his defensive and baserunning value.
For what it’s worth, in a vacuum, I’d lean towards tendering him the QO. If he declines, great. I’ll take the draft pick. If he accepts, great. I’ll plug him into the bottom of the lineup and focus my attention on other pressing roster issues (side-eyes third base, the bullpen, and backup catcher). Someone has to play second base anyway.
But it’s all hypothetical for me. In reality, I suspect we have seen the last of Jazz in the Bronx. Ah well. We’ll always have that time he borrowed Judge’s lumber to crush a clutch go-ahead home run against Cleveland.
See more of the Yankees Roster Report Card series here.
On a positive note, Lamkin bounced back with a nice performance on October 15th against the Glendale Desert Dogs. After giving up five runs in three innings in his AFL debut, he allowed only one run in four innings in this latest outing.
Lamkin did an excellent job of generating whiffs (30.8% whiff rate) and minimizing hard contact (.311 xwOBACON), which was his MO in Quad Cities and Northwest Arkansas last year and at Texas A&M previously. That said, his stuff hasn’t profiled well so far this fall, via TJ Stuff+ metrics. In his last outing, he had an 88 TJ Stuff+ overall, including an 81 TJ Stuff+ on his four-seamer, which is EXTREMELY subpar.
Tendering Michael Massey a contract this offseason is a must for the Royals front office. In his second year of arbitration and after an impressive comeback season in 2026, Massey is projected to earn between $3.2 and $3.5 million in 2027. For a team looking to get back into the playoffs and valuing high-quality defensive play, tendering Massey a contract in this range would be a great bargain for Gold Glove talent.
Massey does offer above-average offensive production for a traditionally weak-hitting position. Among all American League second basemen in 2026 with 450 or more plate appearances, he finished 3rd in batting average (.272) and 4th in slugging percentage (.428). High-level two-way middle infielders are difficult and expensive to acquire on the open market. Letting a player like Massey walk over a modest $3 million contract would be a step backward for the organization.
The 35-year-old southpaw does not overpower hitters with his velocity, averaging 91 mph on his fastball, according to Statcast. Instead, he relies on a simplified pitch mix consisting of a slider, four-seam fastball and sinker, with the slider accounting for the majority of his pitches.
With this pitch mix, Okert finished the season with a 30.9% whiff rate and a 26.1% strikeout rate while limiting walks with a 5.4% walk rate. As mentioned, he does not rely primarily on his fastball. His breaking-pitch run value was 11, ranking in the 95th percentile.
Okert could address several of the Royals’ bullpen issues and would be a significant addition if Kansas City were to sign him this offseason.
Weaver pitched 19.1 innings for Kansas City in 2022, striking out 19 batters and posting a 5.59 ERA. While those figures don’t seem like anything worth being excited about, the 33-year-old right-hander had two dominant full seasons with the New York Yankees until his departure across town in free agency during the 2025 offseason.
Despite his impressive 1.84 ERA with the Mets, he would have to find a new home once again as he was traded to Pittsburgh at the deadline. Even though Weaver regressed to a 4.96 ERA through 18 games in a Pirates uniform, he still deserves consideration, especially for the Royals who could use reinforcements with starters Cole Ragans and Stephen Kolek continuing to recover from injuries.
Witt fell short of 25 home runs for a second straight year, and what’s worse were his 54 RBI (in only 143 games, but still). His data set remains impeccable, and you know he’ll be a big plus in batting average, stolen bases and runs. But he doesn’t feel like as distant of a No. 1 as he once did.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - SEPTEMBER 30: Bryce Harper #3 of the Philadelphia Phillies reacts in the outfield against the Atlanta Braves during the seventh inning in game two of the National League Wild Card Series at Truist Park on September 30, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Let’s not kid ourselves. The World Series featuring two of the best, yet smallest market, teams in the game really isn’t going to have much of an effect on the labor negotiations. Team owners are not going to continue crying poor, that they can’t spend any money to keep up with the Dodgers. Maybe it slows down the momentum of missing games, but that’s about it.
TUCSON, ARIZONA - OCTOBER 10: Ike Irish #10 of the Baltimore Orioles bats during a game between the Mesa Solar Sox and the Peoria Javelinas at Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium on Saturday, October 10, 2026 in Tucson, Arizona. (Photo by Brandon Sloter/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Good morning Birdland,
As we wait for the World Series to begin on Friday, there may be a baseball-sized hole in your evening entertainment. That reminded me that the Arizona Fall League does, in fact, exist, and there are a handful of intereting Orioles prospects in action. So, I wanted to check in on them.
All of the players that the Orioles send to the AFL are on the Peoria Javelinas, alongside youngsters from the Cardinals, Mariners, Padres, and Reds. Through 14 games, the Javelinas are 7-7, though they lead the league with a +25 run differential.
