Here are the week’s top games, courtesy of Max Marchi’s methodology. date game stars 09-16 Astros @ Cubs ** box score 09-12 Marlins @ Braves ** box score 09-14 Yankees @ Mariners ** box score 09-16 Cardinals @ Phillies * box score 09-13 Padres @ Giants * box score This week didn’t quite match last […]

After Rangers catcher/first baseman Mike Napoli collected two more hits to raise his average to .312, it brought me back to what turned out to be a relatively lopsided three-way trade. The original purpose of the deal was for Toronto to get rid of Vernon Wells’ contract, sending him to the Angels for Napoli and […]

Rays 9, Red Sox 2: And things get closer. Three RBI apiece for B.J. Upton, Evan Longoria and Casey Kotchman. Bad starting pitching, bad middle relief, slumbering bats swung by aching men. In other words, par for the course for Boston. Phillies 3, Marlins 1; Phillies 2, Marlins 1: Kyle Kendrick and five relievers limited the […]

15,000 days ago, Ed Spiezio was all that stood between Bob Gibson and baseball immortality. And not only did Spiezio get in the way, but he got in the way twice. On Aug. 22, 1970, when Gibson led the Cardinals to an easy 7-0 win against Spiezio’s Padres, the dominant fastballer had a bit of […]

Tigers 6, White Sox 5: Detroit continues to be ridiculous. Alex Avila was a hero, tying it up at five with a big fly. Carlos Guillen won it with an RBI single in extras. I know there are people who want to pretend that Justin Verlander is single-handedly carrying the Tigers into the playoffs, but […]

Forty years ago today, the baseball world entered the Yount era. Well, sort of. On Sept. 14, 1971, Larry Yount (whose younger brother was—and still is—Hall of Famer Robin Yount) made his big league debut, except he never played in the game. It was also his last game, so it’s a damn shame he couldn’t […]

If you’ve been paying attention to baseball over the last month, you know the Detroit Tigers are currently on an 11-game winning streak and have gradually emerged as the American League’s most dangerous team going into the postseason. A lot of that has to do with the improvement of its pitching staff. Its 4.27 ERA […]

Orioles 4, Rays 2; Red Sox 18, Blue Jays 6:  Tampa Bay, you’re not adhering to the narrative. We all decided that you’d put the pressure on the Red Sox until Boston was literally burning and being looted with panic.  And you, Boston: you’re supposed to lose these games to Toronto due to trotting out […]

25 years ago today was one of the great moments in the history of the 1980s sports phenomenon Bo Jackson. On Sept. 14, 1986, he hit his first homer. Saying “hit” is something of an understatement. He crushed it. Destroyed it. Damn near launched it. The ball went 475 feet, which was believed to be […]

Three quarters of a century ago, baseball witnessed one of its most amazing pitching performances, a performance especially memorable because of how young the athlete was. In the first game of a doubleheader against the A’s on Sept. 13, 1936 the Indians trotted out their young rookie Bob Feller for just his fifth major league […]