Let’s Learn About the Teams in the MLB Playoffs

Photo: MLB.com

October is here, which means playoff baseball.

The MLB Playoffs kick off today, and they usually deliver. Baseball’s still a long season that makes it hard to keep up with, so why don’t we learn a few fun facts about each team?

Los Angeles Dodgers – the NL’s number one seed spent just over twelve trillion dollars on this year’s roster.

New York Yankees – the top dog in the AL is hoping to bring home World Series number 27 for all of the Lakers and Cowboys fans out there.

Philadelphia Phillies – Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni has come out in huge support of the Fightin’ Phils…anything to take the attention off of how bad his team looks so far this season.

Cleveland Guardians – José Ramírez fell one home run short of joining the 40/40 club this season, “he should be sent down to the minors for such a piss poor effort,” said Shohei Ohtani.

Milwaukee Brewers – the Brew Crew is the ultimate scrappy, lower budger franchise you love to root for…except they employed Ryan Braun so we all have to hate them, it’s the law.

Houston Astros – the trash can bangers are back in business baby, don’t let the rule book hit you on the way out.

San Diego Padres – the perfect city with the perfect alternate uniforms. If they don’t wear these at least four times in the playoffs they have no shot.

Baltimore Orioles – the last time the Orioles were in back to back playoffs was in 1996-1997, at which point nine of their current players were not even born.

Atlanta Braves – the exact opposite of the Orioles, the Bravos are in for the seventh straight year. Not sure if this is accurate or not, but scientists note that since the last time the Braves missed the playoffs, the Earth has gone around the Sun seven times. Science is crazy.

Kansas City Royals – if I had a gun to my head and was told to name the Royals manager, I would not be sitting here writing this blog. Matt Quatraro is his name. The skipper never made it to the majors, but was a .286 hitter with 23 home runs and 202 RBI in his minor league career.

New York Mets – The Metropolitans snuck in yesterday after splitting a double header with the Braves. Do you think Mr. and Mrs. Met celebrated appropriately?

Detroit Tigers – I was as surprised as you to see the Tigs on the above bracket, but make no mistake they are a playoff team. Since Javy Báez had season ending surgery on August 26th, they are 21-10…that is simply a true statistic, and not a comment on the fact that as much as we love Javy, he would swing and miss sand if he were at the beach.

We love playoff baseball, and we hope you do to. If you don’t like playoff baseball, then you suck as much as Ryan Braun.

Sunday State of Mind: February 20th-February 26th

Photo: Wallpaper Crafter

We’re writing about anything other than another dumbass Jake Paul fight in this week’s SSM.

Manny Machado, got himself the bag
Eleven for 350, waive all those green flags
Staying with the Padres, not going anywhere
Sending him a DM now to ask if he will share

Crazy week in basketball, college and the pros
Sixers and the Celtics is the first place that we’ll go
Jayson Tatum hit a dagger with 1.3 left
Embiid’s shot went in, but late, 70 foot heft

Earlier this week, Kings and Clippers scored a bunch
Went to two OTs, almost played ’til brunch
Three hundred fifty-one points were scored between the two
Kings won in a thriller, Clippers were subdued

In the college game, Iowa just did it all
Huge comeback for both teams, hero basketball
The men came back from 13 with 1:34 left
Caitlin Clark a buzzer beater, Indiana effed

Sunday State of Mind: December 12th-December 18th

Photo: Forbes

Our first SSM in a world that has Lionel Messi atop the World Cup throne. But what else happened this week?

Craziest win of the football season
Patriots lateral for some reason
Right to the Raiders, a strange outcome
Poor Jakobi Meyers just has to feel numb

Another weird one, Cowboys and the Jags
One that Big D thought they had in the bag
An OT pick six thrown by Dak Prescott
A win was for sale, and Jacksonville bought

MLB free agent shortstops are set
The group of big four, money they did get
Turner, Bogaerts, Correa and Swanson
Enough contracts, can offseason be done?

