Moronika
General Boards => General Discussion => Topic started by: shemps#1 on March 14, 2008, 02:38:43 PM
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Don't worry Doug, the MFY aren't going anywhere. They haven't done anything of note in the offseason, except fire their manager and eventually keep a clubhouse cancer. With the improvements Detroit has made I'll be surprised if they make the playoffs (not very surprised mind you, but still...). Even if they do get the wild card they'll be out in the first round again. With their lackluster rotation I'm surprised they didn't try to take a low-risk gamble with Bartolo Colon like the BoSox did.
While the Yanks/BoSox and Yanks/Mets have legit gripes and feuds, Justin, I think the other baseball fans hate the Yankees, and even the Red Sox and Mets out of envy and jealousy. It's a simple case of the Haves and Have Nots. A rabid Yankee hater who is a Twins fan for instance is jealous that their cheap-assed owner won't pony up the dough to at least keep their stars and remain competitive, or even better pick up up a decent free agent or two to improve. I think it's also a geographical thing, most of the power in baseball lies in the northeast. Both the Red Sox and Yankees do travel well (Boston was #1 in road attendance, NYY #2), and have fans all over the country...the world at this point.
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Justin,
I love the rivalry and am for all the shit talking in the world. I obviously meant no personal offense in that little rant, as it's all meant in fun. Oh, I do genuinely hate the Yankees, but I try to keep that hatred in check when discussing the game on a serious level. It's fans who let their bias get in the way when discussing the game on a serious level that truly bother me, fans from both sides of the rivalry, I should add. The irony is, I have more Yankee fan friends than Red Sox fan friends.
I also agree with Jim that people hate the Yankees because of jealousy, myself included. Even now that the Red Sox have the upper hand, I'll always be pissed about the 15 or so years I had to put up with 1918 chants. That said, I notice a much greater Red Sox hatred now that Boston is a winning team, and that truly is because people hate winners.
As for the Yanks not having a chance in the East, I don't believe it. They have a couple of really good young pitchers in Hughes and Kennedy, and IF they work out, the Yanks will be dangerous. That line-up also scares the shit out of me still. I think the division can go either way. I'm actually more convinced Tampa Bay will finish ahead of Baltimore this season then I am picking a winner between Boston and New York.
Hmm, guys I'll start a baseball thread, 'cause we can go on all season about this and I'd like to keep this thread comedy.
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OK guys, I did this as a "split topic" 'cause I want to start a baseball thread which I think can last all season and let the comedy discussion, which I still think has life, continue on its own. Just trying to get used to the new moderating toys.
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I am not at all impressed with Hughes and Kennedy as they are nowhere near battle tested. Look at Boston's young pitching by comparison: Jon Lester is definitely battle-tested thus far in his young career, what his his performance in the World Series and all, not to mention his battle with cancer. Then we have Bucholz, who threw a no-no last season. Did I forget that Beckett and Dice-K both turn 27 this year? As far as pitching goes there's no contest: Boston is better hand down.
As the old adage goes, a great pitcher will get a great hitter out 9 out of 10 times, and while the MFY will score some runs and do have a better line-up, the Sox lineup will tear apart that decrepit Yankee rotation. And don't get me started on Wang, he's a sinker pitcher and sinker pitchers tend to have their sinkers flatten out more and more as time goes by. Here's another old adage for you, a flat sinker is the equivalent of a batting practice fastball: just ask Derek Lowe.
I think Carmona in Cleveland is best sinker baller out there, and that's because he's a wicked fastball to back it up. He shut the MFY down in the ALDS last year while Wang got bitch-smacked by the Tribe (although Fausto did get his ass kicked by the Sox in the ALCS, but he'll be more dangerous in the playoffs this time around).
Let's kick this thread off right, with prognostications. Who do you guys think will make the postseason in each league? Here are my pre-season picks:
AL EAST: BOSTON RED SOX
AL CENTRAL: CLEVELAND INDIANS
AL WEST: LOS ANGELES ANGELS
AL WILD CARD: DETROIT TIGERS
other teams with winning records: Yankees, Mariners, Blue Jays
NL EAST: NEW YORK METS
NL CENTRAL: CHICAGO CUBS
NL WEST: ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
NL WILD CARD: PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
other teams with winning records: Dodgers, Rockies, Padres, Brewers
The National League is a lot harder to figure out since there is so much parity, but I think Santana gives the Mets a very distinct advantage.
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Shit, I'll even go as far to predict how the divisions will play out:
AL EAST
1. BOSTON
2. NEW YORK
3. TORONTO
4. TAMPA BAY
5. BALTIMORE
AL CENTRAL
1. CLEVELAND
2. DETROIT
3. CHICAGO
4. MINNESOTA
5. KANSAS CITY
AL WEST
1. LOS ANGELES
2. SEATTLE
3. TEXAS
4. OAKLAND
NL EAST
1. NEW YORK
2. PHILADELPHIA
3. ATLANTA
4. WASHINGTON
5. FLORIDA
NL CENTRAL
1. CHICAGO
2. MILWAUKEE
3. ST. LOUIS
4. HOUSTON
5. CINCINNATI
6. PITTSBURGH
NL WEST
1. ARIZONA
2. LOS ANGELES
3. COLORADO
4. SAN DIEGO
5. SAN FRANCISCO
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I am not at all impressed with Hughes and Kennedy as they are nowhere near battle tested. Look at Boston's young pitching by comparison: Jon Lester is definitely battle-tested thus far in his young career, what his his performance in the World Series and all, not to mention his battle with cancer. Then we have Bucholz, who threw a no-no last season. Did I forget that Beckett and Dice-K both turn 27 this year? As far as pitching goes there's no contest: Boston is better hand down.
I'd say Phil Hughes is as battled tested as any rookie can be. He won an elimination game relieving his beat up childhood hero and in two games, gave up a single run in 5 2/3 against a tough Cleveland line-up. He also had a no-hitter going in his second career start until his hamstring acted up on him. I'd say the kid's got potential and I wish he were in a Sox uniform. Kennedy, on the other hand, is definitely less battle tested. As for Wang, he's still young and I think he'll have a relatively similar year to last. Mussina is a huge ? and I'm not sure who the fifth starter is, Igawa, perhaps, or is Chamberlain starting?
I do agree on paper the Boston rotation is stronger, even without Schilling. Colon, at the price they got him, was an awesome pick-up. Lester should post a 4.30 ERA and hopefully improve his control, but he has a lot of guts and pitches out of jams constantly. Beckett will be Beckett barring injuries and I think a more culturally adjusted Dice-K should improve this season. It should be interesting to see Wakefield and Kevin Cash work together now that Belli's gone and Buchholz? Well, the kid is very impressive (and he's banging a Penthouse Pet), and he has one of the nastiest curve balls I have ever seen, but he's still only pitched four major league games. Still, I watched the Baltimore broadcast when I saw the no-hitter, and Jim Palmer was comparing Buchholz to a young Jim Palmer.
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Almost a no-hitter does not a no-hitter make, just ask Schilling. On top of the starting rotation the Sox also have a stronger bullpen; the strongest in MLB. With kids like Papelbon and Delcarmen and vets like Okajima and Timlin we have innings 6-9 covered. Add to that long relievers like Snyder and Tavarez, and whomever doesn't make the rotation and it's quite obvious that Theo has the Sox well stocked. The MFY do have Chamberlain and Rivera, but they'll need more than that most nights with past their primers like Pettitte and Mussina leading the rotation.
Mussina hasn't had a good season since 2003. Did you see him in the postseason last year? Have you seen Mussina at all the past four or five seasons? He has no heart and his tank is empty. It'll be a miracle if he remains in the rotation all season.
You also have to factor in the MFY X-factor that is A-Rod. This man thinks the word "team" is spelled I-I-I-M-E-M-E. No matter his personal stats he is a clubhouse cancer and will never win a World Series ring; nor will he ever care about winning one. He's the new Barry Bonds. I just hope he gets caught with another piece of Boston strange so the fans can wear more masks when he's at bat.
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Almost a no-hitter does not a no-hitter make, just ask Schilling. On top of the starting rotation the Sox also have a stronger bullpen; the strongest in MLB. With kids like Papelbon and Delcarmen and vets like Okajima and Timlin we have innings 6-9 covered. Add to that long relievers like Snyder and Tavarez, and whomever doesn't make the rotation and it's quite obvious that Theo has the Sox well stocked. The MFY do have Chamberlain and Rivera, but they'll need more than that most nights with past their primers like Pettitte and Mussina leading the rotation.
Timlin's older now and while he may very well be a good thing, I wouldn't pencil him in as definitive. 2005 was his last strong, injury free season. He was better in 2007 than 2006, but was hurt the first half of last year. Not a bad guy to have, but I wouldn't consider Timlin a sure thing at this point, just good for depth.
Snyder and Tavarez are inconsistent and Snyder is at best a long reliever, but even that's not a sure thing. Snyder can have his good days, but after 4 innings is usually toast.
I agree about everything else, though, and I think Manny Delcarmen is going to have a breakout year. Paps is adding a slider to his arsenal and may be even stronger and I think Oki will stay strong all season, 'cause like Dice K, he should be better adjusted to the schedule. Overall, we probably do have the best bullpen in baseball.
Mussina hasn't had a good season since 2003. Did you see him in the postseason last year? Have you seen Mussina at all the past four or five seasons? He has no heart and his tank is empty. It'll be a miracle if he remains in the rotation all season.
You're probably right, which makes me wonder if Joba will ever be considered to start? Then again, they may just buy or trade for a good starter at the deadline, they can afford it.
You also have to factor in the MFY X-factor that is A-Rod. This man thinks the word "team" is spelled I-I-I-M-E-M-E. No matter his personal stats he is a clubhouse cancer and will never win a World Series ring; nor will he ever care about winning one. He's the new Barry Bonds. I just hope he gets caught with another piece of Boston strange so the fans can wear more masks when he's at bat.
Fuck A-Rod. Seriously, I don't care how good he plays, I can't stand the guy, and it has nothing to do with the fact he's a Yankee. He's the biggest primadonna in baseball right now.
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I'm just praying for the Pirates to finish above .500!
We have such a great ballpark here and it has been SO long since we had a good team (1992).
....Kicked Billy Crystal's ass!
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Don't worry Doug, the MFY aren't going anywhere. They haven't done anything of note in the offseason, except fire their manager and eventually keep a clubhouse cancer. With the improvements Detroit has made I'll be surprised if they make the playoffs (not very surprised mind you, but still...). Even if they do get the wild card they'll be out in the first round again. With their lackluster rotation I'm surprised they didn't try to take a low-risk gamble with Bartolo Colon like the BoSox did.
While the Yanks/BoSox and Yanks/Mets have legit gripes and feuds, Justin, I think the other baseball fans hate the Yankees, and even the Red Sox and Mets out of envy and jealousy. It's a simple case of the Haves and Have Nots. A rabid Yankee hater who is a Twins fan for instance is jealous that their cheap-assed owner won't pony up the dough to at least keep their stars and remain competitive, or even better pick up up a decent free agent or two to improve. I think it's also a geographical thing, most of the power in baseball lies in the northeast. Both the Red Sox and Yankees do travel well (Boston was #1 in road attendance, NYY #2), and have fans all over the country...the world at this point.
That's very true Shemps, one of the main reasons is the money factor. The Yankess have spent INSANE ammounts of money since the 90's and only this decade
have other teams like Boston have been able to match that.
And despite the fact I am a die hard Yankee fan, I was PISSED at what A-Rod did and was less happy that he got resigned for that INSANE contract.
I pray he actually delivers or I will join the chours of wanting him to get his greedy ass out of New York.
They wish their small market team had the money to get quality free agents AND be able to keep the young talent they have. Most of the time they go
to NY or Boston or any team who can poney up the big bucks and give them a shot at getting their World Series ring. It's a sad fact of baseball.
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Justin,
I love the rivalry and am for all the shit talking in the world. I obviously meant no personal offense in that little rant, as it's all meant in fun. Oh, I do genuinely hate the Yankees, but I try to keep that hatred in check when discussing the game on a serious level. It's fans who let their bias get in the way when discussing the game on a serious level that truly bother me, fans from both sides of the rivalry, I should add. The irony is, I have more Yankee fan friends than Red Sox fan friends.
I also agree with Jim that people hate the Yankees because of jealousy, myself included. Even now that the Red Sox have the upper hand, I'll always be pissed about the 15 or so years I had to put up with 1918 chants. That said, I notice a much greater Red Sox hatred now that Boston is a winning team, and that truly is because people hate winners.
As for the Yanks not having a chance in the East, I don't believe it. They have a couple of really good young pitchers in Hughes and Kennedy, and IF they work out, the Yanks will be dangerous. That line-up also scares the shit out of me still. I think the division can go either way. I'm actually more convinced Tampa Bay will finish ahead of Baltimore this season then I am picking a winner between Boston and New York.
Hmm, guys I'll start a baseball thread, 'cause we can go on all season about this and I'd like to keep this thread comedy.
Thanks for starting the thread Metal. I'm always game to talk baseball. 8)
I didn't think it was personal at all, I understand why Yankee Haters feel the way they do.
Yeah, I also try to not let any bias creep in when it comes to talking baseball. I'm not fond of Boston but I dont hate em, I respct how
good they are now and I enjoy the good aspects of the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry.
I was suprised you gave the Yanks good odds of winning the division this year! I don't try to be too optimistic untill the regular season
gets underway. Last year they started HORRIBLE and then they got hot and stayed right behind Boston for the rest of the season.
They COULD win the AL East but it won't be easy by a long shot. Boston is still strong, but they prob need to worry about their lineup if
Schilling's shoulder problem persists, I'm surprised they kept Wakefield around, hes not that great anymore. He's prob the only major weakness
in their staff. Their young guns did well last year so it will be interesting to see how well they do this season. Beckett is Beckett as long as
he's healthy, if hes not then he struggles.
Yanks got some questions marks no doubt, but the lineup is still good, Wang is young and def will improve as time goes on. Andy will prob have a
solid season again. I'm def keen on Hughes and Kennedy, Kennedy didn't get as much innings and work as Hughes but his ERA was 1.83 in 5 starts
before he got injured, that was impressive so I hope he keeps that up.
Hughes was great in the Cleveland series so Im expecting more from him to start then Kennedy. As for Moose, I have no idea what
were going to get out of him. Mussina has been so inconsistant the last few seasons it's been annoying. He's the big X factor and
def. the biggest weak spot in our rotation.
Our bullpen still has issues, and yeah Boston's is better in comparison. But with Joba still there I hope that we can find the guys we can count on
during teh season, its a work in progress so we shall see.
No worries about the lineup, its one of the strongest in baseball. Melky and Cano are really starting to take off, I'm really keen on Cano he is one
of the best 2nd Basemen in the League.
As for Joba, I love the guy (I got to see him get his first career save against the Blue Jays last season in person, I loved being at the stadium for that)
but I'm glad their doing to wait and see with him. I'd love to see what he can do as a starter, but I see the merits of keeping him in the bullpen and see
if he will be the guy that they can replace Rivera with when he retires. I'm torn which way to go, so i'm glad their not rushing him because he has
amazing stuff.
I was watching the speed count on his slider during that Jay's game, and even at 78-79 miles an hour the Jays still couldn't touch it.
I was like wow, now that's a killer pitch.
No matter what, the Yankess are going to win 90+ games and probably make it into the postseason again, its what they do when they get there that I'm concerned about. This postseason slump has got to end sometime.
I'm def keeping an eye on the Tigers, if they can gell they could challenge Cleaveland for the Central, or take the Wild Card if the Yankess slump too
much late in the season.
AL East: Red Sox
AL Central: Indians
AL West: Angels
AL Wild Card: Yankess
Angels are still good but their not as good as they used to be, they showed that last year vs Boston in the first round of the playoffs. Besides
these four only the Tigers have a real shot of getting into the playoffs in the AL. Red Sox and Yanks own the top two spots in the East, Blue Jays
will prob finish third and I def think Tampa Bay will be better than Baltimore, leaving the Birds to rot in the basement. Indians vs Tigers should
be fun to watch this season, and unless they make some moves during the season I dont see how Seattle can stop the Angels from winning the
West again.
NL East: Mets
NL Central: Cubs
NL West: Rockies
NL Wild Card: Phillies or Padres.
The NL West is very interesting, I dont think the Rockies were a fluke last year, they will most likely contend again this year, Diamondbacks don't have
the lineup or pitching to really compete with the Rockies and Padres. Cubs will prob win the Central again, we'll see if the Brewers were a fluke or
not this season. Mets will be challenged again by the Philles and it will def be interesting. Phillies will not be understimated this season IMO
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Die hard Yankee fans should be pissed at A-Rod, moreso than even Red Sox and Rockies fans. You should also be pissed at the front office for flat out lying by saying there was no way they would not resign him then go ahead and do just that. The World Series should be the "holy grail" of baseball; nothing else should even be discussed while it's taking place. The fact that he attempted to put the spotlight on himself while it was still taking place sickens me as it should sicken every baseball fan. If Baby Steinbrenner were at all smart he would have let the asshole go, because there is no way any team is going to win with him in the lineup.
I'll tell you guys what I'm going to do; I'm going to some research and post preseason reports on every team as time permits. I'll go alphabetically by location, so I think that makes Arizona first.
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Arizona Diamondbacks
2007 Payroll: $52 million, 26th in MLB
2007 Record: 90-72, 1st place NL West
Defeated CHC in 2007 NLDS 3-0
Lost to COL in 2007 NLCS 4-0
Key transactions: Acquired SP Dan Haren from OAK, traded RP Jose Valverde to HOU
Projected lineup/age:
C Chris Snyder/27
1B Connor Jackson/25
2B Orlando Hudson/30
3B Mark Reynolds/24
SS Stephen Drew/25
LF Eric Byrnes/32
CF Chris Young/24
RF Justin Upton/20
Starting Rotation:
Brandon Webb/28
Dan Haren/27
Randy Johnson/44
Doug Davis/32
Micah Owings/25
Relief Pitching:
Tony Pena/26
Chad Qualls/29
Juan Cruz/29
Doug Slaten/28
Dustin Nippert/26
Brandon Lyon, closer/28
The Diamondbacks have a great 1-2 punch in the front of the rotation with Webb and Haren, and are OK at the 4-5 spots, but I'll be surprised if Randy Johnson makes it through the entire season without injury. I also question how effective the Big Unit will be when he's able to pitch, what with his turning 45 by season's end. The lineup is young and has some experience thanks to last year's playoff run, and also plays great fundamental baseball. However, there is no one that instills fear in the opposing pitcher. The bullpen is questionable at best, especially with the loss of Valverde at closer. Brandon Lyon is a big step down.
The National League West is the hardest division to figure out in all of baseball, and should be an out and out dogfight between everyone except for SF. For the time being, with the parity in the NL I'm going to tentatively the D-Backs repeat as NL West champs, but it will be a photo finish.
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Awesome about the team reports, Jim.
Speaking of Randy Johnson, here's a game I was at as a 12 year old where he pitched. It was at Fenway, and I did the online reseach based on a picture I have of the scoreboard while Wade Boggs was at bat. The results?
http://baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=199109070BOS
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Atlanta Braves
2007 Payroll: $87.2 million, 15th in MLB
2007 Record: 84-78, 3rd Place NL East
Key Transactions: Signed SP Tom Glavine, Acquired OF Mark Kotsay from OAK, lost OF Andruw Jones to FA, traded SS Edgar Renteria to DET
Projected lineup/age
C Brian McCann/24
1B Mark Teixeira/27
2B Kelly Johnson/26
3B Chipper Jones/35
SS Yunel Escobar/25
LF Matt Diaz/30
CF Mark Kotsay/32
RF Jeff Francoeur/24
Starting Rotation:
John Smoltz/40
Tim Hudson/32
Tom Glavine/42
Mike Hampton/35
Jair Jurrjens/22
Relief Pitching:
Mike Gonzalez/29
Peter Moylan/29
Manny Acosta/26
Will Ohman/30
Tyler Yates/30
Raphael Soriano, closer/28
With the Mets and Phillies in the same division and question marks in their lineup and bullpen, the once mighty Braves shouldn't be much of a factor in 2008. The 1990's Braves caled...they want their starting pitchers back. Their is nowhere to go but down for Glavine, especially after the disappointing end to his career in Queens. Smoltz has perhaps one or two good seasons left in him, and Hudson nor Hampton have done anything of merit besides spend time on the DL for some time now. Amidst all that age their is a young pup pencilled in at the ass end of the rotation. They have a great closer with some wicked stuff in Soriano, but how often will he come in to tight games with the Braves ahead? The lineup has some punch with Teixeira and Chipper knows how hit despite a drop-off in power, but that's pretty much it; Francoeur could improve though. I'll say the Braves will win anywhere from 76-81 games.
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Baltimore Orioles
2007 Payroll: $93.5 million, 10th in MLB
2007 Record: 69-93, 4th Place AL East
Key Transactions: Traded SP Erik Bedard to SEA, traded SS Miguel Tejada to HOU
Projected Lineup/age:
C Ramon Hernandez/31
1B Kevin Millar/36
2B Brian Roberts/30
3B Melvin Mora/36
SS Luis Hernandez/23
LF Luke Scott/29
CF Adam Jones/22
RF Nick Markakis/24
DH Aubrey Huff/31
Starting Rotation:
Jeremy Guthrie/28
Daniel Cabrera/26
Adam Loewen/23
Garrett Olson/24
Radhames Liz/24
Relief Pitching:
Dennis Sarfate/26
Jaime Walker/36
Greg Aquino/30
Jim Hoey/25
Brian Burres/26
George Sheriff, closer/30
One word describes the 2008 Baltimore Orioles on paper: Yuck. With one of the worst owners in MLB it doesn't look to get better anytime soon for O's fans. The lineup is full of guys who have seen better days and would probably rather be somewhere else (Millar, a member of the 2004 Red Sox, threw out the first pitch during one of the World Series games last year I believe), the rotation is full of young guys that don't show too much promise, and the weak bullpen will be heavily taxed all season (especially when facing the division's two beasts). Look for the Orioles to claim the AL East cellar from TB and easily cross the 100 loss threshold.
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Jurrjens in ATL was in DET last year.
James
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Boston Red Sox
2007 Payroll: $143 million, 2nd in MLB
2007 Record: 96-66, 1st Place AL East
Defeated LAA in 2007 ALDS 3-0
Defeated CLE in 2007 ALCS 4-3
Defeated COL in 2007 World Series 4-0
Key Transactions: Signed SP Bartolo Colon
Projected lineup/age
C Jason Varitek/35
1B Kevin Youkilis/29
2B Dustin Pedroia/24
3B Mike Lowell/34
SS Julio Lugo/32
LF Manny Ramirez/35
CF Coco Crisp/28 OR Jacoby Ellsbury/24
RF J.D. Drew/32
DH David Ortiz/32
Starting Rotation:
Josh Beckett/27
Daisuke Matsuzaka/27
Clay Bucholz/23
Tim Wakefield/41
Jon Lester/24
Relief Pitching:
Hideki Okajima/32
Manny Delcarmen/26
Mike Timlin/42
Javier Lopez/30
Jonathan Papelbon, closer/27
I'm sure most teams would love to have the problems the reigning World Champions have. For instance, deciding who to start in center field? ESPN.com has Coco Crisp pencilled in as the starter, but most pundits agree that Jacoby Ellsbury will eventually get the nod. The BoSox resigned all of their key components from last year and have a surpringly young nucleus. While their are some guys a little long in the tooth like Timlin and Wakefield they should be able to provide great leadership as should team captain Jason Varitek. Expect Big Papi to have a better year than last after healing his wounds, and Ortiz says Ramirez will have a stellar year as well. The rest of the lineup, while not mashers, are mostly great hitters who'll get the job done. A couple of question marks are Julio Lugo and J.D. Drew, who are coming off subpar seasons.
The rotation is shaping up to be one of the best in baseball, and you can't count out Curt Schilling or Bartolo Colon. The bullpen is pretty much intact from last year's, which was tops in MLB. I think the Sox will win the AL East again and make a run at a title defense, possibly winning 100 game in the process, beating up on BAL and TB.
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Chicago Cubs
2007 Payroll: $99.6 million, 8th in MLB
2007 Record: 85-77, 1st Place NL Central
Lost to ARI 3-0 in 2007 NLDS
Key Transactions: Signed OF Kosuke Fukudome, signed SP Jon Leiber, released SP Mark Prior
Projected lineup/age:
C Geovanny Soto/25
1B Derrek Lee/32
2B Mark DeRosa/33
3B Aramis Ramirez/29
SS Ryan Theriot/28
LF Alfonso Soriano/32
CF Felix Pie/23
RF Kosuke Fukudome/30
Starting Rotation:
Carlos Zambrano/26
Ted Lilly/32
Rich Hill/28
Jon Lieber/37
Ryan Dempster/30
Relief Pitching:
Bob Howry/34
Jose Ascanio/22
Scott Eyre/35
Michael Wuertz/29
Jason Marquis/29
Carlos Marmol, closer/25
The starting rotation for the Chicago Cubs leaves a lot to be desired. Sure Zambrano is a great ace, and Lilly is a good middle rotation guy, but after that it's slim pickings. The lineup is formidable; it'll be interesting to see how Fukudome acclimates and if Derek Lee is his power stroke back. If he doesn't he's always good for average. Soriano should bring in over 100 runs and strike out over 100 times, and Ramirez should be as dangerous as ever. The relief corps is a big question mark. The Cubs should repeat as NL Central champs and might even win 90 games this year.
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I'm going to do these at clips of five at a time. Next up will be the White Sox, Reds, Indians, Rockies and Tigers.
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I'm going to do these at clips of five at a time. Next up will be the White Sox, Reds, Indians, Rockies and Tigers.
Very cool.
Nice job Shemps, I agree with alot of what you have said when looking at each team's outlook for
this season.
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Yeah, tell me about it. The Orioles haven't had a great season in years, Pitching always sucks and they spend money and Still suck. Hmm, wish Cal Ripken could come back, At least he was good for the team and baseball in general.
Robin
(dissapointed near Baltimore resident)
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Chicago White Sox
2007 Payroll: $108.6 million, 5th in MLB
2007 Record: 72-90, 4th Place AL Central
Key Transactions: Acquired CF Nick Swisher from OAK, acquired SS Orlando Cabrera from LAA for SP Jon Garland, signed RP Octavio Dotel
Projected Lineup/age:
C A.J Pierzynski/31
1B Paul Konerko/32
2B Juan Uribe/29
3B Joe Crede/29
SS Orlando Cabrera/33
LF Carlos Quentin/25
CF Nick Swisher/27
RF Jermaine Dye/34
DH Jim Thome/37
Starting Rotation:
Mark Buehrle/29
Javier Vazquez/31
Jose Contreras/36
John Danks/22
Gavin Floyd/25
Relief Pitching:
Octavio Dotel/34
Scott Linebrink/31
Matt Thornton/31
Boone Logan/23
Mike MacDougal/31
Bobby Janks, closer/27
The ChiSox held the dubious distinction last year of being the team with the highest payroll to have a losing record. While they have made improvements by getting Cabrera and Swisher, I don't see how they'll challenge CLE or DET in the AL Central. Their biggest problem is starting pitching. I'm not entirely sold on Buehrle as an ace, although he would make a great 2-3 starter. Vazquez is a classic example of potential unfulfilled while Contreras and his questionable age should be seen as an overall bust in the Cuban defection department. Danks does show promise though, but could probably use more seasoning. The bullpen is lacking with the exception of the closer spot; Jenks is an absolute heat missile firing tank of a closer.
The lineup is a powerful one, with Konerko, Swisher, Dye and Thome. Cabrera is also bound to give opposing pitchers fits. Overall I thought the Southsiders had a pretty good offseason, which should move them up to a possible third place finish and maybe 85 wins.
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Yeah, tell me about it. The Orioles haven't had a great season in years, Pitching always sucks and they spend money and Still suck. Hmm, wish Cal Ripken could come back, At least he was good for the team and baseball in general.
Robin
(dissapointed near Baltimore resident)
It really is a shame what has happened to a once proud franchise in Baltimore, especially with one of, if not THE most beautiful ballpark in the MLB. Too bad everything else surrounding the Camden/Inner Harbor area looks like shit warmed over.
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Cincinnati Reds
2007 Payroll: $68.9 million, 20th in MLB
2007 Record: 72-90, 5th Place NL Central
Key Transactions: Signed RP Francisco Cordero, signed SP Josh Fogg
Projected Lineup/age:
C David Ross/31
1B Joey Votto/24
2B Brandon Phillips/26
3B Edwin Encarnacion/25
SS Alex Gonzalez/31
LF Adam Dunn/28
CF Ryan Freel/32
RF Ken Griffey Jr./38
Starting Rotation
Aaron Harang/29
Bronson Arroyo/31
Matt Belisle/27
Josh Fogg/31
Homer Bailey/21
Relief Pitching:
David Weathers/38
Mike Stanton/40
Jeremy Affeldt/28
Jared Burton/26
Gary Majewski/28
Francisco Cordero, closer/32
The oldest franchise in baseball is also one of the most powerful. Phillips is perhaps the best second basemen in MLB; he along with Dunn and soon-to-hit-his-600th-HR Griffey can make any opposing pitcher weak in the knees. Alex Gonzalez had a bit of a bounce back year in '07, improving on his numbers with BOS from the year prior.
The Reds' major problem is pitching. Harang is a great ace, but Arroyo is more of a 4-5 starter than a #2. Cordero is a premier closer, but getting to him with the lead intact should be an adventure. The Reds should improve on last year's record, but are a good starting pitcher or two away before making any serious waves.
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Yeah, and Tampa Bay which we always could count on to keep us out of the cellar in the AL East is gonna be good this year from what I've read.
Well maybe a year or two in last place will make the lousy owner stop pissing about and try to do something to regain the respect of a once proud team and its fans.
Robin
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Cleveland Indians
2007 Payroll: $61.6 million, 23rd in MLB
2007 Record: 96-66, 1st Place AL Central
Defeated NYY in 2007 ALDS 3-1
Lost to BOS in 2007 ALCS 4-3
Key Transactions:Signed RP Masahide Kobayashi
Projected Lineup/age
C Victor Martinez/29
1B Ryan Garko/27
2B Asdrubal Cabrera/22
3B Casey Blake/34
SS Jhonny Peralta/25
LF Jason Michaels/31
CF Grady Sizemore/25
RF Franklin Gutierrez/25
DH Travis Hafner/30
Starting Rotation:
C.C. Sabathia/27
Fausto Carmona/24
Paul Byrd/37
Jake Westbrook/30
Aaron Laffey/22
Relief Pitching:
Rafael Bettancourt/32
Masahide Kobayashi/33
Aaron Fultz/34
Tom Mastny/27
Rafael Perez/25
Joe Borowski, closer/36
Much like Boston, the 2008 Cleveland Indians managed to keep their core intact from the previous season. They have what is arguably the best 1-2 punch in the starting rotation, and the rest of the rotation is solid as well. Two highly touted prospects are penciled into the rotation and lineup respectively in Laffey and Cabrera. Speaking of the lineup, it's one of the most dangerous in baseball with plenty of power and speed. The bullpen is strong as well, but Borowski is going to have to improve on his ERA lest he lose the closer spot to one of the Rafaels.
It's pretty much a coin flip between the Indians and DET in the AL Central this season, but for right now I'm going to give the Tribe the advantage. We could see another long post season run.
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Colorado Rockies
2007 Payroll: $54.4 million, 25th in MLB
2007 Record: 90-73, 2nd Place NL West, NL Wild Card
Defeated PHI in 2007 NLDS 3-0
Defeated ARI in 2007 NLCS 4-0
Lost to BOS in 2007 World Series 4-0
Key Transactions: None to speak of
Projected Lineup/age:
C Yorvit Torrealba/29
1B Todd Helton/34
2B Jayson Nix/25
3B Garrett Atkins/28
SS Troy Tulowitzki/23
LF Matt Holliday/28
CF Willy Tavarez/26
RF Brad Hawpe/28
Starting Rotation:
Jeff Francis/27
Aaron Cook/29
Ubaldo Jimenez/24
Jason Hersh/26
Franklin Morales/22
Relief Pitching:
Brian Fuentes/32
Taylor Bucholz/26
Ryan Speier/28
Matt Herges/37
Jose Capellan/27
Manny Corpas, closer/25
The Rockies, for the most part, kept the hand they were dealt in '07 for this year's campaign. What a great hand it is with that killer lineup featuring Holliday, Tulowitzki, Helton, Atkins and Hawpe. It'll be interesting to see how well Nix does at 2B. The starting rotation is solid at best with no real lights out ace to lead the way. Perhaps Jimenez will step up and fill that roll. The bullpen is the biggest riddle for the Rockies to solve; a dominant closer would be nice.
The Rockies have the tools needed to compete in a tough NL West, but other teams in the division and the league have improved. At the moment I don't see Colorado making the playoffs, but they definately could as either division champs or the wild card.
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Detroit Tigers
2007 Payroll: $95.1 million, 9th in MLB
2007 Record: 88-74, 2nd AL Central
Key Transactions: Acquired 3B Miguel Cabrera and SP Dontrelle Willis from FLA, acquired SS Edgar Renteria from ATL
Projected Lineup/age
C Ivan Rodriguez/36
1B Carlos Guillen/32
2B Placido Polanco/32
3B Miguel Cabrera/24
SS Edgar Renteria/32
LF Jacque Jones/32
CF Curtis Granderson/27
RF Magglio Ordonez/34
DH Gary Sheffield/39
Starting Rotation
Justin Verlander/25
Jeremy Bonderman/25
Kenny Rogers/43
Dontrelle Willis/25
Nate Robertson/30
Relief Pitching:
Fernando Rodney/31
Jason Grilli/31
Bobby Seay/29
Tim Byrdak/34
Zack Miner/26
Todd Jones, closer/39
The Tigers lineup scares the living shit out of me and an argument could be made that it is the best in MLB from top to bottom. Detroit pretty much mortgaged their long term future to win immediately, and they definately got the tools to do that. The starting rotation presents a bit of a problem after Verlander. Questions abound, such as does the 43 year old Kenny Rogers have another good season left? Will the D-Train be able to turn it around after a down year...and do so in a much tougher league for pitchers? Bonderman and Robertson both need to pick up some slack if Detroit intends on dethroning CLE as well.
But man...look at that fucking lineup. I am impressed. I tentatively have the Tigers winning the AL Wild Card, but the rotation behind Verlander has to right itself.
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Tomorrow I'll do the Marlins, Astros, Royals, Angels, and Dodgers early, then the next five late.
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Zumaya (100+ mph fastball) is expected back for the 2nd half of the season.
Todd Jones is the only closer I know that can take a 5-run lead and cause 40,000+ fans in the stands to have heart attacks.
James
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Zumaya (100+ mph fastball) is expected back for the 2nd half of the season.
Todd Jones is the only closer I know that can take a 5-run lead and cause 40,000+ fans in the stands to have heart attacks.
James
Yeah, seriously, it's a shame Zumaya has been hurt so much, because I can't see any other reason on God's green Earth why Todd Jones is still closer. Your rivals The Indians are also weak in the closer department with Joe Borowski.
