Just tuned into today's Red Sox/Twins game to see Tanner Schobel just getting inserted into the lineup at 2b. Very first batter of the inning hits a lofty (but manageable) pop-up right to him... and he bobbled the catch... i think this might have been his first action of spring training too. He did manage to draw a walk in his AB in the bottom-half of the 2nd.
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to add to it - he got called up / assigned to the Twins this morning. I'm sure this is a temporary thing, but this is sign that he's likely heading to the Twins AAA club (St. Paul) to start the season if things go well enough in spring training. The Twins have too much depth in both the IF and OF for Tanner to likely see any consistent action this year, but this club has been plagued by injuries in recent years.
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Not sure if this is an appropriate spot for this question -- but I'll be going solo to a Red Sox game the weekend after Memorial Day. It'll be my first time there and only my second MLB game. Any tips on where to sit / where not to sit / spots to eat before the game? Should I YOLO it and sit on the green monster?
oh and I'll be a completely neutral fan. Going there as a tourist and live sports fan.
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That's impressive. Going solo as your second MLB game.
I go solo to MLB games all the time, mostly because I can't drag anyone to watch the Nationals play out here in SoCal, at least as many times that I like to go to the games. Going solo hast its perks. It easy to find deals on the secondary market as sometimes people have 1 extra ticket and trying to sell it off, willing to go below market value. Best value, of course, are during weekday games, but I've found some good tickets for games falling on the weekend too.
While I have yet to experience Fenway, I have a few solo strategies that I employ that would work in any park.
I really enjoy sitting behind home plate. It's the best vantage to watch the game and if it is an elite pitcher or two, actually be able to see the pitches and their action is really cool (at least to me). You can actually feel like you're watching baseball for the entire game. Sideline and outfield views are not good for watching pitching and thus in a pitchers duel or low scoring affair, it can seem like a long time between action. And going solo makes it more tenable from a cost standpoint to get the seats behind home (some of the most expensive in the stadium).
The other thing I enjoy to do solo is to get one of the cheapest seats available and just don't even bother sitting in it. I just continue to stroll around the park and/or find a good view from the concourse. I do that a lot at Dodgers stadium because the seats are pricey and they have some really good vantage points in the concourse you can stand at to watch the game, drink in hand. This option also works well for a first-time visit to an iconic park like Fenway, as you can try watch the game from multiple vantage points and explore everything the stadium has to offer on game day.
I think a seat on the Green Monster would also be such a unique experience that it would probably worth getting a seat there too. I just never done it, but that would be pretty cool.
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+1 for this... Its been a while since I've gone solo (probably around 2011 at Coors Field while I was on a work trip), and when I did I didn't have much $$$ to spare, so I usually went with the cheap(er) seats and wandered when I wanted to. Now - yeah, I'd splurge. I would go even further and suggest you get a stadium tour if you have time, since the only person's schedule you need to be concerned about is your own. But outside of the tour and sitting in / on top of the Green Monster, I can't offer much else other than dont be a drunk idiot in Boston - never been to a game in Boston.
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So, the Braves are the best team in baseball and the Mets are downright rotten. Soooo.....season is going as expected. Just thought I'd at least update the thread on the season before my next comment.
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Found this yesterday, and I thought any of you baseball fans would be interested. Check out https://www.immaculategrid.com/. It tests your baseball knowledge of intersections between teams and awards and statistics on a 3x3 grid, and is shareable using green squares much like Wordle is. It's pretty tough to get all nine, and is unique enough to catch my interest. The intro screen explains how to play, but if you clicked past that, you can click on the question mark to get the explanation back.
Basic explanation: today's grid has Tampa Bay, Philly, and Cy Young on the vertical; Houston, LA Dodgers, and 200+ K season pitching on the horizontal. For the upper left sqaure, (Tampa Bay / Houston), you need to name a player that played for both teams. For the lower left square (Cy Young / Houston), you need to name a player that won a Cy Young while wearing a Houston uniform. For the lower right square (Cy Young / 200+ K season pitching), you need to name a player that won a Cy Young while pitching 200+ strikeouts in the same year. (Newsflash: Nolan Ryan did not, I didn't know that he never won a Cy Young). You have nine guesses to fill out the grid, and may the odds ever be in your favor.
Today's grid:
Immaculate Grid 94 7/9:
🟩⬜️🟩
⬜️🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩
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Nolan Ryan played on mostly bad-to-mediocre teams during his career, in fact he actually lost nearly 300 games (324-292 career record). From 1972-1977 he averaged almost 16 losses per season, despite having a 2.91 ERA during that stretch.
Fun fact #1: I grew up one town over from Nolan Ryan's hometown of Alvin, Texas, which is a suburb of Houston.
Fun fact #2: In 1979, Alvin received the highest amount of rainfall ever recorded during a 24-hour period in American history - 43 inches. I think that record was finally beat when Harvey flooded most of Houston in 2017.
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Just saw this... like everything else I skipped the manual and just started playing, then went back and read... this is going to be a great waste of time :-)
My (correct) entry for the Stl / Atl answer only registered at 3%, so i'm feeling pretty baseball smart right now.
Immaculate Grid 95 6/9:
⬜️⬜️🟩
🟩🟩🟩
⬜️🟩🟩
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Man, screw the grid. I got 7/9 too. Hearing my wife about the Braves, those came easy after seeing so much of her memorabilia. Yankees came easyish. Just the darn others I couldn't remember.
Immaculate Grid 95 7/9:
⬜️🟩🟩
⬜️🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩
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Poor Padres. They are 8 games back, which isn't insurmountable, but pretty difficult. It'll be interesting if they do sell off and if they do, how they go about it.
Snell, Wacha and Hader all free agents in 2024. Soto free agent in 2025. They should be able to recoup what they gave up for Soto with those four (Wacha injured though).
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Poor Padres my a**. They made too many risky player investments and have handcuffed themselves to some sizable contracts. Those risks haven't paid off and they may have some significant trades to make this year and several years from now.
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Finally got to a Braves game this year after wife got tickets. Sucked it was an 8-1 loss versus the Sox, but was so good to be back at the ballpark. I think I quit watching baseball when the Orioles were robbed on the Jeter homer with the kid grabbing the ball back in the day, but moving to GA prior the Braves winning the ship and my wife's love of the game rekindled my infatuation with it.
Hopefully the pitching woes get worked out and they get back into form and can get hot again at the right time. Atlanta is so fun and feels like a playoff atmosphere most games we go to now.
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The All-Star break seemed to mess with the Braves a bit. Dropped 4 straight. Hoping they can right the ship and at least get a win against the Diamondbacks today.
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Yeah, yesterday was clutch hitting. Game 1 was just a run fest that was a crazy back and forth game. Arizona couldn't buy a hit in Toronto, and seems to have woken up against the Braves.
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My team needs:
- starting pitching
- relief pitching
- outfielders that don't get hurt
- a new scouting and player evaluation department
- a new player development department
- a new GM
- good vibes
I don't know that we'll work through that list by next Tuesday, but one can hope...
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Yep! Turns out "the Cardinal way" is a bunch of horseshit when you have a GM and scouting department that overvalues internal talent and a developmental system that doesn't, well, develop players.
Quick question: is there any room left on the Orioles bandwagon? Now that's a fun team.
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- A RH corner OF to platoon with Rosario
- A LH reliever that can throw strikes
- A back of the rotation starter that can eat innings effectively (like a Lance Lynn)
None of which should cost too much, really. Just some people to hold the fort until some IL folks are healthy, and provide depth in the playoffs.
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I wish the Braves could just have a full roster for one year. Seems like the past few seasons have always been someone injured and trying to fill in the gaps until somehow Alex works magic at the trade deadline. Have to believe he will pull off something team friendly again this year.
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Looking for:
- Corner outfielders that can hit left-handed pitching
- Middle relief that doesn't collapse in the face of adversity
- Competent roster management
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Nats are looking to move 3B Candelario and maybe INF Vargas (utility backup, defensive replacement type). For the right price, they could also trade OF Thomas or RP Finnegan, both of whom are assets that would be of value in 2025 when the team expects to be in the thick of things again. Because Candelario alone isn't going to get much of a return as a 2-month rental, I think he gets packaged with either Finnegan or Thomas to get a solid, near major-league ready top-100 prospect. GM Rizzo often does these package deals to get better quality prospect return.
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5th starter and for the lineup to pull their heads out of their asses.
This season is interesting. They're still within striking distance of 1st in the East, are now leading the Wild Card race, just beat Baltimore in a series and have a bunch of games coming up against teams they should beat.... But, they're doing it all because of pitching, and not because of the lineup, which has largely remained quiet this year.
Feels like the bats are due to wake up, and once that happens, they could go on a very similar run to last year.
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They're still within striking distance of 1st in the East...
Not really. They're 10 games back. The Braves were 10.5 games back at one point last year, but on 27 July, they were only 3 games back. They were 5 games back on the same date in 2021.
...are now leading the Wild Card race...
Technically, San Francisco is leading, half a game up on the Phillies.
Feels like the bats are due to wake up, and once that happens, they could go on a very similar run to last year.
Yeah, I'm not sure I want to face Philly's lineup in the playoffs if their bats are "woke". With the changes they made in the offseason, they're a pretty complete team. They just haven't had all cylinders firing at the same time yet this season.
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Nats have life. Won 11 of 16... They'll probably fall off the cliff at some point, but have to enjoy these runs when they happen. And I'm definitely one of those weirdos super into the prospects and the Nats have good ones to watch.
Still on track for 2026 contention (maybe 2025). Their low A and AA are stacked lineups... Low A featuring Dylan Crews and Yoyo Morales (from Miami). AA featuring James Wood and Brady House. I think all four probably get to the majors in some fashion in 2024. Maybe not Morales, had a high K-rate in college.
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Which reminds me, I need to get out to a FredNats game. Maybe next week when the Augusta Greenjackets (Braves) are in town, and it's not the first week of school.
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Dylan Crews with another oppo hit and he is 4-5 in this game with the grand slam HR and now batting .444 in his 4-game minor league career. https://t.co/nBuBZloKMx— Talk Nats (@TalkNats) August 9, 2023
Small sample size, but Crews seems unreal.
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Seeing the Orioles in the playoffs should be fun to watch. I know they haven't been completely absent from the playoffs in the last 20+ years, but it feels like they have.
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As for me - watching the Twins is like going from a fun night-out drinking to the next day hangover from hell 1-2x a week. They can't get any momentum or separation and its been frustrating to watch. We just swept a wild-card capable Arizona team, so now I'm expecting us to drop at least 2 in a row against Detroit, because that's just what we do.
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That Baltimore owner, he's a peach of a guy, right?
Here's the clip of Kevin Brown's pregame comments on the Orioles' recent record against the Rays ahead of a series finale on July 23. Sources tell AA these comments led to Brown's current indefinite suspension from Orioles' broadcasts. pic.twitter.com/csURU04fJU— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 7, 2023
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what exactly did he say that was a) inflammatory/derogatory/condescending, and b) not fact?
I hear comments from the Twins broadcast booth just like this on a nightly basis... can't wait until the playoffs when the start talking about the last time the Twins won a series.
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Same story, different subject line. They never speak to the press except for press releases on positive news AND they will berate any reporter asking a question that isn't about the positive news.
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As an orioles fan, Angelos is a POS and has been for ages, much like his father. I'm glad he's getting more infamous for his antics. And pay the Nats already!!!
Also sell the damn team while you're at it. He's already out here essentially saying they aren't going to pay out young stars. The best team we have seen for years and have built for longevity and he's already being a wet blanket. Just awful.
Edit: Kevin Brown has been one of the few bright spots of the orioles rebuild. He has a fantastic future in this business and, while I really hope he sticks around for a while with the orioles, I wouldn't blame him in the least if he walked after this season with the BS they pulled. Peter Angelos did it to Jon Miller, John Angelos already did it to Gary Thorne for bringing up how bad 2018 was, and now Kevin Brown. Just running some incredible announcers out of town. Not to mention, he did it again with the public address announcer at Camden a few years ago over some tweets that were "critical" of the lack of off-season moves by the O's (didn't even tell him he was fired until he showed up for work on opening day).
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I'm glad the Orioles have found themselves this year in spite of their ownership. Their fans deserve it. I was a huge Orioles and Ripken fan growing up.
