Contemporary Era Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot

With Winter Meetings under way in Orlando, it’s once again time to talk about the Hall of Fame. Eight players are on the ballot for Contemporary Era: Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Gary Sheffield, Carlos Delgado, Jeff Kent, Don Mattingly, Dale Murphy, and Fernando Valenzuela. Results of the committee vote will be released Sunday 12/7 at 7:30 pm ET. In this episode, we will discuss the cases for each of these worthy candidate. We’ll explain who we’d personally vote for, and then try to predict who, if anybody, will be enshrined in Cooperstown.

Audio clips from MLB.com

Valenzuela’s CG in ’81 WS - ABC Howard Cosell and Al Michaels

Valenzuela’s No-hitter in ’90 - LAD Vin Scully

Murphy’s 300th Homer - Turner

Mattingly’s ALDS in ’95 - ESPN Gary Thorne

Delgado’s 4 HR day - TOR

Kent’s NLCS Walk-off - HOU Milo Hamilton

Sheffield’s 500th HR - SNY Gary Cohen

As always, shout out to Baseball Reference and SABR for statistics, box scores, background information, and much, much more.

Catch you next time,

P.C.O.

World Series Game Seven

Los Angeles Dodgers @ Toronto Blue Jays

The best FOUR words in sports, WORLD SERIES GAME SEVEN. The Dodgers survived in game six thanks to another spectacular Yoshinobu Yamamoto performance and a clutch breakout from Mookie Betts. For the first time since 2019, the Fall Classic will come down to a decisive game seven. It has been an incredible series so far, with historic and record setting performances on both sides. Vlad Guerrero, Jr. and Ernie Clement could set the all time single season playoff hits record, Louie Garland could set a record for games pitched, and if this game is close at the end, we could be in for things we’ve never seen before.

Starting for the Blue Jays will be the man who started the last World Series game seven, Max Scherzer. At 41 years old, Mad Max will be the oldest pitcher to start a winner-take-all game, and he becomes just the fourth pitcher to start multiple World Series game sevens (Bob Gibson, Don Larsen, and Lew Burdette). Going on short rest will be Shohei Ohtani, but expect all hands on deck for both squads, as there is no tomorrow. And by all hands, that will mean nearly every starting pitcher from both teams, including Yamamoto on no rest. Tune in for what may be the greatest game seven every played.

Toronto Radio SN590 - Ben Shulman and Chris Leroux

Los Angeles Radio AM570 - Stephen Nelson and Rick Monday

FOX On Field - Ken Rosenthal, Tom Verducci, Kevin Burkhardt

Audio clips from MLB.tv

As always, thank you to Baseball Reference and SABR for statistics, box scores, background information, and much, much more.

Catch you next time,

P.C.O.

World Series Game Six Recap

Los Angeles Dodgers (93-69) @ Toronto Blue Jays (94-68)

The Blue Jays come back home to Rogers Centre just one win away from their first championship since Joe Carter walked off Mitch Williams and the Phillies in game six of the 1993 Fall Classic. Vladdy Jr. continues his unbelievable playoff run, closing in on the single postseason record for hits. Toronto will have another boost, as George Springer returns to the lineup, though it is unclear how much he’ll be able to do with his oblique injury. The Dodgers bats, on the other hand, have been mostly silent. Mookie Betts has struggled mightily this series, forcing manager Dave Roberts to shake up the lineup a bit. They’ll need the future Hall-of-Famer to step up if they intend to extend the series.

We should be in for another pitching duel for game six, as Kevin Gausman and Yoshinobu Yamamoto square up once again. The splitter heavy righties nearly matched one another in game two, but it was the Japanese ace who had the edge. With the season on the line, they both will need to bring their best. Can LA force a decisive game seven, or will Toronto wrap up the season in October?

Toronto Radio SN590 - Ben Shulman and Chris Leroux

Los Angeles Radio AM570 - Stephen Nelson and Rick Monday

Audio clips from MLB.tv

As always, thank you to Baseball Reference and SABR for statistics, box scores, background information, and much, much more.

Catch you next time,

P.C.O.