World Series Game Two Thread: Houston Astros @ Los Angeles Dodgers

Game time once gain in Los Angeles as the Los Angeles Dodgers are set to play host to the Houston Astros in Game Two of the 2017 World Series. Last night we all watched as two left-handed starters faced off head-to-head and tonight will be the battle of two veterans as Justin Verlander takes the ball for the Astros and Rich Hill takes the ball for the Dodgers. The game will be played at 8:00 pm ET and can be seen on FOX.

Follow us on Twitter by following @GreedyStripes and enjoy the game.

Prediction: Astros win 6-3

World Series Game Two Preview: Houston Astros @ Los Angeles Dodgers

The World Series is back tonight and is back in sunny California as the Los Angeles Dodgers play host to the Houston Astros in Game Two of the series. Last night we were all entertained by the amazing pitching matchup of two dominant left-handers in Dallas Keuchel and Clayton Kershaw and tonight another lefty and one right-hander take center stage. On the mound tonight for the Dodgers is the veteran left-hander Rich Hill while the Astros will counter with a veteran right-hander of their own in Justin Verlander. Runs, once again, should be hard to come by with these two savvy pitchers on the mound which is almost fitting in this National League environment, at least in my opinion.

Hill will be making his World Series debut tonight inside Dodger Stadium after pitching in the Independent League as recently as the 2015 season. What a comeback and what a story Rich Hill has been in recent years. Hill has not pitched more than five innings in either of his two postseason starts this season, but the lefty has limited damage allowing three runs on six hits combined in those two starts before handing it off to the Los Angeles bullpen.

Verlander was named the 2017 ALCS MVP for his pitching efforts against the New York Yankees and the right-hander will look to continue his success tonight and in the World Series. During the ALCS the Astros right-hander allowed just one earned run in 16 innings of work after having less than stellar stats against the Yankees throughout his career. That bodes well for Verlander who has not pitched well in the World Series through his career either to the tune of a 7.20 ERA in three World Series starts with the Detroit Tigers.

The game will be played at 8:00 pm ET inside Dodger Stadium and can be seen on FOX. As the sting from the Yankees losing in the ALCS wears off I find myself missing baseball more and more this season. I know I stated I would be boycotting this World Series… but damn… I miss baseball already and we are already facing months without it anyway in the offseason. I may cave, I don’t know. Stay tuned to find out, LOL.

2017 World Series Game One Thread: Houston Astros @ Los Angeles Dodgers

The 2017 World Series is just about set to begin out in sunny California as the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Houston Astros prepare to do battle in a seven-game series. The Dodgers had the better record of the two during the regular season so they will have homefield advantage throughout this World Series including for the first two games of the series beginning tonight. In the opener tonight Dodger Stadium will play host to Dallas Keuchel for the Astros and Clayton Kershaw for the Dodgers in what should be an intense matchup of two tough left-handed starting pitchers. The game will be played at 8:00 pm ET and can be seen on FOX.

Follow us on Twitter by following @GreedyStripes and enjoy the game. Enjoy the World Series as well. Go Dodgers? Go Astros? They just don’t sound right coming from me, sorry.

Prediction: Dodgers win 4-1

World Series Game One Preview: Houston Astros @ Los Angeles Dodgers

As much as it hurts me to write this article I feel compelled to do so anyway, it’s the World Series after all. The World Series is what every team works towards every single season and despite my team, the New York Yankees, not being there I don’t want to take away from the accomplishments that the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Houston Astros were able to achieve here in 2017. So here we are in sunny Los Angeles for Game One of the 2017 World Series. In the opener the Dodgers will send, who else, Clayton Kershaw to the mound to square off with lefty Dallas Keuchel for the Astros. What a pitching matchup, huh? Let’s preview the game!

Keuchel has been dominant this postseason and throughout his short postseason career with the Astros beginning with that 2015 AL Wild Card Game against the New York Yankees. Keuchel owns a career postseason ERA of 1.78 in five starts including two starts against the Yankees in the ALCS where the left allowed four runs in 11.1 innings pitched. This will be the first trip to the World Series in Keuchel’s young career.

Kershaw will pitch tonight for the Dodgers also making his first ever career World Series start. Kershaw will be pitching on regular rest after dominating the Chicago Cubs on Thursday. Kershaw hasn’t been as dominant as Keuchel has been but his 3.63 ERA in 17.1 innings pitched this postseason are nothing to shake a stick at either.

The game will be played at 8:00 pm ET inside Dodger Stadium and can be seen on FOX. This is the World Series, how much more do I really have to say here/ Enjoy the games and the series, I personally won’t be watching much, if at all. It hurts too bad. Have a great day everyone. 

