A brief recap of the last 72 hours on a variety of topics including sports, news and personal events.

Cleveland Guardians – Central Champs

Two weeks ago I mentioned how everything the Guardians wanted was right in front of them.  All they had to do was take it.  Well, not only did they fully capitalize on that opportunity, they were damn near perfect in their endeavor.  Going 13-2 since that post 14 days ago, the Guardians capped off their incredible run yesterday when they clinched the American League Central.  Even though the Guardians have the youngest roster in baseball and even though they are almost dead-last in homeruns, they have still found ways to win – several in dramatic fashion.  May 9th might have been the most memorable when Josh Naylor got all the smoke from the Chicago White Sox after his game-tying grand-slam in the ninth inning, and then game-winning three-run homer in the 11th. 

They have been an incredible fun team to watch this year because they are winning in unconventional ways.  They don’t hit homers, but they don’t strike-out.  They steal bases.  They take 1st to 3rd at an elite clip.  They don’t play great team-defense but may have two gold-glove winners.  Their top two pitchers went a combined 23-19, but have been lights out the last two months of the season.  They have a dominant closer and a steady back-end bullpen. 

On April 6th my brother-in-law texted me the following: “Outfield of Mercado, Straw and Zimmer makes me physically ill.”  I responded with, “I like Steven Kwan, the rookie who can play OF.  High contact (hasn’t struck out all spring training).  Hopefully he forces Tito’s hand.”  

Not only did Kwan force Tito’s hand, he may end up with a top-three finish in the American League Rookie of the Year.  While players like Triston McKenzie, Josh Naylor, Emmanuel Clase and Andres Gimenez all deserve recognition for their contributions, the #1 reason this team is headed to the playoffs is Steven Kwan.  He stabilized not only the murky outfield, but the entire lineup in general.  He paved the way for the whole ensemble of rookies the Guardians brought up this year (16 in total).  He almost killed himself leaping into the stands to catch a fly ball.  In other words, he was King Kwan.  One word to describe the Guardians – compete.  They compete like hell and play hard all the way to their last out.  That never-give-up attitude has resulted in a major-league leading number of wins in their final at-bat. 

Heading into the final games of the regular season, the Guardians can now take some time to rest up and get their pitching rotation in order for their upcoming three-game Wild-Card series (Bieber – Game One, McKenzie – Game Two, Quantrill – Game Three). 

Regardless of what happens in the playoffs – and we’ll look at their playoff history in upcoming posts – this season has been remarkable.  The Guardians front-office finally went all-in to play younger guys and not waste at-bats on older/more expensive/less talented players.  The payoff is here and now.  You can’t win the World Series unless you’re in the postseason and the Guardians are emphatically in.  

First Family Vacation

You may have noticed there was no Weekend Recap last week, as I was out embarking on our first Florence Family Vacation (Niagara Falls – Buffalo – Cleveland).  We’ve previously taken Jack (our five-year-old son) on overnight trips that included a hotel visit, but this was the first actual long road-trip taken as an entire family.   All told, the trip was a success.  Jack was perfectly patient during the long-car rides and entertained himself with books, music and coloring.  Our trip included a visit to Niagara Falls (the Canadian side is 100% better), a new aquarium, putt-putt golf, pool-time in the hotel, his first Cleveland Guardians game and a trip around the bases.  

The “trip” verb was no accident as Jack had an unfortunate spill rounding second base on Progressive Field.  Surprisingly enough, it wasn’t Jack’s fault at all.  In fact it was an adult not paying attention to where he was going and inadvertently sent Jack into the dirt.  Yes, this “adult” was an Ohio State Buckeye fan, which helps explains his general lack of overall awareness. 

Jack looked like Jason Kipnis after he touched home plate and was generally more embarrassed than anything.  Tears soon followed after he realized a previous scab on his knee had opened up, but those cries were short-lived as we now point at second base during the games on TV and say to each other, “Jack, that’s right where you slid!”  Good times … I hope.  When Jack went to school the following Wednesday and had the opportunity to share about his vacation, he chose to recall none of this.  Not the pool, not Niagara Falls and not even the Cleveland Guardians game.  Instead, he told his entire class that he went on vacation and got to stay up late watching college football games with his dad.  That was his highlight.  

Odds and Ends

Notre Dame and the Cleveland Browns won in convincing fashion this past weekend, with both the Irish and the Browns controlling the line of scrimmage and utilizing their strong run games.  This method of victory was no surprise for the Browns, but it was a pleasant one for the Irish.  If Notre Dame can continue that positive trend throughout the season then 8 wins is more than obtainable (a far cry from where they were after two weeks).  

Appalachian State continues to play exciting football, this time coming up on the short-side of a 32-28 loss to James Madison.  App State was up 28-3 in this one, before giving up 29 unanswered points.  They play The Citadel next week, and I can’t wait.  

Roger Federer said good-bye to professional tennis this weekend as he announced his retirement following The Laver Cup.  Roger’s last match was a doubles contest with Rafael Nadal as his partner.  While Roger and Rafa ended up losing, it didn’t really matter.  As soon as the final point was won, the world got to say good-bye to Roger who was as gracious with his final words as he was on the court during his two-decade period of dominance.   One of my favorite new TV shows of 2022 was The Rehearsal.  It starred Nathan Fielder and is almost impossible to describe.  This past weekend I started watching Nathan’s first show, Nathan For You (which ran on Comedy Central from 2013-2017) which is absolutely fantastic.  I finished the first eight episodes on HBOMax and cannot wait to see what absurdity Nathan has in store for the next three seasons.   

Until next time, peace be the journey.