Happy Wednesday, everyone! Well, we finally know what our World Series matchup will be, and it won’t be featuring the Cubs’ 2016 foes, the Cleveland Guardians. Cleveland was bested by the Tampa Bay Rays in six games, despite taking an early series lead, they simply couldn’t overcome the Rays. Now we’ll be watching a very intriguing small-market matchup of the Rays versus the Milwaukee Brewers. And while it would have been nicer to see a different NL Central team in the World Series, I suppose it’s too late to change it now.
This should make for a very fun match to watch over the coming week as we wait to see who will reign supreme. In the meantime, we’ve got lots of postseason discussion and other fun tidbits to get you through your Wednesday, so let’s just jump right into it.
- Davy Andrews wonders if Chandler Simpson is the king of competitive runs.
- A World Series preview from The Athletic staff. (The Athletic subscription required.)
- Ben Clemens looks at the early and late game moves that helped send the Rays to the World Series.
- Sal Frelich explains why “Murph Ball” is at the heart of what the Brewers have done this season. Story by Mike Lupica.
- Adam Berry explains why winning the ALCS in six games has set the Rays up for their dream pitching rotation.
- The biggest managerial mistakes made by each team in the MLB playoffs. Story by Karl Rasmussen.
- Freddy Peralta crowned AL MVP for his performance with the Rays. (AP)
- Devon Henderson does a deep dive on the meaning behind the Brewers’ ball-in-glove logo. (The Athletic subscription required.)
- Genuinely brutal facts.
- Ben Clemens explains how he voted for the Fielding Bible Awards.
- MLB dot com offers up a guide on how to sound like an expert when talking about the World Series.
- Max Ralph looks at a rare feat the Brewers could achieve in the World Series.
- Chad Jennings explores 10 moves that made the Rays the best team in the AL. (The Athletic subscription required.)
- Aaron Boone will be back with the Yankees next season, but there are things he needs to change to help create more success. Story by Karl Rasmussen.
- The MLB qualifying offer total has gone up over 5% over last year. (AP)
- Teruaki Sato could be the next big Japanese star heading to MLB. (AP)
- Perfectly handled.
- Jay Jaffe assesses the importance of Brewers’ reliever Aaron Ashby to their postseason performance.
- Sarah Langs explains why this World Series is so different from anything else we’ve seen in recent memory.
- Brent Maguire shares the unusual fact that the two LCS MVPs will square off against team’s they started the season playing for when they head to the World Series.
- Tom Verducci looks at how the Brewers are preventing other teams from late-innings comebacks.
- Jeff Passan explains the unique approach that got the Rays to the World Series.
- For all the jokes about Rays’ fan attendance, they clinched their spot in the World Series to a packed crowd of onlookers. Story by Sam Blum. (The Athletic subscription required.)
- So remember those $1000 tickets the Brewers sold in 2014 for “any future game”? Well, about that… (And an article from Andy Nesbitt explains the situation in more depth.)
And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Make it so.
