Pittsburgh Pirates Wake Up Call – Heading Towards Darkest Timeline

In our daily Wake-Up Call, we get you ready for the day with a complete look at all things Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Blue Bloods Strike (Back)

Last night we saw the Yankees snakebite the Astros and come back from a 4-0 deficit to win 6-4. New York apparently enjoys spotting teams 2-0 leads before they trying this postseason. The Astros wasted a golden opportunity to take control of the ALCS and now find themselves in a dogfight, not just with this Yankee team but also with all the stupid history. When you play the Yankees, you’re playing 27 World Series Titles, 40 AL Pennants, and 53 Postseason berths. This team is always poised to go on a long playoff run because that’s simply what the Evil Empire does. A lot can change once this series goes back to Houston but right now, all the momentum is on the side of New York.

For most of America, there is a clear good guy and a bad guy in the ALCS. The NLCS is a completely different beast as you have the defending champion Cubs and the Big Spending Dodgers. Not exactly a loveable underdog in this one, despite how Cubs fans view their team. The Dodgers were clearly the best team during the regular season, however, they had that massive losing streak and suddenly there were doubts about this team’s postseason chances. They have firmly put that to rest as they swept the Diamondbacks and are currently up 3-0 on the Cubs.

Outside of the game two, Justin Turner walk-off win, the Dodgers have mostly controlled the pace of play in the NLCS. They’re one win away from sweeping their way into their first World Series appearance since 1981, when they played…the New York Yankees.

Potential Realignment?

Yesterday Adam Bittner of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter there are some discussions about potential MLB Realignment. The league is considering adding two new teams and shortening the season to 156 games, as well. Major League Baseball is considering following in the NHL’s footsteps with their division format and having teams organized by regional location. This would put the Pittsburgh Pirates in a division with the Washington Nationals, Philadelphia Phillies, Tampa Bay Rays, Baltimore Orioles, Cincinnati Reds, Atlanta Braves, and Miami Marlins. This would take the Pirates away from having to play all those Central Time Zone teams and put them back firmly on an East Coast schedule for the first time since they were in the old NL East.

Personally, I am 100 percent in favor of this potential realignment because frankly, it makes way more sense. You’d get the old Pirates-Phillies divisional rivalry back and you’d have the other divisional teams in a much closer geographical proximity.

As for shortening the season, I think this makes all the sense in the world. 162 games aren’t the problem but the fact you see World Series games in late October and early November is absurd. Cutting a week’s worth of regular season games should entirely be a net positive. For the hardcore fans, it may mean less baseball but it also means you’re going to see less “Sunday Lineups,” which is good for everyone.

Baseball talk on the Web

MLB Rallies To Help Boy Whose Baseball Collection Was Destroyed By Fire

Winkeler: MLB hiding a good product

If MLB Looks To Expand, Portland Has Group Looking To Pave The Way

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