Vance Honeycutt is tied for second in the league in home runs (three) and is sixth in slugging percentage (.652). That has been accompanied by 11 strikeouts and 10 walks against 23 at-bats, so any hope of him shaking the “three true outcomes” label has fallen short. But at least he is getting more of the positive outcomes than he was early on in the regular season.
Ike Irish has been one of the top overall hitters in the league so far. Across 34 at-bats the former first-round pick has a .353/.421/.559 slash line with two homers, three walks, and five strikeouts. It’s been an encouraging recovery from the torn meniscus that ended his regular season in late July.
Brandon Butterworth is hitting .233/.410/.433 with three doubles, nine walks and 10 strikeouts. The 24-year-old spent about a month at Triple-A this year, but saw his bat fall off after the promotion. He could be in the mix for a utility role at the big league level in the near future.
The pitching stats are a bit less interesting to look at, because the volume of innings is pretty low across the board. But here are some highlights: Braxton Bragg has thrown six shutout innings. Patrick Reilly has a 1.29 ERA across seven innings and was named Pitcher of the Week just a couple of days ago. Kiefer Lord has allowed four runs in three innings of work. Teddy Sharkey has two strikeouts and three walks across 2.2 frames. And Kailen Hamson has four walks and four strikeouts in three innings.
The AFL is an interesting rung on the developmental ladder that usually serves to give extra in-game looks to players that missed time with injury. The workloads are truncated because the rosters are packed with players from all 30 organizations trying to accomplish the same thing. So, you don’t want to overreact any which way. But it is interesting baseball nonetheless.
Orioles Sign Jayvien Sandridge To Minor League Deal | MLB Trade Rumors Sanbridge, born in Hagerstown, is a a 27-year-old lefty that spent most of the year injured, but did pitch in six games with Norfolk. The Yankees called him up to the big leagues in 2025 for a cup of coffee, so this would seem to be another depth signing aimed at reinforcing the bullpen.
This, that and the other | Roch Kubatko Not much to talk about here. Kubatko mentions that Cade Povich had a left elbow debridement procedure, in case you missed it. The southpaw is an interesting figure heading into 2027. He’s had some intriguing moments as a starter, but not with the consistency that the Orioles would need start to start. For me, he fits well as a “swingman” type, making shorter spot starts or providing length out of the bullpen a couple of times a week.
Oriole fans have Rays’ rooting interest in World Series | Baltimore Baseball Every team in the AL East has at least made it to the World Series in the last decade, except for the Orioles. The Rays this year, the Blue Jays in 2025, the Yankees in 2024, and the Red Sox in 2018. So far, only the Red Sox have won the thing. Am I going to root for a division rival, even one with a bunch of familiar faces on it, to do the same? I’m torn.
Orioles birthdays
Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!
Matt Krook turns 32 today. The lefty pitched in one game for the Orioles back in 2024.
The late Valmy Thomas (b. 1925, d. 2010) was born on this day. He spent eight games as a catcher with the Orioles in 1960.
This day in O’s history
Nothing of note has happened in Orioles history, according to Baseball Reference. So, here are a few things that have occurred outside of Birdland:
1940 – The first edition of Ernest Hemingway’s novel For Whom the Bell Tolls is published.
1959 – The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum opens to the public in New York City.
1973 – Fred Dryer of the Los Angeles Rams becomes the first player in NFL history to score two safties in the same game.
1983 – The meter is defined as the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second.
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - MARCH 30: William Contreras #24 of the Milwaukee Brewers rounds third base after hitting a two run homer in the sixth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at American Family Field on March 30, 2026 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The ALCS is over, and in many ways, we’re about to witness the Spider-Man meme of World Series. The Brewers and Rays are opposite-league doppelgängers, teams that come from similar backgrounds (Matt Arnold came to Milwaukee from the Rays’ front office), have crossover in their past (the Drew Rasmussen-Willy Adames swap looms large in this series), face many similar challenges (they both come from small-ish markets and are in the bottom half of the league in revenue and payroll), and have exceeded expectations to the point that their success could even disrupt the owners’ push for a salary cap in collective bargaining negotiations this winter.
Because of the ways in which these teams have to approach team building, this will be a very different series from the one that the Brewers just finished with the Dodgers. While there are plenty of familiar names for baseball diehards, the series lacks the Q-rating that a series with wealthier teams might provide. Still, there are young superstars on both sides, solid and interesting pitching, big bullpen figures, and a couple of the best managers in modern times.
As we did before the Dodgers series, let’s break down each position to see which team has the advantage. Since I already talked about the Brewers players a bit in the Dodgers preview, I’ll focus more on the Rays here.