All Rise for Aaron Judge in the Judge’s Chambers

All Rise for the Judge! Court is now in session in The Judge’s Chambers here inside Yankee Stadium. On Monday night court opened up inside Yankee Stadium as three rows inside Yankee Stadium turned into The Judge’s Chambers. A total of 18 fans were seen wearing black judicial robes with the Yankees logo on the front and Judge’s number 99 on the back honoring the Yankees rookie right fielder.

This is not uncommon around the league for fans to turn entire sections of the ballpark into a dedicated section for a player. Remember Mannywood in left field inside Dodger Stadium? Remember the King’s Court for Felix Hernandez out in Seattle? Well it’s kind of like that although in those sections any fans can buy tickets and sit there while the Yankees will choose certain fans to sit there. Obviously wearing an Aaron Judge jersey or t-shirt or a judicial robe will get chosen along with their families which could be kind of interesting. Those chosen will be given Styrofoam gavels stamped with “All Rise!” on the side to tap against the bench. The robes stay in the section.

I can see this section being turned into a place for charity groups, birthday parties, Little League teams etc. can go and hang out and be honored while honoring the Judge.

What an honor for a kid who has been in the Major Leagues for just a few short months between last season and this season but if you pay attention to the Yankees and head out to the games you know why the Yankees are honoring him so soon. He interacts with the Yankees fans on Twitter and Instagram and he has played catch with fans in the stands on more than one occasion. You can always see him giving kids baseballs in the stands in-between innings and such and he just treats the game how you’re supposed to treat it in my opinion, like a game. This isn’t a job for Judge and that mindset is just part of what makes Judge truly special.

Congratulations to him and I look forward to seeing everyone in The Judge’s Chambers this season and beyond. If anyone sits in those seats and wants to be covered here on the blog with your pictures showcased on the blog then contact me on Twitter (@GreedyStripes) or by shooting me an email at thegreedypinstripes at gmail dot com.

Congratulations to Team USA in the WBC – My Thoughts

The World Baseball Classic came to an end on Wednesday and while I have been absent from the blog this week, once again my apologies, that doesn’t mean I have been absent from my fandom with the sport. I watched and rooted on Team USA as they blanked Team Puerto Rico in the WBC finale to win their first championship from the tournament in its short history and I wanted to take the time to not only congratulate them this afternoon but I also want to give my thoughts on the game and the entire tournament as a whole for Team USA.

I have to say that as a whole I am not a huge fan of the World Baseball Classic. I get the whole idea behind it, representing your country on a worldwide stage, but I think my biggest beef with it is when the games are actually played. In years past I have always said that teams like Team Dominican Republic and Team Venezuela and Team Puerto Rico to name a few have a clear and concise advantage because they have warm weather nearly year round and they have winter leagues such as the Dominican Winter League where players can play baseball year round. While Americans can play baseball and stay in shape all year long there is and always will be a huge difference in training and exhibition type baseball and the real live thing giving players outside the country a distinct advantage in my opinion, well until this year of course.

Team USA stormed the mound on Wednesday night not after only beating Team Puerto Rico but completely dominating and shutting them out 8-0 to capture the championship. Players hoisted the decorative bald eagle mascot on their shoulders and ran across the field with American flags across their backs and dammit I’d be lying if it didn’t make me proud to be an American. The chants of USA-USA-USA inside Dodger Stadium were echoing and chilling and they sent shivers down my spine as Team USA simply lowered their heads and received their gold medals in pride.

Honestly I think the WBC, until this week anyway, was a much bigger deal and was way more important to countries like the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Japan etc. than it was to the United States. We have Major League Baseball…. But now we have a World Baseball Classic championship and we earned it in front of over 57,000 fans in Dodger Stadium. This may change the WBC for Team USA forever. You think Mike Trout and Bryce Harper so “no” to defending the title again in a few years? Part of me wants to say “hell no” they won’t. Stay tuned. 

MLB Postseason Schedule for 10/20

The American League rests tonight and the National League takes center stage once again as the Chicago Cubs fly to Los Angeles and Dodgers Stadium to take on the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Cubs have to have the Curse of the Billy Goat in the back of their head, especially after getting down 2-1 in the best of seven series. They can say they don’t but we all know that they do. Overcome, I want to see the curse broken!

Chicago Cubs @ Los Angeles Dodgers (Game 5) – 8:08 pm ET on Fox Sports One

MLB Postseason Schedule for 10/19/16

My apologies for the lack of content on the site yesterday. In the immortal words of Yankees manager Joe Girardi, “I needed a day.” I’m back, I’m still alive and you can call off the search parties for me. I’m here. Let’s get back to business and see what is going on in the world of the MLB Playoffs tonight. Hopefully I didn’t miss too awful much.