Frank Gore Jr. still might be running
A LendingTree Bowl performance that was stunning
A cool three hundred and twenty-nine yards
Senior must be proud, his boy is a star

Sunday State of Mind: October 17th-October 23rd

Another week where sports just unmercifully punched us in the face…and we liked it. Let’s review the pounding with prose in this week’s SSM.

Your NL pennant winners, those pesky Fightin’ Phils!
Took the Padres out, this team is full of thrills
Harper, Schwarber, Wheeler, the list goes on and on
If they play the Astros, series won’t be a yawn

Something rare happened this week, an NFL trade
Niners’ Christian McCaffrey, Frisco not afraid
Made his debut today, got a few plays in
Chiefs came to The Bay however, got themselves the win

Speaking of the Panthers, took it to the Bucs?
Hard to say but it seems like Tampa Bay just sucks
Lot of season left for TB and the boys
Don’t be shocked if they come back and make postseason noise

The NBA is back, first games have come and gone
Just another sport this time of year loves to add on
Some early surprises, Sixers and the Lakers blank
The Jazz keep winning even though they’re clearly trying to tank

Sunday State of Mind: October 10th-October 16th

This week in sports has been absolutely banana sandwich. SSM is here to relive it all.

Alabama/Tennessee, singing Rocky Top
Volunteer offense was rolling, and refused to stop
Hendon Hooker and the boys put up 52
Bama defense, usually good, but last night they blew

Playoff baseball heating up, and upsets galore
Dodgers out, Braves out, who surprised you more?
NLCS matchup of the Padres and the Phillies
Yes you read that matchup right, no not joking, really

Over in the AL, Astros wrecked the M’s
A 3-0 series sweep, Houston played a gem
Guardians and Yankees play to see who gets the ‘stros
Yankees ahead at time of writing, can the bombers close?

We have to ask the question: are the Jets for real?
Went on the road and got a dub down at Lambeau Field
Impressive for a young team, tough place to play for sure
And against Aaron Rodgers, a win they procure

Sunday State of Mind: October 3rd-October 9th

There’s a fall chill in the air, which means playoff baseball and midseason football. All of that and more in this week’s SSM.

A big win out in London, New York beat Green Bay
The New York Football Giants, feeling some type of way
Starting the season 4-1, football’s biggest surprise
Lamar Jackson comes in next week, they may just get baptized

Speaking of baptisms, Jets dunked on the ‘Fins
Miami started 3-1, left with the same amount of wins
Jets have won two straight, sit a game behind the Bills
New York’s cold dead football hearts may be getting filled

Even without their quarterback, ‘bama is the best
Beat Texas A&M, could probably beat the rest
Of the country’s teams, Saban is just that good
The best to ever do it, that is understood

A team worthy of mention, your Kansas Jayhawks
Dream start to the season, some undefeated talks
Hung tough with TCU, but just fell short by seven
Even with a loss, Kansas football fans in heaven

As mentioned in our opening, playoff baseball is here
MLB Wild Card weekend, get your hot dogs and beer
Three game sets were over quick, Cleveland Seattle Philly
Having so much sports at once is absolutely silly

Friday Dump: Juan Soto in San Diego

Photo: ABC30

So, you wanted to mortgage your organization’s future, huh?

Since being traded from the Nationals a month and half ago, Juan Soto’s time in San Diego has been…bad.

No other way to say it. The Padres gave up five players, including major league talent, to acquire Soto. The deal seemed to make sense contractually at the time, as he won’t be a free agent until after the 2024 season. But if things don’t get better in a hurry, it’s going to be a short two years in San Diego that might seem like a lot longer than that.

Just for some context here, Brandon Marsh, a career .247/.301/.370 guy is outperforming Soto in almost every way:

That’s pretty damning…especially the height.

Soto’s only gone deep three times, knocked in seven runs, and lead the Padres to a 18-19 record since the trade.

Don’t want to dump on the guy too much, but one more example of what a dumpster fire this trade has been:

Oof.

