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Happy birthday to Enoli Paredes, and a mighty host of others.

Today in baseball history, in 1930 – As a Yankee, Babe Ruth returns to the mound after a nine-year absence at Fenway Park and pitches a complete game, beating the Red Sox, 9-3. The last time the “Bambino” took the mound, he defeated the A’s at the end of the 1921 season, and 1938 – At Wrigley Field, Gabby Hartnett hits his famous “Homer in the Gloamin'” in the ninth inning against the Pirates’ Mace Brown to give the Chicago Cubs a 6-5 victory, their ninth straight. It is a key triumph en route to the Cubs’ National League pennant, and other stories as well.

Today in baseball history:

• 1924 – Rogers Hornsby finishes the season with a .424 batting average to lead the National League.
• 1941 – Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox goes 6 for 8 in a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Athletics to finish the season with a .406 batting average. He had started the day batting .3995 — which rounds up to .400 — and his manager, Joe Cronin, had suggested he sit out the otherwise meaniningless games to preserve the mark, but Williams insisted on earning the title on the field. No player has batted .400 since.
• 1951 – Allie Reynolds pitches his second no-hitter of the season as the New York Yankees defeat the Boston Red Sox, 8-0, in the opener of a doubleheader. The Yankees clinch the American League pennant with an 11-3 victory in the nightcap.
• 1955 – The Yanks win the first game of the World Series as Whitey Ford beats Don Newcombe, 6-5. In the bottom of the 2nd inning, Elston Howard, in his first World Series at-bat, knots the score at 2-2 when he homers off Dodgers right-hander Don Newcombe. The round-tripper to deep left field at Yankee Stadium marks the first time a black batter has hit a home run off a black pitcher in the history of the Fall Classic. In a controversial play in the eighth, with Frank Kellert at bat, Jackie Robinson steals home to bring the Dodgers to within a run of a tie, but they will fall short today.
• 1958 – Going 7-for-11 to end the season, Red Sox outfielder Ted Williams becomes the first 40-year-old to lead the league in hitting and wins his sixth and final batting title. The “Splendid Splinter’s” .328 batting average beats out his teammate Pete Runnels, who goes 0-for-4 today and ends up the campaign with a .322 mark.
• 1960 – In his final major-league plate appearance, against Baltimore’s Jack Fisher, Ted Williams picks out a 1-1 pitch and drives it 450 feet into the right-center field seats behind the Boston bullpen. It is Williams’ 521st and last home run, putting him third on the all-time list. The blast gives the seventh-place Red Sox a 5-4 victory. Williams stays in the dugout, ignoring the crowd’s cheers, but when he trots out to left field in the ninth, he is replaced immediately by Carroll Hardy. He retires as a standing crowd roars.
• 1974 – Nolan Ryan pitches his third of seven career no-hitters, striking out 15 batters and beating the Minnesota Twins, 4-0, at Anaheim Stadium. He also walks eight to run his season total to 202 bases on balls, joining Bob Feller in 1938 as the only pitcher to walk more than 200 in a season. Ryan will again top 200 in 1977.
• 1988 – Orel Hershiser of the Los Angeles Dodgers throws ten shutout innings against the San Diego Padres and extends his streak of scoreless innings to 59, breaking the record set by Don Drysdale in 1968.
• 1995 – Dennis Martínez‘s fastball breaks Minnesota Twins’ Kirby Puckett’s jaw in what becomes Puckett’s final career plate appearance in the Cleveland Indians’ 12-4 win.
• 1997 – Tony Gwynn of the San Diego Padres ties Honus Wagner‘s record by winning his eighth National League batting title. Gwynn finishes at .372, becoming the first player to win four consecutive NL batting titles since Rogers Hornsby won six straight between 1920 and 1925.
• 2005 – Alex Rodriguez hits his 47th home run in the Yankees’ 2-1 victory over Baltimore. The shot breaks Joe DiMaggio‘s single-season club record for home runs by a right-handed batter, set in 1937.
• 2008 – Mike Mussina, who has won 18 or 19 games five times, finally becomes a 20-game winner at age 39. The Yankee hurler tops the Red Sox, 6-2, as Daisuke Matsuzaka falls to 18-3 on the year. Mussina will announce his retirement after the season.
• 2022 – Aaron Judge ties one of the most hallowed records in baseball — the 61 home runs hit by Roger Maris in 1961, which still stands as the American League record six decades later. He takes Tim Mayza deep with a man on base in the 6th inning of a game at Rogers Centre, breaking a 3-3 tie to lead the Yankees to an 8-3 win. While three players have exceeded that total in the National League, all were active in the steroids era and their accomplishment has been tainted as a result – which is not the case for Judge.
• 2023 – With a homer and two RBIs in Atlanta’s 5-3 win over the Cubs, Matt Olson sets a new modern Braves franchise record for RBIs with 136, besting Eddie Mathews‘ mark of 135 set in 1953, although it is still shy of the all-time franchise best of 145 dating back to 1894 and Hugh Duffy. Olson had earlier passed Andruw Jones‘ record of 51 homers, being now at 54. The win clinches the best record in the National League for the Braves.