Manager
Brewers: Pat Murphy
Rays: Kevin Cash
I won’t give an advantage to either team, here: I just wanted to point out that only three managers have ever won back-to-back Manager of the Year awards, and two of them are in this series (Murphy has won each of the last two years and has a good shot at a third in a row; Cash won in 2020 and 2021). Cash was known early on as an analytics guy; he famously pulled Blake Snell earlier than Snell would have liked during the 2020 World Series, another one of those stupid moments that put “analytics” under the microscope. This is Cash’s second World Series appearance, and he’s now completed 12 years as Rays manager — assuming he comes back next year, he’ll surpass 1,000 wins early in the season.
Murphy, as mentioned, has a good shot at winning a third straight Manager of the Year, which has never been done, so it is perhaps needless to add that Murphy has only been an MLB manager for three years (outside of a half season as interim manager of the Padres back in 2015).
Murphy and Cash go about things in different ways, but they’re pretty clearly two of the top managers working in the league right now.
Liam Hicks (LH): 3.3 WAR, 126 OPS+ (0.7 WAR, 129 OPS+ in 41g with Rays); PS: 31 PA, .222/.300/.259
Nick Fortes (RH): 0.8 WAR, 89 OPS+; PS: 3 PA, 0-for-3
Hicks has had a really nice season — he was hitting .282/.363/.432 with 14 homers in 101 games with Miami when the Rays acquired him at the deadline, and he was even better in Tampa, with a .288/.379/.440 line in 41 games. He has struggled during the postseason, but he’s a good hitter. Fortes is unlikely to see much action.
Contreras has been the Brewers’ best hitter in the playoffs. He hit .375 with two homers in four games against San Diego, then hit .357 with a homer and a double against the Dodgers. If he continues to hit like he has, the Brewers will be in really good shape.
Advantage: Brewers. Hicks had a better regular season than Contreras, but Contreras has been far superior in the postseason, so we’ll let recency bias rule.
Andrew Vaughn (RH): 1.5 WAR, 130 OPS+; PS: 9 PA, .286/.444/.429
Rays:
Jonathan Aranda (LH): 2.2 WAR, 121 OPS+; PS: 40 PA, .257/.333/.343, 1 HR, 5 RBI
Bauers won NLCS MVP after going 4-for-14 with two of the biggest at-bats in team history: a 12-pitch walk against Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 2 and an 11-pitch two-run home run off of Blake Snell in Game 3 that flipped the scoreboard. In a continuation of his regular season, Bauers has been taking a whole bunch of walks (seven in 34 plate appearances this postseason) and doing damage when he puts the bat on the ball. He’s been huge.
Vaughn has also recreated his regular season: his appearances have been limited, but he’s played well when given chances. He’s only got nine plate appearances in the postseason, but he’s got a couple hits and a couple walks in there, including a double. Vaughn’s appearances are going to continue to be limited in the World Series, as none of the expected starters for Tampa Bay are left-handed, but he can definitely play a major part as a high-leverage pinch-hitter.
Aranda is a good hitter. He had 22 homers and 27 doubles this season, and he walks a little. He’ll hit near the top of the Rays’ lineup, and he’ll get his hits; Milwaukee will just have to try to limit the damage.
Advantage: Brewers. As I said, Aranda is good, but Bauers won NLCS hardware, and Vaughn is a potential weapon in this series.
Ben Williamson (RH): 0.8 WAR, 74 OPS+; PS: 11 PA, .125/.364/.125
At 29 and in his fifth season, Palacios is one of the more experienced Rays. He’s been really good this postseason, but he’s definitely been outperforming his about-league-average numbers of the regular season. Williamson is a defensive specialist who will probably get a few at-bats against left-handed pitching.
Turang, of course, is one of the league’s best players. After struggling in the NLDS versus San Diego and continuing a worrying offensive trend from last postseason, Turang had a great series against the Dodgers: he was 4-for-11 with a double, a homer, and five walks for a sterling .364/.563/.727 batting line. He’s also one of the best defensive players in the sport.
Ortiz and Hamilton are a solid platoon. Ortiz has looked lost most of the postseason at the plate, but he looked much better in Game 4 of the NLCS, when he picked up an RBI single and hit the ball hard a couple other times. Hamilton was a surprising spark plug during the NLCS, when he had a couple of huge moments and was a major catalyst.
That being said: Caminero is a superstar. He’s only 23 and he’s hit 87 home runs across the last two seasons, and he will probably finish in the top five in MVP voting in the AL this season. He might have the quickest bat in the league. He’s Tampa Bay’s Jackson Chourio, the catalyst for everything they do offensively. Caminero’s defense is a little sketchy and he’s led the majors in double plays grounded into in each of the last two years, so there are some holes in his game, but he’s the most dangerous offensive player left in the playoffs.
