Some announcements before we dive in:

• We are giving away two tickets to Dodgers opening day to help fight hunger! All you have to do is donate a few bucks to the Hollywood Food Coalition to be entered for a chance to win.

  The tickets are two seats in Reserve level section 1 behind home plate on the aisle, under the awning for shade, generously donated by Craig Minami.

  The Dodgers will take on the Diamondbacks on Thursday, March 26th at 5:30 PM, with World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto scheduled to pitch against against Zac Gallen. The winner will also receive a signed, personalized copy of my book with free shipping or hand delivery to your seats. Enter here to win. And get there early if you want to see the championship banner raised! If you personally hate the Dodgers (understandable!) you can still donate to help feed the most vulnerable among us and give the tickets to a friend (or enemy) if you win!

• If you would like to go to Brewers vs. Dodgers in Milwaukee on Saturday May 23rd with The Long Game, let me know! I’ve got extra tickets in our block of 70. Email me at molly.knight@gmail.com

Ahhhhhhh!!! Only five more sleeps until the MLB season is back! We’re almost there!

The Giants and Yankees will open play next Wednesday the 25th, and everyone else will kick off their seasons on Thursday the 26th. We’ll be chatting in the Substack app through it all.

I’ll have my usual bold (and wrong!) predictions for the season next week, but I wanted to end our final week of the MLB off-season by asking the fives questions I’m wondering about most.

Here they are:

1. How much will the new automatic balls and strike system change the game?

   MLB has been implementing rule tweaks lately that have been largely positive, none more so than the pitch clock. But when the pitch clock was first rolled out, it hung over every field like San Francisco fog and made attending games in person a bit frantic (go to pee, miss two innings) until we got used to it. And now I can’t even imagine an MLB game without it.

   The ABS won’t be used for every pitch like the clock is, but it will loom large as an undoer of wrongs that have kept many of us up at night. Who can forget the horrific strike three call that eliminated the Padres from the playoffs last season and nearly resulted in the first (modern???) dugout tunnel brawl between a whole team and an umpiring crew?

   I plan to keep a running tally of the most consequential balls and strikes overturned, and crown a winner at the end of the season.

2. A fresh gambling scandal is inevitable. Will it cause Rob Manfred to interrogate the role the league itself has played in accelerating this crisis and make necessary changes?

   The baseball world was stunned last summer when Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz were suspended indefinitely for allegedly rigging pitches to assist gamblers. It was not only unethical, it was also potentially illegal. (Both men have pleaded not guilty in federal court to charges including wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery.)

   One would think Manfred would be chastened by one of the best relief pitchers in the game potentially facing decades in prison for allegedly conspiring with daily fantasy bettors to rig outcomes, but no. The league just doubled-down on this sickness, announcing an exclusive deal with Polymarket. That sound you just heard was Pete Rose crawling out of his grave to place a parlay on an Aaron Judge home run and a drone strike on another girls school.

   Partnering with DraftKings, BetMGM, Caesars, and Polymarket will absolutely lead to more death threats toward players and journalists, and I’m guessing more of your favorite baseball players will get arrested before this is cleaned up.

   It will probably take a scandal that implicates either an entire team (but it has to be a good one!), OR a critical mass of all-stars to cause Manfred to re-evaluate how close he is willing to risk the integrity of the game he leads to make as much money as possible. I can absolutely envision a situation as devastating to the sport as the steroid mess was, and it will be as infuriating as it was preventable.

   

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3. Will the Tigers trade Tarik Skubal at the deadline?

   It’s pretty clear Detroit is not interested in paying the best pitcher in baseball what he is worth on the open market, so this will most likely be his last year in a Tigers uniform before he becomes a free agent.

   The Tigers now have two options: trade Skubal at the deadline for the best prospects they can get, or be the most aggressive team on the market in July in an attempt to, in the words of the great Jake Taylor from the movie Major League, win the whole fucking thing.

   The Tigers have not won the whole f’ing thing since 1984, so the urgency should be there. They currently have the ninth highest payroll after giving Framber Valdez the money they could have put toward a long-term deal for Skubal. I do not see them falling out of contention by July 31st for a couple reasons: 1) the AL Central is one of the weakest divisions in baseball again and 2) half the league makes the playoffs now.

   But if the Tigers aren’t going to push in all their chips and really, really try to win a World Championship this year, there’s no point in keeping Skubal for a half-assed run and then getting nothing when he leaves. They may need to make a jaw-dropping trade or two, or they’ll be just like the Angels who let Shohei Ohtani walk without even making him a competitive free agent contract offer. (In related news, Arte Moreno says fans don’t care about winning). Hopefully Tiger ownership feels differently.

