The Magical Mystery Tour Continues- 11 In A Row For KC

((HT: MLB.com))

The HQ has cone to appreciate what Ned Yost is doing- and all the crazy, borderline genius that goes with it...

And we're saying 11 in a row because they won the last three in the 1985 baseball championship, then have won the play-in game, the Division Series, and now the ALCS...

You know that this will be shown early on in the discussions of the roll the Kansas City Royals are on...


Ned Yost's genius has worked on multiple levels that include speed, stealing bases, and moving from station to station

It includes your number three hitter BUNTING OVER RUNNERS IN THE FIRST INNING!!!


And a pitching staff that, if you get to the seventh inning, has three relievers lock it down from there...

Enter Greg Holland...


Welcome to the last series of the year, Royals...

ICYMI: Royals Magical Mystery Tour Continues--One Game from World Series

The Kansas City Royals are 7-0 in the American League Playoffs right now.

Yes, at the risk of jinxing their crazy ride, they've won seven straight games. And sometimes with some crazy finishes, sometimes with amazing plays and sometimes just by plain luck.

Tuesday night, the Royals beat the Baltimore Orioles 2-1 to take a 3-0 lead in the best-of-7 American League Championship Series.

They did it in large part with their pitching and defense Tuesday. Mike Moustakas made a crazy, lunging, diving over the dugout railings catch and Jerermy Guthrie along with 4 relievers combined to hold the Baltimore Bats in check.

Oddly, the winning run came on a 6th inning sacrifice fly by Billy Butler.

K.C will trot out Jason Vargas to try and clinch their World Series berth since the early 1980's, which ironically is roughly the last time the team was in the playoffs...

That game kicks off Wednesday afternoon...

Here are your Tuesday night highlights...

Moustakas's crazy catch:




And closer Greg Holland finishing the game;

ICYMI: Royals Magical Mystery Tour Continues--Extra Innings ALCS Gm 1 Win

((ht: mlb.com))

For the folks in Kansas City, this baseball season has arguably become magical. A late season push to the playoffs. Multiple walk-off wins in the Wild Card game and multiple games in the ALDS.

And now this.

Thanks in large part to Alex Gordon and Mike Moustakas the Royals inched one step closer to a World Series berth with an 8-6 Game 1 win in the American League Championship Series.

Both Gordon and Moustakas hit solo homers in the 10th inning to seal the deal. Gordon drove in 4 runs on the night and made a bunch of crazy good catches in the outfield.

Kansas City jumped out to an early 4-1 lead, but the Orioles came back in the 5th inning to tie it on a double by Nelson Cruz and a single by Ryan Flaherty.

The two teams jockeyed back and forth before K.C erupted off O's Pitchers Darren O'Day and Brian Matsuz. Baltimore would score one run in the bottom of the 10th to make it close, but Kansas City now has serve winning game 1 in Baltimore.

Your highlights from mlb.com:

Yeah, Jeter's Last Game Was What It Should Have Been...

((HT: MLB.com/YES))

It was the last night for Derek Jeter in the Bronx as he is hanging them up after two decades as a Yankee...

The HQ knows that is news to all of you, but the scriptwriters were out in full force.
Here's his last charge of the infield...


And, then, getting the first Yankees runs on the board with a shot to left-center


You could see Jeets taking a lot of deep breaths and the Bleacher Creatures were roll calling him at every opportunity. David Robertson gave up a game-tying homer in the top of the ninth with two outs to Steve Pearce.

So, all of Hiroki Kuroda's work went into the toilet and the Yanks had to earn it one last time.

Jeter hit a game-winning single on the bottom of the ninth driving in Antoine Richardson from second for the 6-5 win.
((HT: Sports on STC's Vine))

Orioles Slugger Chris Davis Suspended 25 Games

Baltimore Orioles 1st Baseman Chris Davis did a no-no. He managed to get suspended for 25-games by Major League Baseball after testing positive for an amphetamine.

And it appears it all could easily have avoided.

Davis mentioned in a statement released by the MLBPA that he made a big mistake by taking Adderall and that he had permission to use it in the past but did not seek the exemption this season.

Interesting.

The Orioles are leading the AL East by 10 games with 17 games left to play. Which means in theory, if they have any playoff success, Davis would be eligible before the end of the playoffs.

That being said, Davis hasn't exactly replicated his monster 2013 season where he hit 53 homers with a .286 average. In 2014 he has hit 26 home runs, but is hitting a Dan Uggla like .196.

Hmm....

