This Time the Yankees Were Better Than the Red Sox

I listened to the deciding Game 3 of the ALWC Series between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees and disappointed as I am in the result with the Sox losing 4-0, the better team won.

Yes, Garrett Crochet was masterful in Game 1 with Aroldis Chapman getting out of bases loaded jam in the 9th. But the Yankees clawed their way back in Game 2 with spectacular defense and sheer baserunning hustle by Jazz Chisholm, Jr.

Tonight, the Red Sox had no answer for Yankees rookie starter Cam Schlittler who pitched 8 shutout innings striking out 12 batters while surrendering five singles. The Yankees scored all four of their runs in the fourth inning and mostly by defensive ineptness from the Red Sox with a miscommunication between Cedanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu in the outfield to start the inning to a two-base error by first baseman Nathaniel Lowe. Not quite Bill Buckner, but the damage was done.

The wind was at the Yankees back especially when Ryan McMahon flipped into the Red Sox dugout and holds onto the ball for a catch.

The Yankees head north of the border to play their AL East division rival Toronto Blue Jays in the ALDS beginning Saturday. 

With that, let me say Go Jays!!! Anybody but the Yankees!!!

Cubs Erase Memories of 1984 NLCS By Ousting Padres in NLWC

When I learned the Chicago Cubs would face the San Diego Padres in the NLWC, I could not help but think of the 1984 NLCS.

It marked the Cubs first post-season appearance since winning the NL pennant in 1945 while it was the first post-season appearance for the Padres in franchise history. In the best of five contest, the Cubs would take a 2-0 lead but could not close the deal as the Friars would win the NL pennant. 

History did not repeat itself as the Cubs eliminated the Padres in the third and deciding game of the NLWC winning 3-1 turning back a 9th rally by San Diego after Brad Keller plunked back-to-back batters.

The Cubs will now face their NL Central division rival Milwaukee Brewers in the NLDS. The series begins on Saturday in Milwaukee where Brewers fans will give Cubs manager (and ex-Brewers skipper) Craig Counsell a not-so-rousing welcome.

FBI Director Patel Likens ADL to a "Terrorist Organization" Claiming It Was "Spying on Americans"

Yesterday, FBI Director Kash Patel became the latest public figure to vilify the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) by formally cutting ties with the Jewish civil rights organization. Patel made the following claims against the ADL:

James Comey disgraced the FBI by writing ‘love letters’ to the ADL and embedding agents with an extreme group functioning like a terrorist organization and the disgraceful operation they ran spying on Americans. That was not law enforcement, it was activism dressed up as counterterrorism, and it put Americans in danger.

Keep in mind that Patel isn't some run-of-the-mill social media influencer. He is the top law enforcement official in the country. Instead of taking that role with the seriousness and sobriety it requires, Patel is claiming a long-standing civic organization "functioning" like a terrorist organization. For all intents and purposes, Patel is claiming the ADL is no different than al Qaeda, ISIS or, for that matter, Hezbollah. If that wasn't enough, Patel is also accusing the ADL of "spying on Americans." In so doing, Patel is essentially calling ADL "unAmerican" and othering Jews. Furthermore, Patel is making these claims without evidence.

Irresponsible and reckless statements like this from top public officials give legitimacy to anti-Semitism. It is only a matter of time before someone attacks an ADL office, another Jewish civic institution or a synagogue (like we saw in the UK today) resulting in a mass slaughter. Should such an event come to pass, Patel will undoubtedly condemn the attack. But he will have enabled the conditions to allow such an attack in the first place.

Patel's attack on the ADL follow broadsides by Elon Musk, Zohran Mamdani and AOC. I'm afraid there will be more to come.

Tigers Atone for Losing AL Central by Eliminating Guardians in ALWC

The Detroit Tigers rebounded from surrendering a 15½ game lead in the AL Central to the Cleveland Guardians, by besting them in the third and deciding game of the AL Wild Card Series winning 6-3.

The Tigers scored four runs on the 7th inning on singles by Wenceel Perez and Spencer Torkelson. Closer Will Vest got the final five outs after the Guardians rallied for two runs against Tommy Kahnle in the 8th inning. Detroit fans will not face a long winter. At least not for now.

While Cleveland will add yet another year to its World Series drought, the Tigers get to write a new chapter as they travel to Seattle to face the AL West champion Mariners in the ALDS starting Saturday. Will their redemption tour continue or will be they slew in Seattle?

Thoughts on the Terrorist Attack Against Manchester, UK Synagogue on Yom Kippur

On the holiest day in Judaism, a Syrian born British citizen carried out a terrorist attack using a vehicle and a knife outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Manchester, U.K. 

Before being shot dead by authorities, the Muslim terrorist claimed the lives of two Jews. 