4. Will the Blue Jays establish themselves as the premier American League team as the Dodgers have in the NL?

   Last year’s World Series drew the highest global ratings for a baseball game since 1991. This was not just because of the Dodgers—who also played in the WS in 2017, 2018, 2020, and 2024—but because the Jays were just as good, and battled the Los Angeles juggernaut pitch-by-pitch for a thrilling seven-game spectacle that was decided by a literal toenail.

   Toronto returns with mostly the same dudes, except for Bo Bichette, who left for the Mets. But they also added starting pitchers Dylan Cease and Cody Ponce, as well as Japanese infielder Kazuma Okamoto, who may be a stud.

   The Jays play in one of the toughest divisions in baseball, and the Red Sox look (to my eye) as good as they’ve been since they won the 2018 World Series—despite somehow losing both Alex Bregman and Rafael Devers—thanks to a strong pitching staff anchored by Garrett Crochet, Ranger Suarez, Aroldis Chapman, and Garrett Whitlock (with a possible assist from potential Rookie of the Year candidates Payton Tolle or Connelly Early). Plus a full season of Roman Anthony (god willing).

   The Jays owners have just as much money as the Dodgers do, they’ve got Vladdy Guerrero Jr. locked up, and they will be aggressive at the deadline if need be. Their continued success will be a boon for the sport’s momentum, as last year’s team inspired an entire country worth of new Canadian fans. Let’s hope they can keep it up.

5. Can the Dodgers really three-peat?

   Full disclosure: I did not think the Dodgers would be able to repeat last year when the season began, because this game is so random and hard and they began their exhausting title defense in Japan following up on beginning their previous season in Korea.

   Mookie Betts caught a virus that wrecked his season in March, and it appeared the team might be running on fumes.

   Then Shohei returned to the mound, Yamamoto dominated, and Roki Sasaki was able to somehow close playoff games that Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates and Blake Treinen could not. (Thank you, Japan).

   It still took several unhinged plays that could have gone either way in games 6 and 7 of the World Series (plus an improbable Miguel Rojas home run) to finish the job. Everything broke right for them in the end.

   For those reasons, I wouldn’t bet on a three-peat. The counterpoint to this argument is the best team in baseball somehow got better. They return every single player from last year’s repeat except they replaced Michael Conforto with Kyle Tucker, Yates with Edwin Diaz, and a diminished Clayton Kershaw with a promising young SP yet to be decided (River Ryan? Kyle Hurt, eventually?)

   LA has turned into the baseball equivalent of the Kansas City Chiefs or the Golden State Warriors, which is another reason why baseball is peaking right now. Every hero’s journey needs a good villain, and it will be as entertaining to watch them win three in a row as it will to watch them be slayed in the playoffs by an underdog.

   Of course, this whole season will stink if Ohtani gets hurt, which seems more likely given that this will be his first full season pitching since 2023. He is the one player the league cannot afford to lose.

   I just wrote that sentence hoping for a reverse jinx. Let’s hope to God that it works.

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Tomorrow’s zoom talking baseball will be held at 3 PM PT/6 PM ET because Puerto Rico is playing Italy at 12 PM PT/3 PM ET (our usual time)—and we don’t want to miss that. Thank you to Chris M for pointing out that we needed to move our lil get-together!

Here is our schedule for the next 30 hours because there is a lotttt going on:

Today, Friday March 13th:

3:30 PM PT: Korea vs. Dominican Republic in the quarterfinals. (We are already chatting here in the Substack app).

5:00 PM PT: USA vs. Canada in the quarterfinals (Also in the Substack chat app. Same thread as the Korea/DR game until we get too many comments and have to start a new thread).

Tomorrow, Saturday March 14th:

12 PM PT: Puerto Rico vs. Italy in the quarters (Substack chat app)

3 PM PT - 4 PM PT: Hour zoom talking baseball

6 PM PT: Venezuela vs. Japan in the quarters (Substack chat app)

I have no idea who will win this World Baseball Classic and neither do you.

It rules.

I can absolutely see Shohei Ohtani taking over the tournament and leading defending champion Team Japan to another title. All Ohtani has done in the last three years is anchor teams that won the WBC (Japan ‘23) and two World Series (Dodgers ‘24, and ‘25). This is an insane run that has no explanation other than the baseball gods were offended that Ohtani was stuck on the irrelevant Angels for six years and are now elevating him onto baseball’s biggest stages at every opportunity as penance for ever letting that happen.

Usually, one baseball player can’t take over a game. Except we saw Ohtani do it in the NLCS against the Brewers, when he hit three homers and struck out 10 in six-plus scoreless innings, which was probably the single greatest baseball game by one player of all-time. I wouldn’t know, though, because I crashed out when Ohtani’s second homer of that game cleared the roof of the right field bleachers at Dodger Stadium, and was so shook I was basically unable to watch the rest of the game.

