National Baseball League

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1938 lds

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AL Top Seeds

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ALDS Game 1: New York Yankees 12, Tampa Bay Rays 5

🎙️ Mike Francesa:
Alright, let’s start here. You’re down 3–0 in the second inning at home. The building’s tight. Tampa Bay is feeling good. Crismond already homered in the first — again! — and Johnny Nava triples in two more in the fifth. It’s 5–2 Rays.
And you’re saying to yourself, “Here we go. Here’s Tampa trying to flip the script from last year.”
🎙️ Chris “Mad Dog” Russo:
Mike, they were in control! They had traffic in the seventh — bases loaded! Crismond’s at second! And what happens? They don’t score! That’s the game! That’s October baseball!
🎙️ Mike:
Exactly right. That top of the seventh is the pivot. Luis Perez is wobbling. McDonald walks, Crismond doubles, they load it. One swing could make it 7–2, maybe 8–2.
Nothing.
You leave three men on base in Yankee Stadium against the defending champs?
You’re asking for trouble.
The Seventh Inning: Lightning Strikes
🎙️ Mad Dog (ramping up):
And then BOOM! Bottom of the seventh! Josh Thomas — 355 feet to right! Solo shot! 5–3!
🎙️ Mike:
And before you can sit down—
🎙️ Dog:
CULPEPPER! 417 feet! Back-to-back bombs! It’s 5–4! The place is shaking!
🎙️ Mike:
That’s championship DNA. No panic. No pressing. They shorten the gap with power. And then the line keeps moving. Kassebaum infield hit. Shipps single. Carver RBI. Jimenez reaches on the error.
Four runs in the inning.
5–2 becomes 6–5.
That’s a title defense announcing itself.
And Then… The Avalanche
🎙️ Mad Dog:
But Mike! The eighth inning! SIX runs! SIX!
🎙️ Mike:
This is where the champs separate from the challengers.
Thomas doubles. Culpepper doubles him in. Kassebaum walks. And then Corey Shipps — three-run homer. 349 feet. Bang. Game over.
🎙️ Dog:
And Carver! 433 feet! Two-run shot! They’re teeing off like it’s batting practice!
🎙️ Mike:
You score ten unanswered runs in a playoff game? That’s not luck. That’s depth. That’s why they won 118 games.
Let’s Talk About the Rays
🎙️ Mike:
Crismond homers in the first again. He doubles in the seventh. He’s still a problem. Tampa got five runs on the board. They had opportunities.
But here’s the issue: they couldn’t land the knockout punch.
🎙️ Dog:
You gotta step on the throat, Mike! You’re in the Bronx! You had them down! Bases loaded in the seventh! And you don’t score?!
🎙️ Mike:
That’s the difference between a Wild Card series and facing the defending champs in a Division Series.
Final Thought
🎙️ Mike:
Final score, 12–5. Yankees take Game 1. They erase a 5–2 deficit with ten unanswered runs. That’s what champions do. They absorb. They adjust. And then they overwhelm you.
🎙️ Mad Dog:
And now Tampa’s got pressure, Mike! You lose Game 1 after leading like that? That’s a gut punch! If they don’t win Game 2, this thing’s over quick!
🎙️ Mike (calmly):
The Yankees didn’t just win tonight.
They reminded the league that the road to the American League pennant still runs through the Bronx.

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ALDS Game 1 — Angels 7, Indians 6
October 7, 1938 • Anaheim Angels at Cleveland Indians • Jacobs Field

🎙️ Harry Doyle (somber, Cleveland heartbroken)
“Well… you can put it on the board—no. No, you can’t. Because it’s Anaheim’s board tonight.
Seven to six. And it feels like somebody let the air out of 35,000 balloons at once.
Every time the Tribe punched back, the Angels had an answer. Matt Holloway swipes bags like he’s late for a train. Danny Alay tags up twice. Mike Amero goes deep in the first and this place explodes. We tie it at four in the third—momentum, noise, belief!
And then… Carlos Guzman.
Two home runs. A triple. Three runs scored. Eleven total bases. The man was a one-person parade through downtown Cleveland. First pitch of the game? Gone. Seventh inning? Inside-the-park job that just sucked the oxygen right out of the lakefront.
And just when you think maybe, just maybe, the ninth inning magic’s brewing—Gordino walks, Hewes pokes one through, tying run ninety feet away—Alay rolls it over. Ballgame.
Six runs, ten hits… and it’s not enough.
Indians fans will head home tonight saying the same thing: ‘We were right there.’ And that’s the worst kind of loss.”

