Jim Leyland has decided to call it a career. Leyland was fifteenth winningest manager in baseball (1769-1728). He managed for twenty-two years, and for four different teams. He was most successful with his last job, manager for the Detroit Tigers for eight years, where he went 700-597 with two American League Pennants. Overall, Leyland has won three pennants and one World Series, managing the 1997 Marlins to their first World Series. Leyland has won Manager of the Year in both leagues, capturing the crown in 1990 (NL), 1992 (NL), and 2006 (AL). He has finished in the voting for this award in twelve of his seasons, showing that he could be a great manager on a yearly basis. Could Jim Leyland make the hall of fame? Only five managers with more wins than Leyland have not made the Hall of Fame. Four of those five managers have not served their five years of retirement yet (LaRussa; Cox; Torre; Piniella) will probably make it in as well. Leyland is definitely a candidate for the Hall of Fame, due to his great work ethic, his wonderful personality, and his ways of managing a ball club. Leyland is a good guy, and deserves to be voted in for his great twenty-two years of big league managing. "We want to thank Jim for everything he has done over the past eight years to steer the ship and lead our ballclub to some exciting times in this town," Tigers owner Mike Ilitch said. "Jim has been instrumental in the franchise's most recent success on and off the field, and we are forever grateful. We wish the best to Jim and his family in the future." Leyland hopes to stay involved with the Tigers saying that he will "accept another position yet to be determined." He deserves another job in baseball, especially with the Tigers team that he has managed for nearly the last decade. The Tigers will now join the search for 2014 managers.
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Victorino was down 0-2. Two curveballs that he could not touch. Jose Veras came set and delivered yet another curve. Shane sat on it. As he watched his homer go over the left-field monster, he raised his arms in the air. He had just channeled his inner David Ortiz and delivered a go-ahead grand slam, this time giving a 5-2 lead. It was not his only postseason grand slam, as he hit a slam against the Brewers for the Phillies in 2007.
Koji Uehara recorded his third save of the ALCS, pitching a perfect 11 pitch inning to close out the series for the Sox. He went 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in five appearances this series. His job well done continued to be a large part to the Red Sox postseason success, where he has gone 1-1 with five saves and a 1.00 ERA, playing very well for the Red Sox. The Tigers were just unable to muster any momentum against the Red Sox, who's slow pace of play can mess up any pitching staff, and can continue to keep the momentum in their favor. Max Scherzer (2-1) started this game, and pitched 6.1 innings allowing three runs, and taking his first loss of the postseason. He ended the postseason with four appearances (three starts) and recording a 2.82 ERA. His mix of pitches kept Red Sox hitters off balance the entire time he was in the game, and kept the Tigers within striking distance. His bullpen, however, allowed the go-ahead runs, in which two of them were charged to Scherzer. Clay Buchholz pitched five innings, allowing two runs on four hits while facing twenty batters. He did not get a decision, and improved his postseason ERA to 5.40. He does not fare well in the postseason, as he has a career 4.98 ERA. He and the Red Sox will stay home and face the St. Louis Cardinals for the 2013 World Series. The Red Sox have played exceptionally well over this season, and now are getting rewarded for their great efforts. As they head to the World Series, they now have a shot to take baseball's elusive crown, the World Series championship. They have a good team in the St. Louis Cardinals in their way, however. For now, Bostonians should be thanking the Red Sox for signing Shane Victorino to a 39 million dollar deal, and should be thanking Shane Victorino for giving them an ALCS victory. The ticket has been punched. The St. Louis Cardinals will be headed to the 2013 World Series, after defeating the Dodgers last night 9-0. They take the series in six games. The Cardinals advance to the series for the fourth time since 2004, where they have gone 2-1 in their previous three match-ups. This is the twenty-third pennant in Cardinals history, as they have taken eleven World Series of their last twenty two pennants.
