TUESDAY TIDBITS

HERE'S WHAT I'M LOOKING AT WITH 55 DAYS TO GO

IF THE POSTSEASON BEGAN TODAY:

American League:

• Mariners vs. Astros

• Yankees vs. Red Sox

• Bye: Blue Jays, Tigers

National League:

• Padres vs. Phillies

• Mets vs. Cubs

• Bye: Brewers, Dodgers

I’VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT:

THE RACEWAY FIASCO

There were 91,032 tickets sold for the MLB Speedway Classic, which was rained upon on Saturday and completed on Sunday. That set a new record for the most regular-season game tickets sold for a game, which had been 84,587 set on Sept. 12, 1954, in a contest between Cleveland and the New York Yankees.

Who is the poor soul in the Commissioner’s Office who has to write apology notes to all those people?

The fans were soaked on Saturday after there was not enough stadium coverage due to the rain, and everybody was saturated, even those with rain gear. Concession stands ran out of food during the first rain delay, which lasted two hours and 17 minutes. It was so bad that it was announced that fans could bring in outside food and non-alcoholic beverages on Sunday.

My suggestion? Since MLB has now alienated auto racing fans, consider holding the next one of these special events at Churchill Downs and turn off the horse racing fans.

THAT DIRTY WATER

Craig Breslow, the current Chief Baseball Officer for the Boston Red Sox, has been nicknamed "the smartest man in baseball" due to his high level of education and analytical approach to the game. He graduated from Yale with degrees in molecular biophysics and biochemistry. While all of us so-called “experts” ripped into Breslow for their lack of significant deals at the deadline, the Red Sox just keep on winning.

He is simply smarter than the rest of us.

Last night, they defeated the Royals for their seventh straight win at home. The Sox are now 38-21 at home, the fourth-best record in the majors. They have scored 312 runs at Fenway, only the Dodgers (325) have scored more on their home turf. They have hit 143 doubles at home; no other team has more than 120. The Sox are 12 games over .500 for the first time since 2021.

• Since June 1, the Sox are 35-19, a .648 winning percentage.

• Since June 9, after the debut of Roman Anthony, they are 31-16, a .660 winning percentage.

• Since June 16, after trading Rafael Devers, they are 26-15, a .634 winning percentage.

• Since June 19, after sending down Kristian Campbell, they are 24-14, a .632 winning percentage.

• Since July 1, they are 21-7, a .750 winning percentage.

• Since July 11, with Alex Bregman's return from the IL, they are 13-6, a .6 94winning percentage.

• Since August 1, after their “ineffectual” trade deadline, they are 4-0, a 1.000 winning percentage.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

These are dark days for New York baseball fans. The Mets are playing poorly, and the Yankees are much worse.