As the street cleaners of Kansas City\u00a0swept\u00a0away\u00a0the joyous mess left behind by\u00a0nearly\u00a0800,000 fans, the 2015 Major League Baseball season officially\u00a0ended.<\/p>\n
With qualifying offers\u00a0made\u00a0to\u00a0soon-to-be\u00a0free\u00a0agents\u00a0and\u00a0a battery\u00a0of\u00a0options\u00a0declined or\u00a0accepted, the\u00a0hot\u00a0stove season is upon us\u00a0again. Between now and mid-March,\u00a0more\u00a0than a few\u00a0trees\u00a0and\u00a0hard\u00a0drives will be\u00a0filled\u00a0with\u00a0stories\u00a0on how certain\u00a0signings\u00a0will\u00a0vault\u00a0their\u00a0team\u00a0into championship contention,\u00a0only\u00a0to\u00a0look\u00a0silly\u00a0by mid-May. As\u00a0sure\u00a0as the swallows\u00a0return\u00a0to Capistrano, the\u00a0consensus\u00a0\u201cwinner\u201d of the off-season World Series will\u00a0watch\u00a0next October from home.<\/p>\n
Rogers Hornsby once\u00a0said\u00a0he\u00a0stared\u00a0out his window all winter waiting for spring. Today, he would watch MLB Network and\u00a0smile.<\/p>\n
To the\u00a0links!<\/p>\n
–Let\u2019s\u00a0start\u00a0with this\u00a0wonderful\u00a0piece<\/a>\u00a0by NBC Sports\u2019 Joe Posnanski and what a Royals title means for Kansas City.<\/p>\n Posnanski, who\u00a0worked\u00a0as a\u00a0columnist\u00a0in Kansas City for\u00a0years,\u00a0pens\u00a0a\u00a0love\u00a0story\u00a0in\u00a0a way\u00a0few\u00a0writers\u00a0can.<\/p>\n As\u00a0a kid, I\u00a0remember\u00a0the Royals of Whitey Herzog coming of\u00a0age. The New York Yankees would\u00a0get\u00a0the\u00a0better\u00a0of them in the American League Championship Series, until George Brett shoved them over in 1980. By 1985, they were\u00a0ready\u00a0and the late Dick Howser guided the\u00a0club\u00a0to their first\u00a0championship. No\u00a0way\u00a0should they have\u00a0waited\u00a0so\u00a0long.<\/p>\n What\u00a0a great\u00a0core\u00a0of\u00a0talent\u00a0and such wonderful fans.<\/p>\n –Getting\u00a0back to Alcides Escobar<\/a>\u2019s leadoff inside-the-park\u00a0home\u00a0run\u00a0in Game 1,\u00a0incredibly\u00a0this was not the\u00a0first\u00a0time\u00a0a team\u00a0started\u00a0a game that\u00a0way.<\/p>\n You\u00a0need\u00a0to\u00a0go\u00a0back to the second World Series game\u00a0ever\u00a0played\u00a0in the\u00a0modern\u00a0era, October 2 1903<\/a>, when Boston Americans slugger Patsy Dougherty<\/a> did the deed. The\u00a0first\u00a0player\u00a0ever to\u00a0hit\u00a0two home\u00a0runs\u00a0in a World Series game, Dougherty\u2019s first\u00a0came\u00a0on a gapper into\u00a0right-center\u00a0at Huntington Avenue Grounds.<\/p>\n By 1904, he would be\u00a0traded\u00a0to the New York Highlanders for infield prospect Bob Unglaub<\/a>. Unglaub would\u00a0eventually\u00a0become\u00a0a\u00a0full-time\u00a0player\u00a0for Boston, then Washington, at the\u00a0end\u00a0of the decade.<\/p>\n No\u00a0word\u00a0as to whether the \u201cwhiner line telegraph\u201d at WEEI gave the Boston front office grief for trading Dougherty to the\u00a0soon-to-be Yankees.<\/p>\n –In\u00a0searching\u00a0on Google for the\u00a0first\u00a0World Series parade, nothing\u00a0specific\u00a0was\u00a0mentioned. A tweet<\/a>, however, from Will McKay (@poosh21) shows a\u00a0picture\u00a0from the\u00a0first\u00a0St. Louis Cardinals\u2019 championship\u00a0parade\u00a0in 1926.<\/p>\n Not the last World Series parade to roll through St. Louis.<\/p>\n –Do\u00a0you\u00a0wonder\u00a0why every World Series game is\u00a0played\u00a0at night?<\/p>\n Check out this\u00a0masterpiece<\/a>\u00a0from\u00a0Sports Illustrated<\/em>\u2019s Tom Verducci on how NBC Sports handled several\u00a0days\u00a0of rainouts\u00a0before Game 6 of the 1975 World Series.