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Angel Hernandez strikes again tonight in Philly. I didn't have any stake in the game but the call on Harper was atrocious. How this guy holds down an umpiring job is beyond me.
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I mean y'all know I'm a Phillies fan so I'm not exactly unbiased, but the man called THIS a swinging strike 3 and then ejected Harper for understandably blowing up on him for it
This is the same ump that had Schwarber blow up on him last year on behalf of both teams that were playing. The man is objectively terrible at his job, and on top of it, openly antagonizing players who know he's wrong. MLB needs to stop protecting him, he needs to be fired. It's literally damaging the integrity of the game
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He's consistently the worst ump behind the plate. No surprise, in 2023 he again is the least accurate umpire to call balls and strikes.
Per @UmpScorecards as a group umps with the most experience (701+ home plate games prior to '23) have the lowest Overall Accuracy this year and this month is their lowest OA of the year. Only 2 of 17 umps have a higher OA in this month than for the year. @MLB@MLBUApic.twitter.com/3ituKG2FVy— Umpire Scorecards Analysis (@UmpAnalysis) September 28, 2023
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I'm surprised at some of these numbers. I couldn't tell you anything about any of the other umpires but there are several who have had one or more month of equivalent accuracy, or worse, to Hernandez. Is the difference here that Hernandez just ends-up as a negative highlight on ESPN more frequently?
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I think there are some umps that get some borderline stuff wrong or have strike zones that aren't perfectly in line with the pitch box. When it comes to Angel, he's making some egregious errors almost on a nightly basis. Things that aren't even close to what he's calling. And when anyone points it out, those players or coaches are ejected.
There are some other really bad umps as well (CB Bucknor, lets be honest I'm talking about CB Bucknor) who have similar tendencies to antagonize an ejection, but Angel Hernandez takes it to a whole other level.
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That's fair. There may be others on-par with Hernandez, the difference is that when he gets a call wrong he gets it REALLY wrong. And agree with the antagonizing - he's an instigator whereas most other umps will let the player vent up to the point of whats no longer reasonable before tossing them.
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Almost as egregious a missed call as above was umpire Shane Livensparger's call of "passed ball" on this foul tip Wednesday night. In the first video, you can even see Murphy turn to his right to ask the umpire for another ball. In the second video, after the umpires got together and determined that none of them had seen the foul tip, and after what seemed to be a mostly polite discussion with Snitker about how that type of play should be reviewable, Snitker was ejected.
Congratulations to everyone whose team made it to the unpredictable craziness known as the MLB postseason!
Gotta give a major hat-tip to both the Orioles, who shocked just about everyone with an amazing regular season, and the Braves, who shocked basically no one with an amazing regular season. The team I'd probably least like to play is the Braves, they look like an absolute monster. That being said, the Dodgers actually have a better record the 2nd half of the season - the Dodgers are 61-29 (0.677) since June 18th, while the Braves are 58-32 (0.644) during that time!
As an Astros fan, we probably didn't deserve to win the AL West, but I'll take the first-round bye. I don't think anyone in the AL is terrifying, although the Orioles and Rays are both damn good. The Braves and Dodgers DO scare me, though, so if the Phillies want to repeat last postseason and knock out the Braves that would be much appreciated!
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Be careful what you wish for. The Phillies are a team built for the postseason. Their weakness is absolutely the bullpen, but that weakness is depth and not the guys you'd expect to play in October. They're a bit of a machine right now and if their bullpen can just not suck, they have much better odds at winning it all than you'd think.
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He must literally do nothing but try to hit home runs.
And Harper is 100x better in the post season too.
Not really. He's a career .273 hitter in the post-season, compared to a .281 career regular season average. His career OPS is slightly better in the postseason (.963 vs .912). He had a really good series against Atlanta and San Diego last postseason. But he hit .200 with 2 RBIs against the Astros in the World Series.
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He must literally do nothing but try to hit home runs.
When it comes to swinging the bat, he is pretty much all or nothing, but he has an absurd walk rate. While his batting average is very low he still gets on base very often, and a walk is as good as a hit.
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That is pretty crazy. A .343 OBP isn't that great, but considering his BA it's astonishing.
After the Astros played the Phillies in the WS last year, I remember saying that the Phillies really needed a true leadoff hitter, but I just realized Schwarber had 108 runs and 104 RBIs this year. That's really good run production, so what do I know?
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As a Braves fan as well, Phillies are the last team I want to see in NLDS. But to be honest, even with being the best team and offense being a juggernaut, I don't think we have the pitching to win it all. Too many injuries again and bullpen has been average down the stretch.
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I hear you. As an Astros fan, I'm still scared of the Braves from what they did to us in the 2021 World Series, and the Phillies are capable of getting really hot.
But I think the Braves not only can win the trophy this year, I think they're the solid favorite. They are deep, talented, experienced, and they have the only player in the league (Acuna) who you can even make the argument is as good as Shohei Ohtani. And that's not even considering that Matt Olson seems to think he's Lou Gehrig or something this year (139 RBIs and 127 Runs? What?!?).
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As an Astros fan, I'm still scared of the Braves from what they did to us in the 2021 World Series...
Then you would probably understand this pic, then.
She still pops into my head when I think about that at bat.
...they have the only player in the league (Acuna) who you can even make the argument is as good as Shohei Ohtani.
Acuna is probably the closest right now, but there's still a wide gulf between him and Ohtani. That guy is a unicorn, and arguably the best ballplayer the sport has ever seen, and I say that without hyperbole.
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Acuna is making $17M this year and each year through 2026, with $17M club options in 2027 and 2028. Which is still a ridiculous bargain.
At some point in the next two years, that contract will be renegotiated and extended, and it will be closer to (but not fully at) market value. AA is not going to leave a chance that he leaves after 2028, and if paying him more in the 2026-2028 timeframe is what it takes, then that's what he'll do.
Acuna is making $17M this year and each year through 2026, with $17M club options in 2027 and 2028. Which is still a ridiculous bargain.
It's an incredible bargain. That's how teams like the Braves and Astros stay good. The Astros are paying Kyle Tucker $5 million this season, and he's under arbitration for two seasons after that. Somehow he actually lost his arbitration request of $7.5 million this past offseason, which seems criminal to me.
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I really don't know what to expect from the orioles, but I'm just trying to enjoy the ride. This has been the most enjoyable orioles season of my lifetime (that I can remember, at least, I was too young for '97). It sucks we kind of get screwed by the playoff format where we're facing the winner of Texas/Tampa instead of the winner of Toronto/Minnesota, but sometimes that happens. Gotta beat the best to be the best.
Tampa has been unbelievable in my mind. The injuries they've overcome and the factory that is their farm system to lose 3 starting pitchers to season ending injuries, injuries all across their lineup, and they just kept humming. So impressive.
The Astros scare me because they're healthy at the right time and have postseason experience. That can be such a huge advantage.
Really excited for the playoffs and to see how it all shakes out! But mostly for postseason baseball in Camden Yards, I cherish it every time we get it.
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game 1 in Minnesota was a blast and the crowd was crazy. I made the trip up, and after the Lewis HR in the bottom of the 1st the pressure was almost immediately off, and the pitching took over from there. Almost all of the off-season acquisitions had an impact - Lopez, Taylor, Correa, and Solano - all on defense. I'm a little worried about the hitting, but with the losing streak over now anything feels possible
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My trip to Minneapolis was totally worth it. That was a great two games to watch as a Twins fan, or if you're of a fan of high-leverage baseball and clutch pitching.
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Yeah, It has been a crazy season. In June, everyone saying we could win 100 games then by August might not even make the playoffs. Barely limped into the playoffs with that Seattle series and now all of a sudden 5-0 in the playoffs.
Trying not to get my hopes up, but they sure are catching fire at the right time.
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I disagree that was bad base running, it took 2 incredible plays to get him out. If the catch isn't made we would be talking about how great the base running was to tie the game in the 9th.
Not a Harper fan, but I certainly don't fault him there. What an exciting way to end a game.
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I dont have a stake in either team, but I dont fault Harper for being aggressive on what could have easily been a HR or misplayed ball. You already stole game 1 on the road, so keep being aggressive. If that ball had been misplayed Harper scores easily, its a tie game and a runner in scoring position. Now its a 1-1 series heading back to Philly.
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I get that it was an amazing play, but Harper could've let up a bit while rounding second and still be able to score if it didn't get caught and get back to the bag.
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Honestly, while I was very frustrated after the game last night, I also realize that it took a series of monumental fuckups by the Phillies to even get Atlanta back into the game. At the end of the day, they managed to split the series in Atlanta and now they head home where they have a legitimate home field advantage. Would have been nice to get the win last night, but its not the end of the world that they didn't.
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In the post season- since- ever- you want to draw the braves. Because they typically can't score a fucking run in october- its unreal. This braves team is arguably the greatest offense in the history of the MLB. Until it matters.
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This braves team is arguably the greatest offense in the history of the MLB. Until it mattersyou make them take a break for five days.
FTFY. There's definitely something wrong with the format, seeing the Dodgers and Orioles go 0-4, and the Braves *almost* go 0-2. (The Astro's don't count, they're probably cheating.)
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Game one of O's texas was classic baseball- no shame there. Close game. Game 2- Grayson Rodriguez sucked. Not sure if that was due to a layoff, but he sucked. So did Kershaw. The D Backs and Texas both lost like 15 in a row in a stretch this year. Now they both look like the 2001 yankees. That's october for you.
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The Astro's don't count, they're probably cheating 44-27 in the postseason since 2018.
FTFY
In all seriousness, I also hate the best-of-five division series. I get the wildcard being a short series, but everything else should be best-of-seven.
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The Phillies definitely have a home field advantage, but the Braves did take 3 of 4 there in mid-September, so I feel the Braves still have a shot of taking the series.
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Meh. Don't let the .190 hitting prick Schwarber homer to lead off the game and you can shut the crowd up. Make him do what he did for 162 games- make an out.
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Yeah, been real streaky, but luckily we're in the middle of a good one. Downfall is gonna be the bullpen. If the starting pitching stays solid and the bats stay hot, we can beat Houston. And as solid as the starters and as hot as the bats have been, I'll take the rangers in 4.
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Scherzer looking like he we be back for the ALCS, and if he is full go that is great for the Rangers. If Degrom had not been lost to Tommy John's earlier in the year I think the Rangers could have won 100 games.
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Yes, Texas will be the first to go 13-0 in the playoffs. Because it's easy in baseball to win 13 in a row, let alone do it in the post-season.
Texas may be the "buzzsaw" of 2023, but it's a ridiculous assertion to suggest any team would win 13 games in any situation, let alone the playoffs. Even if they played Oakland 13 games in a row, it would be an amazing feat to win all of those 13 games.
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Texas lost 15 straight at one point this year and 3 out of 4 to Seattle to end the year. Why? they weren't playing the Orioles- my favorite team- where they looked like the 27 yankees.
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I have to admit, all the hot dogging the Braves and their fans did all season long makes this one sweeter than last year. I was just told by a coworker last week that this postseason was "Atlanta and the rest."
The "best offense in MLB history" didn't even score 10 runs in the series.
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Yeah there was a lot of chatter around how the Braves were just owed this win and that the series was a formality. So watching the chest thumping and bravado turn to whimpering, whining, and excuse making has been pretty sweet.
Saw Acuna bailed on the post game interview and Arcia spent a decent amount of time during the game acting like an idiot to the crowd. Not a great look, and definitely begs a few questions going into the winter.
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35 years... Death, taxes, Braves offense sucks in the post season. Different managers, players, stadiums, rules, etc. Same/Same. the 2023 Braves are one of the top 3 offensive teams in the history of MLB. Until the clock strikes october of course. Then, they can't fucking score runs in TWO phillies bullpen games. LMAO. Guys that can't start, but shut the braves down cold when it matters. LOL. It's like VT hoops against BC- nope.
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It's not that dire - give the Phillies credit, post all star break they've been just as good as the Braves and Dodgers.
Braves also had some terrible luck - Fried misses time from blisters, comes in rusty. Charlie Morton gets hurt the last 10 days of the season, so they have to throw a bullpen game in Gm3.
They won the series two years ago, and scored a ton of runs en route, but the difference is that the pitching was healthy all throughout.
I still think the 5 day layoff sucks, considering the three best offenses in baseball went out meekly and only the Braves won a single game.