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Yeah, tell me about it. The Orioles haven't had a great season in years, Pitching always sucks and they spend money and Still suck. Hmm, wish Cal Ripken could come back, At least he was good for the team and baseball in general.
Robin
(dissapointed near Baltimore resident)
I always go to a Red Sox Vs. Orioles game in Camden every year, and it's really true it's Fenway Park South. What a pitiful organization this team is, and it saddens me. I live in northern Delaware and get all the Orioles games, and the saddest moment of the season was when babe Ruth's adopted daughter was a guest announcer (The Bambino was born in Baltimore and his birth place is near Camden Yards). Anyway, the first thing out of her mouth is how disappointed she is with the Baltimore fans and that they need to support their team when they're down. Ouch!
No Bedard and Tejada equals an even worse team. Nick Markakis is a great young player, Brian Roberts is a great lead off man, and Jeremy Guthrie's a good pitcher, but there's not much else. Daniel Cabrerra has been one of those guys who was supposed to come around years ago, yet he STILL can't find the strike zone to save his life. I think he's a head case myself, as his 6'7" ass tried to pick a fight with 5'7" Dustin Pedroia last season. What a coward.
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I share these tidbits of trivia from Voices of Summer-Ranking Baseball's 101 All-Time Best Announcers by Curt Smith...
P. 87: "'Ernie (Harwell) was that good,' said (Atlanta Crackers) owner Earl Mann. In 1948, Branch Rickey asked to release him when Red Barber's ulcer hemorrhaged. 'I won't stand in his way,' Mann said. 'But first I want Cliff Dapper,' Brooklyn's Triple-A catcher."
(Radio announcer Ernie Harwell [ranked 3rd] became the first announcer-player trade! Now the funny part...)
P. 88: "Coogan's remote booth lacked a toilet. Urinating in paper cups, Russ (Hodges) and Ernie placed them in the corner. One visitor accidentally kicked a cup, leaking liquid into lower boxes. 'Hey!' usher Barney O'Toole said. 'We're getting complaints. People said to quit spilling beer.' The beer, Harwell winked, was used. 'We'll be careful, but don't tell the folks what hit 'em." :o
Ernie (90) and his wife are still active and live in a retirement community in Novi MI. Last year, he released a 4-CD Audio "Scrapbook". Available at http://www.eharwell.com/ . If anything, check out the 4 audio clips on the website. History.
James
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Florida Marlins
2007 Payroll: $30.5 million, 29th in MLB
2007 Record: 71-91, 5th Place NL East
Key Transactions: Traded SP Dontrelle Willis and 3B Miguel Cabrera to DET, signed OF Luis Gonzales
Projected Lineup/age
C Mike Rabelo/28
1B Mike Jacobs/27
2B Dan Uggla/28
3B Jose Castillo/27
SS Hanley Ramirez/24
LF Josh Willingham/29
CF Cameron Maybin/20
RF Jeremy Hermida/24
Starting Rotation:
Scott Olsen/24
Sergio Mitre/27
Andrew Miller/22
Mark Hendrickson/33
Rick VandenHurk/22
Relief Pitching:
Justin Miller/30
Matt Lindstrom/28
Taylor Tankersley/25
Lee Gardner/33
Daniel Barone/24
Kevin Gregg, closer/29
The Florida Marlins 2008 payroll is projected to be even less than half of last season's, which would make them by far the cheapest team in MLB. I'm no front office wizard, but trading away your most recognizable players is not a way to improve pathetic attendance marks. The middle infield of Uggla and Ramirez is excellent, and closer Gregg is a good one. Other than that there is pretty much nothing more than a bunch of kids that should be in the minors. Look for washed-up Luis Gonzales to get some at bats.
I'm going to pencil the Marlins in at 50-55 wins this season, and make a suggestion that ownership move the team out of Miami, which is a horrible sports town.
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I don't see the Cubs winning the division this year. If they do, that would make it two years in a row. Living here in Chicago, you know how rare that is. This is a special year for the " Lovable Losers ". It's been 100 years since they won their last Championship. Not that I care, I'm a White Sox fan.
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You hit the nail right on the head with the White Sox pitching. Bad move getting rid of Jon Garland and keeping Jose Contreras. Jose was stinking the place up last year and complaining when they wanted to put him in the bullpen. Now, this year in spring training, he's picking up right where he left off. If he's 36 years old, I'm the Pope. I bet he hasn't been 36 since he played with the Yankee's.
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Houston Astros
2007 Payroll: $87.7 million, 14th in MLB
2007 Record:73-89, 4th Place NL Central
Key Transactions: Acquired SS Miguel Tejada from BAL, acquired RP Jose Valverde from ARI, signed 2B Kazuo Matsui, signed RP Shawn Chacon
Projected Lineup/age:
C J.R. Towles/24
1B Lance Berkman/32
2B Kazuo Matsui/32
3B Ty Wigginton/30
SS Miguel Tejada/31
LF Carlos Lee/31
CF Michael Bourn/25
RF Hunter Pence/24
Starting Rotation:
Roy Oswalt/30
Wandy Rodriguez/29
Brandon Backe/29
Woody Williams/41
Shawn Chacon/30
Relief Pitching:
Doug Brocail/40
Geoff Geary/31
Oscar Villarreal/26
Chris Sampson/29
Dave Borkowski/31
Jose Valverde, closer/28
The 2008 Houston Astros have a strong lineup with Lee, Tejada, Berkman, and Wgginton: Pence is also a star in the making. The rotation after Oswalt is severely lacking, you'd think with all the offseason moves they made they would have went after a decent starter. If you have Shawn Chacon penciled in your 5th starter you'd be better off going with a 4 man rotation. Also, Woody Williams wasn't much in his prime; I'm suprised he's still playing.
The Houston bullpen is mediocre at best, and it will be difficult to bridge the gap from the starter to Valverde, who is a great closer. The Astros should duke it out with the Brewers, Reds, and Cardinals for second place in the NL Central.
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The NL Central is so weak yet again this year, I don't see anyone but the Cubs winning it. They'll probably get swept out of the postseason again this year, but they'll win the division.
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Kansas City Royals
2007 Payroll: $67.1 million, 22nd in MLB
2007 Record: 69-93, 5th Place AL Central
Key Transactions: Signed OF Jose Guillen
Projected Lineup/age:
C John Buck/27
1B Ross Gload/31
2B Mark Grudzielanek/37
3B Alex Gordon/24
SS Tony Pena Jr./27
LF Mark Teahan/26
CF David DeJesus/28
RF Jose Guillen/31
DH Billy Butler/21
Starting Rotation:
Gil Meche/29
Brian Bannister/27
Zack Greinke/24
Kyle Davies/24
Jorge De La Rosa/26
Relief Pitching:
Jimmy Gobble/26
Joel Peralta/31
Ron Mahay/36
Yasuhiko Yabuta/34
John Bale/33
Joakim Soria, closer/23
Surprisingly enough, the Kansas City Royals have a decent rotation 1-3 with Meche, Bannister and Greinke. The ass end of the rotation needs improving, and I would expect Gobble to show up there during the season. Closer Soria looks quite promising and has great stuff while the rest of the bullpen is pathetic.
KC's biggest problem is their lineup and its lack of power. Major head case Guillen was the only player currently on the team to hit more than 20 home runs last year. If the Royals could get some true power in their lineup I would be saying they'd get out of the cellar, but with the lineup being what it is I don't see that happening. They'll probably have the best record for a last place team in the AL.
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Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (in the state of California, United States of America, on the continent of North America, planet Earth, Milky Way Galaxy, the Universe)
2007 Payroll: $109.2 million, 4th in MLB
2007 Record: 94-68, 1st Place AL West
Lost to BOS in 2007 ALDS 3-0
Key Transactions: Acquired SP Jon Garland from CWS for SS Orlando Cabrera, signed CF Torii Hunter
Projected Lineup/age:
C Mike Napoli/26
1B Casey Kotchman/25
2B Howie Kendrick/24
3B Chone Figgins/30
SS Erick Aybar/24
LF Garrett Anderson/35
CF Torii Hunter/32
RF Vladimir Guerrero/32
DH Gary Matthews Jr./33
Starting Rotation:
John Lackey/29
Jon Garland/28
Jered Weaver/25
Joe Saunders/26
Ervin Santana/25
Relief Pitching:
Scot Shields/32
Justin Speier/34
Darren Oliver/37
Dustin Moseley/26
Jason Bulger/29
Francisco Rodriguez, closer/26
Adding Jon Garland to the rotation has only made the strong Angels starting rotation even stronger, and the bullpen, while a bit long in the tooth is strong as well. K-Rod is one of the top five closers in the league, and when he comes in with the lead you can usually feel confident that the game is in the bag.
The lineup got stronger with Hunter backing up Vlad, but there's nothing much after that. Look for the overrated and overpaid Matthews to take over LF from the broken down Anderson. Juan Rivera should play a key role off the bench as ESPN.com haqs him as the starting DH for some reason. Thier pitching should carry them to another AL West title after duking it out with SEA, but with the likes of BOS, CLE, and possible NYY or DET looming in the postseason I don't expect them to hang around long.
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Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles
2007 Payroll: $108.4 million, 6th in MLB
2007 Record: 82-80, 4th Place NL West
Key Transactions: Signed OF Andruw Jones
Projected Lineup/age:
C Russell Martin/25
1B James Loney/23
2B Jeff Kent/40
3B Nomar Garciaparra/34
SS Rafael Furcal/30
LF Juan Pierre/30
CF Andruw Jones/30
RF Matt Kemp/23
Starting Rotation:
Brad Penny/29
Derek Lowe/34
Chad Billingsley/23
Hiroki Kuroda/33
Esteban Loaiza/36
Relief Pitching:
Jonathan Broxton/23
Joe Beimel/30
Scott Proctor/31
Jon Meloan/23
Eric Hull/28
Takashi Saito, closer/38
New manager Joe Torre has a few issues to address before the Dodgers are playoff ready. The biggest being when will SP Jason Schmidt be able to contribute? The starting rotation can definately use him in a tough NL West. Penny is lights out, but the rest of the rotation is lackluster at best. The bullpen may be an issue...I'm surprised Proctor isn't on the scrap heap yet. It'll be interesting to see if the 38 year old Saito can match his 2007 showing.
The lineup is lethal; Loney is a stud as are Furcal and Jones. At this point I wouldn't expect Nomar to get his power stroke back, but he will get on base for you. Martin is shaping up to be one of the best catchers in MLB, but Pierre is vastly overrated. The Dodgers will be in thick of the NL West race, but without Schmidt healthy they should come up short.
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Later tonight I'll put up the Brewers, Twins, Mets, Yankees and A's.
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The NL Central is so weak yet again this year, I don't see anyone but the Cubs winning it. They'll probably get swept out of the postseason again this year, but they'll win the division.
I totally agree, its a very weak division and it seems the Cubs are the best of the bunch for now. I won't be suprised if they
win the Central again this year.
And I will echo your spot on analysis on the White Sox pitching.
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In relation to previous discussion about the Yankees Young Pitchers, here is a nice article from
the blog of ESPN's Rob Neyer about the unusual stance the Yanks are taking by relying on
3 young pitchers to make a run for the World Series.
http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?name=neyer_rob&entryDate=20080316 (http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?name=neyer_rob&entryDate=20080316)
But only Insiders can read the whole thing, so here is a part of the same discussion coming from
Peter Gammons blog, talking about all the young pitching talent in the AL East this season.
Young pitchers will shape AL East
Phil Hughes has looked dominant this spring. "He was," says one GM, "the best player on the board in the Johan Santana talks."
Ian Kennedy has looked like a young Mike Boddicker, an artist. We have seen Joba Chamberlain, and there is a very good chance that Ross Ohlendorf will be a significant setup part of the Yankees' bullpen.
The esteemed Bill Madden of the New York Daily News checked with the Elias Sports Bureau and found that no team has won the World Series with two rookies starting 25 games. Indeed, there is a lot of pressure on Hughes, Kennedy, Chamberlain and Ohlendorf, but what is so different in the American League East is that the three teams that can win the division -- and you might be surprised by how many people on the west coast of Florida believe that the Jays have a legitimate chance to win the division -- are all dependent on young pitchers.
Toronto is dependent on 25-year old Dustin McGowan and 26-year-old Shaun Marcum. Scouts who saw closer B.J. Ryan this week say he was as good as he ever was, which makes Jeremy Accardo (30 saves, 2.14 ERA) even more significant. "If A.J. Burnett can make 30 starts," says a GM, "they can be right in it." One AL hitting coach says "Marcum and McGowan (who were 24-16 combined) can be as good as anyone. That pitching is good enough to win."
Boston has Jon Lester, who is essentially a rookie given his time off due to chemotherapy, as the No. 2 starter. Clay Buchholz is going to end up being important. Manny Delcarmen had a monster spring.
"This division can be decided by whose young pitchers come forward the strongest," says one GM. "The fact that McGowan and Marcum had 52 starts between them last year makes them even more dangerous if Burnett and Ryan are healthy."
Yankees GM Brian Cashman has said all winter that as he watched Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Lester and Jonathan Papelbon clinch the World Series, he was further convinced that teams can win with young players. Throw in Tampa Bay with Scott Kazmir, James Shields, Matt Garza and the rest of their emerging young pitching, and the game's best division has become the young power arms division.
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I like the fact their willing to buck the trend and trying to rely more on homegrown talent then
blow millions that aren't nessecary *COUGH*f'n A-Rod *COUGH*
Will it work? As a Yankee fan I will have to wait and see....
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In relation to previous discussion about the Yankees Young Pitchers, here is a nice article from
the blog of ESPN's Rob Neyer about the unusual stance the Yanks are taking by relying on
3 young pitchers to make a run for the World Series.
http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?name=neyer_rob&entryDate=20080316 (http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?name=neyer_rob&entryDate=20080316)
But only Insiders can read the whole thing, so here is a part of the same discussion coming from
Peter Gammons blog, talking about all the young pitching talent in the AL East this season.
Young pitchers will shape AL East
Phil Hughes has looked dominant this spring. "He was," says one GM, "the best player on the board in the Johan Santana talks."
Ian Kennedy has looked like a young Mike Boddicker, an artist. We have seen Joba Chamberlain, and there is a very good chance that Ross Ohlendorf will be a significant setup part of the Yankees' bullpen.
The esteemed Bill Madden of the New York Daily News checked with the Elias Sports Bureau and found that no team has won the World Series with two rookies starting 25 games. Indeed, there is a lot of pressure on Hughes, Kennedy, Chamberlain and Ohlendorf, but what is so different in the American League East is that the three teams that can win the division -- and you might be surprised by how many people on the west coast of Florida believe that the Jays have a legitimate chance to win the division -- are all dependent on young pitchers.
Toronto is dependent on 25-year old Dustin McGowan and 26-year-old Shaun Marcum. Scouts who saw closer B.J. Ryan this week say he was as good as he ever was, which makes Jeremy Accardo (30 saves, 2.14 ERA) even more significant. "If A.J. Burnett can make 30 starts," says a GM, "they can be right in it." One AL hitting coach says "Marcum and McGowan (who were 24-16 combined) can be as good as anyone. That pitching is good enough to win."
Boston has Jon Lester, who is essentially a rookie given his time off due to chemotherapy, as the No. 2 starter. Clay Buchholz is going to end up being important. Manny Delcarmen had a monster spring.
"This division can be decided by whose young pitchers come forward the strongest," says one GM. "The fact that McGowan and Marcum had 52 starts between them last year makes them even more dangerous if Burnett and Ryan are healthy."
Yankees GM Brian Cashman has said all winter that as he watched Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Lester and Jonathan Papelbon clinch the World Series, he was further convinced that teams can win with young players. Throw in Tampa Bay with Scott Kazmir, James Shields, Matt Garza and the rest of their emerging young pitching, and the game's best division has become the young power arms division.
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I like the fact their willing to buck the trend and trying to rely more on homegrown talent then
blow millions that aren't nessecary *COUGH*f'n A-Rod *COUGH*
Will it work? As a Yankee fan I will have to wait and see....
Those great late 90's Yankee teams were a combination of youth and veterans. The 2007 Red Sox were follwing that model and won a World Series. Youth, combined with veterans, are indeed important. It's also true Toronto and Tampa Bay have bright futures, it's just a shame Baltimore can't join in.
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Those great late 90's Yankee teams were a combination of youth and veterans. The 2007 Red Sox were follwing that model and won a World Series. Youth, combined with veterans, are indeed important. It's also true Toronto and Tampa Bay have bright futures, it's just a shame Baltimore can't join in.
Yes indeed, the late 90's Yankess won 4 World Series in 5 years because of that formula. They drifted away from it during the early part of this
decade but I think they are finally starting to go back to it.
Toronto and Tampa are learning and doing well to catch up to NY and Boston, and yeah its a shame that Baltimore isn't.
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Milwaukee Brewers
2007 Payroll: $70.9 million, 19th in MLB
2007 Record: 83-79, 2nd NL Central
Key Transactions: Signed RP Eric Gagne, signed C Jason Kendall, signed CF Mike Cameron
Projected Lineup/age:
C Jason Kendall/33
1B Prince Fielder/23
2B Rickie Weeks/25
3B Bill Hall/28
SS J.J. Hardy/25
LF Ryan Braun/24
CF Mike Cameron/35
RF Corey Hart/25
Starting Rotation:
Ben Sheets/29
Jeff Suppan/33
Carlos Villanueva/24
Dave Bush/28
Chris Capuano/29
Relief Pitching:
Derrick Turnbow/30
David Riske/31
Salomon Torres/35
Brian Shouse/39
Seth McClung/29
Eric Gagne, closer/32
The franchise in the smallest market in MLB has a bright future if they can keep their promising young nucleus together and make a few adjustments. The lineup rivals any in the National League, featuring plenty of pop with Fielder, Braun, Hart, and multiple gold glover Cameron. I've always thought Kendall is a bit overrated behind the plate, but apparently Milwaukee doesn't. The bullpen, while a bit long in the tooth, is strong...Riske was a great pick up. Which Gagne will show up? For the Brewers' sake I hope it's not the Gagne that showed up in Boston.
The glaring sore spot for Milwaukee is the starting rotation. Sheets is awesome when healthy and Suppan is battle-tested veteran that is consistent. The rest of the rotation would probably either be in the minors or emergency long relief if on other teams. It is possible that Milwaukee could dethrone CHC in a weak NL Central, but I wouldn't bet on it.
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Minnesota Twins
2007 Payroll: $71.4 million, 18th in MLB
2007 Record: 79-83, 3rd Place AL Central
Key Transactions: Traded SP Johan Santana to NYM, acquired OF Delmon Young, signed SP Livan Hernandez
Projected Lineup/age
C Joe Mauer/24
1B Justin Morneau/26
2B Brendan Harris/27
3B Mike Lamb/32
SS Adam Everett/31
LF Delmon Young/22
CF Carlos Gomez/22
RF Michael Cuddyer/29
DH Jason Kubel/25
Starting Rotation:
Livan Hernandez/33
Francisco Liriano/24
Boof Bonser/26
Scott Baker/26
Kevin Slowey/23
Relief Pitching:
Juan Rincon/29
Jesse Crain/26
Pat Neshak/27
Matt Guerrier/29
Dennys Reyes/30
Joe Nathan, closer/33
The Minnesota Twins, along with OAK, are a great example of what's wrong with baseball. Skinflint owners who don't even try to resign players once they become "too good". The departure of Santana leaves the rotation in shambles. Liriano is a stud and Hernandez will eat innings, and Bonser shows promise; still, Livan is big step step down from Johan. The bullpen is solid, and Nathan is a great closer. The lineup leaves a lot to be desired, the only bright spots being Mauer and Morneau. Perhaps Young will make something of himself. Look for the Twinkies to slip further down the standings.
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New York Mets
2007 Payroll: $115.2 million, 3rd in MLB
2007 Record: 88-74, 2nd Place NL East
Key Transactions: Acquired SP Johan Santana from MIN, acquired OF Ryan Church and C Brian Schneider from WAS for OF Lastings Milledge
Projected Lineup/age:
C Brian Schneider/31
1B Carlos Delgado/35
2B Luis Castillo/32
3B David Wright/25
SS Jose Reyes/24
LF Endy Chavez/30
CF Carlos Beltran/30
RF Ryan Church/29
Starting Rotation:
Johan Santana/29
Pedro Martinez/36
John Maine/26
Oliver Perez/26
Orlando Hernandez/38
Relief Pitching:
Aaron Heilman/29
Pedro Feliciano/31
Duaner Sanchez/28
Scott Schoeneweis/34
Jorge Sosa/30
Billy Wagner. closer/36
After the monumental collapse of the New York Mets in 2007, they made the biggest hot stove move of them all in acquiring perhaps the best pitcher in the game. Upon further review, I might have to go back on my earlier prognostication of the Mets winning their division. Look at the rotation after Johan; Pedro hasn't been Pedro since 2003, Maine and Perez are "meh" at best, and if El Duque is only 38 then I have a vagina.
It goes without saying that the lineup is awe-inspiring for the most part, definitely the most star-studded in the NL. The bullpen could use some tweaking, to say the least. I, like most others, was perhaps a bit hasty in crowing the Mets the heir apparents to the NL Pennant, but they do have a great chance to be. Winning the World Series is another story altogether.
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Well looking only at several NL teams, I'd say both the Cubs and the Dodgers have a pretty strong chance of leading the NL division with Yankee's Joe Torre now coaching the Dodgers and with a strong season for the Cubs.
As for the Houston Astros, things might be looking a bit better for them this year. 3B Berkman is recovering from his hitting slump from last year and Lee is scoring more runs and left field hits, but I think the biggest most unusual part of the team is thier NEW Japanese second baseman Kazhiko Matsui who's been preforming strongly in the spring training he shows alot of promise, now all the Astros have to do is fix thier broken bullpen.
Here's how I see it:
NL West.
5. Rockies.
4. Diamondbacks.
3. Giants.
2. Padres.
1. L.A. Dodgers.
NL Central.
5. Brewers.
4.Cardinals.
3.Reds.
2. Astros.
1. Cubs.
NL East.
5. Marlins.
4. Nets.
3. Nationals.
2. Braves.
1.Phllilies.
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New York Yankees
2007 Payroll: $189.6 million, 1st in MLB
2007 Record: 94-68, 2nd Place AL East, AL Wild Card
Lost to CLE in 2007 ALDS 3-1
Key Transactions: none to speak of
Projected Lineup/age:
C Jorge Posada/36
1B Jason Giambi/37
2B Robinson Cano/25
3B Alex Rodriguez/32
SS Derek Jeter/33
LF Johnny Damon/34
CF Melky Cabrera/23
RF Bobby Abreu/33
DH Hideki Matsui/33
Starting Rotation:
Chien-Ming Wang/28
Andy Pettitte/35
Phil Hughes/21
Mike Mussina/39
Ian Kennedy/23
Relief Pitching:
Joba Chamberlain/22
LaTroy Hawkins/35
Kyle Farnsworth/31
Brian Bruney/25
Edwar Ramirez/27
Mariano Rivera, closer/38
*note: I will attempt to be completely unbiased despite my affiliation as a Red Sox fan
What catches my eye the most when looking at the 2008 New York Yankees, which is basically the same team as the year before, is the overall ages. I believe they have the most players over 30 of all the teams I have covered so far. The lineup is killer, but in my opinion has been usurped by Detroit for the best overall lineup in MLB. Giambi is nothing with his juices and cremes, Damon without his beard is like Samson without hair, and after a long, injury-free run Matsui has been awfully injury-prone as of late. Jeter always plays beyond his abilities, Cano is a very good second baseman, and A-Rod will be A-Rod, playing for the New York A-Rod's again this year.
I'm amazed the Yanks didn't go after some arms, in particular one middle rotation guy and some decent bullpen arms. Mussina is spent, bag him and tag him. HGH Pettitte hasn't been the same since left the Bronx the first time, so the young arms need to step up immediately or else the Yanks will have to win every game 15-14. Aside from Joba and Rivera the bullpen is an absolute wreck. The MFY will win 90-95 games and possibly pick up the wild card again. If they do, look for another first round exit unless mid-season moves are made.
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Well looking only at several NL teams, I'd say both the Cubs and the Dodgers have a pretty strong chance of leading the NL division with Yankee's Joe Torre now coaching the Dodgers and with a strong season for the Cubs.
As for the Houston Astros, things might be looking a bit better for them this year. 3B Berkman is recovering from his hitting slump from last year and Lee is scoring more runs and left field hits, but I think the biggest most unusual part of the team is thier NEW Japanese second baseman Kazhiko Matsui who's been preforming strongly in the spring training he shows alot of promise, now all the Astros have to do is fix thier broken bullpen.
Here's how I see it:
NL West.
5. Rockies.
4. Diamondbacks.
3. Giants.
2. Padres.
1. L.A. Dodgers.
NL Central.
5. Brewers.
4.Cardinals.
3.Reds.
2. Astros.
1. Cubs.
NL East.
5. Marlins.
4. Nets.
3. Nationals.
2. Braves.
1.Phllilies.
Wow, so the Nats and Braves are going to finish ahead of the Mets and the Giants are going to finish third? Matsui may be new to Houston but he's been around awhile, having played for the Mets and the NL Champion Rockies.
Are you sure you watch baseball? Who lists the standings from last to first anyway?
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PS: The Nets are a basketball team.
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Wow, so the Nats and Braves are going to finish ahead of the Mets and the Giants are going to finish third? Matsui may be new to Houston but he's been around awhile, having played for the Mets and the NL Champion Rockies.
Are you sure you watch baseball? Who lists the standings from last to first anyway?
Agreed. The NL West is a four team race and the Giants are the only team not in it. They have a couple of good young pitchers in Cain (can't remember an unluckier pitcher than him last season) and Linceum, but that line-up is weak as Hell.
No way the Mets, even without Johan Santana, are a fourth place team either.
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Oakland Athletics
2007 Payroll: $79.3 million, 17th in MLB
2007 Record: 76-86, 3rd ALWest
Key Transactions: Traded SP Dan Haren to ARI, traded OF Nick Swisher to CWS, traded OF Mark Kotsay to ATL
Projected Lineup/age:
C Kurt Suzuki/24
1B Daric Barton/22
2B Mark Ellis/30
3B Eric Chavez/30
SS Bobby Crosby/28
LF Emil Brown/33
CF Chris Denorfia/27
RF Travis Buck/24
DH Jack Cust/29
Starting Rotation:
Joe Blanton/27
Rich Harden/26
Chad Gaudin/25
Justin Duchscherer/30
Lenny DiNardo/28
Relief Pitching:
Kiko Calero/33
Keith Foulke/35
Alan Embree/38
Santiago Casilla/27
Dallas Braden/24
Huston Street, closer/24
In stark contrast to the Yankees the A's have alot of youth on their roster...perhaps too much. I don't believe GM Billy Beane is expecting this team to compete this year. The way Oakland traded off their best players last year it makes me wonder if Charlie Finley didn't come back from the dead and resume ownership. The starting rotation is solid in the front end with Harden and Blanton, and the bullpen is the one department filled with veterans. I wonder how much Foulke and Embree have left in their tanks, but they should be good influences on all of those kids. The lineup is light hitting, so I don't see the A's blowing out anybody.
It's a shame ownership won't pony up the dough to keep at least some of their talent, and they have provided other teams with lots of stars over the years. Look for Oakland to lose 90+ games and battle Texas for the AL West cellar.
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Up next: Phillies, Pirates, Padres, Giants, Mariners
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New York Yankees
2007 Payroll: $189.6 million, 1st in MLB
2007 Record: 94-68, 2nd Place AL East, AL Wild Card
Lost to CLE in 2007 ALDS 3-1
Key Transactions: none to speak of
Projected Lineup/age:
C Jorge Posada/36
1B Jason Giambi/37
2B Robinson Cano/25
3B Alex Rodriguez/32
SS Derek Jeter/33
LF Johnny Damon/34
CF Melky Cabrera/23
RF Bobby Abreu/33
DH Hideki Matsui/33
Starting Rotation:
Chien-Ming Wang/28
Andy Pettitte/35
Phil Hughes/21
Mike Mussina/39
Ian Kennedy/23
Relief Pitching:
Joba Chamberlain/22
LaTroy Hawkins/35
Kyle Farnsworth/31
Brian Bruney/25
Edwar Ramirez/27
Mariano Rivera, closer/38
*note: I will attempt to be completely unbiased despite my affiliation as a Red Sox fan
What catches my eye the most when looking at the 2008 New York Yankees, which is basically the same team as the year before, is the overall ages. I believe they have the most players over 30 of all the teams I have covered so far. The lineup is killer, but in my opinion has been usurped by Detroit for the best overall lineup in MLB. Giambi is nothing with his juices and cremes, Damon without his beard is like Samson without hair, and after a long, injury-free run Matsui has been awfully injury-prone as of late. Jeter always plays beyond his abilities, Cano is a very good second baseman, and A-Rod will be A-Rod, playing for the New York A-Rod's again this year.
I'm amazed the Yanks didn't go after some arms, in particular one middle rotation guy and some decent bullpen arms. Mussina is spent, bag him and tag him. HGH Pettitte hasn't been the same since left the Bronx the first time, so the young arms need to step up immediately or else the Yanks will have to win every game 15-14. Aside from Joba and Rivera the bullpen is an absolute wreck. The MFY will win 90-95 games and possibly pick up the wild card again. If they do, look for another first round exit unless mid-season moves are made.
Thanks for that nice and balenced look at the Yankees. I wish they had gone after Santana harder, and I do think they need to make a trade or two
before the All Star Break to help shore up the pitching some more.
The only other lineup that impresses besides the Yanks is Detriot's, theirs is VERY damn good and you can make a good argument its prob the best
in the AL when compared to NY and Boston's lineups.
I'm really looking foward to seeing how Hughes, Kennedy and Joba do this season. That's going to be one of the keys all right.
Very nice job Shemps.
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Thanks for the compliment, Justin. I was worried going into that one that I would be too biased, but when you look at them at them on paper the Yankees need some work. Especially considering the improvements Detroit and Seattle have made.
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Philadelphia Phillies
2007 Payroll: $89.4 million, 13th in MLB
2007 Record: 89-73, 1st Place NL East
Lost to COL in 2007 NLDS 3-0
Key Transactions: Signed OF Geoff Jenkins, acquired RP Brad Lidge from HOU
Projected Lineup/age:
C Carlos Ruiz/29
1B Ryan Howard/28
2B Chase Utley/29
3B Pedro Feliz/32
SS Jimmy Rollins/29
LF Pat Burrell/31
CF Shane Victorino/27
RF Geoff Jenkins/33
Starting Rotation:
Cole Hamels/24
Brett Myers/27
Jamie Moyer/45
Kyle Kendrick/23
Adam Eaton/30
Relief Pitching:
Tom Gordon/40
J.C. Romero/31
Ryan Madson/27
Clay Condrey/32
Mike Zagurski/25
Brad Lidge, closer/31
The 2008 Philadelphia Phillies are a very balanced team. They have youth and experience, speed and power, pitching and defense. The addition of Jenkins adds more pop to an already potent lineup featuring Howard, Utley and Rollins. The starting rotation is very goos as well, with young stud Hamels leading the way and veteran Moyer should be a good influence who can still pitch. The bullpen is a good one, Flash Gordon can still go, and Lidge is a great pickup for closer.
I usually hate to go back on my word, but not this time. Although the Mets are the attractive choice after picking up Santana I think the Phillies should be considered the front runners in the NL East...and the National League as a whole.
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Pittsburgh Pirates
2007 Payroll: $38.5 million, 27th in MLB
2007 Record: 68-94, 6th Place NL Central
Projected Lineup/age:
C Ronny Paulino/26
1B Adam LaRoche/28
2B Freddy Sanchez/30
3B Jose Bautista/27
SS Jack Wilson/30
LF Jason Bay/29
CF Nate McLouth/26
RF Xavier Nady/29
Starting Rotation:
Tom Gorzelanny/25
Ian Snell/26
Paul Maholm/25
Matt Morris/33
Zach Duke/24
Relief Pitching:
Damaso Marte/33
John Grabow/29
Byung-Hyun Kim/29
Evan Meek/24
Franquelis Osoria/26
Matt Capps, closer/24
I truely pity the long suffering fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates moreso than any other fans. Every other franchise that has been around since the 1992 season has had at least one good season since...that's the last year the Pirates were relevant. The future in the Steel City does not look to get any brighter, what with a tightwad owner and very little talent. The new ballpark may be beautiful, but the baseball being played there is going to be ugly once again.
While the lineup does have a bit of pop with Bay and LaRouche, and Sanchez will hit .300, the rest of the order is ho-hum at best. The rotation is atrocious and the bullpen is horrible with the exception of Capps, who will most likely not see too many save opportunities again. Despite being in the weakest division in MLB the Pirates are destined for last place once again.
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San Diego Padres
2007 Payroll: $58.1 million, 24th in MLB
2007 Record: 89-74, 3rd Place NL West
Key Transactions: Acquired OF Jim Edmunds from STL, signed 2B Tadahito Iguchi
Projected Lineup/age:
C Josh Bard/30
1B Adrian Gonzalez/25
2B Tadahito Iguchi/33
3B Kevin Kouzmanoff/26
SS Khalil Greene/29
LF Scott Hairston/27
CF Jim Edmunds/37
RF Brian Giles/37
Starting Rotation:
Jake Peavy/26
Chris Young/28
Greg Maddux/41
Randy Wolf/31
Mark Prior/27
Relief Pitching:
Heath Bell/30
Cla Meredith/24
Kevin Cameron/28
Justin Hampson/27
Carlos Guevara/26
Trevor Hoffman, closer/40
The rotation for the 2008 San Diego Padres is stellar to say the least, and if Prior remains healthy and returns to being the Prior of old it will be the best in MLB. The bullpen is shaky but probably will not see much action compared to other bullpens around the league. Trevor Hoffman is a question mark in my eyes: I wonder if the all time saves leader has enough left, especially after the disappointing end to last season.
After Gonzalez and Greene the lineup is rather light, but with that rotation you don't need much of a lineup. It must be difficult to attract sluggers to that pitchers park anyway. The Padres will be right in the thick of a lethal NL West race once again.
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San Francisco Giants
2007 Payroll: $90.21 million, 12th in MLB
2007 Record: 71-91, 5th Place NL West
Key Transactions: Signed OF Aaron Rowand
Projected Lineup/age:
C Bengie Molina/33
1B Dan Ortmeier/26
2B Ray Durham/36
3B Rich Aurilia/36
SS Omar Vizquel/40
LF Dave Roberts/35
CF Aaron Rowand/30
RF Randy Winn/33
Starting Rotation:
Barry Zito/29
Matt Cain/23
Tim Lincecum/23
Kevin Correia/27
Jonathan Sanchez/25
Relief Pitching:
Vinnie Chulk/29
Tyler Walker/31
Brad Hennessey/28
Steve Kline/35
Erick Threets/26
Brian Wilson, closer/26
The 2008 Giants are like the 2008 Yankees; plenty of age in the lineup. The major difference between the two teams is the Yanks lineup is loaded with talent while the Giants lineup is almost void of it. Every single Giant in the starting lineup save Ortmeier is at least in their 30's, and all but Ortmeier and Rowand are 33 or older. Keep in mind this is without Barry Bonds folks.
