The Chalk Talk with Dan and the Dawg

Trevor Gott relinquishes the ball after giving up five runs without recording an out. This past Saturday, the Washington Nationals led the Cincinnati Reds by a score of 10-0 in the bottom of the eighth inning. Up to that point, the game had gone exactly according to plan. Max Scherzer had spun six shutout innings on ten strikeouts. All-Star snub Anthony Rendon had driven in six runs on two home runs, including a grand slam in the seventh inning that looked to seal the deal for the Nationals. Dusty Baker trotted out newcomer Austin Adams, one of the organization's better relief prospects, to see whether he could be part of the answer to their bullpen woes. It was a move that I had personally been rooting for since it became clear that the relievers for the Nationals were a weakness that was becoming more and more exposed by the day (as a team, they have converted only twenty-two of their thirty-six save opportunities). Though Adams had his share of control problems in the mi...

As the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline rapidly approaches, those who follow baseball will undoubtedly hear of major league teams being labeled as either "buyers" or "sellers". With the inclusion of a second wild card team, the chances of making a playoff push have increased considerably since the one-game playoff was implemented back in 2012. Since 2000, ten Wild Card teams have made the World Series (with the 2002 Angels, the 2003 Marlins, the 2004 Red Sox, and the 2014 Giants winning the championship). That's a rate of 25%; roughly one out of every four champions have come in the form of a team that wasn't a divisional winner. The saying that the season restarts once you reach the playoffs couldn't be truer in major league baseball.  At this point in time, the American League playoff picture is virtually still wide open as every team is conceivably in the mix. The Chicago White Sox, the team furthest out of a playoff seed and probably the ...

SPOILERS: If you are not caught up on Game of Thrones,  I would highly advise you to do so before reading this article. While watching the festivities over the All-Star Break, I was talking with one of my friends about what would happen if, say, Hodor from HBO's Game of Thrones was in the home run derby. While that discussion was hilarious and sad at the same time (it is still too soon to rub salt in that wound), I decided to put together the best possible baseball team given our remaining cast of characters. After all, winter is coming and many of these characters are probably not that much longer for this world. Our pick for General Manager is...Varys A general manager needs to keep the "big picture" in mind to determine what is best for the team, when it is time to buy and when it is time to sell, and everybody's favorite "spider" has done that for six seasons and counting. With both the trade deadline and winter rapidly approaching, there w...

For those of you who missed it, last night marked Major League Baseball's 88th Annual All-Star Game. The first Midsummer Classic was played in 1933 at Comiskey Park in Chicago and resulted in a 4-2 American League win over the National League. The game featured none other than the Great Bamino, Babe Ruth, blasting the first home run in All-Star game history to give the American League a 3-0 lead. This year's installation of the game looks to be a thrilling affair. We live in a rare age of both prolific pitching and prodigious power. It is the year of the strikeout and the year of the home run and we're seeing the ball leave the park at historic rates (the MLB is on pace for more than 6,100 home runs). In 1933, the year of the first MLB All-Star game, there was grand total of 1,067 home runs. Likewise, strikeouts are being recorded at a record pace. Midway through the year, we are already at 21,855 punch outs. Truly, we are in the age of the slugger. Since 2010, the win...

For the casual baseball fan, tonight's home run derby may have not sounded particularly intriguing. Absent are names of the bashers of yesteryear. With no David Ortiz, Albert Pujols, Yoenis Cespedes, or Josh Hamilton present, one might wonder just who the contestants were. Gone too is the legendary Chris Berman whose "Back, Back, Back, Back, Gone!" call was the soundtrack of my childhood summers spent watching the home run derby and the all-star game. Indeed, if you haven't been following baseball closely these past few months, you probably wouldn't be interested in this year's iteration of the home run derby. That being said, avid baseball fans were likely salivating at the potential for fireworks on a stormy night in Miami. Like the regular season to date, this year's home run derby was baseball's showcase for its brightest and youngest stars (lets put an emphasis on youngest, too, as half of the contestants were twenty five years o...