The defending National Champions in the Major Baseball League manage to survive. For now. The mounting of a comeback has begun in Chicago. In a low scoring match between the Chicago Cubs and the LA Dodgers, the Cubs would top their adversaries 3-2 in Wrigley Field.

This particular addition to the series would face off Jake Arrieta and Alex Wood. Unlike other faceoffs between the Dodgers and Cubs, this matchup would only allow runs scored off home runs. In similar fashion to Game 3, the Cubs would strike first on a second inning home run from Wilson Contreras. A 491 foot bomb into left field.

Contrasting the previous outing, Chicago would not merely score once this inning. The 437 foot belt into left by Javier Baez would further the gap. This hit is very significant for the second baseman. The end of a 0 for 20 streak slayed the demons which haunted Baez for longer than any Cubs fan would enjoy.

Despite this, the Dodgers would respond the next inning. Another homer, this one from first baseman Cody Bellinger. The score would stay at a 2-1 standstill until the fifth inning following the 378 foot blast.

Off of another pitch by Wood, Baez would once again swing for the fences. And succeed. A 380 foot solo shot into left field put the Dodgers into a 3-1 hole. In spite of their best attempts, LA would stay in the hole. An eighth inning home run by Justin Turner tightens the gap to a single run once more. Nonetheless, this would be the last run scored by either side.

The bullpens for both Los Angeles and Chicago performed well in Game 4 with both sides totaling more than 10 strikeouts a piece. The Cubs would total 12 strikeouts and the Dodgers, 11. The Dodgers would end up pulling 6 members of the bullpen onto to mound in opposition to Chicago bringing only Arrieta, Brian Duensing, and Wade Davis to close.

In the top of the ninth, Game 4 ends in dramatic fashion with a Bellinger hit turning into a Chicago double play. The Cubs stave off elimination to earn another fight. Game 5 between the Cubs and Dodgers will occur Thursday night at Wrigley Field once again. Clayton Kershaw will be on the mound for the Dodgers facing Chicago’s Jose Quintana with the first pitch at 7:08 pm CST on TBS.

The post Cubbie Comeback Continues into Game 5 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Many stars from the MLB are committing to their respective countries or heritages, as this may be the most profiled World Baseball Classic to date. Some stars include Manny Machado of the Baltimore Orioles (Dominican Republic), Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros (Venezuela), Adrian Gonzalez of the Los Angeles Dodgers (Mexico), and Nolan Arenado of the Colorado Rockies (USA).

While most are excited that baseball is back and would rather wait for the MLB season to start, hear me out. The World Baseball Classic is a great opportunity to see a lot of great things. The WBC provides us with the opportunity to enjoy talent from other countries who do not play in Major League Baseball. In the past we have seen current MLB stars like Masahiro Tanaka, Jose Abreu, Yoenis Cespedes, and Kenley Jansen play in the WBC before they were signed to big league contracts. Fun fact about Los Angeles Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen, who is arguably the best closer in baseball right now, played catcher for the Netherlands in the 2006 WBC. Here is a GIF of Jansen throwing out Ryan Braun from his knees.

Another opportunity that the WBC presents is competitive baseball in March. In the month of March, spring training games are just merely for the players prepping themselves for the season. Most of the game’s best players are out of the game by the fifth inning. With the WBC, the game’s premier players are in game action for nine innings. More star studded players as mentioned previously are going to play in the Classic.

Lastly, the WBC has an incredible fan atmosphere. Like the Soccer World Cup, the fans of international teams are loud, rowdy, excited, and prideful for their team. A sense of nationalistic pride comes together in one tournament, on one diamond, in between the foul lines, 60 feet 6 inches away with the winner-take-all in LA.

The first game for Team USA is on Friday, March 10 at 11 AM against Colombia, while the first official game of the WBC is between Israel and South Korea, which begins Monday, March 6 at 4 AM CT in Seoul, South Korea.

The post High Intensity Baseball Comes in March appeared first on KRUI Radio.

I think my first handful of Halloweens, after being dressed against my will as matching pumpkins with my older brother, I suited up as Nomar Garciaparra or Pedro Martinez. I have a vivid memory of getting in trouble during my preschool years. The punishment? I was barred from watching Ken Griffey Jr. and the Seattle Mariners battle our beloved Red Sox.