But as I look at the Dominican Republic’s roster I’m wondering who would be dumb enough to pick against them? A lineup that goes: Fernando Tatis Jr., Ketel Marte, Juan Soto, Vladdy Guerrero Jr., Manny Machado, Junior Caminero, Julio Rodriguez and Geraldo Perdomo is disgusting, and I’m terrified to see what they might due to my old pal Hyun-jin Ryu tonight in the DR’s quarterfinal matchup vs. Korea.

Long Game Guy Cristopher Sanchez will be on the bump for the Dominicans vs. Ryu, and it’s like this game was designed in a lab 4 me. <3

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The other contest tonight will feature Team USA vs. Team Canada.

I dragged American manager Mark DeRosa to hell on Wednesday for not knowing the rules of pool play. DeRosa rides again, however, as Italy knocked Mexico out of the tournament, allowing the US to fall into the second round ass-backward. (If Team Italy wins the WBC I will take out an advertisement apologizing to DeRo).

The Americans should roll in this game, as they will field a superior player at every position, including starting pitcher. (Logan Webb vs. Michael Soroka).

It’s one baseball game, though, and the best teams don’t always win. Heck, maybe Team USA’s players caught the brain worms infecting its coaching staff, and guys will accidentally sprint clockwise up the third base line out of the box when they hit the ball.

The Americans of course have the talent to win it all, but it’s still unclear if they want it as badly as the rest of the world does, which feels like… an important ingredient.

Stay tuned!

Hi friends-

Some announcements before we dive in:

• I have procured 69 tickets to Astros vs. Cubs in Chicago on Friday 5/22, and 77 tickets to Dodgers vs. Brewers in Milwaukee on Saturday, 5/23!

• If you signed up for either (or both!) of these games I’ll be contacting you over the weekend. Our seats are awesome: section 126 at Wrigley, and section 223 in Milwaukee. Mark those sections down if you can’t commit now but think you might want to join up with us on your own over Memorial Day weekend!

• I’ll be talking to the White Sox next week about buying 63 tickets to the 5/25 game. I’ll start a wait list for all three games as well, if anyone is interested in that!

• Paid subscribers: our weekly zoom will happen at its normal time tomorrow at 12 PM PT. You’ll receive an email with a zoom link in the morning

  

  The Long Game is an independent, ad-free, reader supported newsletter. The best way to support me and my work is by taking out a paid subscription now:

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I was all set to write about all the hamate bones holding teams hostage this morning, when I got a ping on my phone that Alex Vesia would be addressing the media at 11:30 Arizona time. I gulped.

Vesia made international news when he and his wife, Kayla, lost their first child—a daughter named Sterling Sol—in childbirth during the World Series.

Vesia, one of the Dodgers top relievers, missed the Fall Classic while navigating this horrific tragedy. The club’s pitchers and catchers reported to spring training in Glendale, AZ, today, and Vesia decided to speak publicly for the first time about his loss.

He stood nervously, clutching his iPhone bearing his typed out statement with both hands. He wore a big Dodgers cap with the brim pulled down, and looked like he had not shaved his beard since the season ended.

He began by acknowledging his wife and her strength, then he thanked Dodgers employees and his teammates for their unwavering support.

Then he acknowledged the impact of one of the kindest gestures any of us have ever seen on a baseball field.

“I’d like to take the opportunity to thank the Toronto Blue Jays, their front office, coaching staff, and players for showing us the support. They are a first class organization and I just want to say thank you to them.”

He took a breath.

“When Kay and I were watching the World Series we noticed that there was a [number] 51 on Louie Varland’s hat. I immediately texted Gus Varland, his brother, and asked him if I was seeing that correctly.”

(Gus Varland pitched for the Dodgers out of the bullpen with Vesia in 2024, making six appearances.)

“He texted me back right away and he said, ‘The Varlands love you, dude. The whole Toronto bullpen has it, too. It’s bigger than baseball. We love you all.’”

“Kay and I, were very emotional [over what the Blue Jays bullpen did]. We were super overwhelmed with emotion and the baseball community, the relationships that you make along the way. It showed that it’s much bigger than baseball.”

Indeed it did.

Like most of you, I’ve been devastated by how fractured our society has become as people descend into tribes divided by alternate realities. And, like most of you, I look to sports as an escape from all that ugliness.

But sometimes people can be so blindly loyal to a baseball team or a player that they will twist themselves into knots to defend the indefensible, or to jeer fans or players of other teams just….to be (unfunny!) jerks.

Blue Jays players cut through that nonsense and chose to support their opponent through the worst moment of his life. That they took the time to act with such grace during the biggest, most intense games of their careers, when no one would have faulted them for being singularly focused still blows my mind.

It also gives me hope.