🎙️ Bob Costas (measured, emphatic, October gravitas)
“This is postseason baseball distilled to its essence: volatility, nerve, and one transcendent performance.
The Angels did not dominate. They survived.
Carlos Guzman authored one of the most dynamic Division Series openers you’ll ever see—two home runs, including an inside-the-park blast in the seventh, a triple, and relentless pressure on the bases. Add Ricky Resendez’s two-run shot in the third, and suddenly every Cleveland surge required yet another response.
But consider the resilience of the Indians. Down 4–2, they tie it. Down 5–4, they equalize again. In the eighth, a pinch-hit double by Luis Lira trims it to one. And in the ninth, they bring the tying run to third base.
That is the anatomy of October tension.
Mario Monzon bends for seven innings. David Smith navigates the final six outs with the calm of a veteran closer. Cleveland leaves two in scoring position to end it. That’s the difference between jubilation and regret.
The Angels lead this best-of-five series, one game to none. And if this opener is any indication, the margins will remain razor-thin.
Game 2 tomorrow. Same ballpark. Same pressure.
And if you’re Cleveland, you already know this: you were close. But in October, close is a whisper away from history—and a step away from heartbreak.”

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NLDS Game 1 — Miami Marlins 17, St. Louis Cardinals 13
October 8, 1938 • Busch Stadium

There are October games that unfold with tension and restraint — taut, economical, almost elegant in their minimalism.
This was not one of them.
On a clear afternoon in St. Louis, before 48,072, the 84–78 Marlins — a club that merely slipped into the postseason — delivered a performance so audacious, so thunderous, that it left the defending National League champions staring at a scoreboard that seemed almost fictional.
Seventeen runs. Nineteen hits. And a 1–0 lead in the Division Series.
For three innings, the afternoon hinted at convention. Miami led 1–0 on a third-inning triple by John Evans and a run-scoring single from Travis Chumney. It felt orderly, measured.
But October has a way of shedding restraint.
Floyd Holte’s two-run homer in the fourth pushed the lead to 3–0. Manny Sigaran followed in the fifth with a two-run shot of his own. By the sixth inning, Miami had built a 10–3 advantage, patiently dismantling a Cardinals pitching staff that had been so reliable in carrying St. Louis to 93 victories.
And then came the sixth inning’s counterpunch.
The Cardinals, as champions often do, reminded everyone why they had worn that distinction. Jose Dominguez homered. Alex Cruz followed with a majestic two-run drive. Six hits. Seven runs. In a span of minutes, the game was tied at ten.
It was not merely a rally. It was a reclamation of pride.
At 10–10, the afternoon felt suspended — poised between shock and restoration.
Then Travis Chumney stepped in during the seventh inning with the bases loaded.
Moments like this define postseason careers. The crowd, still animated from the comeback, understood the stakes. One swing would either preserve equilibrium or shatter it.
Chumney chose the latter.
A grand slam to left field. Four runs. Silence in St. Louis.
It was his eighth run batted in of the afternoon — a Miami postseason record — and the defining image of a game that refused moderation.
The Marlins were not finished. Two more runs followed in the inning, and two again in the eighth. When it finally ended — mercifully for both bullpens — the final score read 17–13.
Thirty runs. Thirty-two hits. Nearly three and a half hours of relentless offense.
And yet, beyond the arithmetic, this game represented something larger.
Miami entered October as an afterthought — 84 wins, a modest run differential, a team more scrappy than star-studded. St. Louis entered as the defending National League champion, disciplined and composed.
But October is less interested in résumé than in resolve.
Chumney’s eight RBIs will be remembered. Holte’s three doubles tied a National League postseason record. The Cardinals’ seven-run sixth will linger as a reminder that no lead — and no comeback — is secure in this month.
The Cardinals manager Carlos Cassola was measured afterward. “Every team loses,” he said. “We’ll bounce back.”
History suggests he may be right.
But for one remarkable afternoon at Busch Stadium, the Marlins were not merely competitive.
They were incandescent.
And in October, that can be enough.

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NLDS Game 1 — San Diego Padres 16, San Francisco Giants 7
October 8, 1938 • Oracle Park