Advantage: Rays. Ortiz and Hamilton should do fine, but Caminero is one of the main characters of the series.
Shortstop
Brewers:
Cooper Pratt (RH): 1.7 WAR, 99 OPS+; PS: 30 PA, .310/.310/.345
Rays:
Taylor Walls (SH): 3.5 WAR, 71 OPS+; PS: 31 PA, .148/.233/.148
Jorge Mateo (RH): -1.0 WAR, 8 OPS+ with Rays; PS: 4g, 0 PA
Walls is one of the league’s best defensive players — he led the majors in Baseball Reference’s dWAR this season — but he can’t hit at all. Mateo has appeared as a defensive sub a couple times but hasn’t had an at-bat this postseason; it is hard to blame the Rays after he hit .141/.181/.205 in 84 plate appearances after the Rays picked him up following a release by the Braves.
Pratt has gotten his hits this postseason — a good thing, as his typically solid defense has been shaky, especially early in the playoffs. The Brewers are hoping that Pratt is past the defensive hiccups that he’s had already; if he can keep up his hitting (nine hits in 29 at-bats, one double) it would be a bonus.
Advantage: Wash. Pratt’s offensive upside is probably higher and he’s feeling it at the plate. Walls is a defensive stud, but if Pratt can avoid the mistakes he’s made so far this postseason, he could be just as good.
Outfield
Brewers:
Jackson Chourio (RH): 4.9 WAR, 129 OPS+; PS: 38 PA, .171/.211/.343, 2 HR, 7 RBI
Ryan Vilade(RH): 0.8 WAR, 108 OPS+; PS: 7 PA, .200/.429/.800, 1 HR
The Rays have an interesting mix in the outfield. Simpson is perhaps the league’s fastest player, a left-handed slap hitter who has zero homers in over 1,000 career plate appearances. He doesn’t walk as much as you’d like for a player with his speed, but he gets a ton of infield hits and bunt hits, and once he’s on the bases he steals bases (he led the AL with 46 this season). Simpson has also worked hard to improve his defense, and is a plus defender in left field.
Mesa Jr. is a 24-year-old rookie who played well for the Rays after he was called up in late May. He only played in 79 games this season, but Mesa’s 127 OPS+ was second on the team. DeLuca is a 28-year-old in his fourth season, and he splits his time between center and right. DeLuca has reverse platoon splits this season — he’s better, fairly significantly, against right-handed pitchers — and has some pop, with 11 homers and 24 doubles in 370 plate appearances during the regular season.
Vilade is a utility presence for this team. He’s just 27 but is already playing on his fifth MLB team, even though he’d played just 28 games at the big-league level prior to this season. Vilade was a positive offensive presence this season while appearing at both corner outfield positions, first, second, and third. Mullins is this group’s veteran presence: he’s in his ninth big-league season and once finished in the top 10 in MVP voting when he was in Baltimore. That was five years ago, though; Mullins has lost a step and hasn’t had an above-average offensive season since 2024.
On the Brewer side, Chourio and Mitchell have both had huge moments this postseason. Chourio has managed to be productive despite what could be the worst batted-ball luck I’ve ever seen; he’s been killing the ball all postseason, he’s just been hitting it straight at people. Mitchell, of course, had huge homers in the third and fourth games of the Dodger series, including the one that put Milwaukee in the lead in the clincher.
Advantage: Brewers. No one on the Tampa side has anywhere close to the level of star power that Chourio has, and I think you’d rather have Mitchell than any of the Rays’ outfielders, too. It would be nice if Milwaukee could get some production from whoever plays right field, but thus far solid defense has been enough.
Designated Hitter
Brewers:
Christian Yelich (LH): 0.1 WAR, 91 OPS+; PS: 27 PA, .292/.370/.333
Díaz, quietly, has been one of the league’s best hitters for some time now: since he became a Ray in 2019, he’s a .291/.370/.448 hitter (130 OPS+) in almost 1,000 regular season games, he won a batting title, he’s made a couple of All-Star teams, and he’s gotten MVP votes three times. He led the American League in hits this season while putting together another typically solid season. Díaz doesn’t hit with a ton of power but he’s got plenty of pop (as evidenced by his big home run in Game 6 of the ALCS); he’s what we once would have called a “professional hitter.”
Yelich had a poor season, but he’s been holding his own this postseason. He hasn’t shown any power, but he’s gotten timely hits, most notably the two-run single that immediately followed Bauers’ epic 12-pitch walk against Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 2 of the NLCS.
