Sport at it’s purest is a reflection of humanity in a way that makes it easier to digest our own lives. In our minds, we often equate this idea of “purity” to mean best. We cheer for the underdog story, … Continue reading The Impact of Cheating (Daryll)
We have just a little over 74 days until Opening Day 2020. It has been a pretty good off-season for baseball, with the biggest names going quick unlike last winter, when last year we had to wait until February 21st … Continue reading Baseball on the Brain (Daryll)
The path to good people doing very bad things is rarely a straight downward line. At one point or another they start slowly eroding their sense of morality by making one step here, another step there, slightly off course. On … Continue reading Winning At All Costs: The Houston Astros Story (Daryll)
“You have a great year, and you can run into a buzz saw. Maybe this year we’re the buzz saw,” as Stephen Strasburg so elegantly put it following the Nationals shocking sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals in the National … Continue reading Washington Nationals Upset Houston Astros for First World Series Championship in Franchise History (Giuseppe)
Baseball is a funny game sometimes, isn’t it? The 2019 has been a showcase of how just when you think you know what to expect, you realize you don’t know anything at all. While baseball is being derided for being … Continue reading Questioning Everything About Baseball – Daryll
After a 162 game season, countless strikeouts, home runs, rookies rising, veterans falling, no-hitters, shutouts, cycles, immaculate innings, disappointing teams (Phillies, Cubs, etc.) surprising teams (A’s, Rays, etc.), and new records set, yet another MLB season is coming to a … Continue reading Then There Were Two (Giuseppe)
Saturday night’s game between the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners was set to be an uneventful one. The Astros already heald a firm lead over the American League West Division while the Mariners had been out of the race for … Continue reading Houston Astros Combine for No-Hitter Against Seattle Mariners (Giuseppe)
The Oakland A’s lost a heartbreaker in extra innings on Sunday in the series finale against their American League West division rivals, the Houston Astros, in a back and forth rubber match that ended with the Astros completing a three-game sweep … Continue reading 4/7/2019 MLB Game of the Day: Oakland A’s vs. Houston Astros
The American League saw a pennant race it didn’t predict last season. The surprising Oakland A’s made things interesting in the second half, while the Seattle Mariners made the first half much more interesting than many thought. Of course – … Continue reading American League West Preview (Daryll and Giuseppe)
Marwin Gonzalez and the Minnesota Twins officially came to a deal on Monday that will pay the former World Champion $21 Million over the course of the next two years. Gonzalez had a forgettable season in 2018, hitting a .247/.324/.409 … Continue reading Minnesota Twins Sign Marwin Gonzalez (Giuseppe)
The 2019 MLB Top 100 Prospect List came out this week, and that is great news for fans of teams looking towards tomorrow. Teams like the Padres who have 10 players on the list and the White Sox point to … Continue reading What Good Are Prospects? (Daryll)
For the second time of the 2018 Major League Baseball Postseason, the Boston Red Sox have routed a 100+ win team to advance to the next round of play. After crushing the 100-win New York Yankees in the American League … Continue reading Boston Red Sox Win American League Pennant, Advance to World Series (Giuseppe)
For as much as baseball has not changed in the nearly 150 years since the Cincinnati Red Stockings first took the field, the way in which teams go about winning the game has changed a lot. Babe Ruth revolutionized home … Continue reading Modern Playoff Baseball (Daryll)
The Houston Astros will once again be playing in the American League Championship Series after routing the Cleveland Indians in game three of the American League Division Series 11-3 to complete their sweep of the Tribe. The Indians stood no … Continue reading Houston Astros Sweep Cleveland Indians, Advance to ALCS (Giuseppe)
Doubleday Double Talk Remembers is designed to connect fans with the game of baseball’s past one player and story at a time. A Doubleday Double Talk Remembers will be published every Friday and will go over the life and legacy … Continue reading Doubleday Double Talk Remembers: Nolan Ryan
We have made it folks. 162 games (for some 163), 30 teams, all with one goal in mind… MAKE THE POSTSEASON! There have been many ups, and many downs, home runs, strikeouts, cycles, no-hitters, 30-30 seasons, and breakout years. Rookies have … Continue reading 2018 MLB Postseason Predictions (Giuseppe)
Major League Baseball has a widely held assumption they would like to dispel: in baseball you can buy championships. While the 2003 Moneyball A’s were one of the first teams to help buck this trend, the haters shock back with … Continue reading MLB Payroll versus Playoff Reality (Daryll)
After falling 11.5 games out of first place in the powerhouse American League West Division about 2 months ago, the Oakland Athletics were written off as contenders and were expected to finish the season where they were expected to this … Continue reading Oakland Athletics Tie Houston Astros for First Place in the American League West (Giuseppe)
The Oakland Athletics acquired pitcher Mike Fiers from the Tigers in exchange for two players to be named later or cash considerations on Wednesday. The Oakland A’s designated pitcher Jeremy Bleich for assignment in order to create a spot on the team’s … Continue reading Oakland Athletics Acquire Mike Fiers from Detroit Tigers (Giuseppe)
If only the A’s didn’t play in the American League West… If they didn’t (and still had the same record) – they would be 2nd in the AL Central by about a game, 2nd in the NL West, and about … Continue reading Oakland A’s Playing Well in Crowded AL West (Daryll)
Happy Jackie Robinson Day. While donning the legendary number 42, Bartolo Colon had made the Houston Astros miserable on Jackie Robinson Day going into the 7th inning after facing 21 batters and sending each and every one of them back … Continue reading Bartolo Colon Loses Perfect Game in 8th Inning Against Houston Astros (Giuseppe)
