Listen, we know it’s tough to catch up on everything happening in the baseball world each morning. There are all kinds of stories, rumors, game coverage, and Vines of dudes getting hit in the beans every day. Trying to find all of it while on your way to work or sitting at your desk just isn’t easy. It’s okay, though, we’re going to do the heavy lifting for you each morning, and find the things you need to see from within the SB Nation baseball network as well as from elsewhere. Please hold your applause until the end, or at least until after you subscribe to the newsletter.
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Either you were asleep while the Royals defeated the Mets in extra innings, or you’re sleepwalking through your day because you stayed up for the entire thing. If you’re a Royals fan, the time away from your pillows was worth it, of course: Kansas City repaid you for your trust with a victory. If you’re a Mets fan this morning, or, say, a baseball writer who is only in it for the World Series rather than a specific team, you probably feel a little bit worse.
But hey, that was some Game 1, with lead changes and some uncharacteristic sloppiness on defense from KC and an inside-the-park homer to start things off -- the first inside-the-park job in the World Series since 1929, even. Game 4 starter and 11-year veteran Chris Young worked three innings in relief and picked up his first-ever World Series win in his first-ever World Series appearance. The downside to this is that Bartolo Colon was making his first-ever World Series appearance at the same time 18 years into his career, and had to take the L. Someone has to lose, though, as much as we might want these two historically struggling franchises to both win.
Game 2 will feature Mets ace Jacob deGrom against the guy who should be Kansas City’s ace in Johnny Cueto -- you’re going to hear a whole lot of “these teams are evenly matched!” in the next week (and maybe longer), and Wednesday’s pitching matchup will do nothing to change that narrative. Given how entertaining Game 1 was, no one would blame you for rooting for deGrom and the Mets in Game 2 just to make sure this series keeps going a little longer. Well, okay, maybe Royals fans will take exception, but they’re allowed.
- Game 1 was not all fun, though: it was learned before the game that Royals starter Edinson Volquez had lost his father to heart failure earlier on Tuesday. It was initially unclear if Volquez knew about it before the game, but eventually learned that his wife chose to keep the information from him until after he was lifted from his first World Series start.
- FOX had to deal with technical difficulties that cut out their American television feed, and also the feed used by the teams for video review. This resulted in a slight delay of game, as well as Joe Buck and Co. kicking the MLB International broadcast team out of their booth until functionality was restored.
- The Mets had a Puppy Parade before Game 1, and here are 11 very good dogs from it.
- The Diamondbacks want to upgrade their rotation, but don't want to go after one of the high-cost aces to do it. They might have an interest in bringing Kenta Maeda aboard, though, that will ultimately depend on his price tag.
- Derek Jeter is no longer the most eligible baseball bachelor in New York.
- Brewers fans are watching a whole bunch of former Brewers prospects in the World Series, but trading for Zack Greinke was still the right move.
- The Cubs don't manage to fix every reclamation project, you know. Jacob Turner will get another chance to jump start his career in Chicago, except this time it'll be with the White Sox.
- Red Sox top prospect Yoan Moncada will miss winter ball with a hand injury suffered during fall instructionals. That's a shame, but it's not expected to be a serious injury, so he'll be back on the field soon enough.
- Can Gabe Kapler successfully move from the front office to the dugout?
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SB Nation presents: All that’s happened with the Dodgers during Vin Scully’s tenure
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