Today in Cubs history:

• 1897 – Although he gives up 14 runs on 17 hits, Dave Wright of the Chicago Colts wins his first and only major league game. The 21 year-old Dennison, Ohio native is the beneficiary of Chicago’s 11-run fifth inning when the club beats the Pirates, 15-14.
• 1930 – The Cubs bring down the season’s curtain as Hack Wilson has his 189th and 190th RBI in a 12-11 victory over the Reds. Wilson’s major league RBI record will remain untouched. With Riggs Stephenson and Kiki Cuyler each driving in 100 runs, the Cubs have the first all-100 RBI outfield in the 20th century. The Boston outfield in 1894 also had the same credentials.
• 1932 – In the opening game of the World Series, Lou Gehrig‘s home run leads the Yankees to a 12-6 win over the Cubs.
• 1935 – With nothing on the line, the pennant-winning Cubs finally lose to the Cardinals and snap their 21-game win streak. The skein is the longest in the majors since the Giants of 1916 won 26 games and tied one. However, Chicago’s win streak is the longest without a tie since 1880.
• 1959 – In the first game of a best-of-three playoff, the Dodgers beat the Braves, 3-2, in a cold Milwaukee drizzle. Rookie Larry Sherry pitches 7.2 innings of scoreless relief. In a losing cause, Eddie Mathews hits his 46th home run to win the title. Ernie Banks had finished the year with 45.
• 1962 – In front of only 595 fans at Wrigley Field, the Cubs (58-101) beat the Mets (39-118) in the first meeting in major league history between two 100-loss teams before the series begins. The New York expansion team will split the remaining two games in Chicago to finish the season 40-120, establishing the record for the most losses in baseball’s modern era that will stand until 2024.
• 1995 – A fan takes exception when a Cub reliever gives up two-run, pinch home run to James Mouton, giving the Astros an eighth-inning 9-7 lead. As the Houston pinch-hitter rounds the bases, the 27-year-old spectator runs out of the stands and heads toward the mound, where he is immediately pinned by Randy Myers, who in addition to his pitching prowess, is well trained in the martial arts.
• 1998 – In the first National League playoff since 1980, the Cubs beat the Giants, 5-3, to take the National League’s wild card berth. San Francisco makes the game interesting by scoring three runs in the ninth inning in front of a very anxious crowd at Wrigley Field.
• 2001 – In the first home game at Wrigley Field since the September 11th terrorist attacks on America, Sammy Sosa, after hitting his 59th home run of the season, pulls out a small American flag and waves it as he circles the bases. After scoring and making a curtain call from the dugout, the Cub slugger continues to wave Old Glory.
• 2003 – Ron Santo, the team’s radio color commentator, joins Hall of Famers Ernie Banks and Billy Williams, becoming third player to have his number retired by the Cubs. The nine-time All-Star third baseman, who spent 14 of his 15 seasons with Chicago (1960–1973), will have his uniform No. 10 below Ernie Banks’s on the left-field foul pole.
• 2007 – The Chicago Cubs clinch the NL Central division title with a 6-0 shutout of the Cincinnati Reds, combined with a loss by the Milwaukee Brewers. It is the third different franchise that Cubs manager Lou Piniella has led to a division title. For Chicago, Alfonso Soriano hits his 32nd home run of the season, taking Bronson Arroyo deep in the first inning. It is Soriano’s sixth home run leading off a game this month, a new major league record. It is also his 13th homer in September, tying Ernie Banks‘ franchise record.
• 2012 – 2B Darwin Barney of the Cubs makes a wild throw to first base after fielding Justin Upton‘s ground ball in the 8th inning of the Cubs’ 8-3 loss to the Diamondbacks. The miscue ends Barney’s 141-game errorless streak, tying Placido Polanco‘s all-time record for a single season, set in 2007.
• 2015 – Chris Denorfia of the Cubs does something unprecedented when he homers as a pinch-hitter for Fernando Rodney in the bottom of the 11th inning to give his team a 1-0 win over the Royals. His blast off Miguel Almonte is the first-ever pinch-hit, walk-off homer in extra innings in a 1-0 game.

Cubs Birthdays:Enoli Paredes*, Joey Nation, Dick Gernert, Dick Barrett, Hank Grampp, Jim Brillheart, Wilbur Good.

Today in history:

• 1066 – William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, lands at Pevensey Bay in Sussex, beginning the Norman Conquest of England.
• 1542 – Explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo is the first European to sail into San Diego Bay, naming it San Miguel and claiming it for Spain.
• 1781 – 9,000 American and 7,000 French troops begin the Siege of Yorktown.
• 1785 – Napoléon Bonaparte, aged 16, graduates from the elite École Militaire in Paris, ranking a lowly 42nd in a class of 51.
• 1901 – American businessman King C. Gillette establishes the American Safety Razor Company.
• 1976 – Muhammad Ali defeats Ken Norton in a 15-round unanimous points decision for the WBA, WBC, and The Ring heavyweight boxing titles.
• 1982 – First reports appear of deaths from cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules.