Rasmussen and Peralta, both players with ties to the Brewers, have been, by far, the best 1-2 punch in the postseason thus far. Rasmussen, who the Rays acquired from the Brewers in the Willy Adames swap in 2021, has averaged seven innings per start — no Brewer has gone even six innings in a start this postseason — and has allowed just three runs while picking up 23 strikeouts to just three walks in those 21 innings. He threw an absolute gem against the Yankees in the ALDS: eight shutout innings, one hit, 1o strikeouts. This caps a season in which Rasmussen emerged as one of the league’s best pitchers: after injury issues over his first five seasons, Rasmussen has reached 150 innings two years in a row and has made back-to-back All-Star Games, and he led the AL in WHIP and strikeout-to-walk ratio this season. He could finish in the top five in AL Cy Young voting this season.
Peralta, one of the most popular pitchers in Brewers history, suffered through an awful four months in New York and was acquired by Tampa Bay at the deadline. What followed was perhaps one of the more embarrassing turns in a series of embarrassing moments for that Mets front office: after a couple of starts to settle in, Peralta has been arguably the best pitcher in baseball since September started; he won the Pitcher of the Month award in the season’s last month, and has been fantastic in the postseason, taking home ALCS MVP honors.
Martinez has been a solid presence all season. The 36-year-old has been around a long time — he debuted in 2014 with Texas, pitched there for four seasons, spent the next four years in Japan, and returned stateside as a much better pitcher. He made his first All-Star Game this season when he had a 3.10 ERA in 31 starts. He doesn’t walk anyone — he led the majors with just 1.3 walks per nine innings — but he also doesn’t strike batters out, and there are some underlying metrics here that might give the Brewers some confidence.
Jax has been one of the more extreme “good FIP, bad ERA” pitchers in baseball over the last seven years. He was a high-leverage reliever for the Twins before the Rays acquired him at last year’s trade deadline; this year, they converted him into a starter, where he had moderate success. He’s made one start and one relief appearance this postseason but has walked three batters and given up four runs in six innings.
The Brewers will, of course, hope that the long layoff between starts will give Misiorowski a chance to look more like the pitcher he was during the regular season. He hasn’t been bad, but his ability to miss bats has diminished in the postseason and he has struggled to put batters away, leading to a ton of foul balls and extremely high pitch counts, limiting him to just 8 1/3 innings across two starts. He’s still been relatively effective, but he hasn’t looked like the guy who is going to win the Cy Young Award.
Henderson and Gasser have filled important roles for the Brewers; Henderson hasn’t been quite as good as he looked for most of the regular season, but Gasser has made two huge starts for Milwaukee. May hasn’t been good; he might start Game 4, but he’s had his issues in the postseason and isn’t likely to play a major role.
Advantage: Rays. This isn’t the gauntlet that the Dodgers could boast in the NLCS (whom the Brewers handled quite easily), but Rasmussen and Peralta are both pitching quite a bit better than any starter on the Brewers right now. But they’ve also faced two offenses — the Yankees without Aaron Judge and the Guardians — who didn’t pose nearly as big a threat as the Brewers do. You have to give the Rays the advantage based on postseason results thus far, but if Misiorowski and Henderson benefit from their rest and the Brewer offense continues to whir, this could easily flip.
Baker is the linchpin here. He led the majors with 41 saves (tied with Cleveland’s Cade Smith) and pitched to a sparkling 1.44 ERA. The 3.07 FIP number is a little less scary, though; Baker isn’t as overpowering as some closers (he sits at 96 mph with has fastball and has relatively pedestrian strikeout numbers) but he did a great job all season at keeping hitters off balance and limiting hard contact. At this point, the 31-year-old Baker is a one-year wonder: over five previous seasons, he’d pitched to a 3.86 ERA and 3.47 FIP in over 200 appearances, but the magic certainly hasn’t worn off yet, as he has five saves in seven scoreless appearances this postseason.
Seymour finished the season as a member of the Rays’ rotation but has moved into relief work in the postseason. He’s been their most-used lefty so far this October — he gets a lot of strikeouts, but he’s given up a couple of homers in seven outings this postseason. Cam Booser (not to be confused with Cam Boozer) will be another prolific lefty for Cash, but he’s more of a LOOGY type.
Wells is the other player here who has had a lot of success. He started the season with Baltimore and pitched to a 2.67 ERA in 54 innings, then got even better when the Rays acquired him at the trade deadline; after the trade he gave up just three earned runs in 18 innings (1.50 ERA).
Sulser, Matz, and Hopkins are the Drohan, Patrick, and Harrison of the Rays’ pen this postseason: they’ve combined for two appearances in nine games. Hopkins has pitched only six times in the majors: he was a top 40 prospect via Baseball America coming into the season but didn’t have a great year for Triple-A Durham and clearly hasn’t yet earned a place on Cash’s trust tree.
