The Dodgers’ ace lived up to his reputation as the game’s greatest pitcher with an improbable save on Thursday to close out the Nationals in the NLDSClayton Kershaw is the greatest pitcher of his time so why wouldn’t he want to finish one of the greatest playoff games in recent memory?He stood in the Los Angeles Dodgers dugout in the eighth inning of Thursday’s already draining Game 5 of a draining National League Division Series against Washington and wondered how possibly the team’s closer Kenley Jansen could pitch three innings when he was accustomed to only throwing one. He had made 211 pitches in the previous seven days, just weeks after returning from a back injury that once threatened to...
The Cubs had the best record in MLB this year, and enter the NL Championship Series as favorites – but history shows such a record is usually a kiss of deathSurely this is the season the Cubs’ curse ends. This year, the futility of rooting for lovable losers will become a piece of Chicago nostalgia, alongside Ferris Bueller singing Twist and Shout, Siskel and Ebert bickering over movie reviews, and Soldier Field looking like a 20th century building rather than a 22nd century spaceship. Right? Related: José Fernández: a smiling star whose death leaves baseball bereft Continue reading...
MLB experienced both celebratory and tragic goodbyes this week with the retirement of legendary broadcaster Vin Scully and the death of pitcher José Fernández. Plus, a review of Major League Baseball’s have notsOn Friday night in Los Angeles, I sat next to my father inside Dodger Stadium. My dad, Mike Lengel, is a 75-year-old lifelong fan of the Dodgers, who grew up in New York city watching Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, Duke Snider and the team of his childhood play in Brooklyn: until that night, he had never been been to LA or visited Dodger Stadium, where the team landed after leaving in 1957. Related: José Fernández: a smiling star whose death leaves baseball bereft Continue reading...
Miami Marlins pitcher died in early hours of Sunday morning
Marcell Ozuna says he tried to stop Fernández from going on trip
Miami Marlins pitcher José Fernández was a patron at a Miami River bar and restaurant the same night he and two friends were killed in a boat crash, a spokeswoman for the establishment confirmed Tuesday.A friend of one of the victims said he warned him against the post-midnight trip, and Marlins center fielder Marcell Ozuna said he and at least two other team-mates turned down invitations to go and tried to discourage Fernández from going out. Related: José Fernández: bag of baseballs signed by player washed ashore in Miami Continue reading...
The Marlins pitcher is dead at the age of 24. It is a tragedy made all the more painful after the adversity he had overcome in his short lifeThis is the year my son fell in love with baseball and for reasons that are still unclear he declared the Miami Marlins his second-favorite team. He often wears a black Marlins shirt to school with orange pants to match the team’s colors. And each night when we sit in front of the television to watch an hour of baseball before bedtime it is usually the Marlins we see. The most recent Marlins game we watched together was last Tuesday night when the team’s best pitcher José Fernández sliced through the Washington...