The rotation shows some promise with Cain and Linececum, and Zito should be able to turn around an off season in '07 and start justifying his gaudy contract. Still, with that decrepit and almost talentless lineup and a lousy bullpen, not to mention a weak looking ass-end of the rotation, the Giants look like the National League's version of the Baltimore Orioles. SF will be last place with a bullet in a tough NL West and should reach 95-100 losses or more.
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Seattle Mariners
2007 Payroll: $106.4 million, 7th in MLB
2007 Record: 88-74, 2nd in AL West
Key Transactions: Acquired SP Erik Bedard from BAL, signed OF Brad Wilkerson, signed SP Carlos Silva
Projected Lineup/age:
C Kenji Johjima/31
1B Richie Sexson/33
2B Jose Lopez/24
3B Adrian Beltre/28
SS Yuniesky Betancourt/26
LF Raul Ibanez/35
CF Ichiro Suzuki/34
RF Brad Wilkerson/30
DH Jose Vidro/33
Starting Rotation:
Erik Bedard/29
Felix Hernandez/21
Carlos Silva/28
Jarrod Washburn/33
Miguel Batista/37
Relief Pitching:
Brandon Morrow/23
Sean White/26
Cesar Jimenez/23
Eric O'Flaherty/23
Cha Seung Baek/27
J.J. Putz, closer/31
The Seattle Mariners are most definately ready to contend in 2008. There is nary a weakness to be had in that lineup, led by perhaps the best pure hitter in the game in Ichiro. Brad "the last Expo" Wilkerson is a great, overlooked addition for his defensive prowess and the balls to the wall way he plays the game. The starting rotation is one of the top 5 in the game with strikeout king Bedard joining King Felix, whom will only get better. Silva is a great addition to the middle of the rotation, and most teams would love to have Washburn and Bautista for an ass end.
The one glaring weakness is the bullpen before closer extraordinaire J.J. Putz. It may have potential but is extremely green. The addition of a solid vet would probably work wonders. The Mariners will help muddy things up in the AL West and AL Wild Card races, and could possibly win one or the other.
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I'll wrap things up tomorrow with the Cardinals, Rays, Rangers, Blue Jays and Nationals.
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Wow, so the Nats and Braves are going to finish ahead of the Mets and the Giants are going to finish third? Matsui may be new to Houston but he's been around awhile, having played for the Mets and the NL Champion Rockies.
Are you sure you watch baseball? Who lists the standings from last to first anyway?
Well yeah I do watch Baseball, while I'm NOT new to it at all, I used watch Baseball till they cancelled the world Series in 1994, I was so bitter I didn't start watching it a again until 2005.
My mistake, I met to say the Mets. And from what I've heard things aren't looking to good for them this season with a low BA and sloppy bullpen they may fall victim to the Braves who have the unique ablility to take advantage of a teams poor bullpen.
As for on the AL side, I'd say the Mariners and Angels will have pretty good season in the AL West maybe the strong BA and I can recall Suzuki faring well against the White Sox despite their well balanced bullpen. To be honest I'd love to see the Mariners sweep the Sox in a 4 game streak. As for the Angels, they were remarkable last season and I look forward to see strong again in '08.
on the AL central, I honestly say I HATE the White Sox. I'd be much rather see thier manager Ozzie Gullien removed from team then to see them have another streak of pathetic errors and poor fielding. the rate of errors from thier baseman that would give the opposing team the upper hand last season was just laughable. It's going to be interesting to see how they'll fare against the Tigers and Indians, after all Dye was on DL for most of last season and considering that thier veteran CF Iguchi got traded last year(Do you know where?) I wonder how Swisher will fare in Iguchi's shoes?
The Indians seemed to have a strong season finishing first in the AL central, but could the Tigers overcome that close-but-no cigar season of 2007 and have another 2006 strong season? That's the million dollar question.
The AL East. There's no question about it, the Red sox are a force to be reconed with. Not only does the team now have two new modern WS titles 2004 and 2007, but thier batting lineup is amazing. Last year, they outhit every AL team. Will the NEW lineup add fuel to the fire? only you know Shemps#1.
As for the Yankees well it's obvious thier heyday is over. I don't think we'll see another era of the team winning a handfull of titles like we did in the 1940's and 90s, rocked by scandal on thier bullpen with the steriod allegations, and the departure of thier much loved manager Torre who ditched them for the legendary L.A. Dodgers who were once the sworn enemies of the Yanks, it's time for the Yankees to sit down for a while and let other teams take there spotlight.
Well you do have a point about the NL west after all, the Diamondbacks are unpredictable. the Hurdle both the Dodgers and Padres have to overcome as well as the Astros, is there a way to stop there starting lineup which usaully what helps them stop a team from catching up in runs scored. the anwser lies in the the preformance of the teams' bullpens.
Well the Giants have always been my favorite team, but I'm sorry to say the the lost of Bonds is going to come back and bite them, meaning they'll regret throwing Barry under the bus. There bullpen has been great,but not even the amazing young pitcher and brillant pitchhitter Linececum will be able to save them this year.
I really hope that the Astros can come in strong in the central division, they've really got to fix thier bullpen especially with Qualls and Rodriguez, I don't think we'll see much of Lidge because Sampson will be busy trying to make up for his sudden slump last summer( reminder Sampson did an excellent job saving face for Roger clemens in 2006).
As for there batting lineup, there's much hope. Berkman has completely recovered from his shocking poor season and is batting and scoring more frenquently. There's tremendous pressure on Matsui to full the shoes of veteran 2B Craig Biggio and for the team since it hopes them having a Japanese player can help give them some popluarity. Pence was incredible as a young rookie last year and there's some sign he'll preform even better. Lee did well last year, but can he increase his B.A. and do a better fielding job?Wigginton did well, but he caused too many errors and forced the team to be outhit and outplayed in thier chances to groundout the opposing teams.
All these are good signs that things will be much better for the Astros this year, the fans really hope the Astros can outpreform the Cubs. If they fare strong with about 77-62, they have a change of grabbing the pennat again so they can try to make up for the WS cheat they recieved by the White Sox in '05.
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The Red Sox have the same lineup from last year; I don't know what this "new" lineup you speak of is.
The Braves are not going to be factor this season or next most likely. Their rotation is aged and their lineup, excluding Teixeira, has hardly any pop. The Mets will have more problems with the Phillies, the team that caught them in the standings last season and got better by shoring up their rotation...i.e. getting rid of Lieber. Also, Torre did not ditch the Yankees, they ditched him. They gave him a low ball, incentive-laden offer that was designed to insult him so he'd turn it down. Iguchi is a second baseman, not an outfielder. He is playing for the Padres this year. Batting wise Swisher is an upgrade, but comparing the two is comparing apples to oranges.
Their are quite a few errors in your post I imagine I didn't cover them all. Feel free to check out my pseudo-scouting reports on every team, which I am about to finish up. Without sounding too egotistical I think I've done a decent job on them, what with a little research and having been a diehard baseball fan for the majority of my life.
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In all seriousness about that Red Sox line-up, I'm hoping Ellsbury will be the spark everyone thinks he will be, 'casue the Red Sox can really use that true lead-off hitter (speed, good contact, good OBP guy), they've never really had since losing Johnny Damon. Pedroia and Youklis are great, but their lack of speed make them better suted as #2 types while Lugo and Crisp have both been busts offensively (and defensively for the former). Ellsbury certainly has the tools, and I'm looking forward seeing more of him.
Thankfully, the 2007 line-up came through huge in the post-season, but let's also remember in the regular season, they were not a very good clutch hitting team. Again, with Ellsbury and a seemingly improved J.D. Drew, along with the confidence a World Series ring can bring, I'm hoping for a little more 9th inning fire than we saw last regular season.
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St. Louis Cardinals
2007 Payroll: $90.28 million, 11th in MLB
2007 Record:78-84, 3rd Place NL Central
Key Transactions: Acquired 3B Troy Glaus from TOR for 3B Scott Rolen, signed SS Cesar Izturis
Projected Lineup/age:
C Yadier Molina/25
1B Albert Pujols/28
2B Adam Kennedy/32
3B Troy Glaus/31
SS Cesar Izturis/28
LF Chris Duncan/26
CF Rick Ankiel/28
RF Skip Schumaker/28
Starting Rotation:
Adam Wainwright/26
Braden Looper/33
Joel Pineiro/29
Anthony Reyes/26
Kyle Lohse/29
Relief Pitching:
Ryan Franklin/35
Russ Springer/39
Randy Flores/32
Tyler Johnson/26
Todd Wellemeyer/29
Jason Isringhausen, closer/35
A couple of seasons after winning the World Series the Cardinals are in shanbles. On the plus side, Glaus should provide good backup in the batting order for Pujols. The rest of the lineup is not going to make any opposing pitcher sweat. The starting rotation should be counted among the weakest in the league, with what looks to me like a bunch of #5 and spot starters. The bullpen is long in the tooth and not very good, Isringhausen has spent more time on the DL in the past few seasons than off.
I don't think the redbirds are going to take the cellar in the weak NL Central, but they definately aren't going to challenge for the championship either. I predict a season of at least 90 losses.
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Tampa Bay Rays
2007 Payroll: $24.1 million, 30th in MLB
2007 Record: 66-96, 5th Place AL East
Key Transactions: Signed RP Troy Percival, signed OF Cliff Floyd
Projected Lineup/age:
C Dioner Navarro/24
1B Carlos Pena/29
2B Akinori Iwamura/29
3B Evan Longoria/22
SS Jason Bartlett/29
LF Carl Crawford/26
CF B.J. Upton/23
RF Jonny Gomes/27
DH Cliff Floyd/35
Starting Rotation:
James Shields/26
Scott Kazmir/24
Matt Garza/24
Edwin Jackson/24
Andy Sonnanstine/25
Relief Pitching:
Al Reyes/37
Dan Wheeler/30
Gary Glover/31
Scott Dohmann/30
Grant Balfour/30
Troy Percival, closer/38
As usual the former Devil Rays are very young (except for the bullpen), but there is alot of potential on this roster. The 1-2 punch in the rotation of Shields and Kazmir is a great one, and the rest of the rotation can be at least decent if not formidable. The lineup looks great with Pena, Crawford, Iwamura and Floyd, who should provide some veteran leadership that is sorely needed. The bullpen is alright, but I wonder how much Percival has left in the tank.
The Rays are still awhile off before seriously contending in the AL East, and the real challenge will be if ownership can keep this nucleus intact. This is key to not only winning in the future but building ties with Tampa sports fans and putting more asses in seats. Tampa should post their best record yet and land in 4th place, but should still be south of the .500 mark.
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Texas Rangers
2007 Payroll: $68.3 million, 21st in MLB
2007 Record: 75-87, 4th Place AL West
Key Transactions: Signed RP Eddie Guardado, signed RP Kazuo Fukumori
Projected Lineup/age:
C Gerald Laird/28
1B Ben Broussard/31
2B Ian Kinsler/25
3B Hank Blalock/27
SS Michael Young/31
LF Marlon Byrd/30
CF Josh Hamilton/26
RF Milton Bradley/29
DH Frank Catalanotto/33
Starting Rotation:
Kevin Millwood/33
Vicente Padilla/30
Jason Jennings/29
Kason Gabbard/25
Luis Mendoza/24
Relief Pitching:
Joaquin Benoit/30
Kazuo Fukumori/31
Eddie Guardado/37
Frank Francisco/28
Wes Littleton/25
C.J. Wilson, closer/27
The 2008 Texas Rangers are a rather uninteresting team on paper. There isn't much to say about the lineup...it's average at best. The starting rotation can use some work, Millwood is overrated but Gabbard can mature into a solid middle reliever. The bullpen is going to give up runs, perhaps Fukumori can prove to be a bright spot.
The Rangers will improve their rank in the AL West standings not because the team has gotten any better but because OAK has gotten worse. Thier record this year should be similar to what it was last year.
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Toronto Blue Jays
2007 Payroll: $81.9 million, 16th in MLB
2007 Record: 83-79, 3rd Place AL East
Key Transactions: Signed RP Armando Benitez, signed SS David Eckstein
Projected Lineup/age:
C Gregg Zaun/36
1B Lyle Overbay/31
2B Aaron Hill/26
3B Scott Rolen/32
SS David Eckstein/33
LF Reed Johnson/31
CF Vernon Wells/29
RF Alex Rios/27
DH Frank Thomas/39
Starting Pitching:
Roy Halladay/30
A.J. Burnett/31
Dustin McGowan/26
Shaun Marcum/26
Jesse Litsch/23
Relief Pitching:
Jason Frasor/30
Scott Downs/32
Brian Tallet/30
Brian Wolfe/27
Brandon League/26
B.J. Ryan, closer/32
Jeremy Accardo, closer/26
The Blue Jays should be nipping on the heels of the Red Sox and Yankees, perhaps closer than in years past. In order for that to happen Vernon Wells needs to return to his former glory and hope last year was just an off one. The rest of the lineup is potent with Rios and Thomas, the latter whom can still knock one out despite reaching his 40's before season's end.
The rotation is of course fronted by Halladay, whom you practically have to drag off the mound every game. He's an old school type pitcher who doesn't worry about pitch count and probably should have gotten the Cy Young last year. The Jays have two closers listed, both of whom are more than competent...it all depends on whether or not Ryan can remain healthy. Toronto should remain in 3rd Place, but could very well shake things up in the AL East.
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S#1, I already gave you a karma point for your baseball analysis. But I just noticed this, and couldn't pass it up!
I've seen all of them accept I Like it Black and Deep in My Ass 7.
Don't you mean "except"?
"Accept" means 'to receive, esp. willingly'.
:o :P :o
James
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Washington Nationals
2007 Payroll: $37.3 million, 28th in MLB
2007 Record: 73-89, 4th Place NL East
Key Transactions: Acquired OF Lastings Milledge from NYM, signed C Paul LoDuca
Projected Lineup/age:
C Paul LoDuca/35
1B Dmitri Young/34
2B Ronnie Belliard/32
3B Ryan Zimmerman/23
SS Cristian Guzman/30
LF Elijah Dukes/23
CF Lastings Milledge/22
RF Austin Kearns/27
Starting Rotation:
Shawn Hill/26
John Patterson/30
Jason Bergmann/26
John Lannan/23
Matt Chico/24
Relief Pitching:
Jon Rauch/29
Luis Ayala/30
Ryan Wagner/25
Jesus Colome/30
Saul Rivera/30
Chad Cordero, closer/26
The Washington Nationals are truely a team in transition. New ownership is more concerned about getting a new ballpark than trying to contend at the moment, and the team they inherited wasn't very good to begin with. Guzman is one of the worst hitters in the league, I'll be shocked if he keeps his job by season's end. The have Milledge, but I am personally not high on him (neither were the Mets anymore). The pitching is horrendous with the exception of closer Cordero.
The Nats will remain in 4th Place and can take pride in the fact that they are not the Florida Marlins.
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S#1, I already gave you a karma point for your baseball analysis. But I just noticed this, and couldn't pass it up!
Don't you mean "except"?
"Accept" means 'to receive, esp. willingly'.
:o :P :o
James
Actually I had meant to say "I like to accept them black and deep in my ass" but I was typing in the dark again.
The rundowns are now complete. <bows>
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Toronto Blue Jays
2007 Payroll: $81.9 million, 16th in MLB
2007 Record: 83-79, 3rd Place AL East
Key Transactions: Signed RP Armando Benitez, signed SS David Eckstein
Projected Lineup/age:
C Gregg Zaun/36
1B Lyle Overbay/31
2B Aaron Hill/26
3B Scott Rolen/32
SS David Eckstein/33
LF Reed Johnson/31
CF Vernon Wells/29
RF Alex Rios/27
DH Frank Thomas/39
Starting Pitching:
Roy Halladay/30
A.J. Burnett/31
Dustin McGowan/26
Shaun Marcum/26
Jesse Litsch/23
Relief Pitching:
Jason Frasor/30
Scott Downs/32
Brian Tallet/30
Brian Wolfe/27
Brandon League/26
B.J. Ryan, closer/32
Jeremy Accardo, closer/26
The Blue Jays should be nipping on the heels of the Red Sox and Yankees, perhaps closer than in years past. In order for that to happen Vernon Wells needs to return to his former glory and hope last year was just an off one. The rest of the lineup is potent with Rios and Thomas, the latter whom can still knock one out despite reaching his 40's before season's end.
The rotation is of course fronted by Halladay, whom you practically have to drag off the mound every game. He's an old school type pitcher who doesn't worry about pitch count and probably should have gotten the Cy Young last year. The Jays have two closers listed, both of whom are more than competent...it all depends on whether or not Ryan can remain healthy. Toronto should remain in 3rd Place, but could very well shake things up in the AL East.
I totally agree with you on the Blue Jays, watching them live in action vs the Yankess last season I was very impressed by how much they have
improved the team. They are the only other team in the East I worry about besides Boston. They still need a few more things but they are solid and
will def finish in 3rd place again easy. NY and Boston better not underestimate them.
If I get to go to another Yankee game this season, I'll gladly go to one vs the Blue Jays. If they keep at this
they can finally put together a team to win the World Series again like they did in back to back seasons in the early 90's.
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The Red Sox start the season off right in Tokyo with a 6-5 10 inning victory against the Oakland Athletics. Brandon Moss, a last minute replacement for JD Drew, tied the game at 4-4 with a solo homer off of closer Huston Street, and Manny Ramirez broke the tie in the 10th with a two run double. Okajima got the win in relief while Street picked up the loss. Boston is 1-0 while Oakland is 0-1.
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S#1,
Did they show it tape-delayed in Boston?
I'm not all that excited about regular season games being played 1/2 a world away in Japan. MLB doesn't need to introduce baseball there, they have their own leagues. It must be that MLB is using games there as a recruiting tool.
MLB teams against Japanese teams in exhibition/pre-season makes more sense.
MLB teams against each other in Latin America (Pre or early regular season), makes more sense because of the time zone differences (minimal jet lag), real-time media coverage, and the # of Latin American players in MLB. It would be a good PR move for MLB.
James
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Still not too late for predictions, so here goes -
1. NYY
2. BOS
3. TOR
4. TB
5. BAL
1. CLE
2. DET
3. CHW
4. MIN
5. KC
1. LAA
2. SEA
3. OAK
4. TEX
1. NYM
2. PHI
3. ATL
4. FLA
5. WAS
1. CHC
2. MIL
3. CIN
4. HOU
5. PIT
6. STL
1. ARI
2. SD
3. COL
4. SF
AL WC = BOS
NL WC = MIL
AL MVP = Sizemore
NL MVP = Wright
AL ROY = Longoria
NL ROY = Fukudome
AL CY = Beckett
NL CY = Santana
WS = NYM over CLE in 6
1ST MGR fired: Gibbons (TOR)
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Pittsburgh Pirates
2007 Payroll: $38.5 million, 27th in MLB
2007 Record: 68-94, 6th Place NL Central
I truely pity the long suffering fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates moreso than any other fans. Every other franchise that has been around since the 1992 season has had at least one good season since...that's the last year the Pirates were relevant. The future in the Steel City does not look to get any brighter, what with a tightwad owner and very little talent. The new ballpark may be beautiful, but the baseball being played there is going to be ugly once again.
While the lineup does have a bit of pop with Bay and LaRouche, and Sanchez will hit .300, the rest of the order is ho-hum at best. The rotation is atrocious and the bullpen is horrible with the exception of Capps, who will most likely not see too many save opportunities again. Despite being in the weakest division in MLB the Pirates are destined for last place once again.
It's pretty bad! I even worked for the Pirates back in the 1996 season, and I didn't go to games!
One thing that is good: we got a new pitching coach. The old coach really messed some of the guys up, and the bullpen is doing real well in spring training.
Oh, please....just .500! [banghead]
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Well, the Yankess finally got to start the season yesteday and did it in a good fashion. They won
their 11th straight home opener, which is a new record from what ive heard. Beat the Blue Jays
3-2, close game but they got it done and gave Girardi his first win as Yankee Skipper.
The Mets sure learned quick that getting Santana was good since he won them their home opener
also, but they lost to the Marlins in extra innings last night, and Pedro is hurt AGAIN, what a shocker ::)
Any surprises or dissapointments for any one else?
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No surprises here. Only two games in and the Cubs are already tanking.
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KC over the Tigers twice? >:(
James
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KC over the Tigers twice? >:(
James
I was suprised by that, the Tigers are def a contender this year. Either their off to a bad
start or the Royals are better than people think.
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Yeah, who's this Bannister guy out of KC? Did a heck of a job today against a tough line-up. But Tigers fans, I wouldn't worry, the Nationals have the best record in baseball right now, which means there's PLENTY of baseball left.
Speaking of which, the Nats friggin' one-hit the Phils and ruined Cole Hamels great performance today. Do the Phillies EVER get off to a strong start?
As for Boston, taking 3 out of 4 from Oakland is something I can live with. I have the Comcast Extra Innings package this season so I can watch all the games. Watching Paps defend that 2 - 1 lead and striking out the side gave me that adrenalin rush I've been missing all winter. I'm always intense when Paps is out there, so I'm glad baseball's back.
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As for Pedro? Still love the guy, always will, but I can't say I'm shocked with what happened.
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Oh, and congratulatios to Kevin Youklis for setting a major league record today! YOUK!
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080402&content_id=2484761&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb
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Hey James..... How did you like the series against the White Sox this week-end ?
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I watched the Red Sox Vs. Blue Jays game today. The Jays announcers quoted Roy Halladay as saying Toronto plays New York and Boston fine, it's the other teams they need to turn it up for. Boston has the reverse problem, unfortunately. With their shortened spring training, this ridiculous Japan trip, and they fact thy always struggle against Toronto, this series had disaster written all over it. Didn't the Yanks have similar problems in '04 after they went to Japan?
Boston will be fine once they settle into a groove, trade Crisp for some middle relief, and if he's ready, have Jed Lowrie replace Julio Lugo around the all-star break. At the same time, you don't want to rush prospects (see Hansen, Craig), so we'll have to wait and see.
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>:(
Fuck you! >:D
:D
James
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>:(
Fuck you! >:D
:D
James
Best of luck to you guys starting Friday.
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I watched the Red Sox Vs. Blue Jays game today. The Jays announcers quoted Roy Halladay as saying Toronto plays New York and Boston fine, it's the other teams they need to turn it up for. Boston has the reverse problem, unfortunately. With their shortened spring training, this ridiculous Japan trip, and they fact thy always struggle against Toronto, this series had disaster written all over it. Didn't the Yanks have similar problems in '04 after they went to Japan?
Boston will be fine once they settle into a groove, trade Crisp for some middle relief, and if he's ready, have Jed Lowrie replace Julio Lugo around the all-star break. At the same time, you don't want to rush prospects (see Hansen, Craig), so we'll have to wait and see.
If I recall I think they did have it a bit rough after their Japan tour in 04, you cant rule out that long trip + jet lag in that situation.
Yankess ran into a similar problem this weekend with Tampa Bay, the Rays are no basement feeder in the AL East anymore. Kennedy and Pettitte
had really bad outings which didnt help matters. Thankfully Wang has been bringing the goods to start the season as he had a 4 hit shut out to keep
Tampa from sweeping the Yanks at home on Sunday. Hopefully we can bounce back vs the Royals before we have our first Yankee/Red Sox series of
the year next weekend. Wang, Hughes, Joba and Rivera have all been very good to start the season which made me happy.
Yeah, the Blue Jays give the Red Sox and Yankess a challenge every time they face off, I saw that first hand when I went to a Yankees/Blue Jays
game in NY last September. If they played like that more consistantly they could give both our teams a run for the money in the division, but for now
Toronto is firmly stuck in 3rd untill it gets a few more tools into its arsenal. I have alot of respect for the Blue Jays.
James: Sorry your Tigers are off to a horrible start, that has got to be fustrating with all the high expectations put on them with the moves
they made in the offseason. I think their going to bounce back soon though, but they def need to work on their bullpen from what Ive seen.
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If I recall I think they did have it a bit rough after their Japan tour in 04, you cant rule out that long trip + jet lag in that situation.
Yankess ran into a similar problem this weekend with Tampa Bay, the Rays are no basement feeder in the AL East anymore. Kennedy and Pettitte
had really bad outings which didnt help matters. Thankfully Wang has been bringing the goods to start the season as he had a 4 hit shut out to keep
Tampa from sweeping the Yanks at home on Sunday. Hopefully we can bounce back vs the Royals before we have our first Yankee/Red Sox series of
the year next weekend. Wang, Hughes, Joba and Rivera have all been very good to start the season which made me happy.
Yeah, the Blue Jays give the Red Sox and Yankess a challenge every time they face off, I saw that first hand when I went to a Yankees/Blue Jays
game in NY last September. If they played like that more consistantly they could give both our teams a run for the money in the division, but for now
Toronto is firmly stuck in 3rd untill it gets a few more tools into its arsenal. I have alot of respect for the Blue Jays.
James: Sorry your Tigers are off to a horrible start, that has got to be fustrating with all the high expectations put on them with the moves
they made in the offseason. I think their going to bounce back soon though, but they def need to work on their bullpen from what Ive seen.
The Jays have a good line-up, good bullpen, and a good rotation. If they stay helathy, I see no reason why they can't compete.
As a Red Sox fan, they give me nightmares. Part of it is because when I was a young teen, the 1992 and 1993 Jays were always ahead of us (I still get the chills from Oakland too for some reason, even though the Roid Bros. and Dave Stewart are long gone), and they frankly pants us more times than not. The irony is Roy Halladay is the Jays pitcher we hit best, it's guys like Sean Marcum and Gustavo Chacin (though I think the latter may be gone, finally), that always beat us. Plus, they've won the last seven times we faced them. Believe me, I wish Toronto can move out west and the Angels would move east.
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Don't worry, it's still early. I don't think KC is for real, and I don't see White Sox pitching holding up much longer. Detroit has too much talent to stay dormant much longer. But on the other hand, no one has won the World series after losing the first six games. It used to be four games but Boston changed that. ;D
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One great thing about te Red Sox having Barolo Colon is you get great headlines like this:
Sox postpone Colon's medical exam
Will we see future headlines like:
Colon pounded.
Colon stinks as Sox drop third straight.
Clean outing for Colon.
Colon's a gas in the clubhouse.
Colon looking strong as he rips past the Yanks.
Something to ponder, folks.
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What I find interesting is the Yankees and Red Sox are both 4 and 4 right now and BALTIMORE
is 6 and 1? That's not going to last very long but its kinda weird to see them on top when
I know for a fact their the weakest team in the AL East.
Hopefully Jeter will be rested enough when we play the Red Sox this weekend. But Im not
holding my breath.
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Baltimore is not going to remain in first place and Detroit isn't going to remain in the cellar. It's still early folks.
What is cause for concern in Detroit is that along with being 0-7 they also now have the second highest payroll in MLB ($139 million, Boston is $133 million).
How did the Sox payroll lower despite keeping just about everybody?
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How did the Sox payroll lower despite keeping just about everybody?
Five or six million less on Schilling.
I'm assuming Cash is cheaper than Mirabelli, though that may be pinching pennies.
Don't have to pay Eric Gagne.
Next year, we don't have to pay Edgar Renteria anymore.
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Boston will be fine once they settle into a groove, trade Crisp for some middle relief, and if he's ready, have Jed Lowrie replace Julio Lugo around the all-star break. At the same time, you don't want to rush prospects (see Hansen, Craig), so we'll have to wait and see.
I made this quote before Lowrie saw his first major league pitch. Now that Lowrie has played a few games, he looks great. You can't say these things for sure with such a small sample size, but you can pretty much guarantee that Lowrie at his worst is better than Julio Lugo. God damn 4 year, 9 million contract!
I have the Comcast MLB package this year and am watching about all the Red Sox games when I can plus various other games. Mankind's greatest invention.
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Well, the injury bug continues to plaque the Yankees, Posada went on the DL for the first time in his career
last week due to a shoulder problem and now A-Rod is headed there due to that strained quad muscle.
Hughes continues to struggle, i dont know whats wrong with him.
So i'm impressed their at .500 despite all the injuries and pitching problems. I'm shocked Mussina has won
his last two starts and has pitched well, dont know if this is going to last but I'll take what I can get
from him right now. Also alot of guys have stepped up and started hitting like Damon, Melky, Cano,
esp Matsui. Even Giambi is getting a few hits, though I still think they prob need to dump him eventually.
His defense at first base is a nightmare.
Anyone else happy or dissapointed with their teams' performance so far?
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<----- Disappointed
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Well, the injury bug continues to plaque the Yankees, Posada went on the DL for the first time in his career
last week due to a shoulder problem and now A-Rod is headed there due to that strained quad muscle.
Hughes continues to struggle, i dont know whats wrong with him.
So i'm impressed their at .500 despite all the injuries and pitching problems. I'm shocked Mussina has won
his last two starts and has pitched well, dont know if this is going to last but I'll take what I can get
from him right now. Also alot of guys have stepped up and started hitting like Damon, Melky, Cano,
esp Matsui. Even Giambi is getting a few hits, though I still think they prob need to dump him eventually.
His defense at first base is a nightmare.
Anyone else happy or dissapointed with their teams' performance so far?
I thought Hughes would pitch much better than he has, though he may still step up, it's only April. The Yankees are going through a transistional phase right now. They're either too young or too old, but I still think they have what it takes to compete, though the potential loss of Posada could be harmful. The two seasons Varitek went on the DL were disasterous for Boston, and while I don't think Posada's the "captain," he's certainly an important part of the Yankee chemistry. Wang's been great for you guys, though, and that duel with Sabbathia on Sunday was pretty tense, as was last night's Boston Vs. Toronto game (easily one of the best ball games I've ever seen). Lester matched that awesome game he had against Kansas City in '06 (same innings, runs, hits, and walk totals), and any team has to thank their lucky stars when they beat Roy Halladay at his best.
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As for the Red Sox, I think they've had more late inning clutch hits in the month of April than they had in the entire 2007 regular season. Unfortunately, the pitching hasn't been as good, and that's what wins championships. The last three games have been very promising as far as the starting pitching goes, and that should hopefully rest up and improve the bullpen. If the offense and pitching can finally click at the same time, then the Red Sox should be fine. April hasn't been the best month due to injuries and most importantly, a flu virus that has swarmed the club house. Still we're 16 - 12, one win away from another guaranteed season of .100 baseball! Woo-hoo!
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Another strong pitching performance leading to another non-win for a starter, but Boston pulls off a 2 - 1 win on Varitek's walk-off. I think this ties the walk-off mark for last season (which in turn means Papelbon has more wins than last season), if I'm not mistaken. If the pitching can stay strong and the offense can heal, the Red Sox should be in fine shape. Weird being ahead in the division with Tampa Bay and Balimore as our main competition, but it's still very early and I imagine that'll change.
Phil Hughes on the DL, either Rasner or Igawa likely to replace him.
Cliff Lee of the Indians in April; 5 - 0 0.96 ERA!
Barry Zito is 0 - 6 with a plus 7 ERA and is now in the Giants pen. Possibly the biggest contractual bust ever.
John Smoltz is back in the pen when he returns from the DL.
I'm so glad baseball's back.
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Here's a typical "Toldyaso": "I'd been saying for the past couple of years that if the league ever figured out how to pitch Ryan Howard, he'd be in big trouble. Well, it looks like they have and, at least for now, he is. They'd be better off with Moe Howard hitting cleanup."
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/sports/20080513_Bill_Conlin__Suddenly_there_are_more_experts_than_strikeouts_in_Ryan_Howard_s_slump.html
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Ryan Howard's a young, talented guy, and he'll be fine if he can make adjustments. It's what all big league players have to do.
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Don't usually like to brag, but this one's too good to pass up. A little less than two years ago, the Red Sox were a woefully injured team already when news came around that our 23 year old pitcher, Jon Lester, had cancer. He survives it, pitches 5 2/3 scorless in a World Series clinching win, and tonight, this.
BOSTON -- There was never a question about Jon Lester's poise or his promising arsenal of pitches. It's just that he never put it all together quite like Monday night, when he thrilled the Fenway Park faithful -- not to mention his teammates -- by throwing a no-hitter against the Kansas City Royals.
The Boston lefty was magnificent, walking just two batters while leading the Red Sox to a 7-0 victory over the Royals.
Instead of tiring, Lester only got stronger as the night wore on. Over the final five innings, it seemed the Royals were struggling just to make solid contact.
Not only was this Lester's first no-hitter, but it was also his first complete game.
And it was the second no-hitter in as many seasons for the Sox. Clay Buchholz, a product of the Red Sox's farm system just like Lester, did the honors last Sept. 1 against the Orioles.
The Red Sox have had four no-hitters in the 21st century. Hideo Nomo threw one in Baltimore in 2001, and Derek Lowe no-hit the Rays in '02. Of those four no-hitters, only Nomo's took place away from Fenway Park.
Jason Varitek caught all four, tying Ray Schalk of the White Sox for the Major League record.
Lester didn't need much in the way of offensive support, but the Red Sox gave him plenty to work with by breaking out for five runs in the bottom of the third.
With runners at the corners and nobody out, the first run came home on a 5-4-3 double-play ball off the bat of Julio Lugo. Jacoby Ellsbury instantly started a new rally, belting a triple to center. Luke Hochevar then melted down with his control, walking three straight batters. The third to Manny Ramirez forced in a run. Mike Lowell followed with a popup to second that turned into a nightmare for the Royals. Mark Grudzielanek dropped the ball, allowing two runs to score. Kevin Youkilis made it 5-0 with a ground-rule double to right.
What was striking about Lester was how easily he was getting through the Kansas City lineup. His control was impeccable, and just about all of the outs were routine. Only a terrific diving catch by Ellsbury to rob Jose Guillen at the end of the fourth inning stood out from a defensive standpoint
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I caught this on the news this morning. Lymphoma(?) survivor pitches no-hitter. Remarkable.
James
PS. Go Red Wings! Win the Stanley Cup!
PPS. I now see the "Attach" stuff. Thanks Rob!
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Well, the Red Sox started off a little shaky but they are doing well now! Go Sox!
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The Red Sox have a perfect game against them through 5 tonight. The Red Sox never hit in Oakland. Got a great team this year, but I hate west coast games for so many reasons.
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Phew! Ortiz breaks up the no-no in the 7th. Still a great job by this A's pitcher (whose name I won't attempt to spell).
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Soooooooooo, is anybody else watching baseball lately?
The Phils score 20 today while Detroit and the Angels are duking it out scoreless in the 12th as I type. This is one of the reasons why baseball's the greatest game.
PS: ...and since I have the MLB package, I'm watching the latter game. Best $160 I ever spent.
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Sorry. Wings & Pissed-ons win. Can't watch 3 games at once.
I get CBC from Windsor Ontario for free! :D
James
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Soooooooooo, is anybody else watching baseball lately?
No, haven't kept up with my Sox in a while. Too busy. You'll have to keep me posted. ;D
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No, haven't kept up with my Sox in a while. Too busy. You'll have to keep me posted. ;D
The skinny on the 2008 team so far: Great at home, awful on the road, especially out west. I'll be at the game in Baltimore on Saturday, hoping I catch Manny Ramirez's 500th home run.
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ah, the west...the site of so many Red Sox graves, as cited by Stephen King in his biography of the 2004 world series winning Sox, eh, metaldams?
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ah, the west...the site of so many Red Sox graves, as cited by Stephen King in his biography of the 2004 world series winning Sox, eh, metaldams?