<\/p>\n Vilified by the print press for carrying the game in prime-time, instead we end up with one of the most talked about games in sports history. That led to the easy decision to play most Series games at night to the biggest audiences.<\/p>\n The last day game in the Series came in 1987 when the Minnesota Twins beat the Cardinals to force a decisive Game 7. In a bit of irony, the Saturday afternoon game was played indoors.<\/p>\n (Personal note: as a nearly three-year-old in West Granville, NY, not only was I allowed to stay up for Game 6 of the \u201975 World Series, I actually remember Carlton Fisk\u2019s home run. That\u2019s the year I became a Red Sox fan. Also, think the statute of limitations has run out for the State of New York to go after my mother for keeping her toddler glued to the television past 12:30 in the morning.)<\/p>\n –One more note on television and baseball, here<\/a> is an interesting piece written by a Fox Sports Senior Vice President, Michael Mulvihill, on why the World Series is still a big television event.<\/p>\n In a day and age where twenty million people watching a show wins a\u00a0ratings\u00a0week, the Series finishing in the top five for the rating season is big news. We may not see Super Bowl numbers for baseball again, but that does not mean the country lacks interest. A compelling product draws eyeballs. Despite this Series going five, the games were compelling.<\/p>\n –Three teams picked new managers for 2016 already.<\/p>\n Dusty Baker returns to the dugout with the Washington Nationals. Don Mattingly got the job he wanted with the Miami Marlins and Scott Servais earns his first skipper position with the Seattle Mariners.<\/p>\n Here<\/a> is a story written last week by\u00a0Seattle Times<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>reporter Stefanie Loh profiling the new manager. It is interesting that most clubs looking for new\u00a0skippers are chasing after old names as the Mariners hire a guy who has never managed on any level.<\/p>\n Even more interesting is YouTube has no video of Servais<\/a> as a backup catcher with the Astros back in the 90s. You can find countless videos of logos<\/a> that scared the daylights out of you as kids, but nothing from Servais as a player.<\/p>\n –Outfielder Torii Hunter<\/a> called it a day this week.<\/p>\n The eight-time Gold Glover primarily played for the Twins, but spent five years in Anaheim with the Angels and two with the Detroit Tigers. Hunter, known for his ability as a clubhouse leader, slugged 353 career home runs and 2452 hits. If not breaking his ankle running down a fly ball in the triangle at Fenway, he would have broken the 2500-hit barrier.<\/p>\n The Twins coaxed one more year out of the grizzled veteran. Michael Rand of the\u00a0Star-Tribune<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>tells us<\/a> what Hunter met to not only Minnesota but Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau as well.<\/p>\n –Two passings to leave you with.<\/p>\n Three time All-Star Norm Siebern<\/a> passed away<\/a> on October 30 at the age of 82.<\/p>\n Best known as the player the New York Yankees traded for Roger Maris, Siebern, a Missourian, was proud of his time as an Athletic. An interview during a reunion in Kansas City by Ashley Dunkak back in 2012 captures<\/a> his feelings.<\/p>\n Did you know he was the model for the Athletics gold and green uniforms worn today?<\/p>\n –Also, former Cincinnati Red and San Francisco Giant outfielder Eddie Milner<\/a> died November 2 at the way too young age of 60.<\/p>\n