Mormon Baseball

The only playoff team with two Mormon players, the Pittsburgh Pirates, beat the Cincinnati Reds 6-2 last night to advance to a five-game series against the League-leading St. Louis Cardinals starting Thursday. However, neither of the two Mormon players, backup catcher John Buck and reliever Kyle Farnsworth, appeared in the game. As backup players they may appear late in any of the Pirates’ future playoff games. And the heroic’s of the Pirate’s starting catcher, Russell Martin, in last night’s game may make Buck’s appearance in the playoffs less likely.

No Mormons are on the teams playing in the AL wildcard game tonight, but several will appear in games on Thursday, including Elliot Johnson (Braves), and Buck and Farnsworth (Pirates). As Johnson is also a backup infielder, he will likely only appear late in the game, although the starting second baseman, Dan Uggla, has played so poorly this year that Johnson may be more likely to make an appearance.

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National League:

Atlanta Braves

The Braves will host the Los Angeles Dodgers beginning Thursday, October 3rd.

• Elliot Johnson, backup 2nd baseman.
  Playoffs: hasn’t appeared yet.
  Regular Season: .209, 27 runs, 19 rbi, 2 hr, 16 bb, 22 sb, 67 so in 254 at bats.

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates won the National League wild card playoff game and will face the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday, October 3rd.

• John Buck, backup catcher
  Playoffs: hasn’t appeared yet.
  Regular Season: .219, 39 runs, 62 rbi, 15 hr, 29 bb, 2 sb, 104 so in 392 at bats.
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• Kyle Farnsworth, relief pitcher
  Playoffs: hasn’t appeared yet.
  Regular Season: 3-1, era 4.70, 43 hits, 20 er, 10 bb and 28 k in 38.1 innings

American League:

Boston Red Sox

The Red Sox play the winner of the AL wild card game starting Friday, October 4th.

• Jacoby Ellsbury, starting outfielder
  Playoffs: hasn’t appeared yet.
  Regular Season: .298, 92 runs, 53 rbi, 9 hr, 47 bb, 52 sb, 92 so in 577 at bats.

Detroit Tigers

The Tigers face the Oakland As starting Friday, October 4th.

• Doug Fister, starting pitcher
  Playoffs: hasn’t appeared yet.
  Regular Season: 14-9, era 3.67, 229 hits, 85 er, 44 bb and 159 k in 208.2 innings

Oakland As

The As begin the playoffs against the Detroit Tigers starting Friday, October 4th

• Eric Sogard, backup infielder
  Playoffs: hasn’t appeared yet.
  Regular Season: .266, 45 run, 35 rbi, 2 hr, 27 bb, 10 sb, 51 so in 368 at bats

Texas Rangers

The Rangers faced the Tampa Bay Rays in a playoff-game September 30th to see which team would get the final playoff spot. The Rangers lost, 5-2.

• Adam Rosales, backup infielder
  Playoffs: did not appear.
  Regular Season: .190, 15 runs, 12 rbi, 5 hr, 10 bb, 0 sb, 34 so in 147 at bats.

I will try to keep us all up-to-date with the status of these players throughout the post-season. Enjoy!