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Everyone is talking about the layoff- I don't think it's that. Baseball teams are fucking annoying. Like Texas can't beat Seattle, but they wake up eat a crab cake and make the orioles look like a double A team- fucking annoying. The cardinals went down 0-3 to the Nats and beat them- thats not fucking annoying at all, no. I live in Phoenix. the D backs are so mid, its not funny. They stunk in July- stunk- so imagine being a dodgers fan and having the D backs look like the 1998 yankees for 3 nights? More annoying than the fucking triple option. That's the phillies. They are unbeatable at the bank, until they lose 2 out of 3 to the Marlins or Red sox there during the season. It's fucking annoying. I can almost see why people are bandwagon fans. Baseball will annoy the fuck out of you. Watch the Astro's destroy a red hot texas team- because that 4 ft 9 little prick Altuve. Drink heavily.
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The Phillies are just built for postseason baseball. In the regular season, when they went through series where they were sputtering and the wins weren't being rattled off, for the most part this year it was because the bullpen could not hold a lead late in a game. They also went with a 6 or 7 man rotation for the second half of the year to keep the top of the rotation healthy for October. This led to a lot of games they should have won turning into losses.
But, in the playoffs with a 4 man rotation and a shortened bullpen, it negates a lot of the issues that they deal with over the course of the year, and the biggest weaknesses are completely masked.
As for the layoff, it certainly doesn't help, but there's always at least one team in every round of every playoff who has a lengthy delay between series. Its nothing new, and its not an excuse. The reality is, in baseball a hot lineup is no match for a dominant pitching staff, and that's what all those teams found out this year. The second year in a row, when it mattered most, the Phillies were able to come up with the big hits and the Braves had nothing. And listening to Strider joking about how he prefers to play in front of no fans, you kind of got the feeling the stage might be a bit too big for him at this point in his career. Not exactly the kind of sound bites you want from your ace, even if he was joking.
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And up until very recently they had an ownership group that literally didn't give a shit about winning. I've been a fan since I was born, and believe me that franchise was just happy to collect revenue checks for the vast, vast majority of its existence. Its really only since Middleton took over as majority owner and controller in 2014 did the franchise really set a target out there for demanding a contender and wanting to win. Of course, this was also right after they completely gutted the farm to get their all-star rotation of Halladay-Lee-Oswalt-Hamels, so it wasn't going to be a quick rebuild.
I do mean this honestly, they never really took baseball seriously until the last 10 years or so. When they've had a good team fall into their lap (1980s, 2006-2010) they've been willing to spend to stay there, but they've never been a team that would go out and land the big free agent or be willing to bypass the luxury cap. But now they do, and its paying off in spades. (also helps to have a GM that was cast out of Boston because he was unable to win with an owner who wasn't willing to spend and a coach who the Yankees should have never let get away).
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Also, if you actually watch the Strider interview he's clearly joking. Philly fans can blow that up all they want but it wasn't what he meant.
100% I know he was joking. But I also know that a lot of the time when people are joking there's a little bit of truth behind it that gives credence to the humor. I laughed when he originally said it, but I also went 'yeah that's going to come back to haunt him'
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I don't know if I agree that the Phillies are really "built for the playoffs" per se. I consider that to be more like a team with 2-3 dominant starters, a lights-out bullpen and an efficient, consistent offense. The kind of team that can win a 3-2 or even a 1-0 game.
What I think the Phillies have is more intangible: they just have a bunch of scrappy dudes that step up their games when the lights get brighter. Then throw in some high-end talent like Harper, Turner, Realmuto and Wheeler and you have a team that no one wants to play in the postseason.
So much of baseball is mental, and collectively they seem to thrive under intense playoff pressure.
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Since I have an unbiased view/fandom on this one, I didn't get the sense that anyone on the Braves understood how the intensity increases so significantly in the playoffs, and the Phillies did. Philly just showed that they were the most playoff experienced team.
I saw some similar mannerisms in the Astros/Twins series. Houston very much looked like a team that had been there, and outside of Correa I didn't see anyone on the Twins with the same focus and intensity.
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This team was a different make up. Coasted the regular season too, they didn't have to be at their sharpest and were absolutely raking.
No Freddie, Dansby, Joc compared to '21, all guys who were leaders in the clubhouse. I don't think they've quite found the vocal replacement for those guys yet.
The break didn't help. It wasn't the reason the Braves lost, but you can't tell me that going from playing basically a game a day for several months and then not for a week doesn't impact timing and rhythm. Credit to the Phillies, they have that grit and determination that the '21 Braves had. It's hard to see anyone but them winning the WS.
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At this point, it almost seems scripted. Game one against Houston, that insane double play sealed it. Last night, Eo pitching out of bases loaded with no outs kept us alive. Tomorrow night, I wouldn't be surprised if Scherzer comes out and throws a no hitter while Seager hits for the cycle.
It's weird as hell after the last decade, but the Rangers are hot and not particularly stressful to watch.
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TBH I'm a little worried about Scherzer after not pitching for a month. We will see, might only get a few innings out of him but still glad he is back.
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Least of your worries. Rangers and Phillies can't lose at this moment. Both series will be sweeps. Both teams are red hot at the right time. World Series will be about who is merely hot or scorching. Note to Texas... the unbearable phillies fans in Citizen Bank thrive off of red ass Bryce Harper hitting jacks. They live for it and go insane. So don't fucking pitch to him. Don't feed that mob. Literally make anyone else beat you. Also - don't throw Schwarber- who literally can't hit- a fast ball- fucking morons. He literally either hits a home run or gets out- nothing in between. Don't throw him a fast ball. That fat out of shape fuck that can't play the field also juices up those guidos.
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Its different with him in that fucking ball park. it is. I watched that prick many times at Nats park hit jacks, and it's not the same thing. Those insufferable phillies/eagles fans love the red ass mullet guy hitting bombs like no other.
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Agreed. Will be interesting when he eventually cools off. I just hope Bohm stops having awful ABs. Looked a little better yesterday but need him to get going
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But in all seriousness, when Acuna hit that ball in the 7th I about had a heart attack until the moment ball met the glove of Rojas. That was the kind of bricks shitting moment that would have flipped the entire series on its head if he wasn't able to get it.
Just underneath it, but about 2 mm or so. That's a homerun in July through September, but not at night in October. Baseball is a funny sport in which minor changes in conditions can dramatically shift an outcome of game.
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That was absolutely the moment that won the Phillies the series. If that ball lands, it's a bases-clearing double that gives the Braves the lead, and most likely sends the series back to Atlanta. And I said it after game 2, either the Phillies win in 4, or the Braves win in 5. Atlanta wasn't going to sweep in Philly, and if they managed to make it back home, I think they win with Fried on the mound and the crowd behind them. Strider pitched well enough to win on Thursday night, but the bats didn't come through again.
Hats off to the Phillies. They had the better arms and the better bats last week. I thought the Braves had a good shot, given that they took 3 of 4 in Philly in September, but the bats went cold. I did notice how the Phillies pitchers were more often than not ahead in the count; they were throwing strikes and landing them. That was the winning gameplan against the Braves hitters.
That said, I'm rooting for the D-backs tonight. Sorry. /shrug
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Marlins picked up the mutual option, but she declined. 2024 would have been her last year on the contract, and she didn't want to go in as a lame duck. Can't blame her. I'm sure she'll have better options than the Marlins.
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Yeah, I saw that in a different article. Sounds like the Marlins org doesn't want to give her the support she thinks she needs, so she said Adios. She'll probably end up in a good spot, she's a good GM.
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If that's a true sentiment, she should never have a conversation with the Nat's owners, the Lerners. They are the king of 2-3 year deals with no renegotiating contracts until the last few months of a deal. But, tbf, they've re-signed their current GM for the last ~15 years, but he's been a "lame duck" about 5 times.
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the box score was tilted towards the Astros in their series against the Twins, so an at-a-glance look doesn't show exactly how not-dominant they were with the exception of game 3. A couple more timely hits by Minnesota and maybe not throwing anything close to the plate against Alvarez and I think the Twins could have won the series in 5... maybe 4. My point being...
Texas is hot right now, and unless the Astros come up with some dominant pitching performances or have everyone batting like Alvarez, I dont expect this to be a competitive ALCS.
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Former A's pitcher Trevor May retired then ripped the team's owner John Fisher"Take mommy and daddy's money somewhere else... If you're gonna be a greedy fuck, own it. There's nothing weaker than being afraid of cameras."pic.twitter.com/v2k4HeWq5L— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) October 17, 2023
"Sell the team, dude. Sell it, man. Let someone who actually takes pride in the things they own, own something ... Take mommy and daddy's money somewhere else, dork. And also, if you're going to be a greedy f—, own it. There's nothing weaker than being afraid of cameras. That's one thing I really struggled with this year, not just eviscerating that guy. Do what you're going to do, bro. You're whatever."
I'd hate to see the A's in Las Vegas. Would love to see Oakland stay put and build that waterfront park. Several months back, Oakland leadership says it was further along than the A's owner said it was. May take a change of ownership to do that, though.
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I read an article a few weeks back stating the same that the city thought they were pretty far along and had secured the vast majority of the funding necessary to get an agreement on the stadium funds, then the rug was pulled out. As an unbiased baseball fan in this, I think that a change of scenery is needed. There's too much bad blood between the ownership and the city at this point, and I dont feel like the city did everything possible to keep the team. There were multiple locations that had been proposed and they all got shot down over the last 2 decades, and it didn't get serious until Manfred stepped in and said that relo was a likely solution.
I can appreciate May's perspective, but this is a business decision. The owner couldn't get the deal he needed in Oakland to make things profitable, so he's going to rebuild elsewhere, increase the market value, and then sell once he's at a price he's comfortable selling and with a relatively brand new ballpark.
Trevor was also the highest paid member (adjusted salary) of the team this season at $7M. He should be able to afford one heck of a streaming rig for his blossoming Twitch career.
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The NFL prints its own money and charges 700 million dollars with an M to relocate a team- back to the other owners of course (legal money laundering) and sign a billion dollar TV rights deal for thursday night football. Mark Davis wanted to borrow money for a stadium in Oakland- the response was "Fuck off mark, nope"... So the A's are fucked. MLB doesn't have that type of money the NFL wouldn't lend Davis. Lol.
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Just hoping the Rangers can get a win today, but with the way the Astros just seem to dominate in Arlington (8-1 this year I think?) it is possible we go down 2-3 and still win it in Houston, where the Astros have a losing record at home this year.
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Im smh at Texas. I don't know what happened last night, but tonight was just a demoralizing loss. Up 2 in the 9tb and they let Altuve be the hero to give Houston the lead. Minute Maid is going to be nuts on Sunday.
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The Nats won a World Series in 2019 (against the Astros, too) where the visiting team won every game. I hope to see the Rangers repeat that trick in the ALCS.
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Its hilarious and surreal to me that the Astro's are complaining about not seeing baseballs well - IN THEIR HOME STADIUM. LOL- change it you idiots. lol.
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Games 3 and 4 were awful bullpen management by Topper. You don't throw Kimbrel out there in non save situations, he has always struggled with it his whole career.
At least they got the split and now have 2 to win 1 at home to go to the Classic.
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That's fair. Bullpen management was definitely a big/the only reason kimbrel was out there back to back days in non save situations.
Yes, I think they are in a good spot. After the Phillies lost game 3, the most realistic outcome was 3-2 heading back to Philly. Philly just lost game 4 instead of 5.
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I expected us to lose Game 3. Just never felt like a series that was going to be a sweep. That loss was easy to stomach because I always thought that at best this was going to be a 5 game series.
Game 4 and the horrible bullpen management (why put Kerkering right back out there when he struggled like he did the night before?) really pissed me off and put me in a pretty bad spot mentally going into last night's game. Thankfully, Wheeler is a legit ace and Arizona made a very poor decision in thinking Gallen could get through Schwarber-Turner-Harper a 3rd time unscathed.
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You don't throw Kimbrel out there in non save situations, he has always struggled with it his whole career.
Which is more than a little bit bullshit, if you think about it. A high-leverage situation is a high-leverage situation, and if he can't handle it because the ability to generate a stat isn't involved, then he should gtfo.
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Oh I've never been the biggest fan of his, and I think its telling that when Boston had a chance to wrap it up in 2018, rather than going with Kimbrel they just threw Sale out there to get it done.
He has a bad habit of not attacking batters, and tries to force them to chase. Nah man, you've got gas, dare them to hit it. Same with Seranthony.
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Game 7 could be interesting, or could be a lopsided affair. Javier has been dominant so far this postseason, and Scherzer was nowhere near his A game. If neither changes, this could be a double-digit win for Houston (which I really dont want to see).
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Correct- its game 7. You lose, you go home. Put away the stupid spreadsheet and manage the baseball team. Bochy is great at it- better than some MIT nerd. Manage the game.
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Just an unacceptable choke job by the Phillies. Topper won't be fired but his managerial decision this week have been horrendous and maybe he should be. His bullpen management is all time levels of bad. Castellanos is a train wreck and should be sent packing to Japan.
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He messed with his pitchers too much, and his hitters too little. Bohm was an unmitigated disaster at cleanup and he never moved him. Inexcusable, top to bottom. The big bats we paid "stupid money" for vanished when we needed them most. Move all the home games to Camden, and don't let any of em back inside the city limits till they've showered.
I'd also Iike to thank the Phillies, from the bottom of my heart, for making today an absolutely hellish experience at work. I don't make a habit of running my mouth about sports in person beforehand, but that won't stop my lesser colleagues for a second. Sure, it makes me a better person than them, but that was always the case. It's the case right now. I'd rather be a winner.
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Probably not the matchup MLB and Fox wanted to see. I'm sure I will watch some of the WS, but this won't be appointment TV for me. I can only name a handful of players on Texas, but I can't give you the name of a single person on the AZ roster.
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This will be the 1st one I watch all of the games start to finish in several years but of course I live in Dallas and I am a Rangers fan. Honestly this is the case for a lot of championship series where your team is not in the final, you just don't pay as close attention.
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I tend to agree with the last statement. Being on the east coast I just have a feeling that there would be a lot more media activity had Philly advanced, and there seems to be a natural AL East affinity just because of locale and my perceptions of ESPN coddling the Red Sox, Yankees, and Rays like they do with the SEC. An Orioles/Phillies WS would have been something amazing to watch for a number of reasons. I'm just glad that the Yankees are watching all of this from home.
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IIRC the Mets/Yankees world series is one of the lowest rated of all time. Give this one a chance. Baseball has more interest now than in the past 20 years overall.
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ESPN barely gave this playoff year any coverage as it was. Now that its Rangers vs DBacks, they're going to completely give it the cold shoulder. They don't care if it isn't a big market
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This is the network that has ONE NHL analyst the past 25 years.... and covers the WNBA as if people actually attend and watch the games. They totally have a (trash) agenda. They have more fantasy football analysts than MLB analysts. It's a joke.
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Meh, the led sports center with high school trick shots for years. They cover Dak Prescott more than they cover the entire MLB. I don't think Dak has a personal deal with ESPN for coverage. They have an agenda
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I still remember the days when we'd actually met up over the summer to catch SportsCenter. Back when their NASCAR coverage was reporting who won the race, who the current points leader was, and where Dick Trickle finished. It was must-see TV at the time. That was peak SportsCenter.
Well, those days, and their commercials. Those commercials were gold.
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Honestly, I'm torn about who to root for in this World Series. I'm just happy both their LCS opponents lost.
Texas: I grew up in Arlington and went to a few games their first several years there, until moving to Atlanta at age 8. Remember cheering on Richie Zisk ("He's a home...run...HITTER!") (edit: and Jim Sunberg) but not much else.
Arizona: They have a Hokie on their roster (Joe Mantiply).
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Texas beat my orioles. Booooo. And I have to also root for my new home town team. Go Snakes! They are a likable team too- went to several games this summer. There is room on the bandwagon- jump on.
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That ALCS was so fucking stressful. Go into it thinking we're the team of destiny, bullpen almost fucked it away, and despite the absolute chokejob in game 5, all the boos in Houston just galvanized Garcia, and he carried us over the line.
I need us to win this thing, but even if we lose in 4, I'll still be happy we knocked the fucking Astros out.
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The astros are a pain in the neck for sure. They know how to win. Very impressive for Texas to beat them on the road, but the Nats did that too. Houston is not great at home in these moments. And you went up against Dusty Baker- which gives you hope. He is not a great post season manager. Good for Texas. I'm pissed they killed my Orioles, but its good to have a new blood type world series.
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There is not one Texas fan that expected us to get through Tampa AND Baltimore. As soon as we lost the last game of the season, I assumed we were toast.
I lived in Houston for four years, and my parents are still there. It was fine when they were the Lastros, but the fans have gotten annoying as hell over the past decade. I hate them more than the Yankees, which feels weird.
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The Giants have announced that Bob Melvin (the manager of the Padres in 2023) will be the Giants manager in 2024 (and beyond, I assume). He will be introduced at a 10:30am PT press conference.
It's not technically the offseason yet, but these are items of interest. We should probably hold off on creating the MLB Offseason thread until after the World Series.
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Melvin is an interesting choice. He's been really good at taking a bad team and making them mediocre to good. He has never taken a good team and made them better. His playoff record is really bad compared to expectations. And what the Giants need right now is a manager to get them from mediocre/good to WS contender. Bad hire, imo.
I like Craig Counsel, he also has a similar bad postseason record, but his story is a little different as it's all been with the Brewers who have been pretty good at payroll efficiency. Efficient teams typically don't do too well in the playoffs. It'll be interesting to pair him with a big spending front office. I don't want the Mets to ever be good, but I think it would be a good hire for the Mets. No idea if it will be successful because it seems everything the Mets do leads to unmet expectations.
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I have pondered recently which "head coach" position means the least in the 4 professional major american sports. It's interesting if you think about it. NBA head coach- the majority of Americans can't name more than 5 current ones, and of they try to coach possessions, they are fired. Arguably the greatest active coach chooses not to play his best players often. lol- how much is the coach needed? I'd argue a robot could do it. NHL- routinely fires coaches after a lackluster tuesday night game and always replaces them with someone already in the building. How important is that position? MLB- in this world series you have a 100% excel spreadsheet guy with the D backs... so do they really need a specific guy? Do you need billy martin to look at excel? but also an old school guy in Bochy. This one is debatable. Arron Boone is the worst yankee manager in decades- and he's an excel puppet. OTOH the Rays make chicken salad out of chicken soup. I think the last real "coach" that matters is the NFL head coach. yeah, some are simply play callers but you still need a talented guy to get millionares to play hard and hit people.
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Baseball coaches need 3 qualities. Keep team motivated and even-keeled for 162 game season. Don't burnout your RP during the 162 season, but use them enough to not lose games late. In the playoffs, make smart and quick decisions on pitchers.
A fourth minor quality is to get as many matchup advantages as possible, with the help of advanced statistics.
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The new thing is "don't face a lineup for the 3rd time"... this is the D backs rule, and many others. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I'd rather have a guy that can go by the feel of the game
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That's under that 4th quality and is pitcher-specific and easily identifiable via statistics. It's quite useful during the regular season, but still have to manage that BP aspect. I completely agree that postseason should be mostly feel, with a quick hook.
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Unless you're a Diamondbacks fan being fatalistic, please for the love of god shut the fuck up and don't jinx this for us. Without Garcia, we gotta be locked in like last night
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I'm fine renting out the trophy to Lil' Ol' Dallas for a year. At least we kept it in Texas. Houston will pick it back up from you guys this time next year.
In all seriousness, congratulations. The Rangers were impressive all season, they definitely deserved to win it.
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That was pretty crazy. The Astros were inexplicably bad at home all year, but it's still pretty impressive that the Rangers went undefeated on the road in the playoffs.
I was pretty high on the Rangers all year, except for that late-season hiccup. FWIW, ESPN has them ranked # 2 behind the Braves for their "too-early" 2024 rankings.
My Washington Senators finally won the World Series 🥲
I remember being broken hearted as an 8-year-old when I learned that Texas had stolen my Senators and Frank Howard. It only added to my depths of hatred for the Dallas Cowboys and energized my Redskins fandom to crush the thieving, evil Texas people. Don't bother me with reality, I was 8 and deeply wounded.
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Comments
and kicking things off - Carlos Correa is allegedly now signing with the Twins after talks with the Mets went nowhere.
Drink
In my defense this was opened as a season thread, not an off-season thread. I'll see myself out now until spring training starts.
PITCHERS AND CATCHERS REPORT TODAY!
TBF, it's only for those playing in the WBC (which I'm really looking forward to). Full report dates in the link: https://www.mlb.com/news/spring-training-2023-workout-dates
But my statement still holds - there are pitchers and catchers reporting today
via GIPHY
Just tuned into today's Red Sox/Twins game to see Tanner Schobel just getting inserted into the lineup at 2b. Very first batter of the inning hits a lofty (but manageable) pop-up right to him... and he bobbled the catch... i think this might have been his first action of spring training too. He did manage to draw a walk in his AB in the bottom-half of the 2nd.
to add to it - he got called up / assigned to the Twins this morning. I'm sure this is a temporary thing, but this is sign that he's likely heading to the Twins AAA club (St. Paul) to start the season if things go well enough in spring training. The Twins have too much depth in both the IF and OF for Tanner to likely see any consistent action this year, but this club has been plagued by injuries in recent years.
Not sure if this is an appropriate spot for this question -- but I'll be going solo to a Red Sox game the weekend after Memorial Day. It'll be my first time there and only my second MLB game. Any tips on where to sit / where not to sit / spots to eat before the game? Should I YOLO it and sit on the green monster?
oh and I'll be a completely neutral fan. Going there as a tourist and live sports fan.
That's impressive. Going solo as your second MLB game.
I go solo to MLB games all the time, mostly because I can't drag anyone to watch the Nationals play out here in SoCal, at least as many times that I like to go to the games. Going solo hast its perks. It easy to find deals on the secondary market as sometimes people have 1 extra ticket and trying to sell it off, willing to go below market value. Best value, of course, are during weekday games, but I've found some good tickets for games falling on the weekend too.
While I have yet to experience Fenway, I have a few solo strategies that I employ that would work in any park.
I really enjoy sitting behind home plate. It's the best vantage to watch the game and if it is an elite pitcher or two, actually be able to see the pitches and their action is really cool (at least to me). You can actually feel like you're watching baseball for the entire game. Sideline and outfield views are not good for watching pitching and thus in a pitchers duel or low scoring affair, it can seem like a long time between action. And going solo makes it more tenable from a cost standpoint to get the seats behind home (some of the most expensive in the stadium).
The other thing I enjoy to do solo is to get one of the cheapest seats available and just don't even bother sitting in it. I just continue to stroll around the park and/or find a good view from the concourse. I do that a lot at Dodgers stadium because the seats are pricey and they have some really good vantage points in the concourse you can stand at to watch the game, drink in hand. This option also works well for a first-time visit to an iconic park like Fenway, as you can try watch the game from multiple vantage points and explore everything the stadium has to offer on game day.
I think a seat on the Green Monster would also be such a unique experience that it would probably worth getting a seat there too. I just never done it, but that would be pretty cool.
+1 for this... Its been a while since I've gone solo (probably around 2011 at Coors Field while I was on a work trip), and when I did I didn't have much $$$ to spare, so I usually went with the cheap(er) seats and wandered when I wanted to. Now - yeah, I'd splurge. I would go even further and suggest you get a stadium tour if you have time, since the only person's schedule you need to be concerned about is your own. But outside of the tour and sitting in / on top of the Green Monster, I can't offer much else other than dont be a drunk idiot in Boston - never been to a game in Boston.
Just thought I'd note that two days, ago, the Braves signed Chad Pinder to a minor league deal.
I don't think they've Pinder hopes on him, though.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/05/braves-agree-to-deal-with-chad-pi...
The dad joke thread is over here
So, the Braves are the best team in baseball and the Mets are downright rotten. Soooo.....season is going as expected. Just thought I'd at least update the thread on the season before my next comment.
Found this yesterday, and I thought any of you baseball fans would be interested. Check out https://www.immaculategrid.com/. It tests your baseball knowledge of intersections between teams and awards and statistics on a 3x3 grid, and is shareable using green squares much like Wordle is. It's pretty tough to get all nine, and is unique enough to catch my interest. The intro screen explains how to play, but if you clicked past that, you can click on the question mark to get the explanation back.
Basic explanation: today's grid has Tampa Bay, Philly, and Cy Young on the vertical; Houston, LA Dodgers, and 200+ K season pitching on the horizontal. For the upper left sqaure, (Tampa Bay / Houston), you need to name a player that played for both teams. For the lower left square (Cy Young / Houston), you need to name a player that won a Cy Young while wearing a Houston uniform. For the lower right square (Cy Young / 200+ K season pitching), you need to name a player that won a Cy Young while pitching 200+ strikeouts in the same year. (Newsflash: Nolan Ryan did not, I didn't know that he never won a Cy Young). You have nine guesses to fill out the grid, and may the odds ever be in your favor.
Today's grid:
Immaculate Grid 94 7/9:
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only got 6... Im not very good with AL players. Also, how did Nolan Ryan never win a Cy young?
Nolan Ryan played on mostly bad-to-mediocre teams during his career, in fact he actually lost nearly 300 games (324-292 career record). From 1972-1977 he averaged almost 16 losses per season, despite having a 2.91 ERA during that stretch.
Fun fact #1: I grew up one town over from Nolan Ryan's hometown of Alvin, Texas, which is a suburb of Houston.
Fun fact #2: In 1979, Alvin received the highest amount of rainfall ever recorded during a 24-hour period in American history - 43 inches. I think that record was finally beat when Harvey flooded most of Houston in 2017.
Immaculate Grid 95 7/9:
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Just saw this... like everything else I skipped the manual and just started playing, then went back and read... this is going to be a great waste of time :-)
My (correct) entry for the Stl / Atl answer only registered at 3%, so i'm feeling pretty baseball smart right now.
Immaculate Grid 95 6/9:
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Man, screw the grid. I got 7/9 too. Hearing my wife about the Braves, those came easy after seeing so much of her memorabilia. Yankees came easyish. Just the darn others I couldn't remember.
Immaculate Grid 95 7/9:
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Poor Padres. They are 8 games back, which isn't insurmountable, but pretty difficult. It'll be interesting if they do sell off and if they do, how they go about it.
Snell, Wacha and Hader all free agents in 2024. Soto free agent in 2025. They should be able to recoup what they gave up for Soto with those four (Wacha injured though).
Poor Padres my a**. They made too many risky player investments and have handcuffed themselves to some sizable contracts. Those risks haven't paid off and they may have some significant trades to make this year and several years from now.
That's what's iiiiiiiiiin
Is that the current Padres team when they near the end of their contracts?
Finally got to a Braves game this year after wife got tickets. Sucked it was an 8-1 loss versus the Sox, but was so good to be back at the ballpark. I think I quit watching baseball when the Orioles were robbed on the Jeter homer with the kid grabbing the ball back in the day, but moving to GA prior the Braves winning the ship and my wife's love of the game rekindled my infatuation with it.
Hopefully the pitching woes get worked out and they get back into form and can get hot again at the right time. Atlanta is so fun and feels like a playoff atmosphere most games we go to now.
Immaculate Grid 108 7/9:
Rarity: 269
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Play at:
https://immaculategrid.com
@immaculategrid x @baseball_ref
The All-Star break seemed to mess with the Braves a bit. Dropped 4 straight. Hoping they can right the ship and at least get a win against the Diamondbacks today.
The D-bags were really clutch yesterday. I think all their runs were on 2-out hits. They just played a great game.
We got Strider on the mound tonight to try to end the skid, so we got that going for us.
Yeah, yesterday was clutch hitting. Game 1 was just a run fest that was a crazy back and forth game. Arizona couldn't buy a hit in Toronto, and seems to have woken up against the Braves.
Today was a good win to avoid the sweep and hopefully get back on track.
The biggest takeaway from this series is that Austin Riley's pre-All Star slump seems to be a thing of the past.
Austin likes July.
If he isn't player of the month he'd have to be close. He absolutely carried the last week and a half for average and homers.
Don't look now... Tied for the division lead. Big series vs. Tampa starting tonight. Go O's!
And after last night's win...
⚾️ Immaculate Grid 114 8/9:
Rarity: 287
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Play at:
https://immaculategrid.com
@immaculategrid x @baseball_ref
I got bottom and right, but completely drew a blank at the other four. =^/
I pulled some interesting ones... Candy Maldonado scored a 0.2% rarity I think
Trade deadline! What does your team need?
My team needs:
- starting pitching
- relief pitching
- outfielders that don't get hurt
- a new scouting and player evaluation department
- a new player development department
- a new GM
- good vibes
I don't know that we'll work through that list by next Tuesday, but one can hope...
sounds like you just need a new team
Yep! Turns out "the Cardinal way" is a bunch of horseshit when you have a GM and scouting department that overvalues internal talent and a developmental system that doesn't, well, develop players.
Quick question: is there any room left on the Orioles bandwagon? Now that's a fun team.
Not so much needs, but nice to haves:
- A RH corner OF to platoon with Rosario
- A LH reliever that can throw strikes
- A back of the rotation starter that can eat innings effectively (like a Lance Lynn)
None of which should cost too much, really. Just some people to hold the fort until some IL folks are healthy, and provide depth in the playoffs.
I wish the Braves could just have a full roster for one year. Seems like the past few seasons have always been someone injured and trying to fill in the gaps until somehow Alex works magic at the trade deadline. Have to believe he will pull off something team friendly again this year.
Looking for:
- Corner outfielders that can hit left-handed pitching
- Middle relief that doesn't collapse in the face of adversity
- Competent roster management
Who are?
Minnesota
Nats are looking to move 3B Candelario and maybe INF Vargas (utility backup, defensive replacement type). For the right price, they could also trade OF Thomas or RP Finnegan, both of whom are assets that would be of value in 2025 when the team expects to be in the thick of things again. Because Candelario alone isn't going to get much of a return as a 2-month rental, I think he gets packaged with either Finnegan or Thomas to get a solid, near major-league ready top-100 prospect. GM Rizzo often does these package deals to get better quality prospect return.
Phils
5th starter and for the lineup to pull their heads out of their asses.
This season is interesting. They're still within striking distance of 1st in the East, are now leading the Wild Card race, just beat Baltimore in a series and have a bunch of games coming up against teams they should beat.... But, they're doing it all because of pitching, and not because of the lineup, which has largely remained quiet this year.
Feels like the bats are due to wake up, and once that happens, they could go on a very similar run to last year.
Not really. They're 10 games back. The Braves were 10.5 games back at one point last year, but on 27 July, they were only 3 games back. They were 5 games back on the same date in 2021.
Technically, San Francisco is leading, half a game up on the Phillies.
https://www.mlb.com/standings/wild-card/2023-07-27
Yeah, I'm not sure I want to face Philly's lineup in the playoffs if their bats are "woke". With the changes they made in the offseason, they're a pretty complete team. They just haven't had all cylinders firing at the same time yet this season.
Fighting being a fair weather Orioles fan.
You must resist
Bumping the thread because i'm tired of thinking / reading / talking about conference re-alignments...
How's everyone's August going so far?
Pretty good. Coming back to earth a bit, but still pacing the majors.
Definitely the favorite right now. Best built team. Acuna and Olsen have been near unstoppable.
Nats have life. Won 11 of 16... They'll probably fall off the cliff at some point, but have to enjoy these runs when they happen. And I'm definitely one of those weirdos super into the prospects and the Nats have good ones to watch.
Still on track for 2026 contention (maybe 2025). Their low A and AA are stacked lineups... Low A featuring Dylan Crews and Yoyo Morales (from Miami). AA featuring James Wood and Brady House. I think all four probably get to the majors in some fashion in 2024. Maybe not Morales, had a high K-rate in college.
Which reminds me, I need to get out to a FredNats game. Maybe next week when the Augusta Greenjackets (Braves) are in town, and it's not the first week of school.
Should be worth the price of admission:
Small sample size, but Crews seems unreal.
Seeing the Orioles in the playoffs should be fun to watch. I know they haven't been completely absent from the playoffs in the last 20+ years, but it feels like they have.
As for me - watching the Twins is like going from a fun night-out drinking to the next day hangover from hell 1-2x a week. They can't get any momentum or separation and its been frustrating to watch. We just swept a wild-card capable Arizona team, so now I'm expecting us to drop at least 2 in a row against Detroit, because that's just what we do.
That Baltimore owner, he's a peach of a guy, right?
I looked for something suspension worthy, and couldn't find anything at all...
that's weak sauce - it takes a small, small man to do something like that
what exactly did he say that was a) inflammatory/derogatory/condescending, and b) not fact?
I hear comments from the Twins broadcast booth just like this on a nightly basis... can't wait until the playoffs when the start talking about the last time the Twins won a series.
ESPN has picked up the story now too. The Orioles are apparently not commenting since this is related to "personal matters".
Same story, different subject line. They never speak to the press except for press releases on positive news AND they will berate any reporter asking a question that isn't about the positive news.
As a Nats fan, Angelos is a PoS and has been for ages. I'm glad he is getting more infamous for his antics. And pay the Nats already!!!
As an orioles fan, Angelos is a POS and has been for ages, much like his father. I'm glad he's getting more infamous for his antics. And pay the Nats already!!!
Also sell the damn team while you're at it. He's already out here essentially saying they aren't going to pay out young stars. The best team we have seen for years and have built for longevity and he's already being a wet blanket. Just awful.
Edit: Kevin Brown has been one of the few bright spots of the orioles rebuild. He has a fantastic future in this business and, while I really hope he sticks around for a while with the orioles, I wouldn't blame him in the least if he walked after this season with the BS they pulled. Peter Angelos did it to Jon Miller, John Angelos already did it to Gary Thorne for bringing up how bad 2018 was, and now Kevin Brown. Just running some incredible announcers out of town. Not to mention, he did it again with the public address announcer at Camden a few years ago over some tweets that were "critical" of the lack of off-season moves by the O's (didn't even tell him he was fired until he showed up for work on opening day).
I'm glad the Orioles have found themselves this year in spite of their ownership. Their fans deserve it. I was a huge Orioles and Ripken fan growing up.
We still need a new owner
you can't just be happy with a new ballpark and a transient fan base?
Angel Hernandez strikes again tonight in Philly. I didn't have any stake in the game but the call on Harper was atrocious. How this guy holds down an umpiring job is beyond me.
I mean y'all know I'm a Phillies fan so I'm not exactly unbiased, but the man called THIS a swinging strike 3 and then ejected Harper for understandably blowing up on him for it
This is the same ump that had Schwarber blow up on him last year on behalf of both teams that were playing. The man is objectively terrible at his job, and on top of it, openly antagonizing players who know he's wrong. MLB needs to stop protecting him, he needs to be fired. It's literally damaging the integrity of the game
He's consistently the worst ump behind the plate. No surprise, in 2023 he again is the least accurate umpire to call balls and strikes.
I'm surprised at some of these numbers. I couldn't tell you anything about any of the other umpires but there are several who have had one or more month of equivalent accuracy, or worse, to Hernandez. Is the difference here that Hernandez just ends-up as a negative highlight on ESPN more frequently?
I think there are some umps that get some borderline stuff wrong or have strike zones that aren't perfectly in line with the pitch box. When it comes to Angel, he's making some egregious errors almost on a nightly basis. Things that aren't even close to what he's calling. And when anyone points it out, those players or coaches are ejected.
There are some other really bad umps as well (CB Bucknor, lets be honest I'm talking about CB Bucknor) who have similar tendencies to antagonize an ejection, but Angel Hernandez takes it to a whole other level.
That's fair. There may be others on-par with Hernandez, the difference is that when he gets a call wrong he gets it REALLY wrong. And agree with the antagonizing - he's an instigator whereas most other umps will let the player vent up to the point of whats no longer reasonable before tossing them.
Hernandez makes Joe West look fair and balanced.
With last night's loss the Twins guaranteed themselves the #3 seed... meaning I'm off to Minneapolis next week for a personal playoff getaway.
Almost as egregious a missed call as above was umpire Shane Livensparger's call of "passed ball" on this foul tip Wednesday night. In the first video, you can even see Murphy turn to his right to ask the umpire for another ball. In the second video, after the umpires got together and determined that none of them had seen the foul tip, and after what seemed to be a mostly polite discussion with Snitker about how that type of play should be reviewable, Snitker was ejected.
At least Snit gave him an earful after the ejection.
Also note: that run led to the game going into overtime, in which this happened:
Three consecutive pitches:
It was a good night overall, despite the stupid missed foul tip.
I don't understand how the home plate ump didn't hear it, much less the 3rd base ump that is staring in there for check swings.
Congratulations to everyone whose team made it to the unpredictable craziness known as the MLB postseason!
Gotta give a major hat-tip to both the Orioles, who shocked just about everyone with an amazing regular season, and the Braves, who shocked basically no one with an amazing regular season. The team I'd probably least like to play is the Braves, they look like an absolute monster. That being said, the Dodgers actually have a better record the 2nd half of the season - the Dodgers are 61-29 (0.677) since June 18th, while the Braves are 58-32 (0.644) during that time!
As an Astros fan, we probably didn't deserve to win the AL West, but I'll take the first-round bye. I don't think anyone in the AL is terrifying, although the Orioles and Rays are both damn good. The Braves and Dodgers DO scare me, though, so if the Phillies want to repeat last postseason and knock out the Braves that would be much appreciated!
Be careful what you wish for. The Phillies are a team built for the postseason. Their weakness is absolutely the bullpen, but that weakness is depth and not the guys you'd expect to play in October. They're a bit of a machine right now and if their bullpen can just not suck, they have much better odds at winning it all than you'd think.
That's why I'm rooting for the Marlins the next few days. Don't want to see Philly again.
Phillies are so fucking annoying. Swarber hits .190, but has 45 jacks. fucking annoying. And Harper is 100x better in the post season too.
Yes.
He must literally do nothing but try to hit home runs.
Not really. He's a career .273 hitter in the post-season, compared to a .281 career regular season average. His career OPS is slightly better in the postseason (.963 vs .912). He had a really good series against Atlanta and San Diego last postseason. But he hit .200 with 2 RBIs against the Astros in the World Series.
When it comes to swinging the bat, he is pretty much all or nothing, but he has an absurd walk rate. While his batting average is very low he still gets on base very often, and a walk is as good as a hit.
Schwarber's stat line this year is ludicrous compared to his BA.
19 2B, 1 3B, and 47 HR on 115 hits, 104 RBIs, 126 walks (6 HBP), BA .197 but OBP of .343
277 Total Bases
That is pretty crazy. A .343 OBP isn't that great, but considering his BA it's astonishing.
After the Astros played the Phillies in the WS last year, I remember saying that the Phillies really needed a true leadoff hitter, but I just realized Schwarber had 108 runs and 104 RBIs this year. That's really good run production, so what do I know?
Said no Nats fan ever. His 2022 NLDS/NLCS with the Phillies was spectacular, but he was very much not clutch with the Nats during the postseason.
As a Braves fan as well, Phillies are the last team I want to see in NLDS. But to be honest, even with being the best team and offense being a juggernaut, I don't think we have the pitching to win it all. Too many injuries again and bullpen has been average down the stretch.
I hear you. As an Astros fan, I'm still scared of the Braves from what they did to us in the 2021 World Series, and the Phillies are capable of getting really hot.
But I think the Braves not only can win the trophy this year, I think they're the solid favorite. They are deep, talented, experienced, and they have the only player in the league (Acuna) who you can even make the argument is as good as Shohei Ohtani. And that's not even considering that Matt Olson seems to think he's Lou Gehrig or something this year (139 RBIs and 127 Runs? What?!?).
Then you would probably understand this pic, then.
She still pops into my head when I think about that at bat.
Acuna is probably the closest right now, but there's still a wide gulf between him and Ohtani. That guy is a unicorn, and arguably the best ballplayer the sport has ever seen, and I say that without hyperbole.
and we only pay him like 10m/year for next 5 years. Unbelievable lmao
Acuna is making $17M this year and each year through 2026, with $17M club options in 2027 and 2028. Which is still a ridiculous bargain.
At some point in the next two years, that contract will be renegotiated and extended, and it will be closer to (but not fully at) market value. AA is not going to leave a chance that he leaves after 2028, and if paying him more in the 2026-2028 timeframe is what it takes, then that's what he'll do.
Spotrac - Braves Multi-year Payroll
Spotrac - Acuna contract
Interesting note: per the 2nd link, he's only counting $12.5M/year through 2026 against the cap.
Salary tax cost is averaged. So, total pay divided by years. The tax cost for each of the two club option years will be his total salary for the year.
It's an incredible bargain. That's how teams like the Braves and Astros stay good. The Astros are paying Kyle Tucker $5 million this season, and he's under arbitration for two seasons after that. Somehow he actually lost his arbitration request of $7.5 million this past offseason, which seems criminal to me.
I really don't know what to expect from the orioles, but I'm just trying to enjoy the ride. This has been the most enjoyable orioles season of my lifetime (that I can remember, at least, I was too young for '97). It sucks we kind of get screwed by the playoff format where we're facing the winner of Texas/Tampa instead of the winner of Toronto/Minnesota, but sometimes that happens. Gotta beat the best to be the best.
Tampa has been unbelievable in my mind. The injuries they've overcome and the factory that is their farm system to lose 3 starting pitchers to season ending injuries, injuries all across their lineup, and they just kept humming. So impressive.
The Astros scare me because they're healthy at the right time and have postseason experience. That can be such a huge advantage.
Really excited for the playoffs and to see how it all shakes out! But mostly for postseason baseball in Camden Yards, I cherish it every time we get it.
game 1 in Minnesota was a blast and the crowd was crazy. I made the trip up, and after the Lewis HR in the bottom of the 1st the pressure was almost immediately off, and the pitching took over from there. Almost all of the off-season acquisitions had an impact - Lopez, Taylor, Correa, and Solano - all on defense. I'm a little worried about the hitting, but with the losing streak over now anything feels possible
Yay, the Phillies won. Oh, goody. =^/
Was hoping the Marlins would at least take them to a third game, to throw off their rotation. Oh, well.
#ChopOn
I'm hoping we have the high ground, and the series ends similarly...
Citizens Bank Park - 20ft above sea level
Truist Park - 1050ft
Im a Phillies fan, but damn that's gonna be tough to over come
My trip to Minneapolis was totally worth it. That was a great two games to watch as a Twins fan, or if you're of a fan of high-leverage baseball and clutch pitching.
You saw the once in 4 generation phenomenon of the Twins winning a playoff game. Happy for you!
Philly doing what Philly does.
Rangers have been surprisingly solid so far. Given that all my other teams suck, it'd be real cool to back a winner.
Yeah, It has been a crazy season. In June, everyone saying we could win 100 games then by August might not even make the playoffs. Barely limped into the playoffs with that Seattle series and now all of a sudden 5-0 in the playoffs.
Trying not to get my hopes up, but they sure are catching fire at the right time.
And of course Houston gets through. Family groupchat gonna be spicy this weekend (parents are Astros bandwagoners).
Rangers in 4.
Well the Rangers did win 4 against Houston this season.
In 13 tries.
Welp, the O's have completely imploded
At the Os game and wondering what the postseason record for walks is...
As a team 12 is the record. For an individual - Seager made playoff history and became the first to walk 5 times.
https://www.mlb.com/news/corey-seager-makes-history-with-five-walks-in-a...
Phillies were too late on a pitcher change then possibly a little early.
Definitely should've pitched around Riley once it got to 2-2 and 3-2 with first base open
And follow it up with bad base running. Though the real killer may have been Trea Turner's errors in the field tonight
I disagree that was bad base running, it took 2 incredible plays to get him out. If the catch isn't made we would be talking about how great the base running was to tie the game in the 9th.
Not a Harper fan, but I certainly don't fault him there. What an exciting way to end a game.
I dont have a stake in either team, but I dont fault Harper for being aggressive on what could have easily been a HR or misplayed ball. You already stole game 1 on the road, so keep being aggressive. If that ball had been misplayed Harper scores easily, its a tie game and a runner in scoring position. Now its a 1-1 series heading back to Philly.
I get that it was an amazing play, but Harper could've let up a bit while rounding second and still be able to score if it didn't get caught and get back to the bag.
Honestly, while I was very frustrated after the game last night, I also realize that it took a series of monumental fuckups by the Phillies to even get Atlanta back into the game. At the end of the day, they managed to split the series in Atlanta and now they head home where they have a legitimate home field advantage. Would have been nice to get the win last night, but its not the end of the world that they didn't.
In the post season- since- ever- you want to draw the braves. Because they typically can't score a fucking run in october- its unreal. This braves team is arguably the greatest offense in the history of the MLB. Until it matters.
FTFY. There's definitely something wrong with the format, seeing the Dodgers and Orioles go 0-4, and the Braves *almost* go 0-2. (The Astro's don't count, they're probably cheating.)
Game one of O's texas was classic baseball- no shame there. Close game. Game 2- Grayson Rodriguez sucked. Not sure if that was due to a layoff, but he sucked. So did Kershaw. The D Backs and Texas both lost like 15 in a row in a stretch this year. Now they both look like the 2001 yankees. That's october for you.
FTFY
In all seriousness, I also hate the best-of-five division series. I get the wildcard being a short series, but everything else should be best-of-seven.
The Phillies definitely have a home field advantage, but the Braves did take 3 of 4 there in mid-September, so I feel the Braves still have a shot of taking the series.
Meh. Don't let the .190 hitting prick Schwarber homer to lead off the game and you can shut the crowd up. Make him do what he did for 162 games- make an out.
I'm not complaining. #ChopOn
Swept the teams with the two best records in the AL. Did not have that on my bingo card.
If we can get the Twins and then the Phillies, we might only have to play 8 more games for a title.
Or they could get into the funk they were in late august/September when they couldn't win a game. Love the MLB playoffs lol.
Yeah, been real streaky, but luckily we're in the middle of a good one. Downfall is gonna be the bullpen. If the starting pitching stays solid and the bats stay hot, we can beat Houston. And as solid as the starters and as hot as the bats have been, I'll take the rangers in 4.
Scherzer looking like he we be back for the ALCS, and if he is full go that is great for the Rangers. If Degrom had not been lost to Tommy John's earlier in the year I think the Rangers could have won 100 games.
I would imagine that the real Dusty Baker will show up at some point, so I also like the Rangers to take this series.
I remember when the Padres got cocky, too
Yes, Texas will be the first to go 13-0 in the playoffs. Because it's easy in baseball to win 13 in a row, let alone do it in the post-season.
Texas may be the "buzzsaw" of 2023, but it's a ridiculous assertion to suggest any team would win 13 games in any situation, let alone the playoffs. Even if they played Oakland 13 games in a row, it would be an amazing feat to win all of those 13 games.
Texas lost 15 straight at one point this year and 3 out of 4 to Seattle to end the year. Why? they weren't playing the Orioles- my favorite team- where they looked like the 27 yankees.
I didn't say it would be easy, and I agree it's got about the same statistical likelihood as Tech winning the ACC this year.
I also regularly make wildly overconfident predictions in favor of all of my favorite teams, most of whom kinda sorta suck 90% of the time.
I have to admit, all the hot dogging the Braves and their fans did all season long makes this one sweeter than last year. I was just told by a coworker last week that this postseason was "Atlanta and the rest."
The "best offense in MLB history" didn't even score 10 runs in the series.
Yeah there was a lot of chatter around how the Braves were just owed this win and that the series was a formality. So watching the chest thumping and bravado turn to whimpering, whining, and excuse making has been pretty sweet.
Saw Acuna bailed on the post game interview and Arcia spent a decent amount of time during the game acting like an idiot to the crowd. Not a great look, and definitely begs a few questions going into the winter.
35 years... Death, taxes, Braves offense sucks in the post season. Different managers, players, stadiums, rules, etc. Same/Same. the 2023 Braves are one of the top 3 offensive teams in the history of MLB. Until the clock strikes october of course. Then, they can't fucking score runs in TWO phillies bullpen games. LMAO. Guys that can't start, but shut the braves down cold when it matters. LOL. It's like VT hoops against BC- nope.
It's not that dire - give the Phillies credit, post all star break they've been just as good as the Braves and Dodgers.
Braves also had some terrible luck - Fried misses time from blisters, comes in rusty. Charlie Morton gets hurt the last 10 days of the season, so they have to throw a bullpen game in Gm3.
They won the series two years ago, and scored a ton of runs en route, but the difference is that the pitching was healthy all throughout.
I still think the 5 day layoff sucks, considering the three best offenses in baseball went out meekly and only the Braves won a single game.