🎙️ Mad Dog (exasperated, pacing the studio):
I can’t believe what I watched! I can’t believe it! Sixteen runs?! SIXTEEN?! At home?! In Game 1 of a Division Series?!
You’re the National League #1 seed! And you give up TWENTY hits?! TWENTY!
Jeff Rucker looks like Babe Ruth out there! Two bombs! Five RBIs! The three-run shot in the fifth — that’s the game! You’re up 5–3 after Valenzuela hits that missile in the third, the place is rocking — and then Rucker just rips the heart right outta the ballpark!
🎙️ Phil Rizzuto (soft, incredulous):
Ohhhh, holy cow… that was tough to watch, Dog. Real tough.
Ya know, Phil Rizzuto’s seen a lotta ballgames. But when you’re ahead 5–2 early at home, you gotta put the clamps on. You can’t let ‘em keep chippin’ away like that.
Schleicher homers in the fourth. Then that fifth inning… Setton walks, Speigel doubles, and Rucker — boom! Three-run homer. Just like that, it’s 6–5 San Diego. You could feel it shift.
🎙️ Mad Dog:
And it didn’t stop there! They kept coming! Triples! Doubles! Steals! Setton scores FOUR runs! Schleicher with nine total bases! Speigel with nine total bases! It’s like batting practice!
J.J. Bachus couldn’t get through five clean innings! Childress gives up more! Benton gives up two more bombs! It was a parade! A PARADE!
🎙️ Rizzuto:
You know what hurt? The sixth inning. You’re down 6–5, still right there. Then two triples back-to-back — Schleicher and Rico. That’s just fundamentals. Hit it in the gap, run hard. Tag up on a fly ball. That made it 8–5. And you’re thinkin’, “Okay, now it’s slippin’.”
And every time the Giants scratched one back — Campbell’s triple, Perdomo’s sac fly — San Diego answered.
That’s championship poise. I don’t like sayin’ it, but it is.
🎙️ Mad Dog (voice rising):
And the EIGHTH! Four more runs! Morin doubles in two, Rucker hits another BOMB — 438 feet! The game’s over! The crowd’s heading for the exits!
You give up FOUR in the eighth and THREE in the ninth at home in October? That’s not the Giants we’ve seen the last two years!
🎙️ Rizzuto (shaking his head):
Holy cow… twenty hits. That’s a long afternoon for the pitchers. And when Matamoros shuts you down at the end like that — three strikeouts, no runs — it just feels final.
You don’t mind losing a tight one. But this… this was a thumpin’.
🎙️ Mad Dog:
And now the pressure flips! Padres up 1–0 in the series! They already stole home field! Tomorrow’s not just Game 2 — it’s a MUST game! You go down 0–2 at home to this lineup? Forget it!
You wanna repeat? You wanna protect the dynasty talk? Then you better show up tomorrow!
🎙️ Rizzuto (quietly):
It’s only one game… but in October, one game can feel awfully big.
Holy cow. That one stings.

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🎙️ Mike and the Mad Dog — ALDS Game 2 Recap
Final: Tampa Bay Rays 21, New York Yankees 13
Series tied 1–1
Game played at Yankee Stadium
🎙️ Mad Dog (already shouting):
MIKE! TWENTY-ONE TO THIRTEEN! What was that?! That wasn’t a playoff game — that was a football score! That was Army–Navy!
You score THIRTEEN runs at home in October and you LOSE by eight?! I mean, what are we doin’?!
🎙️ Mike Francesa (measured, but stunned):
Dog, this game had absolutely no pitching. None. Zero. It was batting practice in the Bronx.
The Yankees jump out 3–0 in the first — Kassebaum hits a two-run homer, Shipps goes back-to-back — you’re thinkin’, “Okay, here we go.”
But Tampa answers immediately. Nava with the two-run homer in the second. Gama triples. Parga doubles. Tie game.
And from there? It was a track meet.
🎙️ Mad Dog:
A TRACK MEET?! It was a demolition derby! You take a 10–9 lead in the sixth — Kassebaum hits his THIRD homer of the game! THREE! Thirteen total bases! Six RBIs!
And it doesn’t matter!
🎙️ Mike:
That’s the amazing part. Cory Kassebaum has one of the great postseason performances you’ll ever see. Three home runs. Four runs scored. Six driven in. Player of the Game — in a LOSS.
Because the bullpen imploded in the eighth.
🎙️ Mad Dog (voice climbing):
SEVEN RUNS, MIKE! SEVEN! In the eighth inning of a playoff game at home!
McDonald single. Crismond double. Hernandez single. Then Gama clears the bases with that double off Schneider — that’s the ballgame right there! 13–10 Rays!
And they didn’t stop! Parga lasers one at 111 miles an hour! Garcia hits a two-run homer! It just kept goin’!
🎙️ Mike:
Schneider couldn’t get an out. Curtis couldn’t get an out. It snowballed.
And then Tampa adds FIVE more in the ninth. Garcia hits another homer. That’s two for him. Nine total bases. The Rays finish with 21 hits and 21 runs.
Twenty-one.
In October.
🎙️ Mad Dog:
And here’s the thing, Mike! The Yankees had 15 hits! Carver hits two homers! Shipps homers! They put up THIRTEEN runs!
You score thirteen at Yankee Stadium in a playoff game, you’re supposed to win by six!
🎙️ Mike:
Instead, the Rays matched every punch — and then landed the knockout in the eighth.
Give Tampa credit. They ran the bases well. Crismond stole two bags. They got clutch two-out RBIs. And when it mattered, they got the big hit — Gama’s bases-clearing double changed everything.
🎙️ Mad Dog:
So now the series is 1–1, and it shifts to Tampa for Game 3. And guess what? All the pressure’s on the Yankees now.
You just gave up TWENTY-ONE runs. Your bullpen’s a mess. And you wasted an all-time October performance from Kassebaum!
🎙️ Mike (calm, ominous):
This series is now a best-of-three. And the Yankees’ pitching staff just got exposed.
If they don’t find somebody who can throw zeroes? They’re goin’ home.
🎙️ Mad Dog:
Twenty-one to thirteen, Mike! I still can’t believe it! That was absolute insanity!
October baseball?! More like a fireworks show in the Bronx!