I wonder why that is? I know the time zone difference could be a factor, but I wonder if the parks or atmosphere are just so different out there that it doesn't suit a team built to hit at Fenway.
Then again, Daniel Cabrera pitched well against us tonight, who until this season we owned. I can take being one hit by a great pitcher like Erik Bedard, but I can't stand Daniel Cabrera. No respect.
At least Hansen showed some guts tonight, let's hope the Sox can get something going in the 12th.
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Here's another old adage for you, a flat sinker is the equivalent of a batting practice fastball: just ask Derek Lowe.
Let's kick this thread off right, with prognostications. Who do you guys think will make the postseason in each league? Here are my pre-season picks:
AL EAST: BOSTON RED SOX
AL CENTRAL: CLEVELAND INDIANS
AL WEST: ANAHEIM ANGELS
AL WILD CARD: DETROIT TIGERS
other teams with winning records: Yankees, Mariners, Blue Jays
NL EAST: NEW YORK METS
NL CENTRAL: CHICAGO CUBS
NL WEST: ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
NL WILD CARD: PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
other teams with winning records: Dodgers, Rockies, Padres, Brewers
The National League is a lot harder to figure out since there is so much parity, but I think Santana gives the Mets a very distinct advantage.
The first thing I did was to change your pick for the ALW. They will NEVER be Los Angeles. The NLW is the weakest looking division I've seen in decades, history wise. I'm quite happy to see the Padres and Rockies where they are but, I ask you, what decade would you see the Dodgers with a winning record? It's like the Brooklyn Dodgers all over again, except worse. WAIT 'TIL NEXT YEAR! WAIT 'TIL NEXT YEAR!
All other predictions seem to be dead on except for the Mets and Tigers. The Mets have their managerial issues and probably won't win that battle and the Tigers made the same dumb type of acquisitions the Dodgers made over the Winter meetings.
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OK, after leaving my first post, I went back and read the entire thread and I've noticed one thing inparticular. It seems to be a very East Coast board on here...am I right?
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You are correct, I myself being born in New Hampshire and having spent 8 years of my life there.
Elizabeth
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Born in Connecticut, lived there til' I was 13, and have lived in Delaware since. Started watching baseball in 1986 at age 7, and spent weeks alteranting between a Mets and Yankee fan that year (I was 7, so sue me). I became a Red Sox fan in 1987. My parents were actually in Boston on vacation when the Red Sox beat the Angels in the ALCS and got swept away in the hysteria the city was in. They started watching the Red Sox regularly in '87, I watched with them, Wade Boggs became my childhood hero ("Daddy, why are they chanting, 'Margo?'"), and the rest is history. My grandfather was also a life long Red Sox fan, and loved Jimmie Foxx (or "Double X," as he called him), as a kid. Posting on Three Stooges boards for a long time, most posters seem to be from the east coast or at least have east coast roots.
As far as the AL East goes, the weakest teams so far have .500 records, so they're a tough division so far. Boston's very streaky this year, but the good streaks have outweighed the bad and they're playing through injuries very well. Great depth on that club. Tampa Bay's young pitchers have finally emerged and it'll be interesting to see if they can sustain this success the entire season. Scott Kazmir was good before but now he's Cy Young material. The Yankees seem to be going through a transistional phase, but they always seem to play .700 ball after the break. A part of me thinks that could very well happen again, there was no doubt in my mind in '07, but something feels slightly different about the Yankees this year. Perhaps it's because Hank Steinbrenner has egg on his face everytime he opens his mouth, or maybe 'cause Torre (who I always liked in spite of the uniform) isn't around, or maybe it's the lack of prime pitchers outside of Wang.
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So far I'm wrong about both Chicago teams. I said the Cubs could never have a winning team two years in a row. I also said the White Sox would have no pitching. Wrong on both counts. They both are in first place. I realize it's early but if they continue to play the way they are now, there might be some play-off games in Chicago this year. ;D
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O.K. FINE! It's like playing the Who's Who of the Three Stooges Message Board.
I was born and raised in smoggy, gang-infested Los Angeles and I still live there with my Wife today.
My first recollection of anything baseball was the "Buckner Blunder" of the 1986 WS...not to remind any BoSox fans of a, hopefully, fading memory. I went to my first game in July of 1987, at age nine, where the CALIFORNIA Angels (now and forever A-NA-HEIM) hosted the KC Royals and beat them 8-0. I could have easily become a long-standing fan of the team but, that only lasted until opening day 1988, when I chose the Dodgers as the team that would torture me year in and year out for the rest of my life. As you can imagine, the last great moment in Dodger history is the second-best day of my life, boarding upon the first by my wedding day just three years ago. My Wife knows this and she understands. However, she's an Angels' fan (who believes in the former A-NA-HEIM location as well). Who do you think I cheered on in the 2002 World Series? NOBODY! I can't stand those two teams for the life of me. Imagine if I had married a Giants' fan...
...and there will most definitely be a playoff series (at least one) in Chicago this year...maybe minus Zambrano, with the way he likes to smash his hand into walls (Dodger Stadium on Saturday).
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I think my first baseball game was the Detroit Tigers opening day in 1966. I was 4. Dad got the tickets and Mom took me and my older brother & sister to the game. The only thing that was a "tale-teller" throughout the years was me waking up in the backseat on the way home and asking "who won?"
Goddamn cold day. Lots of hot chocolate.
Dad's position at Chevrolet (Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie and Chevrolet) got us great seats behind home plate throughout the years. He took my brother & I to the '72 All-Star game when Reggie Jackson hit a homer off the light transformer on the right field roof. Later, he would give us the 4 Chevrolet tickets, we'd sell 2 to a scalper for beer money. We even had a place a few blocks away to park for free.
When he retired in '82, I used to try to take him to at least one game a year. Last year was the Negro League tribute game of the Detroit Stars v. Kansas City Monarchs. His first game at Tiger Stadium, his uncle Fred denied his request for a nickel hot dog (It was the Depression, but Fred had money.) Dad's last game at Comerica Park, I made sure he got his hot dog and a couple lemonades.
I'll miss him.
James
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I think my first baseball game was the Detroit Tigers opening day in 1966. I was 4. Dad got the tickets and Mom took me and my older brother & sister to the game. The only thing that was a "tale-teller" throughout the years was me waking up in the backseat on the way home and asking "who won?"
Goddamn cold day. Lots of hot chocolate.
Dad's position at Chevrolet (Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie and Chevrolet) got us great seats behind home plate throughout the years. He took my brother & I to the '72 All-Star game when Reggie Jackson hit a homer off the light transformer on the right field roof. Later, he would give us the 4 Chevrolet tickets, we'd sell 2 to a scalper for beer money. We even had a place a few blocks away to park for free.
When he retired in '82, I used to try to take him to at least one game a year. Last year was the Negro League tribute game of the Detroit Stars v. Kansas City Monarchs. His first game at Tiger Stadium, his uncle Fred denied his request for a nickel hot dog (It was the Depression, but Fred had money.) Dad's last game at Comerica Park, I made sure he got his hot dog and a couple lemonades.
I'll miss him.
James
Nice recollections of what sound like simpler times to me (as complicated as they truly must have been).
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A couple of comments:
The Yankees are so bad because they are old, and age usually hits pitchers harder first. Their young pitchers haven't panned out thus far either.
The mid-to-late 60's were hardly simple times; in fact they were probably the most complicated and turbulent times in our history...Detroit was a big hub for all of that as well.
I became a fan in the summer of 1986 when I was looking for something to watch on television. Living in Connecticut we had a wide array of channels from NYC and Boston on our cable system and I landed on WPIX 11, which at the time would broadcast the Yankees games. My father, never a die hard fan but born in Boston and raised in Massachusetts came into the room, saw the Yankees game, turned to me and said "turn that shit off, if you want to watch baseball watch this". He then proceeded to turn the channel to WSBK 38 where the Red Sox were playing the Indians and ended up trashing them by scoring more than twenty runs. I've been a fan ever since, from the bad times to the good. That was the best thing my father ever did for me.
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Things didn't become complicated until the riots of '67. We got our first shotgun, since Dad was out of town so often. I have it now. It was painted with hippie flowers and pink flamingoes!
In '68 they used to roll in the TV sets, with bunny ears, into the classrooms to watch the Tigers in the World Series or Apollo moonshots.
Simpler times? Maybe because I had a simpler mind.
James
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Things didn't become complicated until the riots of '67. We got our first shotgun, since Dad was out of town so often. I have it now. It was painted with hippie flowers and pink flamingoes!
In '68 they used to roll in the TV sets, with bunny ears, into the classrooms to watch the Tigers in the World Series or Apollo moonshots.
Simpler times? Maybe because I had a simpler mind.
James
Yeah, but you're talking to a child of the 80s. The world's innocence was long gone by then and, even in my youngest years, I knew it. With a big thanks to DVD, BluRay and the next forms of technology I will never understand, I can go out and buy the Ed Sullivan Show and view what used to be the best in family variety entertainment. In 2006, I was laid up in the hospital after brain surgery and they played nothing more recent than The Andy Williams Show (except for Carol Burnett's 25th anniversary special in 1992). I've always been an entertainment history nut and I appreciate shows and movies from the pre-1975 era than I do anything recent and boring. The media reporters were more exciting, the shows were more genuine in spirit and baseball players still had day jobs. I'm writing a book on that last one. I might have only been two years old when John Lennon was killed but, I'm a lot wiser than my years (30) will show. I'm apparently a rare breed of human.
My Dad is the same way. Born in 1940, he embraced entertainers who preceeded him in life and that's just exactly what I do.
Bob Dylan once said:
"I was so much older then,
I'm younger than that now."
...and there's your early morning novel.
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I remember watching the news reports of John Lennon's shooting at a TV room in Hunt Hall, one of my college's dormitories.
How did I get so old or survive this many years? ???
James
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I remember watching the news reports of John Lennon's shooting at a TV room in Hunt Hall, one of my college's dormitories.
How did I get so old or survive this many years? ???
James
How can ANY of us survive the time? It's up to YOU to figure how to stay young. It's all in your head. Age is a number, not a feeling.
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Exactly. Remember Stuart Little: "You're as big as you feel."
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Things didn't become complicated until the riots of '67. We got our first shotgun, since Dad was out of town so often. I have it now. It was painted with hippie flowers and pink flamingoes!
In '68 they used to roll in the TV sets, with bunny ears, into the classrooms to watch the Tigers in the World Series or Apollo moonshots.
Simpler times? Maybe because I had a simpler mind.
James
I was in Detroit during the riots of "67". The neighborhood we lived in was so bad, my folks used to send me to my grandparents house in Detroit for the summer, for safety reasons. ( Can you imagine that ? ) They lived around Schoolcraft and Telegraph Rds.
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I was in Detroit during the riots of "67". The neighborhood we lived in was so bad, my folks used to send me to my grandparents house in Detroit for the summer, for safety reasons. ( Can you imagine that ? ) They lived around Schoolcraft and Telegraph Rds.
We lived near Lahser & Maple in Birmingham. Not exactly a riot hot spot but Mom worried with 3 kids and Dad out-of-town. Schoolcraft & Telegraph is near where my parents grew up. They went to Redford High.
Years later I had a job fixing copiers and one of our clients was the Black Christian Nationalists at Seward & Second. Sgt. Mubutu would sit behind me as I worked on their copier. It wasn't until a few years ago that I found out that the BCN had a hand in starting the riots of '67.
Warning: Marxist bullshit alert!
http://archives.econ.utah.edu/archives/marxism/2005w07/msg00162.htm (http://archives.econ.utah.edu/archives/marxism/2005w07/msg00162.htm)
James
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To my surprise, I was at the Red Sox Vs. Phillies game in Philly tonight. Went with my parents and brother (who just made me an uncle two weeks ago), and didn't know I was going until yesterday, as my Dad scored free tickets from his job. Great game to go to, as the Red Sox are on a four game winning streak with me seeing them live. Lester and Papelbon were dominant tonight, and if you guys ever get a chance, definitely go to Citizen's Bank Park. I had great mid-upper level seats behind home plate tonight, but evensitting in the upper deck in right field a couple of years back I can tell you there's not a bad seat in the house. This place also has the nicest men's room around, unlike the old horse trough urinals at Yankee Stadium and Fenway (at least the last time I attended both parks, it's been a while).
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[youtube=425,350]yixUmboD8wA&[/youtube]
;D
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To my surprise, I was at the Red Sox Vs. Phillies game in Philly tonight. Went with my parents and brother (who just made me an uncle two weeks ago), and didn't know I was going until yesterday, as my Dad scored free tickets from his job. Great game to go to, as the Red Sox are on a four game winning streak with me seeing them live. Lester and Papelbon were dominant tonight, and if you guys ever get a chance, definitely go to Citizen's Bank Park. I had great mid-upper level seats behind home plate tonight, but evensitting in the upper deck in right field a couple of years back I can tell you there's not a bad seat in the house. This place also has the nicest men's room around, unlike the old horse trough urinals at Yankee Stadium and Fenway (at least the last time I attended both parks, it's been a while).
Adding to this "mystique" which you mentioned about Fenway and Yankee Stadium, the same can be said for Dodger Stadium, too. Citizen's Bank is a place I'd like to visit in my lifetime because I've heard nothing but the best about it. It's more of a hitter's ballpark, which cannot be said for us out here.
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The urinal troughs at Tiger Stadium! Built in 1899 or so.
Ernie Harwell (Tiger sportscaster) once remarked that he was going to buy the dugout trough for "Miss Lulu". For her to plant her roses in.
:laugh:
James
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Citizen's Bank Park felt like home. Between innings I got up from my seat, took a piss on a relatively clean urinal, flushed, and got back in time to see the next pitch. The game was sold out as well, so I was able to do this with a lot of people there.
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I took Dad and his pal to Comerica Park last summer. The old negro league tribute game.
Dad tried to go in the woMen's room several times. I had to grab him by the sweater and steer him into the men's room.
After, we're driving up Woodward... He spots all the hookers! "Look at that one!"
"Where?" -me
>:D
James
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Looks like there's a mix up in the threads. It looks like you both are continuing you discussion from The 2008 Baseball Thread (http://threestooges.net/forums/index.php?topic=2229.msg16564;topicseen#new), but you must've clicked on this thread by accident.
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Well, m-dams started it!
James
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Well, m-dams started it!
James
Well, it's an honest mistake. It could happen to anyone. I was just pointing it out just in case the admins want to move the posts to its proper topic.
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Cool.
James
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Well, it's an honest mistake. It could happen to anyone. I was just pointing it out just in case the admins want to move the posts to its proper topic.
Moved. (I was definitely a little confused at first when I was reading these in my email.) ???
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Say, it's no wonder why I wasn't getting any of these fun responses. I wish I could call Dodger Stadium 100% clean but, did you happen to see the article yesterday on Yahoo! about the dirtiest ballparks, what the violations were and just how many they were? According to them, the trophy goes to the Angels in LOS ANGELES! LOS ANGELES! That decision will never cease to amaze me...The final tally? Angels' Stadium received somewhere around 732 violations. I won't be going there for Dodgers/Angels interleague games anymore, even if they clean it up.
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It's pretty bad! I even worked for the Pirates back in the 1996 season, and I didn't go to games!
One thing that is good: we got a new pitching coach. The old coach really messed some of the guys up, and the bullpen is doing real well in spring training.
Oh, please....just .500! [banghead]
I just finished watching the last game between the Pirates and the White Sox. I'm sorry to see them leave. The Pirate's pitching is just what the Doctor ordered to help the Sox bats pull out of the slump they were in.
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I just finished watching the last game between the Pirates and the White Sox. I'm sorry to see them leave. The Pirate's pitching is just what the Doctor ordered to help the Sox bats pull out of the slump they were in.
Must be the same feeling I have about the Dodgers coming home from Cincinatti.
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C.C. Sabbathia to the Brew Crew.
Rich Harden to the Cubs.
I think the N.L. Central has gotten a little more interesting.
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C.C. Sabbathia to the Brew Crew.
Rich Harden to the Cubs.
I think the N.L. Central has gotten a little more interesting.
That's a nicer way of saying "better". As far as I'm concerned, they're the best division in all of baseball.
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As long as the Phillies win the World Series (like that'll ever happen in the current ownership), it doesn't matter which division is the best. I guess the Cubbies really want to win it on their 100th adversary. But I wouldn't mind the Cubs beating, say, some teams from Noo Yawk.
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As long as the Phillies win the World Series (like that'll ever happen in the current ownership), it doesn't matter which division is the best. I guess the Cubbies really want to win it on their 100th adversary. But I wouldn't mind the Cubs beating, say, some teams from Noo Yawk.
Maybe a rehash of the 1932 World Series?
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This thread has been quiet for a long time, figured I would unbury it.
Well, the Yankess sure got slapped hard by injuries, the one to Wang was bad enough but
then Joba gets tendinitis in his throwing shoulder and I was like ARGH!!!
If they earn the Wild Card, it will be a miracle IMO. I'm not holding out alot of hope for that.
I'm looking more toward next year at the moment. They better do everything they can to
keep Xavier Nady, he's been excellent since they got him from the Pirates. Don't know if
Pudge will stay, It would be nice then they could move Posada to 1st Base like they
have been thinking about since last year, but who knows what he's going be like next
season after the shoulder surgery.
Lots of good stories regardless. White Sox vs Twins for the Al Central, Rays, Sox and Yanks
in the East. The Brewers vs Cubs in the NL Central got really good. Sabathia has been
freaking amazing for Brewers ever since they traded for him.
For the Red Sox fans, are you happy you guys finally got rid of Manny and his whole act?
I was suprised they traded him to the Dodgers, It's going to be interesting to see if Joe T
can keep Manny in line. So far no problems and hes been hitting like crazy for them.
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Well, I was wrong on both of the Chicago teams. I said that the Cubs could never have two good years in a row. I also said that the White Sox pitching would suck. I just watched the Cubs come back in the 9th inning and steal a game from the Marlins. The Sox seem to be able to slug their way out of trouble. Yesterday they tied a record and hit four home runs in a row. I'm a White Sox fan, but I just don't think they can hold on. I think the Cubs have a better shot to go all the way.
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This thread has been quiet for a long time, figured I would unbury it.
Well, the Yankess sure got slapped hard by injuries, the one to Wang was bad enough but
then Joba gets tendinitis in his throwing shoulder and I was like ARGH!!!
If they earn the Wild Card, it will be a miracle IMO. I'm not holding out alot of hope for that.
I'm looking more toward next year at the moment. They better do everything they can to
keep Xavier Nady, he's been excellent since they got him from the Pirates. Don't know if
Pudge will stay, It would be nice then they could move Posada to 1st Base like they
have been thinking about since last year, but who knows what he's going be like next
season after the shoulder surgery.
Lots of good stories regardless. White Sox vs Twins for the Al Central, Rays, Sox and Yanks
in the East. The Brewers vs Cubs in the NL Central got really good. Sabathia has been
freaking amazing for Brewers ever since they traded for him.
For the Red Sox fans, are you happy you guys finally got rid of Manny and his whole act?
I was suprised they traded him to the Dodgers, It's going to be interesting to see if Joe T
can keep Manny in line. So far no problems and hes been hitting like crazy for them.
The only thing telling me the Yankees will make the playofs now is old school, pre-2004 superstition. I can't think of a logical explanation why they would make the postseason, but my paranoia will never leave. I know a lot of Yankee fans can't fathom this, but it's wise they rebuild.
As for the Manny fiasco, well, I have lots of good memories from Manny, no doubt. Hell, I was even at the game when he hit his 500th homerun. I'll try to remember the good times, but I completely support the trade. His behavior in those final days was deplorable, and since the trade, Boston has played some great baseball. I think without Manny's distractions and Jed Lowrie replacing Julio Lugo, Boston's a better team. I know one can say we're missing out on Manny's production, and perhaps that's right. Still, there's no guarantee Manny would play hard. Jason Bay, on the other hand, is a very good ball player who actually cares and I like him already.
Also, don't know how this will work out, but on paper, I think Paul Byrd is a great rental option. The irony was in Byrd's last start, when he beat Roy Halladay, an article I read said this would be a good tryout for him to be waivered to a contending team. I was hoping Boston would pick him up with Wakefield's injury, Buchholz's rookie woes, and Colon's never ending rehab assignment, and it turns out they did. He's not an ace, but he's a proven major league starter capable of giving a quality start on any given day, which is just what the doctor ordered. Beats the heck out of Jason Johnson and Kyle Snyder.
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This thread has been quiet for a long time, figured I would unbury it.
Well, the Yankess sure got slapped hard by injuries, the one to Wang was bad enough but
then Joba gets tendinitis in his throwing shoulder and I was like ARGH!!!
If they earn the Wild Card, it will be a miracle IMO. I'm not holding out alot of hope for that.
I'm looking more toward next year at the moment. They better do everything they can to
keep Xavier Nady, he's been excellent since they got him from the Pirates. Don't know if
Pudge will stay, It would be nice then they could move Posada to 1st Base like they
have been thinking about since last year, but who knows what he's going be like next
season after the shoulder surgery.
Lots of good stories regardless. White Sox vs Twins for the Al Central, Rays, Sox and Yanks
in the East. The Brewers vs Cubs in the NL Central got really good. Sabathia has been
freaking amazing for Brewers ever since they traded for him.
For the Red Sox fans, are you happy you guys finally got rid of Manny and his whole act?
I was suprised they traded him to the Dodgers, It's going to be interesting to see if Joe T
can keep Manny in line. So far no problems and hes been hitting like crazy for them.
So far so good with Manny. He's really come along with the team as a whole. They're happy to have him on the team and it also goes the other way around. Currently, and also with the addition of Casey Blake, my boys in Blue seem to be having a fine time with the lineup cards, until you get to the pitcher. It seems that every single game comes with a breakdown in the relief department. Yes, there are the defensive woes, too, but the pitching is mostly to blame.
Also, it would seem that "Manny's whole act" stemed from the Red Sox front office. All he was doing was rebelling against them. He wanted out, bottom line. I was looking at a log of "Manny Being Manny" incidents and most of them seemed to have occured last month. I can also recall hearing his name in possible trade talks with us (the Dodgers) going all the way back to 2004, until either Manny or Boston pulled back and held on to him for another year until the rumors began again. It's like when we tried to get rid of Shawn Green in 2004/05 (something that stilll angers me) but, we couldn't because of the "no trade" clause in his contract. Finally, embittered, he let go of the clause and off he went. I saw him at the Rockies' spring camp in 2006, where he told me to burn the hat I was wearing (a Dodgers' hat). You can only push someone so far until they snap. Manny didn't really snap. He taunted...
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Enjoy Manny while he lasts, because unless the Dodgers are willing to overpay he isn't going to stick around. His saying he wants to sign with the Yankees before the season's even over is not what I'd call a team player, but what the hell. He's awesome with the bat when he wants to be and should be enough to get the Dodgers the weakest division in baseball. I don't see them getting past the Cubs come playoff time however, especially after watching Park blow a 5-1 lead in the 9th (like you said, bullpen woes...but the teams that don't have those can be counted on one hand with fingers to spare).
Vin Scully, btw is a freaking treasure. After all of these years to still be commenting (by himself no less), it's a joy to get to listen to him work his magic.
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Enjoy Manny while he lasts, because unless the Dodgers are willing to overpay he isn't going to stick around. His saying he wants to sign with the Yankees before the season's even over is not what I'd call a team player, but what the hell. He's awesome with the bat when he wants to be and should be enough to get the Dodgers the weakest division in baseball. I don't see them getting past the Cubs come playoff time however, especially after watching Park blow a 5-1 lead in the 9th (like you said, bullpen woes...but the teams that don't have those can be counted on one hand with fingers to spare).
Vin Scully, btw is a freaking treasure. After all of these years to still be commenting (by himself no less), it's a joy to get to listen to him work his magic.
I plan on enjoying Manny being in a Dodger uniform. I have been for nearly a month now. It's exciting, it's awakened MOST of the team and it's sort of unified them in a way.
I am fully aware that this is merely a two-month rental (it's a freebie considering the biggest name we gave away was Andy LaRoche) and I'm fine with that. It's what's happening NOW and not next year that worries me right now. Our division has been the worst in the Majors for years and I've always said that it would be better to lose the division title because even winning is laughable. I remember winning two years ago (well Wild Card considering the tie with SD) and our record was sub-.500 - how pathetic.
The rumors swirling about Manny are that he might want to stay here and even take a pay cut. Hey, that sounds great to me. The other one is a request by him to play for the Bombers. Once again, that's OK, too. As long as he doesn't end up in the NL West elsewhere, I'm fine with it. Honestly, though, I'm sick of this so-called Manny Mania over here. So many idiots are running around with their heads covered in Manny wigs, even after he's cut his hair. I don't know. I just think it's silly. Would we have been so outrageous had we signed Ken Griffey Jr. instead? Come on, now. He's hit more homeruns...why not?
Vin Scully is a legend in my heart and I got to meet him one night after he came out of a movie screening out here. Oddly enough, it wasn't baseball related. He just walked right past me and I turned and called out his name. All I could get out before I began to tear up was to tell him how much he has meant to me as a fan and a listener over the past twenty years. I told him I still have the video tape of his call of Kirk Gibson's homerun at my Parents house (a game I was at) and that what I saw was the replay, set to Randy Newman's "The Natural". He claimed he never saw that piece but, could imagine it was something to see. The last thing I said to him was that I know he was loved by the fans in Brooklyn, even if only for a short period of eight seasons and that he has been part of so many memories here in Los Angeles that I'd need the hands of the world to be able to count the memories on. I absolutely love him and I hope he comes back next year.
There are three games I really want to see towards the end of the season...
1. the last game at Shea.
2. the last game at Yankee Stadium.
3. the last game Vin Scully calls (because you never know when it might be his last.)
Sorry I kept going. It was the coffee...
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The rumors swirling about Manny are that he might want to stay here and even take a pay cut. Hey, that sounds great to me. The other one is a request by him to play for the Bombers. Once again, that's OK, too. As long as he doesn't end up in the NL West elsewhere, I'm fine with it. Honestly, though, I'm sick of this so-called Manny Mania over here. So many idiots are running around with their heads covered in Manny wigs, even after he's cut his hair. I don't know. I just think it's silly. Would we have been so outrageous had we signed Ken Griffey Jr. instead? Come on, now. He's hit more homeruns...why not?
Gotta say, that west coast air has done wonders for his knees.
As long as he's trying, you guys are lucky to have him. There are lots of fun Manny moments, and there are times you wanna stangle the guy. Either way, he's always interesting.
Got a serious question, and I'm not trying to be a smart ass. What do you think of Dodger fans having the repuation as fans who leave in the seventh inning? I remember watching Manny's first game in the 9th inning, Dodgers down 2 - 1, and he its into a double play (as great as Manny is, he's had very few walk-off hits, which is why game 2 of the ALDS was such a pleasant surprise). There's still an out to go, I believe Matt Kemp, your clean up guy, was up, and fans were walking away. That struck me as strange, 'cause you'd never see that in Fenway, Yankee Stadium, Wrigley, St. Louis, and lots of other places.
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Gotta say, that west coast air has done wonders for his knees.
As long as he's trying, you guys are lucky to have him. There are lots of fun Manny moments, and there are times you wanna stangle the guy. Either way, he's always interesting.
Got a serious question, and I'm not trying to be a smart ass. What do you think of Dodger fans having the repuation as fans who leave in the seventh inning? I remember watching Manny's first game in the 9th inning, Dodgers down 2 - 1, and he its into a double play (as great as Manny is, he's had very few walk-off hits, which is why game 2 of the ALDS was such a pleasant surprise). There's still an out to go, I believe Matt Kemp, your clean up guy, was up, and fans were walking away. That struck me as strange, 'cause you'd never see that in Fenway, Yankee Stadium, Wrigley, St. Louis, and lots of other places.
Do you mean the West Coast air that nearly deflates our lungs day in and day out? It's absolutely abyssmal out here most of the time. Manny's had his moments already. They're minor but, they were moments. The first was when he HAD to use the bathroom between B8 and T9. He came out to LF a few minutes late, tucking his jersey into his pants and all. You know, whatever...
The other night, he threw a bomb in from LF and it went by the first baseman and into the camera well, allowing the runner on first to take third. That would later prove to be the game winner for the Brewers. I can't think of any more off the top of my head but, keep a close ear and I'm sure I'll have something.
Our fans are fickle as all Hell. The smaller groups of "laggers" are Whites, Blacks and Asian but, they're mostly Chicano and/or Latino. As well as leaving in the 7th, they also show up as late as the 4th. Oddly enough, as the demographic must show, the Chicano and/or Latino population probably make up half of the game's attendance. By the way, I do not condone racial profiling, nor am I prejudiced or a racist. I'm trying to give you and idea of what you're looking at. Here's a perfect example:
The other night (August 12th) I was taking in a game against the Phils and my Wife spent the time knitting in the other seat. We were the lone occupants of our row up until the 4th inning, when a man and his Wife showed up and sat down. They had this humongous tray, full of Dodger Dogs, nachos and enough grease to clog a main artery in YOUR system all the way from where you are right this second. Anyway, this guy ends up sitting on top of me, while sprawled out in his seat. I could have said something (and my Wife saw him plop down and take over) but, I had one statement to whisper to my Wife..."I'm not worried. They'll be gone by "Take Me Out to the Ballgame"." T7 rolls around and the guy stands up. So does his Wife. They stretch out, "ho-hum, yawn" and all of that BS. I'm thinking OK, I called it and there they go...
The SOB sat back down. OK, fine. Here comes "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and I was more than happy to stand up. So were they. OK, NOW they're leaving. B7 begins and they're still there. Meanwhile half the stadium has emptied out, the score tied at three. With two outs in B7, he gets up, helps his Wife up and they leave. The stereotype is more than confirmed for me and all I can do is sit there and gloat because I was right about our "so-called" Dodger fans. There is no loyalty in most of our fanbase.
So, as a right slap to the face of anybody who chooses to leave early like that, the Dodgers beat the Phils in the bottom of the ninth, 4-3. They all miss so much by skipping out. Yes, they avoid the massive traffic delays that occur out there in the lot but, it's a worthy price to pay for seeing one Hell of an ending. I often wonder if the people you see braking in the 1988 WS video (Gibson) still dare to miss the ending of the game. Or the crowd that missed the four homeruns and Nomar's game winner in 2006 as they all run back to try and see it. They cannot get back in. Once you leave, you can't come back.
I show up at least an hour before game time and I refuse to leave before the last pitch, win or lose. If you're with me there, you have no choice in the matter. I am a Dodger fan but, a baseball fan first.
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I just have one question, perhaps Justin or any other Yankees fan can answer this for me. Why do Yankees fans seem so shocked when A-Rod shits the bed in crucial situations like he did a couple of times during last night's game? Time and again this guy has proven that while he is the best hitter and most talented position player in Major League Baseball, yet he lacks heart and makes Barry Bonds look like a team player.
As an aside, I've never seen anyone hit Wake's knuckleball like Johnny Damon does (as much as I hate to admit that about Mr. "I'd Never Play For The Yankees"). Those home runs he hit were not due to power but due to perfect timing and execution of his swing. It's not like Wake hung those pitches either. Other than Damon, Wakefield pitched very well in his return and I for one am glad he's back, along with Beckett seemingly back to full strength with the tingling gone. It's going to be one hell of a final month.
One last thing; I said this last year and I'll say it this year, I think Roy Halladay should get the Cy Young. The man leads the majors in innings pitched with 204.1, which is 18 2/3 more than Cliff Lee (who will probably win it) is 5th in MLB and 3rd in the AL in strikeouts with 175, 5th in MLB and 3rd in the AL with a 2.69 ERA (ERA's seem to be lower this year, which for a pitching mark like myself is awesome) tied for 3rd in MLB in with 16 wins, and even has a freakin hold! Add to that 8 complete games, 2 shutouts and a WHIP of 1.04....damn Halladay is the best pitcher in the game.
If Toronto's pitching and Texas' offenses were on the same team that team would steamroll everyone else to a World Series win.
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I just have one question, perhaps Justin or any other Yankees fan can answer this for me. Why do Yankees fans seem so shocked when A-Rod shits the bed in crucial situations like he did a couple of times during last night's game? Time and again this guy has proved that while he is the best hitter and most talented position player in Major League Baseball, yet he lacks heart and makes Barry Bonds look like a team player.
As an aside, I've never seen anyone hit Wake's knuckleball like Johnny Damon does (as much as I hate to admit that about Mr. "I'd Never Play For The Yankees"). Those home runs he hit were not due to power but due to perfect timing and execution of his swing. It's not like Wake hung those pitches either. Other than Damon, Wakefield pitched very well in his return and I for one am glad he's back, along with Beckett seemingly back to full strength with the tingling gone. It's going to be one hell of a final month.
One last thing; I said this last year and I'll say it this year, I think Roy Halladay should get the Cy Young. The man leads the majors in innings pitched with 204.1, which is 18 2/3 more than Cliff Lee (who will probably win it) is 5th in MLB and 3rd in the AL in strikeouts with 175, 5th in MLB and 3rd in the AL with a 2.69 ERA (ERA's seem to be lower this year, which for a pitching mark like myself is awesome) tied for 3rd in MLB in with 16 wins, and even has a freakin hold! Add to that 8 complete games, 2 shutouts and a WHIP of 1.04....damn Halladay is the best pitcher in the game.
If Toronto's pitching and Texas' offenses were on the same team that team would steamroll everyone else to a World Series win.
Good question Shemps, I think it's because since he's one of the best players in the Major's they EXPECT him to be able to come through
in those clutch situations and he doesn't always do that. I like A-Rod as a player (my opinion on him as a person is very mixed at best)
and I have to admit even I got pissed at him last night for blowing so many chances to get them back in the game, esp in the 8th inning
when he grounded into that inning ending double play. I screamed "You freaking douchbag!!" at my TV and changed the channel in disgust.
I think it's just expectations that he SHOULD be able to come through, but so far when it counts, esp in the playoffs, he hasn't. Yet the
fans still put all these high expectations on him to perform like he's Superman all the time. I've learned to lower the bar alot this season.
But yeah, Damon had Wakefield's number all night...too bad no one else could do much against him. Johnny has been very good this year, one
of the best hitters on the team period.
After the way they lost to Boston last night, I'm not expecting them to win the Wild Card at all right now. Their just not playing as well as they
could and it pisses me off because this is the last year of the original stadium and they are going to miss the playoffs for the first time in more
than a decade. It would have been nice to get some playoff games in Yankee Stadium one more time. Oh well.....
Yeah, I totally agree on how amazing Roy Halladay is, he should get the Cy Young. I have a soft spot for Mussina winning but I doubt he
will even be in contention unless he gets really close to 20 wins which at this point in the season is doubtful.
The question that's on my mind right now is whether the Cubs, who look to be the best NL team right now and one of the best in all of MLB, are
going to not only make it to the Series but perhaps finally end their more than 100 year championship drought? What do you guys think, do the
Cubs have what it takes to beat, Tampa, Boston, the White Sox or the Angels?
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I too was very happy with Wakefield's performance last night, especially since this is is first start off the DL. He beats the Yankees for the first time in 2 1/2 years and was finally the recipient of things called run support and bullpens holding leads. It's a disgrace he's only only 8 - 8 this season, as he's pitched much better than that.
