Stumblin' Along 10/13 '24
Lucky Star
Lucky Star
- MLB Championship Series Previews
- YouTube Rabbithole
Alright @YouTheReader,
Today’s tune is Madonna’s Lucky Star. Everybody knows Madonna is a huge fan of baseball on account of she co-starred in A League of Their Own.
![A League of Their Own [1992] Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Rosie O'Donnell, and Madonna play ball in this Penny Marshall classic : r/NetflixBestOf](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!2UKQ!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa5764a85-2eac-4431-a6f2-4f28bdc978c0_1280x720.jpeg "A League of Their Own [1992] Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Rosie O'Donnell, and Madonna play ball in this Penny Marshall classic : r/NetflixBestOf")
Anyway, I don’t really have much on this song other than it’ll somewhat connect with Drake’s song on Monday.
Lucky Star was the single on Madonna’s self-titled debut album that came out in 1983. On it’s initial release, Lucky Star was a flop. It wasn’t until her song, Holiday, became a hit that this song was succesfully re-released six months later and peaked at #4 on the US Billboard Hot 100. To this day, Lucky Star is the highest charted song of Madonna’s where there are no other accredited writers.
(Source: SongFacts)
Not much history on this Stumblin’ Along, but a good bit of baseball…
With the ‘24 MLB League Championship Series’ about to be underway, here is a preview of the two matchups…
The New York Yankees went 4-2 against Cleveland this regular season. This will be the 7th time these two teams have square off in the playoff since 1997. The Bronx Bombers have won 4 of the previous 6 series.
Top Bats
- 3B Jose Ramirez tied his career-high with home runs this season at 39 big flies. In his last 7 postseason games against the Yankees, Ramirez has gone 11 for 27 (.407) with 6 RBIs. The switch-hitter loves hitting at Yankee Stadium; in 30 regular career games in the Bronx, Ramirez has hit .395 with 9 home runs.
- LF Steven Kwan was in the MVP conversation this summer when he had a .352 batting average in the 1st half. Cleveland’s leadoff hitter didn’t have quite the same 2nd half (.206), but went 8 for 16 against Detroit in their Divison Series. Kwan doesn’t walk or strike out much, so he’s dangerous in the playoffs because he’s constantly putting the ball in play.
- DH David Fry was a breakout All Star this season as he owned a 1st half OBP of .388 while the team couldn’t figure out where to play him. Eventually he settled into their DH role as Fry cooled down a bit in the 2nd half. The 28-year-old owns left-handed pitching. Fry hit .287 with an .430 OBP and 9 of his 14 home runs this season off southpaws.
- CF Aaron Judge in 48 postseason games is batting .207 with 71 strikeouts. That’s all just, giving the captain some bulletin board material.
- RF Juan Soto is a career .294 batter with runners in scoring position and 2 outs in 434 plate appearances. At 21 years old in the ‘19 World Series, Soto became the youngest player ever to hit 3 home runs in a World Series. The only younger players to ever go yard in a World Series are Andruw Jones and Mickey Mantle. Soto hasn’t been back to a World Series since ‘19.
- DH Mike Stanton in 31 postseason games with the Yanks has hit 12 home runs and driven in 28 RBIs. That sort of pace averages out to 63 home runs and 146 RBIs per a 162 game regular season. Stanton in 30 regular season games against Cleveland is a .207 hitter, but in the playoffs he’s hit 4 of his 12 playoff dingers off the Cleveland baseball team.
Wild Cards
- 1B Josh Naylor is an absolute nutjob and has immense power to RF. Naylor a career-high 31 home runs this regular season and 26 of them were to right field. He will be a scary at-bat any time he’s up in the Bronx with their short porch. Naylor hit 1 of his 2 career postseason home runs off Gerrit Cole in Game 4 of the ‘22 ALDS and rocked the baby running around the bases.