And forget sports moments, winning the 2004 World Series was one of my top life moments.

So, baseball, I’m saying this because I care:

Our game is dying. The games themselves are too long, too slow and too low scoring. It is neither a good TV sport, nor a great fantasy sport. Who’s the most popular player in the sport right now? It might be Derek Jeter, who isn’t playing anymore.

There is no secret ingredient to instantly spice the game back up. Kids who used to play little league are already putting down their gloves and picking up lacrosse sticks, if they haven’t devoted their time to a different year-round sport already.

For baseball’s sake, to make those four-hour, 11 inning marathons more appetizing, it must start with the offseason.

Three days before free agency began on Tuesday in the NFL, a smattering of teams already knew they were making huge changes. That’s because the league allows a “legal-tampering period” where teams can talk to unrestricted free agents and negotiate trades before free agency even starts.

Once the clock struck 4pm this past Tuesday, and Twitter’s servers began working overtime, the Dolphins, Lions, Bills, Jaguars and Rams all had deals in the works to add a franchise-altering player from a number of positions. In Major League Baseball, it would take two months to accumulate that kind of activity.

Even after the legal tampering, within free agency five hours old, the best cornerback and second best tight end in the game were on the move, altering the hierarchy of the entire league.

By comparison, Major League Baseball’s version of this madness normally comes in the December winter meetings. Last year’s three-day event saw Jon Lester, Jeff Samardzija and Yoenis Cespedes change teams.

All very good players, but nothing earth shattering. Their presence in new uniforms is important, but nothing to shift the balance of power like Graham or Revis did.

It’s worth mentioning that baseball’s free agency begins almost immediately after the World Series ends. Which means that teams sat on their hands for six and a half weeks before any significant ripples. In the NFL, some players moved before they were allowed to!

Pitting baseball and football against one another is not a fair fight. Football is perfect for casual viewers, has a time limit and has household superstars from previously shining at the college level. Baseball has none of that.

But, it can absolutely adapt. Quickening the pace of free agency would cause more excitement and more interest among casual fans—even more than an actor playing shortstop.

At this rate, baseball will become nothing more than a niche sport. Unless these wholesale changes are made to change the “slow and steady” culture that surrounds the game, I’ll have to get more creative when penalizing my kids.

The post Upon Further Review: Stuck in the Mud appeared first on KRUI Radio.

This is what baseball was supposed to be. Monstrous home runs, blinding strikeouts and game winning hits are what we as baseball fans hope to see during the long 162 game season.

However, like many times in sports, great things aren’t as great as they really seem. One by one, all the aforementioned players fell from their baseball throne. Eventually, Braun, McGwire and Pettitte all apologized for their steroid use.

Then came the Alex Rodriguez PED allegations.

Rodriguez is set to come back to the New York Yankees this season after serving the longest drug suspension and longest non-lifetime ban suspension in baseball history.

While the Drug Enforcement Agency and Bud Selig were no longer breathing down his neck, the baseball community continued to stare A-Rod in the eyes, waiting for that Andy Pettitte moment.

Don’t hold your breath.

On Tuesday, Rodriguez issued a hand written statement for his involvement with performance enhancing drugs.

“I take full responsibility for the mistakes that led to my suspension for the 2014 season,” Rodriguez said in the statement. “I regret that my actions made the situation worse than it needed to be. To Major League Baseball, the Yankees, the Steinbrenner family, the Players Association and you, the fans, I can only say I’m sorry.”

Cheated and betrayed. Yankees fans, baseball fans and sports fans deserved more than a letter. Alex Rodriguez had the perfect opportunity to start repairing a severely shattered relationship. He could have faced the media fire head on, inside Yankee Stadium, one of (if not the mecca of the baseball world).

Unfortunately Yankee Stadium sat empty Tuesday, while news outlets read and analyzed a note that stated the obvious.

Believe the sincerity, don’t believe the sincerity. Alex Rodriguez is back in pinstripes for a 162 game season, with his return to Yankee Stadium set for April 4 against the Toronto Blue Jays. And once the season’s underway, Rodriguez won’t be able to stay in the friendly confines of New York for too long.

The Boston Red Sox and Fenway Park will see you on May 1.

