Outside The Confines: Wild, Wild Card

A manager comes out of a short retirement. Pete Alonso hits a clutch home run to send the Mets to the NLDS. And other news from the Wild Card round.

Part of the problem with doing a links post during the postseason is that some of your links can be out of date by the time you post them.

• Before we get to the games, there was breaking news last night that won’t be out of date. Terry Francona is coming out of his one-year retirement to manage the Cincinnati Reds. Francona battled a lot of health problems while he was managing Cleveland, which caused him to hang it up. I guess he’s feeling better. At least I hope that’s the reason he took the job.
• In case you haven’t heard, Pete Alonso hit a three-run home run in the top of the ninth inning last night as the Mets beat the Brewers, 3-2 to win the Wild Card Series and advance on to play the Phillies. It was the first time in MLB history that someone hit a go-ahead home run while trailing in the ninth inning or later in a winner-take-all game. Lot of qualifiers there, but it was a special home run—unless you were a Brewers fan. Hard for me to feel sympathy for the Brewers, but I remember Steve Garvey’s home run and that’s a terrible feeling.
• The Royals are taking on the Yankees in one of the American League Division Series, which is a nice throwback for those of us who remember the late-seventies and early-eighties. Anne Rogers writes about the rivalry between the two teams at that time, one in which Hall of Famer George Brett describes as “pure hatred.”
• Rustin Dodd catches up with the Royals as they celebrated their sweep of the Orioles. (The Athletic sub. req.) Dodd writes that the Royals are a fearsome team this October.
• Ken Rosenthal writes that with the Astros out of the picture, the Yankees need to seize the moment and reach their first World Series since 2009. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Chris Kirchner traces how Aaron Judge adjusted his swing and went from a talented but raw slugger with mechanical flaws out of college to post the greatest season ever by a right-handed hitter, (The Athletic sub. req.) at least by the wRC+ metric.
• Gabe Lacques asks what’s next for Baltimore after their playoff ouster.
• Mike Axisa looks at what went wrong for the Orioles and argues that they need to go all-in next year.
• Jake Rill reports that the Magic 8-Ball on impending Orioles free agents Corbin Burnes and Anthony Santander says “Reply Hazy, try again.”
• Brittany Ghiroli writes that the “honeymoon is over” for the Orioles and that the front office needs to find a way to get them over the hump (The Athletic sub. req.) before the window slams shut.
• The last time the Astros didn’t play in the American League Championship Series, Barack Obama was president. Matt Snyder looks at the questions facing the Astros this offseason.
• Jose Altuve said that he’s “pretty confident” that free agent third baseman Alex Bregman will return to Houston next year.
• Justin Verlander is also a free agent this winter and the 41-year-old future Hall-of-Famer said that he’s not ready to retire.
• Eric Longenhagen praises the way that Tigers manager A.J. Hinch managed the pitching staff to get the Tigers past Houston.
• Mandy Bell explains how the Guardians’ elite bullpen is their not-so-secret weapon this postseason.
• Jack Harris writes that the Dodgers are looking for revenge in their upcoming NLDS with the Padres.
• Harris also has eight things about the Padres that should worry the Dodgers.
• Dodgers manager Dave Roberts knows that the pressure is on and anything short of a World Series title will be considered a failure. (The Athletic sub. req.) Fabian Ardaya reports.
• Bradford Doolittle ranks the postseason teams by their urgency to win. (ESPN+ sub. req.) His number one team, the Brewers, are already gone by the time you read this.
• Dodgers legend and Spanish-language broadcaster Fernando Valenzuela has stepped away from the booth for the rest of the playoffs because of his health. Valenzuela has reportedly been hospitalized.
• Mike Petriello looks at the idea that teams with a bye in the first round of the playoffs are at a disadvantage in the second round. He says that there isn’t enough data to support such a conclusion.
• Offseason questions for the four eliminated playoff teams. (ESPN+ sub. req.)
• The Marlins are conducting a mass purge with over 70 coaches, scouts and staffers having been let go since the end of the season. (The Athletic sub. req.) Ken Rosenthal reports. Sounds like some of them can have their jobs back at a lower salary.
• The Diamondbacks fired pitching coach Brent Strom.
• Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick also called the team’s decision to sign free agent pitcher Jordan Montgomery a “horrible decision” and “our worst mistake.” Kendrick admits he was the one who wanted to sign Montgomery, but man—how do you say that about one of your own players?
• The Phillies’ Bryce Harper was fined by MLB for wearing Wawa-themed sleeves and cleats.
• Dan Hajducky and Xuan Thai talk to legal experts about the lawsuits concerning the ownership of Shohei Othani’s 50th home run.
• Gordon Wittenmyer explains that Pete Rose’s “lifetime ban” doesn’t end with his death. For one, it was never a “lifetime ban” but the “permanently ineligible” list.
• Jay Jaffe goes over Rose’s career and how the “hustle” dominated it, for good and evil.
• Ben Lindbergh notes that much of the debate around Rose’s legacy comes down to “Did you see him play?”
• The top ten moments of Dave Winfield’s career by Shaun O’Neill.
• The top ten moments of Dennis Eckersley’s career by Martín Gallegos.
• The Savannah Bananas announced that they will play 18 MLB stadiums and three football stadiums in 2025. You’ll have to go to the South Side to see them in Chicago. Get your tickets early as it’s sure to sell out.
• Sam Dykstra reveals the MLB Pipeline updated Top 100 Prospects list. There are eight Cubs in the top 100.
• Iowa state representative J.D. Scholten last pitched professionally in 2007. At age 44, he spent part of the 2024 summer pitching for the independent Sioux City Explorers and rediscovering his love of playing the game. Kelsie Heneghan has the story.
• And finally, Padres catcher Kyle Higashioka hit a big home run in San Diego’s game one win over Atlanta. He is also an avid guitar player in his spare time. That’s why he was blown away when Blink-182 guitarist and Padres fan Tom DeLonge gifted Higashioka with an autographed guitar.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.