Hopefully, there will be a rematch of their sabermetrics debate.

Ken “Hawk” Harrelson will be in the studio for MLB Network on Friday and Saturday. He will be among the guest analysts during the first round of the playoffs.

Here’s the official rundown:

Eighteen-year MLB veteran Raul Ibanez, Baltimore Orioles outfielder Adam Jones, New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira, Toronto Blue Jays infielder Mark DeRosa and longtime Chicago White Sox broadcaster Ken “Hawk” Harrelson will serve as Postseason guest studio analysts on MLB Network during the month of October. MLB Network’s 165 hours of programming covering the 2013 Postseason includes MLB Network’s two exclusive LDS game telecasts this Friday, October 4, with Bob Costas, Jim Kaat and Sam Ryan on the call, and on Monday, October 7, with Matt Vasgersian, Kaat and Ryan.

·         Harrelson, a candidate for the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s 2014 Ford C. Frick Award, will be the first guest analyst to visit Studio 3, with a two-night stint on MLB Network’s Emmy Award-winning MLB Tonight starting this Friday, October 4.

·         Jones, who appeared in the Postseason for the first time in 2012 with the Orioles, will make his guest analyst debut on MLB Tonight during the LDS on October 6 and 7.

·         Teixeira, a 2009 World Series champion with the Yankees, will appear on MLB Tonight on October 8 and 9.

·         DeRosa, who was a member of the 2010 World Champion Giants and appeared as a Postseason guest analyst on MLB Network in 2011, will join MLB Tonight on October 10 and 11.

·         Ibanez, who has made five Postseason appearances over his career including a trip to the World Series in 2009 with the Philadelphia Phillies, will work as a guest analyst during the League Championship Series on October 15 and 16.

MLB Tonight presented by Bacardi Oakheart will air before and after every Postseason game with reporters including Kristina Akra, Alanna Rizzo, Ken Rosenthal, Sam Ryan and Heidi Watney on-site at each ballpark. MLB Network’s daily Postseason programming schedule, including The Rundown, Intentional Talk and MLB Tonight, is available here.

Next year, Wrigley Field celebrates its 100th anniversary. Naturally, given the history of the team that plays there, the most famous moment in the ballpark’s history belongs to a player on a visiting team.

On Oct. 1, 1932, Babe Ruth hit a homer during the fifth inning of Game 3 of the World Series against the Cubs. There’s no dispute that it was one of the longest drives ever at Wrigley Field.

The question is: Did Ruth call his shot?

There was a media component to the Called Shot. Jack Bales, writing at ChicagoSide, discussed the coverage in his anniversary piece.

In the dozens of press reports scrawled that day by on-site reporters, only one—written by Joe Williams of the New York World-Telegram and titled “Ruth Calls Shot As He Puts Homer No. 2 in Side Pocket”—noted that Ruth pointed to center field to indicate the location of his home run ball. Many newspapers mentioned gestures to the dugout rather than the outfield. A few journalists wrote that the Babe signaled his home run (that is, he “called his shot”), but they made no references in their stories to him pointing to the outfield. For example:

Joe Williams, New York World-Telegram, October 1: “In the fifth, with the Cubs riding him unmercifully from the bench, Ruth pointed to centre [sic] field and punched a screaming liner to a spot where no ball ever had been hit before.” (Interestingly enough, this sentence has rarely been quoted accurately in various accounts of Babe Ruth’s famous home run.)

John Drebinger, New York Times, October 2: “Ruth came up in the fifth and in no mistaken motions the Babe notified the crowd that the nature of his retaliation would be a wallop right out [of] the confines of the park.”

Westbrook Pegler, Chicago Daily Tribune, October 2: “Then, with a warning gesture of his hand to [Cubs player Guy] Bush, he sent him the signal for the customers to see. . . . Many a hitter may make two home runs, or possibly three in world series play in years to come, but not the way Babe Ruth hit these two. Nor will you ever see an artist call his shot before hitting one of the longest drives ever made on the grounds, in a world series game. . . .”