Masterson has been huge for us. Yeah yeah, I know, A-Rod choked, but he did so because he faced a young pitcher who can throw a great sinker and knows how to get right handed hitters out. Pre all-star break, when Delcarmen shits the bed, we'd probably see Okajima allow those runners to score or see Hansen or Timlin. Masterson has really stabilized our bullpen! Speaking of Okajima, he is having the reverse of last season, a stronger second half than first. He too has also helped the bullpen lately, and Papelbon has been way more efficient as of late. Earlier on he was getting high pitch counts but lately he's been inducing quick ground balls with that splitter. On Sunday, he was able to get through 2 innings on only 16 pitches, and the one pitch out to Pudge last night was huge.
As for Roy Halladay, consider me another member of the fan club.
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The question that's on my mind right now is wheater the Cubs, who look to be the best NL team right now and one of the best in all of MLB, are
going to not only make it to the Series but perhaps finally end their more than 100 year championship drought? What do you guys think, do the
Cubs have what it takes to beat, Tampa, Boston, the White Sox or the Angels?
No, and here's why: the American League is still far and away better than the National League. For instance, if the Twins have a better record than the Phillies and Mets, while the aforementioned Twins, along with the Yankees and Blue Jays have a better record than the Diamondbacks...and that's comparing three AL teams who would not make the playoffs if the season ended (and the Yanks and Jays have little to no chance) to two teams that would win their divisions in the NL and one that is only 1/2 game back. If the Cubs had to face teams like the Rays, BoSox, ChiSox, Angels, Yanks, Jays, Twins during the season their record would not be as impressive.
The best chance for the Cubs would be against the Rays. Come playoff time experience means the world, and the Rays are lacking in that area. The Cubs should break their "curse" however and win the pennant (remember, the Curse of the Billy Goats states that the Cubs will never win another pennant, not the Series).
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The best chance for the Cubs would be against the Rays. Come playoff time experience means the world, and the Rays are lacking in that area. The Cubs should break their "curse" however and win the pennant (remember, the Curse of the Billy Goats states that the Cubs will never win another pennant, not the Series).
I remember those inexperienced Detroit pitchers choking both on the mound and defensively to the 83 win Cards in '06, so there's validity in that statement. Rookies certainly have succeeded in the post season, but usually a veteran core is on the team with them.
Tampa's looking real strong this year, and like the '06 Tigers, have very impressive young pitching, yet minus the veteran presence of a Kenny Rogers like Detroit had. Hell, I like this Rays team and only cheer against them because they're in Boston's division. As a Sox fan, I'm less gung-ho about winning the division as I was last year. A miracle Tampa Bay team winning it is easier to stomach than New York for the umpeenth time, and we broke the 12 year divisionless streak last year. That said, I certainly want the division, but would be happy with the wild card. Props to Matt Garza tonight as well, a 1 - 0 win over the Jays.
Anybody catch that Phillies Vs. Mets game on Tuesday? The Phils climbing back from a seven run defecit, and that Philly crowd was pretty electric. I can tell you one thing, and God bless him, but Pedro ain't what he used to be.
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Anybody want to play guess the division?
AL East
BOSTON - Fingers crossed here, but right now, they're raking against division rivals on the road, and have a strong home schedule come September. Lowell and Drew should be rested and ready, Mark Kotsay's great depth, and Tampa Bay have players who are new to this pennant race thing, so they're my wild car pick. Again, not a confident pick, but at gun point, I gotta go with Boston. However, if Beckett falters and Lester tires (very possible, as he was awful last start and has never logged this many innings in a season), Tampa will win the division. The reverse of Lester is Dice-K, who doesn't have a lot of innings and should be rested enough for the stretch.
AL CENTRAL
CHICAGO - Tough choice, as Minnesota has better pitching, yet Chicago's no slouch in that department. Offense is where the Sox are clearly dominant, so that's why I'll give the edge to Chicago.
AL WEST
THE MONTREAL EXPOS..........have a better chance than Texas, Oakland, and Seattle this season.
AL WILD CARD
Tampa Bay
NL EAST
The Phils, just because. Honestly, New York and Philly are so close, I'm only gonna say Philly cause NY is traumatized from last year. No other rason.
NL CENTRAL
CHICAGO
NL WEST
D-Backs. Laugh all you want, but in a short series, with Webb and Harden, they'll be tough to beat.
Wild Card
MILWAUKEE - The C.C. factor. Brew Crew will make the playoffs for the first time since I've been following baseball.
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Anybody want to play guess the division?
AL East
BOSTON - Fingers crossed here, but right now, they're raking against division rivals on the road, and have a strong home schedule come September. Lowell and Drew should be rested and ready, Mark Kotsay's great depth, and Tampa Bay have players who are new to this pennant race thing, so they're my wild car pick. Again, not a confident pick, but at gun point, I gotta go with Boston. However, if Beckett falters and Lester tires (very possible, as he was awful last start and has never logged this many innings in a season), Tampa will win the division. The reverse of Lester is Dice-K, who doesn't have a lot of innings and should be rested enough for the stretch.
AL CENTRAL
CHICAGO - Tough choice, as Minnesota has better pitching, yet Chicago's no slouch in that department. Offense is where the Sox are clearly dominant, so that's why I'll give the edge to Chicago.
AL WEST
THE MONTREAL EXPOS..........have a better chance than Texas, Oakland, and Seattle this season.
AL WILD CARD
Tampa Bay
NL EAST
The Phils, just because. Honestly, New York and Philly are so close, I'm only gonna say Philly cause NY is traumatized from last year. No other rason.
NL CENTRAL
CHICAGO
NL WEST
D-Backs. Laugh all you want, but in a short series, with Webb and Harden, they'll be tough to beat.
Wild Card
MILWAUKEE - The C.C. factor. Brew Crew will make the playoffs for the first time since I've been following baseball.
Let's see:
AL East: (Tampa leads by 3.5 games)
Boston
Games against +.500 teams: 20
Games against -.500 teams: 10
Home Games: 20 (43-18 at home)
Away Games: 10 (34-37 on road)
Tampa Bay
Games against +.500 teams: 20
Games against -.500 teams: 11
Home Games: 14 (48-19)
Away Games: 17 (32-32)
Head to Head: 6-6
My Prediction: Boston. Of course I'm biased, but I can't ignore the Sox having 2/3rds of their remaining games at home, and the fact that they've been playing much better on the road (6-2 so far on this trip), not to mention the experience edge. Not only does Boston have more vets, but their young guys are battle tested. Both have tough schedules record-wise: it's a wash considering they are playing the same teams (mostly division opponents). They most telling games will be against each other. Not only have they split the games they've played so far, but Boston has won all 6 at Fenway while Tampa has won all 6 at the Trop. My guess is if one of these teams can beat the other on the road said team will win the division.
AL Central: (Chicago leads by 1 game)
Chicago White Sox
Games against +.500 teams: 17
Games against -.500 teams: 12
Home Games: 13 (46-22)
Away Games: 16 (30-35)
Minnesota
Games against +.500 teams: 10
Games against -.500 teams: 19
Home Games: 12 (46-23)
Away Games: 17 (29-35)
Head to Head: 8-7 CWS
Prediction: This is hard; however, while the Twins have a 4 game set at Tampa they don't have to go to Yankee Stadium or Fenway while the White Sox do. The ChiSox also have a killer homestand coming up against the Angels and Jays. The Twins have better starting pitching, and the Sox have a suspect bullpen to try to get to Jenks. This will probably come down to the second to last series of the season, when these teams meet at the Metrodome but for now I'll pick the Twins to win.
AL West: (LAA leads by 15.5 games)
Seattle...Pilots have a better chance than the Expos, Mariners, Rangers or A's.
AL Wild Card: Tampa Bay (+3.5 in the wild card), if not then Boston (- in the wild card) because the Rays would have won the division.
Minnesota (-2.5) and Chicago (-1.5) have a shot (whichever doesn't win the division), but with both of the AL East teams playing well on the road recently along with Boston's home-heavy schedule I don't see either collapsing that far. As for the Yankees (-7), they needed a sweep of Boston to have a good chance at the wild card: didn't happen. They needed to take 2 of 3 to have something of a chance: didn't happen. Now they need to beat Boston in the final game to have a hail mary chance at the wild card: after the Pedroia grand slam I shut the game off because the stench of loserdom was overwhelming (and I thought smell-o-vision was make believe). The players knew it, the fans knew it, and even Hank Steinbrenner (who looks just like his dad while his brother was fortunate enough to escape that fate) knew it: The Yankees are finished.
NL East: (Mets lead by .5 game)
New York Mets
Games Against +.500 teams: 16
Games Against -.500 teams: 12
Home Games: 15 (41-25)
Away Games: 13 (33-35)
Philadelphia
Games Against +.500 teams: 17
Games Against -.500 teams: 12
Home Games: 13 (39-29)
Away Games: 16 (34-31)
Head to Head: 9-5 NYM
Prediction: It is with much trepidation that I pick the Mets to outlast the Phils, only because they still have last season to atone for. Both teams still have games with the Cubs and Brewers in the near future.
NL Central: (Chicago leads by 6 games)
Chicago Cubs
Games Against +.500 teams: 26
Games Against -.500 teams: 3
Home Games: 13 (49-19)
Away Games: 16 (34-31)
Milwaukee
Games Against +.500 teams: 13
Games Against -.500 teams: 16
Home Games: 16 (41-24)
Away Games: 13 (36-32)
Head to Head: 6-4 CHC
My Prediction: Although the Cubs have an extremely tough schedule they are the best team in the National League. Their 6 game lead should hold up.
NL West (ARI leads by 3 games)
Arizona
Games Against +.500 teams: 7
Games Against -.500 teams: 22 (6 against LAD)
Home Games: 16 (37-28)
Away Games: 13 (31-37)
Los Angeles Dodgers
Games Against +.500 teams: 6 (all against ARI)
Games Against -.500 teams: 23
Home Games: 12 (39-30)
Away Games: 17 (26-38)
Head to Head: 7-5 ARI
My prediction: There's usually one division that totally blows since they extended the format, and this year it's the NL West. I'll go with the Diamondbacks because the Dodgers have been especially awful lately and have more games on the road.
NL Wild Card: Milwaukee (-). They are definitely the second-best team in the NL, and the team that can give the Cubs a run for their money in the post season. it's a shame we can't replace the NL West Champs with St. Louis (-3.5)...but then again they won a world series in a year when they barely made it over .500 so perhaps it's karmic justice.
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Best scenario: The Phillies win the World Series.
Worst scenario: Anything else.
Seriously, though, if the Phillies cannot win (like they ever will with their current ownership), I would love a Milwaukee vs. Tampa Bay series, just to put it to the Fox Network, which wants a Yankees-Mets, Cubs-White Sox, or Dodgers-Angels matchup, even though the Y2K NY/NY series was the lowest-rated of all time.
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Actually the 2006 Tigers/Cards World Series was the lowest rated World Series, but the Mets/Yanks series is down there.
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Hell, I'll end the season and the World series for you, right here and now.
From the perspective of a rabid Dodgers' fan (that means I hate the Giants, Angels and Yankees because it's in the contract)...
In this corner (NL), the Chicago Cubs, making their first World Series appearance since 1945...
...and in this corner (AL), we have a tie (unfortunately).
Pending a close look at strength and agility...pain and progress...
...the ANAHEIM Angels (enough of that Los Angeles crap) and the Tampa Bay Rays, as much as their name is silly, too.
...and that's what's gonna happen.
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Rays/Cubs would be interesting in the "who to root for because I'm not a fan of either team?" aspect. On one hand you have the Rays...who before this season had never lost less than 90 games, and on the other you have Cubs...who haven't been to a World Series since 1945 and haven't won one since 1908. There's two feel good stories meeting head-on.
For me it's still easy, I'd pull for Chicago. It all comes down to the fan bases, Chicago has a huge one that travels well (like the Red Sox, Yankees, Cardinals), while Tampa Bay can't get 15,000 in the Trop most nights. I keep tabs on the Rays from time to time and it sickens me to see the Trop less than half filled at a time when they are in first place and playing their asses off. Tampa Florida doesn't deserve a World Series championship.
I'm thinking Fox is hoping for Red Sox/Cubs or White Sox/Cubs as a second choice (but we all know how "well" the last intercity World Series went for them).
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It is disgraceful concerning the lack of attendance at Rays games. In theory, this season should help the Rays fan base the same way the '67 Red Sox helped Boston, but sadly, people just don't care down there. This shouldn't be a shock, as the Marlins won two World Series and people still don't care!
That said, even though they have a bad team this year, there are a lot of Braves fans in Florida. My Aunt's been living in Boca Raton for about 30 years, and she's a die hard Braves fan, long before the Florida teams came around. She's not about to change colors, and think that holds true for a lot of older Florida baseball fans. A shame though, 'cause Tampa has an awesome team this year. I don't think they've lost a series since the all-star break.
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...even though they have a bad team this year, there are a lot of Braves fans in Florida. My Aunt's been living in Boca Raton for about 30 years, and she's a die hard Braves fan, long before the Florida teams came around. She's not about to change colors, and think that holds true for a lot of older Florida baseball fans. A shame though, 'cause Tampa has an awesome team this year. I don't think they've lost a series since the all-star break.
My family is the same way. They're all from the mid-Eastern Alabama area, yet they all migrated to Louisana, Tennessee, Florida and Georgia. If they pay any attention to it...all Braves fans. No question there.
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The thing with the Braves is, although they seem to have a lot of fans they also have a lot of fans that don't give a shit enough to go see a game. The vast majority of their fans live in the southeast, so they don't travel well, and I can clearly remember playoff games at Turner Field that were nowhere near sold out.
Playoff games should be sold out no matter where you are.
Tampa is actually is a good sports town (believe it or not the Lightning are near the top of attendance in the NHL...yes, hockey in Florida): what's hurt the Rays as far as attendance goes is not just Braves fans but the years of losing and also having the Yankees corporate headquarters there. I think they also still have a single A club there (Tampa Yankees). They should be required to move the single A team because having a minor league club in the same city as an MLB club is stupid.
When I was in Tennessee I learned that MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL etc. are not at all big down there. Not really having a team nearby they had an interesting selection from the Cards, Reds and Braves (I was on the western side) and I was never sure which was considered the "local" team (might have to look it up). The huge sports down there are college football and NASCAR (coughnotasportcough).
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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).
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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.
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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.
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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. [pie]
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.
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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.
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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
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I'll contact ESPN Headquarters in Bristol, CT and make sure they don't take any more Phillies games.
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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
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Not the Nats! :P
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".
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Not the Nats! :P
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.
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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%
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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.
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Shouldn't the Padres be next?
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Cubs: 99.6% ? Well, I still remember the 1969 Cubs collapse. They still have plenty of time to fall apart.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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I saw Hansen pitch rather badly against the Phillies one day, with walks and wild pitches galore. Maybe he contracted Steve Blass Disease.
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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.
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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.
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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)
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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.
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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.
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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)
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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
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Friggin' Kevin Mench of Toronto hits a double off Wakefield tonight. He graduated a year ahead of me in the same high school.
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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
TEXAS RANGERS
New team in bold. Also, after last week, I was cheering the Yanks against Tampa Bay today with zero guilt.
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Carlos Zambrano, Chicago Cubs. NO HITTER !!!!
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Man...playing Houston in Milwaukee too. The Brewers fans must have loved that since the Astros have come storming up the ranks to challenge for the wild card.
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By the way, the Tigers are next on the gallows pole, a White Sox win and a Tigers loss will officially eliminate them from post season consideration.
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Carlos Zambrano, Chicago Cubs. NO HITTER !!!!
Saw the footage of that, awesome performance from Zambrano. From what I heard that's
the first No Hitter for the Cubs in nearly 30 years! That's a long time.
Cubs fans gotta be getting pumped for the playoffs after that performance.
It's ironic how my Yankess are now helping the Red Sox catch Tampa Bay for the Division lead.
We took 2 of 3 from Tampa this weekend and as a result the Sox are now just one game behind
Tampa.
I'm still ticked their going to miss the postseason, but they need to make more changes before
they can contend again.
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Congrats to Zambrano! Second no-hitter of the season (unless you count the time the Angels no-hit the Dodgers and lost). Maybe Lester and Zambrano will face off in the WS.
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I'm still ticked their going to miss the postseason, but they need to make more changes before
they can contend again.
You guys had a 13 year playoff run, nothing to be ashamed of....AND by beating the White Sox, you've helped Detroit survive another day.
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You guys had a 13 year playoff run, nothing to be ashamed of....AND by beating the White Sox, you've helped Detroit survive another day.
On the contrary: through 2001 is nothing to be ashamed of. 2002 was the year the Yankees went into Maximum Overdrive with copious amounts of spending that made everyone else look like pikers, and they have nothing to show for it. When you're spending near-or-over $200,000,000 to win World Series' coming up short is pathetic.
In addition to the Tigers elimination number being cut to 1, the reigning National League Champion Colorado Rockies now have an elimination number of 2. A Dodgers win and a Rockies loss tomorrow finishes them. By the way, I believe Tampa got something of a receipt for last week tonight. That was the worst Kazmir outing I had ever seen. Let's hope it continues the next couple of days.
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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
Texas Rangers
DETROIT TIGERS
New team in bold.
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The CRockies and the G'Nats are looking at elimination in the NL West tonight but, I'm really hoping the G'Nats beat the D'Bags tonight just to get the Dodgers that much closer to the finish. I DO NOT want to go into the final three games with the G'Nats having the chance to play spoiler to us...
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Officially in the Playoffs:
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (AL West Champions)
Almost in:
Tampa Bay Rays: Magic number 3 (combination Rays wins and Twins losses) to clinch a playoff berth.
Boston Red Sox: Magic number 4 (combination Red Sox wins and Twins losses) to clinch a playoff berth.
Chicago Cubs: Magic number 4 (combination Cubs wins and Brewers losses) to clinch NL Central.
Eliminated Teams Update:
Seattle Mariners
Washington Nationals
Pittsburgh Pirates
Baltimore Orioles
Oakland Athletics
Cincinnati Reds
San Diego Padres
Kansas City Royals
Atlanta Braves
Texas Rangers
Detroit Tigers
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
New teams in bold
On the Brink:
Colorado Rockies: elimination number 1 (Dodgers win or a loss)
Cleveland Indians: elimination number 2 (White Sox win and a loss)
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I'm not trying to pick on the Yankees here, the same would go for any team that is using taxpayer dollars to build itself a new stadium.
Congressional panel rips Yanks, NYC over new stadium's financing
Associated Press
Updated: September 18, 2008, 12:01 PM ET
WASHINGTON -- A congressional panel has taken tough swings at the New York Yankees and New York City government over a new stadium for the Yankees. But neither the team nor the city budged from their positions on the $1.3 billion structure.
Rep. Dennis Kucinich said Thursday he found "waste and abuse of public dollars" in the financing of the new stadium under construction in the South Bronx.
Kucinich is an Ohio Democrat who heads the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. He charged that city officials misrepresented to the IRS the value of the property, helping them to get special tax deals from the federal government and in effect dumping the cost of construction onto taxpayers. No one from the either the city or the Yankees spoke at the hearing.
As Kucinich spoke, New York's mayor, Michael Bloomberg, was in a nearby building testifying before a different House committee on global warming.
Earlier this week, Bloomberg defended the deal, calling it "a great project."
"We want these kinds of facilities here. Having new stadiums is as important as other things in terms of, not just the spirit for the people who live here, but our economy," Bloomberg said.
That's not how several Democrats on the panel saw it.
"In the case of the new Yankee Stadium, not only have we found waste and abuse of public dollars subsidizing a project that is for the exclusive benefit of a private entity, the Yankees, but also we have discovered serious questions about the accuracy of certain representations made by the City of New York to the federal government," Kucinich said.
The panel's investigation found "substantial evidence of improprieties and possible fraud by the financial architects of the new Yankee Stadium," he added.
The criticism highlights tensions felt nationwide as governments increasingly support stadiums for profitable pro sports teams with multimillion dollar payrolls.
Rep. Laura Watson, D-Calif., said her hometown of Los Angeles has gone without a professional football team for decades because city officials are unwilling to pay for a new stadium.
Given the current financial crisis gripping the U.S. economy, she said it made no sense for taxpayers to pay for construction of buildings for the benefit of sports owner tycoons.
"In this country we have allowed the upper class to destroy the middle class," Watson charged.
The lawmakers also complained that city and team officials had not provided information they have sought about the financing of Yankee Stadium.
The panel did hear from New York State Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, an outspoken critic of the deal, who charges that between $550 million to $850 million in taxpayer money has been committed to the project.
Brodksy's charges, based on city, IRS, and Yankee documents, include:
• The city manipulated the assessed value of the stadium to meet requirements for an IRS tax exemption. That included using comparable land values in Manhattan rather than the Bronx to come up with the value for the new property.
• City officials didn't disclose their purchase of a luxury box and extra game tickets and apparently there is no city policy on their use.
• The $366 million in additional funding sought by the Yankees to complete the stadium would be for a large video screen, not structural costs.
Previously, Yankee officials have accused Brodsky of factually inaccurate grandstanding after he voted twice in favor of the deal in the state legislature.
"The project has been one of the most transparent transactions undertaken in the city of New York and details have been recorded in voluminous, publicly available documents," Yankees spokeswoman Alice McGillion said earlier this week.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3595265
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Officially in the Playoffs:
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (AL West Champions)
Almost in:
Chicago Cubs: Magic number 2 (combination Cubs wins and Brewers losses) to clinch NL Central.
Tampa Bay Rays: Magic number 3 (combination Rays wins and Twins losses) to clinch a playoff berth.
Boston Red Sox: Magic number 4 (combination Red Sox wins and Twins losses) to clinch a playoff berth.
Eliminated Teams Update:
Seattle Mariners
Washington Nationals
Pittsburgh Pirates
Baltimore Orioles
Oakland Athletics
Cincinnati Reds
San Diego Padres
Kansas City Royals
Atlanta Braves
Texas Rangers
Detroit Tigers
San Francisco Giants
COLORADO ROCKIES
New teams in bold
On the Brink:
Cleveland Indians: elimination number 2 (White Sox win and a loss)
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Officially in the Playoffs:
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (AL West Champions)
Almost in:
Chicago Cubs: Magic number 1 (a win or a Brewers loss) to clinch NL Central.
Tampa Bay Rays: Magic number 1 (a win over the Twins) to clinch a playoff berth.
Boston Red Sox: Magic number 2 (combination Red Sox wins and Twins and Yankees losses) to clinch a playoff berth.
Eliminated Teams Update:
Seattle Mariners
Washington Nationals
Pittsburgh Pirates
Baltimore Orioles
Oakland Athletics
Cincinnati Reds
San Diego Padres
Kansas City Royals
Atlanta Braves
Texas Rangers
Detroit Tigers
San Francisco Giants
Colorado Rockies
New teams in bold
On the Brink:
Cleveland Indians: elimination number 1 (White Sox win or a loss)
Toronto Blue Jays: elimination number 1 (a loss to the Red Sox)
New York Yankees: elimination number 2 (a Red Sox win, a Rays win and a loss)
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[youtube=425,350]CqHTScDBsDU[/youtube]
.
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Officially in the Playoffs:
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (AL West Champions)
Chicago Cubs (NL Central Champions)
Tampa Bay Rays (Clinched Playoff Berth)
Almost in:
Boston Red Sox: Magic number 2 (combination Red Sox wins and Yankees losses) to clinch a playoff berth.
Eliminated Teams Update:
Seattle Mariners
Washington Nationals
Pittsburgh Pirates
Baltimore Orioles
Oakland Athletics
Cincinnati Reds
San Diego Padres
Kansas City Royals
Atlanta Braves
Texas Rangers
Detroit Tigers
San Francisco Giants
Colorado Rockies
New teams in bold
On the Brink:
Cleveland Indians: elimination number 1 (White Sox win or a loss)
Toronto Blue Jays: elimination number 1 (a loss to the Red Sox)
New York Yankees: elimination number 2 (a Red Sox win, a Rays win and a loss)
St. Louis Cardinals: elimination number 3 (combination Mets wins and Cardinals losses)
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Congratulations to the Cubs and the Rays for making the playoffs. For any fans here on the
board I hope your teams do well.
Today is the last Yankee home game at the old stadium. I'm glad I got to go there one last
time this season. I'm going to miss it.
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Quite a few bodies can hit the floor today, so I think it'll be easier to update as they do. Feel free to edit this if you get it before I do, Doug.
Officially in the Playoffs:
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (AL West Champions)
Chicago Cubs (NL Central Champions)
Tampa Bay Rays (Clinched Playoff Berth)
Almost in:
Boston Red Sox: Magic number 1 (a win or a Yankees loss) to clinch a playoff berth.
Eliminated Teams Update:
Seattle Mariners
Washington Nationals
Pittsburgh Pirates
Baltimore Orioles
Oakland Athletics
Cincinnati Reds
San Diego Padres
Kansas City Royals
Atlanta Braves
Texas Rangers
Detroit Tigers
San Francisco Giants
Colorado Rockies
TORONTO BLUE JAYS
CLEVELAND INDIANS
New teams in bold
On the Brink:
New York Yankees: elimination number 1 (a Red Sox win or a loss)
St. Louis Cardinals: elimination number 2 (combination Mets wins and Cardinals losses)
Florida Marlins: elimination number 3 (combination Mets wins and Marlins losses)
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Not sure if any others are happening tonight, but I'll check that later. Just want the honor of posting the two new bolds, and it's amazing how they did it. Tim Wakefield gets robbed of wins on quality performances all year for various reasons, pitches just OK tonight (the defense did not help him), and he beats Cliff Lee. The night before Beckett couldn't beat some jabroni. Baseball's a strange game.
Officially in the Playoffs:
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (AL West Champions)
Chicago Cubs (NL Central Champions)
Tampa Bay Rays (Clinched Playoff Berth)
BOSTON RED SOX (CLINCHED PLAYOFF BERTH)
Eliminated Teams Update:
Seattle Mariners
Washington Nationals
Pittsburgh Pirates
Baltimore Orioles
Oakland Athletics
Cincinnati Reds
San Diego Padres
Kansas City Royals
Atlanta Braves
Texas Rangers
Detroit Tigers
San Francisco Giants
Colorado Rockies
Toronto Blue Jays
Cleveland Indians
ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
NEW YORK YANKEES
FLORIDA MARLINS
New teams in bold
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I went ahead and added the Cards and Fish to the post Doug. St. Louis was eliminated yesterday. The Astros have an elimination number of 3, if the Reds hang on it will be down to 2. If the Pirates can hang on to beat the Brewers the Phillies will have a magic number of 2 to clinch a playoff spot.
The addition of Tampa and subtraction of the Yankees should make for an interesting post-season this year. It's gotta suck for Yanks fans: not only are they officially eliminated and the Red Sox in the playoffs this year but the Mets have a good chance of making the playoffs as well.
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The addition of Tampa and subtraction of the Yankees should make for an interesting post-season this year. It's gotta suck for Yanks fans: not only are they officially eliminated and the Red Sox in the playoffs this year but the Mets have a good chance of making the playoffs as well.
I betcha Joe Torre must feel vindicated right now, and I'm glad, 'cause I like Joe and can't stand anything named Steinbrenner.
I'm really happy Tampa Bay's in the playoffs. If they advance further than Boston and don't play The Cubs, I'll be cheering them on.
As far as the division goes, unlike last year, I could care less. I think we have a good shot against the Angels, though they're certainly not a pushover. Yeah, they're 8 - 1 against Boston this year, but 6 of those wins were during the dog days of Manny - a team that would not have made the playoffs.
Minnesota crushing Chicago right now.
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With Tampa playing the Orioles and Tigers while we have the Indians and Yankees I've resigned myself to the fact that the Sox will get the wild card, which is fine because in reality the wild card is just as good as winning the division. Since the inception of the wild card in 1995 9 wild card teams have made the World Series, including one of each of the last 5. Four of those wild card teams have won the World Series including the 04 Red Sox, so I'm not worried. Of course as you said we are a different team than the one the Angels played, and we have also 9 straight post-season wins against them.
If the Brewers end up on the outs it will be a crushing disappointment. They were right there with the Red Sox as far as having a nice cushion in the Wild Card went and so far they've blown it. With Sheets and Sabathia gone after the season it's now or never.
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With Tampa playing the Orioles
What a friggin' pitiful team. Cheering them onto beat the Yanks and Rays, I end up hating them for the same reasons I love playing them...there are a few games a year where you don't beat them, but they beat themselves. I hope Nick Markakis finds a worthier team when he's a free agent.
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I should correct myself: there has been at one wild card team in the past 6 World Series', the Angels and Giants were both wild card teams in 2002.
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Ok, to keep up to date:
Almost in:
Philadelphia Phillies: Magic number 3 (combination Phillies wins and Brewers losses) to clinch a playoff spot.
Los Angeles Dodgers: Magic number 3 (combination Dodgers wins and Diamondbacks losses) to clinch a playoff spot.
If the Rays are going to win the division (and it looks like they will) I would like for it to be sooner than later so we can align everything right for the ALDS against the Angels, making the Yankees series meaningless as we toss scrubs in there and rest the important guys (thusly rubbing salt in the wound).
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making the Yankees series meaningless as we toss scrubs in there and rest the important guys (thusly rubbing salt in the wound).
I propose Zink on Friday, Hansack on Saturday, and Pauley on Sunday. ;D
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I went ahead and added the Cards and Fish to the post Doug. St. Louis was eliminated yesterday. The Astros have an elimination number of 3, if the Reds hang on it will be down to 2. If the Pirates can hang on to beat the Brewers the Phillies will have a magic number of 2 to clinch a playoff spot.
The addition of Tampa and subtraction of the Yankees should make for an interesting post-season this year. It's gotta suck for Yanks fans: not only are they officially eliminated and the Red Sox in the playoffs this year but the Mets have a good chance of making the playoffs as well.
It does suck a bit that Boston and possibly the Mets will be in the playoffs and we won't. I don't like it, but we didn't play well this year between
injuries and just sucking on the field period. Cashman better do a good housecleaning this offseason. We have alot of dead weight veterans that
we need to get rid off, and the ones that still produce need to be willing to play for less money so we can go out and get Sabathia and anyone
else we can get our hands on.
It's going to be a interesting offseaon for the Yanks thats for sure.
Now that my Yankess are out, I'll be rooting for Tampa Bay and the Cubs to do well. Tampa earned my respect this year for playing hard
and they have earned their first playoff spot.
Either way, this postseason should be interesting.
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To be honest Justin (and not that I want the Yankees to become contenders again) I don't think going out and getting more pricey free agents is the answer to their problems. They've been throwing money at their problems since they lost to the Diamondbacks in 2001 and it has got them nowhere. Looking at teams like Tampa and Boston I think the best route would be to build from within. It's cheaper and that's the way teamwork is truly built.
If I were playing Yankee GM the first thing I would do is let guys like I-Rod, Giambi, Pavano and Pettitte go to Free Agency outright. Those spots can go to up and comers who are hungry and have their minds set on becoming Yankees and getting their shot, not trying to milk the cash cow. I would also not sign Marte or Abreau. Marte has an ERA of 4.91 in New York, which is way too high for a set-up man. Some players just can't take the spotlight of the big market teams like the Yankees and Red Sox and he is one of them. Abreau's numbers certainly do not justify his contract...or even half of his contract. He is vastly overpaid and that spot would be better suited for a youngster coming up.
Mussina is a touchy subject. Yes, he's having a very good year and may win 20 games (especially if the Sox send in the scrubs on sunday) but he's going to be 40 years old and his skills are only going to decline. He would be nice in the rotation as a mentor (in a Tim Wakefield type role) but I would tell him he has to take a pay cut if he wants to remain in the Bronx. If he won't (which is probable considering he may finally hit the 20 win mark) then let him go.
I would also try to negotiate something with the teams not listed in Johnny Damon's partial no-trade clause to see if I could broker a deal to get rid of him. At $13 million a year he too is vastly overpaid...even if means eating some of that contract, just so I'd have another spot for a prospect to get his shot. You've got to remember those kids down in Scranton and other areas of the Yankees organization are probably getting frustrated because they are not getting their opportunity and you could very well have a future Hall of Famer down there. Meanwhile the MLB club keeps on picking up the big name free agents and making trade deals all because Steinbrenner is Yiddish for "Star Fucker".
Brian Cashman is a very good GM, but he has to be allowed to do his job.
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To be honest Justin (and not that I want the Yankees to become contenders again) I don't think going out and getting more pricey free agents is the answer to their problems. They've been throwing money at their problems since they lost to the Diamondbacks in 2001 and it has got them nowhere. Looking at teams like Tampa and Boston I think the best route would be to build from within. It's cheaper and that's the way teamwork is truly built.
If I were playing Yankee GM the first thing I would do is let guys like I-Rod, Giambi, Pavano and Pettitte go to Free Agency outright. Those spots can go to up and comers who are hungry and have their minds set on becoming Yankees and getting their shot, not trying to milk the cash cow. I would also not sign Marte or Abreau. Marte has an ERA of 4.91 in New York, which is way too high for a set-up man. Some players just can't take the spotlight of the big market teams like the Yankees and Red Sox and he is one of them. Abreau's numbers certainly do not justify his contract...or even half of his contract. He is vastly overpaid and that spot would be better suited for a youngster coming up.
Mussina is a touchy subject. Yes, he's having a very good year and may win 20 games (especially if the Sox send in the scrubs on sunday) but he's going to be 40 years old and his skills are only going to decline. He would be nice in the rotation as a mentor (in a Tim Wakefield type role) but I would tell him he has to take a pay cut if he wants to remain in the Bronx. If he won't (which is probable considering he may finally hit the 20 win mark) then let him go.
I would also try to negotiate something with the teams not listed in Johnny Damon's partial no-trade clause to see if I could broker a deal to get rid of him. At $13 million a year he too is vastly overpaid...even if means eating some of that contract, just so I'd have another spot for a prospect to get his shot. You've got to remember those kids down in Scranton and other areas of the Yankees organization are probably getting frustrated because they are not getting their opportunity and you could very well have a future Hall of Famer down there. Meanwhile the MLB club keeps on picking up the big name free agents and making trade deals all because Steinbrenner is Yiddish for "Star Fucker".
Brian Cashman is a very good GM, but he has to be allowed to do his job.
No, you are absolutly right. What I should have said was they need to spend the money the right way, as in get good young talent that's available
or a reliable veteran esp in pitching.
But yes, the best thing they can do is continue to build from within and work the farm system alot more. Thankfully the Steinbrenner's have listened to
Cashman a little in that regard. Young and talented guys like Joba, Cano and Melky came from the system and they need to continue to work it.
Not everyone is going to make an impact right away, hell some should head back down to work on their fundamentals esp Kennedy, I think Hughes may
be ok but they still have problems that need to be worked out.
They definatly need to do what you said about some of the veterans, some can still produce but they should not be eating up payroll as a result. Paycuts
have to happen here and if their not willing to take the cut, then you dump em or trade em away.
I dont want I-Rod, Giambi, Pavano or Pettite to stay because they cant produce as well as they used to and keeping them around for alot of money
is just a bad idea. I would keep Abreu if he is willing to take a paycut, same with Damon. Johnny may not be great but he was very good from the leadoff
position this season when he wasn't injured.
