MLB Showdown Obsession

 The path from mediocrity to pennant contender takes a lot of pieces falling into place from good draft picks, smart trades and the right free agent pickups. Even after all that, it takes a bit of luck. And while the modern day Astros had replaced "luck" with "cheating" it would be unfair to associate every postseason appearance for Houston as underhanded. Aside from steroid allegations on specific people, the National League days of the Astros are considered pretty clean, which means their first ever push into October had them accomplish it the old fashioned way. The Astros had come oh-so-close to the playoffs in 1979, falling just 1.5 games short of the Cincinnati Reds. Seeing a chance to build on some momentum, Houston signed major names Joe Morgan and Nolan Ryan for Manager Bill Virdon to utilize. The results were successful in the early goings, with Houston staking out a lead in the NL West after fending off the Reds, but a late swoon allowed the Los Angeles Do...

 It's that wonderful time, again. The World Baseball Classic begins as it seems Japan looks to prove they're better than all the other countries. As the 2026 edition gets started, let's take a moment to look back to 2023 where something truly unique went down... On March 13, 2023, round 1 (called the group stage this year) was continuing in Pool D as Israel faced off against Puerto Rico at LoanDepot Park (Home of the Miami Marlins). Advancement to Round 2 was still very much up in the air with Israel at 1-0 and Puerto Rico 1-1, but on this day Puerto Rico made a statement as their pitching staff combined to toss a "perfect game". Why wasn't it a proper perfect game? WBC rules got in the way in multiple ways. Back in 2017, Marcus Stroman was playing for the United States as he took a no-hitter into the 8th inning during the finals against Puerto Rico. He was able to do that because the rules had fewer limitations on pitchers during the championship round. Round...

 Japan may have been the 2 time champions going into the 2013 WBC, but neither time were they unbeatable. The Dominican Republic had a chance to dominate in a way that no other country would be able to say that "they got lucky!" The Dominican Republic began by beating Venezuela 9-3, followed with a 6-3 win over Spain then just to flex handed Puerto Rico a 4-2 loss to sweep Pool C. Round 2 began with a 5-4 nailbiter win over Italy, then came the United States for the biggest test yet in the tournament. DR passed the test with a 3-1 win, punching their ticket to the semi-finals. Pool 2 play ended with a rematch against Puerto Rico, which DR won again 2-0 to sweep yet another group of games. As the only undefeated team remaining, Dominican Republic pushed aside the Netherlands 4-1 to lock up a spot in the championship game. Japan, meanwhile, finally lost a game that mattered as Puerto Rico set up a third battle, this time with more than just bragging rights on the line. Edwin En...