Lee Lowenfish

It's never easy when a team you've poured your marrow into it ends its season abruptly.  It's not that Oriole fans weren't prepared for the sudden exit of the Orioles from the post-season. Anyone who witnessed their decline to mediocrity since mid-June had to worry when the Kansas City Royals, or any good team, came to Baltimore. 

 

Sure enough, after surviving two late season seven-game losing streaks, the Royals did knock us out. They won two low-scoring games, 1-0 and 2-1, to extend Baltimore's post-season losing streak to 10 games (stretched over 10 seasons). The offensive drought was so palpable that after tying the last game in the 5th inning but failing to score again with bases loaded and no out, the Birds did not mount another threat. 

 

So I am reduced to being a relatively unemotional spectator of what promises to be four exciting best-of-five divisional series.   It is definitely a less fulfilling feeling, but on the morning that the second round of playoffs begin, Sat Oct 5, here are some thoughts on the upcoming games. 

 

Although MLB officials are almost brazen in hoping for a Dodger-Yankee World Series, I am happy for the amazing transition of the AL Central, once the doormat of baseball, into three playoff teams.  Two of them, perennial contender Cleveland and upstart Detroit, will meet head on in what could be a Rust Belt classic.

In the other ALDS, Kansas City resumes its playoff rivalry with the Yankees that made for exciting baseball in the late 1970s and 1980.

 

One of the most happy memories in my life as a Yankee hater is watching on television George Brett's 9th inning homer off Goose Gossage in the final game of the Royals' sweep of the Yankees in the 1980 ALCS. Silencing a raucous home crowd has to be a thrill of a lifetime for any competitor. Brett is now 71 and he is very happy that the only team he ever played for and now advises has another shot at the Bronx Bombers.

 

In shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City has a budding superstar who plays the game with exceptional talent and evident joy. As I watched Witt on field and in the dugout, I kept thinking of Branch Rickey's description of Willie Mays:  "The secret to his success is the frivolity in his blood stream." 

 

Witt was drafted second in the first round of the 2019 draft behind Orioles switch-hitting catcher Adley Rutschman whose production nearly vanished in the second half of this season. The Royals play solid defense up the middle with Witt, Kyle Isbel in center, and second baseman Michael Massey who made a sensational play in Kansas City's series-clinching win over the Orioles. 

 

Veteran catcher Salvador Perez, the one holdover from their 2015 World Series conquerors of the Mets, has been the leader that every young team needs.

He has an able backup in Felix Fermin but Perez probably can't DH this series because first baseman Vinny Pasquantino has rushed back from a hand

injury and cannot yet play in the field. 

 

All of the Royals I've mentioned are home-grown. Somewhere in the great beyond, Art Stewart, the Royals late scouting director, must be smiling.  I was

so pleased to build a chapter around Stewart in my book about scouts, BASEBALL'S ENDANGERED SPECIES.  

 

The Yankees with their potent duo of Aaron Judge and Juan Soto will obviously be favored.  They might have the starting pitching in Gerrit Cole and 

southpaw Carlos Rodon and either of their home grown Luis Gil or Clarke Schmidt to contain Witt Jr and the rest of a lineup that has not been deep or potent.

They've added veterans Yuli Gurriel and Tommy Pham and they will have to step up.  

 

The Tigers-Guardians series should be equally interesting.  As a sentimentalist, I'd like to see Cleveland win its World Series since 1948.

Switch-hitting third baseman Jose Ramirez has been a tremendously productive regular season player who has yet to shine in playoffs but his re-signing with

Cleveland when a free agent was a big boost to that franchise.  They also feature the most lights-out closer in all the playoffs, Emmanuel Clase.

 

Yet it's hard not to pull for the Tigers who have roared into contention since August. They won two series from the Orioles in this period and I must apologize to  RHP Beau Brieskie, who I dissed as "immortal" in a prior blog when he shot down the Birds in a key moment. Manager A.J. Hinch, who led the tainted 2017 Astros to the World Series title and then accepted a one-year suspension for not stopping the sign-stealing escapade, has deftly led this young and fearless team. 