The big question remaining for Milwaukee: will Brandon Woodruff take one of these spots? That’s been covered on our website, but it’s really the only remaining roster question for this team. If he does work his way into the mix, expect him to take the roster spot of either Harrison or Patrick.
Advantage: Brewers. The Rays have one of the game’s best closers, but so do the Brewers, and the Brewers are in better shape in front of Megill than the Rays are in front of Baker; I’d take Uribe and Ashby before any non-Baker reliever on the Rays, and I’d consider Hall in that conversation, too.
Wrapping Up
Here’s the tl;dr version:
Catcher: Brewers, slightly First Base: Brewers, slightly Second Base: Brewers, big time Third Base: Rays, big time Shortstop: Wash Outfield: Brewers Designated Hitter: Rays Starting Pitching: Rays Bullpen: Brewers
I’ve got the Brewers as better in five areas and the Rays better in three, with shortstop being more or less a wash. The Brewers appear to me to be a more complete team, and even in some of the areas where I favor the Rays — starting pitching being the primary example — it’s not hard for me to imagine a situation where the Brewers outperform their opponents. The great equalizer is Caminero, who is the best hitter in the series, though one could say the same about Misiorowski on the other side.
Happy birthday to George Bell, and a mighty host of others.
Today in baseball history, in 1975 – Carlton Fisk breaks up one of the best games in World Series history with a home run in the 12th inning to give the Boston Red Sox a 7-6 victory against the Cincinnati Reds, forcing a seventh game to decide the winner of the 1975 World Series, and other stories as well.
Today in baseball history:
1925 – Marv Goodwin, a former pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals who joined the Cincinnati Reds at the end of the season, is killed in a plane he is piloting. At age 34, Goodwin is the first active player to die from injuries sustained in an airplane crash. Goodwin was one of the original spitballers who was “grandfathered.”
1964 – After just 11 years in Milwaukee, the Braves’ Board of Directors votes to ask the National League for permission to move to Atlanta. Milwaukee County officials sue to block the move.
1976 – With a 7-2 victory, the Cincinnati Reds win the World Series, completing a four-game sweep of the Yankees. It is the Reds’ second straight World Championship. Johnny Bench hits two home runs for five RBI. He finishes with a .533 batting average and is named Series MVP. Yankees catcher Thurman Munson has six straight singles to tie a World Series mark. Cincinnati becomes the first and only team to win a World Series using the identical batting lineup in every game of that Series, with no pinch-hitters, pinch-runners, or defensive replacements making an appearance. Cincinnati also becomes the first team ever to go through an entire League Championship Series and World Series without a defeat.
1995 – Atlanta beats Cleveland, 3-2, in Game 1 of the World Series behind star pitcher Greg Maddux. Fred McGriff homers for Atlanta, while Kenny Lofton of Cleveland becomes the first player since 1921 to steal two bases in one inning of a Series game. The two teams combine for only five hits, tying a World Series record for fewest hits by both clubs.
2015 – The Mets complete a sweep of the Cubs in the NLCS with an 8-3 win at Wrigley Field. They score four runs in the first and two in the second to run away with the game, while Daniel Murphy, who is named MVP of the series, sets a new postseason record by homering in his sixth straight game.
2017 – The Astros win Game 7 of the ALCS, 4-0, over the Yankees to clinch their-first ever American Leaguepennant. Having also won one in the National League in 2005, they become the first team to have done so in both major leagues. In the game, the Astros get a great combined pitching performance by Charlie Morton, who goes the first five innings, and Lance McCullers, who pitches the last four, limiting the Yankees to just three hits. Evan Gattis and Jose Altuve hit solo homers and Brian McCann drives in two runs, as CC Sabathia is charged with the loss.
1520 – Explorer Ferdinand Magellan and his fleet reach Cape Virgenes after transiting the Strait of Magellan between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, becoming the first Europeans to sail into the Pacific.
1797 – The USS Constitution (Old Ironsides) is launched in Boston.
1959 – Guggenheim Museum, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, opens in New York City.
1964 – Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia runs a world record 2:12:11.2 to beat Briton Basil Heatley by more than 4 minutes and win the men’s marathon at the Tokyo Olympics; he is the first athlete to win the Olympic marathon twice.
1973 – Fred Dryer of the Los Angeles Rams becomes the first player in NFL history to score two safeties in the same game.
2024 – Findings are published of a massive collision of Earth with a large meteorite, four times the size of Mt. Everest, 3.26 billion years ago, so big it boiled the oceans and may have kickstarted early life.
Today in music history:
1858 – Jacques Offenbach’s operetta “Orpheus in the Underworld” (Orphée aux Enfers) premieres in Paris and includes “Infernal Galop” (can-can tune).
