After much ado (or relatively little), we’ve reached October, the best time of the year to be a baseball fan. Ten teams will vie for the right to play in the World Series. It’s a month long extravaganza featuring the best of the best.
But first…
A one game playoff where the winner moves on to play the division winner with the best record in their respective league, and the loser goes home.
We’ve come to this – the final weekend of the season. Already, the Cubs have shuttered Wrigley Field across the street, going out with a win against their hated rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals. Three to four games a piece remain for every team, with a third of those teams locked into positioning battles for the postseason. There’s been a few interesting developments, but as far as the actual participants, our picture is pretty much set. I tossed around several ideas for the lead for this column, things like awards, retirees, winners and losers of the season, but all of my ideas are probably better suited for October columns. So, without further ado…
We’re near the end-game. Two more September updates, and then it’s time for playoffs, aka: that time when everyone else on staff hates me because the Recorder will be swarmed with baseball articles. Tuesday night, the first two division berths were secured by Beltway powerhouses Washington and Baltimore (let that sink in for a moment), both of whom easily clinched their divisions with leads of 12.5 and 13.5 games (as of Wednesday). In addition, the Angels are assured of a berth of some kind – barring a monumental collapse of infinitely small odds, they’ll clinch their division sometime this week. (Before Wednesday’s games, they had a magic number of 2 to clinch the division – one A’s loss and an Angels win would grant them the title, in other words. Again, we’re talking an unprecedented collapse for them not to win the division.)
(Thursday update – Sure enough, last night, the Angels clinched the division by winning 5-0 against Seattle as Oakland dropped a game against Texas 6-1. Rather than edit everything, I’m simply noting that I submitted my copy for deadline before Wednesday’s slate of games. You’re on your own.) [Read more…]
Writing a weekly column is fun! Writing a weekly baseball column about the state of the postseason in the middle of a busy week with work, class, and other assorted pastimes is challenging. This results in last minute updates of respective standings, one which I promise to you I will fulfill. I just want everyone to know exactly what’s up.
These guys are probably having a way better time than you.
We’re leading with dueling song titles, because the state of the league has entered into something approaching wonderful flux. The big money teams are down (with two rather notable exceptions in SoCal), the little, scrappy teams are up, and some old stand-bys are plugging along, doing what they do year in and year out with remarkable consistency. On the one hand, if the season ended today, the Red Sox, Yankees, Mets, and Phillies would all be out of the postseason. This shift away from the East Coast powerhouses of the last decade has been transplanted by the rise of the West Coast, with both LA teams, the Giants, and Oakland representing sunny Cal in the playoffs. [Read more…]
This is a guest post by friend of the Recorder, Molly Schlemmer, who expressed interest in writing about a frightfully topical issue, one in which she has the full support of the Addison Recorder.
Anita Sarkeesian in her latest episode of Tropes vs. Women in Video Games.
I am a gamer. I am also a woman, which makes me one of those mythic “girl gamers.” About a week ago Andrew Rostan shared this article from The Mary Sue on Facebook. My stomach sank as I read it. Was the gaming world really going to do this again?
The calendar has turned. The evenings are starting to become a bit cooler, leaves are clinging to the last vestiges of green, and school is back in session. It’s also the last breath of the regular baseball season before jumping into the October playoff frenzy. There are multiple reasons as to why we’re entering my favorite time of the year, and the fact that the World Series is right around the corner plays no small part in this feeling.
We here at The Addison Recorder read stuff. We also watch stuff. And play stuff, even. Sometimes, that stuff is interesting. Sometimes we just need to talk about whatever pop culture ephemera occupies our time. Which brings us to this column. Party on.
Arcade Fire grew to prominence as an indie-band, releasing the critically acclaimed Funeral in late 2004. Since then, they’ve released Neon Bible (2007), Grammy Award-winning The Suburbs (2010), and, most recently, the double album Reflektor (2013). This year, they’ve embarked upon a gargantuan arena tour, recently playing two nights at Chicago’s United Center on August 26th and 27th. Alex and I were lucky enough to find cheap tickets, and attended the concert in all of its stadium-esque glory.
A lot has happened in baseball of late: Mo’ne Davis proving there’s no crying in baseball … except for the kids she strikes out; Jackie Robinson West advancing to the tops of the Little League World Series; and continuing struggles in the race for October. Starting September, I’ll update every week regarding the playoff race. For now, the new TV station FXX is marathoning every episode of The Simpsons, and the baseball/softball tribute/parody “Homer at the Bat” grabbed my attention, if only for the sterling line-up of major league guest stars. The episode aired twenty-two years ago, either two too many or three too few for a proper anniversary tribute, but I wanted to check in on what the Springfield Power Plant softball team stars have been up to.
Growing up in the 1990’s was a time to enjoy supreme power in baseball – it was the reign of sluggers like Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, Thomas, McGriff, Bagwell, Vaughn (two of them), and dozens of others. Yet, at the same time, the pitching was filthier than ever – pitchers such as Clemens, Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz, Johnson, and Martinez either came of age or thrived as never before. Their success lasted into the 2000’s, but while we were treated to a new crop of sluggers (Pujols, Konerko, Giambi, Ortiz, etc.), the pitching of the era never really developed the kinds of aces we saw in the 90’s.