Free at last!
Late last week, baseball fans (except those in California and Japan, I suppose) were jubilant after the Milwaukee Brewers finished off a four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS. The Dodgers were emphatically denied their opportunity to win their third straight World Series championship - which, had they pulled it off, would have been the first National League team to do so - and now, the oldest team in the majors is looking at being even older next year should they return all of their veteran players.
With Milwaukee advancing to the World Series, and the Cleveland Guardians and Tampa Bay Rays facing off in the ALCS, we are guaranteed to have a franchise either win their first-ever World Series title (Milwaukee and Tampa Bay) or break the longest active championship drought at 77 years (Cleveland).
I must admit that, as a Mets fan, this will be a gloriously stress-free World Series. I will be happy with any of these teams winning it all. Milwaukee is managed by Pat Murphy, a Syracuse native and graduate of Christian Brothers Academy; after guiding the Brewers to the best record in baseball - a franchise-record 103 wins, breaking last year's franchise-record 97-win campaign - he might become the first skipper in baseball history to win Manager of the Year honors three straight years. This is Milwaukee's second World Series appearance; the first one was 44 years ago in 1982, when it was still a part of the American League, falling to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games.
The Cleveland Guardians have been fighting uphill all season long. After trailing the first place Chicago White Sox by seven games in July, the Guardians fought all the way back, sneaking past Chicago and clinching first place with one day left in the regular season, and finished with a record of 85-77. The Guards then fell into an 0-2 hole against those same ChiSox in the best-of-five ALDS and climbed out of that as well to advance to the ALCS, and now have to win two straight elimination games on the road against the best team in the AL to clinch the pennant. Cleveland last won the World Series in 1948, when the US consisted of 48 states and the Giants and Dodgers still played in New York City. They came oh so close in 2016 - up 3-1 in the World Series to the Cubs, they lost three straight, including Game 7 at home in 10 innings, allowing the Cubs to break their 108-year championship drought. It was a heartbreaking end for a team that featured a young shortstop by the name of Francisco Lindor.
Tampa Bay led the AL East wire-to-wire, keeping the Yankees at arm's length all season long and finishing with an AL-best 98 wins, and is looking to make the World Series for the third time in franchise history. Their trade with the Mets for Freddy Peralta worked out pretty well for them, with Fastball Freddy pitching to a 3.25 ERA with the Rays, and tossing six innings of shutout ball in Game 2 of the ALCS, allowing Tampa to tie things up at 1-1. Another ex-Met, Steven Matz, served as the opener in Game 3, throwing two shutout innings in a game they eventually lost to fall into a 2-1 series hole. The deficit didn't last long, as the Rays have won two straight and now stand one win away from the World Series.
All in all, in these final stages of the 2026 season, we baseball fans are free. Free from the Dodgers. Free from the Yankees. Free from the Red Sox. Free from the Phillies and Braves and the Astros. For eight of the past nine years, at least one of those teams made the World Series, and in five of those years, it was two of those teams. I'm sick of seeing their stupid logos. It's nice to see some different ones this year.
If the World Series goes the distance, the season will be over at the end of next week. After that, the players and the owners have all of November to work out a new collective bargaining agreement. If they can't come to terms, the current CBA will expire on December 1, and, in all likelihood, the owners will lock out the players, and it's anyone's guess as to when we might see baseball again. Owners are dead set on implementing a salary cap, players are dead set against implementing a salary cap, and it appears that neither side is going to budge.
So let's enjoy this season while it lasts. No matter who wins, it will be a wonderful way to wrap things up.
Go Lakers! (And other stuff)
Congratulations to the SUNY Oswego women's tennis team on winning its first ever SUNYAC championship! We also congratulate men's and women's tennis coach - and recent Throwing Bagels Podcast guest - Mark Baker for guiding the team to a title in his first full season coaching the women. After falling to 0-2 on the season, the Lakers have reeled off 12 straight wins and counting. While we're used to seeing teams win the SUNYAC and then advance to the NCAA tourney a week or two later, that's not the case here - the women won't begin NCAA play until some time in the spring.
On Saturday, Oswego women's hockey impressed with a 3-1 victory over the Beijing Swift in an exhibition game; the Swift is a pro hockey team from China that features several members of the Chinese Olympic team. The men followed up a few hours later with a resounding 7-0 exhibition win over St. John Fisher.
In case you didn't check out Jason's most recent blog, he is getting ready to complete in the New York City Marathon in less than a couple of weeks - I'm pretty sure I speak for Chris as well when I say that we wish him the best of luck!
Early voting is already under way in a lot of states, and in New York, early voting starts on October 24. I am sure you've heard the term 'vote like your life depends on it' so many times the past few years that it has become somewhat cliché, but this year, it's deadly serious. The current administration is deeply unpopular, and for good reason - not voting is the same as endorsing their abhorrent behavior. Believe me, I could go on for another 15,000 words about this topic, but I'll just keep it at that. Vote. Vote early if you can, but no matter what, get out and vote.
Your life depends on it.