With game three of the 2015 World Series tonight, we previewed the Fall Classic with ESPN Baseball Tonight‘s ground-breaking reporter Jessica Mendoza. During this year’s AL Wild Card game Mendoza became the first female analyst to ever call a nationally televised MLB postseason game.
Monday, in part two of this exclusive interview we’ll cover Mendoza’s trail blazing and the social significance of her achievements. For now we focus on the Series as it now shifts to New York. The Kansas City Royals took game one 5-4, and then dominated game two by a score of 7-1.
So do the Mets have a chance to get back to this thing?
“Yes, totally, that’s the beauty of baseball,” Mendoza said.
“You have the Royals number one throwing tomorrow against the Mets number three, but the Mets don’t seem to be hitting right now but to me that’s all the more makings for a great postseason game. Just throw everything out the window that makes sense, no can really know what will happen.”
Tonight’s pitching match-up is K.C.’s Yordano Ventura versus New York’s Noah Syndergaard. Game four on Saturday night will be Young versus Matz.
If the Royals do finish off the Mets in this World Series, they’ll indeed be the role model for all small market franchises across the nation. Maybe they’ve reached that status already.
“The way they play the game, in an age where it’s all about the home run, and you can have a ton of strike outs, the Royals are the exact opposite, they’re one of the few teams that play old school,” said Mendoza.
“They’re going to lay down a bunt, they’re going to know how to battle with one ball and two strikes. It’s stuff that I feel we all learned when we learned how to play, but I feel like it’s gotten away from the game of baseball the past few years.”
Indeed a Royals championship might make them more than just an icon to small market teams. They could provide a royal blueprint for “smallball” teams everywhere.
Be sure to catch Jessica Mendoza’s pre and post World Series game analysis on ESPN Baseball Tonight and SportsCenter. Part two of this exclusive, focusing on social/gender issues in sport will run on Monday. Part three of this Jessica Mendoza feature, focusing on the Chicago Cubs, will run Tuesday morning.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and sometimes writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. The website is also featured on News Now.
Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye. He also appears regularly on numerous television and radio talk shows all across the country. Catch him Tuesdays on KOZN 1620 The Zone.
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