The post The Apology: Alex Rodriguez appeared first on KRUI Radio.

That’s exactly what I found myself repeating time and time again throughout Tuesday’s unbelievable sudden-death game between the Kansas City Royals and Oakland Athletics.

It was a tale of two lengthy stories in a do-or-die Wild Card game. First, the Royals and their “never say die” attitude fought from levels of obscurity to find themselves right in the midst of an American League Central Division title. While not garnering the division lead after a brutal 162-game schedule, they captured a playoff berth and the eyes of baseball nation. The Cinderella of baseball went up against, well, the once-Cinderella of baseball.

Oh, the Oakland Athletics: the featured team in “Moneyball” that made Billy Beane quite possibly the most well-known general manager in sports. While the tactics featured in the film got them into the playoffs with a salary well below the likes of the AL West superpower Los Angeles Angels, it wasn’t a winning strategy in the playoffs. So what did Beane do? He went completely out of his typical mind and traded his top prospect and best power bat to acquire exceptional rotation additions in Jeff Samardzija, Jason Hammel and Jon Lester.

Before that trade the A’s had the best record in baseball. Since? They’ve lot 30 of 46 and stumbled into the postseason, struggling to regain the same outstanding lineup composition that had them as World Series contenders.

Two different roads lead to the same destination, one on the upswing and other trying to find theirs once more. But that isn’t the story, rather just the background. The story is how the Royals singlehandedly sparked baseball.

After not reaching the playoffs for 29 years, Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City was as electric as any stadium I’ve ever seen, and I watched the Kansas City Chiefs break the stadium sound record across the street just a night earlier.

Fans, dressed fully in blue, were never out of the equation, even when trailing on three different accounts. Their resilience matched the team – one of small ball, never giving up and a blue-collar attitude. The fan base represented their team just as well as the team played for its fans.

And through our televisions we witnessed the beauty and perfection of sport combined with a flawless relationship between athletes and fans. Never were the Royals out of it – not following a two-run, opening-inning deficit, not when down four runs with a seasoned playoff ace, Lester, staring them down on the mound, and not even when The A’s took a one-run advantage in the top half of the 12^th inning. The fans never stopped cheering, and in turn the players never quit performing.

And as neither a fan of the Royals or Athletics, I feasted on it – and I know others without an interest in the game did, too. Watching and not wanting the Royals to win seemed impossible, even against my preseason World Series pick. I’d rather be wrong than see those fans go home unhappy. This is how Kansas City sparked baseball.

They revealed what has been baseball’s appeal since it debuted well before my grandparents were born. Hard work, determination, teamwork, playing for the love of the game and simply doing whatever is necessary to pull victory from the jaws of defeat is so valued in a sport that has dwindled in popularity while trying to compete against the likes of the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLS in recent years. This can be shown by a singular play: a simple steal of third base.

Here’s the situation: bottom of the ninth, one out and a runner on second. Kansas City’s speedster Jarrod Dyson is on the base path, sitting in scoring position only because of a sacrifice bunt (what seemed like the 20^th of the night for Kansas City’s small ball attitude). With an out from the sacrifice, the Royals have two choices: Either 1) With Norichika Aoki and Lorenzo Cain the next two batters, let them swing and hope for a single to the outfield to tie the game, or even better walk-off or 2) Throw all the chips on the table and do what you’ve done all year by attempting an incredibly gutsy steal of third.

They chose option two, not jumping off the methods that got them to this point, such as their counterparts did during mid-season. It worked.

Dyson darted to third and slid well through the bag, one of an MLB playoff-record seven steals for the Royals. Sure enough, Aoki hits a sacrifice fly and Cain lines out. Had they changed strategies now, Kansas City would have lost.

Long story short: The Royals give up a run in the top of the 12^th, sure enough fight back once again, and win on a single off one of Oakland’s midseason acquisitions in Hammel.

Gatorade coolers were dumped, hugs shared to greet the winning run at home plate, and the crowd was as passionate as ever. The Royals showed what being an athlete and a fan is truly supposed to mean, where winning matters, but appreciation for maximum effort means even more.

And baseball provided something that football, basketball, hockey and soccer can’t. Something so unique to the sport, that it is also their downfall to many modern fans. The amount of time it took for this game to conclude was wonderful.

