Today on Pinstripe Alley - 10/24/23

I miss when the Yankees would make the World Series more than once every 20 years. But since that’s what we’re dealing with of late, I must content myself with pure schadenfreude, so yes, I hooted and hollered as the Rangers beat the crap out of Cristian Javier and the Astros to win the AL pennant night. The trash-thumpers lost every single game in Houston in a repeat of their 2019 World Series performance against the Nationals. You love to see it!

The Astros will not become the first team to make three consecutive World Series appearances since the 1998-2000 Yankees, nor will they become the first to repeat as they did. Repeating is hard work. And now, it seems like Dusty Baker’s jumping ship. With Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, and Alex Bregman all still around for a long time, I still deeply fear the Astros, but I’m really hoping that this is the start of a trend in the wrong direction.*

*Of course, “losing in ALCS Game 7” is still better than any Yankees season since 2017 and that’s been the Astros’ worst-case since 2019, so whatever! Way to go again, Brian Cashman.

Today on the site, Josh will recap ALCS Game 7 while Peter will run through how the Diamondbacks forced one of their own tonight with a surprising Game 6 win in Philadelphia last night. Afterward, Malachi will reveal our pick for the 99th-best Yankees player in franchise history, Sam will grade Kyle Higashioka’s 2023 campaign (perhaps his last in pinstripes), and John will take a deeper dive than we’ve seen yet on what worked and what failed during Sean Casey’s half-season as hitting coach.

Championship Series Schedule:

Game 7: Philadelphia Phillies vs. Arizona Diamondbacks

Time: 8:07 p.m. EDT

TV: TBS

Venue: Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, PA

Questions/Prompts:

1. We’ll do it for the second day in a row: Who ya got in Game 7 tonight?

2. How much animosity do you still hold toward the Rangers for the 2010 ALCS? Or is it basically gone at this point?