Watching Baseball at High Speed
I haven’t spent much time on this World Series. Taping it. Fast forwarding through it. Man, baseball is not a game to watch with an ff button at the ready. It’s like an addiction. At first you’re just skipping the commercials. Then you run it a little too far into the first at bat of the inning. Then you want to see Big Papi bat so you’re skipping through entire innings…..
Anyway, I might start watching it live—at least the 9th innings. The last 2 ended predictably, right? Just when you think the baseball gods are shining down upon the Cardinals, and there was no other way to think after The MIddlebrooks Obstruction, along comes The Wonger and he does his best imitation of a dumbsh!t.
So now I don’t know what the baseball gods are planning. I guess I’ll have to go *old school* and watch it live.
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
I have been watching most of the games. Missed Saturday’s game…we were at a show in Davis…totally tripped-out when I saw how the game ended. Saltalamacchia should never have made that throw.
And then last night’s game. I had been watching, but had put the game on pause for a bit while we went for a dip in the hot tub time machine. Come back…watching…zipping through the commercials, and the recording ends (before the game ends), but I had already seen that the Sox had won 4-2. It was not until this morning that I learned of the pick-off to end the game.
Heard this morning that game three is the ONLY game in post-season history to end on an obstruction call. And last night’s game was the first in the post-season to have a game end on a pick-off. Bizarre and especially that it happened in back-to-back games.
Boston Strong, in SEVEN of course (and score LOTS of FUCKING RUNS)!
“The Cardinal Way”, indeed. What a bunch of malarkey.
Red Sox have made their share of errors and miscues too. Ellsbury has a couple already, and he made 3 the entire season.
And what to make of the projected NL Cy Young award winner, eh? Not the post season he was looking forward to, was it?
Post season magnifies a lot of stuff….Exhibit A, Cody Ross.
I’ve watched some of it, and found it not very compelling. The team with scruffy beards vs. the team with GQ beards. I have so little rooting interest that the games don’t even feel like games. They just feel like “baseball product.” Baseball spam-in-a-can. The college football games on Saturday were far more interesting, IMO.
The baseball professionals are so dumb sometimes. The obstruction rule will be reviewed in the off season, because…..NO ONE EVER SAW THAT BEFORE. Really? I’m pretty sure it happens several times during every season. Oh, but it never happened to the RED SOX IN THE WORLD SERIES!!! Er….well, actually it did during the ’75 World Series, on the Ed Ambrister play. On that play, the ump ruled that the batter/runner DIDN’T interfere with the catcher’s throw. Well, too bad for the Sox on that one, as Fisk’s throw to second sailed into centerfield.
And what about catcher’s blocking the plate? That is obstruction. What’s the rule on that? Oh yeah, no rules at homeplate. Homeplate is a free-zone of do-whatever-you-want-to insanity, of course. Baseball has no problem with that.
The comment I heard was that a game had never ENDED on an obstruction call in the history of the post-season. Same with the pick-off…a post-season game has never ended on a pick-off (supposedly).
I am enjoying the games (which is different than most years when the Giants are not in it). I suppose it is because a couple of the games have been close.
I dig college football, too, but have enjoyed the WS so far, too.
I’ll be very surprised if Boston doesn’t win now. Rev. Ortiz will see to it. Don’t see a leader on the other side. So, 6 or 7, they will get it done. Offensively they just keep grinding away. Every AB seems to go on and on. Never seen a team wear a pitcher down like they do.
I agree Salt about StL not seeming to have a vocal leader such as Ortiz. And Ortiz is backing it up with the stick…hitting .727 with two HRs. Unreal.
.
Flap is acting strange for me. Posted the comment to Salty and it did not appear. Posted it a second time…did not appear. I close out IE and open it again, and there are the two posts. Anyone else having any issues?
My friend Mike (Demp28) reminded me that one year ago today our Giants swept the Tigers to win their second WS title in three years. Sure seems longer than a year…
no problems that I’ve encountered. I deleted one of your posts since it was a duplicate.
Thanks…was going to delete it…but did not have edit capability. Did you shut-down edit capabilities for “the stable boys?”
no
Expect the unpredictable the rest of the way. Weird plays and unconventional moves make for an interesting series.
If something is unpredictable, can you expect it?…
My apologies if someone has mentioned this previously…Ron Wotus interviewing for the Mariner job.
RIP Lou Reed,
Holly came from Miami, F.L.A.
Hitch-hiked her way across the U.S.A.
Plucked her eyebrows on the way
Shaved her legs and then he was a she
She says, “Hey babe, take a walk on the wild side”
He said, “Hey honey, take a walk on the wild side”
Read more: Lou Reed – Walk On The Wild Side Lyrics | MetroLyrics
Interesting article that I just read on Grantland if your interested
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9892086/remembering-lou-reed
That was a cool article! Thanks for sharing
I’m finding that even with the Giants out of it, I can’t fully turn my attention to watching football until the WS is over. Weather a factor, too perhaps. Late autumn and winter seem perfect for lying around watching guys maul one another . I do not like these 7:30-8 starts for West Coast college games. 3:30 seems perfect.
