Monthly Archives: October 2023

2023 MLB World Series Preview

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Caption: Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers meet in the 2023 World Series.

By Ryan Harless

Ryan Harless is a fourth-year undergraduate at BGSU from Hillsboro, Ohio. He is majoring in Sport Management with a Journalism Minor. Baseball and golf at all levels are his primary interests but he is also interested in combat sports, hockey, basketball, and football.

October 25, 2023

The World Series is finally here. Starting this Friday, the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks will be facing off in a best of seven series to determine the new champions of Major League Baseball. Neither team I predicted to be here made it which is what I love about postseason baseball. The Texas Rangers were a wildcard team and the Diamondbacks won only 84 games this season and here they are, the last 2 teams standing.

This is the first time in postseason history that both world series competitors clinched their berth by winning back-to-back away games (in very hostile environments at that). The Rangers took a 2-0 series lead after winning the first two games in Houston before losing three in a row in Arlington to make the series 3-2 in favor of the Astros. In the last two games, the Rangers outscored the Astros 20-6, dropping the final two games of the series and sending Texas to the World Series.

The Diamondbacks advanced by beating the dominant Phillies in another seven-game series. The D-backs beat the Milwaukee Brewers and L.A. Dodgers en route to the NLCS. In this series, the Phillies took a 2-0 lead after winning the first two games at home. Arizona got back on their feet to tie the series at 2-2 by winning back-to-back games in AZ when everyone counted them out. After dropping the 5th game in the series and making it 3-2 in favor of Philly, the matchup headed back to Pennsylvania. With their backs against the wall, the Diamondbacks outscored the Phillies 9-3 in the last two games to win the NLCS and head to the World Series.

Many people have been complaining about this postseason saying that giving the division leaders extra time off hurt their readiness to play. Personally, I think that’s maybe the worst take of all time. Baseball has the absolute best system set up in order to make sure the best team wins the championship at the end of the season. 162 regular season games and then the possibility of 22 postseason games (including wildcard + max length series). 184 games to determine the best all around team. You must have a coaching staff that manages all the players well, doesn’t overexert anyone, and leverages situations correctly. It is not just the talent on the teams that matter but also the coaching and the fans.

We are going to get to see two teams with a lot to prove battle it out in the Fall Classic this year.

NCAA’s Suspension Issues and Their Coaches

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Caption: (L-R) OSU Coaches Urban Meyer (2012-2018), Jim Tressel (2001-2010), UM Coaches Rich Rodriguez (2008-2010), and Jim Harbaugh (2015-present)

By: Brady Shick

Brady Shick is a fourth-year undergraduate student at BGSU from Sagamore Hills, Ohio. He is majoring in Sport Management and minoring in Marketing. Baseball, golf, and football are his main sport interests.

October 6, 2023

Jim Harbaugh, Urban Meyer, and Jim Tressel. All highly acclaimed coaches from the Big Ten. All of whom served suspensions from their respective programs due to different NCAA violations. Tressel was initially suspended two games for not notifying university or NCAA officials of Ohio State players taking improper benefits. Tressel requested that his suspension be five games to match the 5-game suspensions of 6 players. Urban Meyer was suspended three games for insufficient action against an assistant coach who allegedly assaulted his wife. Jim Harbaugh was suspended for three games for recruiting violations during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Across these eleven games of suspensions their programs collectively went 9-2 with a scoring differential of +233. The only losses came from Tressel’s 2011 Ohio State team that was missing key players due to their acceptance of improper benefits. That means that each of these teams on average was winning by more than three touchdowns during games their head coach was suspended. That was with the head coach supposedly being the catalyst of any program. Urban Meyer built up three struggling programs into top 25 teams before leaving for another school. Harbaugh turned around a Michigan team that was clawing its way to a .500 record and hadn’t beaten The Ohio State in 10 years. Yet with both of these coaching greats missing from the sidelines their teams were winning by almost 30 points.

I don’t believe that these teams should lose because a head coach is missing, but to be dominant has something to say about the severity of the suspensions. Only one of the teams they played during these stretches was ranked and over half of the teams were not from a Power-5 Conference. These suspensions were all against lackluster competition. Because of this, we often see coaches at large schools committing various NCAA violations with little to no consequences. During their suspension, coaches are still allowed to see their players during the week leading up to games. Either way these suspensions don’t actually end up being punishments.

There are a few ways to fix this problem. One, you could start suspending coaches for fewer games and apply suspensions when they play conference games. Two, a coach’s suspension could include daily practices. This would prevent the head coach from having contact with his team and would serve as an actual suspension from the team.