Mussina is going to be tricky, yeah he was awesome this year but how much longer can it last? I also hope he would be willing to stay for less pay.
I'm glad you agree Brian Cashman is a good GM, I really like him. He's done alot of good things for the club but the Steinbrenner's have tied his hands
in certain places and that needs to stop, they have to let him do what he has to do in order to rebuild this team. They did that with the farm system
and now they have to let him deal with the veterans the right way.
I'll be following the offseason very closely to see what happens. Your very honest assesment of their situation was most welcome.
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The Yankees organization needs to exercise patience and have the brains to take a step backwards to move forward. You need a balance of strong veterans and young kids, and with the latter, you have to give them time.
Look at Jon Lester. Until May of this year, he was a five inning pitcher who walked too many guys, and has since turned into a no-hitting ace capable of shutting out the Yankees. The point is Boston was smart enough to exercise patience and not trade him for Johan Santana. Perhaps the same patience will pay off for Phil Hughes, he's young yet and certainly does not deserve to be booed off the mound.
As for Joba, he already has the stuff to get major league hitters out, but the Yankees, in their win now mentality, are shuffling him back from the rotation to the pen to meet their current needs, long-term health be damned. The Yanks definitely need to make a decision this off-season what Joba's role will be so he can develop a proper training routine and not have to retire at 24. The Red Sox had a similar situation with Papelbon, made up their minds one way, and have a strict regiment in monitoring his health. Paps has worked out pretty well for Boston. A similar approach to Joba would be wise.
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In my humble opinion the most important position in baseball is that of catcher. Not only does your catcher have to catch the pitches he has to know the strengths and weaknesses of the pitchers he's catching and of the opposing batters so he can call the game properly. A catcher's hitting stats are almost not relevant, such as the case with Jason Varitek, who despite having a down offensive year was selected by the players to the All-Star Game. Jason Kendall is a catcher who has never really been much with a bat but due to his intangibles is considered one of the top 5 catchers in baseball.
Right up there with Varitek and Kendall is Jorge Posada. I read somewhere where he said that Joba Chamberlain should be kept in the bullpen and out of the rotation. If I'm Cashman and the Steinbrenner "brain trust" (oxymoron) I would listen to the man because knowing pitchers is main job. If Varitek said a certain pitcher was better suited to be a set-up guy, closer, or middle bullpen guy rather than a starter I'll bet dollars to donuts Theo Epstein and the Henry Group would damn well listen to him.
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I propose Zink on Friday, Hansack on Saturday, and Pauley on Sunday. ;D
I've dreamed up a couple of scenarios for the Yankees series that I would absolutely get a kick out of and would do if I were in a position to do so (keeping in mind that Tampa has the division wrapped up by then and we know we are starting the ALDS in Anaheim).
1. For those three games we send the entire Red Sox roster down to Pawtucket and bring Paw Sox up to play the Yankees.
2. We have the starters start each of those games and play 1-3 innings. Terry Francona is sitting in an Emperor's chair with those guys who play those long trumpet instruments on either side of him. When the time comes (before the start of the 2nd or whatever) the trumpet guys play and Tito bellows "BRING IN THE SCRUBS!" into a megaphone as Papi, Beckett, Tek, Wakefield, Youk et. al. go back to the dugout where scantily clad maidens hand-feed them grapes for the rest of the game.
In both scenarios the 2008 ALDS logo is already painted on the field to further rub it in. Perhaps it's a good thing that I am not running a baseball team.
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I've dreamed up a couple of scenarios for the Yankees series that I would absolutely get a kick out of and would do if I were in a position to do so (keeping in mind that Tampa has the division wrapped up by then and we know we are starting the ALDS in Anaheim).
1. For those three games we send the entire Red Sox roster down to Pawtucket and bring Paw Sox up to play the Yankees.
2. We have the starters start each of those games and play 1-3 innings. Terry Francona is sitting in an Emperor's chair with those guys who play those long trumpet instruments on either side of him. When the time comes (before the start of the 2nd or whatever) the trumpet guys play and Tito bellows "BRING IN THE SCRUBS!" into a megaphone as Papi, Beckett, Tek, Wakefield, Youk et. al. go back to the dugout where scantily clad maidens hand-feed them grapes for the rest of the game.
In both scenarios the 2008 ALDS logo is already painted on the field to further rub it in. Perhaps it's a good thing that I am not running a baseball team.
I say let Johnny Pesky play short stop on Friday night. The Yanks score their only run on a fifth inning blunder as Brett Gardner scores while Pesky holds onto the ball too long. Pesky redeems himself with a walk off two run Pesky pole shot off Mariano. He then proceeds to celebrate by doing the riverdance wearing boxers, a Hugh Hefner robe, and WWII aviator goggles.
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Officially in the Playoffs:
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (AL West Champions)
Chicago Cubs (NL Central Champions)
Tampa Bay Rays (Clinched Playoff Berth)
Boston Red Sox (Clinched Playoff Berth)
Almost in:
Los Angeles Dodgers: Magic number 1 (a win or Diamondbacks loss) to clinch NL West
Philadelphia Phillies: Magic number 3 (combination Phillies wins and Mets losses) to clinch NL East: OR (combination Phillies wins and Brewers losses) to clinch a playoff berth
Currently:
* Milwaukee Brewers and New York Mets are tied for the NL Wild Card
* Chicago White Sox lead the AL Central by 1/2 game over Minnesota Twins
Eliminated Teams Update:
Seattle Mariners
Washington Nationals
Pittsburgh Pirates
Baltimore Orioles
Oakland Athletics
Cincinnati Reds
San Diego Padres
Kansas City Royals
Atlanta Braves
Texas Rangers
Detroit Tigers
San Francisco Giants
Colorado Rockies
Toronto Blue Jays
Cleveland Indians
St. Louis Cardinals
New York Yankees
Florida Marlins
New teams in bold
Almost Eliminated:
Arizona Diamondbacks: Elimination number 1 (a Dodgers win or a loss)
Houston Astros: Elimination number 2 (either a Mets or Brewers win and a loss)
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Now, that we've reached that point in the year where most teams are gone (and I'm in shock the Dodgers aren't one of them) I have to say that, out of all the available teams, the Mets and the Phillies are my picks for the East and/or the Wild Card. But, as a Dodger fan, who do we play first? The Mets or Phillies? Looking at another scenario, do we play the Cubs or the Brewers?
This is, of course, if we win the division. Never count the other team out until they are truly out. It is possible that the Dodgers could be driving to the stadium having already clinched the division with a D'Bags loss later this afternoon but, let's not get silly. I really want to see an onfield celebration to close out the home season. Now, I'm not trying to be the smug winner by these comments...not by a long shot. I said to my Wife last night that "this is what Christmas is SUPPOSED to feel like" and that it's a feeling I haven't experienced (as baseball goes) in 20 years. I didn't find anything overly special in our victories in 1995, 1996, 2004 and 2006. Well, the way we finished 2004 was a moment that almost equals the feeling I had in 1988 but, not quite. My point is that I have higher expectations for this group of people who play in Los Angeles (Manny or no Manny). Since we first held the no. 1 spot alone back on April 4th, I knew there was something there that would get us to where we are now. Did Manny wake us up? Yes, but not alone. We acquired Angel Berroa and Casey Blake before him and they are the ones who really ignited the offense.
I know all you Boston fans are probably steaming right now but, he's a Dodger (at least for now) and his mission now is to help US win. I would have liked to have seen the Yankees in one more postseason appearance before the death of the legend that was Yankee Stadium. I will always regret not having the chance to see a game played there. No new stadium will make up for such a loss and I'm sorry for Yankee fans around the world who are losing such a tresure. As Shea Stadium goes, there will hopefully be more baseball played there after its official last game of the season but, it will not be as remembered for most as the park in which the Mets played for forty five seasons. It will be best remembered as the site of the first MAJOR rock concert. If Yankee Stadium was "the house that Ruth built", Shea is/was "rock's golden shrine".
Good luck to all who are still in the race and, for all who have an early spring (I'm not calling victory yet...), we'll see you next year. Learn from your mistakes this year and repair the holes. Some have many and some have few but, they all need to be worked on.
So far...
TAMPA BAY/BOSTON
ANAHEIM
CHICAGO WS/MINNESOTA/THE ABOVE TWO
PHILADELPHIA/NEW YORK METS
THE ABOVE TWO/MILWAUKEE
CHICAGO CUBS
DODGERS/D'BACKS (Ugh! That name leaves a sour taste in my mouth, to spell it properly...)
Good luck to all of those undecided.
Officially in the Playoffs:
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (AL West Champions)
Chicago Cubs (NL Central Champions)
Tampa Bay Rays (Clinched Playoff Berth)
Boston Red Sox (Clinched Playoff Berth)
Almost in:
Los Angeles Dodgers: Magic number 1 (a win or Diamondbacks loss) to clinch NL West
Philadelphia Phillies: Magic number 3 (combination Phillies wins and Mets losses) to clinch NL East: OR (combination Phillies wins and Brewers losses) to clinch a playoff berth
Currently:
* Milwaukee Brewers and New York Mets are tied for the NL Wild Card
* Chicago White Sox lead the AL Central by 1/2 game over Minnesota Twins
Eliminated Teams Update:
Seattle Mariners
Washington Nationals
Pittsburgh Pirates
Baltimore Orioles
Oakland Athletics
Cincinnati Reds
San Diego Padres
Kansas City Royals
Atlanta Braves
Texas Rangers
Detroit Tigers
San Francisco Giants
Colorado Rockies
Toronto Blue Jays
Cleveland Indians
St. Louis Cardinals
New York Yankees
Florida Marlins
New teams in bold
Almost Eliminated:
Arizona Diamondbacks: Elimination number 1 (a Dodgers win or a loss)
Houston Astros: Elimination number 2 (either a Mets or Brewers win and a loss)
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I know all you Boston fans are probably steaming right now
Not really. We've played much better without him, and Jason Bay's a damn good player without the distractions. I am glad Boston had Manny all those years, but it was time both sides moved on.
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But, as a Dodger fan, who do we play first? The Mets or Phillies? Looking at another scenario, do we play the Cubs or the Brewers?
Here are the possible LDS scenarios: (First team has home field advantage)
AL
LAA vs the Wild Card (most likely BOS)
AL East Champ (most likely TB) vs either CWS or MIN
NL
If MIL wins the Wild Card:
CHC vs LAD
NL East Champ vs MIL
If PHI wins the NL East and NYM wins the wild card
CHC vs Wild Card
NL East Champ vs LAD
*CHC has clinched the top seed in the NL.
*The NL East Champ will be the #2 seed.
*The #1 seed cannot play the Wild Card in the LDS if they are both in the same division.
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Officially in the Playoffs:
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (AL West Champions)
Chicago Cubs (NL Central Champions)
Tampa Bay Rays (Clinched Playoff Berth)
Boston Red Sox (Clinched Playoff Berth)
LOS ANGELES DODGERS (NL WEST CHAMPIONS)
Almost in:
Philadelphia Phillies: Magic number 3 (combination Phillies wins and Mets losses) to clinch NL East: OR (combination Phillies wins and Brewers losses) to clinch a playoff berth
Currently:
* Milwaukee Brewers and New York Mets are tied for the NL Wild Card
* Minnesota Twins lead the AL Central by 1/2 game over Chicago White Sox
Eliminated Teams Update:
Seattle Mariners
Washington Nationals
Pittsburgh Pirates
Baltimore Orioles
Oakland Athletics
Cincinnati Reds
San Diego Padres
Kansas City Royals
Atlanta Braves
Texas Rangers
Detroit Tigers
San Francisco Giants
Colorado Rockies
Toronto Blue Jays
Cleveland Indians
St. Louis Cardinals
New York Yankees
Florida Marlins
ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
New teams in all caps
Almost Eliminated:
Houston Astros: Elimination number 1 (either a Mets or Brewers win or a loss)
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This MLB package is awesome. Watched The Brewers and Mets walk-off and am now watching a tie between Chicago and Minnesota in the 9th. Some great baseball tonight, and I'm kind of hoping for the 3 way tie in the NL.
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As Shea Stadium goes, there will hopefully be more baseball played there after its official last game of the season but, it will not be as remembered for most as the park in which the Mets played for forty five seasons. It will be best remembered as the site of the first MAJOR rock concert. If Yankee Stadium was "the house that Ruth built", Shea is/was "rock's golden shrine".
My mother was there.
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Joe Nathan's a man, Bobby Jenks is a mouse. Incredible night of baseball.
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Yeah, I was flip-flopping during and after the Sox game and watched the Mets, Brewers and Twins all win walk-offs. Awesome.
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Officially in the Playoffs:
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (AL West Champions)
Chicago Cubs (NL Central Champions)
Tampa Bay Rays (AL East Champions)
Boston Red Sox (AL Wild Card)
Los Angeles Dodgers (NL West Champions)
Almost in:
Philadelphia Phillies: Magic number 1 (Phillies win or Mets loss) to clinch NL East
Milwaukee Brewers: Magic number 2 (Brewers win and a Mets loss) to clinch NL Wild Card
Currently:
* Milwaukee Brewers lead New York Mets by 1 game for the NL Wild Card
* Minnesota Twins lead the AL Central by 1/2 game over Chicago White Sox
Eliminated Teams Update:
Seattle Mariners
Washington Nationals
Pittsburgh Pirates
Baltimore Orioles
Oakland Athletics
Cincinnati Reds
San Diego Padres
Kansas City Royals
Atlanta Braves
Texas Rangers
Detroit Tigers
San Francisco Giants
Colorado Rockies
Toronto Blue Jays
Cleveland Indians
St. Louis Cardinals
New York Yankees
Florida Marlins
Arizona Diamondbacks
HOUSTON ASTROS
New teams in all caps
Almost Eliminated:
New York Mets: Elimination number 2 (Brewers win and a Mets loss)
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Last night = bring out the scrubs indeed! 19 - 8........memories!
If the Mets miss the playoffs again, I predict Omar Minaya loses his job.
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Rumor has it that Omar Minaya just got (at least verbally) a 4-year extension. If that holds up, all of the announcements at the new ballpark will be bilingual. And I guarantee he'll have carte blanche to run up a huge payroll to try to buy another playoff appearance.
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And I guarantee he'll have carte blanche to run up a huge payroll to try to buy another playoff appearance.
In the mean time, Scott Kazmir's in the playoffs.
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Last night = bring out the scrubs indeed! 19 - 8........memories!
If the Mets miss the playoffs again, I predict Omar Minaya loses his job.
Where else can a 19-8 loss conjure up GOOD memories?
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Where else can a 19-8 loss conjure up GOOD memories?
If Ortiz hits 12th inning walk-off tonight, I'll be really creeped out.
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With most of their regulars sitting on the bench, the Cubs just finished bitch-slapping the Brewers around. Making a lot of Mets fans happy, I would presume.
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Officially in the Playoffs:
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (AL West Champions)
Chicago Cubs (NL Central Champions)
Tampa Bay Rays (AL East Champions)
Boston Red Sox (AL Wild Card)
Los Angeles Dodgers (NL West Champions)
PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES ( NL EAST CHAMPIONS)
Tie-Breaking Scenarios:
* Milwaukee Brewers and New York Mets are tied for NL Wild card. If the two teams finish the season tied they will play a one-game tie-breaker playoff at Shea Stadium on Monday.
* Minnesota Twins lead the AL Central by 1/2 game over Chicago White Sox. If Twins win and White Sox lose, Twins win the Central. If both win, both lose, or White Sox win and Twins lose then Chicago must play a make-up game against the Detroit Tigers at US Cellular Field on Monday at 2:05pm EST. If the two teams are tied after the CHI/DET make-up game then the White Sox and Twins will play a one-game tie-breaker playoff on Tuesday at US Cellular Field.
Eliminated Teams Update:
Seattle Mariners
Washington Nationals
Pittsburgh Pirates
Baltimore Orioles
Oakland Athletics
Cincinnati Reds
San Diego Padres
Kansas City Royals
Atlanta Braves
Texas Rangers
Detroit Tigers
San Francisco Giants
Colorado Rockies
Toronto Blue Jays
Cleveland Indians
St. Louis Cardinals
New York Yankees
Florida Marlins
Arizona Diamondbacks
Houston Astros
New teams in all caps
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I just wanted to point everyone to an excellent "year in review" article by Jayson Stark at espn.com which features (among other things) the best quotes from the season, including this gem:
From Ralph Nader, after he'd been told by Washington Post editors that the lack of coverage of his presidential campaign was because he had no chance of winning:
"Then why are you covering the Nationals?"
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=3611226
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Now that my beloved (ha, ha) Phillies are in the playoffs, the best scenario would be for the Mets to be rained out today, make it up tomorrow and do the same as the Brewers do today, then play each other Tuesday and have Milwaukee win in 28 innings. Then the Phillies can open up against the True Blue Brew Crew at 3:00 Wednesday. Nah, those bubbleheads at MLB will give the Phillies the 10:00 game. Regardless of when the Phillies play, I just want them to win the last game.
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I just wanted to point everyone to an excellent "year in review" article by Jayson Stark at espn.com which features (among other things) the best quotes from the season, including this gem:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=3611226
Yeah, I read that article, and the Nader quote got to me the most to.
Some people love him, and some hate him, but with Ozzie Guillen, you can put me in the former group.
Ozzie Guillen Quotes of the Year
• Second prize -- On his second-favorite Chicago ballpark, Wrigley Field:
AP Photo/M. Spencer Green
"You are going to take batting practice, and the rats look bigger than a pig out there," he told the Chicago Sun-Times' Joe Cowley. "You want to take a look? I think the rats out there are lifting weights."
• First prize -- On why he was having trouble remembering that April 28 suspended game by the time it resumed in August:
"There was a lot of vodka between that game and today," he told the Sun-Times' Chris De Luca. "Believe me."
• Special bonus quote -- And thanks to the Chicago Tribune's Phil Rogers for passing along this quip from the White Sox's No. 1 pick, Gordon Beckham, on his first impression of the inimitable Ozzie:
"I hope to get up here and get yelled at sooner than later."
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In how many different language can you say the word "fuck?"
http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/baseball/red_sox/view/2008_09_28_Source:_Josh_Beckett_has_oblique_injury:_Sox_ace_may_be_in_hole/srvc=home&position=1
The Red Sox [team stats] could be facing a Tom Brady [stats]-like blow to their postseason plans.
Just as the Patriots [team stats] are trying to make it work this season without the injured Brady as their quarterback, the Red Sox could be going into the playoffs without Josh Beckett [stats] as the ace of their pitching staff.
According to a source, Beckett sustained an oblique injury during a bullpen session following his last start.
Asked last night if Beckett is suffering from an oblique injury, a separate Red Sox source said a medical update on Beckett will be announced today, before the team boards its charter flight to California for Wednesday’s Game 1 of the American League Division Series against the Los Angeles Angels.
The Sox were poised to enter the postseason with one of baseball’s best front-three starters in Beckett (12-10, 4.03 ERA), Daisuke Matsuzaka [stats] (18-3, 2.90) and Jon Lester [stats] (16-6, 3.21). The team has yet to announce its pitching plans for the ALDS, but it has been widely speculated that Beckett would start Game 1.
Between games of yesterday’s doubleheader at Fenway Park [map] against the Yankees, Sox manager Terry Francona said the team’s postseason pitching plans would be announced today.
Because of off days built into the ALDS, Beckett, if healthy, would be able to start Game 1 and return on four days’ rest to pitch a possible Game 4 next Monday at Fenway Park. If he is unable to pitch, the Red Sox could still get two starts each out of Lester and Matsuzaka, with either Tim Wakefield [stats] or Paul Byrd starting Game 3.
Even taking into account the splendid seasons Lester and Matsuzaka have submitted, losing Beckett would seriously hamper the Red Sox in the postseason. There have been plenty of teams that have won the World Series on the strength of two starting pitchers - Curt Schilling [stats] and Randy Johnson of the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks quickly come to mind - but Beckett has emerged as one of the top postseason pitchers of this era.
Beckett was one of the keys to the Red Sox winning the World Series last year, going 4-0 with a 1.20 ERA in four postseason starts. He faced the Angels in Game 1 of the ALDS, tossing a complete-game shutout in a 4-0 Red Sox victory, allowing just four hits.
He won both his starts against the Cleveland Indians in the American League Championship Series, allowing just three runs in 14 innings and being named MVP.
In his lone start in the Sox’ four-game World Series sweep of the Colorado Rockies, he allowed one run in seven innings in Game 1, a 13-1 Red Sox victory. He struck out nine Rockies that night, including the first four of the game.
Counting his 2003 season with the Florida Marlins, which culminated with Beckett pitching his team to victory over the Yankees in the clinching Game 6 at Yankee Stadium, Beckett is 2-1 with a 1.16 ERA in the Fall Classic. He is 3-0 with a 2.70 ERA in five starts, and 1-1 with a 0.56 ERA in the Division Series.
In his most recent start, on Sept. 22 at Fenway Park against the Cleveland Indians, Beckett worked six innings, allowing four runs on seven hits. He had six strikeouts and issued one walk.
In four September starts, Beckett is 1-1 with a 2.16 ERA, with opposing hitters batting just .215 against him.
Beckett made only 27 starts this season, having served two stints on the disabled list.
He was on the disabled list with a lower back strain from the beginning of the season until April 6. He returned to the DL on Aug. 28, retroactive to Aug. 18, with what was termed right elbow inflammation. Extensive tests during his most recent stay on the DL revealed no structural damage in the pitcher’s right elbow.
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Uh, well, it looks like Beckett's pitching game 3. Perhaps I jumped the gun, but I hope he's OK.
Glad I'm not a Mets fan.
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Did you see any of those games Doug? When the Brewers wrapped up against the Cubs every single person in Shea, from Jose Reyes down to the hot dog vendors had a look of defeat on their faces. They had already given up after the back-to-back homers.
The only predictions for the DS that I feel any confidence in are Red Sox over Angels and Cubs over Dodgers. The Red Sox have recent history on their side, not only against the Angels in the playoffs but in so far as teams playing each other in the playoffs where one team dominated the other in the regular season. The Yankees swept the regular season series against the Indians last year only to get dropped in 4 in the DS. The Cubs hold a HUGE pitching advantage over the Dodgers, so big I don't think Manny will be able to carry the Bums past the first round.
Phillies and Brewers is tough. Milwaukee should probably start CC on 3 days rest in game 2 (if they have no intention of keeping him they're going to ride the horse until he drops). Other than Sabbathia and Sheets (if he's 100%) these two teams are so even...but right now I'm tentatively leaning towards Milwaukee. I want to say the Rays over the Twins/Chi Sox, but I just can't bring myself to make a confident prediction in favor of Tampa...and you've gotta watch out for those teams who win tie-breakers, they seem to ride the momentum like the Rockies did last year. The Twins in particular have the pitching that can go toe to toe with the likes of Kazmir/Shields.
Anyway, I'll be watching the Tigers/Chi Sox tomorrow and hoping Chicago wins so we get a Central tie-breaker on Tuesday. Hopefully this year's postseason will be better than last year's (the only postseason series' that weren't sweeps were the CLE/NYY ALDS and the BOS/CLE ALCS) but with the same results: a Red Sox championship.
Best of luck to fans of all the playoff teams.
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Best of luck to fans of all the playoff teams.
That's the first time you've said that in 15 years!
I'm not as confident as last year against the Angels, and the 1 - 8 record has nothing to do with it. More so the question marks surrounding Beckett, Drew, and Lowell. Of course, I think we're capable of going all the way. Lester and Dice-K aren't chopped liver, and combined with the possibility of a strong Beckett we have a good shot. Still, nothing's written in stone, and that's why the games are played.
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Apparently Drew and Lowell are ready to go for game 1. I absolutely love Lester and will go so far as to stay he's one of the top 3 lefties today. Dice-K will give you heart palpitations but most of time he's able to bob in and out of trouble and come out on top. I'm also counting on the Angels being lax since they haven't played a meaningful game in awhile. The records are very deceiving in this series: the Angels won 100 games while mostly healthy in an otherwise shitty division while the Red Sox won 95 in the toughest division in baseball with quite a few injuries along the way (along with all that Manny drama for the first half).
I've been thinking about tv coverage and FOX must be begging for a Red Sox/Cubs World Series. None of the other AL teams are a big draw nationwide. The Angels and White Sox have already proven to be the shits ratings-wise in recent years, and I don't think the average fans would care for the Twins or Rays either (Tampa doesn't care for the Rays). The worst-case scenarios ratings wise would probably be Angels/Dodgers or Rays/Brewers, but I don't see anything without the Red Sox or Cubs drawing. Red Sox/Cubs is definitely the money draw.
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What a game that tie-breaker was (and they usually are good ones). Congrats to all any Chi Sox fans (I'm pretty sure there's at least one). I would not want to play them in the first round with all that momentum, with the game yesterday and tonight they've already won two elimination games before the playoffs officially began.
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My nerves are shot. What a game. At the beginning of the season I thought the Sox pitching would be their downfall. As it turned out, it's what saved them. I was wrong about the Cubs too. I said they could never go to the play-offs two years in a row. Oops !
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Sorry about that Bill; I knew we had a White Sox fan on the board but I couldn't remember exactly who it was. That homer Thome hit was an absolute moon shot...I think it's still in orbit.
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1. I absolutely love Lester and will go so far as to stay he's one of the top 3 lefties today.
I agree, even more so after tonight. I'd be the happiest guy in the world right now if I didn't have jury duty tomorrow.
Great to see Lester, Bay, and the boys come up big tonight. Ellsbury has come back around as of late too, and he's only going to get better. I think I'll be bragging a lot in the future how I was at a game he played in single-A.
....and congrats to Darkhoarse on a big Dodgers win.
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Well at least later today I can relax while watching the games. The Angels have nothing in their lineup other than 3-4-5, which was quite evident tonight. What about Vlad forgetting that he wasn't Rickey Henderson and getting busted trying to take 3rd on the bloop? That play killed the crowd more so than the Bay homer. Props to Masterson for getting through the only noteworthy part of the Halo's lineup, as well as Papelbon for doing what he usually does....oh yeah Lester was ok too :P.
True story: I said "Manny who?" out loud right before Chip Carey said it during the broadcast.
What about those Cubs fans? They were dead before the damn game even started. Even we Sox fans weren't that bad...we would get pensive before the final few outs before 2004.
Cole Hamels was electric tonight as well as Lester, and finding out that Sheets will not pitch I am confident that the Phillies will take the series in 4 since Sabbathia cannot pitch every game. The Rays and White Sox game should be very interesting...I wonder if the front-runner fans in Tampa will show up or if it's so bad down there they can't sell out a fuckin' playoff game.
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Well at least later today I can relax while watching the games. The Angels have nothing in their lineup other than 3-4-5, which was quite evident tonight. What about Vlad forgetting that he wasn't Rickey Henderson and getting busted trying to take 3rd on the bloop? That play killed the crowd more so than the Bay homer. Props to Masterson for getting through the only noteworthy part of the Halo's lineup, as well as Papelbon for doing what he usually does....oh yeah Lester was ok too :P.
True story: I said "Manny who?" out loud right before Chip Carey said it during the broadcast.
What about those Cubs fans? They were dead before the damn game even started. Even we Sox fans weren't that bad...we would get pensive before the final few outs before 2004.
Cole Hamels was electric tonight as well as Lester, and finding out that Sheets will not pitch I am confident that the Phillies will take the series in 4 since Sabbathia cannot pitch every game. The Rays and White Sox game should be very interesting...I wonder if the front-runner fans in Tampa will show up or if it's so bad down there they can't sell out a fuckin' playoff game.
The difference between Cubs fans and pre-2004 Red Sox fans is at least the Red Sox have come close, with plenty of game 7 and last day of the season heartbreaks to share. The Cubs, other than the Bartman incident, really have been dead the second the playoffs begin.
Yeah, the Phils should steamroller over the Brewers, but I can't seem to convince all the Phillies in my area this, no matter how much logic you throw at them. Another very pessimistic fan base. The guy across from me in work is the worse, so I explain to him his competition is a team who hasn't made the plaoffs in 25 years, a team who hasn't won a WS in 100 years, and a team who has won 1 postseason game in 20 years (2 after today). Oh yeah, and they're not the Mets.
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Well since you pretty much said it I'll say it too: the Phillies are probably the best bet to win the NL Pennant. They'll probably get swept in the World Series, but they should win the Pennant.
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It's October, I'm watching baseball, and the reality just hit me.....it's Tropicana Field I'm seeing. What-the-fuck?
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Yeah, the Phils should steamroller over the Brewers, but I can't seem to convince all the Phillies in my area this, no matter how much logic you throw at them.
Unfortunately, logic doesn't apply.....the fact that we're the losingest franchise in all of professional sports history is sufficient grounds for healthy pessimism (although I sure hope logic finds a way to prevail)
Gary
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Unfortunately, logic doesn't apply.....the fact that we're the losingest franchise in all of professional sports history is sufficient grounds for healthy pessimism (although I sure hope logic finds a way to prevail)
Gary
1964, 10,000 losses.....last I checked, Cole Hamels, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Brad Lidge, and Jamie Moyer weren't even born for most of it (OK, maybe Jamie Moyer was in junior high). You guys have a good team, though I think Brett Meyers might be the wild card concerning how far you go. I honestly can't see how a single Phillies fan thinks they have no chance against Milwaukee. Even Sabbathia, great as he is, was toast last post season, and he's pitched three straight games on three days rest. Advantage - Phillies.
......and Grant Balfour comes up huge as I'm typing. How 'bout them Rays?
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Even Sabbathia, great as he is, was toast last post season, and he's pitched three straight games on three days rest. Advantage - Phillies.
Like I was saying.
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Yesterday's games were characterized by great pitching...today's saw one good outing (Billingsley) and a lot of shitty play. The Cubs are absolutely shitting the bed and depriving the majority of the country of what they want to see: the Cubs snap their drought at the century mark. All those errors...for fucks sake.
I thought that deal with Balfour and O-Cab was bullshit that has no business in the game. Kicking dirt at the pitcher...the pitcher telling the batter to go sit down...settle your squabbles after the game. I also want to say fuck all those Johnny-come-lately Rays "fans" that decided to show up with their gay little cowbells and mohawks.
I can understand not showing up all those years when the team sucked ass: who wants to go see a shitty product on the field? THIS year however they were excellent and all during the season those shitheads in Tampa wouldn't go to the games. If the Rays manage to win it all and I were them I would flip off the crowd and tell all those front-running assholes that didn't support the team until playoff time to shove their cowbells up their dickholes.
Oh yeah...they still didn't sell the place out.
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I'm going to have a heart attack.
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I'm going to have a heart attack.
Masterson pitches the day before, walks in a run in the seventh, and Francona pits him back in the 8th? Delcarmen and Lopez haven't been used yet, and that situation garners Papelbon a statistical blown save, even though Paps got all six batters out he faced. Bah! Not one of Tito's better decisions, and I was cursing it before Masterson threw his first 8 inning pitch.
On the bright side, we got to enjoy our annual game 2 ALDS slaying of K-Rod, and I guess in turn Papelbon's annual ALDS game 2 win. J.D. Drew gives us his second huge clutch playoff home run, and Jason Bay proves we're just fine without Manny.
On the shitty side of the coin, 4 series, all 2 - 0 leads. Sucks as a baseball fan, and even worse for TBS. A bloody miracle one year later Frank TV is still on the air.
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Oh boy, what a game! The Red Sox just absolutely own the Angels and are all in their heads...especially K-Rod's. To scratch and claw all game and finally get your first extra base hit of the series and tie the game up only to have the guy who broke the single season saves record blow it in the 9th: they are fucking done. There is no way they are coming back from this: I'm spent just watching it so I can't even begin to imagine how drained they must feel.
I hope the other series' go at least 4, for fucks sake. Just like last year we had some real promising match-ups in the first round and are now looking at 4 possible 3 game sweeps. Go Brewers, Cubs and White Sox in your game 3's...baseball can use some good opening round series'.
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Masterson pitches the day before, walks in a run in the seventh, and Francona pits him back in the 8th? Delcarmen and Lopez haven't been used yet, and that situation garners Papelbon a statistical blown save, even though Paps got all six batters out he faced. Bah! Not one of Tito's better decisions, and I was cursing it before Masterson threw his first 8 inning pitch.
On the bright side, we got to enjoy our annual game 2 ALDS slaying of K-Rod, and I guess in turn Papelbon's annual ALDS game 2 win. J.D. Drew gives us his second huge clutch playoff home run, and Jason Bay proves we're just fine without Manny.
On the shitty side of the coin, 4 series, all 2 - 0 leads. Sucks as a baseball fan, and even worse for TBS. A bloody miracle one year later Frank TV is still on the air.
Don't get me started on that shit. Note to TBS: airing ads for that Frank TV and that Timothy Hutton show in between every single half-inning is not going to get me to watch that garbage. In fact, the over-promotion is probably going to turn more people off those shows than it will get them to watch. Timothy Hutton was even at the game for fucks sake...complete overkill.
I was expecting either Lopez or Delcarmen in the 8th too, and if anyone got one then bring in Paps. Masterson is a great talent but still a rook and Tito asked too much of him in my opinion. Thanks to Ortiz and Drew that blunder is easily forgotten (along with the two previous championships Tito has guided the Sox to).
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Well, I'm too supersitious to say we have this one in the bag, but a 2 - 0 lead, the next two in Fenway, and Beckett and Lester on the mound? I like our odds.
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The north side of Chicago was so quite today you could hear a goat fart. ( You might have to be from Chicago to get that one. )
[youtube=425,350]WEAC9NT1CR8[/youtube]
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I'm going to have a heart attack.
Game 3's making me feel the same way.
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Game 3's making me feel the same way.
You gotta love Gary Matthews Jr. though; one of the biggest high priced busts in MLB history.
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This is pissing me off. We couldn't put Tampa Bay away in any of these games either, and it's now up to Byrd/Lopez to hold.
Oh yea, and we have Cora and Ross in the line-up. Think we need to hold 'em here and pray 3-4-5 walks-off in the 12th.
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Why was Lopez facing righties? Why wasn't Byrd in there?
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Don't worry, they still have to win two more. Quite honestly, we had no business even being in this game. A 3 run single?
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Don't worry, they still have to win two more. Quite honestly, we had no business even being in this game. A 3 run single?
I'm just tired of these 5 hour games where we leave 20 million runners in scoring position and can't deliver the final blow. All important games too.
Let's just hope the pre 2008 Lackey at Fenway shows up tomorrow and Lester is his usual self. If this goes to game 5, I'm nervous.
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Lester's better at home than he is on the road. They got to one of our lesser relievers (a guy who has more appearances than innings pitched) and were just able to outlast us. I'm confident this will end in 4 (about 90-10).
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Jon Lester is officially a god. A shame the bullpen could not hold the lead for him, but the failed squeeze play was huge and I am so happy for Jed Lowrie now. A shame Texiera robbed Kotsay of the walk-off, but I tip my hat to him and a tough Angels team. We may have beaten them again, but this Angels team was WAY tougher than last year's version.
I can't wait to face Tampa Bay. This is beyond surreal. They used to be automatic wins on the schedule up until last year, and now we're facing them in the 2008 ALCS. May the best team win, and the same goes for L.A. and Philly.
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And you were worried :P.
