Major League Baseball: 2024 Season

[Fezzik]

Yankees have clinched a postseason berth and are within touching distance of the AL East pennant and number 1 seed. The Orioles have put up a great fight but seem to be falling away at the last minute.

Of course the team has been in the playoffs practically every year for the last decade and still no championship. It's been a barren 15 years - we're turning into the Cubbies! This is our year though, while we have Judge & Soto in tandem. I have no hope we'll hang on to Juan long term.

 

[JohnBM01]

More changes, huh? Then, let's update the Postseason picture (changes in italics:

--- "IN!" Teams (as of the time of this post) ---
...AL East Champions...
...AL Central Champions...
...AL West Champions...
...AL Wild Card 1...
...AL Wild Card 2...
...AL Wild Card 3...
New York Yankees, Cleveland (clinched playoff berth)
...NL East Champions...
Milwaukee (NL Central Champions)
...NL West Champions...
...NL Wild Card 1...
...NL Wild Card 2...
...NL Wild Card 3...

Eliminated: CHW, OAK, LAA, WAS, MIA, CIN, PIT, SF, COL


This Playoff Picture is going to change quite a lot between now and the end of the regular season. Hopefully your beloved team(s) still have a chance and are still pushing towards making the postseason. Better luck next season if they're done for 2024 playoff hopes, though.

 

[JohnBM01]

Shohei Ohtani made history today. He became the first player in Major League Baseball history to knock down 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a season. As of the time of that moment, the Los Angeles Dodgers were leading at the Miami Marlins 14-3 in the Top of the 7th with two outs. My congratulations go out to perhaps the finest player in MLB today. It's Sho-Time!

When the LAA at HOU series is complete, I'll have my summary of that. But again- congratulations, Shohei-San!

 

[Eggstor]

Shohei Ohtani made history today. He became the first player in Major League Baseball history to knock down 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a season. As of the time of that moment, the Los Angeles Dodgers were leading at the Miami Marlins 14-3 in the Top of the 7th with two outs. My congratulations go out to perhaps the finest player in MLB today. It's Sho-Time!

When the LAA at HOU series is complete, I'll have my summary of that. But again- congratulations, Shohei-San!

To put it another way, nobody from 1920 (when the RBI became an official statistic) until yesterday had, in their entire careers:

• A game with 10+ RBI
• A game with 6+ hits
• A game with 5+ extra-base hits
• A game with 3+ home runs
• A game with 2+ stolen bases

I'll forgive him for getting thrown out trying to stretch one of those doubles into a triple.

 

[Omnis]

We might be watching the greatest baseball player of all time.

 

[JohnBM01]

The Houston Astros swept the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in Anaheim, then lose the series at the San Diego Padres. Their string of California games (no relation to the old video game) ends this weekend when the Angels visit Houston for a four-game set. They'll be hoping to get enough wins to ensure they win the AL West. If the Astros fail, then the next series against Seattle will be critical for Houston's postseason hopes and their postseason positioning. Houston still has to hope Seattle stumbles just enough to help make their AL West clinching a bit easier. It's time to see whether the Astros win, lose, or split their series against the eliminated Angels...

* LAA Angels at HOU Astros (4 games)

[GAME 1] Los Angeles Angels are spoilers for this series, and they already made Yusei Kikuchi's life tough with a solo jack to left. Angels up 1-0 early. The Astros have been 8-0 in games Yusei Kikuchi starts. And right now, that record is in jeopardy. The Astros finally tied things up 1-1 in the Bottom of the 4th on an RBI single. A bases-loaded single by Jon Singleton was the go-ahead for Houston up 3-1 in the Bottom of the 8th. The Houston Astros won today, but so did Seattle. The Magic Number to clinch the AL West is now 5.

[GAME 2] With Justin Verlander starting, there is concern among Astros' faithful for Game 2 of this series. The first score I saw for this game was 8-6, Astros heading into the Bottom of the 5th. So a lot of offense in this one so far. Kyle Tucker took Roansy Contreras deep to right-center for a solo jack. The Astros lead 9-6 thanks to King Tuck. First pitch of the Top of the 7th sent to left. Angels cut the lead to 9-7. That's all the Angels could do this Friday night. The Astros win a slugfest 9-7. As the Seattle Mariners hammered the Texas Rangers 8-2, the defending Champions have been eliminated from postseason contention.