Cleveland Indians @ Toronto Blue Jays (Game 5 if necessary) – 4:08 pm ET on TBS and TSN

Chicago Cubs @ Los Angeles Dodgers (Game 4) – 8:08 pm ET on Fox Sports One

NLCS: Recapping the Head-to-Head Matchups from 2016

Yesterday morning we took a look at the six matchups between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Cleveland Indians before the ALCS officially kicked off between the two clubs and today we will do the same for the two remaining teams in the National League, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs pretty much steamrolled any and all teams they had put in front of them this season en route to the best record in Major League Baseball but the Dodgers were no slouch either winning the National League West Division. Who had the upper hand during the regular season between these two historic clubs? Let’s find out.

Rk	Date	Tm		Opp	R	RA	Win	Loss	Save
50	Tuesday, May 31	CHC		LAD	0	5	Blanton	Richard
51	Wednesday, Jun 1	CHC		LAD	2	1	Lester	Bolsinger
52	Thursday, Jun 2	CHC		LAD	7	2	Hendricks	Urias
127	Friday, Aug 26	CHC	@	LAD	6	4	Wood	Liberatore	Chapman
128	Saturday, Aug 27	CHC	@	LAD	2	3	Urias	Hammel	Jansen
129	Sunday, Aug 28	CHC	@	LAD	0	1	Blanton	Cahill	Jansen

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

All stats courtesy of Baseball Reference. 

The History of the Dodgers and Yankees Rivalry

The New York Yankees will remain home once again tonight as they continue their playoff push towards October but tonight has a little bit of a different feel to it. The Yankees aren't playing host to the Orioles or the Red Sox or even the Toronto Blue Jays but instead they are welcoming a new foe, and an old foe, in the Los Angeles Dodgers. Now if you're like me you are too young to remember these two teams going at it head-to-head in the late 70's in the World Series but apparently at one point and time these two were quite the rivals. Let's talk about it.


The World Series:

The Yankees and Dodgers, the Brooklyn and Los Angeles versions, have met in --- World Series matchups including the 1941 World Series (Yankees), 1947 World Series (Yankees), 1949 World Series (Yankees), 1952 World Series (Yankees), 1953 World Series (Yankees), 1955 World Series (Dodgers, finally), 1956 World Series (Yankees), 1963 World Series (Dodgers, just in Los Angeles this time), 1977 World Series (Yankees), 1978 World Series (Yankees), and the 1981 World Series (Dodgers).

Notable Trades:


May 26, 1957: The Brooklyn Dodgers purchased Tom Lasorda from the New York Yankees.


November 30, 1967: The New York Yankees purchased Gene Michael from the Los Angeles Dodgers.

May 15, 2004: The Los Angeles Dodgers traded Tanyon Sturtze to the New York Yankees for Brian Myrow.

December 13, 2003: The New York Yankees traded Brandon Weeden (minors), Yhency Brazoban, Jeff Weaver and cash to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Kevin Brown.

July 31, 2003: The New York Yankees traded Robin Ventura to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Bubba Crosby and Scott Proctor.

June 20, 2000: The Los Angeles Dodgers traded Jose Vizcaino and cash to the New York Yankees for Jim Leyritz.

January 12, 2016: The Los Angeles Dodgers traded Tyler Olson and Ronald Torreyes to the New York Yankees for Rob Segedin and player to be named or cash.

July 31, 2007: The New York Yankees traded Scott Proctor to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Wilson Betemit.

Head-to-Head Regular Season:

10 Games. 5-5 Record. Two games inside Yankee Stadium (1-1 record) eight games inside Dodger Stadium (4-4 record)

Which MLB Ball Park Should You Visit?

Let's say you only have time to see one more MLB stadium before you go, which stadium should it be? That's a hard decision to make for some. Sure, you have the stadium of your home team but it's likely that you've been there a few hundred times in a lot of cases. What about a rival's stadium? You may or may not have visited this stadium but do you really want to head into enemy territory for your final stadium visit or ultimate stadium visit? Decisions, decisions, decisions but that's where Fox Sports is here to help. 

Fox Sports has developed a quiz that asks a few questions about your ultimate stadium viewing and visiting experience and chooses the stadium that you should cross of your bucket list and head out to visit. To take the quiz CLICK HERE and you can see below for an example of the results as the quiz gave me Yankee Stadium. I kind of thought that was coming by some of the questions asked but I answered honestly anyway and this is what I got. Leave your choice in the comments section below or tweet us them @GreedyStripes. 

www.foxsports.com

Only the Coliseum in Rome can match the grandiose of Yankee Stadium. It's massive, grand and a tribute to the House That Ruth Built. Though it's not the historic ballpark that sat across the street, it's still a must-see for any baseball fan.

