BY J.A. SCHWARTZ As the days grow shorter and the leaves begin to turn in parts of the country, the crispness in the air suggests that the baseball postseason is about to commence. Last year’s champion, the Texas Rangers, led by manager Bruce Bochy, will not have the opportunity to …
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BY J.A. SCHWARTZ Thirty seasons after making his managerial debut with the Giants, Dusty Baker finally lifted his first World Series trophy in 2022. All roads to a championship will continue to go thru Houston, but after breaking a 21 year postseason drought the Mariners are poised to stake their …
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BY J.A. SCHWARTZ The AL East has long been one of Baseball’s heavyweight divisions, with the Yankees and Red Sox consistently near the top of the sports highest payrolls. With the powerful Blue Jays poised to compete for a title, the always overachieving Rays, and the resurgence of the young …
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BY J.A. SCHWARTZ 2023 is a World Baseball Classic year, the first since the 2017 version that saw the United States win the tournament. The pandemic cancelled the 2020 edition, which means the US have been defending champions for the past six years. Superstars Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, Pete Alonso, …
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BY J.A.SCHWARTZ Despite a delayed start to the season (remember the lockout?), the 2022 Major League Baseball Playoffs will start on Friday. The Dodgers won a league best 111 games, setting a franchise record in the process, and would seem to be the prohibitive favorites to claim this year’s championship. …
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BY J.A. SCHWARTZ Houston has advanced to the American League Championship in each of the past five seasons, winning the AL pennant in 2017, 2019 and 2021. Their lone World Series win championship came in 2017, and has been tainted by their sign-stealing scandal, but they’ve still won the division …
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BY J.A. SCHWARTZ The MLB playoffs are now set to begin. The postseason format will revert to the pre-pandemic standard, and ten teams (as opposed to 16 in 2020) are in the mix, hoping for October glory. The final few playoff spots weren’t determined until the season’s final day, when …
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BY J.A. SCHWARTZ As the COVID-19 pandemic looms over the competitive sports landscape in the US, Major League Baseball will become the first of the four major leagues to attempt to stage contests, though they will do so without fans to witness them. Starting Thursday, July 23, the latest Opening …
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BY J.A. SCHWARTZ From 2011 through 2013, the Houston Astros were the worst team in baseball. They lost 106, 107 and 111 games in that three year stretch, going a combined 162-324. Those results were not entirely unexpected, as the franchise embarked upon a “rebuilding” process that would begin in …
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BY ANTHONY SOSA Justin Verlander and the Houston Astros overpowered the Oakland Athletics Thursday as they took the third and final game of the series, 7-3, to complete a three-game sweep at the Oakland Coliseum. In the three games, the Astros outscored the A’s 26-11. The A’s had no easy …
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