Lee Lowenfish

No doubt the schedule came at the right time to help my scuffling Orioles. Although my Birds couldn't sweep either the tail-end Colorado Rockies in Denver or the historically bad Chicago White Sox at home, at least they won each series. And even won 3 games in a row for the first time since June.  

 

It is a very strange AL East pennant race this season.  It's remarkable how since the early summer neither the Orioles or Yankees have managed to play like a real World Series contender. With the demotion of Yankee closer Clay Holmes and the season-long doubt on who really can close for Baltimore, both teams have question marks in a key area of the bullpen.

 

Since I last posted, the injury bug has again bitten the Orioles, two in the same Sat night Aug 31 game in Colorado. Third baseman Ramon Urias, who had provided an unexpected offensive boost in August, sprained an ankle when he stumbled on the third base bag trying to make a tag on a Colorado base stealer.

 

Earlier that game, starting pitcher Dean Kremer got smoked just above the wrist on his pitching hand by a 103-mph one-hopper hit by Colorado

outfielder Jordan Beck.  Rarely does a couch potato like yours truly see the swelling come up immediately on the TV screen but it did in this case.   

 

Kremer, the only dual citizen-Israeli-American player in MLB history, is vowing to not miss a turn which manager Brandon Hyde calls "incredible".

Sure enough he plans to start on Friday Sep 6 in the opener of a home series against the Tampa Bay Rays. 

 

I am not a big one for highlighting strength of schedule in the last month of the season. IT'S HOW YOU ARE PLAYING, NOT WHO YOU ARE PLAYING AT THIS TIME OF YEAR. 

 

After Tampa Bay, Orioles go on to Fenway to play fading Red Sox whose recent offensive drought has surprised me - their pitching and their overall defense doesn't seem ready for prime time.   

 

Over the weekend of Sep 13, Birds go on to Detroit for 3 games, a .500 team playing much better these days. The Tigers also have the leading contender for AL Cy Young award, southpaw Tarik Skubal.  The Baltimore final home stand consists of 3 with the SF Giants Sep 17-19 and then the final home games of the regular season against the Tigers. 

 

The Orioles wind up season on the road - 3 big night games at Yankee Stadium likely to determine AL East winner, Tu-Th Sep 24-26. Then to Minnesota to play an inconsistent, oft-injured Twins team fighting for a wild card with Kansas City.  Cleveland seems to be in driver's seat to win AL Central with 4 game lead on Minnesota, 5 over KC before games of Fri Sep 6. 

 

The Yankee September schedule starts with 3 at the Cubs Sept 6-8, then 3 big ones back home against the Royals, then 4 with the Red Sox Sept 13-16.  Then a road trip to the west coast at Seattle Sep 17-19, three at Oakland Sep 20-22 with the A's .

 

All things considered, Oakland has had a good season, given their pending move to Sacramento for three seasons until the supposed new stadium in Las Vegas is built.  Mark Kotsay will get some deserved Manager of the Year votes but I think Cleveland's rookie skipper Stephen Vogt has to be

considered the leading candidate. 

 

Yankees return home for the 3 big night games against the Orioles. Yankees have an edge in that they host fading Pirates for the last three games.  I kinda doubt that Pittsburgh will send out possible NL Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes in one of those games.  

 

At least the Pirates have announced that Skenes will pitch deep into September to get the experience of competing in the climactic month of regular season, something the Buccos have sadly not enjoyed first-hand for too long.  (As promising as Skenes looks, it will be hard to deny ROY award to the Padres' productive center fielder Jackson Merrill.) 

 

In the National League races, the Dodgers, Phillies, and Brewers have almost clinched division titles but there is quite a wild card crunch coming among Padres, Diamondbacks, Braves, and Mets. One of those teams will not make it - as of morning of Sep 6, only 2 games separated them. 

 

I have been tardy in not giving props to the Mets' resurgence.  Stuck at 22-33 in first half of season, they are now a bona fide wild card contender.

If Shohei Ohtani were not also in the National League, shortstop Francisco Lindor would be an MVP favorite.

 

He's been playing sensationally on both sides of the ball and even came up with a great quote after he won an eleven-pitch AB in the Aug 29 win over the also resurgent defending-NL champion Arizona Diamondbacks.   "I GET PAID TO HIT THE BALL FORWARD," Lindor said.

