Happy birthday to former All-Star and three-time Gold Glover Bobby Knoop, who turns 88 years old today.  Knoop spent six of his nine MLB seasons (from 1964-72) with the Angels, and his lengthy post-playing career as a coach included 18 more seasons on the Angels’ coaching staff.  Prior to an Angels/Blue Jays game in Toronto in 1991, Knoop happened to toss a couple of baseballs to a pair of young fans watching batting practice.  Those young fans were my brother and I, thus earning Knoop a special place in my baseball memory bank.

1. Rays even the ALCS

The bad weather that pushed Game 4 from Friday to Saturday ended up working in the Rays’ favor, as Tampa picked up a 7-3 win over the Guardians.  Richie Palacios and Jonathan Aranda each had three hits, and Aranda’s two-run single in the top of the seventh ended up being the game’s deciding hit.  Guards right fielder Chase DeLauter made an error on the play that allowed Aranda to reach third base, and Aranda later scored on a Chandler Simpson sac fly.  Tampa Bay starter Nick Martinez tossed 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball, and earned his first win in 10 career postseason outings.

2. Rasmussen, Messick set to start Game 5

Today was supposed to be an off-day on the ALCS schedule, but due to Game 4 being pushed back, Game 5 will now get underway today at 4:08pm CT in Cleveland.  Drew Rasmussen takes the hill for the second time this series, as Rasmussen tossed a quality start (6 IP, 2 ER on eight hits and zero walks, 7 K) in Game 1 but it wasn’t enough as the Guardians got to the Rays’ bullpen for a 7-3 win.  Parker Messick starts for Cleveland, and Messick didn’t allow any earned runs in his five innings in Game 2, but a costly Jose Ramirez error led to three unearned runs in Tampa’s 3-1 victory.

3. Do the A’s have a favorite in their front office search?

“Are the Athletics nearing a GM hire?” was a category in the October 10 edition of The Opener, and eight days later, the A’s are still looking for a new front office boss.  Not to jump the gun again, but it seems like Red Sox assistant GM Taylor Smith might be the new frontrunner, based on recent reports.  Former GM David Forst was fired back on August 7, so the A’s have had plenty of time to access candidates, and perhaps already had a top choice in mind, except Phillies president of business ops Sam Fuld turned down the Athletics’ offer.  The league prefers that teams wait until postseason off-days to make any major announcements, so it could be that if the A’s have made a decision, it might not come until the conclusion of the ALCS.