The Boys come home.
The vibes were great in the Royals’ clubhouse following a Game 2 victory in New York.
“We’re here for a reason,” said Salvador Perez, who homered in Game 2. “Now we go home, and hopefully, we can win there, too.”
The Yankees seemed unimpressed.
“It still feels the same that we’re gonna win it,” Chisholm said postgame, according to Jomboy Media. “I don’t feel like anybody feels any different. We’re gonna go out there and do our thing still. We still don’t feel like any team is better than us. We had a lot of missed opportunities tonight, so they just got lucky.”
Yankees fans were frustrated by Giancarlo Stanton’s inability to run.
Bobby Witt Jr. is nominated for the Hank Aaron Award for offensive performance.
Lucas Erceg talks to Anne Rogers about his battles with alcoholism.
“To this day, I haven’t ran into anybody who has had an issue with me telling them I’m sober, a recovering alcoholic,” Erceg said. “Nobody’s made fun of me, everyone has respected my decision, they’ve all supported me.
“That was the biggest scare. That thought of, ‘How are they going to react to me telling them something like that? Are they going to think I’m weak? Are they going to make fun of me because I don’t drink and I had an issue with it?’ But nobody has ever wronged me, or put me down. It’s been nothing but awesome support.”
Matt Martell at Fangraphs writes about the controversial safe call on Jazz Chisholm’s stolen base and how Michael Lorenzen made it a close play.
I asked Lorenzen if he knew Chisholm would run on that 3-2 pitch, and if that’s why he held set for so long — the same way he did earlier in the at-bat when he threw over. He didn’t know for sure, he said, but “I take pride in changing my timing, especially if I know you’re a runner. Every pitch I threw that at-bat was a slidestep. I thought I executed some good pitches doing that in that situation, changing my looks and changing my times.”
Craig Brown writes about the evolution of Yankee reliever Luke Weaver since he left Kansas City.
Weaver scrapped his slider and adopted a cutter. He altered the grip of his four-seamer which gave him an extra tick or two of velocity while also gaining a couple of inches of vertical run, giving it more of a rising appearance. The result of those fastball adjustments saw his opponent’s batting average against the four-seamer go from .326 with a .477 slugging percentage in 2022 when he spent time with the Royals to a .177 BA with a .331 slugging percentage this year. He also adjusted the grip of his changeup and added a little more horizontal run to the pitch. That’s likewise become a weapon.
Thomas Friestad of the Kansas City Business Journal writes how a Washington Square Park ballpark site could be approved without a public vote.
But Kansas City’s ownership of Washington Square Park could give the Royals a leg up not just on land assembly, but a new lease, too. Both before and after the team’s failed sales tax vote, leaders like Mayor Quinton Lucas have said the city or a city incentive agency, rather than Jackson County, could take ownership of a downtown ballpark, similar to venues like the T-Mobile Center, Municipal Auditorium and CPKC Stadium, and execute a lease with the Royals….
Importantly, while selling any city parkland requires public approval at a special election, that wouldn’t be the case with a ground lease. A city spokesperson last month said the charter authorizes the Board of Parks & Recreation Commissioners to lease or license “any land, building or parts thereof in any park” — and without any term limit — as long as all funds derived from the lease or license are used for park purposes.
A hot mic caught Bob Costas questioning a CNN promo during the ALDS broadcast.
The Arizona Fall League began play yesterday and Jacob Milham at Kings of Kauffman highlights the Royals players to watch for.
Kerry Carpenter’s home run off Emmanuel Clase evens up the Tigers/Guardians series.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts accuses Manny Machado of throwing a ball at him during Game 2.
Slumping Alec Bohm will return to the Phillies lineup in Game 3 after being benched.
Fernando Tatis Jr. is showing he was built for the spotlight.
Aaron Judge’s legacy may hinge on his post-season performance.
The Giants begin their general manager search.
What will the Orioles outfield look like next year?
The Chiefs get good news about Rashee Rice’s injury.
Brazil wins the Futsal World Cup.
Switzerland and Italy have to redraw their boundary due to melting glaciers.
A $1 billion Mega Millions lottery ticket has gone unclaimed.
Why Joker: Folie a Deux is a flop.
Your song of the day is Dropkick Murphys with The Boys Are Back.