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Colin Cowherd on ALDS Game 2
Anaheim Angels 13, Cleveland Indians 6
Series: Angels lead 2–0
Location: Jacobs Field

Here’s what nobody wants to say out loud in Cleveland.
This series isn’t about talent.
It’s about organizational temperature.
The Angels feel like a company that knows exactly who they are. The Indians feel like a company that had a great quarter… and thought that meant long-term dominance.
Anaheim just walked into Jacobs Field and treated it like a neutral site. Thirteen runs. Fourteen hits. Nine walks. Five stolen bases. That’s not hot bats — that’s systemic pressure. That’s infrastructure.
Let me give you my rule: In October, I trust the team that can score in multiple ways.
Home runs? Angels had six.
Speed? Six stolen bases.
Two-out RBIs? Check.
Capitalizing on errors? Absolutely.
That’s layered offense.
Juan Garcia — 1-for-3, three walks, a homer — doesn’t need four hits. He controls the game. That fifth-inning home run? That wasn’t just a swing. That was a message. Cleveland cuts it to 5–4, the crowd’s alive, and Garcia goes deep. That’s a franchise first baseman saying, “Momentum? That’s ours.”
Carlos Guzman? Two more homers. He’s playing like October belongs to him.
Now flip it.
Cleveland scores six runs. They get two homers from Mike Amero. And yet it always felt… reactive. Like they were answering, not dictating.
Here’s the moment the game pivoted: bottom of the fifth. It’s 7–4. Amero hits a two-run shot. It’s 7–6. Ballpark’s back in it.
What does Anaheim do?
Three runs in the sixth. They steal bases. They force mistakes. They stretch the lead to 10–6.
That’s emotional maturity.
The Indians bullpen? No shutdown inning. Not one. Every time the game got within reach, Anaheim stepped on the gas. That’s championship psychology.
And Joe Martin out of the bullpen? Five innings, two hits, zero runs. That’s what good organizations do — they have a stabilizer. They have a guy who walks in and lowers the heart rate of the dugout.
Cleveland right now feels tight. You can see it in the defensive mistakes. You can see it in the sequencing. Five runners left in scoring position with two outs. That’s not bad luck. That’s pressing.
Now the series shifts west to Angel Stadium.
And here’s the reality: 2–0 in a best-of-five is not a math problem. It’s a culture problem. You either believe you’re built for October, or you hope you are.
Right now?
Anaheim looks built.
Cleveland looks hopeful.
And in the postseason, hope is not a strategy.

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NLDS Game 2 — October 9, 1938
Miami Marlins 14, St. Louis Cardinals 11
Busch Stadium

On an October afternoon that felt more like a prizefight than a ballgame, the Miami Marlins once again outlasted the St. Louis Cardinals, 14–11, seizing a commanding two-games-to-none lead in this Division Series.
If Game 1 suggested volatility, Game 2 confirmed it. This was not merely a contest of runs scored, but of resolve tested and retested.
For five innings, Miami dictated the tone. They built a 5–0 advantage with sharp, relentless offense — Jesus Davila’s two-run homer in the fifth stretching the lead, Manny Sigaran doubling twice, and Tyler Adams quietly assembling what would become a historic afternoon.
Then came the sixth.
Seven runs. Six hits. Two home runs. A triple. Another triple. The Marlins transformed a competitive game into what appeared to be a rout, surging ahead 12–0 and silencing a crowd of 48,712. Sigaran homered. Floyd Holte followed suit. Tomoo Kawazu tripled. John Evans tripled. It was a cascade of extra-base hits — not frantic, but methodical. Each swing seemed to deepen the Cardinals’ predicament.
And yet, October seldom allows for tidy narratives.
St. Louis answered with stubborn pride. Two runs in the sixth. Five more in the seventh. Four in the eighth. At one point, what had been a twelve-run margin shrank to just two. Busch Stadium stirred again, as though history might bend back toward the defending National League champions.
Alex Cruz doubled twice and scored three times. Jose Dominguez and Casey Holton delivered key two-out hits. Felix Ochoa’s eighth-inning home run reignited belief. The Cardinals did not fold; they pressed.
But Miami, to its credit, never panicked.
A run in the eighth. Another in the ninth. Small cushions, perhaps, but meaningful ones. When John Hodge secured the final outs in the ninth, it concluded three hours and thirty-six minutes of unrelenting offense — 25 combined runs, 36 hits, and scarcely a quiet moment.
The defining performance belonged to Tyler Adams.
Five hits in six at-bats — all singles — two runs scored, three driven in. It was not the sort of display that dominates highlight reels, but it was emblematic of Miami’s approach: persistent, disciplined, opportunistic. In the process, Adams set a Marlins postseason record for hits in a game.
Manager Jeremy Gangler Jr. was careful afterward. “Things broke our way today,” he said. “But we aren’t done yet.”
He is correct, of course.
The series now shifts to Miami for Game 3 at LoanDepot Park. History suggests that a 2–0 advantage in a best-of-five is formidable. But if these first two games have taught us anything, it is that conventional rhythms have given way to something far less predictable.
The Marlins are not simply winning.
They are surviving chaos — and thriving within it.

