play against at Dunblanes tennis club. As their mother Judy has said

SAN FRANCISCO -- If only they could all be like Madison Bumgarner this time of year. And by they, you know who we mean.David Price, Max Scherzer, Rick Porcello, Yu Darvish, Cole Hamels and Rich Hill are a combined 0-6 in this fascinating postseason -- after going 93-35 during the regular season. Clayton Kershaw won for just the second time in his past eight postseason starts, but he made it through only five ho-hum innings. And were not even going to get into Jeff Samardzija and Colby Lewis.Weve always looked at October as that month when the aces take over. The way Sanford B. Koufax did. The way P. Robert Gibson did. The way John Smoltz and Curt Schilling and Jack Morris did. The way even Josh Beckett did.But maybe we dont live in a world where thats as easy to accomplish anymore. Maybe theres too much attention, too much pressure, too much information. Maybe weve set the bar too high -- because what weve always expected of The Aces is not?what theyve been delivering.Now if youve watched MadBum work his magic -- and you can watch Bumgarner again Monday night, in a riveting National League Division Series Game 3 mano a mano with Jake Arrieta at AT&T Park -- you might wonder what the heck were even talking about. But look around at the rest of the sport and youll find something incredible.Twelve active pitchers have won a Cy Young Award and pitched in the postseason over the course of their careers. Just five of them even have a winning postseason record. Kershaw is 3-6 with a 4.65 October ERA. Price is 2-8, 5.54 -- and 0-8 as a starting pitcher.How can this be possible? It feels like a phenomenon that defies explanation. So naturally, we went looking to find one anyway. And heres what we learned: Its complicated.Its not a blanket statement, said Smoltz, a man who went 15-4 with a 2.67 ERA in his postseason career, with more postseason strikeouts (199) than any pitcher in history. There are different reasons.Those reasons can be found inside the heads of the men on the mound -- not to mention inside their hearts, inside their deliveries, inside their own unique set of circumstances. Sometimes, actually, its all of the above. But lets start with a fact that holds true for everyone:October baseball is different. Every element involved in it is different.Everythings a rally in the postseason, Smoltz said. Umpires have every pressure and detail, and all the eyes are on them. Strike zones get a little bit interesting. Hitters dont take pitches or at-bats off like they do during the regular season. Theres a lot that goes into that bucket. But the bottom line is, if youre mentally not ready for that moment, your success rate wont be as good.Smoltz was a man who fed off those moments. Even now, he misses them so much. He still finds himself saying, I loved it. I wish there was more of it. But when he looks at some of the men who take the mound in these games nowadays, he says, Some people in our game dont quite grasp that like they should.But even if you agree, does it make any sense that pitchers of the stature of Kershaw and Price wouldnt be mentally ready for the biggest games of their lives? Think of all theyve accomplished. Think of how mentally strong theyve had to be just to reach this standing in the game.So can this really all be in their heads? One longtime pitching coach doesnt think so.Take a look at the deliveries of Kershaw and Price -- versus Bumgarners, he said. Quick jerk versus easy, fluid. Most times, that [delivery reflects] their personality as well.So what this coach is saying is that both Kershaw and Price have a delivery that might not be made to order for this time of year -- because that voice in their head, that motor in their veins and that thumping in their heart are driving them to rush, to lurch, to go faster in games where nothing is more important than the ability to stay slow and under control. In other words, their personality just might be overriding their delivery.It makes it harder to repeat, this pitching coach said. Adrenaline is the hardest thing to control in sport. ... I watch them, and I see them try to go to another gear way more often than normal.One American League executive said he believes thats an especially big problem in Prices case. Hes so amped up to do something special in these moments, he has trouble slowing down the game when he needs to most.Thats what I would see from afar, too, Smoltz said, without knowing anything other than hes very passionate. Look, hes a slow worker, very methodical, pitches 230 innings. Hes your prototypical front-line guy. But come postseason, there is a capacity to maybe care too much and want to do too well and not slow the game down.In Kershaws case, said an National League exec, it has never been about stuff. It has been that he sped up as things got rolling in a bad way. Anyone who has seen Kershaw up close knows hes motivated to be great, and to lift up his team. But the same people also wonder whether all that caring has taken a toll -- especially at times like these. And Smoltz wonders himself.Clayton Kershaw has basically pitched a playoff game in every single game for the last three years, Smoltz said, because every single regular-season game has put him at a level where he doesnt give up anything. So imagine being Clayton Kershaw, and if you give up three runs in a game, people are like, Whats wrong? So hes put up a standard that is unprecedented.Because of that, when he gets to the end of the year, I would argue that hes a little more mentally fried than most. So now, when that time comes and youre trying to carry your ball club, its not like hes just getting crushed. Its one or two innings that have defined him -- against one team.That team, of course, is the St. Louis Cardinals, who beat him four times in back-to-back Octobers (in 2013 and 14), scoring 19 runs off him in 22 ? innings. In between, all the other teams in baseball beat him three?times in the entire regular 2014 season, when he was busy going 21-3 with a 1.77 ERA.A number of