Today in music history:

• 1956 – RCA Records reports Elvis Presley sells over 10 million records.
• 1963 – New York City DJ “Murray The K” plays The Beatles’ “She Loves You” on the radio.
• 1968 – Janis Joplin announces she’s leaving the rock band “Big Brother & the Holding Company.”
• 1968 – The Beatles’ single “Hey Jude” hits No. 1 and stays there for nine weeks.
• 1974 – “I’m A Ramblin’ Man” by Waylon Jennings peaks at No. 75 on the pop chart and No. 1 on the country chart.
• 1974 – British guitarist Mick Ronson joins the rock band “Mott the Hoople”.
• 1976 – Tamla/Motown Records releases “Songs in the Key of Life,” the 18th studio album by Stevie Wonder; the double album plus EP is the biggest seller, includes “Sir Duke,” “As,” and “Isn’t She Lovely,” and wins the Grammy for Album of the Year (1977).
• 1978 – Metal band Black Sabbath release their eighth album “Never Say Die,” the last to feature Ozzy Osbourne before he is fired.
• 1981 – Olivia Newton-John releases single “Physical” (Billboard Song of the Year 1982).
• 1985 – “Don’t Lose My Number” by Phil Collins peaks at No. 4.
• 1985 – “Freedom” by Wham! peaks at No. 3.
• 1991 – “Shiny Happy People” by R.E.M. peaks at No. 10.

*pictured.

Last year, the Yankees lost Gerrit Cole, in what was probably the last true year of his prime. A loss like that would reverberate throughout a team’s entire season, usually. Instead, the Yankees more or less recreated Cole in the form of Cam Schlittler, now the favorite for the AL Cy Young and starting Game 1 of the Wild Card Series this week.

Garrett Crochet is Boston’s version of Cole: the ace, the guy you work day and night to land, and then pay him handsomely to start the big games. He has not thrown a pitch in anger since April 25th, and yet the Sox boast the third-best pitching staff in baseball, with only the Dodgers and Phillies notching more fWAR as a total unit. We start at the top, where Payton Tolle, Ranger Suarez, and Sonny Gray will likely take the ball in the three Wild Card games against the Yankees (in a yet-to-be-announced order).

Wild Card Series Game 1: Tuesday, September 29, 8pm EST
Wild Card Series Game 2: Wednesday, September 30, 8pm EST
Wild Card Series Game 3: Thursday, October 1, 8pm EST (if necessary)

Tolle has built a solid case for AL Rookie of the Year, and while he probably won’t take the award home, I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see him as one of the finalists. The lefty features six pitches but like Schlittler, will offer a fastball of some variety about two-thirds of the time. He has faced the Yankees twice, allowing just a single run across 13 innings in those two outings. This will be his first postseason start, though he did retire the only batter he faced in a relief appearance last October in the Bronx (Trent Grisham with the bases loaded).

Suarez has been everything the Sox could hope for when they inked him to that five-year, $130 million contract last winter. A four-win season as the No. 2 man in the rotation, I could probably copy and paste what I said above about Tolle here, just with more postseason experience on Suarez’s time from his Phillies days. The same six pitches, the same fastball-heavy approach. The first two games of this series will see the Yankees facing a bunch of heaters in the zone — they’ll need to be ready to swing. During his October tenure in Philly, Suarez had a superb 1.48 ERA across eight starts and three relief outings from 2022-25.

Former Yankees righty Sonny Gray rounds out the trio, continuing to defy the aging curve with another 3.5 win season at 36 years old. He offers a different look than the two southpaws and will be making his first playoff appearance since 2023 with the Twins.

The rotation is formidable, but what really worries me is the strength of the bullpen, as well as a couple injections the unit is getting. We’ve seen the Yankees win a lot of games this year by being iced out by the starter and breaking out late against relievers, but that’ll be a tough out with the Red Sox, whose relief corps has the best ERA and FIP in the sport. Aroldis Chapman, for all his personal faults, is putting the finishing touches on what is a Hall of Fame resume, with 35 saves and a 33-percent strikeout rate holding down the ninth inning.

But before you even get to the ninth, there’s a series of very hard-throwing hurdles to clear. Garrett Whitlock elevated his game this season with a cripplingly low walk rate, deciding to just not throw balls anymore. Brayan Bello is only a reliever in name, following an opener much of the year; he’ll also be an option should the Red Sox need a guy that can deliver more than three outs. (Tyron Guerrero also came out of baseball irrelevance to re-establish himself as one of Chad Tracy’s favorite weapons, though a lat strain will sideline him for this sseries.)

Jake Bennett made the most of his May 1st call-up from Pawtucket, putting up 2.5 wins in 113.1 innings, but like Carlos Rodón, he’ll be shifted to a reliever role as well, at least for this series. The man chiefly tasked with replacing Crochet has faced the Yankees twice this year, facing 44 batters and allowing just eight of them to reach base. And then, of course…

I’m writing this at 1pm Pacific time on Sunday, and I gotta admit. I feel more confident that Crochet will be on the Red Sox Wild Card roster than Aaron Judge will be on the Yankees’. I don’t imagine the club will push their ace very far in a bullpen role, surely one inning at a time only, but we’ve seen what the southpaw’s stuff looks like, and if it plays up in relief like many guys find, that’s as devastating a one-two southpaw punch between him and Chapman as you’ll ever see.

This is not going to be an easy series. The Yankees have a lot to contend with when it comes to the octopus of Red Sox pitching, and the lineup doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. Maybe they’ll surprise us all, but the pressure has to be on New York’s own collection of arms to hold serve given what Boston has at its disposal.

Now we can breathe a sigh of relief. Taking a much needed win to make the playoffs, the Phillies are waking up today in Atlanta to prepare for the wild card round against the Braves. It should at least be entertaining.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• It got hairy, but the Phillies were able to avoid the company of the 2007 Mets and the 1964 Phillies by winning yesterday ($).
• The stars were actually out to play for the Phillies yesterday. Can they continue to do it against the Braves?
• Jesus Luzardo was activated for yesterday’s game and should be in play to be the game one starter on Tuesday.