 

The arrival of veteran infielder Jose Iglesias has provided spark and levity to a team that seemed to lack it.  The starting pitching has settled in

with Sean Manaea and former number one draft pick David Peterson really looking good.  If Edwin Diaz at the back end of the bullpen can get

the saves, they could be a dangerous team in the playoffs. 

 

I've often been a critic of the so-called balanced schedule that reduced intra-division games from 19 to 13.  It turns out though that the Mets play 4 of their final series against NL East teams.   After the Reds at home Sep 6-8 and Blue Jays on road, they go to Philly and return to play Washington

and Philadelphia again, the last home regular season series Sep 20-22. 

 

Then likely a very big series at Atlanta Sep 24-26 - as I post on morning Fri Sep 6, Mets are tied with Braves for 3rd wild card.

Mets wind up with 3 with Brewers in Milwaukee, the runaway winners of the NL Central. There will likely be more pressure on Mets at this time because Brewers would only be playing for best record in the National League. 

 

Best advice for baseball in September still comes from legendary Mets broadcaster Bob Murphy:  "Fasten your seat belts."    

 

Now it's time for a new feature . . .  LEE LOW'S TIPS OF CAP!

**Mets cable channel, SNY.TV, featured a fascinating interview in late August with former Mets reliever/now broadcaster Jerry Blevins and Mets rookie third baseman Mark Vientos. In separate segments, they interviewed each other about their careers.  It was not typical pap but provided frank and revealing insights.  I hope it can be accessed on the sny.tv website.

 

**"I don't want flowers at my retirement," tennis star Danielle Collins explained last week after turning down an offering from tennis officials when she lost her singles match last week at the US Open.   She said she didn't want to be like the character Gaylord in "Meet The Parents," the 2004 film in which Ben Stiller plays the son of doting parents that fills his bedroom with runner-up trophies.

 

**Speaking of tennis, here's to the two Americans who made or will make the men's and women's finals for the first time since 2002:

Jennifer Pegula who plays Belorussian Aryna Sabalenka in the women's final on Sa Sep 7 at 4P EDT on ESPN

 

**And either Taylor Fritz or Frances Tiafoe who play each other on F Sep 6 at 7P on ESPN

The winner meets either highly-favored Italian Jannik Sinner or English southpaw Jack Draper on Fri Sep 6 an 3P on ESPN

Men's final will be Su Sep 6 at 2P on ABC network - rebroadcast at 830P that night on ESPN2. 

  

That's all for now - my mantras remain:  Stay positive test negative & Take it easy but take it.  

 

I was disappointed but not really surprised when the Orioles were swept out of the playoffs by the suddenly red-hot Texas Rangers who swept Tampa Bay Rays in two-game wild-card series.  Baltimore ended the regular season in a team-wide hitting slump with the possible exception of Adley Rutschman. 

 

And wouldn't you know it! Rutschman got only 1 hit against the Rangers and was outplayed by Texas catcher Jonah Heim, a former Oriole farmhand and fellow All-Star.  Adley also couldn't guide young pitchers Grayson Rodriguez and Dean Kremer out of the second inning in their ineffective starts in the second and final games.   

 

I know it is a stretch to blame a catcher for a pitcher's inability to put batters away. But there were two instances when the games were still close that Texas batters kept fouling off pitches, obviously frustrating the hurlers.  Couldn't Adley have visited the mound to suggest some other pitches or at least console them?   

 

This is probably too picky. With Oriole bats largely silent, probably nothing could have changed the outcome. I thoroughly enjoyed watching Adley during the season. He has yet to play two full seasons in the majors and Rookie of the Year candidate Gunnar Henderson was in his first full season.

 

I believe they will be core members of a good team. Whether the Orioles become a great team remains to be seen. Spring training 2024 will be very important as the Birds try to figure out how to integrate top prospect Jackson Holliday, not yet 20, into the infield perhaps moving Gunnar permanently to third base. Also late-developing Joey Ortiz might find a utility role somewhere. 