scouts and executives said theyre convinced that Kershaw tipped pitches out of the stretch in those games, especially against left-handed hitters. And the Cardinals were all over that. Take away those four losses to St. Louis, and in his five other postseason starts since 2013, Kershaw has gone 3-1 with a 2.73 ERA. His only loss was to the New York Mets last October, in a game in which he still struck out 11 and gave up just four hits.Nevertheless, it feels as if there is a quality in Bumgarner that no one else in this sport can match right now. And even the manager of the team that has to face him Monday cant help but admire it. On Sunday, Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon unabashedly compared Bumgarner to the likes of Gibson and Koufax. And Maddon wasnt only talking about the quality of those pitches exploding out of Bumgarners left arm.Its not just purely his stuff, Maddon said. Its his competitive nature. I think thats what gets lost in this a lot, with what we do. Everybodys always analyzing numbers and pitches and how he does this and spin rotation and whatever. This guy competes. Thats what sets him apart. Its not that his stuff is that special. Its really good. But how he competes is what sets him apart.Bumgarners postseason success is so unique among this generation. He really should start bottling cases of MadBums Miracle October Elixir -- hed make more money than Mark Zuckerberg. But first, he has another postseason baseball game to pitch, a reputation to uphold and one more heart-thumping October evening to remind the world of what aces used to look like this time of year. 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Authentic Jerseys 2020 . - Derek Wolfe says hes finally healthy after suffering a seizure in November that doctors now believe was related to the spinal cord injury he suffered in the preseason. Bumping Novak Djokovic off the World No. 1 singles ranking wouldnt just bring Andy Murray an elevation in his own personal status, it would also confirm that he and brother?Jamie?are truly one of the alpha tennis families.They would have accomplished something that was beyond even the McEnroes. Never before, in the 43 years since the introduction of the official ATP rankings in 1973, has one brother held the No.1 ranking in singles and another brother reached the top line of the doubles power-list.But after Jamies accomplishment earlier this season -- he had an initial five-week run and then spent a further three weeks as the alpha-dog of doubles -- this family from Dunblane, United Kingdom, is poised to do just that. Its possible, depending on results at this weeks Paris Masters, that Andy could be the No. 1 as soon as Monday morning.A statistician from the ATP, who confirmed to ESPN that the Murrays would be the first brothers to do the top-ranking double, said that the family who had previously come closest were John and Patrick McEnroe. While John held the No. 1 position in both singles and doubles, Patricks highest position was No. 3 in doubles.Should Andy move past Djokovic, the Murrays would be bracketed with the truly elite families from tennis history.With Marat Safin?and Dinara Safina, who achieved the astonishing feat of being the first brother and sister to each hold the No. 1 ranking for singles.With?Bob?and Mike Bryan, the most successful mens double pair in history, who for years took up residency on the apex of the doubles list.With Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, who was the No. 1 for singles and doubles, and her brother Emilio Sanchez, a former doubles No. 1 (their brother Javier also wasnt a bad player either, and peaked in the top 10).With Cara Black, a womens doubles No. 1, and her brother Byron, a mens doubles No. 1 (their brother Wayne climbed as high to No. 4, but he couldnt quite complete what would have been a family triple).And with?Serena?and Venus Williams -- though of course no other tennis family will ever come close to replicating the achievements of the American sisters, who have each been the No. 11 for singles and doubles.ddddddddddddSerena and Venus have each spoken about how they wouldnt have accomplished so much if they hadnt had their sister with them on the tour, and before that on the practice court with their father. Though even the Williams arent as close as the identical Bryans, who have been chest-bumping since they were in the womb, and who have what they call their twin energy.But dont discount how the bond between the Murrays has propelled them toward the top. What could have been more helpful for a young Andy during his childhood in Scotland, not a place previously known for its tennis culture, than having an older brother some 15 months his senior?It made him into the competitive spirit he is now. On a more practical level, it also meant there was always someone around for him to play against at Dunblanes tennis club. As their mother Judy has said: I think Andy has a lot to thank Jamie for. Jamie was just a bit older, and a bit better, and Andy was always striving to keep up.More recently, Jamie has taken inspiration from his younger brothers achievements, and this year has put together the best season of his life, scoring his first two Grand Slam titles at the Australian and US Opens. Without Andy, Jamie wouldnt be the doubles player he is today.More than anyone else in tennis, Patrick McEnroe knows how Jamie must have felt when he was going through some rough times in his own career. When youre not doing well, and people want to talk to you about your brother, you just want to hide under a rock, the younger McEnroe once told ESPN.Of course, I was very proud of what my brother did, and he was a great help to me in my career. Jamie would probably say the same thing about Andy.So history will be made if Andy can snaffle the No. 1 ranking and complete the family double, but there could yet be something even more special to come in the future.Imagine if the Murray brothers could simultaneously be the World No. 1, with Andy and Jamie at the top of the singles and doubles lists. ' ' '