[GAME 3] Happy birthday (September 21), Yainer Diaz! The first score in this game came from the Astros on an RBI double in the Bottom of the 1st by Kyle Tucker. Astros up 1-0 early in this one. The Astros mis-played a deep shot to left, letting an Angel cross home plate in the Top of the 2nd. We're tied at 1-1 now. A series of hits with nobody out led to the Astros taking a 2-1 lead in the Bottom of the 2nd. It was later a 3-1 lead that inning on a groundout double play. Victor Caratini bombed one to left, bringing home three Astros and going up 6-1 in the Bottom of the 3rd. The Astros later scored on a ball that skipped away from the Angels as José Altuve ran home from 1st base. Astros ahead 7-1 now still in the Bottom of the 3rd. The Angels got a solo jack to center in the Top of the 4th. This homer cut the Astros lead down to 7-2. With the bases loaded in the Bottom of the 4th, the Astros bang in a run to make it 8-2. Yordan Alvarez launched a solo bomb to center to put Houston up 9-2 in the Bottom of the 7th. Kyle Tucker hit his own bomb to deep right the same inning to extend the Astros' lead to 10-2. With the bases loaded and nobody out in the Top of the 9th, the Angels banged in an RBI to cut the Astros' lead to 10-3. A groundout RBI brought the deficit down to 10-4. That was the final: 10-4. Houston pounded out 20 hits in this one.

[GAME 4] Happy birthday (September 22), Jeremy Peña! The only real action I saw was when Houston was up 4-0 in the Bottom of the 6th. Since then, the Angels tied and eventually led. Astros failed today, falling 9-8. It would have been a great day today, considering Texas beat Seattle on this same day. But... I guess you can't have everything...

--- REVIEW ---
GM1: (3-1; Houston)
GM2: (9-7; Houston)
GM3: (10-4; Houston)
GM4: (9-8; Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim)

RESULT: HOU wins series 3-1

--- UPCOMING ---
NEXT: vs. SEA Mariners (3 games, starting Monday)

The 2024 Houston Astros are now 85-71 on the season, still leading the AL West by 5 games over Seattle at the time of this post.

It's obvious the Astros got to handle business when the Seattle Mariners come to Minute Maid Park for the final home series of the 2024 MLB season. That's what is going to happen for the Astros' next series. The Astros must sweep this series in case of a tie-breaker. Currently, Seattle leads the season series 6-4. At least one win in this series assures the Astros the AL West crown.


Do we have any updates on the postseason? Let's find out:

--- "IN!" Teams (as of the time of this post) ---
...AL East Champions...
Cleveland (AL Central Champions)
...AL West Champions...
...AL Wild Card 1...
...AL Wild Card 2...
...AL Wild Card 3...
New York Yankees, Baltimore (clinched Playoff berth)
...NL East Champions...
Milwaukee (NL Central Champions)
...NL West Champions...
...NL Wild Card 1...
...NL Wild Card 2...
...NL Wild Card 3...
Philadelphia, Los Angeles Dodgers (clinched Playoff berth)

ELIMINATED: TOR, CHW, TEX, OAK, LAA, WAS, MIA, CHC, STL, CIN, PIT, SF, COL

I accidentally deleted my "IN!" list and had to make a new one. That's an advantage to pre-typing posts in a text editor.


Congratulations to all recent series winners and today's/tonight's winners! If your team split or lost a series recently, hope the next series goes better for you.

 

[Blitz24]

The Mets take 3 of 4 from the Phillies in what might be their final home games of the year. Their path forward is pretty clear now. If they win 2 games or more vs. the Braves, they clinch a playoff spot. If they win 1 game against the Braves and sweep the Brewers, they clinch a playoff spot. Anything else will require help from other teams.

 

[JohnBM01]

A few notes to pass along...