 

They seem to produce a new hero every game and the likely AL Cy Young award-winner in southpaw Tarik Skubal.  They swept the Astros in Houston with a stirring come-from-behind 8th inning rally.  How the Guardians handle Skubal in game two should be a harbinger of how this series plays out. [Update: The Guardians shut out the Tigers, 7-0, in game one making Skubal's start in Game 2 vital for Detroit before they head home for the middle two games.] 

 

I rarely make public predictions but what is a blog for anyway!  I go for the home field advantage in picking the Tigers, who play the 3rd and 4th games at raucous Comerica Park, in 4.  But I fear that the Yankees might win in 4 at Kansas City. But don't go to any of the betting web sites and blame me.

 

Speaking of come-from-behind rallies, the Mets have cornered the market in the NL.  If not for DH Shohei Ohtani breaking all kinds of offensive records for the Dodgers, shortstop Francisco Lindor should be the hands-down MVP.  He still might win it if we voted on what valuable really means.  To me it is how much a

team relies on not just his statistics but his leadership. And how the team does what you are out of the lineup.

 

I never was a big fan of Lindor's fancy clothes and changing hairstyles.  Production on the field and impact in the clubhouse outside of public view have always been what matters to me.  In these areas Lindor this year has been sensational.  The Mets floundered in mid-September when he missed some games because of a bad back.  When he returned they soared again. 

 

After his huge home run in Atlanta that clinched a spot in the playoffs, he provided a memorable answer to the inevitable question about how he felt after he hit it:  "My back is aching and I am tired."  

 

The drama continued for the Mets when first baseman Pete Alonso hit another dramatic 9th inning HR to eliminate the scrappy young Milwaukee Brewers. 

Now the Mets go into the lair of their arch-rival Phillies who have dominant starting pitching.  Can they slay another dragon?  Going only by intuition,

I say yes in 5 games. Again don't go to the betting site.

 

In the final division series, we have another arch-rivalry with the San Diego Padres going into Dodger Stadium. The Friars just lost a key starting pitcher Joe

Musgrove who will need Tommy John surgery and that is a big blow.  The Dodgters are not deep in starting pitching but they have a formidable lineup

starting with Ohtani and then Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman.  And a lot of grinders in newcomer Tommy Edman, Kike Hernandez, Max Muncy, even slumping Chris Taylor if he is on the roster. If closer Michael Kopech continues his resurgence, Dodgers look very tough to me.  Could be a sweep but I hope not. 

 

 

In closing, I want to remember Pete Rose who died on Sep 30 at age 83 at his home in Las Vegas. He had just spent a weekend with some of his Big Red Machine teammates in Cincinnati.  He was in failing health with high blood pressure and hardening of the arteries.

 

I never really talked with Rose. I did have him sign one of the many books written for him as a gift for my nephew then a teenager. He did not make

eye contact with me but shifted his eyes constantly as if on the lookout for creditors. I have no doubt he loved baseball to the marrow and like maybe most retired players could never adjust to life after the game. 

 

I don't want the public to ignore another death that occurred on the same day, basketball great Dikembe Mutombo of brain cancer in Atlanta at the age of 58.

Many times an NBA All-Star and member of the All-Defensive team, Mutombo went on to become a genuine philanthropist and humanitarian.  He helped build hospitals in his native Republic of the Congo and he possessed an engaging personality. His wagging index finger at both rivals and in TV commercials will

always elicit a smile. 

 

That's all for now. Always remember:  Take it easy but take it and Stay Positive Test Negative. 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I can't remember as wonderful a period of balmy weather in NYC as we have enjoyed since a little before Labor Day.  Nothing like acting like a Californian wearing shorts and short-sleeved shirts for days on end. 

 

The delight won't last, of course, and autumn officially arrived yesterday.  I just looked up the Johnny Mercer lyrics to the classic Woody Herman-Ralph Burns 1947 song, "Early Autumn".  How appropriate they feel for fans of the Baltimore Orioles and other teams struggling to make the post-season like the KC Royals, Minnesota Twins, and even the Atlanta Braves.

 

The song opens:  "When an early autumn walks the land and chills the breeze/And touches with her hand the summer trees/

Perhaps you'll understand what memories I own."   