We have each made our division predictions now, and so the time comes when we must figure out the next step: how our predicted playoffs will go. It is worth noting I believe that I correctly predicted both the Cubs … Continue reading 2018 MLB Postseason Predictions (Daryll and Giuseppe)
The Houston Astros made history in 2017 by breaking their 56-year long championship drought after beating the Dodgers in the World Series. Now, in 2018, they will have a target on their head after finishing 20 games ahead of the … Continue reading American League West Preview (Daryll and Giuseppe)
After a monster 2017 season, American League Most Valuable Player Award Recipient Jose Altuve was signed to a 5-Year, $151 Million contract extension. The deal is not scheduled to take effect until 2020 but is already expected to be the … Continue reading Houston Astros Sign Jose Altuve to 5-Year, $151 Million Extension (Giuseppe)
The Detroit Tigers signed left-handed pitcher Francisco Liriano to a one-year, $4 Million deal on Friday. The Detroit Tigers, who lost Justin Verlander at the trade deadline last year, desperately need pitching in 2018. The Tigers came dead last in the … Continue reading Detroit Tigers Sign Francisco Liriano to a 1-Year, $4 Million Deal (Giuseppe)
In MLB history, 145 teams have lost 100 or more games in a season, while 102 teams have won 100 or more games in a season. Since the year 2000, 19 MLB teams have won 100 games in a season, … Continue reading Baseball’s Top 100 Win-Loss Season Candidates in 2018 (Giuseppe)
Pittsburg Pirates ace Gerrit Cole has been dealt to the Defending World Series Champion Houston Astros in return for RHP Joe Musgrove, 3B Colin Moran, RHP Michael Feliz and OF Jason Martin. In 2017, Cole had a win-loss record of 12-12, a 4.26 … Continue reading Astros Acquire Gerrit Cole from Pirates in 5-Player Deal (Giuseppe)
Shortly after it was announced that Giancarlo Stanton had taken home NL MVP hardware, it was announced the 5’6 Houston Astros’ second baseman Jose Altuve had won his first career AL MVP Award. Altuve picked up 27 of the 30 possible first-place … Continue reading Jose Altuve Wins AL MVP Award (Giuseppe)
After an outstanding MLB Season in which two rookies by the name of Cody Bellinger and Aaron Judge took the MLB by storm, Jose Altuve had the best year of his career and is a mortal lock for the MVP, … Continue reading Predicting Where The Top 10 MLB Free Agents in the 2017-18 Offseason Will End Up (Giuseppe)
“HERE’S A GROUND BALL RIGHT SIDE COULD DO IT!…THE HOUSTON ASTROS ARE WORLD CHAMPIONS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FRANCHISE HISTORY!” These are the words that thousands of Astros fans have been praying for since 1962 and thousands of Dodgers … Continue reading After More Than Half A Century, The Houston Astros Are World Series Champions (Giuseppe)
We knew it would come to this. It just had to, didn’t it? Great article over at fivethirtyeight.com that has a ranking of the Top 20 World Series games ranked by win probability added – which is basically a stat … Continue reading It All Comes Down To This (Daryll)
We have all heard it before, “offense wins games, defense wins championships” maybe it was from your dad or your baseball coach, or someone else. Regardless, you most likely took this to heart as a baseball fan. I am guilty of … Continue reading So much for “Defense Wins Championships” Recapping the Astros’ World Series Home Stand (Giuseppe)
Managerial great Earl Weaver summed up last night’s game years ago when he said this about baseball over 30 years ago: “You can’t sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. … Continue reading “You Can’t Kill the Clock…”Game 2 World Series Recap (Daryll)
Can we stop saying anything negative about Clayton Kershaw in the post-season? He absolutely dominated Tuesday night in Game 1 of the 2017 World Series, going 7 strong and striking out 11 while giving up just one lone run. He … Continue reading Dodgers Dominate in Game 1 (Daryll)
Sports Illustrated saw this coming in 2014. I saw it coming in March. Now, the Astros have advanced to the World Series to face the Dodgers after winning a thrilling Game 7 Saturday night in Houston. The Yankees will most … Continue reading Astros Advance to the World Series! (Daryll)
Yes, folks, you read that correctly. The Astros will advance as the Red Sox will cap off an outstanding division winning season with a 5-4 loss to the ballclub from Houston. After many disappointing seasons of defeat and heartache, the … Continue reading Astros Down Red Sox 5-4 and Advance to the ALCS for First Time In History (Giuseppe)
We have made it folks. 162 games, 30 teams, all with one goal in mind, MAKE THE POSTSEASON! There have been many ups, and many downs, slumps, win streaks, home runs, and oh boy so many strikeouts. Rookies have risen, … Continue reading 2017 MLB Postseason Predictions (Giuseppe)
The Houston Astros were yet to make a big move as the playoffs come nearer and nearer as the Dodgers acquired Yu Darvish, the Yankees Acquired Sonny Gray, and the Angels just recently acquired Justin Upton in search of a … Continue reading Astros Acquire Justin Verlander (Giuseppe)
The Los Angeles Angels have been in a heated wild card race as many of you know as they are just a game behind the Minnesota Twins for the AL Second Wild Card Spot and two games behind the New … Continue reading Angels Acquire Justin Upton From Tigers, Cameron Maybin To The Astros (Giuseppe)
On Wednesday, August 2, 2017, Rays’ third baseman Evan Longoria became just the 2nd player in Tampa Bay Rays history to hit for the cycle in a 6-4 win over the Astros. The only other Ray to ever complete a cycle was … Continue reading Evan Longoria Hits For The Cycle (Giuseppe)
Matt Harvey convinced Manager Terry Collins to keep him in the game for the 9th, but the Kansas City Royals tied the game, then won it in extra innings for their first World Series Championship since 1985. It was only … Continue reading Rebuilds Provide Short Window of Winning (Daryll)
Doubleday Double Talk 