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NLDS Game 2 — October 9, 1938
San Francisco Giants 20, San Diego Padres 13
Oracle Park
Series tied, 1–1

��️ Mad Dog (ecstatic, laughing):
THAT’S more like it! That’s October baseball in San Francisco! TWENTY runs! Twenty! And they did it with style, Mike!
You give up 16 yesterday? Fine! You come right back and hang TWENTY on ’em! That’s how you answer!
��️ Bob Costas (warm, delighted):
If yesterday felt like a tidal wave from San Diego, today was a symphony of retaliation.
Twenty runs. Seventeen hits. Eleven walks. And not a single error committed by either club. It was offense in its purest, most unrestrained form.
And at the center of it all — Steve Taylor.
��️ Mad Dog:
STEVE TAYLOR! Three-for-three! Two home runs! Three walks! Reached base SIX times! That leadoff homer in the first — 441 feet — that set the tone right there!
Padres score two in the top half? Doesn’t matter! Taylor says, “We’re home. Relax.”
��️ Costas:
And yet the Padres kept punching.
Cesar Morin hit three home runs — three — and drove in five. Steve Schleicher homered and tripled. Manuel Rico went deep. At one point in the third inning, San Diego led 7–2.
But what followed in the bottom of that third — and especially the fourth — will live in postseason memory.
��️ Mad Dog (grinning):
THE FOURTH INNING! Eight runs! EIGHT!
Bases loaded, walks everywhere, Shepard knocks in runs, Campbell clears the bases with that triple — the place was shaking! Fifteen to seven just like that!
You wanna talk about flipping a game?! That’s how you flip it!
��️ Costas:
It was relentless.
Tim Snapp tied a National League playoff record with three doubles. Nate Shepard homered and drove in five. Greg Price launched a three-run homer in the seventh to stretch the lead again.
Every time San Diego crept closer — 15–11, 18–13 — the Giants calmly added more.
A solo homer from Taylor in the eighth. A double from Campbell. Perdomo scoring on a sacrifice fly earlier. It was layered offense, sustained pressure.
��️ Mad Dog:
And how about this — no errors! Not one! All that chaos, all those runs, and clean defense!
That’s just big-time October focus.
��️ Costas (smiling):
The beauty of baseball is its elasticity. One day you’re routed 16–7. The next afternoon, before 44,136 under clear October skies, you answer with twenty runs and restore equilibrium to a series.
Now it shifts south to San Diego.
A best-of-five reduced to a best-of-three.
And the emotional momentum? It may well have gone back the Giants.
��️ Mad Dog (beaming):
Series tied! We got ourselves a war out West! Eighteen homers combined in two days! Fixty-six runs in two games!
If this is what October 1938 looks like?
Sign me up for Game 3!

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Tampa Bay Rays 22, New York Yankees 3
October 10, 1938 — Tropicana Field
Rays lead Division Series, 2–1

