Topic: The 2008 Baseball Thread

[metaldams]

Hey Doug, I have a question regarding blackouts on the extra innings package. You're really not that far from me so I was wondering, what teams' games get blacked out over there? Over here it's the Orioles and Nationals. Also, for those teams that get blacked out; do you get them on your local cable channels? I get the O's and Nats because they are on the same channel, MASN. If the games are being played concurrently they move one of them over to "MASN 2" which is not actually a station but it's what they call the broadcast of the game that gets moved over to a local station (this meaning "MASN 2" is different stations on different cable companies, but not a concrete channel per se...am I making sense?).

Since the Red Sox are playing the Orioles today I'm going to see if the online p2p stream is going to have the NESN broadcast (which will be blacked out here since they want you to watch the local broadcast). If not then that's ok since the Orioles broadcast team is pretty good (definitely better than the Yankees or White Sox broadcast teams, which blow).

The Phillies, Orioles, and Natonals get blacked out near me, so I'll be watching the MASN broadcast tonight.  You hit the nail on the head concering the Nationals and Orioles situation, and the Philles I believe are on the CW, or whatever it's called now.  Used to be UPN 57.  Since I was either working or had plans the other three starts, tonight will be the first time I get to see Paul Byrd pitch in a Red Sox uniform.

The Yankees announcers are actually good at analyzing games, but their tone is about as funeral march as it gets.  Nothing to do with being partisan, but I genuinely like Remy and Orsillo, and I especially like Heidi Watney.  Day-um, as Nosehonk used to say!  She used to work for the Giants, and when she was being introduced, she stated she never understood why Barry Bonds gets a bad reputation with the media because he was always nice with her.   

I agree about the White Sox announcing, it doesn't get more fan boyish than those guys.  Seattle's pretty bad as well.

[shemps#1]

People in Iowa, of all places, somehow fall into SIX home markets! I was reading about this one guy in Keokuk IA who was upset because he bought the MLB.TV online stream and any games with the Cubs, White Sox, Brewers, Twins, Cardinals and Royals get blacked out. That means on a day with a full slate of games and when none of those teams are playing each other he's going to get 40% of the available games blacked out. I'm hard-pressed to believe that his local cable company provides all of those teams' games free of charge. And if you're a Tigers or Indians fan out there throw in towel; a good chunk of their schedule is blacked out because of the three other AL Central teams on that list.

Oh, and if you live in Las Vegas you're also fucked: Angels, Padres, A's, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Giants...all blacked out. They really need to do something about those blackout rules and make sure people who want to see these games can.

Yeah, Harrelson and the other guy are just putrid...the worst announce team in baseball next to Buck and MacCarver. When the White Sox played the Red Sox in Chicago there was one game when Extra Innings offered only the White Sox broadcast and I wanted to put my head through the tv set. Their both shouting "YYYYYESSSSSS!" whenever the ChiSox homered was especially annoying. During this recent series when Extra Innings offered only one broadcast I breathed a heavy sigh of relief when it was the NESN broadcast. The Yankees team is just excruciatingly dull and painful to listen drone on...the days of Mel Allen and Phil Rizzuto are long gone.

[metaldams]

People in Iowa, of all places, somehow fall into SIX home markets! I was reading about this one guy in Keokuk IA who was upset because he bought the MLB.TV online stream and any games with the Cubs, White Sox, Brewers, Twins, Cardinals and Royals get blacked out. That means on a day with a full slate of games and when none of those teams are playing each other he's going to get 40% of the available games blacked out. I'm hard-pressed to believe that his local cable company provides all of those teams' games free of charge. And if you're a Tigers or Indians fan out there throw in towel; a good chunk of their schedule is blacked out because of the three other AL Central teams on that list.

Oh, and if you live in Las Vegas you're also fucked: Angels, Padres, A's, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Giants...all blacked out. They really need to do something about those blackout rules and make sure people who want to see these games can.

Yeah, Harrelson and the other guy are just putrid...the worst announce team in baseball next to Buck and MacCarver. When the White Sox played the Red Sox in Chicago there was one game when Extra Innings offered only the White Sox broadcast and I wanted to put my head through the tv set. Their both shouting "YYYYYESSSSSS!" whenever the ChiSox homered was especially annoying. During this recent series when Extra Innings offered only one broadcast I breathed a heavy sigh of relief when it was the NESN broadcast. The Yankees team is just excruciatingly dull and painful to listen drone on...the days of Mel Allen and Phil Rizzuto are long gone.

That's pretty crazy wth the black outs.  I hope those people get those blacked out teams on local cable, because in all three cases for me, I do.  This is very comforting to know, because I can't live a day without watching my Nationals.   

What I really hate is the whole Fox thing on Saturdays.  I have missed Red Sox 4:00 games because a Phillies game is also being shown, and since they are the local team, I get the Phillies.  This happened on the day Paps blew the save to the Reds and Youk and Coco won it in extras. The Phillies game ended early, so I caught the game starting in the 8th.  Got all the way to Paps getting the first out, and then I had a power outage because of a storm!  Got a call from my brother telling me Paps blew the save, so that added to me being even more pissed.  Eventually winning helped out, but I was cursing Fox and the storm gods that day.

