The Toronto Blue Jays and Cleveland Indians meet for a best-of-seven American League Championship series with the winner advancing to the World Series.
In the AL wildcard game, the Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles to advance to the American League Division Series against the Texas Rangers and proceeded to sweep the AL West champions. The Cleveland Indians swept the AL East champion Boston Red Sox handily to face the Blue Jays.
The main question for the Cleveland Indians in Game 1 is which Corey Kluber will show? Will it be the Kluber who was roughed up for five runs in 3 1/3 innings on July 3 against the Blue Jays? Or will it be the Kluber that went 6 2/3 innings in late August surrendering two runs on six hits while striking out eight
…show more content…
The big question for the Blue Jays is will Marco Estrada continue his two-year dominance in the playoffs? Since the 2015 American League Division Series against the Texas Rangers, Estrada has started four games, throwing a combined 27 2/3 innings, allowing six runs, striking out 21, and only walking one.
The 33-year-old All-Star will also have to deal with a speedy Indians' team that stole 134 bases during the regular season, which does not match up well with Estrada giving up 12 stolen bases in 13 attempts. The Indians will run and Estrada must be able to quell the speed of this Cleveland team. Some of the Indians' biggest running threats include Rajai Davis (43 SB/6 CS), Jose Ramirez (22SB/7 CS), Francisco Lindor (19 SB/5 CS), and Jason Kipnis (15 SB/3 CS).
This series, offensively, pits speed against power. On the pitching side of things, the Indians bolstered the back-end of their bullpen with the acquisition of Andrew Miller, but lost two key components of their rotation in September; Carlos Carrasco and Danny
batters away with his powerful pitch. He had a good couple of years but then got into a big slump – he
The hitless Tigers could use this guy’s talents. Mount Clemens police have a 36-year-old man in custody. It seems he got home about 5 o’clock this morning from an all-night spree, that ticked off the little lady, who unleashed a v...
Major league scouts had come to watch a shortstop whom they had heard was an excellent fielder and consistent batter. They were quickly distracted from this responsibility however by the performance of the man on the pitcher’s mound. Fernando Valenzuela was a pudgy teenage boy who had grown up on the dusty baseball fields of northwestern Mexico. From a young age, he had dreamed of playing professional baseball and he was about to get his chance. Less than two years later, he became the only player to win the Cy Young award as well as the Rookie of the Year award...
Toronto Blue Jays Team History & Encyclopedia. (n.d.). Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 21, 2014, from http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/TOR/
Many considered Clemens’ best years the 13 seasons he was at the Red Sox. After 1996 he was not re-signed by the Red Sox because they felt he was in the twilight of his career. He was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays where he struggled a lot early on. Despite these early struggles, his career had a resurgence that many did not see coming. This resurgence is what caused the speculations of steroid use. After two years with the Toronto Blue Jays he won had the Cy Young award and the pitching Triple Crown both seasons. The triple crown is awarded to the pitcher that, at seasons end, leads the league in the three major categories: earned run average, wins, and strikeouts.
For any catcher being prepared is always the first step, and one of the more important steps, in playing the position well. Along with the right preparation, it will profit a catcher greatly if he or she can communicate to other players and is willing to take charge of the field. Last, every catcher must be physically able to play the position and in addition to that must have the athletic ability. Not every catcher is the same. Ones weakness might just happen to be another catcher’s strong point, but where they are similar is they all have met these few
In baseball nothing is guaranteed, but these guys prove perseverance pays off! Every single one of these guys has been through the ringer in baseball and understand what it takes to succeed so all they needed was a fresh start and a new situation. they are all rekindling their All-Star ability and playing a pivotal role in their teams solid start to 2016 at a very minimal
When people think of baseball, pitchers normally come to mind: starters, relief pitchers and then there are the closers. The closer is a crucial asset for a baseball team, without an outstanding closer a team could fold in the last inning of the game. To be a great closer, one must have excellent control, the ability to outwit a batter, and movement on their pitches. In order to be remembered as one of the all-time greatest closers, they must have the statistics as well as effective pitches. Mariano Rivera, the most well-known closer for the New York Yankees, was able to use his background to further his love for baseball by accomplishing many goals set during his career while also setting the highest rankings in baseball closers’ history.
During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, Major League Baseball, much like the majority of other American institutions, was racially segregated. A color barrier was implemented during baseball’s infancy in order to separate people of different race to cater to the white American players. The color barrier was an unofficial “rule” that hindered those with dark skin from playing baseball for Major League teams. The color barrier was enforced by preventing any teams with a colored player from competing at the professional level. Many team owners, umpires, and players justified their opposition to allowing blacks to play by declaring that only whites could uphold the "gentlemanly character" of professional baseball. Others argued that excluding blacks would prevent future racial resentment between the ethnicities, as players of different races would be competing for the same job opportunities.
Several summers ago, I made my first All-Star baseball team for a local little league. When I heard that I was picked, I was overwhelmed with happiness. A lot of my friends and teammates in years past had made the team, but never me. I was finally selected by the head coach of the All-Star team, and considered it quite an honor.
Finally, the ballgame begins, as the Red Sox take field led by the rookie pitcher Jon Lester, who is making his major league debut. Lester is now one my favorite Red Sox players because of this moment. The Red Sox ended up losing the game that day, but for me even though the Red Sox lost, I felt like I was in Heaven. I cherish this moment because it was my first Red Sox game at Fenway. I only get go to one Red Sox game a year if we can afford it. I know to cherish this moment, because to me this day is like Christmas, it only happens once a year. I love going to Red Sox games with Phil because it is time I am spend alone with him. I hope that I can go this year, to go back my baseball heaven, Fenway. To me this experience is important, because it taught me to cherish the moments, and not have regrets.
Americans began playing baseball on informal teams, using local rules, in the early 1800s. By the 1860s, the sport, unrivaled in popularity, was being described as America's "national pastime." Alexander Joy Cartwright of New York invented the modern baseball field in 1845. Alexander Cartwright and the members of his New York Knickerbocker Base Ball Club devised the first rules and regulations for the modern game of baseball.
Shohei and Babe were their team's most valuable pitchers and most skilled pitchers. Ohtani’s earned-run average was 1.86 and Babe’s was 2.28 earned-run average. Both Shohei and Ruth have good pitching stats, but Sports Illustrated claims that Shohei will do amazing in the 2018 season and that he is an extraordinary player just like Babe was. They also think that he will help his team go into the playoffs to try and help them win the World Series or get them really close.
The opening pitch of the 1999 marks the start of the Toronto Blue Jays twenty third seasons in the American League. In 1998, the Jays brought in their first winning season since 1993. The Jays plays in the worlds most advanced retractable-roof stadium. It is luxuriously called the Sky Dome. With a winning record like this and a state of the art stadium, the Jays feel their tickets are a great value because of the satisfaction fans can expect to receive from the ball game.
A travel of over 3000 miles for some, a 210 mile drive for me, just to arrive at the biggest gathering of over 1,500 twelve year olds; all just to play baseball. The only place that would be suitable for such an event is Cooperstown Dream Parks, every baseball players heaven. Cars have come to Cooperstown from everywhere for this week long tournament. I met children my age from all over the United states. I became friends with kids from Ohio, Illinois, California, I even met a player from Puerto Rico who barely spoke any english. The windows of everyone 's car decorated with the names and numbers of teams and players. Excited baseball teams spill from their Barracks and hustle toward the already crowded seating area. Festive music played over