🎙️ Bob Costas:
There are postseason victories… and then there are evenings that feel almost operatic in their excess.
What unfolded in Tampa was not merely a win for the Rays — it was an avalanche.
Twenty-two runs. Twenty-one hits. Seven walks. Six home runs. Four triples. Not a single error. The sort of offensive display that makes a box score resemble a misprint.
At the center stood Francisco Hernandez. A home run in the first inning to answer New York’s early tally. Later, a triple lashed into the gap. Three hits, two walks, five runs scored, four driven in. He reached base five times and seemed, at moments, to be playing in a different tempo than the rest of the field.
But he was hardly alone.
Rod Francia delivered the decisive blow in the fourth — a bases-clearing double with the sacks full, stretching the lead to 9–2 and draining whatever suspense remained. Francia finished a home run shy of the cycle and drove in five.
Johnny Nava collected five hits and homered twice. Chris Eckert tripled and doubled. Eric Crismond tripled as well. Even in the eighth inning, with the game long decided, Tampa Bay added seven more runs, as though determined to leave no ambiguity about the balance of power.
And quietly — almost lost amid the thunder — Mike Winnie threw a complete game. Nine innings. Three runs. Just one walk. In a contest defined by chaos on one side, he provided composure on the other.
The Yankees struck first, courtesy of Cory Kassebaum’s first-inning home run. They would not lead again.
By the middle innings, the contest had ceased to resemble competition and instead became a testament to depth — every member of the Tampa Bay lineup contributing, relentless and unsparing.
Now, with a 2–1 series lead in this best-of-five, the Rays stand one victory from the League Championship Series.
October can turn swiftly. But on this afternoon, it tilted entirely toward Tampa Bay.
🎙️ Mike Francesa:
Let me tell you something right now — this was a demolition. A demolition.
You lose 22–3 in a playoff game? That’s not a bad night. That’s a crisis.
The Yankees score in the first — okay, fine. Kassebaum goes deep. You think maybe they settle in. And then Hernandez answers immediately. Boom. Tie game. From there? Forget it.
Four in the second. One in the third. Three in the fourth. They had ten runs by the fifth inning! Ten!
And Hayes couldn’t get anybody out. Morris walks the yard. Mills gives up rockets. Magana comes in and it’s batting practice. Seven runs in the eighth inning — seven! In a playoff game!
You can’t have that.
🎙️ Chris “Mad Dog” Russo (rapid-fire, incredulous):
Mike, it was a track meet! A track meet! Nava’s hitting balls everywhere! Francia’s clearing the bases! Hernandez is on base all day! They’re stealing, they’re tripling, they’re homering — it was chaos!
And the Yankees look stunned! Stunned! You can’t get blown out like that in October! You just can’t!
🎙️ Francesa:
Now the pressure’s on New York. No question about it.
You lose tomorrow? Season’s over.
And after giving up twenty-two? That lingers. That’s not something you just shake off with a cup of coffee.
🎙️ Costas (measured, reflective):
Baseball, perhaps more than any other sport, resists hyperbole.
But occasionally, a single afternoon earns it.
For Tampa Bay, this was not merely a victory. It was a statement — emphatic, overwhelming, and unforgettable.
Game 4 awaits.
For the Rays, opportunity.
For the Yankees, survival.

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Anaheim Angels: 6th ALCS berth
1901 1906 1908 1934 1936 1938

Cleveland Indians at Anaheim Angels
October 10, 1938 — Angel Stadium of Anaheim
Final: Angels 21, Indians 5
Anaheim wins Division Series, 3–0

🎙️ Bob Costas
There are sweeps that feel tense — tightly wound affairs decided by inches.
And then there are sweeps like this one, which feel less like a series and more like a declaration.
The Anaheim Angels are bound for the American League Championship Series for the sixth time in franchise history — and for the third time in the past five seasons — after overwhelming Cleveland in a manner that left little ambiguity.
Twenty-one runs. Nineteen hits. A six-run fifth inning that dissolved competitive suspense. A five-run sixth that erased it entirely.
If Cleveland’s Matt Holloway briefly stirred hope with a 426-foot leadoff home run in the first inning, Juan Garcia answered moments later with a two-run shot of his own — the first of many exchanges that underscored the Angels’ composure. Anaheim did not flinch. They responded.
And at the center of it all stood Carlos Guzman.
Four hits. Four runs scored. Four runs driven in. Two stolen bases. Throughout the series, he batted .625 with four home runs and nine runs scored. He was not merely productive — he was omnipresent.
When Guzman doubled twice in the fifth and sixth innings as Anaheim began to pull away, it felt less like a surge and more like inevitability. The Angels did not rely on a single moment. They layered pressure — Ricky Abrego’s two-run homer, Corey Wright’s discipline, David Avila’s extra-base precision. By the eighth inning, triples were falling as though scripted.
Cleveland, for all its regular-season strength, appeared overwhelmed by the scale of Anaheim’s depth. Five different pitchers were summoned. None altered the trajectory.
And so the Angels advance — assured, balanced, and unmistakably October-ready.
They now await the winner of the Yankees–Rays series.

🎙️ Colin Cowherd
Let me tell you what this really is.
This isn’t about 21 runs. It’s about infrastructure.
The Angels didn’t just beat Cleveland. They exposed the gap between a good team and an October organization.
You know my rule — when a team makes the League Championship Series three times in five years, that’s not a hot streak. That’s culture.
Anaheim scores in the first. Then again in the second. Then the third. Then they drop six in the fifth and five in the sixth. That’s not randomness. That’s relentless pressure. They don’t let you breathe.
Carlos Guzman? That’s what a franchise cornerstone looks like. .625 in the series. Four homers. He steals bases. He sets the emotional thermostat. When your best player controls tempo like that, the rest of the lineup plays freer.
And here’s the difference: Cleveland had moments. Holloway hits two home runs. They score early. They trim leads in prior games.
Anaheim ends games.
The fifth inning tonight? Seven hits. Doubles everywhere. It was surgical. Not chaotic — surgical.
That’s the difference between a team hoping to arrive and a team that expects to stay.
Now they wait — either the Yankees’ pedigree or Tampa Bay’s momentum.
But here’s what we know:
The Angels aren’t sneaking into the ALCS.
They’re walking in like they’ve been here before.
Because they have.