Actually I was too, and did not want the series to go back to Anaheim. I'm sure TBS was worried as well since the Angels are nowhere the ratings draw the Red Sox are. You may think the Rays are alright but I do not. I think a lot of their players have a severe attitude problem when they haven't done shit (coughbalfourcough). Win the championship first, THEN you can walk with a swagger. They also have a fan base that doesn't deserve shit: where were they when this team was putting together a great regular season? All of a sudden they come to the Trop with their gay little cowbells and mohawks...go fuck yourselves you non-supportive front-running bitches.
At least Red Sox fans (and other fans like, as much as I hate to say it, Yankees fans) don't need some retarded gimmick to show some pseudo support for our team. Tampa is a great city, but the Tampa Bay area is horrible for pro sports (except hockey, for some odd reason) and almost as bad as Miami. They deserve nothing.
I'm not liking our chances without Lowell, and we'll probably be the underdogs...but we were supposed to lose to the Angels anyway. I think the underdog role suits this year's Red Sox. Unlike the Fox execs I'm not hoping for a Sox/Dodgers series because the Manny bullshit will be enough to make me vomit.
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Well, if it's the Red Sox Vs. Dodgers, not only do we have the Manny media blitz, but also Nomar, D-Lowe, and the return of Joe Torre to Fenway. I betcha Bud Selig's on the phone right now trying to fix the results.
On a personal level, a Red Sox Vs. Phillies series will be very tense since I live 45 minutes outside Philly, and with the Eagles sucking again and the city desperate for any kind of sports championship (Though they DID just win in Arena Football with a team owned by Bon Jovi!!!), things will be hostile.
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Oh yeah...think you'd catch shit if the Sox beat the Phils in the series?
Either way I'm predicting an AL sweep of the World Series. The two AL teams are far superior to their NL counterparts.
Oh, and you probably won't believe me but before the games started yesterday I said outloud to my dog that the Rays and Red Sox would finish up the DS'.
I'm going to make predictions of the Red Sox in 7 and Phillies in 6. I'm more confident in the NL pick than the AL one. If it's the Red Sox and Dodgers how many people do you think will claim fix? First we had the Celtics and Lakers in the NBA, then the Red Sox and Angels in the DS, now a Red Sox and Dodgers series? I'll only believe it's a fix if the Bruins play the Kings for the Stanley Cup as well.
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Before I go to bed I just wanted to say that even though it didn't go five games Red Sox/Angels was one of the best LDS' I have seen in quite a while. Watching it felt more like a 7 game series than a best of 5 that went 4.
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Unlike the Fox execs I'm not hoping for a Sox/Dodgers series because the Manny bullshit will be enough to make me vomit.
I don't exactly know the ins and outs of baseball like you guys do, but I also, definitely, don't want to see a Sox/Dodgers series. LoL, it's no secret that we San Franciscans f*cking hate the Dodgers, and that a**hole Ramirez (and the braids, too. We think the merchandise created around his haircut is retarded looking). I went to four Giants/Dodgers games this season at AT&T Park, and every time Manny would come up to bat, all you'd hear were boos and waves of obscenities. I loved it!
Anyway, the point to my rant: Speaking as a Giants fan, I'd rather put my money on a team comprised of blind men, then ever, ever root for the Dodgers. BEAT LA!
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Oh yeah...think you'd catch shit if the Sox beat the Phils in the series?
I'm usually pretty friendly with the Philly fans I work with, as I don't brag about the Red Sox too much and show some knowledge about the Phillies. Still, when Cole Hamels beat Bartolo Colon earlier this year, I got some light ribbing. My response was, "Your ace beat our number 5 in your home ball park. I'd like to see them knock around Jon Lester tonight." I was at the Jon Lester game, and Lester shut them out for seven innings. ;D For now, things are friendly, but since there was a little competition during the regular season games, I imagine things would heat up a tad if we meet up in the WS. Interesting things to look for would be Francona's return to Philly and J.D. Drew's reception. Both men are hated in Philly, the former because he managed them in bad years and the latter because he was drafted by them and didn't sign.
Oh, and you probably won't believe me but before the games started yesterday I said outloud to my dog that the Rays and Red Sox would finish up the DS'.
When Jason Bay scored the winning run, I yelled so loud my cat ran out of the room. Seriously.
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I'm usually pretty friendly with the Philly fans I work with, as I don't brag about the Red Sox too much and show some knowledge about the Phillies. Still, when Cole Hamels beat Bartolo Colon earlier this year, I got some light ribbing. My response was, "Your ace beat our number 5 in your home ball park. I'd like to see them knock around Jon Lester tonight." I was at the Jon Lester game, and Lester shut them out for seven innings. ;D For now, things are friendly, but since there was a little competition during the regular season games, I imagine things would heat up a tad if we meet up in the WS. Interesting things to look for would be Francona's return to Philly and J.D. Drew's reception. Both men are hated in Philly, the former because he managed them in bad years and the latter because he was drafted by them and didn't sign.
When Jason Bay scored the winning run, I yelled so loud my cat ran out of the room. Seriously.
They can't honestly blame Tito for those lean years in Philly when they had depleted their farm system. They were a mess before he got there. As for Drew, that would be interesting. Then again, Boras warned Philly not to draft him.
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Dice-K is getting the start in game 1 and I like the call. This series will mostly go 6 or 7 games and for those games we will have Beckett and Lester lined up to start.
Great strategy from Tito in my opinion.
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Not really. We've played much better without him, and Jason Bay's a damn good player without the distractions. I am glad Boston had Manny all those years, but it was time both sides moved on.
I see that. Bay is quite incredible and I'm happy he was able to get out of Pittsburgh. One day, the Pirates will be a contending team but, anyone on those teams that are crossed out early truly wishes they were somewhere else. They all want to be on a winning team...this is truly a strange feeling for me - this October. It's still very surreal.
My "Manny" comment had to do with the feelings I have when a former Dodger comes back to our town, or we play their NOW team. Usually, for us, they'll come back to bite us in the butt and there's no way around that one. It always happens. In conjuring up the meaning, may I now direct you all to the fear I have in playing the Phillies? Jayson Werth! I loved him as a Dodger and I was one of many fans who was very upset when we didn't resign him. He's been very productive in Philadelphia and I'm afraid he's going to use us as an excuse to go mad in the LCS.
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Lester's better at home than he is on the road. They got to one of our lesser relievers (a guy who has more appearances than innings pitched) and were just able to outlast us. I'm confident this will end in 4 (about 90-10).
I'm so happy you guys knocked off the Angels. They are forever our rivals to the South. As far as I'm concerned, they were built as a team of losers in 1961 who somehow got the idea they should take over the league. Los Angeles? I think not!
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I'm so happy you guys knocked off the Angels. They are forever our rivals to the South. As far as I'm concerned, they were built as a team of losers in 1961 who somehow got the idea they should take over the league. Los Angeles? I think not!
I loved it when the Dodgers came out with the "Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles" in response to the "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim".
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I don't exactly know the ins and outs of baseball like you guys do, but I also, definitely, don't want to see a Sox/Dodgers series. LoL, it's no secret that we San Franciscans f*cking hate the Dodgers, and that a**hole Ramirez (and the braids, too. We think the merchandise created around his haircut is retarded looking). I went to four Giants/Dodgers games this season at AT&T Park, and every time Manny would come up to bat, all you'd hear were boos and waves of obscenities. I loved it!
Anyway, the point to my rant: Speaking as a Giants fan, I'd rather put my money on a team comprised of blind men, then ever, ever root for the Dodgers. BEAT LA!
And I would never root for the Giants, unless you were to help us out like you did this year. Thank you, by the way. You know, I've told many Dodger fans that Manny didn't do it. Blake didn't do it. They certainly helped out there but, they didn't do it. This was a weird year for us and it was only when we acquired the "it" guy that everyone said we'd make it. I'm a true fan - I believed we'd make it back when I saw them lose in Tucson, in March, to the Rockies. We were awful but, I saw talent. Manny's arrival created a placebo effect within each and every player on the team. It made them believe that his prescence alone won the division. Now, that's a load of bulls***. They did it themselves because they amped up their play. One man does not make the team good and I'll stand by that. Barry Bonds didn't make the Giants good all of the time. He made them a feared team but, they didn't win all of the time. Manny is not the Dodgers. There are 24 other guys that help solve the puzzle and that's all I'm saying.
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I loved it when the Dodgers came out with the "Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles" in response to the "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim".
UGH! Even I thought that was silly. I love how the Los Angeles Times is advertized over the right field scoreboard. Soon it will be advertised at Dodger Stadium and Angels Stadium will have to sell the Orange County register.
Did you know that Angels Stadium is comprised of more "every other team" fans than their own? Hell, there are more rats in the stadium than there are fans...and the "Rally Monkey"?
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Dice-K is getting the start in game 1 and I like the call. This series will mostly go 6 or 7 games and for those games we will have Beckett and Lester lined up to start.
Great strategy from Tito in my opinion.
On paper, it's perfect.
The series starts on the road, and we have Dice-K starting game 1, who's 9 - 0 on the road this year. Then game 2 is Beckett, who is way better on the road than Fenway this year. Lester's great everywhere, but even more so at home, so it's good he's pitching game 3.
The only thing is Wakefield historically is money at Tropicana field, but not so much this year. He'll be starting game 4. I like Wakefield, but I hate to say the guy hasn't won a big game for us since game 5 of the 2004 ALCS, and that was in extra innings long relief (and what a big performance that was). I wish him luck, and hope he reverses this trend in '08.
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Did you know this is about to pass Bad Joke of the Day as the #2 thread all time as far as replies go?
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And this post here makes it the third thread to hit the 300 mark.
Ask Team Stooge **NEWBIES** 768
BAD JOKE OF THE DAY 305
The 2008 Baseball Thread 300
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I loved it when the Dodgers came out with the "Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles" in response to the "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim".
Haha, are you serious? When was that?
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Haha, are you serious? When was that?
It was when the Angels first started calling themselves the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
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If the first game was any indication the NLCS should be one hell of a series.
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What a great pitching duel tonight between Dice-K and Shields. In the regular season, Tampa Bay was 8 - 1 at the Trop and pretty much won all the close games, but come postseason, Boston wins the 2 - 0 classic. I've never seen anything like Dice-K before, he's the real Houdini. Let's hope Beckett is his old self tomorrow and Kaz is not his old self.
It's still too early to say, but that Boston Vs. Philadelphia series might happen, and as a Sox fan living in Delaware, things will be tense.
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What a game one of the ALCS. Dice-K was awesome, Shields was awesome...wow.
It was like Dice-K and the Sox kept giving the Tampa crowd little jabs to the stomach throughout the game. Each and every time Tampa had an opportunity they'd get out of the jam and the crowd kept getting quieter as the game went on. By the time Masterson induced the double play in the 8th and everybody knew Papelbon was coming in to close it the crowd was finally knocked out. Hell, I was absolutely on edge throughout the game but was much more calm in the 9th when Papelbon was on the mound.
What more can I say? 6 no-hit innings, 9 strikeouts....shit. I probably would have done the same as Tito and brought Dice-K out for the 8th (even with his history and with him over 100 pitches) just because he was pitching so damn well. I damn near shit a brick when Masterson came in though.
The big question now is whether or not this young Tampa team can bounce back after such a crushing loss. In the playoffs I would much rather get blown out 19-8 than lose a game 2-0 where we had opportunities to at least tie it. They lost despite a phenomenal outing by the man who has been their ace all year, they lost at home to a team that they beat 8 out of 9 times in the Trop during the regular season, they now face Beckett in game 2 and Lester in game 3, and now they have to win at least one game at Fenway.
Game 2 will be quite interesting.
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What a great pitching duel tonight between Dice-K and Shields. In the regular season, Tampa Bay was 8 - 1 at the Trop and pretty much won all the close games, but come postseason, Boston wins the 2 - 0 classic. I've never seen anything like Dice-K before, he's the real Houdini. Let's hope Beckett is his old self tomorrow and Kaz is not his old self.
It's still too early to say, but that Boston Vs. Philadelphia series might happen, and as a Sox fan living in Delaware, things will be tense.
He has taken about 30 years off of my life, and I absolutely love it.
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He has taken about 30 years off of my life, and I absolutely love it.
Yeah, but there's the one catch - can you imagine if he DIDN'T walk so many guys and go so deep into counts? He'd be the best pitcher in baseball, hands down. As he stands now, he's very very good, not just for the health of Red Sox fans. I'm so psyched we beat James Shields in Tampa, wasn't sure about this game going in. Now even if we split the first two, we have home field advantage.
Oh, and despite winning, a tough day for the Phils. Charlie Manual lost his mother and Shane Victorino his grandmother. My condolences to both.
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You gotta remember he's still pretty young and I'm pretty sure he his control will get better (at least I hope so).
As for NLCS, I was puzzled when the "experts" kept talking about how after Hamels the Dodgers have much pitching than the Phillies. As much as I love Derek Lowe, if he's your #1 starter there's something wrong. The Red Sox have 3 aces and the Dodgers have none. How about Brett Myers? He was better at bat than he was on the mound!
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Thank goodness that game is finally over. Awful game all around in my book, I hate high scoring baseball games. Advantage is still with the Red Sox however, we did what we had to in game one, which was win in Tampa. Now they have to win in Boston.
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Thank goodness that game is finally over. Awful game all around in my book, I hate high scoring baseball games. Advantage is still with the Red Sox however, we did what we had to in game one, which was win in Tampa. Now they have to win in Boston.
Bartlett should've struck out on that check swing, but it doesn't matter. Timlin was in, the white flag was raised. Another 5+ hour loss, and the ultimate blame goes to Beckett for his shoddy pitching and Francona for leaving him in way too long. Tito's been leaving pitchers in too long all post season, and it was bound to hurt us at some point.
I too am a fan of lower - medium scoring (5 - 4 type) games, and did not care for this one. I did like the 19 - 17 win over Texas only because of its freakish nature, but generally, I can do without these games.
Boston still does have the advantage, though. Lester on Monday, homefield is ours.
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I was reading a Yankees fan's blog when looking up the new-to-me baseball jargon Special Sauce and the guy predicted the Red Sox in 5 since the Sox should take one in Tampa but Tampa should lose all of the games in Boston, so I guess that was their one.
To be quite honest I was bored and just waiting for it to end. I love pitcher's duels like game 1 and this was anything but. I think the move to Timlin was more about protecting Paps since he took that liner off of his arm.
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By the way, that's supposed to be "Secret Sauce", not "Special Sauce"...damn that game went on too long.
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Game 3 of ALCS series just ended. The Red Sox just received a good old fashioned ASS KICKING. [boxer]
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Game 3 of ALCS series just ended. The Red Sox just received a good old fashioned ASS KICKING. [boxer]
No kidding, that B.J. Upton home run didnt just go over the Green Monster, it went out of the damn park!
Game 4 is going to be very interesting now, they better hope Wakefield does well or they could
be looking at a 3-1 deficit after Wednesday.
Are you Sox fans worried or just concerned after today's game? I was shocked Lester got rocked
so bad, he's been very good this year.
Both LCS's have been very good so far, even though my Yankess aren't around its still fun to watch
some playoff baseball.
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I'd much rather lose by ass kicking than by a close score...those are easier to shake off.
Hey Justin, are you worried or just concerned that Son of George is going to continue to let the Yankees spiral down the shithole? At least there's baseball in Boston. And Bill? You really shouldn't talk.
Mark my words, if the Sox fail to make the World Series it will be the worst thing for baseball. Love them or hate them, more people will watch the Red Sox than the Rays.
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I'd much rather lose by ass kicking than by a close score...those are easier to shake off.
Hey Justin, are you worried or just concerned that Son of George is going to continue to let the Yankees spiral down the shithole? At least there's baseball in Boston. And Bill? You really shouldn't talk.
Mark my words, if the Sox fail to make the World Series it will be the worst thing for baseball. Love them or hate them, more people will watch the Red Sox than the Rays.
You got me wrong , I don't have a dog in this fight. I'm just saying Tampa may have a little more than you think. ( Like we found out in Chicago ) I really wouldn't care to watch a Tampa Bay - Philly World Series. I don't think MLB or the TV station would like to see it either.
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Like Jazzbill, I wasn't trying to imply ill feelings, I was just asking are you concerned about their perfomance.
I didn't say that the Sox are dead, there's still alot of baseball left to play.
If it came off that way I'm sorry.
To be honest, I'm not gleefully hoping the Sox lose. Even though their not my team, the Sox
have a large fanbase and that means higher ratings for the World Series. You are
correct about that Shemps.
A Philly-Tampa Bay Series would be interesting, but who the hell would want to watch it?
The ratings will be low because both cities don't have big fan bases like the Sox and
to an extent, the Dodgers. You know the big wigs at Fox want Red Sox vs Dodgers for
the World Series.
As for the Steinbrenners, I have no love for them and my tolerance for there BS is very low. Do I wish
we had different people owning the team? Yes, but untill they all die off it's not happening.
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Guys, I was just talking smack, as is common among sports fans. That's what I thought you were doing. I'm the one who should apologize if I came off as genuinely offended. :P
I never underestimated the Rays, in fact if you look back I picked the Sox in 7 and was very uneasy about the pick. I'm still standing by my pick. If Lester had pitched well and lost a nail biter I'd be worried, but a horribly pitched game like last night can be shrugged off as an anomaly and definitely not expected come game 7. Nine times out of ten I'll go with Lester will top Garza, that was the one. It is the so-called "experts" that have underestimated a team that won 97 games and took first place in MLB's toughest division.
What I said about the World Series however was true. With the Red Sox most people will have a horse in the race, either they will be cheering for the Sox or against them. With Tampa most people won't care and you'll get very low ratings. Since there is no chance for Red Sox/Cubs a Red Sox/Dodgers series is the big get. I don't believe for a second it would be at all competitive (no matter what the match-up the AL should sweep the NL), but it would draw in the most casual viewers and would be the best for baseball. The Rays would get a collective snore from most of the country, only the front-running gomers in Tampa that have very suddenly called themselves "fans" would watch, and I truly wonder how many of them will.
I've been planning on writing an article about the "anti-Northeast bias" among sports fans and baseball fans in particular, which pertains to both the Red Sox and Yankees. If it comes out the way I'm planning it it should be an interesting read.
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Guys, I was just talking smack, as is common among sports fans. That's what I thought you were doing. I'm the one who should apologize if I came off as genuinely offended. :P
I never underestimated the Rays, in fact if you look back I picked the Sox in 7 and was very uneasy about the pick. I'm still standing by my pick. If Lester had pitched well and lost a nail biter I'd be worried, but a horribly pitched game like last night can be shrugged off as an anomaly and definitely not expected come game 7. Nine times out of ten I'll go with Lester will top Garza, that was the one. It is the so-called "experts" that have underestimated a team that won 97 games and took first place in MLB's toughest division.
What I said about the World Series however was true. With the Red Sox most people will have a horse in the race, either they will be cheering for the Sox or against them. With Tampa most people won't care and you'll get very low ratings. Since there is no chance for Red Sox/Cubs a Red Sox/Dodgers series is the big get. I don't believe for a second it would be at all competitive (no matter what the match-up the AL should sweep the NL), but it would draw in the most casual viewers and would be the best for baseball. The Rays would get a collective snore from most of the country, only the front-running gomers in Tampa that have very suddenly called themselves "fans" would watch, and I truly wonder how many of them will.
I've been planning on writing an article about the "anti-Northeast bias" among sports fans and baseball fans in particular, which pertains to both the Red Sox and Yankees. If it comes out the way I'm planning it it should be an interesting read.
Totally agree about the World Series, and that article about "anti-Northeast bias" sounds interesting. I'll look foward to reading it.
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The thing with Lester last night is he only had one bad inning. A tip of the hat to Tampa for getting to him.
I also don't think there's a single Red Sox fan who's confident going down 2 games to 1 with Wakefield pitching. I cheer for the guy big time, but it's been so long since he's stepped up in a big game. I hope he can do it tonight. The offense looks really bad now, and even the 8 run game was mostly because of Pedroia, Youklis, and Bay. Drew is the only one outside of those three I feel confident in producing runs for us right now. I think every Sox fan knew with out and men on second and third, Varitek and Cora would not drive in a run.
That said, credit where credit is due, Tampa Bay is a young and hungry team with no weaknesses I can see. There's still time for Boston to turn this ship around, but they're looking old and beat up right now.
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Tampa does have weaknesses: their starting pitching after Shields is questionable (despite Garza's one good outing in game 3), they don't have a solid closer.
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A 3 run 1st. Pena and Longoria are beasts. I hope Tito has a short leash for Wakefield in the 2nd.
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Pena is alright, Longoria however is a beast...4 or 5 tool guy. Looks like Wake's knuckler has started to dance more.
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Pena is alright, Longoria however is a beast...4 or 5 tool guy. Looks like Wake's knuckler has started to dance more.
A couple of these outs have been deep flies, but if he can keep putting up zeroes through six, I'll be happy with him.
We just have to get to Andy Sonnastine. We finally figure out Kazmir, and they throw another guy who owns us.
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5 - 0. So much for that quality start.
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When Willie Aybar homers time to pull the pitcher.
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Varitek, Ortiz, Timlin, and Wakefield have all been goats in this series so far. They're 4/5ths of the '04 team that's left, and the other fifth is Youklis, who is just fine now and a bench guy back then. Ortiz may come around next year, but the best thing Theo Epstein has done is give us a strong farm system.
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Kevin fucking Cash! Well, Wakefield has only given up four runs now since Cash being in there is a direct result of Wakefield.
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Maybe Coco Crisp will hit a grand slam.
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Maybe Coco Crisp will hit a grand slam.
At the 3 - 0 win against the Phillies games I was at, Coco hit a 2 run HR (the other run was a Lugo RBI double).
Last year, I saw Boston beat Baltimore 3 - 2. Crisp drove in the go-ahead run with a single in the 8th.
Moral of the story: If metaldams is in the crowd, Crisp is money. Get me a ticket to Boston now!
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Masterson in the #5 spot next year?
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Masterson in the #5 spot next year?
I'm curious to see if Buchholz can bounce back, he's young yet and still has great potential. Then again, Masterson is definitely major league ready and Buchholz may benefit from more time in Pawtucket. We may sign a free agent starter as well and Michael Bowden is a wild card, but I'm open to the option of Masterson starting. What I do know is they need to make up their mind what they're going to do with the kid in the off-season.
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I've heard rumblings of a free agent or Peavy trade and Bucholz and Masterson dueling for the #5 spot.
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I've heard rumblings of a free agent or Peavy trade and Bucholz and Masterson dueling for the #5 spot.
Peavy? Whoa! That would be great! I've heard A.J. Burnett, which would be fine, because he owns both us and the Yankees. The thing is, will he be healthy?
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Yeah, Peavy's on the market...baseball gods forbid San Diego pays him what he's worth. Is Aybar a complete retard or what? I mean why even try that on such a shallow hit with Crawford on the bases?
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1 ER 2 1/3 > 5 ER 2 2/3
What do you think about Bailey replacing Casey off the bench? Bailey's got pop in his bat we're desperately missing off the bench now. Ask the Phillies what a great bench can do.
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Looks like we'll be looking at another 3-1 deficit in the ALCS. As the Yankees and Indians can attest to Tampa better stomp on the necks of the Red Sox in game 5 and not let them back in this thing.
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The oddest thing about Jeff Bailey, in my baseball video game he ended up retiring at the age of 28, lol. How much longer are we beholden to Casey?
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Manny Delcarmen is trying to make Wakefield feel good about himself.
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The oddest thing about Jeff Bailey, in my baseball video game he ended up retiring at the age of 28, lol. How much longer are we beholden to Casey?
Well, considering the year he had in the minors, he's either going to be trade bait or should earn a role on the big club. Lowell's health is in question, so if he's out, Bailey would be an option at first while Youk can play third. If Lowell is healthy, Bailey would make a great bench option if we need a home run, something we didn't have this year.
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I can no longer watch this travesty. Onward to game 5.
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I can no longer watch this travesty. Onward to game 5.
Well, I did get VOL. 4 in the mail today! This is a Three Stooges board, right? I shall now watch The Three Stooges. Excelcior!
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I'd much rather lose by ass kicking than by a close score...those are easier to shake off.
If thats the case, I guess that 13 to 4 beating the Sox took last night in game 4 must have pleased the hell out of you. ;D
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I've heard rumblings of a free agent or Peavy trade and Bucholz and Masterson dueling for the #5 spot.
Oh, good!
Please, take him and get him out of San Diego...
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If thats the case, I guess that 13 to 4 beating the Sox took last night in game 4 must have pleased the hell out of you. ;D
Ask Ken Griffey Jr. or Ozzie Guillen about the game...I'm sure you can find them at their homes.
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Ask Ken Griffey Jr. or Ozzie Guillen about the game...I'm sure you can find them at their homes.
I realize, " It ain't over till it's over ", but the fat lady is stepping up to the microphone and she's clearing her throat. Like I said before, I don't have a dog in this fight, but misery loves company. I have a sneaking suspicion the only reason the White Sox were eliminated first was because we were the first to play Tampa. Maybe if Francona and Ortiz are lucky, Ozzie and Kenny might invite them over to watch the World Series with them. :laugh:
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I realize, " It ain't over till it's over ", but the fat lady is stepping up to the microphone and she's clearing her throat. Like I said before, I don't have a dog in this fight, but misery loves company. I have a sneaking suspicion the only reason the White Sox were eliminated first was because we were the first to play Tampa. Maybe if Francona and Ortiz are lucky, Ozzie and Kenny might invite them over to watch the World Series with them. :laugh:
Please, you know if Tampa is in the World Series Ozzie, Griffey, Francona and Ortiz are going to be like most of the country and not watch. :P
Remember, we were down 3-1 to the Indians last years, and 3-0 to the Yankees in 2004. By the way, the Red Sox would have destroyed Chicago much like Tampa did.
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Please, you know if Tampa is in the World Series Ozzie, Griffey, Francona and Ortiz are going to be like most of the country and not watch. :P
Remember, we were down 3-1 to the Indians last years, and 3-0 to the Yankees in 2004. By the way, the Red Sox would have destroyed Chicago much like Tampa did.
Yes, you are correct, Boston has made a couple of remarkable comebacks, but I don't think they have it in them anymore. They look all worn out and tired. I got a kick out of watching Ortiz legging out that triple, I bet they had to give him oxygen when he got back to the dugout. By the way, in 4 games Tampa never scored more than 6 runs on Chicago. I beleive Tampa scored 22 on Boston just in the last 2 games. Tampa never really destroyed Chicago the way they did Boston. ( I guess it really doesn't matter if you lose by 9 runs or 4 runs, you still lose. )
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Yes, you are correct, Boston has made a couple of remarkable comebacks, but I don't think they have it in them anymore. They look all worn out and tired. I got a kick out of watching Ortiz legging out that triple, I bet they had to give him oxogen when he got back to the dugout. By the way, in 4 games Tampa never scored more than 6 runs on Chicago. I beleive Tampa scored 22 on Boston just in the last 2 games. Tampa never really destroyed Chicago the way they did Boston. ( I guess it really doesn't matter if you lose by 9 runs or 4 runs, you still lose. )
Boston got past the first round, which is more than I can say for Chicago.
EDIT: After I posted this I found out that Kazmir will be starting game 5 in lieu of Shields. Not smart if you ask me...
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Beckett's hurt (inflammation) and Boston's bats are struggling now. I don't like our chances. Last year, we had a healthy Beckett going in game 5 and two games in Fenway. 2004 we had a miracle. This year, we don't have the former though I think we have a shot in game 5, I don't see us taking two in Tampa. Of course, it's possible, but I wouldn't bet on it. Who knows, maybe Varitek will pull a Bellhorn for us. Logic says they can't do it, but my heart's still with them, so go Sox!
But as far as "misery" goes if we lose, we'll have won 2 World Series in the past 5 seasons, and since you can't win every year, Red Sox fans have nothing to be ashamed of. Feel sorry for Cubs fans.
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I really think Tampa needs to cut the head of the snake tomorrow and not let us back in the series. The Kazmir move is beyond stupid.
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I really think Tampa needs to cut the head of the snake tomorrow and not let us back in the series. The Kazmir move is beyond stupid.
Matsuzaka Vs. Kazmir in Fenway. On paper, a Boston win.
Injured Beckett Vs. Shields in Tampa. On paper, a Tampa win.
I think Maddon's just going for the "sure" win in game 6. Then again, Beckett may have blood pouring out of his oblique and pitch a gem.
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The thing is the Rays have all the momentum right now. Why even give the Sox a shot of sending it back to Tampa if you can close it out in Boston? If Boston wins that brings momentum back to the Boston side...I just think it's a major mistake.
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The thing is the Rays have all the momentum right now. Why even give the Sox a shot of sending it back to Tampa if you can close it out in Boston? If Boston wins that brings momentum back to the Boston side...I just think it's a major mistake.
Jim, I hope you're right.
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Think about it: if you're going to play it that way and think about game 6 instead of game 5 why not just push Shields back to game 7? That way you can have him in the deciding game! Nevermind that game 5 can be the deciding game. Dumb dumb dumb.
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Well, no matter who wins, they'll be facing Philly. Congrats to Garystooge Lassin, Lunkhead if he ever reads this, and to all the other Phillie fans!
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I really thought (and hoped) that it would be more competitive, but congrats to the Phillies and good luck in the Series.
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This is pathetic that the most action on this board has been about baseball playoffs.
I think it is probably jealousy on my part, being that my local team, the Pirates, haven't had a winning season since 1992. I even worked for the Pirates in 1996, and I had lost my love of the game before that.
We are cheering for the Rays here in Pittsburgh, because they have no big-time payrolls, just like our team. It is also nice to see Jason Bay doing well for the BoSox. Too bad the Pirates are the best major league farm team for every other team.
The Pirates are the New Cubs!
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I feel totally let down by the Dodgers as a whole. Actually, it's sad to say but, Manny was the front of the line on this team. Steve Lyons even said it on the local Fox network after the game. Manny became the heart and soul of a team that had no chance of making it prior to August 1st. He instantly changed everything and we as a team (a one-man team) made it further than we've gone in 20 years. I'd like to believe, though, that we have 24 other guys who want to win and have fun as much as Manny seems to have had over the past two months. All of you can say what you want about him. I don't doubt he did some pretty stupid things over in Boston - and even in Cleveland - but, he did NONE of that here and, if we do resign him to whatever capacity, I don't doubt he'll probably pull a number of underhanded stunts here as well. Time tells the tale, as they say.
As for the team itself, they have the potential right there on the surface and they know it's there now. All Manny did was bring a positive energy to the clubhouse and everything went right. I still don't know (and will never know) why he did so much to piss off the fans and the management over in Boston. I guess I had to have been there. He woke up the Dodgers and he kept them awake for two months. That's two months longer than I would have originally given them credit for.
For all it's worth, a non-Manny team would have been six-feet under by mid August and the D'Backs would have won the division. The only difference is that the Cubs would have won the series instead and they might have been the ones going to the World Series now.
But, it is what it is and the Phillies are bound for the World Series and, as I go completely out of character, I will lick my own wounds and declare myself a fan of whatever AL team becomes their opponent. This is, of course, an unprecedented move since I have never rooted for an AL team in the 20 years since we were in the 1988 World Series (except for 1989 and 2002 when I just couldn't watch period. The Giants and an AL team just isn't for me).
Other than all of that, March is an awfully long way away...Congrats to the winner.
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"Today, L.A. Tomorrow, A.L. Flat as a pancake!" It feels so gooooooooooooooooood for the Phillies to be in the World Series! Considering that they have lost 4 times, to the Red Sox, Yankees, Orioles, and Blue Jays, coupled with the Wilson Goode Curse on Philly teams, I predict the Rays to win the Series. FYI, Willie B. Goode managed somehow to get voted in (early and often and by some dead individuals) as mayor in November of 1983, after the 76ers became the last local team to win a major sports championship. (Okay, my bowling team in 2006 is the REAL last major championship team in the region. LOL) Of course, Fox is totally disappointed with the Phillies beating Rupert Murdoch's (former) team, but that's what makes it "just -- 2 -- sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!" BTW, will Jeanne Zelasko ever spring for a complete set of bottom dentures?
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I feel totally let down by the Dodgers as a whole. Actually, it's sad to say but, Manny was the front of the line on this team. Steve Lyons even said it on the local Fox network after the game. Manny became the heart and soul of a team that had no chance of making it prior to August 1st. He instantly changed everything and we as a team (a one-man team) made it further than we've gone in 20 years. I'd like to believe, though, that we have 24 other guys who want to win and have fun as much as Manny seems to have had over the past two months. All of you can say what you want about him. I don't doubt he did some pretty stupid things over in Boston - and even in Cleveland - but, he did NONE of that here and, if we do resign him to whatever capacity, I don't doubt he'll probably pull a number of underhanded stunts here as well. Time tells the tale, as they say.
As for the team itself, they have the potential right there on the surface and they know it's there now. All Manny did was bring a positive energy to the clubhouse and everything went right. I still don't know (and will never know) why he did so much to piss off the fans and the management over in Boston. I guess I had to have been there. He woke up the Dodgers and he kept them awake for two months. That's two months longer than I would have originally given them credit for.
For all it's worth, a non-Manny team would have been six-feet under by mid August and the D'Backs would have won the division. The only difference is that the Cubs would have won the series instead and they might have been the ones going to the World Series now.
But, it is what it is and the Phillies are bound for the World Series and, as I go completely out of character, I will lick my own wounds and declare myself a fan of whatever AL team becomes their opponent. This is, of course, an unprecedented move since I have never rooted for an AL team in the 20 years since we were in the 1988 World Series (except for 1989 and 2002 when I just couldn't watch period. The Giants and an AL team just isn't for me).
Other than all of that, March is an awfully long way away...Congrats to the winner.
Manny Ramirez is one of the greatest hitters who ever lived. Manny Ramirez brings forth a lot of fun moments. I will always hold a special place in my heart for the good times.
The fact is Manny wanted out of Boston for years. The baseball obssessed Boston media and fanbase was too much for him and his family, and you know what? I can understand that, 20 million dollars aside. That's no excuse for his unprofessional behavior. That's no excuse for sitting out big games, not hustling out grounders, and faking injuries.
I'm glad Manny brought life to the Dodger fan base, but keep in mind his reputation was rightfully soiled by his behavior in Boston, and since this is a contract year and he and Boras are looking for the big bucks, he had no choice but to produce and be a good citizen.
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" FYI, Willie B. Goode managed somehow to get voted in (early and often and by some dead individuals) as mayor in November of 1983, after the 76ers became the last local team to win a major sports championship. (Okay, my bowling team in 2006 is the REAL last major championship team in the region. LOL) Of course, Fox is totally disappointed with the Phillies beating Rupert Murdoch's (former) team, but that's what makes it "just -- 2 -- sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!" BTW, will Jeanne Zelasko ever spring for a complete set of bottom dentures?
Enough about this Philly not winning a championship since 1983! Why must your city consistently insult the great one, Bon Jovi and the sports team he owns? I lead you to this link.
http://www.philadelphiasoul.com
Arena Football, baby!
As for Jeanne Zelasko...I'm an Erin Andrews guy myself, if I had to choose national sports sideline eye candy not holding a pom pom.
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4 - 0. I feel like I've been through the film in Kane's signature right now.
