MLB Bullets parties like it’s 1933

Congratulations to the Nationals, who won their first National League pennant in the 50-year history of the Expos/Nationals.

Also, this leaves the Seattle Mariners as the only MLB franchise to have not played in the World Series. The last time there was just one team who had never played in the Fall Classic was 1944, when the St. Louis Browns made their one and only World Series before moving to Baltimore.

Also, congratulations to the Fresno Grizzlies, whose parent club has now made the World Series five times in the last ten seasons. More impressively, that’s with three different affiliations (Giants, Astros, Nationals).

Also, just to let you know, it is very likely that today’s Game 4 of the American League Championship Series will be rained out.

• Clare McNear sums up the Nationals sweep of the Cardinals and where the Nats stand as they head to their first World Series.
• R.J. Anderson has some facts to know about the Nationals making the World Series.
• Nationals manager Dave Martinez was almost fired in May. Now he’s going to manage in the World Series.
• Demetrius Bell notes that Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg has taken the long way to living up to the hype from earlier in his career, but he’s there now.
• Jeff Passan has the whole story of the 48-hours surrounding Nationals pitcher Daniel Hudson’s Game 1 paternity leave.
• Tim Brown has a profile of NLCS MVP Howie Kendrick.
• Jay Jaffe notes that a big reason the Nats have made the World Series is that their bullpen has surprisingly gone from a disaster to good in the playoffs. Daniel Hudson is a big reason for that.
• The Nationals and their fans are not content to just be happy they’ve made the World Series. They want to taunt former Nats outfielder Bryce Harper as well.
• David Schoenfield looks at all 33 pitches of the third inning of Game 3 of the NLCS that ended the Cardinals season for all intents and purposes. (And not “all intensive purposes” as my students used to write.)
• With the Cardinals season over, Dayn Perry writes that the team has some big decisions to make this offseason.
• Turning to the ALCS and the likely rainout tonight, Matt Ehalt thinks a rainout would be bad news for the Yankees bullpen.
• Ehalt has already picked a scapegoat in the case of Yankees loss in the ALCS and it is reliever Adam Ottavino, who has struggled in the series.
• Mike Axisa has more thoughts about the impact of a Game 4 rainout.
• Just one series after Twins reliever Tyler Duffey blasted Yankee fans, Astros outfielder Josh Reddick complained that Yankees fans were throwing things at him and other Astros players during the game. Reddick was also highly critical of the security at Yankee Stadium, which he said did nothing to stop the objects coming on to the field.
• Yankees great Reggie Jackson apologized to outfielder Giancarlo Stanton after joking about his injury problems during a radio interview. Jackson said he thought the comments were made off-the-air.
• Game 3 of the ALCS was delayed for 15 minutes as home plate umpire Jeff Nelson suffered a concussion on a foul ball that hit him in the mask.
• Lauren Theisen thinks the Astros have a lead in the ALCS thanks to some terrific baserunning that makes her happy to watch.
• This could be important going forward, because Michael Baumann writes that MLB could be heading into a new deadball era if the ball being used in the playoffs is the new normal.
• With the Dodgers’ season over, Andy McCullough thinks that Los Angeles needs to realize that Clayton Kershaw is no longer the dominating pitcher he once was and act accordingly. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Evan Drellich reports that there are talks between MLB and the Players Association to implement testing for opioids. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Craig Calcaterra thinks mandatory drug testing is the wrong way to go about combatting the opioid problem.
• The Angels could be fined if MLB determines they knew about the opioid use of the late Tyler Skaggs and didn’t tell the commissioner’s office.
• Several Native American tribes with ties to the state of Georgia said that the tomahawk chop chant at Braves games is “inappropriate” and asked that they stop doing it. That includes a tribe that runs a casino that is a corporate sponsor of the Braves.
• Brendan Gawlowski looks at recently-retired Braves catcher Brian McCann’s qualifications for the Hall of Fame.
• ESPN is considering changes to the “Sunday Night Baseball” booth, although Alex Rodriguez is going nowhere. I listened to Jessica Mendoza do a radio call of Game 1 of the NLCS and she was really good outside of the zoo that is SNB.
• Mendoza is also an advisor to the Mets, and as such the Dodgers denied her access to the media availability before games. The Dodgers also limited David Ross’ access. Both broadcasters were allowed to interview Dodgers players in other settings.
• If you want to follow up on the “pitch tipping” controversy surrounding Rays pitcher Tyler Glasnow in Game 5 of the ALDS, this video explains what Glasnow was doing to tip his pitches. (VIDEO)
• Samuel Evers moved to Queens this year and decided to go native and become a Mets fan. He recounts his season and wonders if he’s going about being a Mets fan the right way. As long as you’ve got the self-loathing down, there is no wrong way to be a Mets fan. And I say this as an Everton fan, the Mets of English soccer.
• Former Nationals manager Matt Williams will become the next manager of the Kia Tigers of KBO.
• A DC-area lawyer asked for a two-day extension on a filing deadline because he was too busy watching the Nationals.
• And finally, every successful MLB team has a secret to their success. For the Nationals, their secret is “Baby Shark,” which has become the team’s theme song.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.