Every pitch made fans hold their breath, as everything could change from one swing of the bat, one fielding error – a passed ball, a steal, and all the other immense variables baseball provides. Every. Single. Pitch. The suspense was brutal – it was a literal nail biter as proof by my hands today. It was as stressful as game to watch as any, but I couldn’t take my eyes away. And remember, I’m not even a Royals fan.

Kauffman was rocking, and as a fan of a team that hasn’t been a winner since 1908, I thank Kansas City for showing me what that kind of passion looks like. Thank you, Kansas City, for being a Cinderella, blue-collar story that not only refused to go down without a fight, but refused to lose in general. Thank you, Kansas City, for showing anyone who questioned the intensity and immense passion that baseball can provide what the potential truly is. And thank you, Major League Baseball, for creating a one-game playoff with such immense pressure that these scenarios have the opportunity to come about.

The sudden death play-in game creates such a pressure-filled atmosphere that it makes baseball so much more appealing than its multiple seven-game bouts. After 162 games, to have it all come down to one game may seem unfair to some spectators, but it’s such an incredible concept. Imagine doing 162 days of classes, just to have the professor say “throw out all the homework, your grade comes down to tomorrow’s final test.” Yeah, that kind of pressure.

I hope you all got to experience to an extent what that Tuesday night game involved. Appreciate the pressure on both squads, the nerves they had to squander to perform and the show they put on.

But before I finish, remember what Kauffman looked like in that playoff atmosphere. Now imagine it’s Game Seven. Now move that game to Wrigley Field.

“It doesn’t get any better than this.”

The post How the Kansas City Royals Sparked Baseball appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The south siders have been bashed for years in regards to their lack of talent in the minor leagues and had been given the tag of an old, slow team. In his second year as GM, however, Rick Hahn has injected a once old White Sox squad with young and exciting talent.

The White Sox, currently 72-86, have nine more wins than last season with four games remaining. The additions of Adam Eaton and, and Cuban-slugger Jose Abreu have been a huge boost to an offense that struggled to do virtually everything last season. Abreu has stolen the spotlight during his remarkable rookie season with a slash line of .318/.384/.587 to go along with his 35 bombs and 105 RBIs, and oh, did I mention he missed 15 games? Abreu bat gives the White Sox a Miguel Cabrera-like presence in the middle of their lineup that can wreak havoc for years to come.

As crazy as it sounds, Abreu’s numbers have a chance of improving next year when he will have the luxury of Avisail Garcia, 23, batting behind him the lineup. Garcia missed most of this season after suffering a torn labrum, but has shown in the past the possibility of being a five-tool player.

At the top of the lineup, Adam Eaton has lived up to all of the off-season hype after the Sox felt confident enough to deal their 25 year old 40 save closer, Addison Reed. Eaton’s ability to get on base set the table for the White Sox all season long, and it was very noticeable that the Pale Hose offense had trouble scoring runs when he was out of the lineup. Eaton’s ability to work the count and make pitchers throw pitches has made him the epitome of what the White Sox want to see at the leadoff position.

Here’s a look at some key offensive stats of Sox players who will be returning next season.

*= Only played in 44 games

With only 46 million committed to the 2015 payroll the White Sox have a lot of spending money and the arrival of rookie Carlos Rodon will give them three top of the line starters in Sale, Quintana, and Rodon. Sure, it’s a little early to consider Rodon a top of the line starter when he hasn’t thrown a pitch yet, but the kid who has been called “the best left hander drafted since David Price” has lived up to the expectations so far in the minors.

Rodon streaked through single and double A ball, and in his second triple A start he fanned eight over four innings while giving up one run on one hit. If the Sox can land a solid number two in free agency and let Danks and Noesi battle for the fifth spot, they would have one of the better rotations in baseball.

The rest of that spending money could then be used to fix a bullpen that was not invested in for this season and to add an additional bat to the lineup. With an MVP candidate in Abreu, a CY Young candidate in Sale, and an exceptional leadoff hitter in Adam Eaton, the pieces are certainly falling into place for the South Siders to make some noise in ’15.

The post White Sox Planning to Bounce Back in ’15 appeared first on KRUI Radio.