BY J.A. SCHWARTZ The Los Angeles Dodgers are the two-time champions of baseball, giving them a chance to do something that hasn’t been done this century: Win three straight titles. The last team to do so was the 1998-2000 New York Yankees. Before the Yankees dynasty, the Oakland A’s won …
Read More »Padres postseason hopes may come down to shortstop carousel
BY J.A. SCHWARTZ On Opening Day 2024, when the Padres and Dodgers kicked off the season in Seoul, South Korea, seven of the nine players on the field for San Diego had played shortstop at some point in their careers, and most had played more than 100 games as professionals …
Read More »Padres quickly closing the gap on Dodgers in NL West
BY J.A. SCHWARTZ The Dodgers had the best record in the Majors last season but only played four games in October after getting knocked off by San Diego in the opening round of the playoffs. Change is in the air in the NL West as the two Southern California rivals …
Read More »Loaded AL East shaping up as one of the best in Baseball
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 …
Read More »Francona and Guardians poised to repeat in AL Central
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, …
Read More »Rugged AL East figures to be best division in Baseball in 2022
BY J.A. SCHWARTZ The American League East may well feature four of the top six teams in the league in 2022, with only the White Sox and perhaps Houston as being likely to win more games than the goliaths in the East. The Tampa Bay Rays are the defending AL …
Read More »October Baseball: Let the games in the junior circuit begin
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 …
Read More »Astros, Yankees and Twins favored to fight it out for AL flag
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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