While Prime Minister Keir Starmer deplored the attack stating "Jews were attacked because they are Jews", Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Gideon Saar took Starmer and the UK government to task:

The truth must be told: blatant and rampant antisemitic and anti-Israeli incitement, as well as calls of support for terror, have recently become a widespread phenomenon in the streets of London, in cities across Britain, and on its campuses. The authorities in Britain have failed to take the necessary action to curb this toxic wave of antisemitism and have effectively allowed it to persist.

It would also be nice if the UK and other governments didn't reward Hamas behavior by recognizing a Palestinian state.

The fact is that anti-Semitism is tolerated in the UK while police are busy arresting people who criticize Hamas online. 

I have a bad feeling that this attack is but the tip of the iceberg and that we can expect to see a lot more violence against British Jews followed by more platitudes from politicians who turn around and demonize Israel instead of standing with British Jews.

Dodgers Dash Reds Playoff Hopes

The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Cincinnati Reds 8-4 to the NL Wild Card round with a 2-game sweep. Dodgers' Mookie Betts went 4-for-5 and drove in 3 runs.

The Dodgers will travel to Philadelphia to face the Phillies in the NLDS which commences on Saturday.

The Reds become the first team eliminated in the post-season. Of course, the Reds got in by the enamel of their teeth with an 83-79 record and by virtue of taking 4 out of 6 games from the New York Mets during the regular season.

The 2006 St. Louis Cardinals would win the World Series despite only 83 regular season wins. So, while the Reds had a chance it was a tall order especially against the defending World Series champions. 

Still, it would have been nice to a Red Sox-Reds World Series on the 50th anniversary of the 1975 World Series. But it was not to be.

It has been 35 years since the Reds last won a World Series title and they will have to wait until at least next year.

Meanwhile, all of the other Wild Card series go to a third and deciding game tomorrow - Tigers vs. Guardians, Red Sox vs. Yankees and Padres vs. Cubs. 

Will Somerville Elect a Pro-Hamas Mayor?

As some of you might know, I live in Cambridge, Massachusetts. However, the area in Cambridge where I am situated is but a hop, skip and scarcely a jump away from Somerville. 

Given that I am in Somerville almost every day, I ought to be more in tune with what is literally going down the block from me. But this article from the Jewish Insider shook me. When it comes to mayoral politics in Somerville, we might have a Mamdani in our midst:

But one lower-profile race featuring a Democratic Socialists of America activist with involvement in anti-Israel groups has flown under the radar. In the progressive city of Somerville, Mass. — just outside Boston and bordering Cambridge — City Councilor Willie Burnley Jr. advanced to a runoff against another city council member, Jake Wilson. 

In the city’s first round of balloting, which ousted the city’s sitting mayor, Katjana Ballantyne, Wilson finished first with 42% of the citywide vote, but Burnley wasn’t far behind with 34%. Ballantyne, facing a backlash to the city’s rising housing costs, lagged in third place with just 23% of the vote.

If Burnley prevails, he would be the city’s first Black, openly queer and polyamorous mayor, according to Axios.

But Burnley’s unconventional self-identification pales in comparison to his radical record. He’s been endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, and has been active in the organization for at least the last several years. He has participated in anti-Israel protests, including one where he is standing in front of a protester holding a sign with a Nazi swastika flag next to an Israeli flag. At a Tufts University anti-Israel protest last year, he posed in front of posters reading “Glory to the martyrs.”

He has touted his endorsement from the anti-Israel group “Somerville for Palestine” and walked out on a Jewish constituent objecting to the city council’s consideration of a measure that would require Somerville to divest city funds business from companies that do business with Israel. In 2018, he was pictured being involved with the anti-Israel group IfNotNow.

Serves me right for not being more engaged in what's going on in the neighborhood.

Now that I am aware of what is happening all too near my doorstep, I am deeply unsettled.

If Burnley, Jr. is comfortable being around those who liken Israel to Nazis and those who praise the "martyrs" who slaughtered 1,200 people on October 7th and is openly hostile to Jewish constituents, then it is incumbent upon the people of Somerville to make sure he gets nowhere near the mayor's office. 

Unlike Andrew Cuomo, Jake Wilson doesn't have much in the way of baggage. On the other hand, Wilson seems to think that a Hamas, a terrorist organization, and the democratically elected government of Benjamin Netanyahu are morally equivalent. One can disagree with Netanyahu's decisions without putting Israel on the same moral plane with Hamas. Evidently, Wilson cannot make that distinction. With that said, I'm not sure Wilson would stand shoulder-to-shoulder with someone who thinks the Hamas terrorists are martyrs. I realize it's an inch of difference but in this case every inch counts.

With that said, I don't discount Burnley, Jr's chances. After all, Somerville is part of Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley's district, and she is someone who has likened pro-Hamas campus agitators to the civil rights movement. If the people of Somerville can tolerate those views, then it is not inconceivable they could tolerate someone who is comfortable associating with folks who support terrorism.

Of course, anti-Semitism is everywhere including here in Cambridge particularly at Harvard and MIT. Yet, all things considered, I am glad I live on this side of the Cambridge-Somerville line.