 

Later on comes the lament: "That spring of ours that started so April-hearted/Seemed made for just a boy and girl/I never dreamed, did you, any fall would come in view."

      

With six games left in regular season, the Orioles are still on paper in a good position, four games ahead of Tigers/Royals for first wild card series and home field advantage throughout that one brief series.   I never expected the Orioles to duplicate their 101 wins of 2023 and certainly hoped - and still hope - that they win at least a game in post-season unlike last year when the Texas Rangers swept the Birds into winter on their way to a World Series title (this year the Rangers likely finish under .500 and will be playing golf in October).

 

As the season started, I also thought that the Yankees' amazing Aaron Judge if healthy would far surpass his "meager" 37 HRs of last season; he has 55 entering the final week of regular season and a partner in Juan Soto who last week hit the 40 HR mark and has 200 for his career and won't turn 26 until October 25.

 

After being 24 games over .500 in mid-June,  I didn't expect that the Orioles would limp to the finish line losing their last five series, including the last two weekends to the resurgent Detroit Tigers who have the best record in baseball since August 11, 27-11. They are young and hungry and with a shortage of starting pitchers - like most teams today, alas - they are using six or more pitchers almost every game. 

 

I sure hope this strategy by clever skipper A. J. Hinch is not the wave of the future. but it is up to the opposition to pick on the most ineffective pitchers.  Orioles didn't do it enough against the Tigers and anyone else recently. 

 

All of a sudden, the Tigers are in the driver's seat, in charge of their own destiny.  They are tied with the Royals for the second wild card and playing the last two series at home.  First, Tampa Bay, experienced in late season baseball and with a fraction of hope to still make it this year, is playing well so that could be a great series. 

 

But the Tigers wind up with White Sox who are destined to break the 1962 Mets' dubious record of 120 losses.  The one caveat in the Detroit picture:  Because of their slow start, Detroit will lose tie-breaker to both Royals and Twins.  

 

So now for Oriole fans, the Yankee series becomes anti-climactic. I will probably watch on TV but haven't been to a night game in the Bronx for some time and won't start now. Either tomorrow or Wed or Th, there will likely be a coronation of a new AL East champion. Never pleasant to see an opponent start a celebration in front of your eyes, but as the saying goes, it's part of the game. 

 

On the eve of this series, I can still dream of September 1976 when the Yankees held a double-digit lead on the Orioles when Baltimore came to town.  And in a show of defiance, Earl Weaver's crew swept a four-game series over Billy Martin's team, postponing the inevitable Bronx Bomber clinching. 

 

The Yankees went on to beat the KC Royals in a thrilling five-game American League Championship Series before getting swept out of the Bronx by the Big Red Machine.

I was at the last two games of the sweep sitting in the upper deck infield nosebleed seats in the first year of the mediocre renovation of Yankee Stadium.  It is both a fond memory of Yankee sense of entitlement denied, but also a bittersweet one because my companion at these games would become my first friend to die in the AIDS epidemic a few years later. 

 

Those were the days when there were only two rounds of playoffs, only four divisions, and no wild cards.  There are now 12 teams with a shot at the World Series, six divisions and three wild cards in each league.  It's too many and the regular season is too long but change isn't gonna happen this decade or probably in my lifetime.

 

I do have to admit that there are some exciting matchups this week before the circus of October-Into-Early-November Baseball begins with the best-of-three wild card series. The top wild card gets home field advantage for all the games (right now San Diego and Baltimore have seemingly comfortable leads but the word "comfortable" is not in Oriole fans' vocabulary right now.)

 

The most dramatic series starting tomorrow is likely to be the Mets at the Braves.  With the best record in baseball since June 3, 62-34, the New Yorkers have a two-game lead on injury-ravaged Atlanta.  But the Braves are tough in their own ballpark and have a history of coming up big at crunch time.  The Mets have a more checkered history in this area, but the great thing about baseball is its unpredictability - how you handle it is the key to success.

 

The Mets wind up the season with three at newly-crowned NL Central champion Milwaukee.  As much of an AL surprise as the emergence of Detroit and Cleveland, the newly-crowned AL Central champ, have been, the Brewers in the NL have been another feel-good story. 

