Outside The Confines: Postseason heroics

Home run heroics, a player mashing at the plate after snide comments from opposing players go public, a team with a seven-time postseason trip, and what will become of one of LA’s greatest aces after one more bad postseason.

That’s the dramatics flowing around the 2023 championship games. Not all the drama is on the field, of course, as reporters have turned on each other, opposing players are saying what they really think, while others are breaking postseason records to say what they mean on the field.

It’s certainly not a dull postseason.

• Michael Baumann explains why you shouldn’t hang a breaking ball to Bryce Harper.
• Leo Morgenstern looks at the Phillies' postseason motivations.
• Mike Lupica shares how Bryce Harper is looking very much like Mr. October.
• Jayson Stark explains how Harper keeps rising to the postseason occasion. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Nick Castellanos makes postseason history with his multi-homer game. Story by Christina de Nicola.
• Karl Rasmussen looks at Castellanos’s big game.
• These jokes write themselves.

• This reaction is incredibly meme-worthy.

• There’s a little postseason drama brewing between the Braves and Phillies and Patrick Andres tries to explain it.
• Stephanie Apstein also explains how those comments were never off the record and fair game for press to share.
• Matt Gelb explains how the drama may have spurned Harper to success. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Jay Jaffe looks at the early exit of the Dodgers from the postseason.
• Davy Andrews tries to determine what went wrong for Freddie Freeman.
• Juan Toribio looks at what Clayton Kershaw’s future might be after this postseason.
• Zack Meisel brings us the long, sad history of Cleveland’s World Series drought. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• The Astros are headed for their seventh consecutive ALCS. Story by Chandler Rome (The Athletic subscription required.)
• There’s one Astros fan who is going to be very rich if they win another World Series. (Reuters)
• Brian McTaggert reminisces about how this Astros postseason is looking much like their previous ones, in a good way.
• Carlos Correa assures fans that the Twins are going to learn from their postseason loss. (AP)
• Stephanie Apstein reviews some of Rob Manfred’s latest comments about the state of baseball.
• Joe Buck is done calling baseball, reports Jimmy Traina.
• Bruce Bochy is feeling optimistic about Max Scherzer. (AP)
• Yikes.

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