Two weeks into the postseason, and the players have come to PLAY. Well…almost.

First up, we celebrate the Gold Glove nominations of Anthony Volpe and Steven Kwan!

Then, into the ALDS - Volpe finds himself in the middle of some Yankees-Royals postseason drama and Kwan hits a massive .524 and writes himself into the history books to help Cleveland advance.

Across the league, the NLDS was a pitching masterclass. Orion Kerkering has a solid postseason for the Phillies, Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea keep the Mets afloat, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Yu Darvish face off in a historic matchup.

Game 1 of the ALCS wasn’t much to write home about if you’re a position player, but the Guardians sacrifice Joey Cantillo to the Yankees’ Murderer’s Row and he pays the price.

In the NLCS, Kodai Senga struggles to get back into the swing of things but Sean Manaea stays cool, calm, and consistent in Game 2, and Ohtani is slumping at the exact wrong time but his teammate Tommy Edman shows himself to be the BUNT KING.

Volpe’s great catch: https://www.mlb.com/yankees/video/vinnie-pasquantino-lines-out-softly-to-shortstop-anthony-volpe

Volpe’s double play: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5835577/2024/10/10/yankees-royals-benches-clear-alds-game-4/

1977 ALCS: https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/yankees-jazz-chisholm-accuses-royals-maikel-garcia-of-trying-to-hurt-anthony-volpe-on-slide-sore-loser/

Andy McCullough article: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5838152/2024/10/12/dodgers-yoshinobu-yamamoto-padres/

Dylan Hernandez article: https://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/story/2024-10-15/shohei-ohtani-dodgers-nlcs-game-2-struggles

WOWOWOW. This Postseason is bringing the DRAMA!

First, the end of an era as the legend Choo Shin Soo retires after 18 seasons of pro ball, and Shota Imanaga’s interpreter Edwin Stanberry gets high praise.

Let’s get into the Wild Card: in the AL, Detroit leaves Kenta Maeda off the roster, Yusei Kikuchi never makes it to his start and will likely be released into free agency, and Tommy Pham is ever the postseason professional.

The NL Wild Card brought Sean Manaea’s first start of the postseason, the Asianless Brewers are eliminated, and Kyle Higashioka impresses big stars.

Now onto the ALDS: Steven Kwan has a big - if controversial - catch in game 2, Anthony Volpe has an impressive at bat but a costly error, and Kenta Maeda STILL hasn’t made the roster.

It’s the NLDS where things really start getting nuts: the Mets bring Kodai Senga back after only 5IP in the regular season, Sean Manaea dedicates his lights-out performance to his aunt, and the series with the most Asians - SD vs. LA - is getting HAIRY.

Steven Kwan’s big catch: https://www.mlb.com/video/steven-kwans-incredible-diving-catch

It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for…postseason baseball has arrived!!

First up, we talk Asians in the Wild Card, our friend Atsuko threw out the first pitch at the Cubs game, and Farhan Zaidi is fired by the Giants, leaving ZERO (0) Asian GMs in baseball.

Position players bring much administrative news this week: Rob Refsnyder does not want to retire after this season (bless!), Masataka Yoshida and Kim Ha Seong struggle with shoulder surgery woes, and Isiah Kiner Falefa sacrifices his bonus for his younger teammates to get playing time.

Over in pitching, Yusei Kikuchi reaches 200 Ks and has a red ass (?!?!?!), Yu Darvish is announced as a relief pitcher in the Wild Card, Kumar Rocker shows potential in his final game of the season, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto prepares for his first MLB playoff run.

In Ohtani news, can this man give us a break?!?! We run through his list of records of the week and chat a little Decoy, of course.

And finally, the Asians in Baseball postseason predictions! Will the Dodgers flame out yet again? Will Yu Darvish get the respect he deserves? Will any Asians make it to the World Series?!?!

All-MLB voting is LIVE: https://www.mlb.com/all-mlb/ballot

WTF is “red ass”???: https://tinyurl.com/vxk7dptr