Dodgers barely beat the Cards, 6-4, as the bullpen tries to blow the game in the ninth.

Back to St. Louis for game six.

Tigers bats wake up and they rout the BoSox, 7-3... Series is tied up 2-2.

BoSox edge the Tigers, 4-3, and take a 3-2 series lead heading back to Boston.

Dodgers are getting thumped 9-0 by the Cardinals in the 7th inning...

BoSox beat the Tigers with another grand slam, 5-2, to win the series.

Now it's the BoSox vs. the Cardinals in the World Series.

Koji Uehara ALCS MVP

BOSTON, Oct. 20 (14:31) Kyodo


Koji Uehara was named the MVP of the American League Championship Series after closing out Junichi Tazawa's win as the Boston Red Sox advanced to the World Series with a 5-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers in Game 6 on Saturday.

Uehara became the first Japanese to win the MVP of either the AL or the National League Championship Series. He struck out two in the ninth inning for his third save of the series, which the Red Sox won 4-2 and during which the former Yomiuri Giants starter didn't allow a single run or a walk and just three hits.

Uehara also picked up the win in Boston's Game 2 victory.

"It's a little scary," Uehara said of winning MVP honors. "To tell you the truth, I almost threw up (because of the pressure during the series)."

"There's a reason why he should be the MVP," Boston manager John Farrell said of his closer.

Uehara capped another dramatic win at Fenway Park for the Red Sox, who grabbed the lead for good thanks to Shane Victorino's one-out grand slam in the seventh.

"That turned the tide completely," Uehara said of Victorino's slam over the Green Monster. "We had a three-run lead so I went out there thinking that even if I gave up two, we'd still be up."

"It's a huge load off the shoulders. I'm really happy to be
going to the World Series."

With runners on first and second, Tazawa got the last out in the seventh to earn the win and to set up Victorino's heroics. Victorino came up to bat after Iglesias erred to load the bases.

"I'm glad I could help out the team in some way," Tazawa said. "I was just trying to get us out of the inning to keep us in the game."

"I don't want to think too much about (the World Series) because I'll just wind myself into a knot."


I have no rooting interest whatsoever and given how awful FOX' coverage is I may not watch any games at all. I imagine Jav_sol is happy though.

gaijinmark wrote:

Koji Uehara ALCS MVP

That's surprising... I would've thought they'd pick Mike Napoli.

Mattingly has already been complaining about feeling like he was jerked around by the Dodgers on his contract this year so, as the cliche goes, "This can't be good."

Dodgers fire Mattingly's bench coach

Don Mattingly and the Dodgers appear headed for some sort of confrontation with one season remaining on his contract, but in the meantime Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reports that bench coach Trey Hillman has been fired.

Hillman joined Mattingly�fs staff in 2011 after being fired as Royals manager following a 152-207 (.423) record in two-plus seasons in Kansas City.

Shaikin recently wrote an article in which he noted that �gMattingly handpicked him for the Dodgers�f coaching staff�h in 2011 and �gHillman and Mattingly usually share a ride to Dodger Stadium�h as �gcarpool mates.�h

So presumably this wasn�ft Mattingly�fs doing, in which case the tension in Los Angeles may have just increased even further.

Even money right now that Mattingly ends up in Detroit.

^ Dusty Baker is looking for a job....

Is Anime Dad a Dodger fan?:http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/la/ticketing/od_australia.jsp?partnerId=as_lad_20131023_13518674&%E2%80%8C

Red Sox take the opening game of the World Series with an 8-1 win over the Cardinals.

Cardinals take game two with a 4-2 win over the Red Sox.

Cardinals take game three, 5-4, on a baserunner interference call against the Red Sox.

BoSox even the series up with a 4-2 win over the Cardinals.

Koji Uehara picks off a runner at first base to end the game.

BoSox take a 3-2 series lead with a 3-1 win over the Cardinals.

Koji Uehara gets the save.

BoSox beat the Cardinals, 6-1, to win the World Series.

Tazawa and Uehara weren't the only Red Sox of Japanese descent. Shane Victorino is from Wailuku, Hawaii and according to Wiki:

"Victorino is of Portuguese, Hawaiian, Japanese, Okinawan, and Chinese descent. His last name is of Portuguese descent. In an interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer in 2011, he explained "My name is really Victorine, which is Portuguese. My great-, great-grandpa, when he was in the war, they spelled his name with an O at the end instead of an E, and it became Victorino." He is a Sansei or third-generation Japanese American on his mother's side"

gaijinmark wrote:

"Victorino is of Portuguese, Hawaiian, Japanese, Okinawan, and Chinese descent. His last name is of Portuguese descent. In an interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer in 2011, he explained "My name is really Victorine, which is Portuguese. My great-, great-grandpa, when he was in the war, they spelled his name with an O at the end instead of an E, and it became Victorino." He is a Sansei or third-generation Japanese American on his mother's side"

His polyethnic make-up makes him the rule rather than the exception in Hawaii.

Not unexpected, but still, "boo!"

Blue Jays decline option on Kawasaki

NEW YORK, Nov. 1 (09:10) Kyodo


The Toronto Blue Jays said Friday they have declined an option on popular Japanese outfielder Munenori Kawasaki, making him a free agent.

Kawasaki, 32, was promoted to the majors after coming to Toronto on a minor-league deal in March.

Popular among fans, teammates and local media for his fun-loving personality, he played 96 games and batted .229 with one home run, 27 RBIs and seven stolen bases.

Rakuten Eagles claim 1st Japan Series title

SENDAI, Nov. 3 (22:12) Kyodo


The Rakuten Eagles rebounded from the previous day's defeat to capture their first-ever Japan Series championship, beating the mighty Yomiuri Giants 3-0 in Game 7 on Sunday.

After Eagles ace right-hander Masahiro Tanaka took a four-run, 12-hit drubbing on Saturday, snapping his record winning streak of 30 consecutive decisions extending back from Aug. 12, 2012, it was Manabu Mima who stepped up for six scoreless innings of one-hit ball in the decisive game of the best-of-seven Series.

But like a perfectly scripted movie, Tanaka, who is widely expected to make a move to the majors during the off-season, came out for a final curtain call and finished it off in front of 25,249 adoring fans at Kleenex Stadium in Miyagi Prefecture.

Mima, who won a duel against lefty Toshiya Sugiuchi in Game 3, took the rematch as well, with his opponent getting the hook after just 1-2/3 innings for his second career postseason loss.

Eagles leadoff hitter Takero Okajima had a clutch RBI double, Akihisa Makida hit the Eagles' second homer of the Series, and rookie Takahiro Norimoto tag teamed with Tanaka against a Giants lineup that entering Sunday's game hitting just .186 compared to the Eagles' .270.

Norimoto, who lost Game 1 but was the winner in relief in Game 5, yielded two hits over two innings and Tanaka allowed two hits in the ninth but No. 18 closed by striking out pinch-hitter Kenji Yano swinging to end it.

The Eagles, under skipper Senichi Hoshino appearing in their first Series, won the title in the club's ninth year and denied the Giants their second consecutive championship. Rakuten also brought a championship to the city of Sendai, which was one of the regions devastated by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster.

Hoshino, who took the Rakuten helm in 2011, won his first Japan Series title in his fourth attempt as a manager; he had lost with the Chunichi Dragons in 1988 and 1999 and with the Hanshin Tigers in 2003.

As in interleague play in which the teams split four games and three of four contests were decided by two or fewer runs, the Series proved to be just as tantalizing; five of the seven games were decided by two or fewer runs. Only Games 1 and 7 were shutouts.

The Eagles, owned by Internet mogul Hiroshi Mikitani, became the first team in nearly half a century to join the Pacific League, filling the void left by the financial shake-up in 2004, when the Kintetsu Buffaloes and Orix BlueWave merged to form the Orix Buffaloes.

In its inaugural season in 2005 under Yasushi Tao, Rakuten finished dead last with a dismal 37-98 record with one tie, a whopping 51-1/2 games out of first place.

With Katsuya Nomura at the helm from its second year, Rakuten began the arduous task of building the team's foundation and booked a spot in the Climax Series for the first time in 2009 by finishing second. But under Marty Brown in 2010, they tumbled back into the cellar.