Posts by Shane Ryan
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About Last Night: Yankees On The Brink
In case you were out living a life of leisure, here’s what you missed in sports on Monday. Justin Verlander lasted eight innings and Jose Valverde backed up his victory guarantee with a difficult save as Detroit beat the Yankees 5-4 to go up 2-1 in the series. According to this normalized strike zone plot, […]
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Yankee Desperation and the Everything Game
They can pretend otherwise, but the Yankees are desperate. The continuation of their season depends on winning a single game, and, fate being what it is, they’ll have to do it against the best pitcher in baseball. On the final day of the regular season, this Yankee fan prayed for a Texas loss. If the […]
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Gordon’s Left Foot: The Week 5 College Football Recap
I think bragging is a terrible offense. There’s nothing worse than someone who can’t have a minor success without broadcasting it to the world. It’s a sign of deep insecurity and shallow character. Boasters, braggarts, and grandstanders are the worst people in the world. I’d never have one as my friend. Which is why I’m […]
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About Last Weekend: Divisional Throwdowns
In case you were out living a life of leisure, here’s what you missed in sports over the weekend. Max Scherzer pitched six scoreless innings and Miguel Cabrera blasted a two-run homer as the Tigers evened their best-of-five series with the Yankees at 1-1 in a 5-3 win. After the game, Detroit closer Jose Valverde […]
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Playoff Choke Alert: Three Yankees to Scrutinize
With playoff baseball officially underway, the time has come for Yankee fans everywhere to accuse their players of choking in the clutch. Let’s call it the A-Rod Phenomenon, since he was the poster boy for our ire prior to his breakout performance in 2009. This year, I’d like to be at the vanguard of the […]
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About Last Night: Tito’s Last Stand
In case you were out living a life of leisure, here’s what you missed in sports on Tuesday. On the eve of the MLB playoffs, Red Sox management planned to meet with manager Terry Francona to discuss his future with the club. “Welllllll,” said Red Sox GM Theo Epstein, “I’m not sure ‘future’ is exactly […]
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Treasure the Regular Season, Rays and Yankees
Here’s some trivia to use on your baseball-loving pals: since 2000, there have been 66 playoff series, not counting the 11 World Series. How many of those did the team with home-field advantage win? I would have guessed 45 to 50. When I asked friends and family, I got similar responses. But man, were we […]
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The College Football Spectacular: Week 5 Preview
If you’re like me, you spend a good part of the day pondering this question: how can the College Football Spectacular win a Pulitzer Prize? This week, I realized there was just one way — exposing injustice. Seriously, take a look at the list of recent winners in the investigative reporting category. We’re talking crooked […]
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About Last Night: Pure, Unbridled Insanity
In case you were out living a life of leisure, here’s what you missed in sports on Wednesday. Oh. Dear. God. That was the best and craziest night ever. Where to begin? It’s time to turn logic off. Logic is officially dead. Baseball killed it. The sport just unraveled thousands of years of civilization. All […]
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About Last Night: Wild Card Showdown
In case you were out living a life of leisure, here’s what you missed in sports on Tuesday. Going into the final day of the season, the AL wild-card race is a dead heat. Boston nearly blew an 8-4 lead, but the first two career home runs by rookie catcher Ryan Lavarnway, who only started […]