- 2B Gleyber Torres would’ve been too obvious as the Yankees’ wild card, but since he was moved leadoff role on July 24th, Torres hit .297 with a .364 OBP the rest of the regular season. Gleyber against Kansas City drew 5 walks, tying Aaron Judge for most on the team in their Division Series. The wild card of the Yanks I’ll go with is Anthony Volpe because of the pat on the back he gave the Royals on their postseason exit. This regular season the Yankees were 64-44 when Anthony Volpe had a hit and 28-24 when he didn’t. The Bronx Bombers also went 52-20 when the 23-year-old SS scored a run and 40-48 when he didn’t. Bit of an X-Factor.
Game 1
- SP Alex Cobb missed almost the entire ‘24 regular season with a hip surgery, a nerve issue in his shoulder, and a blister on his throwing hand. He made just 3 regular season starts for Cleveland, pitching just 16.1 innings. Cobb pitched against the Tigers in the Division Round, only going 3 innings as he picked up their Game 3 loss. Cobb has made 19 starts against the Yankees going 7-5 with a 3.19 ERA. In 8 regular season starts at Yankee Stadium, the veteran right hander owns a 3.54 ERA. Cleveland has not confirmed their Game 1 starter so this is an educated guess.
- SP Carlos Rodon won a career-high 16 games during the regular season. The southpaw got off to a hot start in his playoff debut in the Bronx, striking out 5 of his first 9 batters faced in Game 2 against KC. He then imploded in the 4th inning, allowing 3 runs in their lone loss to the Royals. Rodon has only faced a handful of Cleveland batters but has done quite well against Jose Ramirez (.233 BA with 0 homers in 43 at-bats). Cleveland, however, as a team in ‘24, went 29-11 vs starting LHPs.
Game 2
- SP Tanner Bibee was Cleveland’s best starter this season and was great in the 2nd half. In 12 2nd half starts this year, Bibee threw 5 Quality Starts with a 3.01 ERA. He made his 2nd career start in the Bronx last season, going 5.1 innings of 2-run ball. His best pitch is his slider, which he throws about a quarter of the time with hitters hitting just .152 off it. Bibee is tough on righties.
- Gerrit Cole gave the Yankees 2 money starts in the Division Series and Aaron Boone announced he’ll get the ball in Game 2 of the ALCS. It is not yet known if Clarke Schmidt or Luis Gil will pitch Game 3 or Game 4. In 11 regular starts against Cleveland, Cole has gone 7-2 with a 2.82 ERA. That said, Ramirez (.353 BA with 2 homers in 34 ABs) and Naylor (3 homers in 25 ABs) have hit Cole hard.
Pen
- Cleveland Closer Emmanuel Clase led the AL with 47 saves in 50 chances. Clase threw to an absurd 0.61 ERA this season, but one of his blow ups was against the Yanks in April. Cleveland used 4 times in their series against the Tigers, including for a 6-out save in Game 5.
- Yanks Closer Luke Weaver was a failed starter nearly out of baseball when the Yankees claimed him off waivers last September. After making 3 starts at the end of last season, Weaver was moved to the Yankees’ bullpen as a multi-inning reliever type this past offseason. Over the course of the season, Weaver kept finding himself in higher leverage situations, eventually taking over their closer role almost a year after he was DFA’d. In his 11 appearances as the Yankee closer, Weaver has struck out 27 batters and walked just 3 with an ERA of 0.00.
The LA Dodgers went 4-2 against the Mets this regular season. These two NL franchises have met in the postseason 3 times (1988, 2006, and 2015). The Mets have beaten LA in the past 2 series.
Top Bats
- SS Francisco Lindor will finish 2nd in the NL MVP Race. No Mets player has ever won an MVP so Lindor will join the list of 2nd place finishers in franchise history… 1969 Tom Seaver, 1984 Keith Hernandez, 1988 Daryl Strawberry, and 2000 Mike Piazza. Lindor’s Game 4 Grand Slam against the Phillies put the nail in the Phildelphia season.