Warren Brown, Chicago Herald and Examiner, October 2: “This time he called his shot, theatrically, and with derisive gestures towards the Cubs’ dugout.”

Note: I’ll be writing more about the famous homer soon. In February, my book, Babe Ruth’s Called Shot: The Myth and Mystery of Baseball’s Greatest Home Run, will be published by Lyons Press.

We know the drill in Chicago.

The Cubs fire another manager. It seems to occur as often as snow in January.

Good-bye Dale Sveum.

Since Leo Durocher was dismissed in 1972, the Cubs now have gone through 25 managers in 41 years. Memo to Sveum’s successor: Rent, don’t buy.

However, unlike the other poor souls who wilted in Wrigley, Sveum’s firing produced an all-time statement from the current Cubs regime.

Cubs president Theo Epstein wrote a 589-word treatise to explain the decision. Epstein, who appears to be on scholarship under owner Tom Ricketts, felt the need to reiterate his plan to Cubs fans, begging for their patience until at least 2018.

It is quite a document and an amazing lesson in spin.

From Prince Theo with some of my comments in bold:

“Today, we made the very difficult decision to relieve Dale Sveum of his duties as Cubs manager. (We screwed up hiring him in first place)

“Dale has been a committed leader for this team the last two seasons, and I want to thank him for all of his dedication and hard work.  I have a lot of admiration for Dale personally, and we all learned a lot from the way he has handled the trying circumstances of the last two years, especially the last two weeks, with strength and dignity. (Handling our young players was another story)

“In his own authentic and understated way, Dale always put the team first and never complained about the hand he was dealt. (A pair of 3s). He and his staff helped us excel in game planning and defensive positioning, contributed to the emergence of several players, and helped put us in position to make some important trades. (Giving him no chance to win) I have no doubt that – much like Terry Francona, whom we hired in Boston after his stint with a losing Phillies club – Dale will go on to great success with his next team.  We had hoped Dale would grow with our organization to see it through the building phase to a period of sustained excellence; instead, I believe Dale, who felt the weight of losing perhaps more than any of us, will grow because of this experience and find excellence elsewhere. (Dale is thinking, “F-you, Theo”)

“Today’s decision to pursue a new manager was not made because of wins and losses. (If it was, you’d be gone too) Our record is a function of our long-term building plan and the moves we have made – some good, a few we would like back (Hello, Edwin Jackson for $52 million) – to further this strategy.  Jed and I take full responsibility for that.  Today’s decision was absolutely not made to provide a scapegoat for our shortcomings or to distract from our biggest issue – a shortage of talent at the major league level.  We have been transparent about what we are, and what we are not yet. (You’re not even close)  Today’s decision, which was painful for all of us, was made to move us closer to fulfilling our ultimate long-term vision for the Cubs.

“Soon, our organization will transition from a phase in which we have been primarily acquiring young talent to a phase in which we will promote many of our best prospects and actually field a very young, very talented club at the major league level. (Later than sooner, I suspect)  The losing has been hard on all of us, but we now have one of the top farm systems in baseball, some of the very best prospects in the game, and a clear path forward. (Cubs said same thing about Corey Patterson, Felix Pie, Gary Scott, blah, blah) In order for us to win with this group – and win consistently – we must have the best possible environment for young players to learn, develop and thrive at the major league level.  We must have clear and cohesive communication with our players about the most important parts of the game.  And – even while the organization takes a patient, long view – we must somehow establish and maintain a galvanized, winning culture around the major league club. (Which has lost 197 games in last two years)

“I believe a dynamic new voice – and the energy, creativity and freshness that comes with this type of change – provides us with the best opportunity to achieve the major league environment we seek. (And will do as told) We will begin our search immediately – a process which will be completed before the GM meetings in early November and perhaps much sooner.  There are no absolute criteria, but we will prioritize managerial or other on-field leadership experience and we will prioritize expertise developing young talent. We have not yet contacted any candidates or asked permission to speak with any candidates, but that process will begin tomorrow morning.” (Hello, Joe Girardi….)

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