I don’t know that I’d intended to stay up for all of Game 4 last night – if I’d fallen asleep watching in the chair, that would’ve been fine. Or at least, that was my thinking in advance. But then the game just got so nuts with the back and forth and back and forth, and that was BEFORE the insane ending.
• The win probability chart sums it up:
Y'all pic.twitter.com/rxpBZULMfc
— FanGraphs Baseball (@fangraphs) October 25, 2020
• Enjoy the highlights if you missed the game or just want to enjoy it again:
• Why Kenley Jansen just stood there and watched the whole play unfold at the end, I’ll never understand. As soon as Chris Taylor booted the ball (if not sooner), there’s just no reason not to get behind home plate. Would it have made a difference? Impossible to say. But there’s really no reason to just be wandering around off the mound.
• Dave Roberts is going to get a whole lot of grief for removing a cruising Julio Urias so early in the game – after which the Dodgers bullpen kept giving it up – and I don’t have enough intimate knowledge of the usage plans for Urias to comment intelligently. I just know that Roberts is already so deeply under the microscope for his playoff decisions that if the Dodgers were to go on to lose this series, I wouldn’t at all be surprised to see him fired, justifiable or not.
• Anyone think Clayton Kershaw is feeling some pressure for tonight’s 7pm CT Game 5 start?
• I am contractually obligated to get at least ONE Cubs thing into the “Cubs Bullets,” so I’ll make it this: in the article about the change at assistant hitting coach (Termel Sledge is out after two years), The Athletic duo of Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney added yet another line in the vein we talked about at the end of last week: that it’s still not a lock that Theo Epstein is actually still with the Cubs next season. Here’s their section on that:
This may also be Theo Epstein’s last series of exit interviews and strategy sessions with the Cubs. Though Epstein has signaled that he expects to finish the final year of his contract as president of baseball operations, he also hasn’t publicly guaranteed that outcome.
• Now with multiple articles from multiple media at multiple outlets, we can say pretty firmly that, yes, Epstein departing the Cubs this offseason is still on the table. The expectation might yet be that he returns for the final year of his contract in 2021 to help guide the transition, but clearly, there are still conversations being had/considerations being made. If there weren’t, we wouldn’t see informed and connected media continuing to sleep in these “by the way” sections into otherwise unrelated articles.
• It remains so crazy that this is the view of the guy who scored the walk-off run:
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) October 25, 2020
• Another view of the final play:
A walk-off like you’ve literally never experienced before.#WorldSeries pic.twitter.com/1AfRQvJPnw
— MLB (@MLB) October 25, 2020
• Believe it or not, a walk-off error had happened four times before, with today being an anniversary of one you know well:
That was the 5th World Series game to end with a walk-off where the winning run scored on an error.
Sunday marks 34 years since Bill Buckner's error in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series against the Mets. pic.twitter.com/64ZzrfazoL
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 25, 2020
• That game was historic even before the 9th:
FROM ELIAS: There's now been a run scored in 8 straight half innings of this game, the longest streak in World Series history. This is also the 1st game in World Series history where both teams scored in 3 straight innings
— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) October 25, 2020
• Man, baseball is fun, wow:
Agreed. pic.twitter.com/oxDSuFFU1Z
— Baseball is Fun (@flippingbats) October 25, 2020
• Last call:
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— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) October 25, 2020
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— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) October 25, 2020