- 1B Pete Alonso’s clutch Wild Card Round 9th inning homer is the only reason they’re still playing. The soon to be free agent loves hitting in Dodgers Stadium. In 18 games in LA, Alonso has hit .312 with 7 homers and 18 RBIs.
- 3B Mark Vientos hit a career-high 27 home runs this season with 15 of them coming in the 2nd half. In Game of the NLDS, Vientos hit 2 homers and became the 3rd youngest Met to have 2 extra base hits in a postseason game. At 24 years old, only a 23 year old David Wright in ‘06 and 21 year old Michael Conforto in ‘15 were younger.
- DH Shohei Ohtani led the NL in homers this season with 54 and is the favorite for NL MVP. Ohtani in 10 career games against the Mets has batted .361 with 3 homers and a .511 OBP.
- RF Mookie Betts started the season off as the Dodger SS before moving back to the outfield after he returned from wrist surgery. Betts entered Game 3 of the NLDS in a playoff slump dating back to ‘23 where he was 0 for 22 and 3 for his last 44. He broke out of it in Game 3 and Game 4, collecting 4 hits in 9 ABs with 2 being homers. The former MVP is crucial to the LA lineup because he provides direct protection behind Ohtani.
- 1B Freddie Freeman loves playing the Mets, just like Ohtani. In 207 career games mostly with the Braves, Freeman has hit .303 with 31 homers 129 RBIs against Queens.
Wild Cards
- LF Jesse Winker may not even be in the Mets Game 1 lineup, but he’s a big clubhouse guy who does a lot of cheering. He scored that run in the Wild Card Round and flipped his bat in their Game 4 win in Queens. The Mets corner outfielder sees the ball quite well in LA, hitting .304 with 3 homers in 12 games at Dodger Stadium. Winker also has some nice success off Jack Flaherty as he’s gone 8 for 21 (.381) with 2 homers off the Dodger righty.
- LF Teoscar Hernandez hit a career-high 33 homers this regular season. The NL All Star batted cleanup in the LA lineup and seems to love the bright lights. In his last 2 playoff series, Hernandez has hit a combined 4 homers. Hernandez hit his latest postseason homer off Yu Darvish in Game 5 of the NLDS on a first pitch fastball. Hernandez when swinging at the first pitch is a .286 hitter and has hit 85 of his career 192 dingers on the 1st pitch of the AB. Something to look for if the Mets decide to go after him early in counts.
Game 1
- SP Kodai Senga made a surprise start in Game 1 of the NLDS, going only 2 innings in his return. The Mets decided to piggyback Senga with LHP David Peterson. With Peterson closing out Game 4 of the NLDS on Wednesday night, it remains to be seen if the Mets will go with the same strategy with Peterson on short rest. Senga vs Ohtani will be a massive deal in Japan, so expect a real battle in the Bottom of the 1st.
- SP Jack Flaherty was a midseason trade after the Dodgers ran out of arms in their pitching rotation. In 6 playoff appearances, Flaherty has been underwhelming as a frontline starter going 1-4 with a 4.15 postseason ERA.
Game 2
- SP Sean Manaea played a key role in the Mets 2nd half surge as he threw 9 Quality Starts in 14 games. The lefty has been a key addition all season, however, Mets fans may want to shield their eyes of his stats in LA. At Dodger Stadium, Manaea has pitched in 7 games to a 6.94 ERA. Mookie Betts particularly has great numbers off the southpaw, hitting .313 with 3 homers in 32 ABs.
- SP Walker Buehler has not been officially announced as the Dodgers Game 2 starter but it’s just enough days rest to make sense. Since dealing with arm injuries, Buehler has not been anywhere near the same pitcher he was as an All Star back in ‘21. He made his 1st postseason start against the Padres in Game 3 and got rocked, allowing 6 runs in 5 innings. Buehler has also struggled mightedly to get Pete Alonso out (5 for 14 with 4 homers). If this is the Game 2 matchup, you may want to take the Over in runs scored, especially in the early innings.
Pen