MLB news:

• The playoffs are now set with the Astros somehow winning the AL West yet again. Maybe this will be the end of their reign.
• MLB has talked with the Trump administration about playing a game in a national park. Please don’t do this.
• Max Scherzer pitched into the eighth inning yesterday for the Blue Jays. Will that be his final MLB start? I’d say no.
• Dan Wilson will not be coming back to manage the Mariners next year. Not a big surprise with how that team collapsed this year.

Happy Monday, Camden Chatters! The 2026 regular season has ended. And for the Orioles, the end of the season was a literal washout. Yesterday’s game between the Orioles and Yankees was technically delayed for about three hours yesterday, but I think we all knew the game wasn’t going to be played. The weather in New York was too severe and for the duration of the delay, the Yankees never even submitted a lineup.

But they had to pretend the game might be played, because MLB had just sent the Red Sox down to Tampa to play a game against the Cubs due to the same storm. So now the Yankees have an extra day off ahead of the Wild Card series in New York. I’m not saying it was a conspiracy. But I’m not saying it’s not a conspiracy.

Going into yesterday, there were two playoff spots yet to be finalized. The AL West had to be determined, as did the final spot on the NL Wild Card race. The Astros won and head to the playoffs with an 81-81 record. And the Phillies, who had almost frittered away their playoff spot, won to keep it at the last minute.

There is no baseball today. The Wild Card round kicks off tomorrow with four games.

But not for the Orioles. For the Orioles, the off-season begins today. And they have a lot of things to work on. If I were going to pick one thing I am looking to see improve, I am going with defense. The most disheartening part of this season was seeing plays that should have been made not be made. And on a regular basis.

Here at Camden Chat, we’re jumping right into the offseason. We have already started prospect reviews. Player reviews are coming, along with looks ahead at the 2027 season. Of course, a lot of that depends on if and when the 2027 season begins.

Links

Orioles season ends one game short thanks to nor’easter – The Baltimore Banner
If you were sitting around yesterday waiting to watch the Orioles, you were disappointed

Henderson on Orioles’ season: ‘A failed year for us’ – Baltimore Baseball
This is a few days old, but shockingly, there isn’t a lot of news right after an 82-loss team gets rained out of a meaningless game. Rich Dubroff has the transcript of Gunnar Henderson’s interview with press a few days ago.

Birthdays and History

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You have three Orioles birthday buddies. Grant Jackson (b. 1942, d. 2021) had an 18-year career, five-plus of which were spent with the Orioles. He pitched in 209 games for the Orioles from 1971-76 before the Orioles traded him to the Yankees in that big nine-player trade in June 1976.

Also born on this day in history are former Orioles Mike DeJean (56) and Todd Frohwirth (b. 1962, d. 2017).

On this day in 1953, the American League owners agreed to move the St. Louis Browns to Baltimore. Good day for us!

In 1958, Gus Triandos stole the only base of his Major League career.

In 1971, the Orioles swept a doubleheader with the Red Sox to give them 100 wins for the third straight season.

In 2011, the Orioles played the most exciting game you’ll ever see from a 93-loss team. Down 3-2 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, three straight his from Chris Davis, Nolan Reimold, and Robert Andino gave the Orioles a 4-3 walkoff victory. Moments after the Orioles won, the Rays walked off the Yankees in Tampa. The combination of games knocked the Red Sox out of the playoffs. The Red Sox had been two games up in the AL East on August 27th before going 7-20 in September.

In 2023, the Orioles beat the Red Sox again. But this time it was their 100th win of the season. Much preferable.

And one year ago today, the Orioles finished the season with a 3-2 loss to the Yankees. Kyle Bradish allowed two runs in four innings. Rico Garcia took the loss. Jordan Westburg and Gunnar Henderson hit back-to-back home runs.

The 2026 Major League Baseball playoffs have arrived with the best-of-three wild card series beginning Tuesday, Sept. 29, featuring some marquee matchups led by a New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox showdown in the American League.

In the NL, the San Diego Padres host the Chicago Cubs while the Philadelphia Phillies visit Atlanta. In the other AL series, the Houston Astros (81-81, the worst record for a playoff team in history) face the Chicago White Sox.

In the four seasons since MLB changed its playoff format in 2022, two teams have played in the wild card series and gone on to win the World Series: the 2023 Texas Rangers and 2025 Los Angeles Dodgers.

Here's how USA TODAY Sports' MLB reporters and editors see the best-of-three wild card series playing out:

Yankees vs. Red Sox predictions

• Bob Nightengale: Yankees in 3
• Gabe Lacques: Yankees in 2
• Kristie Ackert: Yankees in 3
• Jesse Yomtov: Yankees in 3

Astros vs. White Sox prediction

• Bob Nightengale: White Sox in 3
• Gabe Lacques: White Sox in 3
• Jesse Yomtov: White Sox in 3

SAN DIEGO — It’s a Major League Baseball postseason filled with stars, award-winners, and future Hall of Famers.

Slugger Yordan Alvarez, who will win the American League MVP, carried the Houston Astros on his back to the AL West title.

Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero, who should finish runner-up, led the Rays to the best record in the American League.

Yankees pitcher Cam Schlittler, who will win the AL Cy Young award, will be pitching Game 1 against the Boston Red Sox. Milwaukee Brewers All-Star pitcher Jacob Misiorowski, who will win the NL Cy Young award, will be pitching Game 1 when the Brewers face the winner of the San Diego Padres-Chicago Cubs series.

Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, who will unseat Shohei Ohtani as the NL MVP, will be trying to get the Cubs past the Padres in their three-game series at Petco Park in San Diego in a rematch of a year ago.

And, oh, how this postseason field is littered with future Hall of Famers from everyone from Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman of the Dodgers, Manny Machado of the Padres, Jose Ramirez of the Cleveland Guardians, Chris Sale of Atlanta, Aaron Judge of the Yankees, Jose Altuve of the Astros and Bryce Harper of the Phillies.

There are players who have been a postseason fixture like Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman, who will be playing in his 10^th consecutive postseason with his third different team, and Judge who hopes to play in his ninth postseason in 10 years.

There are aged veterans like 39-year-old Cubs reliever Caleb Thielbar, 38-year old Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman, 37-year-old Freeman, 37-year-old Sale and 36-year-old Sonny Gray of the Red Sox.

And then there are the real kids, like 20-year-old Ethan Salas of the San Diego Padres, who will be the youngest catcher to ever appear in the postseason, along with 22-year-old outfielders Jackson Chourio of the Brewers, Roman Anthony of the Red Sox and Justin Crawford of the Phillies.

Now that the postseason field is set with eight teams playing in the wild-card round beginning Tuesday, here is one player from each team who could have the biggest impact on whether they’ll still be playing into the weekend.

Chicago Cubs

Third baseman Alex Bregman

A week ago, he didn’t know whether he could play another game this year n when he suffered multiple fractures in his face after being hit by a foul ball near the on-deck circle. Well, he proved he’s back by going 4-for-4 with two home runs Sunday in his second game since the injury. If Bregman resembles the same guy that hit .298 with 19 homers and 53 RBI with a 1.000 OPS in his last 60 games, he could make sure the Cubs’ offense is too powerful to stop. He has begun taking ground balls but has been restricted to DH duties since his return.

San Diego Padres

Pitcher Michael King

The Padres’ rotation has been a mess all year outside of one pitcher. King was 12-10 with a 3.21 ERA, leading the team with 185 innings. King will start Game 1 against the Cubs. If he struggles and the Padres lose, they could have a short-lived postseason, relying on Nick Pivetta, who just returned from the injured list and Walker Buehler. The Padres have the best bullpen in the land, but they’re going to need King to dominate if they’re going to have a prayer of winning their first World Series in franchise history.

Philadelphia Phillies

Pitcher Jesus Luzardo

The Phillies near-historic collapse made a mess out of their rotation, with ace Zack Wheeler having to pitch Sunday just to save their season. Now, they may no choice but to turn to Luzardo, who rejoined the Phillies’ staff Sunday for the first time since Sept. 7 when he was shut down with shoulder inflammation. Luzardo needed just four pitches to get three outs in the eighth inning of their clinching game. The Phillies now must decide whether he’d be more valuable to them as their emergency starter or out of their beleaguered bullpen. Yet, no matter what role, the Phillies badly need him.

“I feel like I'm prepared to give the team whatever they ask, whatever they need,” Luzardo told reporters Sunday.

Atlanta

Pitcher Chris Sale

The old man produced yet another Cy Young-caliber season, 14-9, 2.16 ERA, joining Hall of Famer Randy Johnson as the only lefties to strike out 200 or more batters in nine seasons. Yet, after Sale, there’s a steep dropoff with Tyler Mahle and Grant Holmes following him in the rotation. Simply, if Atlanta is going to have a deep run, they need to win every time Sale pitches, or they’ll be in deep trouble.

Boston Red Sox

First baseman Willson Contreras

He has been their best hitter all season, hitting .276 with 27 homers and 81 RBI, but missed eight consecutive games after being hit on the right hand with a pitch Sept. 17. He returned Sunday as their DH and is expected to be fine for the postseason where he’s badly needed as their biggest offensive weapon.

“That’s so much what the postseason is about," Red Sox manager Chad Tracy told reporters Sunday, “these big moments where one swing can change a game. So. that power and that presence in the middle of the order is important."

New York Yankees

Pitcher Cam Schlittler

The Yankees are expected to be without Aaron Judge for their heavyweight bout against the Boston Red Sox, and with their offensive struggles, they have to rely on their pitching. And who better than Schlittler, the Boston kid who Red Sox love to hate. The Red Sox not only let him get away, but he he continues to get his revenge, going 2-1 with a 0.74 ERA in four career starts against Boston. Schlittler will win the Cy Young award this year with his 1.95 ERA in 33 starts during the season, but for him to really be a Yankee hero, he needs to dominate in October, too.

Chicago White Sox: 

Pitcher Davis Martin

The White Sox will go only as far as their starting rotation will lead them, and it starts with Martin (9-8, 3.95 ERA). He had a sensational first half, going 9-4 with a 3.41 ERA, but has struggled since the All-Star break with a 0-4 record and 5.12 ERA. He had a clunker in his last start Saturday against the Colorado Rockies, unable to get through the first inning. The White Sox can ill afford another early ouster or they’ll be ousted themselves before they can even enjoy a few good helpings of Texas barbeque.

