Opinion

In a town that knows how to party, San Francisco Giants fans are throwing an after—party by the bay, thrilled by the Giants' captivating postseason play. In every sense, the city has been a lively, festive place as Halloween looms closer and die-hard fans don costumes or row into McCovey Cove, a waterway behind the ballpark's right field bleachers.

Lately, every night has felt like a party in the Bay Area, and it has been fun to watch the World Series generate both action—packed drama and a beautiful tale.

Dear Jayson and Ruben,

As you well know, the past few years have been a very special time for the Philadelphia Phillies and their loyal fanbase.  

Yankee pitchers did not exactly distinguish themselves in the recent ALCS. But that may not be the main reason that they lost. To understand why, let's look at what happened in individual games.

With the New York Yankees and manager Joe Girardi having ironed out a new three-year deal, general manager Brian Cashman can focus on finding a pitching coach. After firing Dave Eiland, the Yankees priority will be to find his replacement.

It appears Cashman and Girardi will have options as they begin their search. A handful of names have been mentioned as possibilities, some with ties to Girardi and others with plenty of experience.

Three in-house options will likely be considered.

The New York Mets finally have a new general manager. Sandy Alderson was announced on Thursday as the replacement for Omar Minaya.

It appears Mets fans may be able to breath a sigh of relief and have reason to believe again in their orange and blue squad.

But in case Alderson—who has a history of building championship teams—needs a hand, I have come up with some ways to help improve the Mets, both short-term and for the long haul.

When the Texas Rangers returned home from New York, having taken two out of three games at Yankee Stadium, the airport was packed with Ranger fans ready to cheer on their team, ready to see them wrap up the ALCS at the Ballpark at Arlington.

There was little drama to the negotiations that led to the three-year contract extension Joe Girardi reportedly agreed to with the Yankees on Thursday.

It kind of makes all the second-half speculation about Girardi's future seem a bit silly in retrospect. I'm not innocent—on more than one occasion I joked that Girardi did postgame interviews this summer while looking over blueprints of Wrigley Field's manager's office.

Fake bearded towel waving Giants fans watched as Matt Cain was able to deliver a crushing defeat to the heavy hitting Texas Rangers, and for many fans, the idea of capturing their first World Series since 1954 is but a stone’s throw away.

Cain kept his 0.00 postseason ERA intact going nearly eight as he dazzled and confounded the Rangers’ hitters, while postseason veteran Edgar Renteria did the rest, going 2-4 with a key home-run in the fifth inning that got things going.

It's half-past midnight here in Ranger land and things are looking bleak. Cliff Lee has shown that he is human, and the Ranger bats seem to have gone into hibernation. To add insult to injury, the bullpen is pitching with the ferocity of a petting zoo, and with Halloween right around the corner, it seems as though the Rangers are dressing up as choke artists.

It has already been an interesting off-season for the Toronto Blue Jays, as they have hired a new manager and some intriguing rumors have emerged.

John Farrell, the former pitching coach for the Boston Red Sox, was hired to replace the outgoing Cito Gaston.  Farrell doesn't have any experience managing at the big league level, but his diverse expertise gave him the edge in landing the job with the Blue Jays.