1975 – Asylum Records releases “Nighthawks at the Diner,” the third studio album by singer-songwriter Tom Waits; the double LP was recorded with a live audience in a simulated nightclub setting.
1978 – Rock musician Frank Zappa serves as both host and musical guest on NBC’s Saturday Night Live, appearing in several sketches and performing his songs “Dancin’ Fool,” “The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing,” and “Rollo.”
2001 – “United We Stand” benefit concert for September 11, 2001, terrorist attack victims is held at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., organized and headlined by Michael Jackson and featuring Aerosmith, Mariah Carey, and The Backstreet Boys.
PHOENIX — Hall of Famer Robin Yount knew that a luxurious 12-day cruise to Italy had been scheduled long ago by his wife, but it wasn’t until he was nearly aboard the ship that he realized the timing.
The Major League Baseball playoffs were underway and his beloved Milwaukee Brewers, were smack in the middle of it.
Damn. He wanted to be there.
At the least, he wanted to be able to watch on TV.
Well, you try catching a TV signal while bobbing along the waves in the Atlantic.
“I hadn’t paid attention to the timing of this cruise," Yount tells USA TODAY Sports. “I pulled up the schedule, and it was the start of the playoffs. The first two games [of the NL Division Series], I couldn’t get the games on anything, but the ESPN app.
“So here I am, it’s 2:30 in the morning, and I’m lying in bed for three hours, watching stick figures of balls and strikes, and the lights where the ball was going until 6 in the morning. Then, I remembered, 'Hey, you idiot, you can use the Sirius app to listen.' Then I’m lying in bed all night with an earpiece listening to the broadcast.
“So what was supposed to be a nice, relaxing cruise with stuff going on all day long, and I’m getting about six hours of sleep the entire trip. When the cruise ended, I was beat up."
Yount, who had that iconic motorcycle ride into old Milwaukee County Stadium after the 1982 season, retreated with his wife, Michele, to their Phoenix-area home to watch Games 3 and 4 of the NLCS at Dodger Stadium.
They watched every pitch of every inning, with the Brewers sweeping the Dodgers and winning the pennant for the first time in 44 years, when Yount won the American League MVP award. They fell in seven games to the St. Louis Cardinals in that World Series, and haven’t been back, still seeking their first title in franchise history.
“When we lost in ’82, we all thought we’d be back to the World Series the next year," Yount says. “It took us 44 years. So when we won in LA, let’s just say I may have overserved myself a little bit. I guarantee you that every guy on that ’82 team was watching and celebrating, too."
This Brewers team reminds Yount of their ’82 team with the joy, passion and determination. Maybe they don’t stay in the clubhouse until 2 in the morning having a few pops and talking ball, with this new generation of Brewers going home to play video games. This team has a personal chef with a nutritional menu in the clubhouse and would be appalled at the notion of downing hamburgers and bratwurst before and after games like their ancestors. But, oh, does this team play the game hard with an emphasis on fundamentals, just like Yount’s.
“I love the way they play, but we may want this more than even they [the current Brewers team] do," Yount says. “We still believe we have some unfinished business to take care of. It’d be a huge relief to win this now with all of us still around to see it."
Yount, 71, robustly laughs. Hey, when you were drafted out of high school and raised as a Brewer, reaching the big leagues when you’re still a teenager, play your entire 20-year career with the Brewers, inducted into the Hall of Fame as a Brewer, and are widely regarded as the greatest Brewer player of all-time, that blue and gold stays in your bloodstream.
“Oh man, I live and breathe with these guys," Yount says. “I grew up in LA, but I was never a Dodger fan. We had so many years of disappointment and heartbreak against them. And then to beat them the way we did, it couldn’t have been a better script."
Now, 44 years later, here they are, playing in a different stadium, in a different league, and against a team that didn’t exist during Yount’s career, in the World Series beginning Friday against the Tampa Bay Rays at American Family Field.
“The fans, not just in Milwaukee, but the entire state of Wisconsin, they are all starving for this," Yount says. “They have as much passion as any fanbase in baseball. The city, all of Wisconsin, nobody’s missing this. The TV ratings won’t be low in Wisconsin, I guarantee you that."
Yount, who has been constantly exchanging text messages with his former teammates, certainly isn’t about to miss this World Series. He is taking 15 family members to Milwaukee where he will throw out the ceremonial first pitch Friday with Bud Selig, Commissioner Emeritus of Baseball, who brought the Brewers to Milwaukee in 1970 and made sure they never left.
Yount never left, either.