I’m sure this eventually will work out and Soto will get back to his old ways. There’s not a chance this will keep going on he’ll regret turning down a 15-year, $400M contract, right?

Nah, no shot.

Sunday State of Mind: August 8th-August 14th

Photo: Wallpaper Dog

The weekend and summer are winding down…take a breath and enjoy this week’s SSM.

Fernando Tatis Jr., will he ever play again
Almost back from injury, coming out of the den
PEDs and injuries, all self inflicted
Eighty game suspension, the shortstop’s been evicted

NFL preseason’s here, football is so back
America’s favorite sport, just as good as a snack
Always a welcome sight to see the helmets and the pads
Sundays are now booked, watching all the lads

It’s getting really ugly with the Brooklyn Nets
Acquiring KD and Kyrie, maybe some regrets
KD’s getting antsy, wants changes at the top
Something has to change, or this will never stop

Sunday State of Mind: August 1st-August 7th

Photo: Art Station

Settle into your Sunday with our latest edition of SSM.

Only place to start, is to send our love
Vin Scully and Bill Russell, left us for above
Giants of their sports, both all-time human beings
A rare thing in sports that has all of us agreeing

The NFL is king, and we had it this week
The Hall of Fame Game, football fans were geeked
For about 10 minutes, then came in the scrubs
Raiders played the Jags, Vegas got the dub

We hit the trade deadline in the MLB
Buyers adding talent, sellers went to flee
Biggest movers were the Pads, adding talent right and left
Headliner was Juan Soto, other moves felt like theft

The Official UDS 2022 Baseball Preview

Hope springs eternal. It’s finally here, folks; it’s baseball season. Summer is around the corner, and we’ll all soon be sitting in the sun at our favorite ballparks inhaling hot dogs and ice cold beer.

Everyone is doing prediction content, we know that. But our official 2022 prognostications will be coming via the reminiscing route.

Who doesn’t love a good baseball name from from the 90’s or early aughts? So that’s how we’re giving our picks, via our favorite throwback name from each team.

AL East

  1. Toronto Blue Jays – Gregg Zaun, C
  2. Boston Red Sox – Trot Nixon, RF
  3. Tampa Bay Rays – Miguel Cairo, 2B
  4. New York Yankees – Scott Brosius, 3B
  5. Baltimore Orioles – Jerry Hairston Jr., 2B

AL Central

  1. Chicago White Sox – José Valentín, 3B
  2. Minnesota Twins – Matt Lawton, CF
  3. Cleveland Guardians – Carlos Baerga, 2B
  4. Detroit Tigers – José Macías, 3B
  5. Kansas City Royals – Mark Grudzielanek, 2B

AL West

  1. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim – Scott Spiezio, 1B
  2. Houston Astros – Julio Lugo, SS
  3. Seattle Mariners – Mike Cameron, CF
  4. Texas Rangers – Royce Clayton, SS
  5. Oakland A’s – Matt Stairs, DH

NL East

  1. Philadelphia Phillies – Mickey Morandini, 2B
  2. Atlanta Braves – Ryan Klesko, RF
  3. New York Mets – Benny Agbayani, LF
  4. Miami Marlins – Hee-Seop Choi, 1B
  5. Washington Nationals – José Vidro, 2B

NL Central

  1. St. Louis Cardinals – Fernando Vina, 2B
  2. Milwaukee Brewers – Jeromy Burnitz, RF
  3. Chicago Cubs – Ron Coomer, 3B
  4. Cincinnati Reds – Pokey Reese, 2B
  5. Pittsburgh Pirates – Tony Womack, SS

NL West

  1. Colorado Rockies – Dante Bichette, RF
  2. San Francisco Giants – Benito Santiago, C
  3. Los Angeles Dodgers – César Izturis, SS
  4. San Diego Padres – Mark Kotsay, CF
  5. Arizona Diamondbacks – Lyle Overbay, 1B

God, that was amazing…I think I need a cigarette. So many great names, so much boring baseball to have on in the background until October. Let’s go.