Ugh....5 - 0.
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It's not the losing that's getting to me, it's the dogshit way we've played. Congrats to Tampa (yawn) and any fans (yeah right). I'll have better things to do than watch the Series this year, like slam my dick in the car door repeatedly. Tampa should win easily.
Was it too much to ask to have ONE good playoff matchup this year?
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It's not the losing that's getting to me, it's the dogshit way we've played. Congrats to Tampa (yawn) and any fans (yeah right). I'll have better things to do than watch the Series this year, like slam my dick in the car door repeatedly. Tampa should win easily.
Was it too much to ask to have ONE good playoff matchup this year?
I'm with you, the losing I can handle, the shoddy play I can't.
I will be watching the World Series. I have too many friends who are Phillies fans not to be interested, so go Phillies. If they can somehow beat this Tampa Bay team, I'll never have to hear about 1983 ever again.
Congrats to Tampa Bay, they earned it.
Possibly the last Red Sox game for Wakefield and Varitek, and definitely the last for Timlin. The '04 team may look thinner. Ortiz is probably past his prime, and Youklis is actually a much better and experienced player than he was back then.
We definitely need another slugger, and at least have Bailey or maybe Carter for pop off the bench. A free agent starter like Peavy would be cool too.
I also hope Paps pitches tonight, no matter the score.
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It's not the losing that's getting to me, it's the dogshit way we've played. Congrats to Tampa (yawn) and any fans (yeah right). I'll have better things to do than watch the Series this year, like slam my dick in the car door repeatedly. Tampa should win easily.
Was it too much to ask to have ONE good playoff matchup this year?
I think both of our Sox teams need to do a lot of work this coming winter. You have to hand it to Tampa Bay, they seem to have put together a pretty good team. Philly looked pretty good too. I'll still watch, maybe there could still be some good baseball left this year. I believe I'll be pulling for Philly because of some friends I have in the Philladelphia area.
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I don't think for one second that the Phillies stand a chance in hell against Tampa, but I hope they prove me wrong. Those rednecks who have called themselves Rays fans don't deserve shit.
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I'm not thrilled its looking to be Tampa vs Philly for the World Series, I dont care who wins, although
I'm an American League kind of guy so I guess I'll sorta be rooting for Tampa. But, if the Phillies
find a way to win good for them but I doubt they will, Tampa is playing amazing right now and
I don't see it stopping.
I'll probably watch some of the games and see what happens, but I'm not emotionally invested.
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I just watched Paps pitch the 7th. He allowed the two inherited runners to score, but kept his postseason scoreless streak alive. Since I saw Paps end so many games this year on a positive note, I'll end my viewing season with him as well. The game is now off, get 'em in April guys.
Good season despite a bad ending. Lester broke out and threw a no-hitter, Bay proved their's life beyond Manny, Paps had another great year, Masterson made a good first impression, Youk and Pedroia tore things up, and the Yankees didn't make the playoffs. With Lowell, Ortiz, Varitek, and even Drew as question marks, there's no doubt free agent signings and/or farm system promotions are in order for the line-up. Despite this series, the pitching is fine, but I'll take a good free agent like Peavy or Burnett anyday.
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I turn on my screen, giving up, and that second Ortiz hit a 3 run HR. Holy shit, it's 7 - 6 now.
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Holy shit! Tied!
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Again, congrats on Tampa Bay winning the American League Pennant (it seems to be working).
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Again, congrats on Tampa Bay winning the American League Pennant (it seems to be working).
I pick Tampa Bay in 4 for the WS.
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I pick Tampa Bay in 4 for the WS.
I'll watch a Tampa/Philly World Series.
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Come on Masterson, settle down.
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Fuck! 1st and 2nd, 1 out, and the mashers are up.
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YES!!!! Please get a walk off, now. I can't stand another 5 hour game. No Timlin.
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YES!
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I gotta give Boston credit, their not giving up for sure. What a game.
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Even if Tampa wins this series, which unfortunately they probably will, the fact Tampa blew a 7 run lead like this is a good sign for Philadelphia. But fuck that, please, get the walk off Drew.
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YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Damn, Tampa blew a 7 run lead and lost in the bottom of the 9th with 2 outs.
Drew was pretty clutch there.
Back to Tampa for Game 6 now.
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This season was literally dead to me, and every other Red sox fan, don't lie. We still have a hill to climb, but wow, what momentum!
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I can't even think straight right now. The second biggest comeback in postseason history. You're going to have to put bullets in their heads to kill them.
At the very least we finally have a killer playoff series this year.
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I have that same satisfied/woozy feeling I get after great sex. I need gin.
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Damn!!!! I missed it. I went to bed in the seventh inning because I thought it was all but over. Must have been one hell of a comeback.
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This is my first venture in this thread. First up good luck to anyone who still has a team in the playoffs.
This is my situation i have loved Baseball for about 10 years but as im from Australia i havent actually got a team. I like watching the sport, following the matches, standings, playoffs, world series but i have never actually supported a club. So any suggestions on who i should start supporting? I'll determine from any answers i may get. [cool]
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This is my first venture in this thread. First up good luck to anyone who still has a team in the playoffs.
This is my situation i have loved Baseball for about 10 years but as im from Australia i havent actually got a team. I like watching the sport, following the matches, standings, playoffs, world series but i have never actually supported a club. So any suggestions on who i should start supporting? I'll determine from any answers i may get. [cool]
Well since baseball has it's origins in the US you'll have to use the American terminology. They are "games" not "matches" (in the US "matches" is usually used for stuff like boxing, wrestling, MMA etc), and more often than not the term "team" is used instead of "club". :P
As for which team to root for, you should make that decision on your own. The most popular team of the ones remaining is the Red Sox, but you do risk being called a "bandwagon jumper" (someone who roots for a team solely because they are winners). The Washington Nationals can use the support, and no one will call you a bandwagon jumper.
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This is my first venture in this thread. First up good luck to anyone who still has a team in the playoffs.
This is my situation i have loved Baseball for about 10 years but as im from Australia i havent actually got a team. I like watching the sport, following the matches, standings, playoffs, world series but i have never actually supported a club. So any suggestions on who i should start supporting? I'll determine from any answers i may get. [cool]
Tampa Bay Rays for sure. One of your own countrymen, Grant Balfour, gave up four runs in 2/3 of an inning last night, and is therefore a hero in my eyes.
All kidding aside, he's the only Australian ball player I can think of. There may be more, but I'll have to look that up. Last night aside, he's usually a good pitcher, if a bit of a nutcase.
Edit: Here's a link for a list of Aussie ballplayers, all-time. Admittedly not a distinguished list.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_players_from_Australia_in_Major_League_Baseball
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Well since baseball has it's origins in the US you'll have to use the American terminology. They are "games" not "matches" (in the US "matches" is usually used for stuff like boxing, wrestling, MMA etc), and more often than not the term "team" is used instead of "club". :P
As for which team to root for, you should make that decision on your own. The most popular team of the ones remaining is the Red Sox, but you do risk being called a "bandwagon jumper" (someone who roots for a team solely because they are winners). The Washington Nationals can use the support, and no one will call you a bandwagon jumper.
I know exactly what you mean about jumping on the bandwagon and with my terminology i hope i havent ruined decades of tradition. :o
My use of "matches" instead of "games" wasnt smart at all considering i've heard the song 'Take Me Out to the Ball' Game quite a number of times.
I'll probably choose between the Nationals or metaldams suggestion, Rays. My great grandfather was born in Chicago and we have relatives living their currently, so what about the Cubs? The White Sox won the world series recently so they're not an option.
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This season was literally dead to me, and every other Red sox fan, don't lie. We still have a hill to climb, but wow, what momentum!
Not only is it a big momentum boost for your Red Sox, but can you imagine what a let down it was for Tampa. That has to really shake up your confidence. Up 7 runs in the 7th inning, I would imagine the locker room was set up for the big celebration. I bet it was a mad scamble to get the champagne and stuff out of there. [doh]
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I'll probably choose between the Nationals or metaldams suggestion, Rays. My great grandfather was born in Chicago and we have relatives living their currently, so what about the Cubs? The White Sox won the world series recently so they're not an option.
I was joking about the Rays unless you genuinely want to support one of your countrymen in Balfour, but the Cubs would be a good choice. They haven't won in 100 years, but they have dedicated fans and a deep tradition. If they ever do win, the feeling would be awesome.
The Red Sox may be a "frontrunner" team, but what most non-Sox forget is that before 2004, there was an 86 year drought without a championship. This good run we're on's a bit overdue.
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Not only is it a big momentum boost for your Red Sox, but can you imagine what a let down it was for Tampa. That has to really shake up your confidence. Up 7 runs in the 7th inning, I would imagine the locker room was set up for the big celebration. I bet it was a mad scamble to get the champagne and stuff out of there. [doh]
No doubt this has to be a huge let down for Tampa Bay. Still, if Beckett has nothing 'cause of this injury and Shields is Shields, the Sox will have a tough time winning. Hopefully Beckett can pull a game 6 the way Schilling did in '04 with the bloody sock.
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I was joking about the Rays unless you genuinely want to support one of your countrymen in Balfour, but the Cubs would be a good choice. They haven't won in 100 years, but they have dedicated fans and a deep tradition. If they ever do win, the feeling would be awesome.
The Red Sox may be a "frontrunner" team, but what most non-Sox forget is that before 2004, there was an 86 year drought without a championship. This good run we're on's a bit overdue.
I've made my choice Cubs it is. ;) I hope Balfour is doing good things with the Rays but him being Australian wouldnt be enough to support them, i know the Rays are a fairly new team and this was their first winning season.
Part of the reason i support the Chicago Bulls in Basketball is because i have family in Chicago as i've said so the Cubs are a good choice in Baseball and besides i enjoy supporting the underdog. [cool]
It will take me awhile to study the game, the teams etc before i come on this thread and start posting because all i really get to see is what is telecasted on pay-tv which isnt much. It isnt as if i can go to the stadiums.
I knew about that 86 year drought, and the next season the Sox won the world series after an 88 year drought. So to yourself, and to any other fans of teams still involved in the playoffs good luck and i hope to be posting about Baseball (and not make a fool of myself) next season.
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I've made my choice Cubs it is. ;)
There used to be three teams that couldn't find the promised land for decades and decades. Finally the Red Sox, and my White Sox finally made it. There's only a handfull of people alive today that were around when the Cubs won their last World Series. Good Luck !
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There used to be three teams that couldn't find the promised land for decades and decades. Finally the Red Sox, and my White Sox finally made it. There's only a handfull of people alive today that were around when the Cubs won their last World Series. Good Luck !
I would say the Giants and Indians have replaced both Sox teams. The Indians have gone 60 years with a title and the Giants have 54, not having won since before they moved out west.
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Bellho......I mean, Varitek! 3 - 2
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I was a complete nervous wreck all through that game...all I could was sit balled up in front of the set. What a performance from Beckett knowing he is injured and what a performance from the bullpen. My nerves were completely shot all day and I get to go through it again tomorrow.
A huge jeer to TBS for the technical difficulties in such an important game. I was almost wishing for FOX.
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I was a complete nervous wreck all through that game...all I could was sit balled up in front of the set. What a performance from Beckett knowing he is injured and what a performance from the bullpen. My nerves were completely shot all day and I get to go through it again tomorrow.
A huge jeer to TBS for the technical difficulties in such an important game. I was almost wishing for FOX.
The only solace I get from TBS is all these Brooke Shields Volkswagon commercials. She's still hot.
Right now I'm a hyper ball of energy, and I will be a bundle of nerves tomorrow. I hope Lester's licking his chops and I hope Garza has hired a pooper scooper man to follow him around tomorrow. Major props to Beckett tonight, who had absolutely nothing but guts and heart and won anyway.
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Game 6 2004 ALCS, an injured Schilling beats the Yankees 4 - 2. A previously struggling Mark Bellhorn delivers the game winning blow.
Game 6 2008 ALCS, an injured Beckett beats the Rays 4 - 2. A previously struggling Jason Varitek delivers the game winning blow.
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Finally!!! Some good post season baseball. Best of luck to all you Boston fans. [cheers]
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Boston will win game 7.
Tampa Bay should have closed out the series in game 5, leading by 7 runs with 7 Boston outs left to go. After they blew that one, I thought they had to win game 6. If it went to a game 7, I thought Boston would win. Boston has all the momentum and I give them the edge with Lester over Garza. I don't see Lester having a second consecutive poor outing and I just like him a little more in a big spot. I also favor Boston if its tied late. Tampa needs to get a lead by the middle innings and keep it because I don't see them winning it late.
Tampa's biggest mistake was leaving the door open in game 5 and now Boston seems poised to break through it tomorrow night. I'd much rather see Tampa win this thing, but I don't see it happening anymore.
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There used to be three teams that couldn't find the promised land for decades and decades. Finally the Red Sox, and my White Sox finally made it. There's only a handfull of people alive today that were around when the Cubs won their last World Series. Good Luck !
Thanks. ;) I know that this seems like a stupid way to choose a team but as i've been into Baseball for a number of years i think its about time that i started really supporting a team. Some people just start supporting the team with the most championships, the best players or the best chance to win the championship but thats just not me.
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If there is one thing that I cannot stand in sports fandom it's someone who switches allegiances. Wrestler John Cena, who grew up in Massachusetts and has professed his love for Boston sports in the past can apparently be seen on Tampa's Jumbotron during the game rooting for the Rays. I don't care what team you're a fan of, switching sides is despicable and in my eyes makes you not a real fan.
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If there is one thing that I cannot stand in sports fandom it's someone who switches allegiances. Wrestler John Cena, who grew up in Massachusetts and has professed his love for Boston sports in the past can apparently be seen on Tampa's Jumbotron during the game rooting for the Rays. I don't care what team you're a fan of, switching sides is despicable and in my eyes makes you not a real fan.
I know what you mean. I could never switch teams, the team i support in Australia had their bleakest 6 yearss, were in major debt, and 6 years later their owner is the countries 3rd richest man, they ended up getting the best player in the competition and they have a good chance of winning the championship in the next 2-3 years with a young team and guess what? I stuck with them and its paid off, alot of supporters of my team probably jumped on another bandwagon, its a real shame.
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Let me get this striaght. Game 7, and Alex Cora is in the line up? I just got home from work, so I'm in on this game late. Ugh!
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Let me get this striaght. Game 7, and Alex Cora is in the line up? I just got home from work, so I'm in on this game late. Ugh!
1 to 1 in the 5th, you Boston boys have to be going nuts. Finally, some good play-off baseball. I love it!!!!!! [yay]
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1 to 1 in the 5th, you Boston boys have to be going nuts. Finally, some good play-off baseball. I love it!!!!!! [yay]
I have no clue how Aybar hit that pitch. If Tampa wins tonight, Matt Garza's the ALCS MVP, or Upton, or Longoria, or.....this team is good.
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Shit!!!
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Well congrats to Rays. I couldn't be prouder of the Red Sox at the moment, there really shouldn't have even been a game 7, with the huge game 5 lead and how banged up we are. The team nor the fans have nothing to be ashamed of. Hopefully we softened Tampa up for the Phillies, and at least Doug can sleep with both eyes closed.
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What a game, I thought coming into tonight Boston would pull it off, but Garza pitched
a gem for Tampa Bay and now their going to the World Series, unreal.
Ugh, now its Tampa vs Philly. Fox has to be pissed, ratings will be low.
Since I'm AL, I kinda hope Tampa Bay wins. If they keep playing like this they will earn it,
But I dont care at this point, I'm already looking foward to next year.
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What a game, I thought coming into tonight Boston would pull it off, but Garza pitched
a gem for Tampa Bay and now their going to the World Series, unreal.
Ugh, now its Tampa vs Philly. Fox has to be pissed, ratings will be low.
Since I'm AL, I hope Tampa Bay wins. If they keep playing like this they will earn it.
Yeah, I'm sure Rupert Murdoch is downing a 5th of JD at the moment. A Rays/Phillies is not in the least bit appetizing or interesting to anyone outside of the local markets. I predict record lows ratings-wise, unless the series goes 7.
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How appropriate Boston's season ends with the bottom of the order stranding a guy. That's been their Achilles heel all season.
Lester was good tonight, Garza was better. I like this Tampa team, if not so much the cowbell and mohawked fans, and I congratulate them. I can't say I'm cheering them on in the WS, as the Philles are the local team for me and are in a very, very, very, (VERY) distant second to the Red Sox for me. I have a lot of friends who are Phillies fans, so go Phils! The Red Sox have been my team since 1987 when I still lived in CT. and were my grandfather's team going back to Jimmie Foxx. Grandpa, my Red Sox are better than yours.
Boston themselves have nothing to be ashamed of. Game 5 was incredible, and they'll be contenders for years to come. My car thanks them for losing tonight, as it has a lisence plate and bumper sticker with the Red Sox logo on it. Living in a Philadelphia sports town, my tires most likely won't be slashed.
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You're lucky, I first started watching baseball and became a Red Sox fan during the 86 season.
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You're lucky, I first started watching baseball and became a Red Sox fan during the 86 season.
My parents had a ridiculous bedtime rule with me until I was in high school (I demanded I stay up later once Monday Night Raw started), so there's no way I was allowed to stay up to see game 6. Perhaps Mom and Dad knew what they were doing after all.
I discovered baseball in '86, and I tangled back and forth between Yankees and Mets fan, finally settling on Boston in '87 by watching lots of Sox games with my parents and hearing stories of '49 from Grandpa. I'm sure I told you this story before, but my parents were in Boston on vacation in '86 when they beat the Angels for the pennant and got caught up in the town's hysteria.
Man, the reality's hitting me that I won't watch another Sox game until April. That's what's depressing me the most.
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Kane, gotta ask the question: Do we keep Varitek?
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Baseball has too many games in a single season.
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Kane, gotta ask the question: Do we keep Varitek?
I say yes for a couple of reasons. #1, he brings so much to the table and is the team captain for a reason...and #2, there is no one who can take his place at the moment. If there's one spot in the lineup where you can skimp on the offense it's catcher.
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It's looking good for the Phils after winning with Moyer on the mound. I'm surprised they got that game in.
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It's looking good for the Phils after winning with Moyer on the mound. I'm surprised they got that game in.
My boss was at that game.
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I spent about 9 hrs at the ballpark last night/this morning....but well worth it! Just glad that the first base ump didn't wind up costing us that game. We're ofer the series with RISP but still leading 2-1? We thank thee O baseball gods for thy wondrous gifts!
Gary
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There's not too many better ways to spend 9 hours than at the ballpark.
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I spent about 9 hrs at the ballpark last night/this morning....but well worth it! Just glad that the first base ump didn't wind up costing us that game. We're ofer the series with RISP but still leading 2-1? We thank thee O baseball gods for thy wondrous gifts!
Gary
Tampa Bay was holding back Boston for the most part with RISP as well. Whoever their pitching coach is needs to be commended for the way he has those young guys pitching from the stretch.
Last night was huge for the Phils. I was thinking before the game it'd be best if the Phils got the PPD game so the possibility of another Hamels start would be more likely, but it turns out they didn't need it. That 9th inning was nuts, as a ball wasn't hit more than 45 feet the whole inning and they still managed to score.
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Tampa Bay was holding back Boston for the most part with RISP as well. Whoever their pitching coach is needs to be commended for the way he has those young guys pitching from the stretch.
Last night was huge for the Phils. I was thinking before the game it'd be best if the Phils got the PPD game so the possibility of another Hamels start would be more likely, but it turns out they didn't need it. That 9th inning was nuts, as a ball wasn't hit more than 45 feet the whole inning and they still managed to score.
That was one hell of a game last night, Phillies pulled it off and now have the momentum going into Game 4 tonight.
Its been reported that Game 2 was one of the lowest rated WS games ever but thats kinda sad, because even though my
team isn't in it, I'm still finding this World Series to be very entertaining.
Glad you got to see that game in person Gary! I wish your Phillies luck tonight.
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Glad you got to see that game in person Gary! I wish your Phillies luck tonight
Thanks. I've been to a lot of sporting events in Philly over the past 5 decades, but last night's crowd was the most electric one I've ever been in, despite the 90-minute delay and the crappy weather. I'm taking a night off and will be going to game 5 tomorrow if we win tonight.
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That was one hell of a game last night, Phillies pulled it off and now have the momentum going into Game 4 tonight.
Its been reported that Game 2 was one of the lowest rated WS games ever but thats kinda sad, because even though my
team isn't in it, I'm still finding this World Series to be very entertaining.
Glad you got to see that game in person Gary! I wish your Phillies luck tonight.
The World Series that the White Sox were in few years ago was a ratings bust. But we sure loved it in Chicago. Go Phillies ! [clap]
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I saw that coming from a mile away and most of the "blame" should go to Tampa, a small market, newer team with no solid fanbase. The only was this Series pulls in decent to good ratings is if it goes 7, and with the Phillies having a nice lead in game 4 and Hamels due in game 5 that's not looking likely to happen. I've been pleasantly suprised by the Phillies showing in this Series (and would like to think some credit goes to the Red Sox for stretching out what should have been a 5 game series to 7) and most importantly the Philadelphia fans are much better sports fans and deserve the championship a lot more so although I am a fan of the AL go Phils.
Any chance a World Series win would get Philadelphians to quit whining about losing all the time?
Edit by metaldams: Post restored.
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I'm being serious when I ask this. Who drove in more runs this post season, Philadelphia pitching or the 7-8-9 spots for Boston? Sheesh! Blanton goes yard, Meyers = Babe Ruth......crazy.
EDIT: Jim, I accidentally modified your post, thsi is metaldams speaking above. My bad.
ROFL! Here's an ESPN.com article about the World Series ratings for game 3.
NEW YORK -- With a 91-minute rain delay pushing the first pitch until after 10 p.m. on the East Coast, Game 3 of the World Series drew a record-low television rating.
The Philadelphia Phillies' 5-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays, which ended at 1:47 a.m. Sunday, earned a 6.1 fast national rating and 13 share on Fox, the network said.
The previous low was an 8.0 in 2006 for Game 1 of the Cardinals-Tigers series.
The game averaged a 6.5/13 from 11 p.m.-midnight EDT, slid to 6.0/14 for the next hour, then rose to a 6.3/17 after 1 a.m.
The game drew a 28.2/49 in Philadelphia and a 21.6/44 in Tampa. With most of the game in prime time on the West Coast, some of the best ratings outside the home markets came there, including a 9.7/19 in Seattle and a 9.2/20 in San Francisco.
Through three games, the World Series is averaging a 7.7/14, down 23 percent from last year's 10.0/17 for Red Sox-Rockies.
The rating is the percentage watching a program among homes with televisions, and the share is the percentage tuned into the broadcast among those households with TVs on at the time.
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Any chance a World Series win would get Philadelphians to quit whining about losing all the time?
No way..... in fact, last night's debacle is just another event we can add to the list of things we can bitch & moan about! Do we really whine that much? But more importantly, does having a sound basis for whining make said whining excusable?
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No way..... in fact, last night's debacle is just another event we can add to the list of things we can bitch & moan about! Do we really whine that much? But more importantly, does having a sound basis for whining make said whining excusable?
From my personal experience, yes you guys do whine :P. When the Eagles lost to the Pats in the Super Bowl it was a constant barrage of "we never win" from Eagles fans. At least we New Englanders quit whining after 2004.
More importantly Gary, you said earlier that you'd go to game 5 if the Phillies won game 4. Did you go, and if you did are you going to go back to see the finish? It was pathetic the way Selig and Co. were trying to get that game in in that mess.
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From my personal experience, yes you guys do whine . When the Eagles lost to the Pats in the Super Bowl it was a constant barrage of "we never win" from Eagles fans. At least we New Englanders quit whining after 2004.
Fair enough
More importantly Gary, you said earlier that you'd go to game 5 if the Phillies won game 4. Did you go, and if you did are you going to go back to see the finish? It was pathetic the way Selig and Co. were trying to get that game in in that mess.
Yep. My son flew home from college in Michigan so that we could go to Game 5 together and have a
once-in-a-lifetime, father-son moment when they won it all. Of course it didn't work out that way. I've never seen baseball played in conditions like that before. This was no tropical thunderstorm, this was a cold, driving nor'easter type storm. If they didn't realize that conditions were miserable at the outset, you'd think that when Jimmy Rollins (all-time leading NL fielding % leader) dropped a "routine" pop up, it would have become obvious that conditions were clearly affecting play.
Anyway, because the game won't be continued until tomorrow my son had to fly back because he'd miss too much class. So now I'm faced with the prospect of going to the conclusion with my wife. Don't get me wrong, I love my wife. But I'll be going with someone who thinks that the team that gets the most "points" wins. That's a waste of a ticket. After spending 2 nights in the cold and damp already, I may just give them away to a friend or relative and hopefully enjoy the post-game celebration at home by the fireplace. Am I getting old, or what? Besides, we'll probably lose anyway ( sorry, had to get in one last whine).
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Writing this as rain and snow fall and make the roads in worse shape than Johnny Gomes' hair, I guarantee that if last night's game had been in any other city with weather like that, the game would never have even started. Fox is to blame for this, with their hatred of the Phillies. It didn't help that the local forecasters said that the rain would become bad at midnight. They should have said midnight, Greenwich Mean Time. Then of course, because the Phillies were winning, the game had to continue. But once the Rays tied it, "OK, let's call it off and resume it later." Well, tomorrow night is supposed to be dry, but cold. It should be interesting, as the 76ers open their season down the block at 7:00.
Since the baseball game is picking up with the bottom of the 6th inning, shouldn't Fox have them wait until about 10:30 to restart? As Gregory Helms says, "I'm just sayin'."
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Writing this as rain and snow fall and make the roads in worse shape than Johnny Gomes' hair, I guarantee that if last night's game had been in any other city with weather like that, the game would never have even started. Fox is to blame for this, with their hatred of the Phillies. It didn't help that the local forecasters said that the rain would become bad at midnight. They should have said midnight, Greenwich Mean Time. Then of course, because the Phillies were winning, the game had to continue. But once the Rays tied it, "OK, let's call it off and resume it later." Well, tomorrow night is supposed to be dry, but cold. It should be interesting, as the 76ers open their season down the block at 7:00.
Since the baseball game is picking up with the bottom of the 6th inning, shouldn't Fox have them wait until about 10:30 to restart? As Gregory Helms says, "I'm just sayin'."
As much as I too hate FOX, that my friend is just silly. The reason they tried so hard to play the game through is ratings. This World Series has been a huge bust ratings wise. FOX doesn't "hate" the Phillies and probably doesn't care one way or the other if they win or lose. With the Rays in the Series instead of the Red Sox and the rain delay in game 3 hurting ratings even more (this year's Series is down 25-30% from last year's Red Sox/Rockies Series and game 3 garnered the worst ratings in World Series history) they are trying to salvage anything they can get, plain and simple.
Leave the conspiracy theories to Alex Jones.
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As much as I too hate FOX, that my friend is just silly. The reason they tried so hard to play the game through is ratings. This World Series has been a huge bust ratings wise. FOX doesn't "hate" the Phillies and probably doesn't care one way or the other if they win or lose. With the Rays in the Series instead of the Red Sox and the rain delay in game 3 hurting ratings even more (this year's Series is down 25-30% from last year's Red Sox/Rockies Series and game 3 garnered the worst ratings in World Series history) they are trying to salvage anything they can get, plain and simple.
Leave the conspiracy theories to Alex Jones.
If your saying that Fox wants to get Series over as fast as possible because they are taking a Ratings ass kicking, I would have to totally agree with you.
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Well Philly fans, the Rays are staying in a hotel pretty close to where I live if you want me to throw mustard packets at them or anything like that.
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If your saying that Fox wants to get Series over as fast as possible because they are taking a Ratings ass kicking, I would have to totally agree with you.
Exactly: at this point they want to cut their loses and hope for a more appealing match up next season. Look at it this way, the Tampa Bay market is ranked #28 in the country. While that may sound impressive, the only teams in smaller tv markets are the Rockies, Diamondbacks and Padres. Philadelphia is ranked #4 in the country; the only markets that are larger have two teams. With that in mind, it would make sense to say that it should be easier to get a bigger share in the Tampa market because it is a much smaller market, yet the Series is getting a higher share in the Philly market. So if the Rays aren't a success in their market, especially a team that is appearing in their first World Series ever, you can only imagine what it's doing for the neutral markets. On top of that FOX now has to interrupt regularly scheduled programming for a partial game of a World Series that has been a catastrophe ratings wise because they are contractually obligated to do so. I'm pretty sure that if FOX is rooting for anyone to win it would be the Phillies so the Series ends sooner.
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If all the ratings stuff is true, you'd think they'd make this a day game. It would be 10-15 degrees warmer, young kids could watch, they wouldn't have to interrupt their regular programming,etc. I guess that would be too logical a solution.
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If all the ratings stuff is true, you'd think they'd make this a day game. It would be 10-15 degrees warmer, young kids could watch, they wouldn't have to interrupt their regular programming,etc. I guess that would be too logical a solution.
The ratings are low, but enjoy it. You don't know when it will happen again. I was shocked to find out the ratings were low when Chicago made it a couple of years ago. Chicago was so alive you just figured it was like that everywhere. Who cares about ratings anyway ? ( Besides MLB and Fox ) I'm pulling for you , I hope Philly goes all the way.
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The ratings are low, but enjoy it. You don't know when it will happen again. I was shocked to find out the ratings were low when Chicago made it a couple of years ago. Chicago was so alive you just figured it was like that everywhere. Who cares about ratings anyway ? ( Besides MLB and Fox ) I'm pulling for you , I hope Philly goes all the way.
Every baseball fan should care about the ratings because if the ratings are high for the World Series then all of baseball prospers. Perhaps if Tampa is able to keep their team intact and become a regular force then more people would be interested the next time, but Tampa is a notoriously bad sports town anyway. That's why I'm rooting for the Phillies, because their fans are more deserving and appreciative than Rays "fans" who didn't even start showing up at the stadium until the playoffs and have not been very supportive of their team as a whole.
The White Sox/Astros Series faced a couple of problems. First off it was not at all competitive as Chicago not only obliterated Houston, but destroyed Boston and the Angels on their way to the Series as well. Secondly that Series had to follow the previous year when the Red Sox came back from 0-3 down in the ALCS against the Yankees and ended their drought...that was a hard act to follow. Even though the White Sox ended their own drought there was no drama whatsoever, and the Red Sox are quite frankly a larger draw. A neutral person watching both of those Series' would have said "I'm watching history" in '04 while in '05 would have said "I saw this last year". Really just bad timing.
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Say what you will about the Rays, but what a great moment for Rocco Baldelli.
......and OUT at the plate.
Great game so far.
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Say what you will about the Rays, but what a great moment for Rocco Baldelli.
......and OUT at the plate.
Great game so far.
Small Ball, bunt him over , hit him in. Your right, good game.
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That Bartett baserunning mishap was huge. A youthful error in judgement.
I'm going to be very interested to see if Lidge can hold this. If the Rays were smart, they'd all wear Pujols masks when they're in the batter box. If Lidge does do this, let's just hope none of his offspring produce lame country music.
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Get Gary's heart medication ready, we're going to the 9th.
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Ben Zobrist up, 1 man on, 1 out. Put in Papelbon!!!
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Yikes, thought that was going to drop. One out away. C'mon Lidge, do this, or the bitching at work tomorrow will be unbearable.
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Congratulations Philadelphia!
Gary, Lefty, sleep well this winter.
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Congrats to the new champions, the Philadelphia Phillies and their fans. I do wish my prediction about the ratings was innaccurate, because despite being a five game series it was for the most part competitive. Ben Zobrist for Baldelli was a retarded move and goes to show Maddon isn't as great as the press has led us to believe. The Rays really shit the bed here.
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Foulke was more fist pump straight edged, Paps elevates, and Lidge is a down boy...sounds like he's orgasming in this interview, I would be too.
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Congrats to the new champions, the Philadelphia Phillies and their fans. I do wish my prediction about the ratings was innaccurate, because despite being a five game series it was for the most part competitive. Ben Zobrist for Baldelli was a retarded move and goes to show Maddon isn't as great as the press has led us to believe. The Rays really shit the bed here.
Well said Shemps, The games were very competitive and entertaining. Too bad the ratings were so low.
Rays had the potential to win this but they just got outplayed and out-managed IMO.
Congrats to you Gary and all Phillies fans, your team earned this one, enjoy it.
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I wonder if Jamie Moyer will retire? He's 45, his contract's up, and he's on top of the world now. Good for him.
I still say Bartlett running home after Utley kept that ball in the infield was the deciding factor, but I too was shocked to see Zobrist in for Baldelli.
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I'm glad I watched. I didn't have Philadelphia in my sights to go all the way when the playoffs started.
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Did you see the way Gillick winced when the fans booed when he congratulated the Rays? He knows what he's dealing with.
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I wonder if Jamie Moyer will retire? He's 45, his contract's up, and he's on top of the world now. Good for him.
I still say Bartlett running home after Utley kept that ball in the infield was the deciding factor, but I too was shocked to see Zobrist in for Baldelli.
I heard somewhere that no matter what Game 4 was his final game.
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Too bad for the Rays. Really had wanted to see them win it.
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My closing thoughts on 2008. Congratulations to the Phillies. Living in Delaware since 1992, I've lived in an area where pouting and whining prevailed, and now I get to see how the locals will conduct themselves as winners.
The Red Sox were a beat up team all year AND lost Manny Ramirez in a distracting manner, so to make it all the way to game 7 of he ALCS was quite an accomplishment. My favorite things for the year were Lester's no-hitter, Lester shutting out the Yankees in Yankee Stadium (Lester in general, really), watching Pedroia and Youk kick ass, Brandon Moss's opening day homerun, Jason Bay fitting this team like a glove, Masterson and Lowrie, Manny's 500th, and having lived through so many Dice-K starts. Oh yeah, game 5 of the ALCS was special as well.
Finally, the Yankees didn't make the playoffs. Call me a jerk for rubbing it in, but after 15 years, it's about damn time.
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I'm gonna let Phillies fans get the last word when they are finished partying and then close this awesome thread.
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WOW
What a great ending and how appropriate for Lidge to finish it off with a K. He was clearly our MVP this year. That Rays manager seemed like a nice guy when the series opened and he proved it last night by letting Jenkins bat against a righty and Burrell against a lefty. Yeah, the baserunning blunder helped, but without great athleticism and awareness by Utley and a great catch & tag by Ruiz, that run would have scored.
How sweet is this?
AH......LIFE IS GOOD!
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Mazel Tov to my favorite baseball team, the Trenton Thunder. Just kidding, I meant the Phillies! That 2-day delay turned out to be for the best, as I was able to record, almost live on audio tape from the radio, Harry Kalas' play-by-play of the final strike. They set a record for the longest World Series game ever played -- 49 hours, 20 minutes. The Flyers hold the NHL record, 2 decades, in a game in Vancouver 12/31/89 to 1/1/90. ;D
The Yankee fans at work were congratulating me today. (I did something? It must have been those hints I gave Charlie Manuel on how to pitch against the opponents. LOL) On the other foot, the Met fans have been in complete denial that there ever was a postseason this year.
Next year, as per the tentative schedule, the Phillies will play in Tampa June 23, 24, 25. And for you Red Sox Nation members, come on down to the Bank on June 12, 13, 14 to see the World Champions.