* The 2024 Chicago White Sox tied the 1962 New York Mets for the most losses in any season since 1900 today. The White Sox lost 4-2 at the San Diego Padres today, and the White Sox's record is now 36-120 on the season. The White Sox have six games remaining on the season. This includes three games vs. the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and then three games at the Detroit Tigers. The best they can do right now is 42-120; the worst they can do is 36-126. If the White Sox lose one more game this season, they will have the most losses in a season of Major League Baseball since 1900. The all-time worst record is still held by the 1899 Cleveland Spiders, who finished 20-134. More information on this story: https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/41386496/white-sox-tie-record-most-losses-1900-120 .

* The Cincinnati Reds have fired coach David Bell. D. Bell lasted six seasons with Cincinnati. Bench coach, Freddie Benavides, will serve as the interim manager. The Redlegs are currently 76-81, 4th in the NL Central. Their latest result was a 2-0 fail hosting the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday afternoon. More info on this story: https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/41390092/cincinnati-reds-fire-manager-david-bell .


The end of the 2024 regular season is near. There's still time to make that playoff push if you are still in it, so keep rooting your team(s) to victory!

 

[Dolph Drago]

* The Cincinnati Reds have fired coach David Bell.

Heh. Had no idea this happened. I really thought we would contend this season, but injuries played a large role with how the season went - not something Bell could do anything about. The backups played remarkably well all things considered. Still, we did not play up to expectations. Along with the injuries, I believe inconsistency and the lack of presence from a true veteran on the team (Votto may have played a bigger role in than we know, even if he did not contribute much in the way of offense last year) were issues. I've mentioned it before - this team is very young. It wouldn't hurt to grab a player who's been in the league a while to help guide the team and bring some discipline, as well.

While I am not totally surprised Bell is gone, I figured they would at least let the final 5 games of the season play out. I'm interested to who ends up being the next skipper. The ESPN article mentions Skip Schumacher. I seem to remember him beating Cincy around when he was with the Cards. David Ross is also named. He spent some seasons behind the plate for the Reds so would be familiar with the organization.

 

[Joey D]

The Tigers are likely going to make the playoffs and I'm absolutely floored by it. Apparently, Javier Baez was the problem because they went on an absolute tear once he blew out his hip. I don't expect the Tigers to make it far, but given how god-awful they've been for the past decade, I'm here for it.

 

[Blitz24]

The Tigers are likely going to make the playoffs and I'm absolutely floored by it. Apparently, Javier Baez was the problem because they went on an absolute tear once he blew out his hip. I don't expect the Tigers to make it far, but given how god-awful they've been for the past decade, I'm here for it.

I've spoken to friends who are Tiger fans and they said they would happily pay Baez to never play for the team again.

Heh. Had no idea this happened. I really thought we would contend this season, but injuries played a large role with how the season went - not something Bell could do anything about. The backups played remarkably well all things considered. Still, we did not play up to expectations. Along with the injuries, I believe inconsistency and the lack of presence from a true veteran on the team (Votto may have played a bigger role in than we know, even if he did not contribute much in the way of offense last year) were issues. I've mentioned it before - this team is very young. It wouldn't hurt to grab a player who's been in the league a while to help guide the team and bring some discipline, as well.

While I am not totally surprised Bell is gone, I figured they would at least let the final 5 games of the season play out. I'm interested to who ends up being the next skipper. The ESPN article mentions Skip Schumacher. I seem to remember him beating Cincy around when he was with the Cards. David Ross is also named. He spent some seasons behind the plate for the Reds so would be familiar with the organization.

Can you trade us Alexis this offseason please?

 

[Dolph Drago]

Can you trade us Alexis this offseason please?

Actually, this is very tempting. Edwin not working out for ya, or did you just want both brothers on the team? Occasionally Alexis will have a dominant 1-2-3 inning, but usually he makes it a bit too interesting, therefore raising our blood pressure.

 

[Blitz24]

Actually, this is very tempting. Edwin not working out for ya, or did you just want both brothers on the team? Occasionally Alexis will have a dominant 1-2-3 inning, but usually he makes it a bit too interesting, therefore raising our blood pressure.

We want both brothers lol.

 

[Omnis]

So good.