I also hate that you can't see the non-Fox games that air before 7:00.  For some odd reason, the O's had a Saturday game that started at 6:00 and MASN wasn't allowed to show the first hour.

Congrats to Cliff Lee tonight on winning his 20th, since I know he's reading this.  Also, with tonight's Boston victory, Seattle becomes the first team mathematically eliminated for the season.  Picking up Erik Bedard in the off-season and having King Felix, I would've never guessed this in a million years.

[shemps#1]

Yeah, Fox has exclusive rights to air baseball on Saturdays before 7pm est...so when the Yanks and Jays were playing a 1pm game this past saturday it was not shown on the extra innings package even though Fox wasn't broadcasting it. ESPN has the same deal on Sunday nights. TBS does not have national exclusivity for the regular season, but of course will during the postseason.

[Lefty]

The problem with ESPN is the too-late starting time for Sunday games.  And of course, they suddenly developed the hots for my favorite team, the Phillies, showing them 4 of the 6 weeks from 8/3 through this coming Sunday.  The Padres' game on 8/17?  Did Joe Besser suggest that?

To be, like, totally fair, all of the Phillies' Sunday games should be played at, and shown on CW-57 at, 1:05 p.m. Eastern time.  If ESPN wants to show them again at 8:00 p.m., more power to them.  LOL

[shemps#1]

I'll contact ESPN Headquarters in Bristol, CT and make sure they don't take any more Phillies games.

[metaldams]

For shits and giggles, I'll keep track of when teams are mathematically eliminated from a playoff spot.  Officially, we are down to 28 teams.

9/1: Seattle
9/2: Washington

[shemps#1]

Not the Nats! 

Were you feeling as dirty as I was in actually pulling for the Yankees tonight? I literally sent a cold shiver down my spine when I said aloud "alright, the Yankees are beating the Rays".

[metaldams]

Not the Nats! 

Were you feeling as dirty as I was in actually pulling for the Yankees tonight? I literally sent a cold shiver down my spine when I said aloud "alright, the Yankees are beating the Rays".

Yes, my Nationals are gone.  I shall mourn for a brief moment............OK, I'm over it.

As for the Yanks and Rays, yeah, I kind of/sort of was pulling for the Yanks.  I don't think I would've cried if they lost, since I will be satisfied with the wild card, (only 'cause it's not the Yanks ahead of us), but yeah, I think I let out a Moose call or two.  Disgusting, I know.

More importantly, other than Boston, exposing Oriole pitching last night (and as an aside, it pisses me off upstars like Liz and Olson can be 5 - 4 and 8 - 7 with 7 and 6 plus ERAs while Wakefield is 8 - 9), Minnesota and Chicago WS both lost last night.  For Boston not to make the playoffs, they'd have to blow a 4 game lead to two teams (one is allowed since somebody has to win the central), and a 7 game lead to the Yanks.  Hey, it's possible we can blow it, but our playoff chances are looking good.

[shemps#1]

That was some game today...I was ready to flip out if we lost to the O's and they didn't even have a starter.

As of 8:25pm EST according to Cool Standings, here are the chances the for each team to make the playoffs:

AL
Angels: 100%
Rays: 99.1%
Red Sox: 95.5%
Twins: 61.2%
White Sox: 41.9%
Yankees: 1.8%
Blue Jays 0.5%
Indians: 0.1%
Tigers: 0.1%
Orioles: 0.0%
Royals: 0.0%
Rangers: 0.0%
Athletics: 0.0%
Mariners: 0.0%

NL
Cubs: 99.6%
Brewers: 89.9%
Mets: 71.0%
Diamondbacks: 58.2%
Dodgers: 36.9%
Phillies: 35.9%
Rockies: 4.9%
Cardinals: 2.9%
Astros: 0.5%
Marlins: 0.3%
Giants: 0.1%
Braves: 0.0%
Nationals: 0.0%
Reds: 0.0%
Pirates: 0.0%
Padres: 0.0%

[metaldams]

That was some game today...I was ready to flip out if we lost to the O's and they didn't even have a starter.

Wouldn't have surprised me, I've seen the bullpen thing work before, even with bad bullpens.  Cormier and Sarfate were great today, but when the bullpen had to act like a bullpen instead of long relievers, they got beat.  I remember a September 2006 game when the Red Sox bullpen beat Roy Halladay....on an Alex Cora home run.  Great win today nonetheless. 

...as I type this, instant replay is being used for the first time.

[Darkhoarse820]

Shouldn't the Padres be next?

[JazzBill]

Cubs: 99.6% ? Well, I still remember the 1969 Cubs collapse. They still have plenty of time to fall apart.

[metaldams]

Shouldn't the Padres be next?

Believe it or not, the next team in the NL closest to elimination is the Atlanta Braves.  Their magic number is 4 in the division and 3 in the wild card.  San Diego is already eliminated in the wild card, but since the NL West is so weak, their magic number in the division is 6.

