Morning Marquee: Brian Roberts retires; World Series anticipation begins

Brian Roberts, a long-time Oriole, retired from the game of baseball after a 14-year career. Although he spent  his final year with the Yankees, he will no doubt be remembered as one of, if not the best second baseman in Baltimore’s history.

The 110th World Series begins Tuesday night, and the anticipation for this series has most of the nation in a buzz. In a time when people tend to get ‘bored’ with the participants, this year is not the case. No Yankees. No Cardinals. The Giants make their third trip since 2010, but the style of baseball they play doesn’t seem to have people saying “Oh it’s them again.”

The Kansas City Royals have the baseball nation abuzz with their first trip to the WS since 1985. People who generally don’t watch the playoffs have been pulled in by the young, upstart Royals. Thanks to the All-Star game victory by the AL, the Royals get to host the opener on Tuesday night.

In an effort to find a way to speed up the pace of the game, Major League Baseball is testing a “pitch clock” in Arizona Fall League games. The 20-second pitch clock has been well received, and average time of the “timed” game sits at 2:38.

In AFL news, the Mesa Solar Sox picked up a victory over the Surprise Saguaros last night, 5-3. The Cubs have seven players on the Solar Sox roster, although several sat out last night’s action.

Here’s some of the things you may have missed from yesterday:

‘Arizona Fall League: Solar Sox rally past Saguaros, 5-3’ – Cubbies Crib

‘Pitchers unfazed by 20-second clock in third test’ – MLB.com

‘Josh Byrnes: : Los Angeles Dodgers next GM?’ – Call to the Pen

‘Brian Roberts: Leaving the game for good’ – Birds Watcher

‘World Series position-by-position’ – MLB.com