Walk Off Winner: A's Donaldson Hits 3-Run HR For the Win and Gets Pied

Oh, those wacky Major League Baseball players....

And if you are the Oakland A's, well, there's lots to celebrate. The A's hit the All-Star break with the best record in baseball and had a ton of guys play in the All-Star game.

Including 3B Josh Donaldson, who got the proverbial 2nd half of the season off to a rousing start.

Donaldson smacked a first pitch, bottom of the 9th inning, 3 run homer off Zach Britton to give the A's a comeback 5-4 win over the Baltimore Orioles.

The shot to dead centerfield set off the fireworks and celebrations all through the Oakland area....
But what followed during the post game interview with CSN Bay Area might have been better....

Machado Suspended For Five Games For Bat Toss

((HT: MLB.com/MASN))

Major League Baseball announced that Orioles 3B Manny Machado got a five-game suspension and an undisclosed fine for his bat toss in the team's 11-1 loss Sunday.

He felt that he had been thrown at on a previous pitch and tried to exact some kind of revenge on Oakland reliever Fernando Abad.

Gary Thorne's analysis was pretty spot on...


Abad got a fine and no suspension...

Manny Machado Misses In Alleged Intentional Bat Toss

((HT: MLB/MASN))

The Baltimore Orioles Manny Machado thought he was thrown at by the Oakland A's Fernando Abad IN A 10-0 GAME THEY WERE LOSING IN...

So, on the next pitch Machado decided to work the hammer throw...


Machado and Abad both got tossed and Oakland won 11-1

No word on if there will be any more discipline from the league...

This comes on the heels of Machado prompting the benches to clear Friday night. He took offense to a swipe tag by the A's Josh Donaldson, threw his helmet down, said lots of angry words which was enough for the dugouts to empty before Machado was steered away.

The two incidents combined, yeah, that might the attention of the powers that be...

MLB Looking Into Ump-Torii Hunter Incident

((HT: Vine via Lydia Virzi))

The Orioles Bud Norris gave up a home run ball to Ian Kinsler last night and, then, Torii Hunter was the next batter.

He got plunked in the ribs, the benches emptied, and then there was a moment with umpire Paul Nauert


Torii sloughed it off saying that Nauert was just getting him to focus- the two knew each other way too long for anything malicious to be thought of it...

But MLB will look into it, anyway...

ICYMI: Rays and O's Play 18-Inning Almost 7 Hour Marathon

Baseball is a lot of things, most of the references you are probably thinking of would have to do with running a marathon.

The analogy certainly fit Friday night as the Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays played an 18-inning, 6 hour 54 minute game that ended around 2 a.m Saturday morning.

The Rays won the game 5-4 on a David DeJesus single and took over the top spot in the American League Wild-Card chase.

21 Pitchers were used in the game. Which accounted for every pitcher on both teams rosters.....and oh, by the way, both teams play on Saturday 11 hours after Friday's game ended.

DeJesus's game winner is right here:

Big Papi Goes 4-For-4, Talks To The Phone

((HT: NESN))

The best revenge when something goes wrong is to make it right by yourself...

David Ortiz comes back from his phone assault with a 4-for-4 day with action that included a home run...

And he also had a renewal with the dugout phone...

Ortiz Demands Phone Know "Whose Your Papi?"

David Ortiz was hot after an at-bat tonight in the Red Sox-Orioles game...

And then he wanted to take on any and all comers- inanimate or otherwise...
((HT: NESN))


Torey Lovullo was able to stop him...???

ICYMI: O's McLouth With Great Catch Jays Fan Throws Beer

((ht: mlb.com))

You stay classy Toronto Blue Jays fan.

There are lots of excuses for bad fan behavior, but not much for this.

Watch the video below. Baltimore Orioles Leftfielder Nate McLouth makes a fantastic running catch on a foul ball, falling into the stands.

McLouth gets up, ready to throw ball back to the infield when a beer comes flying from the stands behind him.

Thankfully, Rogers Centre security found the dumb ass fan and tossed him from the game.

Here's the video (Thanks MLB.com):

ICYMI: Wieters With the Walk-Off Grand Salami

Well, you can say that it was dramatic. And while we don't usually post a lot of baseball game highlights, this was pretty cool.

Baltimore Oriole's catcher Matt Wieters lived every young baseball players dream Thursday night. Wieters hit a game winning grand-slam homerun in the bottom of the 10th inning to lead the O's to a 10-6 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.

Wieters ripped the 1st pitch by Brandon Gomes over the right field wall...and the celebration then ensued.