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Miami Marlins: 3rd NLCS Berth
1914 1931 1938

NLDS Game 3 — October 11, 1938
Miami Marlins 23, St. Louis Cardinals 4
Marlins win series, 3–0 — Advance to NLCS

🎙️ Dick Vitale (bursting with energy):
ARE YOU KIDDING ME, BABY?! HOW ‘BOUT THOSE MARLINS?!
Eighty-four and seventy-eight in the regular season! Eighty-four wins! That’s a team nobody circled in March! And now they SWEEP the defending National League champions and are dancing into the NLCS?!
That’s a Cinderella story! That’s a 13-seed busting brackets and heading to the Final Four, baby!
You walk into LoanDepot Park and hang TWENTY-THREE runs in a clincher?! Twenty-three! That’s not a win — that’s a statement! That’s confetti falling from the rafters!
🎙️ Bob Costas (measured, admiring):
It was breathtaking — and not merely for the margin.
Miami did not sneak past St. Louis. They overwhelmed them.
Four runs in the first inning. Three more in the second. By the time Floyd Holte launched a grand slam in the fifth, the contest had drifted from competitive to historic.
Twenty-two hits. Six home runs. Two triples. Six walks. And not a single defensive miscue.
It was the sort of afternoon that seems improbable even as it unfolds.
🎙️ Vitale:
FLOYD HOLTE! Are you serious?! Five hits! Eight RBIs! Two triples! Two home runs! A GRAND SLAM when the place was rocking!
That’s superstar stuff! That’s “give-me-the-ball-in-crunch-time” stuff! He ties playoff records left and right — triples, hits, RBIs! He was unconscious, baby!
And how about Octavio Flores?! Two bombs! Five RBIs! Jesus Davila scoring FIVE runs! This lineup was a track meet!
🎙️ Costas:
Holte’s performance will be remembered, certainly — but what defined the series was depth.
Chris Grissett homered twice. Davila homered and doubled. John Evans doubled twice. Tyler Adams continued his torrid postseason.
Every segment of the order contributed.
Meanwhile, Alejandro Coronado provided steadiness on the mound — eight and a third innings, allowing four runs. In a game that required only composure, he supplied it.
🎙️ Vitale:
And remember — this is the defending NL champion Cardinals! This isn’t some rebuilding club! This is a proud franchise that won the pennant last year!
And Miami just blew the doors off the place three straight times! That’s mental toughness! That’s belief!
They didn’t play tight. They played FREE! They played loose! They played like a team that said, “Why not us?!”
🎙️ Costas:
There is something undeniably romantic about October when a team like this emerges.
An 84–78 club. Not dominant. Not overwhelming across six months. But cohesive. Timely. Unburdened.
And in three games, they have authored one of the most emphatic Division Series sweeps we’ve seen.
They now await the winner of the San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres series.
But for now, Miami stands tall — improbably, undeniably — among the final four in Major League Baseball.
🎙️ Vitale (laughing, ecstatic):
Bracket buster, baby! The Marlins are crashing the party!
From 84 wins… to the NLCS!
That’s why we love October! That’s why we play the games!

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NLDS Game 3 — October 11, 1938
San Francisco Giants 15, San Diego Padres 8
Giants lead series 2–1
Ballpark: Petco Park