 

EVERY SEASON IS DIFFERENT is one of the few accurate generalizations about baseball. The Birds have 16 players eligible for arbitration and one key Oriole, switch-hitting outfielder Anthony Santander, is eligible for free agency after 2024. 

  

Extending Santander would be one of my priorities if I had any influence.  He is in his prime, not even 30, is durable, and has been with the team the longest, a Rule 5 pick who played 6 years in the minors for Cleveland after they signed him as a Venezuelan teenager. 

 

He is an effective switch-hitter and an improving defensive outfielder.  He also can handle first base at least competently. In the last series of the regular season, he alertly threw out a Red Sox runner trying to go from first to third when couldn't scoop the ball cleanly on a double play throw.

 

I know there are a lot of outfielders and infielders on the farm waiting for their chance.  But I cannot stress enough the importance of keeping veterans who have been through the grind of a long season and who obviously love to play. 

 

Which is why I wouldn't be hasty in letting Kyle Gibson go.  He pitched very well in September, unlike 2022 when he faded out with the Phillies though he

did make their post-season roster. As I discussed in an earlier blog, Gibson talks about the art of pitching like a venerable schoolmaster, something the very young staff benefited from. He also led the AL with 24 double plays created + 1 in his brief but effective appearance in the final playoff game. 

 

Having no team in the hunt in baseball's "Final Four," I'm only rooting for good games with plenty of action and not over-reliance on home runs and

strikeouts. I guess because they are relatively new to the party, Texas and Arizona might be a nice World Series matchup.

 

If third baseman Josh Jung had not missed a few weeks with a hand injury, he certainly would be in the running for the ROY award that Henderson will probably win.  Jung is an impressive player on both sides of the ball.  Brooks Robinson was his idol and when Brooks found that out, he befriended him

and sent him all kinds of baseball goodies. (As I mentioned in my last post, there will always be more heartwarming stories about Brooks Robinson.)  

 

Arizona also has a very impressive rookie, outfielder Corbin Carroll who grew up a Seattle Mariners fan and used to watch Ichiro from upper deck left field seats and still idolizes him. With one early swing, Carroll's 430-foot HR off Brewers ace Corbin Burnes turned around Game 1 of the wild card series for Arizona and the Diamondbacks carried that momentum into sweeping the Dodgers as well. 

  

I wouldn't have wanted a Dodger-Yankee rematch, but I can live with a Houston-Philadelphia rematch if fate so decrees. Houston has reached the ALCS for the 7th year in a row, the last 4 under Dusty Baker who was not around when the Astros were caught in the high tech and low tech sign-stealing scandal. (PBS aired a valuable Frontline documentary on October 3 about this scandal with reportage by Ben Reiter, former Sports Illustrated reporter and author of a glowing book ASTROBALL but he has now reconsidered and even repented.  More on this subject in later blogs.) 

  

Stopping Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez will be a key for the Rangers and the Phillies if they beat Arizona (I am happy to mention Alvarez because I misspelled his first name in a recent blog).  Houston also has a feel-good story in the return of smooth-swinging Michael Brantley after injuries that cost him almost two seasons.  

 

It should be noted that Philadelphia, if they dispense with Arizona, will have home-field advantage against Houston but not against Texas who will be playing in a closed new stadium. The raucous Philadelphia crowd and the team's potent offense will be ready for anything, of that I am sure. Since Arizona won only 84 games and the other 3 finished with 90 wins, Arizona will always start on the road and finish on the road if their series run long.

 

One other item of interest for this young octogenarian is the age of the managers.  Torey Lovullo is the baby of the group at 58 = he grew up in LA, a show biz kid whose father produced TV's "Hee Haw" among other shows.   Then we have Canadian-born Rob Thomson, 60, who was Joe Girardi's trusted coach in both New York and Philadelphia before he replaced Girardi in late May 2022. 

 

Bruce Bochy, back from his 3-year retirement and previously winner of three World Series rings with the Giants, is 68, and venerable Johnnie "Dusty" Baker, Jr. checks in at 74.  Their matchup will be fascinating to watch. They prove that retirement is overrated.     

    

That's all for now - take it easy but take it, and stay positive test negative. I am happy to report I am on the mend from my mild Covid positive but

I intend to keep on masking in indoor settings.