A two-time MVP and one of the most gifted all-around athletes of his generation, who even considered quitting baseball at one point to become a professional golfer on the PGA Tour or a Motocross rider, certainly had opportunities to depart. He twice was a free agent, heavily coveted by the Dodgers and Angels, but always came back to Milwaukee. He could have received more money on the free-agent market, gotten more fame, but his heart belonged with the good folks of Wisconsin, and particularly Selig, the Brewers’ beloved owner.
“It was the right fit for me," Yount says. “I was an extremely shy kid except for the baseball field and the motocross track. I was just always comfortable in Milwaukee. The smaller market was probably better for me. The only time I considered leaving is after that one taste of the World Series. That’s what motivated me, to have that shot again.
“But Mr. Selig was a car salesman before he bought the Brewers, and he did a pretty good sales job keeping me there. But you know something, he was absolutely right.
“If I had left, it would have been the biggest mistake I made in my career."
Yount, who amassed 3,142 hits, and joined Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg and Alex Rodriguez as the only players to win MVP awards playing two different positions (shortstop and center field), says the only regret in his career is not winning that World Series championship.
But, oh, did they ever come close.
They clinched the AL East on the final day of the regular season against the Baltimore Orioles when he hit two home runs off future Hall of Famer Jim Palmer. They trailed 2-0 in the AL Championship Series to the star-studded California Angels, with Reggie Jackson, Rod Carew and Don Baylor, before winning the final three games. And, with Yount batting .414 with three doubles, a homer, six RBI and a 1.072 OPS in the World Series – becoming the only player to produce two four-hit games in a World Series – they lost the seventh and deciding game when they blew a 3-1 lead in the sixth inning.
The Brewers, a team with four future Hall of Famers, was built on power with Gorman Thomas and Ben Oglivie hitting more home runs than the entire Cardinals’ team. The irony now is that this Brewers’ edition is built like the ol’ Cardinals. They hit the second-fewest homer runs in baseball and ranked fifth in stolen bases, while back in 1982 the Cardinals hit just 67 homers and stole 200 bases.
“We played hard, we played to win, just like this team, but our team was a total different team than this one," Yount says. “We had a lot of power through the lineup. The lineup was unbelievable. We scored a ton of runs. But those guys, man, they can run and beat you in so many ways.
“I’m just hoping this year’s team brings the same results as that Cardinals team."
Who knows, maybe this time around, Yount will be riding his motorcycle into Great American Family Field proudly carrying the World Series banner instead of riding his dirt bike to a Brewers’ rally he wanted no part of, still livid over their World Series defeat.
The Brewers had already arranged a downtown parade and celebration at County Stadium before the end of the World Series, and two days after losing Game 7 in 1982, they still went on with the ceremony with beloved Hall of Fame broadcaster Bob Uecker as the MC.
“We came back from St. Louis just after losing the World Series," says Yount, who sobbed in the back of the plane on the ride back to Milwaukee, “and they told us they were going to have parade for us. In every players’ mind, the last thing we wanted to do is have parade after losing the World Series. We had to be there at 8 or 9 in the morning.
“So, the little bit of rebel in me, I had a dirt bike in the garage, and even though it’s not street legal, I didn’t care about anything at that point. It was my way of showing I was upset. I rode 10 miles, parked the bike by the dugout, and did the whole parade, with the fans celebrating like we won.
“We’re done with the parade, and I’m walking downstairs, [teammates] Pete Vukovich and Ted Simmons see the bike, and say, “Is this yours? You rode it here? What’s it doing here?"
Then, came the challenge.
Vukovich and Simmons: “Why don’t you ride it on the field?"
The center field gate opened, Yount, wearing a leather jacket, jeans and dark sunglasses, jumps on the motorcycle, roared around the warning track, with no helmet and his hair flying, riding right up to home plate.
The crowd roared, and the scene became such an iconic memory that the Brewers created a bobblehead with Yount atop the dirt bike.
“It was quite the celebration for losing," Yount says. “It went over pretty good. It certainly wasn’t planned on my part, so blame it on Vuk and Simba."
Yount, who still rides his motorcycles on the streets and surrounding mountains in Phoenix, and loves working on his bikes even more, will gladly ride his motorcycle one more time into a ballpark.
But only in a victory celebration at American Family Field in front of a euphoric Brewers’ crowd.
“You have no idea how bad I want this, and so does everyone else on that ’82 team,’’ Yount says. “We’ve waited such a long time for this.
“I just wish Ueck was around, but I guarantee he’s got a front-row seat watching this. He’s with us. We can feel it.’’
And, with four more victories, the spirit of Ueck, Selig and every single member of that ’82 team, will be celebrating, long and hard, making a Milwaukee winter seem downright balmy.
“I never had the courage to spend the winter in Milwaukee,’’ Yount says, “but I’d love see that parade. We’ve had to wait 44 years.
“I just want to see my team win, at last, while we’re still alive to see it."
