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Illinois Valley fans encouraged by their MLB teams’ runs to the postseason · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Illinois Valley fans encouraged by their MLB teams runs to
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  Speaker 1: the postseason. Written by Matthias Werner. This article is being
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  Speaker 1: read by an automated voice brought to you by Everlit.
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  Speaker 1: As the race for October in Major League Baseball heats up,
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  Speaker 1: fans of local teams can all say the same thing
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  Speaker 1: for the first time in a while. We've got a chance.
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  Speaker 1: After making aggressive offseason and trade deadline moves to bolster
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  Speaker 1: their roster, the the Cubs are right around where Peru
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  Speaker 1: resident Joe Harsheim expected them to be, albeit not the
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  Speaker 1: way he imagined. I am overjoyed and optimistic about the team,
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  Speaker 1: based on the injuries they've had, particularly to their pitching staff,
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  Speaker 1: to still be 20 games over. 500 is unheard of,
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  Speaker 1: Harsheim said. The Chicago Cubs, White Sox, and St. Louis
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  Speaker 1: Cardinals have used the summer months to position themselves for
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  Speaker 1: a playoff push as the regular season comes to a close.
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  Speaker 1: A pleasant surprise for Cubs fans like Hardsheim this season
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  Speaker 1: has been the elevation of Pete Crow Armstrong, the team's
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  Speaker 1: center fielder who is neck and neck with the Los
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  Speaker 1: Angeles Dodgers two-way superstar Shohei Otani in the race for
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  Speaker 1: National League MVP. To have a guy like him who
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  Speaker 1: can beat you in so many ways is unbelievably rare,
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  Speaker 1: Hardsheim said. He does everything. He has power, he has speed,
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  Speaker 1: and he's probably the best defensive outfielder in baseball. Crow
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  Speaker 1: Armstrong's ascendance wasn't nearly as unpredictable as the season from
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  Speaker 1: the Windy City's Southside Ball Club. The Chicago White Sox
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  Speaker 1: seemingly came out of nowhere this season to lead the
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  Speaker 1: American League Central Division, leaving some of the worst seasons
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  Speaker 1: in Major League history in the rearview mirror. I'm paying
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  Speaker 1: a lot more attention than I have the last few years.
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  Speaker 1: Those were pretty hard to watch, Utica resident Ron Wren said.
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  Speaker 1: You started noticing after the All-Star break last year that
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  Speaker 1: they were playing better baseball with some of the younger kids,
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  Speaker 1: but were still lacking. Then this year has been like, wow.
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  Speaker 1: If both the Cubs and White Sox hold firm, it
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  Speaker 1: would only be the fourth time in Major League Baseball
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  Speaker 1: history that both teams make it to the postseason, according
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  Speaker 1: to MLB Network. That buzz has energized both fan bases,
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  Speaker 1: as seen by last week's second Crosstown Cup series of
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  Speaker 1: the season at Wrigley Field. There's a lot of buzz
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  Speaker 1: around for both teams. which is great for this area
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  Speaker 1: and Chicago, because we haven't seen this in a long time,
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  Speaker 1: Wren said. A lot of Cubs fans are actually telling
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  Speaker 1: me they'd love to see a Cubs-Sox World Series. Sitting
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  Speaker 1: at around the. 500 mark in 2026, the St. Louis
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  Speaker 1: Cardinals are in the hunt for a wildcard slot in
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  Speaker 1: the postseason, a slot that has launched a World Series
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  Speaker 1: run in the Gateway City before. It's conceivable that if
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  Speaker 1: they get on a hot streak, they can make the playoffs,
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  Speaker 1: which would be wonderful. LaSalle resident Gene Vogelgesang said. They're
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  Speaker 1: doing better than I expected, and I'm paying more attention
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  Speaker 1: to the scores. Vogelgesang said that after a 2025 trade
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  Speaker 1: deadline and offseason in which big-name players shipped off to
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  Speaker 1: other teams, expectations were low. Despite the reset, the Cardinals
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  Speaker 1: have had some standout individual performances in the 2026 season,
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  Speaker 1: with first baseman Alec Burleson and right fielder Jordan Walker
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  Speaker 1: tied for second, in the National League, and runs batted in.
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  Speaker 1: I'll be honest, Vogelgesang said, I'd given up on Walker,
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  Speaker 1: but he has really broken through in a big way.
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  Speaker 1: In July, Walker won the home run derby at the
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  Speaker 1: mid-summer All-Star break. More recently, rookie prospect Joshua Baez did
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  Speaker 1: something never done before in Major League Baseball history, smashing
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  Speaker 1: three home runs in his first three career at-bats, all
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  Speaker 1: against the Chicago Cubs on August 15th.