November 1, 2012 [LINK / comment]
Ryan Zimmerman gets surgery
Ryan Zimmerman underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder a few days ago, and all seems to have gone well. His recovery is expected to take about six weeks, so he should be 100% ready for Spring Training next year. He was put on the 15-day disabled list in April, and just wasn't doing well at the plate until he had a cortisone shot in early July, and three more in the months after that. See MLB.com. (That article also mentioned that reserve player Chad Tracy had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee; he had his share of big clutch hits this year.)
Because of various injuries this year, the Nationals didn't have their core sluggers all in the lineup until late in the season. But if Zimmerman, Michael Morse, Jayson Werth, and (option pending) Adam LaRoche can all stay healthy next year, the Nationals should be considered favorites to win the NL Eastern Division title for a second year in a row.
Aggregate wins & losses
This may come as a surprise, after the rude shock of October 12 (NLDS Game 5), but I was kind of hoping the Cardinals would beat the Giants in the NLCS. Why? Because, given that the Tigers won the ALCS, that would have meant that the Washington Nationals (who won more regular season games than anyone else) would have ended the year with the most number of aggregate wins [...], i.e., combining the regular season and postseason win-loss records. ( 98 + 2 = 100 ) Is that an official statistic? Probably not, but it would have been a nice consolation prize at least. As you can see, the Nationals came in second in terms of aggregate wins, behind the San Francisco Giants. The Nationals can nevertheless claim the highest aggregate winning percentage: .599, with the Cincinnati Reds in second place, and the Giants in third. 
| Team | Regular season Wins | Regular season Losses | Post-season Wins | Post-season Losses | Aggre-gate Wins | Aggre-gate Losses | Aggre-gate Percent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco Giants | 94 | 68 | 11 | 5 | 105 | 73 | .590 |
| Washington Nationals | 98 | 64 | 2 | 3 | 100 | 67 | .599 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 97 | 65 | 2 | 3 | 99 | 68 | .593 |
| New York Yankees | 95 | 67 | 3 | 6 | 98 | 73 | .573 |
| Oakland Athletics | 94 | 68 | 2 | 3 | 96 | 71 | .575 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 93 | 69 | 3 | 3 | 96 | 72 | .571 |
| Detroit Tigers | 88 | 74 | 7 | 6 | 95 | 80 | .543 |
| Atlanta Braves | 94 | 68 | 0 | 1 | 94 | 69 | .577 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 88 | 74 | 6 | 6 | 94 | 80 | .540 |
| Texas Rangers | 93 | 69 | 0 | 1 | 93 | 70 | .571 |
No November baseball!
UPDATE: According to our weekly TV schedule, there is supposed to be a baseball game tonight -- if necessary. It's just as well that it's all over and done with for the year; baseball in November is just plain weird. (Indeed, we've already got snow along the top of the Blue Ridge.) If the Tigers had somehow regrouped after losing the first three and taken the World Series all the way to Game 7, it would have been the first time in history that such a comeback had been staged. The Yankees came back with four straight wins after losing the first two games both against the Braves in the 1996 World Series and against the Dodgers in 1978, and the Dodgers did likewise against the Yankees in 1981. There were also four World Series in which a team lost Game 1 and then came back with four straight wins: 1915 (Red Sox over the Phillies), 1942 (Cardinals over the Yankees), 1969 (Mets over the Orioles), and 1983 (Orioles over the Phillies).