Everyone is talking about the layoff- I don't think it's that. Baseball teams are fucking annoying. Like Texas can't beat Seattle, but they wake up eat a crab cake and make the orioles look like a double A team- fucking annoying. The cardinals went down 0-3 to the Nats and beat them- thats not fucking annoying at all, no. I live in Phoenix. the D backs are so mid, its not funny. They stunk in July- stunk- so imagine being a dodgers fan and having the D backs look like the 1998 yankees for 3 nights? More annoying than the fucking triple option. That's the phillies. They are unbeatable at the bank, until they lose 2 out of 3 to the Marlins or Red sox there during the season. It's fucking annoying. I can almost see why people are bandwagon fans. Baseball will annoy the fuck out of you. Watch the Astro's destroy a red hot texas team- because that 4 ft 9 little prick Altuve. Drink heavily.
The Phillies are just built for postseason baseball. In the regular season, when they went through series where they were sputtering and the wins weren't being rattled off, for the most part this year it was because the bullpen could not hold a lead late in a game. They also went with a 6 or 7 man rotation for the second half of the year to keep the top of the rotation healthy for October. This led to a lot of games they should have won turning into losses.
But, in the playoffs with a 4 man rotation and a shortened bullpen, it negates a lot of the issues that they deal with over the course of the year, and the biggest weaknesses are completely masked.
As for the layoff, it certainly doesn't help, but there's always at least one team in every round of every playoff who has a lengthy delay between series. Its nothing new, and its not an excuse. The reality is, in baseball a hot lineup is no match for a dominant pitching staff, and that's what all those teams found out this year. The second year in a row, when it mattered most, the Phillies were able to come up with the big hits and the Braves had nothing. And listening to Strider joking about how he prefers to play in front of no fans, you kind of got the feeling the stage might be a bit too big for him at this point in his career. Not exactly the kind of sound bites you want from your ace, even if he was joking.
You aren't wrong, but the Phillies have won 2 world series in 43 years. They last won it all 15 years ago.
And up until very recently they had an ownership group that literally didn't give a shit about winning. I've been a fan since I was born, and believe me that franchise was just happy to collect revenue checks for the vast, vast majority of its existence. Its really only since Middleton took over as majority owner and controller in 2014 did the franchise really set a target out there for demanding a contender and wanting to win. Of course, this was also right after they completely gutted the farm to get their all-star rotation of Halladay-Lee-Oswalt-Hamels, so it wasn't going to be a quick rebuild.
I do mean this honestly, they never really took baseball seriously until the last 10 years or so. When they've had a good team fall into their lap (1980s, 2006-2010) they've been willing to spend to stay there, but they've never been a team that would go out and land the big free agent or be willing to bypass the luxury cap. But now they do, and its paying off in spades. (also helps to have a GM that was cast out of Boston because he was unable to win with an owner who wasn't willing to spend and a coach who the Yankees should have never let get away).
Yeah, this is all pretty much true
Agreed, and the Braves losing Morton (a historically good to great playoff pitcher) just before the playoffs really hurt.
Also, if you actually watch the Strider interview he's clearly joking. Philly fans can blow that up all they want but it wasn't what he meant.
100% I know he was joking. But I also know that a lot of the time when people are joking there's a little bit of truth behind it that gives credence to the humor. I laughed when he originally said it, but I also went 'yeah that's going to come back to haunt him'
I don't know if I agree that the Phillies are really "built for the playoffs" per se. I consider that to be more like a team with 2-3 dominant starters, a lights-out bullpen and an efficient, consistent offense. The kind of team that can win a 3-2 or even a 1-0 game.
What I think the Phillies have is more intangible: they just have a bunch of scrappy dudes that step up their games when the lights get brighter. Then throw in some high-end talent like Harper, Turner, Realmuto and Wheeler and you have a team that no one wants to play in the postseason.
So much of baseball is mental, and collectively they seem to thrive under intense playoff pressure.
Since I have an unbiased view/fandom on this one, I didn't get the sense that anyone on the Braves understood how the intensity increases so significantly in the playoffs, and the Phillies did. Philly just showed that they were the most playoff experienced team.
I saw some similar mannerisms in the Astros/Twins series. Houston very much looked like a team that had been there, and outside of Correa I didn't see anyone on the Twins with the same focus and intensity.
Braves literally won the world series 2 years ago.
they didn't learn from their experience
This team was a different make up. Coasted the regular season too, they didn't have to be at their sharpest and were absolutely raking.
No Freddie, Dansby, Joc compared to '21, all guys who were leaders in the clubhouse. I don't think they've quite found the vocal replacement for those guys yet.
The break didn't help. It wasn't the reason the Braves lost, but you can't tell me that going from playing basically a game a day for several months and then not for a week doesn't impact timing and rhythm. Credit to the Phillies, they have that grit and determination that the '21 Braves had. It's hard to see anyone but them winning the WS.
As an Orioles fan on that copium, it's clearly the Rangers winning the WS.
As a Braves fan and hater of Philly sports, I hope you're right.
At this point, it almost seems scripted. Game one against Houston, that insane double play sealed it. Last night, Eo pitching out of bases loaded with no outs kept us alive. Tomorrow night, I wouldn't be surprised if Scherzer comes out and throws a no hitter while Seager hits for the cycle.
It's weird as hell after the last decade, but the Rangers are hot and not particularly stressful to watch.
TBH I'm a little worried about Scherzer after not pitching for a month. We will see, might only get a few innings out of him but still glad he is back.
Least of your worries. Rangers and Phillies can't lose at this moment. Both series will be sweeps. Both teams are red hot at the right time. World Series will be about who is merely hot or scorching. Note to Texas... the unbearable phillies fans in Citizen Bank thrive off of red ass Bryce Harper hitting jacks. They live for it and go insane. So don't fucking pitch to him. Don't feed that mob. Literally make anyone else beat you. Also - don't throw Schwarber- who literally can't hit- a fast ball- fucking morons. He literally either hits a home run or gets out- nothing in between. Don't throw him a fast ball. That fat out of shape fuck that can't play the field also juices up those guidos.
A team's fans like when their star player hits a home run?!?! I'm shocked!!
Its different with him in that fucking ball park. it is. I watched that prick many times at Nats park hit jacks, and it's not the same thing. Those insufferable phillies/eagles fans love the red ass mullet guy hitting bombs like no other.
They love it as much as Castellanos or Turner hitting home runs though. No one likes us, we don't care
Speaking of, Castellanos hitting 2 jacks a game is going to be fascinating the next couple weeks. He can't stay that hot- or maybe he can.
Agreed. Will be interesting when he eventually cools off. I just hope Bohm stops having awful ABs. Looked a little better yesterday but need him to get going
we literally can't do anything without getting hammered for it, it's laughable
I'll be honest, I didn't think the Phils would beat them this year. But hey, now that we have, might as well win the whole thing.
But in all seriousness, when Acuna hit that ball in the 7th I about had a heart attack until the moment ball met the glove of Rojas. That was the kind of bricks shitting moment that would have flipped the entire series on its head if he wasn't able to get it.
That's what makes sports so great and awful. He swings 0.01% faster and he's a hero.
My buddy from Pittsburgh is still mad about the Sid Bream slide. If Bonds makes a 1% better throw that moment isn't legendary
Just underneath it, but about 2 mm or so. That's a homerun in July through September, but not at night in October. Baseball is a funny sport in which minor changes in conditions can dramatically shift an outcome of game.
That was absolutely the moment that won the Phillies the series. If that ball lands, it's a bases-clearing double that gives the Braves the lead, and most likely sends the series back to Atlanta. And I said it after game 2, either the Phillies win in 4, or the Braves win in 5. Atlanta wasn't going to sweep in Philly, and if they managed to make it back home, I think they win with Fried on the mound and the crowd behind them. Strider pitched well enough to win on Thursday night, but the bats didn't come through again.
Hats off to the Phillies. They had the better arms and the better bats last week. I thought the Braves had a good shot, given that they took 3 of 4 in Philly in September, but the bats went cold. I did notice how the Phillies pitchers were more often than not ahead in the count; they were throwing strikes and landing them. That was the winning gameplan against the Braves hitters.
That said, I'm rooting for the D-backs tonight. Sorry. /shrug
There's going to be a lot of powder blue to look at when Texas and Philly go at it...
The Rangers perfect postseason continues. 6-0 Baby!!!
Ng out as Marlins' GM. Interesting, I thought she did a pretty good job putting together a contender in Miami.
https://www.mlb.com/news/kim-ng-marlins-part-ways
Hey, I'm in offseason mode, so this kind of stuff is what I'm interested in now.
For the Marlins, hiring Ng was the most adept their front office has looked. She probably should take over GM at the Yankees.
Marlins picked up the mutual option, but she declined. 2024 would have been her last year on the contract, and she didn't want to go in as a lame duck. Can't blame her. I'm sure she'll have better options than the Marlins.
Yeah, I saw that in a different article. Sounds like the Marlins org doesn't want to give her the support she thinks she needs, so she said Adios. She'll probably end up in a good spot, she's a good GM.
If that's a true sentiment, she should never have a conversation with the Nat's owners, the Lerners. They are the king of 2-3 year deals with no renegotiating contracts until the last few months of a deal. But, tbf, they've re-signed their current GM for the last ~15 years, but he's been a "lame duck" about 5 times.
No, they offered an extension. But it's worse.
If this is true, the Marlins fucked up, badly.
Doesn't surprise me. That front office is dumb.
Attaboy, Altuve!
That catch was more or less the game right there. If the Rangers go on to win the series this will be one of the defining moments.
the box score was tilted towards the Astros in their series against the Twins, so an at-a-glance look doesn't show exactly how not-dominant they were with the exception of game 3. A couple more timely hits by Minnesota and maybe not throwing anything close to the plate against Alvarez and I think the Twins could have won the series in 5... maybe 4. My point being...
Texas is hot right now, and unless the Astros come up with some dominant pitching performances or have everyone batting like Alvarez, I dont expect this to be a competitive ALCS.
Well that was quick. 4-0 Rangers middle of the first.
Trevor May rips A's owner in retirement speech.
I'd hate to see the A's in Las Vegas. Would love to see Oakland stay put and build that waterfront park. Several months back, Oakland leadership says it was further along than the A's owner said it was. May take a change of ownership to do that, though.
I read an article a few weeks back stating the same that the city thought they were pretty far along and had secured the vast majority of the funding necessary to get an agreement on the stadium funds, then the rug was pulled out. As an unbiased baseball fan in this, I think that a change of scenery is needed. There's too much bad blood between the ownership and the city at this point, and I dont feel like the city did everything possible to keep the team. There were multiple locations that had been proposed and they all got shot down over the last 2 decades, and it didn't get serious until Manfred stepped in and said that relo was a likely solution.
I can appreciate May's perspective, but this is a business decision. The owner couldn't get the deal he needed in Oakland to make things profitable, so he's going to rebuild elsewhere, increase the market value, and then sell once he's at a price he's comfortable selling and with a relatively brand new ballpark.
Trevor was also the highest paid member (adjusted salary) of the team this season at $7M. He should be able to afford one heck of a streaming rig for his blossoming Twitch career.
The NFL prints its own money and charges 700 million dollars with an M to relocate a team- back to the other owners of course (legal money laundering) and sign a billion dollar TV rights deal for thursday night football. Mark Davis wanted to borrow money for a stadium in Oakland- the response was "Fuck off mark, nope"... So the A's are fucked. MLB doesn't have that type of money the NFL wouldn't lend Davis. Lol.
Looks like Joe Mantiply is going to be starting NLCS Game 4 for the Diamondbacks as an opener.
https://www.mlb.com/news/d-backs-win-nlcs-game-3-2023
I'll be there. Mission - Troll the Phillies. Only mission.
Why does this make me want a sarsaparilla? And I don't even know what that is.
Here you go.
Just hoping the Rangers can get a win today, but with the way the Astros just seem to dominate in Arlington (8-1 this year I think?) it is possible we go down 2-3 and still win it in Houston, where the Astros have a losing record at home this year.
Im smh at Texas. I don't know what happened last night, but tonight was just a demoralizing loss. Up 2 in the 9tb and they let Altuve be the hero to give Houston the lead. Minute Maid is going to be nuts on Sunday.
The Nats won a World Series in 2019 (against the Astros, too) where the visiting team won every game. I hope to see the Rangers repeat that trick in the ALCS.
Its hilarious and surreal to me that the Astro's are complaining about not seeing baseballs well - IN THEIR HOME STADIUM. LOL- change it you idiots. lol.
