baseball
Sabermetric analysis of all things baseball - on-and-off the field. Barry Bonds fan club.
What Went Wrong: No, Cubs, No
Who here remembers the evening of November 2, 2016? One of the best dates in recent baseball history. On that evening, that Wednesday evening, the Chicago Cubs finally did it. An 8-7 victory over the then-named Cleveland Indians in Game Seven of the World Series; finally winning the Fall Classic after 108 years of suffering. It was an amazing moment that many fans will never forget.
By Clyde E. Dawkins14 days ago in Unbalanced
John Jay Plays with Full Deck in Victory Over Fox Lane
On Tuesday September 8, John Jay traveled to Fox Lane, and at 20-20, Evangeline Santos served three aces to propel the home team to a 25-20 set one victory. But the next three games had the Wolves making sure there was plenty of separation at the outset of each.
By Rich Monetti14 days ago in Unbalanced
Kevin Durant Is Still a Great Scorer. That Was Never the Whole Job.
This season, the Rockets put Durant back into a familiar script. He played almost every regular-season game. At thirty-six, with a ruptured Achilles and years of knee and ankle injuries behind him, he played eighty-one games and averaged thirty-seven minutes. Udoka could not rest him. Houston’s offense stalled without him. Şengün needed Durant’s gravity on the weak side. Green needed Durant’s spacing at the top. VanVleet needed Durant as the last option in the pick-and-roll. Durant started on time, scored, got back on defense, and posted up again.
By Jin16 days ago in Unbalanced
Texas Rangers 2026 Season Final Check-In: An Honest Analysis
The Texas Rangers were hopeful of winning the American League West, but unfortunately, their goal of that fell short Sunday. They finished the 2026 season with a record of 80-82, placing them second in the division. Despite ending the season two games under .500, it's still a little bit of an improvement, as far as where they were placed in the AL West. At Globe Life Field, they finished with a record of 45-36, but a disappointing 35-46 on the road. I'll discuss the latter record later on in this story. Manager Skip Schumaker was honest about something that I had been thinking about for the longest period of time. He stated that teams that were terrible should've been winnable. He hit the nail on the head on that, because this is one of the issues I had with the Rangers. Losing against sub-.500 teams are both embarrassing and unacceptable. The American League West has been the worst division in the league this season. In fact, the American League as a whole has been terrible. You can't afford to lose a plethora of games against teams that have losing records. Speaking of Skip Schumaker...
By Mark Wesley Pritchard 17 days ago in Unbalanced
2026 Wild Card Series Preview
You know what's one thing that fascinates me about the baseball season? It's a 162 game season. One hundred and sixty-two games. A lot of swings, pitches, balls, strikes, fly balls, you name it. Even wilder, all of that is played with very few days off. The longest break teams have is the All-Star Break, but even that is about four days long. And all of that gets crammed into six months.
By Clyde E. Dawkins17 days ago in Unbalanced
My Thoughts About the 2026 New York Mets
Nearly two years ago, I stated that the New York Mets wouldn't make it to the Postseason in 2026 and it turned out that my prediction was correct. President of Baseball Operations David Stearns faced heavy backlash from Mets fans after he let four great players go to other teams: Brandon Nimmo, Jeff McNeil, Pete Alonso, and Edwin Díaz. Fast forward to the 2026 MLB season and the consequences of Stearns making four separate foolish moves have revealed itself. The Mets finished the season with a record of 74-88, placing last in the National League East. Carlos Mendoza was fired after a 34-37 start. Andy Green was named as his replacement and signed a three-year deal after the interim tag was removed on September 23. This was the same team who were two wins away from reaching the World Series back in 2024. Despite the controversy surrounding David Stearns during the offseason in 2025, he's staying put in his role through 2028. So, Mets fans will have to deal with him for a little bit longer. Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto are also staying put, with the latter player being signed through the 2039 season.
By Mark Wesley Pritchard 18 days ago in Unbalanced
Close, But Not Good Enough
September 27, 2026 will be known for one thing in Major League Baseball: two teams in the American League fighting for a chance to win their division. Unfortunately, the Texas Rangers fell short of that goal Sunday. You might expect me to be angry and air my petty grievances, but I decided not to go on this route. Despite my team missing the playoffs for the third consecutive season, I'm still proud of them. Honestly, I expected them to fade away after the All-Star break. Like the true troopers they were, the Rangers stayed in the playoff chase for as long as they could. This is the one thing I'll give them credit for. They fought until the very end, but alas, it wasn't enough for them to clinch the American League West crown.
By Mark Wesley Pritchard 18 days ago in Unbalanced
Somers Pub/Muscoot Softball Moments that Define the Years
Playoff Photos - 10/23/26 Video vs A&S Larry Bauman, Muscoot, Somerfields, and Somers Pub - we’ve been at this for twenty plus years. A lot of exciting moments, a few championships and a number of t-shirts mark our existence. But more importantly, there’s an excess of emblematic moments that define us and here’s a list of the best.
By Rich Monetti19 days ago in Unbalanced
Three Games. One Final Chance.
The Texas Rangers concluded their final home game of the season with a 3-1 win over the New York Mets Thursday afternoon, ending up in a tie yet again with their division rivals, the Houston Astros for the American League West lead. Just to remind everyone that both teams have a record of 79-80, but the Astros hold the tiebreaker, just in case they end up with the same record as the Rangers on Sunday. In other words, the Astros would win the division. The latter team began a four-game series against the Athletics in Sacramento Thursday night, where they won the first game 7-5. Meanwhile, Jacob deGrom will take the mound in the first game of the final series of the year against the Minnesota Twins on the road Friday night. There's a lot of pressure put on both the Rangers and Astros as they battle it out for the chance to win the division and punch their ticket to the Postseason.
By Mark Wesley Pritchard 21 days ago in Unbalanced
China Won 11 Golds on Day 1 in Nagoya. Japan Won 6. The Gap Wasn’t Just the Medal Count.
China took 11 golds on Day 1 in Nagoya. Japan took 6. The gap went deeper than the medal table. Beijing time, September 20. The 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games wrapped up the first full day of competition. All 31 gold medals were decided. China took 11 gold, 6 silver and 3 bronze to top both the gold medal table and the overall medal table. Host Japan was second with 6 gold, 7 silver and 7 bronze. South Korea was third with 4 gold, 3 silver and 7 bronze.
By Jin21 days ago in Unbalanced
MLB Pennant Race 2026: 168 Hours
A lot can happen in one week, and regarding the 2026 Major League Baseball season, that's all that's left. The final week of any season always brings the thrills, and baseball is no different. For a team, a week is the last two series of the season, and that week is always mega-important for any teams looking to get in. And since I've been giving little tidbits in each of these, here's one last one: this is the fifth year without tiebreaker games.
By Clyde E. Dawkins25 days ago in Unbalanced
