☀️ Good morning and welcome back to The Nosebleeds.

💘 How can you not be romantic about baseball?

😤 Let’s get after it.

⚾️ Texas advances to World Series, Diamondbacks force Game 7

What an outstanding couple days of postseason baseball we have had since I said how crappy the playoffs have been in our last newsletter.

After losing all three of their home playoff games, the Texas Rangers went into Houston and defeated the Astros in Game 6 and 7 on the road to advance to the World Series. But Game 6 and 7 were not the highlights of this series. Rather, Game 5 was one of the best playoff baseball games we have seen in years.

The Rangers won Game 1 and 2 of this ALCS on the road, but then lost the next two games at home to bring us to a 2-2 series split heading into Game 5. Houston had a 2-1 lead heading into the bottom of the 6th inning of Game 5, and that is when things got crazy.

Adolis Garcia headed to the plate with two men on base, and had the biggest moment of his baseball career (to date) with a massive 3-run homer for the lead.

Garcia’s next at-bat? He was drilled by a Bryan Abreu pitch, and he took exception as he thought it was intentional. The benches cleared, and Abreu, Garcia, and Astros’ manager Dusty baker were all ejected from the game.

Tensions were through the roof.

But with the game on the line, Altuve and the Astros answered. They answered the way you’d expect a team who has reached the ALCS for seven straight seasons—they didn’t blink, and their leader Jose Altuve delivered when it mattered most.

The Astros took Game 5 by a score of 5-4, but Adolis Garcia put the whole damn team on his back for Game 6 and 7, and led the Rangers to their first World Series appearance since 2011, winning the ALCS MVP in the process.

Meanwhile in the NL, the Diamondbacks outplayed the Phillies from start to finish and forced a Game 7 to decide who will travel to Texas for Game 1 of the World Series.

Game 7 will take place tonight. Tune in to see if Arizona can complete the upset.

🦄 Oh Mama, Webanyama

The absurdity that is Victor Wembanyama’s skillset was on full display in the San Antonio Spurs’ final preseason game against the Golden State Warriors.

After a mediocre NBA Summer League performance, the 7’4” Frenchman showed how special he can be in the Spurs’ victory over the Warriors. It wasn’t just his box score stats that were impressive (19 PTS, 4 REB, 5 BLK in only 20 minutes), he did some things that are simply impossible to stop due to his size and length.

Firstly, let’s take a look at the heading photo for this section. Andrew Wiggins is 6’7” and taking a three point shot. The ball in this photo is approximately 12 feet in the air, maybe higher (based on my eyeballing skills), and Wembanyama is getting half of his damn hand on the shot. That is absolutely bonkers. This guy might be able to stand 10 feet behind the 3-point line and block shots.

But this block was not all, check out this 90 second stretch of basketball where Wembanyama is unstoppable on both ends of the floor.

Y’all, we have found the next unicorn in sports.

🤔 NBA Trivia

The Sun’s new big 3 of Booker, Durant and Beal will hit the hardwood together for the first time tonight.

• Question: what were the opening night match-ups for the 2022-23 NBA season (bonus points if you also guess the winner of each game)?

Answer at the bottom.

🏀 NBA basketball tips-off tonight

Hoopers, rejoice. Meaningful basketball has arrived.

The 2023-24 season kicks off with the defending champion Denver Nuggets hosting LeBron and the Lakers, followed by the new-look Phoenix Suns travelling to Golden State to take on Steph Curry and co.

If you’re a fan of the big four North American sports, the end of October is the pinnacle. MLB World Series, the NHL and NBA are getting underway, and the NFL season is in full-swing.

It doesn’t get any better than this, my friends. Enjoy the best sports week of the year.

Sincerely,

Your friends from the Nosebleeds ❤️ 

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• Trivia Answer: Boston Celtics: 126, Philadelphia 76ers: 117; Golden State Warriors: 123, Los Angeles Lakers: 109.