“The lessons we’ve learned from this is that life can change in an instant,” Vesia said. “Ten minutes is all it took.”

Vesia spoke about how getting back to baseball has been his salvation, how the rhythms and everydayness of the game have helped him begin to find his footing as he and Kayla attempt to walk with their grief. “Having something to look forward to has helped me,” he said. “The gym has been my mental clarity.. Being around the guys again..and being able to laugh and joke around, that’s been really nice for me.”

And then he said something that will probably save lives:

“Kay and I started therapy about six weeks ago. It hasn’t been easy. But talking to someone has made a difference. For those out there who have lost a child, or are fighting through any struggle… if you can take anything from this, please seek help. Talk to somebody. Please don’t be afraid to speak up. Your mental health matters.”

At the start of my career 20 years ago, it was nearly impossible to get players to open up about grief and loss. Baseball players on the fringes of rosters especially would tell me that even though their teams had psychologists, that they were scared of signing up for sessions because they were worried they’d get labeled as head cases or losers and the whole front office would know and judge them accordingly.

Things have definitely gotten better on that front, but it still takes courage from men like Alex Vesia to stand in front of cameras and tell people—especially men— that it’s OK to ask for help.

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Before we dive in, some announcements!

• I’m going to send out a sign-up sheet this weekend for people who are interested in attending MLB games with The Long Game this Memorial Day weekend. As a reminder, we’ll be hitting Wrigley Field for Cubs vs. Astros on Friday May 22nd, Miller Park (I’m not le…

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Hi friends-

Some quick housekeeping before we dive into the Skubal mess:

• If you emailed me and said you wanted to join our Artist’s Way course and did NOT recieve an email back from me with our zoom schedule, please email me again at molly.knight@gmail.com. Gremlins have been eating some of your emails but don’t worry!…

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Hi friends-

• I was on the Poscast with Joe Posnanski on Tuesday and we announced something super exciting: we will be launching a new podcast together called “The Joy of Baseball” in January! Yes, that’s right. Everything is so awful right now that …

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Hi friends-

• Thank you to everyone who joined our book club zoom with Jane Leavy on Tuesday! It was our best attended book club yet. Unfortunately, I continue to be a tech moron and the recording of the zoom did not save. But if you are sad about missing Jane: fear not! We had so much fun that we are going to have her on…

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Hi friends-

We are talking about all the guys who just became free agents after getting non-tendered, and every other baseball thing you want to discuss in the chat! Come hang and re-connect with everyone in our first new chat since the World Series <3.

We will have our weekly hourly Saturday zoom tal…

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Hi friends-

Some announcements before we get into all the baseball news of the week:

• Our book club selection for November is “Make Me Commissioner” by Jane Leavy. We’ll have Jane on zoom for a discussion about her book for …

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The 2025 MLB season…

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L…

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This is the free Friday newsletter. Paid subscribers have access to our daily postseason chats, but because it’s Friday, tonight’s Tigers/Mariners sudden death elimination game chat is live and free!

The paid list has been yapping like crazy in the Substack app during th…

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This post is free thanks to the generous support of Long Game subscribers. Want to join the community? You can upgrade here:

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Times are tough right now as Americans are scared about spending money due to tariffs, a sagging economy, etc. A few devoted Long Game subscribers have donated paid subs for those who can’t afford one right now, and I really can’t tell them enough how much I appreciate it!

I’ve given one out, and I’ve got…

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This is a weird one!

Last Sunday, Red Sox rookie starting pitcher faced the New York Yankees for the first time in his career. Before that start, he told reporters that he disliked the Yankees so much that he would rather retire…

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Hi friends-

Thank you for being patient with me as I deal with my third round of Covid (which apparently still exists, woof). We will have our usual baseball zoom at 12 PM PT tomorrow (Saturday), and I’ll send out the link in the morning.

Catching this beast of a virus is fraught for me, as the first time I contracted it at the All-Star Game at Dodger Sta…

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Hi friends-

Welcome to all our new and paid subscribers this week! Some housekeeping before we dive in:

As a reminder, the paid list gets a chat on Fridays during all the games, as well as an …

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Hi friends-

My favorite baseball game of the year happened last night. No, it wasn’t the brilliant pitchers’ duel between Jacob deGrom and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Arlington. That contest was tidy and efficient, with spectacular play all around.

We here at the Long Game love mess.

Which is …

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Hi friends-

I’ve got some exciting news! Next week I’m going to Japan to cover the MLB Tokyo Series for The Long Game!

It’s difficult to put into words how meaningful this trip will be for me. As many of you know, …

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Hi friends-

Some housekeeping before we dive in:

• Our book club selection for February/March is Lords of the Realm: The Real History of Baseball by John Helyar. Our book club discussion will take place over zoom the first we…

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