*The Astros are aching, and planning to get better next year. Bregman:
We'll learn from it and everyone in here will have a little bit of an edge to play with, it will be a chip on their shoulder knowing that we believe we should have been back-to-back champions. And I know every day when I wake up and the rest of these guys wake up during the offseason, there will be one thing on their mind, and that'll be working toward winning it next year.
Hinch, on Altuve:
It's all about heart with him. He is such a great example of what's right...I wish you guys knew what he had to go through to play every day and get himself prepared and then contribute and do well.
Keuchel, on his upcoming offseason of question:
There's been seven years where there could have been extension talks, but one thing or another it just hasn't come to a head. But I'd like to be in this locker next year...it's just going to be a weird feeling not knowing what's next.
*Alex Cora went on a Boston talk show and talked about how the Red Sox used the Astros' paranoia against them. Cora:
I was like, 'Paranoia is working for us.' Like they are panicking. Throughout the series we did a lot of stuff as far as like dummy signs and all this stuff to keep the paranoia going. That is part of the game - tipping, stealing signs, relaying pitches and paying attention to details. That is the way I took it. If they feel that way about us, we might as well push the envelope and keep doing a lot of things that are going to make them uncomfortable and you saw it. They kept changing signs and the tempo of the games was awful, but that worked to our advantage, I think.
*Brian T. Smith: The pitching let the Astros down at the worst possible moment.
I love you, Houston.— Dallas Keuchel (@kidkeuchy) October 19, 2018
*FanGraphs has the 2019 Astros' Doomsday Scenario, just in case you were feeling too good about baseball right now.
*I don't know how a Mets blogger has a source who says that Lance McCullers needs Tommy John Surgery, but McCullers didn't rule out that he'll need some kind of surgery.
Charlie Morton, who is 34 and a pending free agent: “I’d love to keep playing, I’d love to be an Astro. I’d love to be part of this again. Ultimately, it’s not really up to me. It’s not solely up to me.”— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) October 19, 2018
*On the complex, melancholy creation of the iconic old-school Brewers logo.
*A musical selection:
