The Giants are now in control of the World Series, but the Royals certainly aren't out of it yet. The big stories, apart from the World Series, are the death of Oscar Taveras and the resignation of Joe Maddon, both of which have been covered in separate stories here.
- The story on the field today is Madison Bumgarner, who has dominated in the postseason like no other pitcher since they started having multiple rounds of the playoffs. David Schoenfield says we're all just living in Madison Bumgarner's world. And from the picture above, he's apparently hungry.
- Eric Karros, by way of C.J. Nitkowski, explains how an Eric Hosmer defensive misplay cost the Royals a run in Game Five.(video)
- Going back to Game Four, Phil Taylor says that the unpredictable Pablo Sandoval has been a key to the Giants success.
- Jeff Passan breaks down the play before the Sandoval single that broke Game Four open. The one where Alcides Escobar went home instead of trying to turn the double play.
- KC manager Ned Yost thinks the Giants watered down the infield dirt to slow down the Royals running game.
- For his part, the Giants groundskeeper says the field is in the same condition that it was in all season.
- Tyler Kepner profiles GM Brian Sabean, the giant who built the Giants. Sabean is the longest-tenured GM in the game.
- Rob Neyer thinks the Royals won Game Three despite Yost.
- C.J. Nitkowski says that sometimes a three-headed monster in the bullpen is not enough.
- This was written before Game Five, but Rob Neyer thinks that Yusmeiro Petit should get a start for the Giants in the World Series.
- Do you miss Tim McCarver this World Series? I know that Harold Reynolds and Tom Verducci are doing all they can to make us nostalgic for McCarver. (Seriously. They're worse than McCarver.) In that's the case, you might want to head over to McCarver's house where he's still analyzing the game for an audience of just himself.
- The TV ratings for the Series in Kansas City are "absurd."
- Jerry Crasnick writes that the Royals and the Giants are giving us an entertaining Series.
- Albert Chen tells us how awesome Salvador Perez is. I'd mock him for this, except that Perez really is awesome.
- The Taveras news is still pretty fresh and pretty raw, so there isn't much out there yet as I write this. But Will Leitch is heartbroken.
- MLB reacts on Twitter to Taveras' passing.
- Talk about burying the lede. This Bill Madden story is about Joe Maddon opting out of his contract and the possibility of him going to the Cubs. And I'll get to plenty of stories about that in a bit. But down in the sixth paragraph, Madden drops the bombshell that Rays owner Stuart Sternberg has been talking with people about moving the Rays to Montreal.
- The Rays won't be in Montreal in 2015, of course, but the Blue Jays and Reds will for more spring training games.
- Jonah Keri writes that the departures of Maddon and Andrew Friedman mark the end of an era in Tampa Bay. Especially if the team ends up moving to Keri's hometown of Montreal, n'est-ce pas?
- Will Leitch names the six best fits for Maddon. Yep. The Cubs are on the list.
- David Roth thinks that if Maddon is smart, he'll stay far away from Flushing, Queens.
- Bob Nightengale has a kind of strange column where he states that it would be unethical of Maddon to sign with any team that would fire their manager to hire him. You know, the same way it was unethical of Robinson Cano to sign with the Mariners when they already had a second baseman.
- Craig Calcaterra says that some people are blowing the impact that Maddon (or any manager) can have on a team way out of proportion.
- If Maddon does sign with the Cubs, Ozzie Guillen wants to be one of his coaches. While it would never happen, that could be the plot of one wacky sitcom.
- Another story on how big the strike zone has gotten over the course of this season.
- Grant Brisbee wonders why, if the Phillies are planning on rebuilding, is Ruben Amaro Jr. still the GM?
- Mike Trout and Giancarlo Stanton won the Hank Aaron Award for their respective league. And you all yawned.
- Stanton is recovering from being hit in the face nicely and expects to have a normal off-season.
- Adam Wainwright had elbow surgery to remove a small piece of cartilage.
- In a story that you really should read, Curt Schilling has had a miserable year. But he doesn't want anyone to feel sorry for him because he says his problems (cancer, bankruptcy) are all his own fault.
- The University of Tokyo is the Harvard of Japan. And like Harvard, they stink at sports. Their baseball team just lost their 86th straight game.
- Who needs a seat at the stadium (or even a house to live in) when you've got a kayak in McCovey Cove like this one?
- "Marlins Man" has become a bit of a celebrity at the World Series, despite the fact that he's been at previous World Series doing the same thing. He says he'll be back in his same spot at Kauffman Stadium wearing his Marlins gear. Also, the Royals are liars for saying he's not really a Marlins fan.
- Finally, here's a ranking of all 30 MLB teams' victory songs. And you can all debate whether "Go Cubs Go" is ranked to high or too low. The Mariners song is certainly too low.
And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Because the only two words better than "Game Six" are "Game Seven."