The 2026 World Series smashed ratings expectations across the board, and Game 7 was the most-watched baseball game in 34 years. And note that the ratings success was not merely a function of expanded Canadian and Japanese audiences. In the US alone, 16.1 million people watched each game on average, which was an increase over last year's ratings dream of a matchup between the Yankees and Dodgers, and trounced the 2025 NBA Finals average viewership of 10.3 million.
To the fans, perfection is not only boring, it's useless. It defeats the purpose of caring in the first place. The reason that baseball is interesting at all is because it's hard, because it can never be played perfectly. The value of sports is not in watching perfection, but in watching players try to achieve perfection while inevitably failing, just like the rest of us do in real life every day.
Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off--then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball. With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the ship.
No way. Not even dead. If I were told that I was being traded to New York, I'd pack my things and go home. I'll retire right on the spot if that happens. I'm not crazy. Never again. I dealt with a lot of disrespect there. I put up with a lot of things. I knew that they just wanted to find a way to get rid of me, but they didn't know how.
Muncy's homer capped off the longest game in World Series history, both by time (7 hours, 20 minutes) and number of innings played. The marathon spanned over parts of two separate days as Game 3 began at Dodger Stadium on October 26, only to finish in the early morning hours of Oct. 27. The play was selected by the Los Angeles Sports Council's Media Panel as one of the nominations for the greatest moment of 2018.
For starters, Campbell made the team out of camp, which felt like a decision that was made prior to spring training since Campbell didn't exactly kick the door down in March. The team got a good look at Campbell, who had the most plate appearances on the team in the spring (59), and his slash line was just .167/.305/.271 with 1 home run and 2 RBI (although he finished strong with a
In a season that started with infield candidates ranging from Alex Bregman, Trevor Story, Kristian Campbell, Triston Casas, Rafael Devers, and Marcelo Mayer, David Hamilton managed to make it into 91 games. That's way too many! His large presence in box scores is the byproduct of a tumultuous year in the infield. David Hamilton is fast, and actually plays good defense when used at second base. If he's the last guy on your roster, he's not a bad guy to have around.
2025 was a strange year for Nathaniel Lowe. He was coming off 4 straight years averaging 2.8 bWAR per season with a .274/.359./.432 batting line. He was joining a new team - the Washington Nationals - who many believed to be something of a sleeper in the National League with young stars James Wood and CJ Abrams. Lowe was positioned to be a key veteran presence with playoff and World Series experience.
MLB and the networks pre-determine the World Series dates and want them locked in ahead of time, which doesn't allow the natural flow of the LCS games to dictate when the final clash begins. Instead, the possibility of the most extreme scenario is prioritized in case the league with the later start date in the LCS goes seven games, and then there's a postponement of Game 6 or 7, and then the road team in that series has to travel to a new destination.
He can do so in free agency but will probably have to commit to keeping a guy until he's at least 36. Trading? Well, there's an outfielder who can be moved. And maybe one of Tolle or Early or Harrison if you think you can get, I don't know, one step down from Garrett Crochet? A mid-20s non-ace but very very good starting pitcher.
There was no previous indication that either player had been designated for assignment but these kinds of moves are common at this time of year, as most clubs are facing upcoming roster crunches. The 60-day injured list goes away five days after the World Series, meaning several players need to retake 40-man spots. Some will also become free agents but many clubs often end up with more than 40 players in the mix.
Manny Ramirez last appeared in an MLB game in 2011. But the former Red Sox great and two-time World Series champion is reportedly seeking a return to pro baseball - this time as a coach. According to Jon Heyman of The New York Post, Ramirez "is getting word out to all 30 teams he'd love to serve as an MLB hitting coach."
For the second straight night, a big money ace carried the Dodgers to playoff victory, as Yoshinobu Yamamoto threw the first postseason complete game in 8 years. Here's a condensed look at his outing if you missed it: So, just like the Mariners, the Dodgers will take a 2-0 lead in the League Championship Series back to the West Coast.
