Baseball

Baseball

Big bats, new faces and old rivalries: Previewing the American League East

By Ethan Grubelich | March 10

Since 2014, each team in the American League East has won the division at least once, made multiple playoff appearances and reached the AL Championship Series at least once. The fact that no other division in baseball comes close to boasting even one of these accomplishments over this seven-year span is a testament to the year-to-year competitiveness and unpredictability of the AL East division. 2021 appears no different, as three teams — the New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays and reigning AL champions Tampa Bay Rays — are expected to compete for this year’s AL East crown. Here is a look at each team’s situation heading into the new season, which hopefully  can help you determine how things will stand once the 162 regular season games are in the books.

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Baseball

Fall Classic 2020: The culmination of a historic MLB season

By Jack Adgate | October 21

Action thus far in the postseason has been quite unpredictable, with teams owning losing records giving high-ranking clubs first-round scares, a team that lost over 100 games in 2019 winning their Wild Card series, and an infinite supply of 100 mile-per-hour fastballs. Despite the shortened season and abnormal postseason format, October has proven that baseball just continues to become more exciting with each passing year. 

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Columns

Game Day: Remembering a classic

By Alex Sharp | April 3

With temperatures increasing, the grass slowly becoming greener and the sun staying up later, spring is officially upon us.

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Baseball

The Turf Monster: Baseball's bloated contracts are strategic nightmares

By Aiden Herrod | February 12

Remember when star baseball sluggers Bryce Harper and Manny Machado dominated free agency talk all winter long, waited eons, and finally signed massive, $300 million-plus contracts with the Phillies and Padres respectively? Yeah, me neither. Both teams missed the playoffs and the baseball world moved ...

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Baseball

While we were away: Tufts delivers strong performances in summer postseason play

By Jake Freudberg, Tim Chiang and Jacob Dreyer | August 28

Baseball wins NESCAC Championship in midst of successful seasonIt was a summer of success for the Tufts baseball team, who was once again crowned NESCAC champion in an 8–3 game seven win over Middlebury on May 12.Coach John Casey added milestones to his already illustrious career, being inducted into ...

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Baseball

Tufts baseball defends its title on southern road trip

By Jacob Dreyer | March 27

Tufts baseball returns home after posting an impressive 7–2 record during its weeklong trip to Virginia, putting its overall record at 8–2 to start off the season.Tufts concluded its road trip against Randolph-Macon, securing a 7–3 win. The victory against Randolph-Macon, currently the No. ...

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Columns

Vinny’s Variety Pack: A break for baseball

By Vinny Donofrio | April 5

This week, about ten mock drafts came out, so I’ll spare you from hearing my predictions for a little bit. Opening day for baseball was this week, and after reading my friend and fellow columnist Max's article, I was inspired to talk about baseball myself.Ever since I was a little kid, baseball ...

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Columns

Out of Left Field: Béisbol en Cuba

By Max Goder-Reiser | March 27

Over spring break, I got to visit Havana, Cuba on an educational trip. Part of that education was learning about the Revolution, Fidel and the political history of Cuba. But the other part was learning about the culture of baseball on the island. From walking around Havana to visiting the Museo Nacional ...

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Columns

Out of Left Field: Tim Tebow's wild ride

By Max Goder-Reiser | March 12

I don’t like Tim Tebow. I don’t like that the Mets signed him to a minor league contract over some player who actually deserves it. Since his days with the Denver Broncos, Tebow has been a media circus and a poor player. As some may recall, Tebow was a bad NFL quarterback. He went on a crazy late-season ...

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Columns

Under the Lights: The playoffs problem

By Nicky Shapiro | October 25

On Saturday, something of an annual tradition took place on a field in Chicago: Clayton Kershaw got rocked in a playoff game. The Los Angeles Dodgers’ ace pitcher gave up four earned runs over five innings pitched in Game Six of the team’s 5-0 elimination loss to the World Series-bound Chicago ...

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Opinion

Out of Left Field: Cleveland against the world

By Max Goder-Reiser | October 20

Tomorrow the Cleveland Indians will take on the Chicago Cubs in Game 1 of the World Series. This marks the first World Series for Cleveland since 1997 and gives the team a chance to win its first title since 1948. The Cubs’ last World Series appearance was in 1945 and I don’t know if you’ve ...

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Columns

Out of Left Field: A tribute to José Fernández

By Max Goder-Reiser | October 3

It’s taken me a while to organize my thoughts on this. Better writers have written better tributes and mine merely echoes their sentiments, but I thought it was important to write my tribute to José Fernández.

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Baseball

Fresh off NESCAC championship, baseball to fight to remain consistent

By Eddie Samuels | August 31

Coming off a NESCAC title and a deep run in the NCAA Div. III tournament, the Jumbos are looking for continuity this season. Tufts is historically a reliable force in NESCAC baseball, with strong showings expected every year.“I think for me what defines Tufts baseball is perseverance,” coach ...

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Columns

Flashes of Brilliance: Saying goodbye

By Eric Smiley | May 22

It was my 13th birthday. I woke up to the sound and sight of steady rain. I figured that my scheduled Little League game would be cancelled, and the sinking depression of a possible postponement crept into my mind. In those days, I would go to bed laughably early the night before games because sleep ...

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Baseball

Tufts continues dominance with explosive five-game win streak

By Bradley Schussel | April 21

Tufts baseball recovered from its fourth loss of the season last week to belt out five straight wins at home over a four-day span, including a sweep of a three-game NESCAC series against Trinity. The Jumbos came out on top against the Trinity Bantams 7-4 in a game on Friday afternoon before winning ...

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Columns

You can't predict baseball

By Eric Smiley | April 13

Every time the Colorado Rockies play baseball, I find myself following their games closely, waiting for the batting order to turn over. I have never been to Denver, and I do not root for the team. Ten days ago, I had never heard the name Trevor Story. Today, I will wait anxiously for Story to come up ...

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Baseball

Pleasant 'Everybody Wants Some!!' offers nostalgic view of college, falls short

By Elliot Storey | April 12

Billed as a follow-up to “Dazed and Confused” (1993) and “Boyhood” (2014), “Everybody Wants Some!!," released March 30, is writer-director Richard Linklater’s latest entry into his genre of films that are more experiences than stories. Whether that experience is worth the price of admission ...

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Baseball

Jumbos open New England schedule with three straight wins

By Bradley Schussel | April 7

Coming off a 6-3 road trip through the south over spring, the baseball team returned to New England with a bang in a crushing 21-3 victory over Massachusetts Maritime Academy last Wednesday before sweeping a doubleheader against Bates on Saturday to move to 2-0 in NESCAC East play.The Jumbos are off ...

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Baseball

Off to a strong start, baseball goes 6-3 in spring break games

By Eddie Samuels | March 30

Fresh off a spring break that saw the Jumbos go 6-3 on their annual road trip through the South, the baseball team is back in New England preparing to face off against Mass. Maritime Wednesday in addition to its first NESCAC series this weekend against Bates.“We go down [to the South] to try and ...

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Columns

Flashes of Brilliance: Bordering on the surreal

By Eric Smiley | March 30

For 75 seconds, no words were spoken. The crowd roared, the stadium shook and the players jumped around in the pure and unfiltered joy that only accompanies the occurrence of the impossible. For the second consecutive night, in that city, in that ballpark, the dynasty refused to go peacefully; in the ...

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