Houston Astros

Slugger Yordan Alvarez

The Astros, the first team in MLB history to win a division in a full season without a winning record, need to rely on the same guy who carried them on his back all season. They go as Alvarez goes. Alvarez, who slashed .316/.432/.601 with 42 homers and 106 RBI this season, has plenty of postseason experience. He has slashed .294/.393/.551 in 60 postseason games. Alvarez must continue to terrorize the opposition for the Astros to keep their season alive. If Alvarez is shut down, so will the Astros’ season.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: From Bregman to Luzardo, 8 players who will decide MLB playoffs wild card series

All things come to an end, and on Saturday we witnessed a really poignant ending to the career of one of the greatest pitchers and greatest Detroit Tigers of all time. Justin Verlander, with minimal preparation and no buildup, took the mound against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Comerica Park, and managed to turn back the clock one last time. It wasn’t a great outing, but it was a very solid one as Verlander tossed 5.1 innings of two-run ball with six strikeouts. There was certainly nothing left in the tank when his wife Kate Upton, and manager A.J. Hinch, sent young Genevieve Verlander to the mound to take her father home for keeps. There also wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

The game is the game, and it keeps on moving. An extremely disappointing 2026 season for the Tigers is now over, and our attention now turns entirely to assessing where things went wrong, and how the club can turn things around in 2027 as we face a very difficult and uncertain offseason.

On Sunday afternoon, something far more important to the Tigers franchise and its future was in play as River Ryan took the mound as he begins the work of getting back into form after a few injury plagued seasons. Fans can’t control anything, but even we know that you have to be about the process over the results, and you can only really look backwards for a little while. The phrase, “we’ll get them next year,” is a rueful joke as much as anything else when times are hard, but it does embody something fundamental about being a sports fan, and about life in general. In so many ways, the lessons sports teaches are intertwined with all the lessons life tries to teach to everyone.

There’s no reason to weep too much over the retirement of an extraordinarily wealthy athlete with an incredible career behind him, and a lovely family to focus his full attention on. Objectively we all know this. We’re sad to see Verlander ride off into the sunset as one of the all-time great Detroit Tigers, but in some ways these things really aren’t about the individual athlete. They have their own distinct perspective on their lives and careers. This is more about us as fans of the game.

Sports and the legacies of their greatest practitioners and teams articulate the passing of time for all of us as sports fans. We think about where we were, and maybe more precisely, who we were, when we first recognized that a Justin Verlander or a Barry Sanders was a generation defining talent. We remember the performances, the big moments, the highs and lows, but we each remember them within the context of our own lives and memories. Some of the sadness we feel in a moment like Saturday’s is much more about our own sense of the passing of time, the passing of people from our lives, the way this old world just keeps changing.

For younger fans, this can all just feel too sentimental and nostalgic as they prepare to try and conquer the world in their own ways. For all of us who’ve already fought some or most of our battles, a little nostalgia is natural and appropriate. Justin Verlander’s presence in the game frames whole eras of our lives at this point.

For myself, Justin Verlander was a major force in actually getting me back into baseball. Growing up in the 80’s, the 1984 Tigers’ World Series championship team was the defining sports team of that whole era, only giving way to the Bad Boys era Pistons at the end of the decade. I grew up pitching and playing shortstop, wanting to be Alan Trammell and Jack Morris. But owner Tom Monaghan was apparently satisfied with one World Series title, and rarely did they sniff another opportunity.

By the early 90’s my family had moved out of state at a time when Sportscenter was still new, and it was difficult to follow your favorite teams from afar. Between the Tigers slide into mediocrity, the frustrations of the first decade and a half of Mike Ilitch’s ownership, the strike, and then the steroid era, baseball pushed me away. Of course, I was in my early 20’s then with plenty of other interests to occupy me as well.

It wasn’t until 2004-2005 that I really came back to the game, partly driven by Trammell’s presence as manager, but also by the Tigers attempts to turn things around after the catastrophic 2003 season. But it was in 2006 that a young rookie starter with a ridiculous level of arm talent started making waves, and it was initially watching Justin Verlander that rapidly drew me all the way back into a full-on obsession with the game.

The next few seasons featured frustration as Verlander tried to overcome a habit of slow starts to his seasons followed by furious finishes. The first no-hitter of his career on June 12, 2007 against the Brewers served notice, but the Tigers were collectively spinning their wheels. The global financial crisis of 2007-2008 took its toll on the region as it did everywhere, and the Tigers were disappointing in the wake of the painful 2006 World Series loss to the Cardinals. There were some rough years for many in 2007-2009. The pain of Game 163 against the Minnesota Twins broke some in the fanbase for years to come.

Many feared that Dave Dombrowski would never get the roster mix right and build a consistent winner. That Jim Leyland just didn’t have enough feel for his pitching staff anymore. Even the acquisition of Miguel Cabrera didn’t seem to make enough differences. At the same time, something else happened in 2009 as Verlander put together the first of his many Cy Young award worthy seasons. While he still struggled through March and April as usual, for the first time he was pretty dominant the entire rest of the way, topping 240 innings with a 3.45 ERA and a 2.80 FIP with the highest strikeout rate of his career to date.

For myself, after moving back to the Detroit area after over a decade on the west side of the state, that was the first season I ever saw him pitch live, and must-see-JV was already a thing before it became a slogan. Over the next few seasons I made a point of catching Verlander starts whenever possible and became more and more invested in his struggles to finally put everything together for a full season.