[metaldams]

Jim, don't know if you've been following Craig Hansen in Pittsburgh, but DAMN, do I feel bad for the kid.  I'm hoping these stats line up properly on this board, but check out that 3/14 K/BB ratio! 


SEASON  TEAM               W L  ERA  G   SV  SVO  IP  H  R  ER HR  HBP  BB  SO
2008     Pittsburgh Pirates 0 3 10.45 10  1     3  10.1 9 13 12 1      0    14   3

[shemps#1]

Oh shit, that's putrid. The kid has such great stuff too, he's just gotta learn how to control it. I'll have to look at what Moss is doing to see the Pirates got anything in that whole mess.

[metaldams]

Moss is doing a bit better.  Think he's only batting about .250, but his OBP is about .350 and he's hit 6 HR's since being a Pirate.  He'll be a solid major leaguer, if not a hall of famer.  Hansen, he's still young, but I'm not so sure if he has the mental make-up.

[Lefty]

I saw Hansen pitch rather badly against the Phillies one day, with walks and wild pitches galore.  Maybe he contracted Steve Blass Disease.

[metaldams]

I saw Hansen pitch rather badly against the Phillies one day, with walks and wild pitches galore.  Maybe he contracted Steve Blass Disease.

The Red Sox brought Hansen up months after he was drafted, and he was nowhere near ready.  This may or may not have effected his psyche, but he was highly touted for a bit. 

[shemps#1]

Huge series against the Rays in Fenway coming up...I can't wait. The Sox have been awesome lately and have managed to narrow the gap. On the other end of the spectrum, with the Jays finishing the sweep of Tampa and the NYY losing the Yanks have fallen to 4th place in the AL East. Someone remind me that this September and not May.

[shemps#1]

Here's an updated list of the teams officially eliminated from postseason play:

Seattle
Washington
Pittsburgh

Awaiting the inevitable:

Baltimore (magic number in AL WC 1)
Atlanta (magic number in NL East 1)
Kansas City (magic number in AL Central 2)
Oakland (magic number in AL WC 2)
Cincinnati (magic number in NL WC 2)
San Diego (magic number in NL West 2)

[metaldams]

Huge series against the Rays in Fenway coming up...I can't wait. The Sox have been awesome lately and have managed to narrow the gap. On the other end of the spectrum, with the Jays finishing the sweep of Tampa and the NYY losing the Yanks have fallen to 4th place in the AL East. Someone remind me that this September and not May.

There was a time when I thought Toronto would've been the end of us.  They've always played us hard since '05, and there was a point we had twelve games left with them and things were still close.  It turns out by sweeping Minnesota and Tampa Bay as well as taking two out of three from New York, they've helped. 

As far as this series goes, yeah, it's going to be cool (even if I won't catch tonight's game), but Boston's 6.5 games into the playoffs and Tampa Bay 8 games.  Yeah, the division's cool for bragging rights, but the New York/Philly and LA/Arizona series this past weekend had a bit more on the line, IMO, because those teams aren't likely to capture a wild card.  Now, if it were the Yanks we were competing with, screw it, wild card or not, I'd want their heads on a platter, but I just don't feel as bloodthirsty towards Tampa Bay.  Still wanna beat them, of course, as the sooner Boston gets this playoff spot, the better. 

As for the Yankees right now, we need an orgasm emoticon to portray how I'm feeling.  I'll be 30 in December, and the last time the Yankees didn't make the playoffs, I was a Freshman in high school. 

[metaldams]

Here's an updated list of the teams officially eliminated from postseason play:

Seattle
Washington
Pittsburgh

Awaiting the inevitable:

Baltimore (magic number in AL WC 1)
Atlanta (magic number in NL East 1)
Kansas City (magic number in AL Central 2)
Oakland (magic number in AL WC 2)
Cincinnati (magic number in NL WC 2)
San Diego (magic number in NL West 2)

A real shocker here, but Baltimore can now officially be added to the list of eliminated teams.  If The Dodgers can beat the Padres tonight, San Diego will be eliminated, though as I type this, the Pdres are up 3 - 0.  Don't think there'll be any other eliminations tonight, but I'll double check and update tomorrow morning if need be.

ELIMINATED
Seattle
Washington
Pittsburgh
Baltimore
Oakland

PS: Add Oakland to the list.

[shemps#1]

As an amendment to your already eliminated post here are those that could be eliminated tonight, as well as one team who could clinch a spot:

Almost in:
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (magic number to clinch division is 2: combination of Angels wins and Texas Rangers' losses to clinch the Al West)

On the chopping block:
Atlanta Braves (elimination number in NL East is 1: either a Braves loss or a Mets win)
San Diego Padres (elimination number in NL West is 2: a loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers)
Cincinnati Reds (elimination number in NL WC is 2: a loss to the Milwaukee Brewers)
Kansas City Royals (elimination number in AL Central is 2: a loss and a Chicago White Sox win)

[shemps#1]

Officially in the Playoffs:
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (AL West Champions)

Eliminated Teams Update:

Seattle Mariners
Washington Nationals
Pittsburgh Pirates
Baltimore Orioles
Oakland Athletics
Cincinnati Reds
San Diego Padres
Kansas City Royals
Atlanta Braves