New York will ride pitching to World Series title

The readers came through.
Sometimes I put out a call for questions and get nothing. Crickets.
It took me until about 8 p.m. Monday to realize I had not made my monthly request on Facebook and Twitter for my column that runs today. But when I did, the readers came through in the clutch.
They delivered with timely questions about baseball — the World Series starts tonight — and football, and one about what led me to writing columns like this one in the first place.
So since I’m clearly short on time to write this column, let’s get directly to the questions.
••••••••••
Who do you see as the World Series favorite and why?
—Phil Ford, Dunkirk

I’m picking the New York Mets to win the World Series, mostly because of the pitching staff. Kansas City simply can’t match it.
When a team can throw out Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard and Matt Harvey, all of whom average 8.9 or more strikeouts per nine innings, it’s hard to beat. Those three also all have a WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched) lower than 1.05.
No player on the Royals’ roster can match either of those numbers.
While both teams are solid in the bullpen, New York is still better. The Mets have a bunch of hard-throwing relievers led by Jeurys Familia, who has 43 saves this season and has taken just two losses.
The key for New York may be for a new offensive hero to emerge, because the chances of Daniel Murphy continuing his ridiculous hot streak aren’t very good. Then again, with the strength of the pitching staff, the Mets may not need to score that much to bring home their first World Series title since 1986.
••••••••••
Who were your favorite athletes growing up and what made you want to get into sports reporting?
—Dusty Guggenbiller, Fort Recovery

Growing up 15 miles west of downtown Cleveland, the late 1980s and early 1990s Browns, Indians and Cavaliers players were right in my wheelhouse.
I fell asleep most nights listening to radio broadcasts of either Tom Candiotti, Joe Carter and Julio Franco playing baseball or Mark Price, Larry Nance and Brad Daugherty playing basketball. (I’d be remiss here if I didn’t mention the name of the great Cavaliers’ radio announces Joe Tait. He was the best.)
In terms of favorites, everyone in Cleveland during that era loved Bernie Kosar. He took the Browns to three AFC Championship games in a four-year span.
I still remember being in Spanish class in high school when the news broke that he had been released from the team because of his “diminishing skills.”
Other names that pop into my head immediately are receiver Webster Slaughter for the Browns, Franco for the Indians and Craig Ehlo — he’s the guy over whom Michael Jordan hit “The Shot” — for the Cavaliers. But the list could go on and on. (Oddly enough, since I ended up in Indiana, one of my favorite non-Cleveland NBA players was Reggie Miller.)
As for the second part of your question, it’s hard to pinpoint. I never remember wanting to do anything else.
Of course, I would have loved to play for one of my favorite teams, but the reality for most of us is that our athletic careers end after middle school. I knew I wanted to be involved in a career in sports in some way, and the media was my ticket.
••••••••••
Was the botched fake punt the end for this season and the Chuck Pagano era? It seems like the Colts aren’t playing for him anymore and/or know he’s done now.
—Adam Gray,
Fort Wayne

First, I don’t think that play will be what does Pagano in, even if he is fired at the end of this season. The New England game is the best Indianapolis has played this year, despite that major miscue.
But more importantly, I hope your statement about the Colts not playing for him is perception rather than reality.
While I’m sure those in the locker room thought they could beat New England, the realists outside saw that game as a likely loss. Still, Indianapolis played well up until the funky formation gave the Patriots a short field and allowed them to easily extend their lead.
However, as mentioned in this space last week, standing at 3-3 after an ugly 0-2 start was about the best the Colts, or their fans, could have ever expected. So instead of being down on Pagano for trying something out of the ordinary, the Indianapolis organization — from the players all the way up to ownership — should have been focused on the goal of winning yet another AFC South title and getting better for the playoffs.
Despite the botched fake punt and the awful first-half effort Sunday against New Orleans, the Colts remain in first place in a weak division. It’s still theirs for the taking.
If the Indianapolis players have quit on the season and on Pagano, they should be ashamed of themselves. I don’t believe they have.