We know what came after that, as Verlander embarked on a good season in 2010 and then ultimately leveled up into an absolute monster in his AL MVP and Cy Young winning 2011 campaign. He finally developed the slider that would become a trademark pitch for him, and he also perfected his three gears approach to pitching, realizing he could get early outs at 92-93 mph, ramp up into the mid-90’s the second time through the order, and then empty the tank from 96-101 mph the rest of the way, even far beyond 100 pitches per outing. We may never see something like that again.

No-hitters suddenly seemed like a likely enough possibility that fans went to pieces when he gave up his first knock in the fourth inning. On May 7, it became a reality as he blanked the Blue Jays for his second no-no. Another one seemed possible at any time, but instead the third wouldn’t arrive until 2019 with the Astros when he blanked the Blue Jays in the Rogers Centre for the second time. Verlander became the face of baseball on the pitching side during those years. He was on the cover of video games and doing commercials. He felt like the ultimate diva style ace, hyper competitive, cocky verging on downright surly at times, approaching every start like a prize fight with himself as the reigning and defending champ.

By now I was long since fully hooked on baseball again, and pitching specifically, watching and reading everything I could find on pitching mechanics and pitch development. The timing was great, as for three years, Verlander wasn’t just the ace of the Tigers, he was the most consistently dominant pitcher in baseball and doing things rarely seen in the game. The combination of command, velocity, breaking stuff, and durability was hard to process, with few precedents in the game before him.

Yet the Tigers still couldn’t get it done, despite an enormous amount of talent and a lot of good times and spectacular individual performances. Miguel Cabrera finally put it all together in 2012-2013 and was the best hitter in baseball. By 2012, Max Scherzer was running with Verlander neck and neck, and ultimately surpassing him while the latter’s velocity slipped in 2014 and his body barked at him all season long.

At the end of that season, Scherzer went on to a spectacular five year run with the Washington Nationals. Cabrera had peaked only to immediately start a process of physically breaking down that would only accelerate in the years ahead. Verlander too appeared to have finally passed his peak in his ninth full season in the league. He was into his early 30’s now, and by that point it’s hard not to expect a rapid decline in performance in the not too distant future.

Right about then, I started writing for Bless You Boys, and suddenly Justin Verlander was my subject. The timing was good. I was convinced he had another full act in him and in 2015. Verlander, at the urging of then girlfriend Kate Upton, spent that offseason working with Dr. Annie Gow, a physical therapist who helped him restore his flexibility, strength and mobility. He came into 2015 spring training highly optimistic and early reports indicated that his velocity was back. Then came an injury, initially reported as a triceps strain, but which was actually a lat strain instead. For the first time in his career, the Tigers horse, as Jim Leyland would refer to him, went on the injured list. Verlander had already had two full acts in his career, the early years to 2009, and his run from 2010-2014. There had to be a third. As it turned out, there was far more than that to come, but no one could’ve but Verlander himself could’ve predicted it at the time. He did always say that he wanted to pitch into his 40’s until the wheels came off. Well here we are.

Skepticism over a return to form in 2015 reached a fever pitch in May and into June as Verlander was unable to get on the mound. Finally, the rehab work began and he made a start with the Toledo Mud Hens at the beginning of June. Afew of us here at BYB, including former site manager Kurt Mensching, went down to see his second rehab start in Toledo. This will always remain a vivid memory for me.

Prior to the game, as Verlander warmed up in a Jurassic Park themed jersey down the third base line, looking quite out of place, the big board showed the Belmont Stakes, where American Pharoah won the first horse racing Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978. Verlander took the mound sitting 94-95 mph, and carved through most of the Cleveland Triple-A squad with ease. He looked very good. The one exception was this skinny little shortstop who cranked a solo shot off one fastball and roasted a very hard hit single his second time up. Francisco Lindor would go on to become quite a player, to no surprise for anyone paying attention that day. What was key though, was that Verlander looked good, and so I was loudly opining on the site about a huge resurgence coming the rest of the season.

Betting on Justin Verlander rarely steered me wrong. I had him on a dynasty league team from 2007 until I finally and somewhat painfully dropped him last season. It’s Justin Verlander, so of course he went on to be the best pitcher in the American League and probably all of baseball again in the second half of the 2015 season. His velocity started ticking back up to the high 90’s peaks. The breaking stuff was crackling. He was back.

MLB debuted Statcast that summer, and sure enough, Verlander was up at the top in terms of spin rates and riding action, as predicted. There was plenty to write about as we tried to digest this huge inflow of new information about the game, and Verlander was an ideal outlier specimen to study, trying to understand exactly how to optimize pitches with spin.

On August 26th, we were back to old times as Verlander took a no-hitter into the ninth inning against the Angels, only for Chris Iannetta to drop a line drive on the chalk of the left field line, one of the more crushing hits I can remember by an opposing team outside of the postseason. Pablo Sandoval still has the most devastating blows against Verlander from the 2012 World Series Game 1, obviously. The point is, Justin Verlander was back, and while I was already convinced it was coming, I never could’ve imagined it would be 12 more seasons, most of them still great, until he finally hung up his spikes.

And while Verlander was back in form, one couldn’t really say the same about Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez. Max Scherzer had left in free agency after the 2014 season, and things were just never the same again. There’s another life lesson. You can go back in life, in all senses of the phrase, but when you get there it won’t be the same because you are no longer quite the same person either.

