Outside The Confines: We’re all even up

I know that no one ever believes anyone who says “I don’t care who wins the World Series,” but I truly don’t. I just want it to go as many games as possible. My great fear was that the Astros would blow out the Phillies in four games, so I was cheering for the Phillies to win Game 1. But I really don’t care who wins Game 7, as long as there is a Game 7.

But if you’re cheering for the Phillies or Astros, that’s cool. I imagine most of you are cheering for the Phillies.

• Four MLB dot com writers who are covering the World Series have a round table discussion about what to expect in tonight’s Game 3.
• ESPN’s baseball writers on what we’ve learned so far in the first two games of the Series.
• Before Game 1 on Friday, Ben Lindbergh wrote that on paper, the 2022 World Series is a “colossal mismatch.” But because it’s baseball, that means either team could win.
• Todd Zolecki has three keys for the Phillies to win Game 3 and take control of the series.
• And Brian McTaggart has the three keys for the Astros to win Game 3 and do likewise.
• Gabe Lacques reports that the Phillies plan to overcome their pitching disadvantage by exploiting their home-field advantage. If they want the whole city of Philadelphia behind them, they need Gritty there. The Phillie Phanatic needs his help.
• Dayn Perry writes that despite the split in Houston, the Phillies two aces, Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler, did not pitch well. That presents a problem for Philadelphia going forward.
• Matt Gelb agrees. The Phillies need Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola to get their act together if the Phillies are going to beat the Astros. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Hannah Keyser writes that the Phillies came up short in Game 2 by just a few inches.
• On the other side, Jay Jaffe notes that the “hole” in Astros’ ace Justin Verlander’s Hall-of-Fame case is his miserable record in the World Series. He’s 0-6 in the World Series and Jaffe looks at each start.
• Zach Crizer says you should boo the Astros if you want to, but just don’t cheat yourself from appreciating them as a truly great baseball team.
• Hannah Keyser looks at the journey of Astros rookie shortstop Jeremy Peña—from Santo Domingo, to Providence, RI, to Orono, ME and finally to Houston. And how he and his three Latin teammates/roommates on the University of Maine baseball team nearly burnt their apartment down trying to cook Caribbean food. (Also, until last week, I had no idea that Jeremy was the son of former Cardinals second baseman Gerónimo Peña.)
• Ken Rosenthal writes about how Astros third baseman Alex Bregman got his health and groove back. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Leo Morgenstern notes that two players in this Series, Jose Altuve and Jean Segura, are the masters of the infield hit. One on each team.
• Scott Miller notes that Kyle Schwarber never made it back to the World Series with the Cubs—but he’s back now with the Phillies.
• Anthony Castrovince wonders if Phillies team president Dave Dombrowski has finally found a home in Philadelphia.
• Astros outfielder Chas McCormick grew up a Phillies fan and cheered for them when they won it all back in 2008. Now he’s doing his best to see that they don’t win another one this year. His family has mixed feelings, but they’re reluctantly siding with the Astros and Chas.
• Shalise Manza Young looks at how MLB got to the point where this is the first World Series since 1950 without a single American-born Black player on either team.
• Astros manager Dusty Baker says “I am ashamed for the game” because of that sad milestone. However, he does add that he expects the situation to improve shortly.
• Commissioner Rob Manfred says he’s “no longer optimistic” about the Athletics remaining in Oakland. He also says that the runner on second rule in extras is likely to stay because the fans like it. Which is simply a lie. Players, executives and reporters love it.
• Let’s have a round of applause for Game 2 home plate umpire Pat Hoberg, who called a perfect game. That mean that, according to Umpire Scorecards, Hoberg called every ball and strike pitch correctly.
• General manager Brian Cashman and manager Aaron Boone are returning to the Yankees next season, but Mike Axisa writes that the problems in the Bronx lies deeper than just those two. Mostly the roster, but aren’t those two responsible for that?
• The Royals have hired Rays bench coach Matt Quartaro as their new manager. It seems like Quartaro has been linked to every open manager’s job over the past two years, so it’s good to see he finally landed one.
• Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado decided not to exercise the opt-out in his contract. He’s got five years and $144 million left on his deal in St. Louis.
• Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright also decided against retiring and will return to St. Louis for one final season in 2023. Katie Woo gets the story on Wainwright’s decision to play one more season. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• And finally, this.

The Mariners were penalized in an NFL game yesterday, for those of you who don’t want to watch the videos.

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