The USA Today Ranks All 30 MLB Stadiums

The USA Today’s Ted Berg did something I wish I could do this week, he ranked all 30 Major League Baseball stadiums in the league. Now sure, I could rank them all day long but he has actually visited all 30 and that is the key component to my jealousy and to what makes this list unique and great. Make sure to visit the link to check out his write up’s on all 30 MLB stadiums and see where he ranks them but for the purposes of this post I will sample the Top 10 stadiums and the write up for good ole’ Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. Enjoy.

1.       Petco Park – San Diego Padres

2.       AT&T Park – San Francisco Giants

3.       PNC Park – Pittsburgh Pirates

4.       Wrigley Field – Chicago Cubs

5.       Dodger Stadium – Los Angeles Dodgers

6.       Kauffman Stadium – Kansas City Royals

7.       Coors Field – Colorado Rockies

8.       Fenway Park – Boston Red Sox

9.       Target Field – Minnesota Twins

10.   Citi Field – New York Mets

25. Yankee Stadium – New York Yankees:

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/08/ranking-best-worst-mlb-stadiums-30-petco-wrigley-pnc

Credit the Yankees for eschewing the typical new-old look popular when their stadium opened in 2009, but not for producing a ballpark that looks more like a Las Vegas casino version of a stately building than the actual stately building they intended. The giant videoboard is great and the sight of the 4-train rumbling past is very cool, but the Yankees play within a couple of miles of some of the best Italian food on this great planet and somehow dare to unironically serve Papa John’s Pizza at their ballpark. You have to admire the chutzpah, really. — Ted Berg

Quiz: Baseball Stadium on Your Bucket List?

While rummaging through my bookmarks I had set aside to read this week I found an interesting quiz on Fox Sports that I thought I would share tonight. The basic premise of the quiz is to determine which stadium you should go to assuming that you cannot see all 30 stadiums in the league right now. When I took the quiz, SEEN HERE, the stadium I should add to my bucket list was Dodger Stadium.

Is there anything better than perfect weather, palm trees and baseball? Apparently for you, absolutely not. Massive Dodger Stadium is nestled in Chavez Ravine, providing a picturesque backdrop and a fun-for-all environment for your bucket list stadium trip.

Just in case anyone was wondering I haven't actually seen that many stadiums in my lifetime, not nearly enough. I have been to the old Yankee Stadium, Shea Stadium, Tropicana Field, Turner Field and Fulton County Stadium. What are yours? Leave them below in the comments section or leave them for us on Twitter by tweeting @GREEDYSTRIPES.

All-Star Game History inside Yankee Stadium

The New York Yankees have hosted the Major League Baseball All Star Game four times in their storied history, the latest being in 2008. The city of New York has hosted a record nine All Star Games in the 86 games that have been played in the history of the game. With the 2015 version of the MLB All-Star Game officially in the books and nothing better to really talk about until Friday let’s go over the Yankee Stadium history with the All-Star Game and speculate when Yankee Stadium III could be hosting the Mid-Summer Classic.

The first Yankees hosted All Star Game happened on July 11, 1939 at Yankee Stadium followed by a wait until July 13, 1960. Back in 1960 two All Star Games were held, the other coming in Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, while the Yankees hosted the second game that year. The Yankees then again hosted in 1977 on July 19th and had to wait until Yankee Stadium II's final season in 2008 to host another. Yankee Stadium III, which opened in 2008, has yet to host an All Star Game. Interestingly enough the Yankees were the World Series champions in 1939 and were one “shot heard round the world” away from being the champions again in 1960. The Pittsburgh Pirates upset the Yankees in the 7^th game of that World Series but New York would get its revenge in 1977 when they won another World Series in the same year as they hosted the All-Star Game in the Bronx. 2008, we don’t talk about 2008.

When the new Yankee Stadium will get to host its first World Series is going to be tough to answer but my best guess is not going to be a popular one with Yankees fans. In short, it's going to be a long, long time before the Yankees see another All Star Game at home if history is any indicator. The Los Angeles Dodgers have not hosted an All Star Game in 34 years and could not before at least 2017 while the Yankees held an All Star Game just six seasons ago. Obviously the difference between the Dodgers and the Yankees here is that the Yankees have a new stadium and the Dodgers do not but we’ve seen All-Star Games in recent memory at both Wrigley Field and Fenway Park so that probably won’t factor into the decision making much.

Even back in the 40's when there were not 30 stadiums to choose from Major League Baseball went at least 15 seasons in between All Star Games in the same venue. I couldn't see the Yankees getting an All Star Game before 2020 unfortunately, and that may be pushing it. Of course this is all speculations, with the new stadium in the Bronx Major League Baseball may want to jump on the newness of the building and host an All Star Game there sooner, but I doubt it. Stay tuned..