Toddfather, CC, The Judge put it to Astros
By HAL McCOY Those who watched Todd Frazier collect his paychecks from the Cincinnati Reds know that when The Toddfather hit a home run it wasn’t with a classic, baseball card swing like Ken Griffey Jr. So many time when Frazier hit one out of the park it came with a lunging, one-handed swing with […]
Using Lackey lacks sense, Turner hits walkoff homer for Dodgers
By HAL McCOY Managers continue to change tactics and modus operandi for the postseason from what they did during the regular season that was successful for them. And it continues to explode in their faces. They keep using starting pitchers in relief roles and time and time again it fails. And it certainly failed Sunday […]
‘Little Big Man’ Altuve, Keuchel silence Yankees
By HAL McCOY The Littlest Man in Minute Maid Park, the littlest man in major league baseball, was the biggest man in Houston Friday night in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series. The Houston Astros list second baseman Jose Altuve as 5-foot-6, but they must have measured him while he was standing on […]
Cubs send Nats home after ugly game
By HAL McCOY The Curse On Dusty Baker continues, following him no matter where he manages. And if you watched Game Five of the National League Division Series Thursday night you have to wonder if he is asking, “What did I ever do to anger the baseball gods?” His Washington Nationals lost the fifth and […]
Ex-Red Gregorius helps send Tribe home
By HAL McCOY The Cleveland Indians planned to party like it was 1948, but the New York Yankees forced them to put away the party favors. The Tribe hoped to win their first World Series since 1948, but they not only didn’t even make the World Series, they didn’t make the American League Championship Series. […]
Severino silences Tribe, series even
By HAL McCOY It was a genius move by Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona in Game One of the American League Division Series when he started Trevor Bauer against the New York Yankees. As it turned out, though, it was not a baseball Charles Einstein move when he brought back Bauer on only three days […]
Tanaka, Bird put the clamps on the Tribe, 1-0
By HAL McCOY In this season during which home runs were a penny a dozen, it figured that a long ball would break up a wondrous pitching performance by both sides. And one swing of the bat by Greg Bird broke it all up and decided the outcome of the American League Division Series Sunday […]
Genius move by Francona lifts Tribe
By HAL McCOY Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona raised brows over both eyes of most baseball aficionados when he selected Trevor Bauer to pitch Game One of the American League Division Series Thursday night. Hey, it’s the power-laden New York Yankees you’re facing. Why not pitch the Tribe’s best, Corey Kluber? In case you haven’t […]
Things were wild in the NL wild card game
By HAL McCOY There must be something in the water, a puff-‘em-up ingredient in the Salt River, a small stream that runs through the Salt River at Talking Stick baseball complex near Scottsdale, Ariz. Both the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies conduct spring training preparations at the beautiful complex at Salt River. And neither the […]