Lee Lowenfish

During the 11 PM hour on Oct 24th, the Arizona Diamondbacks shocked the world by eliminating the Philadelphia Phillies and setting up an All-Wild Card and All-Expansion Team World Series against the Texas Rangers (a francise born as the second Washington Senators in 1961) starting on Friday Oct 27 at 8p EDT on FOX.

 

The international trend of today's baseball couldn't have been more on display as the MVPs in each league's Championship Series hail from outside the USA. Rangers' right fielder Adolis Garcia, 30, grew up in Ciego De Avila, Cuba, and the Diamondbacks' switch-hitting second baseman Ketel Marte (Valdez), also 30, comes from Nizao, Dominican Republic. 

 

Nobody talks about October 24th being United Nations Day any more, but I am old enough to remember United Nations Day being celebrated at my small public school in midtown Manhattan.  We sang "The United Nations March" written by great Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich.  It began, "The sun and the stars are all shining," and continued, "A hymn to a new world in birth." 

 

That age of hope sure didn't last, did it? The UN and the very idea of a UN is in dire straits these days, but I've always believed that a baseball field suggests harmony more than any political structure.  There is a left-center-and-right in both baseball and a legislature, but to hit consistently in the gaps and up the middle remains the best strategy in both our beloved game and politics.  Even though we are not in a pleasant political place these days - to understate our situation I know - I still believe in the analogy.  

 

So let's now hail some of the young international stars whose talents will be on display in the World Series. The Diamondbacks starting catcher Gabriel Moreno, 23, is from Barquisimeta, Venezuela. He may be the toughest hombre still playing in 2023, surviving many recent injuries, one nearly a concussion, to shine this post-season on both sides of the ball. 

 

Arizona left fielder Lourdes Gurriel, Jr., 30, is part of the first family of recent Cuban baseball.  Older brother Yuli Gurriel played for last year's Houston World Series winners and this year for the Miami Marlins. The defection of the Gurriels from Cuba earlier this century was a devastating blow to the Cuban National Team. 

 

What a steal the Diamondbacks pulled off last off-season when they received from Toronto both Gurriel and Moreno in a trade for journeyman outfielder Daulton Varsho.  I understand that the Blue Jays had a backog at catcher but choosing to keep Alejandro Kirk and Danny Jansen - the latter was hurt for crucial parts of this season - now looks like a serious misjudgment.  

 

Every successful team has happy stories like this. I'm pretty sure famed Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy was not a baseball fan, but what he said about all happy families are alike and all unhappy families are unhappy in unique ways sure holds for baseball teams.

 

You cannot talk about the rise of the Diamondbacks - sometimes called Snakes and Serpientes - without mentioning outfielder Corbin Carroll, 23, odds-on favorite to be NL Rookie of the Year.  He comes from Seattle and early on fell in love with Ichiro (Suziki) watching from the upper right field stands the Mariners' great import from Japan.  His game is beginning to remind people of Ichiro's, a deserved compliment.

 

Here's another happy Arizona story - Merrill Kelly, 35, one of the two aces on the pitching staff along with the much younger Zac Gallen.  Kelly, a native of Houston, spent three years playing baseball in the Korean pro league before Arizona brought him back to the States. 

 

I've lauded the Orioles' own 35-year-old finesse pitcher Kyle Gibson many times in this blog for explaining pitching very accessibly to the lay person. Merrill Kelly shared similar insights during the NLCS:  "I have to live on the edges [of the strike zone]," he said. "I make a living by having people [batters] make decisions [on what to swing at]."

 

The Texas Rangers are a less surprising entrant to the World Series because they led the AL West for much of the season until injuries and pitching woes relegated them to a wild card. But like Arizona they had to win the last two games on the road to dethrone the defending world champion Houston Astros.

 

Adolis Garcia was a no-brainer choice for ALCS MVP with his monster homers and fierce presence. The Rangers have another international presence in center fielder Leody Taveras (Salazar), 25, who hails from Tenares, Dominican Republic.  As a key setup man, they have Aroldis Chapman, 35, the former Yankee southpaw from Holguin, Cuba, who is guaranteed to make life interesting for both sides.   