 

They clinched early and were on the verge yesterday of being swept by Arizona, the second wild card leader, when the Brew Crew rallied from a 8-0 hole to beat the Dbacks Su Sep 22, 10-9. [The Giants are playing spoiler, winning 2 of 3 at Baltimore, sweeping Royals at KC, and beat Dbacks M Sep 23 in Arizona.

Dbacks are closer to 3rd wild card leader Mets than top wild card Padres.] 

 

My hope is that what will keep the division winners playing reasonably hard this last week is that the best record in MLB will provide home team advantage through the World Series.  That race is wide open right now.   

 

As mediocre as the Oriole drift has been, it has not been the total collapse of the Twins and Royals.  I find it hard to believe that those teams won't bounce back a little this week but once the contagion of losing hits it can be hard to cure.  The Twins were non-competitive in a Sunday doubleheader loss to the Red Sox yesterday and after challenging Cleveland for the division lead, they are on the outside looking in, one game behind third place Royals-Tigers.

 

The Twins will at least wind up at home, playing the White Sox of the NL, the Miami Marlins. And then wind up with three against the Orioles.  For a long time, I've hoped those games wouldn't be meaningful. It sure looks like they will be. 

 

The Royals' decline has been even more shocking. They have lost 7 in a row, 6 at home, and are 7-16 since Aug 28.  They will have to win on the road, first at the Washington Nats and then in Atlanta. The Nats, and at times even the Rockies and the Marlins, have occasionally shown professional pride by competing hard against contenders.

 

The Washington front office will have to deal with the off-field breaking story about shortstop C. J. Abrams.  Only a few days before the minor league season ended yesterday, he was farmed out to the Nats' top affiliate because it was learned that after one recent night game, Abrams was seen at a gambling casino until 8AM. 

 

Before I close, I should note one other big matchup starting tomorrow:  San Diego visiting the hated big brother LA.  Padres have already won season series over Dodgers, but they'll have to sweep to tie for first. 

   

I am a perennial supporter of the underdog. If the Orioles cannot get a second wind and play deep into October, I'd like to see Cleveland finally win their first World Series since 1948 (and then maybe the flawed but filled-with-ballplayers "The Kid From Cleveland" (1949) can be re-shown!).  

 

IN MEMORIAM:

** Richard Moss, 93, on Sep 21 at an assisted living facility in Santa Monica, CA after a long illness.  A native of Pittsburgh, he grew up a huge Pirates fan. He attended Harvard Law School where one of his contemporaries was Bob Arum, later the boxing kingpin and rival of Don King.  In 1966, Moss entered baseball as chief counsel to newly-appointed executive director Marvin Miller. They both came from the Pittsburgh office of the Steelworkers Union of America to revitalize the Major League Baseball Players Association.

 

Moss was a vital, behind-the-scenes presence communicating to players the importance of sticking together to take on the baronial owners who were not used to facing organized players. He was an essential part of the miniscule Association staff that led to salary and grievance arbitration victories, the most notable being the Messersmith-McNally decision in December 1975 that opened the doors to free agency. When Moss became an agent in the late 1970s, he kiddingly told me that they needed two people to replace him, Donald Fehr, Miller's ultimate successor, and Peter Rose, not the ballplayer and someone who did not stay in the job for long. 

 

**Jazz lost one of its legends on Sept 21 with the death of saxophonist-composer Benny Golson, 95, in Manhattan after a short illness.  Golson was one of the great Philadelphia-bred giants, growing up with John Coltrane, Lee Morgan, the Heath Brothers: Jimmy, Percy, Tootie, and many others who all made their mark in jazz. He excelled as both a composer and saxophone player.  His memorable tunes include "Stablemates," "Blues March," and "I Remember Clifford" which he composed when he learned the tragic news in 1956 that Clifford Brown, the 26-year old trumpeter from nearby Delaware, had been killed in an auto accident. 

 

Golson was truly a musician's musician, loving all kinds of good music. As a youngster, he went to hear the Philadelphia Orchestra play Stravinsky and other modern composer, sitting high up in the rafters of the storied Academy of Music with Coltrane and the Heaths. RIP the peerless Benny Golson.

 

That's all for now.  Always remember:  Take it easy but take it, and Stay positive and test negative.