What looked to be a pitchers duel between Clayton Kerhsaw and Michael Wacha proved incorrect. Kershaw was ratted early and often, exiting after four plus innings while allowing seven earned runs. Tonight was just not his night. He didn't pitch terribly either; he was just unable to get the calls on the corner of the zone and unable to work around the Cardinals clutch hitting lineup. Sometimes pitchers have days like that, but it's still hard to believe that Kershaw did in a elimination game. It goes to show that it is very hard to be perfect. He has a career 4.91 ERA in five NLCS games (two starts). Michael Wacha pitched up to expectations, keeping the Dodger hitters off balance all night. He pitched seven two-hit innings, while allowing zero runs, and striking out five. He pitched thirteen and two thirds innings over this series, while allowing only seven hits and no runs. In his twenty-one innings in the postseason, Wacha has a minuscule 0.43 ERA in this postseason, as he looks to continue his dominance in the World Series. His fantastic pitching secured him the National League Championship Series MVP. The Dodgers were only able to tally two hits off of Cardinals pitchers in game six, but were able to muster forty-two hits in the entire series (seven hits per game), giving them plenty of opportunities to win this series. When you back yourself up against a wall, it's very hard to comeback, as we saw the Dodgers get down in a 2-0 hole early, and then try and frantically come out of the whole. Imagine how much this series would've changed had the Dodgers won game one? Then there would be a game seven, and there would be extra life in this club. That's how the Cardinals won; they felt a sense of urgency in every game they played. The Cardinals showed plenty of offensive life at Busch yesterday, supplying Wacha with nine runs and thirteen hits. All of their runs scored before the fifth inning, giving the Cardinals pitching staff plenty of breathing room when it was needed. Carlos Beltran, in particular, continued to be clutch, tallying three hits in four chances, and driving in two runs in with two RBI singles. If Wacha didn't pitch as well as he did, I think Beltran easily could've won MVP of this series. He played just some really good baseball in this series. The Dodgers get to go home. The Cardinals get to watch the ALCS. Then they get to play the winner of Detroit/Boston for the World Series Championship; a chance to write yourself in the history books of baseball. They have played great baseball this entire year, and now they are being rewarded for it. With the opportunity to play in baseball's biggest stage, the World Series Championship. The White Sox have just found perhaps their first baseman of the future. Jose Abreu was give a six year, $68 million contract to play in America for the White Sox. Abreu, who defected from Cuba over the summer, has put up some impressive lines in Cuba, hitting .394/.543/.835 with 18 doubles and 37 HR in the 2011-2012 campaign (baseballrumors101.blogspot.com). Abreu has been compared to Adam Dunn, but he could be much more than that because he has shown impressive power and contact in Cuba. Abreu could be something else in the big leagues, as he is an awesome hitter already. This deal will most likely go through barring any snags and a physical. Abreu and the White Sox seem like a perfect match, where the White Sox 2013 first baseman Paul Konerko becomes a 37 year old free agent in the winter. Don't be surprised if Abreu doesn't take the major league job immediately, but could take it pretty soon. Since a deal wasn't completed during the season, Abreu will most likely have to wait to get some MiLB at bats next year, unless he impresses very much during Spring Training. This is a great signing for the White Sox, as they have spent their largest amount of money on any international free agent ever on Jose Abreu. I think he'll impress in the Windy City, where he will provide a lot of power in a somewhat hitter-friendly park.
Game 5 Recap: BOS 4, DET 3 The Red Sox are one game away from the American League Championship. By defeating the Detroit Tigers, 4-3, the Red Sox need one win to take the series and move on to the World Series. They scored all four of their runs within the first three innings, coming on a Mike Napoli 460 foot homer (went 3-for-4) and other rallies. Xander Bogaerts, who John Farrell wanted to "throw into the fire", doubled and scored, as the Red Sox rocked Sanchez early. Sanchez (1-2) has a 4.41 ERA in the potseason now; while Lester (2-1) has a 2.33 ERA. They play again on Saturday in Boston. BOS 4 | 10 | 0 DET 3 | 10 | 1 Game 4 Recap: DET 7, BOS 3 The Detroit Tigers took a very important game Wednesday, as they tied up the series behind a lot of offense. Jake Peavy started for Boston; his postseason ERA is now a horrid 10.31 mark; and was not sharp. He allowed all seven runs in only three innings, giving the Boston bullpen plenty of sports. Torii Hunter, Miguel Cabrera, and Austin Jackson all drove in two runs for Detroit, who had a very good pitching performace from Doug Fister, who pitched six innings of one run ball, while working around eight hits. This win was a good win for Detroit as a team, as they tie the series at 2 going into game five tonight. DET 7 | 9 | 0 BOS 3 | 12 | 0 Game 3 Recap: BOS 1, DET 0 Justin Verlander and John Lackey were both downright dominant, with Verlander pitching eight innings of one run ball, and Lackey pitching six and two thirds. In a game where the Tigers and Red Sox combined for twenty-three strikeouts, this game came down really to one play, where Mike Napoli crushed a solo shot in the seventh to left center field, providing the offense for both teams. The Boston bullpen held off the Tigers for the final two and a third innings, closing out the victory that puts them up 2-1 in the series. They play again today in Detroit (Peavy vs. Fister). BOS 1 | 4 | 0 DET 0 | 6 | 1 Game 2 Recap: BOS 6, DET 5 |
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