🎙️ Jon Miller (warm, delighted):
Welllll… that was an afternoon at the old ballpark.
The Giants trailed early. They were tied late. And then — like a summer thunderstorm rolling in off the bay — they simply poured it on.
Fifteen runs. Seventeen hits. No errors. And they did it in waves.
You could feel the moment turn in the fourth inning. Travis Campbell — three doubles on the day and a triple for good measure — starts it with a ringing drive into the gap. Edgar Perdomo brings him home with a sacrifice fly. And then Bill Valenzuela… oh my.
Two doubles early. And in the ninth inning, with the game already leaning in San Francisco’s direction, he sends one soaring into the San Diego sky. A two-run homer. His third of the series. Four hits. Three runs scored. Three driven in.
That’s a postseason performance.
But perhaps the most pivotal swing belonged to Nate Shepard in the seventh. Tie game. Tension building. And Shepard lines a two-run single to push the Giants ahead. Calm. Direct. No wasted motion.
Evan Kendrick steadied things out of the bullpen, and from there the Giants’ lineup did what championship-caliber lineups do — they widened the margin.
Five runs in the ninth, just to make sure.
Now the Giants are one win away from the National League Championship Series.
And they’ve reminded everyone — gently but unmistakably — that October baseball still runs through San Francisco.
🎙️ Chris Russo (content, satisfied, a little breathless):
Johnny, lemme tell ya somethin’ — I feel good tonight. I feel good!
This was not easy early! Down 3–0! Padres got the place buzzin’! Rucker’s hittin’ rockets, Morin’s flyin’ around the bases — and you’re sayin’, “Uh oh, this could be one of those long nights.”
But this lineup? They don’t panic!
Campbell — three doubles! He ties the playoff record! Every time he comes up, he’s on second base before you can sit down!
Valenzuela? That’s a big bat! Four-for-six! Nine total bases! And the homer in the ninth? That’s a message. That’s, “We’re not hangin’ on — we’re takin’ over.”
And how about Jeremy Dick? Five RBIs! The double in the fifth that flipped the whole thing! That was the game right there!
Now listen — the Padres can hit. They put up eight runs! This wasn’t some sleepy 4–2 win. The Giants had to EARN this.
But when you score 3 in the fourth, 3 in the fifth, 2 in the seventh, 2 in the eighth, and then 5 in the ninth? That’s depth. That’s relentlessness.
And tomorrow? You’ve got a chance to close it out.
Up 2–1. Momentum. Bats alive.
Johnny… this is the kind of win that travels.
One more.
One more and they’re back where they expect to be.

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Tampa Bay Rays: 6th ALCS Berth
1911 1932 1933 1935 1936 1938

ALDS Game 4 — October 11, 1938
Tampa Bay Rays 12, New York Yankees 10
Rays win series 3–1 — Advance to ALCS

🎙️ Michael Kay (measured, dramatic):
And just like that… the champions are dethroned.
The defending World Series champions, a 118-win powerhouse, a franchise that expects October to bend in its direction — are headed home.
The Tampa Bay Rays withstand every punch, every rally, every home run, and close it out 12–10 at Tropicana Field.
The Yankees scored ten runs. Fifteen hits. Four home runs. And it wasn’t enough.
Because Tampa Bay answered — immediately and relentlessly.
Mark McDonald triples to start the bottom of the first. Rod Francia homers. Six runs by the end of the second inning. Before the Yankees could settle into the game, they were chasing it.
And every time New York crept closer — Mortensen’s blast, Jimenez’s two home runs, Culpepper’s two-run shot in the eighth — the Rays responded. Hernandez. Francia again. Nava in the fifth. McDonald with another thunderous swing in the sixth.
This wasn’t luck.
This was depth meeting the moment.
Johnny Nava, the series MVP, hit .444 with four home runs and nine RBIs in the series. He said they could handle the pressure.
He was right.
The Rays are headed to their fifth American League Championship Series in seven seasons. Their sixth in franchise history.
The Yankees? Their title defense ends here.
🎙️ Mike Francesa (firm, analytical):
You score ten runs in a playoff elimination game, you should win. Period.
But here’s the problem — they gave up twelve.
McNiff couldn’t get out of the second inning. Three home runs in an inning and a third. That can’t happen in October. It just can’t.
Magana gives up four homers. Four. In the postseason. You’re not beating Tampa Bay that way.
And credit the Rays — they don’t wait around. First inning, they punch you. Second inning, they punch you again. By the time the Yankees start swinging back, they’re already down six.
That’s not a team hoping. That’s a team expecting.
🎙️ Chris “Mad Dog” Russo (animated, rapid-fire):
Mike, they had ’em on the ropes a couple times! Mortensen triples! Culpepper homers! Jimenez homers twice! You’re thinkin’, “Okay! Okay! They’re comin’!”
But Tampa never blinked! Not once!
Francia goes deep twice! Hernandez hits missiles! McDonald’s all over the place! Parga with the big second-inning shot! And Nava — series MVP! Big homer in Game 4, clutch hits all series!
That’s championship composure! That’s not a fluke!
🎙️ Kay:
And let’s understand the magnitude here.
This is not an underdog story in the traditional sense. This is a franchise that has built something sustainable.
Five ALCS appearances in seven seasons.
Six in franchise history.
They are no longer knocking at the door.
They live in October.
🎙️ Francesa:
And now they get the Anaheim Angels.
That’s not going to be easy. Anaheim just swept Cleveland. They’re rested. They’re deep. That’s going to be a heavyweight series.
But Tampa earned this.
They didn’t sneak past New York. They beat them.
🎙️ Kay (closing tone, reflective):
For the Yankees, it’s a hard ending.
A 118-win season. A division title. And then four games that slip away.
October is unforgiving.
For Tampa Bay, it’s validation.
The road to the American League pennant now runs through them.
And the champions? They’ll watch from home.