I don’t want to see utter chaos and a team losing their national championship hopes because a coach is suspended. I do want to see actual consequences for breaking the rules.

2023 MLB Playoff Predictions: Division Series

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Caption: Playoff Picture as it stands October 7, 2023

By Ryan Harless

Ryan Harless is a fourth-year undergraduate at BGSU from Hillsboro, Ohio. He is majoring in Sport Management with a Journalism Minor. Baseball and golf at all levels are his primary interests but he is also interested in combat sports, hockey, basketball, and football.

October 7, 2023

It’s finally time for playoff baseball, my favorite time of the whole year. The MLB implemented a new playoff format this season that was supposed to give us a good bit more baseball to watch, but all four of the Wild Card series were two game sweeps with very little drama all around. But now we have moved into the Division Series where all matchups are a best of five. Here’s your guide to what I think will happen in this round of the playoffs.

Texas Rangers vs. Baltimore Orioles

The Baltimore Orioles have been a true success story this season, winning the American League East for the first time in almost a decade (2014). And in even rarer fashion, have won their division with the same manager who guided their rebuild. The Texas Rangers got here after a truly dominant season where the only in-division competition was the juggernaut Astros (we’ll get to them later). The Rangers decimated the Tampa Bay Rays in their Wild Card series outscoring Tampa 11-1 over two games.

This Rangers team can absolutely swing the bats and with Corey Seager, the statistically best shortstop in the game, staying hot, they will be a true force to be reckoned with. That being said, Baltimore has been one of the most fun teams to watch all season long with their super young core of rising stars. In this series, I feel that the Rangers veteran pitching will truly separate them from Baltimore and allow them to take the series and head to the American League Championship Series. I predict that Texas will win this series in 5 exciting games.

Minnesota Twins vs. Houston Astros

Minnesota defeated the Toronto Blue Jays in decisive fashion in their series with their pitching being relatively dominant throughout the two games. Houston made it to this point by continuing to have a chokehold on the American League West winning the division six of the last seven seasons.

I really like Minnesota and think that they are in a great spot for the future with their pitching being as dominant as it has been. However, this is the Houston Astros, and it is October. If you’ve followed baseball at all for the last few years, you know that Houston turns into something different once the calendar turns over and Fall takes hold. As much as I would love to say that I see the Twins taking this series and going on to the ALCS, I can’t in good faith bet against the Astros in the playoffs. I think the Astros will take this series in 4 games, I think Minnesota may win the first game and then get swept after kicking Houston into gear.

Philadelphia Phillies vs. Atlanta Braves

The Phillies earned the opportunity to take down the dynasty Braves after knocking off the Miami Marlins in their Wild Card matchup. The Atlanta Braves got here by winning 104 games and scoring almost 1,000 runs this season. What can you say about Atlanta that hasn’t already been said? They tied the record set by the 2019 Minnesota Twins for homers in a season by hitting 307 which is averaging 1.895 homers a game over a 162-game season. They had 7 of the starting 9 hit 20+ homers and 5 of those 7 hit more than 30. They have 4 batters with over 100 RBI; oh, and Ronald Acuna Jr. is slashing .337/.416/.596 with 41 homers, 73 stolen bases, and 80 walks. Also don’t forget about their ace Spencer Strider who set a new franchise record for strikeouts in a season with 281 though 186.2 innings.

This is not to say that the Phillies haven’t had a great season. But I just cannot understate how brilliant it has been to watch this Braves team. I expect Atlanta to take this series in 5 games, but I think the Braves will end up outscoring Philadelphia by quite a few runs in the series.

Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

Both National League matchups in the Division Series are also Division rivals which I think is a SUPER cool touch to this postseason. In the case of this series, I think it makes it more unpredictable. Arizona got here after finishing second in the National League West division to LA, and then beat the Brewers 2-0 in the Wild Card round. Going into the Wild Card round, I anticipated the Brewers to make a playoff run so watching Arizona take them out, gives me a lot more hope for them in this series. The Dodgers are here after winning 100 games and handily taking their division.

I am honestly looking for Arizona to shock the West and continue their unbeaten streak in the playoffs and sweep the Dodgers in three close games.

Of course, baseball is baseball, and it is incredibly tough to predict the outcome of games ESPECIALLY when it’s playoff time. Only time will tell who takes these games and moves on to their respective Championship Series. But I do know, when they come around, I’ll be back to predict their outcomes and see how I did with my predictions!