 

On paper, the Rangers look deeper on both sides of the ball, but after sweeping the Brewers and Dodgers and eliminating last year's NL champion Phillies in a seven-game thriller, don't count out Arizona.  If they lose this weekend's two games in Dallas, they can easily say, "We've got them where we want

them on." 

 

That's all for now but here's this weekend's Nor Alley tip - Blake Edwards' "Experiment in Terror" from 1962-63 sometimes called a Hitchcock film that Alfred Hitchcock didn't make.  Lee Remick is stalked by a phone caller (Ross Martin), her sister Stefanie Powers is scared too, and Glenn Ford,

who in real life was a Canadian which may explain his no-nonsense mien, is a policeman trying to help.  The last scene is set in Candlestick Park,

no more spoilers.  Sat Oct 28 at 12M, repeated Su at 10A on TCM.    

 

Always remember - take it easy but take it,  and stay positive, test negative.  I'm happy to report that I am feeling better but always have masks

handy for outdoor/indoor excursions. 

 

 

The great Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy once observed that all happy families are happy in the same way and all unhappy families are unhappy in different ways. I've been thinking a lot about that observation as I watch from afar - on TV and internet - the continuing sinking of the once-proud Orioles franchise into the Woerioles.

There is little evidence that Tolstoy had any interest in baseball. In the heyday of the Soviet Union its leaders claimed that lepka was a game that preceded baseball but research has refuted it.

When I tried to explain in the 1980s the essence of baseball to a Soviet TASS news agency correspondent - "The ball is round, the bat is round, and you have to hit it square" - he chuckled a bit but muttered, "I don't get it."

So does Tolstoy's bon mot really apply to baseball? The season is soooo looooong that story lines do emerge like in a family saga. Yet I wonder if winning and losing are just the flip side of the same coin.

Winning teams exude confidence, shake off bad breaks, come from behind, get the big hit, and make the big pitch. Losing teams do precisely the opposite and usually are afflicted with injuries.

In the painful case of the Orioles, for example, no sooner had their bullpen, once considered a team strength, seemed whole again, steady lefty Richard Bleier came down with a season-ending lat injury and Darren O'Day went back on the DL.
A key reserve outfielder Craig Gentry, who would have been a fine role player on good Orioles teams, suffered a broken rib on a hit-by-pitch and he's out indefinitely.

I caught the last innings of the Baltimore-Seattle game on my 76th birthday after a wonderful dinner of food and drink and dessert. The Birds were trailing by only a run in the bottom of the 8th. One pitch could turn the game around, and voila! Chris Davis hit a three-run homer to give the Orioles a 7-5 lead. It was a rare moment of productivity for the seemingly permanently faded slugger.

In the top of 9th the once-impregnable closer Zach Britton, just back from a injury to his Achilles tendon, promptly blew the lead. Not even a scintilla of drama. First, a single to the amazingly productive outfielder Mitch Haniger - who came in a trade from the Diamondbacks - and then boom! two-run tying home run by Kyle Seager who is generally an Oriole killer.

You could almost feel the inevitable outcome ahead - a 8-7 Seattle win in 11 innings. The sad thing is the shell shock from so much losing - 23-56 as of this writing on June 28 - is etched on the faces of everyone clad in Oriole orange and black. Starting with manager Buck Showalter.

Ailing owner Peter Angelos doesn't like to fire people because he'll still have to pay them. I knew with so many key people heading to free agency at the end of this season - including manager Showalter and gm Dan Duquette - this could be a disappointing season. But no one expected the historic horribleness.

There is no easy solution to the mess. Maybe there is no solution. I have never been a supporter of cosmetic firings. So I will stop beating the dead horse.

And suggest (to myself as well as you, dear readers) that there are plenty of other teams to follow both in the majors and in the minor league and summer amateur ranks. Baseball is always rewarding if you don't get too too emotional.

Next time I'll say more about two very good reads - "Pitching With Dick Bosman" (Rowman and Littlefield) and Felipe Alou's memoir, "Alou: My Baseball Journey" (U. of Nebraska Press). For now always remember: Take it easy but take it!  Read More