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NFL vs. MLB: Who Plays on Sept 5th and Who Doesn't?

Roger Goodell

((ht: baltimoresun.com))

Could it be? A no-holds barred, steel-cage , "I Quit" match between NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and MLB commissioner Bud Selig on the shore of the Baltimore Harbor?

That's what is shaping up as the NFL is desperately trying to get their defending Super Bowl champs the Baltimore Ravens to play their opening game at home, on Thursday night Sept. 5th. A 10-year NFL tradition: The champ kicks off the season--at home.

The problem:

The Baltimore Orioles, who 'Oh By The Way', play in Camden Yards directly across the street that very night. It's a typical regular season baseball matchup vs. the Chicago White Sox.

Read more from the Baltimore Sun RIGHT HERE

The potential ways to resolve this battle are mind-boggling. And, quite honestly, potentially very funny.

For their part, the 2 commish's have spoken about this and the Jolly Roger is trying to cajole Heir Selig to move the baseball game to the afternoon.

What complicates that: It's a series opener for the Orioles and White Sox, both of whom will be coming into town late the previous evening.

And we might add, the baseball game has been scheduled for some time.

We're guessing that one of 2 things will happen here. (1)- The Ravens end up opening on the road. Ending the NFL 'Tradition', but not inconveniencing MLB. Or (2), MLB caves and moves their game.

Option 3, playing on Wednesday isn't preferred by Goodell, because that is Rosh Hashanah a date.

In the meantime, please allow our minds to wander and think of this:

BREAKING: The "Earl of Baltimore" dead at 82

Weaver at his finest (courtesy Baltimore Sun)

BALTIMORE - Not a good day to hold O's FanFest in Baltimore.

Feisty player and manager Earl Weaver, one of the leaders of the Oriole Way, died of an apparent heart attack late Friday night while on a Baltimore fan cruise in the Caribbean. Weaver was 82.

The "Earl of Baltimore" was one of the most colorful personalities in the history of major league baseball. The Hall of Famer was a fixture in every Baltimore fan's vocabulary, especially with the mention of the "Earl Weaver Special" - which is a three-run home run.

Not a whole lot of details have been released at this time. Stay tuned to OSG for more information.

Buck Showalter Pranks Darren O'Day

((HT: MLB.com))

And this one was pretty good...


The HQ would never be seen on one of those solo-wheels...
Evah...

But we do wonder if @DODay56 told his better half, @ElizabethPrann, about this one...
Or, how long it took before he owned up to getting punked...

In Case You Missed It: Josh Hamilton leads league in Tarp Sliding

This is one of those stories that you can't really write about, you just have to watch.

Fresh off of Tuesday's 4-home run binge versus the Baltimore Orioles, Josh Hamilton and his Texas Rangers teammates found themselves with some time on their hands during Wednesday's rain delay--which turned into a rainout.

Check out the slugger flopping, with a handful of teammates and announcers pleading with him not to do it, halfway down the tarp on the field at Baltimore's Camden Yards.

Chris Davis Outduels Darnell McDonald

And, yeah, that's the first time that two position players have squared off against each other since (believe it or not) Ty Cobb and George Sisler went toe-to-toe out of position on the last day of the 1925 season.

The Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox ran out of pitchers- enter Davis who had gone 0-for-8 at the plate with five strike outs by the time the game was over. Davis found a fastball in the high 80's and went against outfielder Darnell McDonald for the 17th inning...

Here's how the Orioles won... McDonald hung one...


Scott Atchison couldn't have been more proud of McDonald sticking it out there all for his teammates...
((HT: NESN))


Apparently, this wasn't the first time someone matched Davis' performance. Rube Waddell went oh-fer and got the win on July 4th, 1905 against some guy named Cy Young...

But Davis striking out Adrian Gonzalez was really something...

In case you missed it: Ump tackles dumbass streaking fan

There is a reason that TV networks no longer shows the idiots who run out onto fields during the course of a ballgame. And simply put: It's not to encourage other morons to try it so they can get on TV.

However, this is quite good video.

During Friday nights Baltimore Orioles game against Oakland, some drunk, dumbass teen or 20-year old ran out onto the Camden Yards field. For some reason nobody seemed to be in a hurry to stop him as he loops through the infield, rounds third and heads home.

That's when Home Plate ump Jeff Kellogg steps in.

And drops the ass-clown, holding him in place with a knee in the middle of his back.

We only hope it hurt the stupid-mf. We hope it injures him real good.

But it probably didn't.

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