Let It Be
Or, Hey, I'm Walkin' Here!
I hope we’ve built enough trust over the years that you won’t stop reading after you learn where I intentionally traveled in the midst of the postseason.
While the Tigers and Mariners were battling in the decisive Game 5 of the ALDS, my family and I were flying to Denver.
It’s been seven years since anything of consequence occurred at Coors Field in October. Honestly, it doesn’t seem so bad after the last few years. That said, the fans haven’t gone home happy since 2007 when Matt Holliday led the Rockies over the D-backs in the NLCS. Leave it to an 83-year-old Liverpudlian to bring joy back to the Mile High baseball stadium. I’m not afraid to say I enjoyed Paul McCartney’s version of Rocktober much better than the first one.
I’ve been amusing myself for a couple weeks now, thinking about the conversation that could have occurred between McCartney and his tour manager.
Paul: Where will we be on the eleventh of October?
Tour Manager: At Coors Field in Denver where the Colorado Rockies play.
Paul: Who are they?
Tour Manager: The local baseball team.
Paul: Isn’t October usually the time of the baseball tournament? What if there’s a scheduling conflict?
Tour Manager sits silently.
McCartney opened the show with “Help!” — as he has every show on this tour — and at the first word, tears welled up in my eyes. I surprised myself. The emotion only grew stronger throughout the song. I was overcome with Beatlemania. This was it — at least the closest that a GenXer born a month before “Silly Little Love Songs” went to number one could experience. Hundreds of hours of consuming The Beatles over the past 40 years rallied all at once. The ghosts of my father’s record collection — destroyed by the infamous crawlspace flood of the late ’70s — rattled out of McCartney’s Hofner bass and jangled through the Coors Field speakers.
Selections from the Wings’ catalog gave me time to compose myself.
Exchange Rate
Toronto’s presence in the World Series has the chance to impact the game for the better. Anyone who has watched a Blue Jays game this month (with the volume on) has heard that this team puts the ball in play better than any team in baseball. The Jays’ 17.8% strikeout rate led MLB. The Brewers weren’t far behind. Could the analytically inclined teams convince themselves that all-or-nothing approaches leave something to be desired? Can a contact-oriented philosophy permeate the league? The answer may lie within in the maple of the Blue Jays hitters.
On Monday, Ken Rosenthal wrote about Vlad Guerrero Jr’s 14-year, $500 million extension signed in early April. The funny part about the piece to me is that the Toronto officials interviewed spoke about the intangibles and emotional benefits of the deal. Rosenthal quoted Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins as saying, “It’s hard to quantify. It’s definitely a positive to have extended him, for the organization, for him, for the environment.”
In an industry that likes to quantify every rosin bag, I’m delighted that the Jays can acknowledge that a half-a-billion dollar deal is rich with intangibles. Rosenthal (or an editor), meanwhile, felt it necessary to quantify Guerrero’s 2025 regular-season value based on WAR.
The Jays appreciate contact and feelings. How can you not like that?
Obligatory Ohtani
No doubt you’ve seen, read, and maybe even discussed plenty about Ohtani’s three-homer game in which he also twirled six scoreless innings while striking out 10 Brewers. The greatest game ever? Yes, but I’m not interested in a definitive ruling.
I’m curious: How far above and beyond did Ohtani go in providing the single greatest game ever? What if he had only struck out eight batters and we couldn’t punctuate his game line with a 10? What if he had only struck out four, but a lower pitch count allowed him to go deeper in the game? What if he had hit three doubles instead of three home runs? When is enough truly enough? It’s the kind of question that only Milton Berle would know the answer to.
One thing I’m looking forward to seeing in the World Series is how the Blue Jays choose to handle Ohtani in big moments. Three times this October, opposing teams have elected to intentionally walk Ohtani and take their chances with Mookie Betts. The first time was in the bottom of the seventh of Game 4 against the Phillies in the NLDS. With runners on second and third and two outs, the Phils put Ohtani on first to load the bases. Phillies closer Jhoan Duran subsequently walked Mookie Betts to force home the tying run. That was only the beginning of the Phillies rough night.
In Game 1 of the NLCS, the Brewers intentionally walked Ohtani twice. The first time, Betts followed with an inning-ending double play. Later that game, in the top of the ninth, the intentional walk loaded the bases. Milwaukee reliever Abner Uribe, just like Duran, walked Betts. A critical second run crossed the plate, and the Brewers comeback against a shaky Dodgers’ pen fell one run short.
The Jays don’t have the left-handed arms in their bullpen I’d expect to voluntarily challenge Ohtani in key situations. My guess is that’s not part of the game plan. Will this series rest on the shoulders of Mookie Betts? We’re about to find out!