2016 was another real disappointment for the team as they crumbled down the stretch. On the Verlander front it was still great to watch Verlander build on 2015 and put together another Cy Young award caliber season only to be robbed by two Tampa area reporters who didn’t even cover baseball at that point. Kid Rick Porcello took home the hardware, and Kate Upton, by now engaged to Verlander, let fly with the legendary tweet that sent old Twitter into a frenzy.

Still, by 2017 it was clear that the magic was gone from the Tigers. Verlander’s magic was still running strong and his last second trade to the Houston Astros on August 31, 2017 was the final blow of that era. Many Tigers fans cheered the bittersweet sight of him winning his first ring with another club, but what gnawed at me was seeing the Astros ditch his twoseam fastball entirely and help him reach a new level of performance. I have always wondered how much greater his career could’ve been with better coaching and more information. In 2018 and 2019, he was better than ever, finally taking home another Cy Young award in 2019 and racking up 300 strikeouts in a season for the first time. By then, his future Hall of Fame credentials were long since assured.

Finally, after 14 years of greatness, Verlander’s UCL gave way in 2020. The Astros cheating scandal, and the entire culture of that front office in those years, tarnished his ring. Jeff Luhnow was banned for life. AJ Hinch was fired. Verlander’s career seemed to be coming to an end in a fairly dark place and time and he took some deserved heat from hiding of most of the Astros’ conduct. You had to wonder if Verlander would ever be the same, and if he would ever get another chance. We probably should’ve known better. Reinvigorated by the birth of his daughter, he rehabbed back into peak form and stormed back in 2022 to his third AL Cy Young award. He would go on to his second World Series title with the Astros.

By this point, Verlander was rarely on the minds of most Tigers fans anymore. The Astros didn’t pursue him too hard that offseason, and instead he signed a large short-term contract with the Mets, rejoining Max Scherzer for a half season. He was traded back to Houston at the trade deadline with Steve Cohen footing some of the bill, played there in 2024, and then left for a quiet but solid season with the San Francisco Giants in 2025. There were times where it felt like Verlander might make a brief fit for the Tigers one more time, but when that didn’t happen, it felt like chances of a reunion were probably done.

Instead, we did finally get that reunion. It didn’t go the way anyone hoped, but here at the end of his career, I’m still very glad he returned to Detroit. His reaction to coming home made it pretty clear that his heart never really left the Motor City, and that despite his success in Houston, he always viewed himself as a Tiger first and foremost. His wife is from Michigan. He got his start here. He became Justin Verlander here. In his own comments about the team, the fanbase, and the city, you can see him processing everything I’m writing about here, reminiscing on both the good times and the bad, feeling older for noticing how much time has passed and how much things have changed.

Verlander will hopefully go on to a long and fruitful retirement and finally be a full-time dad. His stature in the game is unassailable, and the way things are trending, we’ll never see his like again. His words over the last week have made it all but a certainty that his preference is to go into the Hall of Fame as a Tiger. We’ll see how that turns out when he’s eligible in five years. Expect the number 35 to be retired and added to the outfield walls, and in time a statue will be added on the concourse. Detroit does not forget its legends.

It’s entirely normal too to be skeptical about all this adulation. This is a more cynical era that the days when players like Babe Ruth and Willie Mays made their legends. But if Justin Verlander isn’t a baseball legend to future generations than who will be? He was hyper-competitive, he understood what he owed to the fanbase and to the game, there was never any drama, he took relatively team friendly extensions twice and never showed the slightest inkling of leaving until the Tigers forced his hand with a deadline decision at a time where they were clearly going into teardown mode. And most importantly, Justin Verlander was one of the greatest pitchers of all-time. He was everything you could ask and more from a Detroit athlete.

Verlander wasn’t able to give us that final act this season. But he was able to dig down and provide one more beautiful performance and a memory that will stick with many of us forever. For all the young fans out there looking for their Justin Verlander, a player that will help define an era or two for them in their lives and as sports fans, I hope Kevin McGonigle and Max Clark achieve this level of stature, accomplishment, and longevity in the game for you all, and not just for the Tigers’ benefit. Even for the greats, it’s hard to have multiple great eras in a baseball career. Don’t take it for granted if we’re so fortunate. A career like Justin Verlander’s may never be seen again.

Thanks for everything, JV.

The regular season was buried in the rain yesterday, but for over a week now, the Yankees have had their eyes on October. OK fine, due to how Major League Baseball lined it up this year, we have to be pedantic and talk about late September first. The Wild Card Series against the Red Sox begins tomorrow night, and that will determine whether or not the Yankees actually make it to the literal month of October. If they win Game 1, then they’re guaranteed of that since at minimum, Game 3 would be October 3rd, but of course the Yanks want to go deeper than that. How’s it gonna shake out? To quote Aaron Boone for the millionth time this season, “We’ll see.”

All systems are go for us on the site today as we preview the Wild Card Series and more. Josh and Peter will preview Boston’s pitching and hitting, and Peter will also take a separate more bird’s-eye view and argue why the Yankees can take home their 28th championship this year. I’ll have the Rivalry Roundup summing up the Game 162 action yesterday, Kevin will celebrate the 131st birthday of the Yankees’ first World Series champion center fielder, Estevão will run the monthly GM poll so that we can get a pulse on the feelings before the playoff run, Jeremy will run through the best plays of September, and Madison will put out the prompt for mailbag questions.

Today’s Matchup:

Offday

Questions/Prompts:

1. Any big late Yankees playoff roster predictions?

2. Dan Wilson became the first managerial casualty of the offseason yesterday. Who will be the next?