Phillies got right back to it in game 5 after the bullpen game in game 4 turned awry/Kimbrely
Games 3 and 4 were awful bullpen management by Topper. You don't throw Kimbrel out there in non save situations, he has always struggled with it his whole career.
At least they got the split and now have 2 to win 1 at home to go to the Classic.
That's fair. Bullpen management was definitely a big/the only reason kimbrel was out there back to back days in non save situations.
Yes, I think they are in a good spot. After the Phillies lost game 3, the most realistic outcome was 3-2 heading back to Philly. Philly just lost game 4 instead of 5.
I expected us to lose Game 3. Just never felt like a series that was going to be a sweep. That loss was easy to stomach because I always thought that at best this was going to be a 5 game series.
Game 4 and the horrible bullpen management (why put Kerkering right back out there when he struggled like he did the night before?) really pissed me off and put me in a pretty bad spot mentally going into last night's game. Thankfully, Wheeler is a legit ace and Arizona made a very poor decision in thinking Gallen could get through Schwarber-Turner-Harper a 3rd time unscathed.
The only Phillies relievers I trust now are Strahm and Hoffman. No one else can throw strikes
Tonight in game 6...schwarber and harper will homer in the first and the phillies will cruise in that cult stadium. Congrats.
SSHHH!!!!!
Which is more than a little bit bullshit, if you think about it. A high-leverage situation is a high-leverage situation, and if he can't handle it because the ability to generate a stat isn't involved, then he should gtfo.
Oh I've never been the biggest fan of his, and I think its telling that when Boston had a chance to wrap it up in 2018, rather than going with Kimbrel they just threw Sale out there to get it done.
He has a bad habit of not attacking batters, and tries to force them to chase. Nah man, you've got gas, dare them to hit it. Same with Seranthony.
Dear Astros, boo louder.
Game 7 could be interesting, or could be a lopsided affair. Javier has been dominant so far this postseason, and Scherzer was nowhere near his A game. If neither changes, this could be a double-digit win for Houston (which I really dont want to see).
Honestly can't believe Bochy is pitching Scherzer here.
I'm hoping he as a really short leash.
Correct- its game 7. You lose, you go home. Put away the stupid spreadsheet and manage the baseball team. Bochy is great at it- better than some MIT nerd. Manage the game.
Javier getting yanked in the first won us the game.
It certainly didn't hurt, but I don't think that offense was going to be held back last night, whoever was pitching.
This season, when the Rangers are on, they are ON. They'll be solid favorites against the D-Backs, and a coin-flip vs the Phillies.
Garcia going yard while the entire stadium booed was my favorite. And then he did it again.
Congrats to the Rangers and their fans. They had a great season and have been lights out in the playoffs.
I'll be pulling for them in the World Series.
I hate Bruce Bochy but if the Phillies lose tonight, so will I
Thank you sir!! I am definitely feeling it this morning. That last shot at the bar for the last out is the one that I probably should not have done.
This will be a day long remembered. It has seen the end of the Astros, it will soon see the end of the Phillies.
Just an unacceptable choke job by the Phillies. Topper won't be fired but his managerial decision this week have been horrendous and maybe he should be. His bullpen management is all time levels of bad. Castellanos is a train wreck and should be sent packing to Japan.
He messed with his pitchers too much, and his hitters too little. Bohm was an unmitigated disaster at cleanup and he never moved him. Inexcusable, top to bottom. The big bats we paid "stupid money" for vanished when we needed them most.
Move all the home games to Camden, and don't let any of em back inside the city limits till they've showered.I'd also Iike to thank the Phillies, from the bottom of my heart, for making today an absolutely hellish experience at work. I don't make a habit of running my mouth about sports in person beforehand, but that won't stop my lesser colleagues for a second. Sure, it makes me a better person than them, but that was always the case. It's the case right now. I'd rather be a winner.
Probably not the matchup MLB and Fox wanted to see. I'm sure I will watch some of the WS, but this won't be appointment TV for me. I can only name a handful of players on Texas, but I can't give you the name of a single person on the AZ roster.
Maybe not the executives but the announcers wanted it. They weren't exactly unbiased in either series.
This will be the 1st one I watch all of the games start to finish in several years but of course I live in Dallas and I am a Rangers fan. Honestly this is the case for a lot of championship series where your team is not in the final, you just don't pay as close attention.
I tend to agree with the last statement. Being on the east coast I just have a feeling that there would be a lot more media activity had Philly advanced, and there seems to be a natural AL East affinity just because of locale and my perceptions of ESPN coddling the Red Sox, Yankees, and Rays like they do with the SEC. An Orioles/Phillies WS would have been something amazing to watch for a number of reasons. I'm just glad that the Yankees are watching all of this from home.
IIRC the Mets/Yankees world series is one of the lowest rated of all time. Give this one a chance. Baseball has more interest now than in the past 20 years overall.
ESPN barely gave this playoff year any coverage as it was. Now that its Rangers vs DBacks, they're going to completely give it the cold shoulder. They don't care if it isn't a big market
This is the network that has ONE NHL analyst the past 25 years.... and covers the WNBA as if people actually attend and watch the games. They totally have a (trash) agenda. They have more fantasy football analysts than MLB analysts. It's a joke.
Probably because it was all Fox/TBS. If they had had some games, they'd have promoted it more.
Meh, the led sports center with high school trick shots for years. They cover Dak Prescott more than they cover the entire MLB. I don't think Dak has a personal deal with ESPN for coverage. They have an agenda
I still remember the days when we'd actually met up over the summer to catch SportsCenter. Back when their NASCAR coverage was reporting who won the race, who the current points leader was, and where Dick Trickle finished. It was must-see TV at the time. That was peak SportsCenter.
Well, those days, and their commercials. Those commercials were gold.
Media Markets- DFW- 5th; PHX- 11th. This is the definition of a "big" market world series.
You absolutely LOVE to see it :).
Honestly, I'm torn about who to root for in this World Series. I'm just happy both their LCS opponents lost.
Texas: I grew up in Arlington and went to a few games their first several years there, until moving to Atlanta at age 8. Remember cheering on Richie Zisk ("He's a home...run...HITTER!") (edit: and Jim Sunberg) but not much else.
Arizona: They have a Hokie on their roster (Joe Mantiply).
Texas beat my orioles. Booooo. And I have to also root for my new home town team. Go Snakes! They are a likable team too- went to several games this summer. There is room on the bandwagon- jump on.
Rangers have never won one. We were thisclose my sophomore year but that fucker David Freese ruined it.
LMAO- love it. The past couple weeks I have used the word prick more than I have my whole life as I watch these baseball playoffs.
That ALCS was so fucking stressful. Go into it thinking we're the team of destiny, bullpen almost fucked it away, and despite the absolute chokejob in game 5, all the boos in Houston just galvanized Garcia, and he carried us over the line.
I need us to win this thing, but even if we lose in 4, I'll still be happy we knocked the fucking Astros out.
The astros are a pain in the neck for sure. They know how to win. Very impressive for Texas to beat them on the road, but the Nats did that too. Houston is not great at home in these moments. And you went up against Dusty Baker- which gives you hope. He is not a great post season manager. Good for Texas. I'm pissed they killed my Orioles, but its good to have a new blood type world series.
There is not one Texas fan that expected us to get through Tampa AND Baltimore. As soon as we lost the last game of the season, I assumed we were toast.
I lived in Houston for four years, and my parents are still there. It was fine when they were the Lastros, but the fans have gotten annoying as hell over the past decade. I hate them more than the Yankees, which feels weird.
No no no, it's okay to hate the Astros more than the Yankees.
So did the Braves...
Soler absolutely CRUSHED that ball. No way it was only 460-something feet.
That ball is still in orbit, BTW...
Edit: And I'll never forget her....
The Giants have announced that Bob Melvin (the manager of the Padres in 2023) will be the Giants manager in 2024 (and beyond, I assume). He will be introduced at a 10:30am PT press conference.
https://www.mlb.com/news/bob-melvin-giants-manager
Also, the Brewers have granted permission for the Mets to interview Counsell for their manager position.
https://www.mlb.com/news/manager-rumors-and-candidates
It's not technically the offseason yet, but these are items of interest. We should probably hold off on creating the MLB Offseason thread until after the World Series.
Melvin is an interesting choice. He's been really good at taking a bad team and making them mediocre to good. He has never taken a good team and made them better. His playoff record is really bad compared to expectations. And what the Giants need right now is a manager to get them from mediocre/good to WS contender. Bad hire, imo.
I like Craig Counsel, he also has a similar bad postseason record, but his story is a little different as it's all been with the Brewers who have been pretty good at payroll efficiency. Efficient teams typically don't do too well in the playoffs. It'll be interesting to pair him with a big spending front office. I don't want the Mets to ever be good, but I think it would be a good hire for the Mets. No idea if it will be successful because it seems everything the Mets do leads to unmet expectations.
I have pondered recently which "head coach" position means the least in the 4 professional major american sports. It's interesting if you think about it. NBA head coach- the majority of Americans can't name more than 5 current ones, and of they try to coach possessions, they are fired. Arguably the greatest active coach chooses not to play his best players often. lol- how much is the coach needed? I'd argue a robot could do it. NHL- routinely fires coaches after a lackluster tuesday night game and always replaces them with someone already in the building. How important is that position? MLB- in this world series you have a 100% excel spreadsheet guy with the D backs... so do they really need a specific guy? Do you need billy martin to look at excel? but also an old school guy in Bochy. This one is debatable. Arron Boone is the worst yankee manager in decades- and he's an excel puppet. OTOH the Rays make chicken salad out of chicken soup. I think the last real "coach" that matters is the NFL head coach. yeah, some are simply play callers but you still need a talented guy to get millionares to play hard and hit people.
Baseball coaches need 3 qualities. Keep team motivated and even-keeled for 162 game season. Don't burnout your RP during the 162 season, but use them enough to not lose games late. In the playoffs, make smart and quick decisions on pitchers.
A fourth minor quality is to get as many matchup advantages as possible, with the help of advanced statistics.
The new thing is "don't face a lineup for the 3rd time"... this is the D backs rule, and many others. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I'd rather have a guy that can go by the feel of the game
That's under that 4th quality and is pitcher-specific and easily identifiable via statistics. It's quite useful during the regular season, but still have to manage that BP aspect. I completely agree that postseason should be mostly feel, with a quick hook.
The Twins apply the same strategy and it can be infuriating.
That rule works more often than not, which is why statistics support it.
We've got a Hokie getting some WS action! Mantiply just entered for the D-Backs in the 7th
Clean 1-2-3 for Joe
No Max? No Adolis? No problem.
Go Rangers.
Probably just about time to start measuring ring fingers for the Rangers.
Unless you're a Diamondbacks fan being fatalistic, please for the love of god shut the fuck up and don't jinx this for us. Without Garcia, we gotta be locked in like last night
Orioles fan here that will be in the building tonight. If you pricks jump in "our" pool, you are going in the Phillies fan category! lol
All I care about is jumping on your scoreboard. Early and often.
Well it wasn't early. But great game, Texas deserved to win it all for sure. Winning every road game- very impressive.
RaysOriolesAstrosDbacks
ROAD warriors indeed.
I am so hungover right now!!!
Champions!!!
There's one, has anyone seen HightyTighty today? Did they survive?
I'm alive, just been on the road. I have approximately one liver cell left, and I'm on vacation doing the bourbon trail.
I'm fine renting out the trophy to Lil' Ol' Dallas for a year. At least we kept it in Texas. Houston will pick it back up from you guys this time next year.
In all seriousness, congratulations. The Rangers were impressive all season, they definitely deserved to win it.
With the Rangers vs the Astros, home field is a disadvantage which is crazy. Both teams play better in the other teams park.
That was pretty crazy. The Astros were inexplicably bad at home all year, but it's still pretty impressive that the Rangers went undefeated on the road in the playoffs.
I was pretty high on the Rangers all year, except for that late-season hiccup. FWIW, ESPN has them ranked # 2 behind the Braves for their "too-early" 2024 rankings.
Way-Too-Early 2024 MLB rankings
We ain't Dallas' team, we're Texas' team. And we play in Arlington.
My Washington Senators finally won the World Series 🥲
I remember being broken hearted as an 8-year-old when I learned that Texas had stolen my Senators and Frank Howard. It only added to my depths of hatred for the Dallas Cowboys and energized my Redskins fandom to crush the thieving, evil Texas people. Don't bother me with reality, I was 8 and deeply wounded.