Looking forward to Ore/Stan. And on the pro side, SF/Sea.
And bring on the Warriors to get through the winter. We are fortunate here.
Yeah one thing Boston does over every other team is work over a pitching staff.Lots of patience hitters working counts,running up a starters pitch count by the 5th,6th inning their done /close to 100 plus pitches.
Maybe Panda should grow a beard…
One of the funnier stats I’ve heard in a while:
Most Batter Strikeouts
Single Postseason – All Time
2010 Giants 142
2011 Cardinals 135
1997 Indians 135
2013 Red Sox 134
One of the many injustices in baseball history: all the grief that Mantle got for his strikeouts during his playing days. A lot of people ignored the fact that he also walked a lot, and hit into very few doubleplays.
really TERRIBLE BASEBALL. about 28 teams could beat these 2. how many aaa teams are there? them too…
Great moments in lip-reading….when San Diego St. had a chance to kick about a 30 yard fieldgoal to win their game against Fresno St. at the end of regulation, and a tall player on Fresno St. went up high and made a great block of the kick, sending the game into overtime, which Fresno St. eventually won:
The broadcast cut to a replay of the San Diego St. coach’s reaction after the kick: He clearly yells: “F#####g blocked!!!”
The broadcasters pause for a moment, and then Fleming says something like: “Yes…..it was blocked.”
Yeah one thing Boston does over every other team is work over a pitching staff.Lots of patience hitters working counts,running up a starters pitch count by the 5th,6th inning their done /close to 100 plus pitches.
Ellsbury,Victorino,Pedroia are masters at it.
Is there an echo in here?
One reason you don’t see games ended on a pickoff much is that if the pitching team is ahead, as in last night’s game, the 1bman isn’t holding the runner on first with two outs. Up two runs, RSox had no need to hold Wong on. In fact, seems counter to basic baseball convention, as many observers pointed out today. Wong’s run was meaningless, why give Beltran a big hole to hit through? Weird…
78, a friend summed it up pretty well in a Facebook post that suggested that Lou’s music didn’t change his life; instead, he realized something was different when, as a 13 year old, he was called a faggot by the clerk selling him a copy of Transformer.
I hope someone has told Kelton that he had only 13.5% chance of scoring anyway.
Sum thing Wong getting picked off of 1st to end a game.Totally Wong!!!
Wong looked liked Wille Mays Hayes sliding into 2nd only to be short by 6ft.
Having to wear a baseball glove and field his position for 9 innings doesn’t seem to be bothering Ortiz much at the plate. gomes neither.
Jenkins idea to get the PA to accept dropping the DH entirely is to allow each team to carry an extra guy or two and increase the rosters. If that’s all it would take, I’d vote for it in a nanosec.
National League will get the DH. It’s just a matter of time. Pitchers make too much money and are too valuable to hit.
Hopefully not in my life time
I have watched little of it. Must be losing my voyeuristic skills a la baseball.
In Philly. It was a bit odd, and slightly sad, not getting text updates about the Giants during a ballet. (Saw daughter in “Jewels” by George Balanchine. The audience oohs and gasps as the curtain rises on lambent splendor three times, for Emeralds, Rubies, Diamonds.)
Today went to the Barnes Foundation. Nothing quite like it. Anywhere. Transformative. http://www.barnesfoundation.org/
Hey Pawlie, got Starry Night and World Serious from Amazon today, Better later than never.
Can’t wait to read ’em.
RE: Willie’s 8:54 on the DH (dropping it completely)…I absolutely agree. Expand rosters to 27 or 28…buh bye DH. Baseball with the DH is such a bastardized version of the game….it TOTALLY sucks and takes so much from the game as opposed to what it offers.
We visit the DH every year, and we all agree? to get rid of it. If I was commish, I would get rid of the DH, tell the Umpires union that they need to get their shit together or I will bring in computer images of the strikes zone to show how crappy some of the umpires are!! Let the fans at home judge the quality of the Ump. and I would protect the catcher that way the SS and second basemen are protected.
Well, ALMOST everyone agrees. “Someone” is a fan of the DH. I won’t mention any names, but his initials are: N.I.P.P.E.R.
It will never happen. You can look backwards and want the past to repeat itself. No DH? The union for one will never agree to give away jobs. The DH is a JOB! More important pitchers have become specialists whether you want them to be or not. Hitting is not really a job they are suitable for. There are exceptions but too few to matter.
And I’m not a fan of the DH.
This AL pitcher did pretty good before the DH. His lifetime pitching stats were – 2.24 ERA, 94 W, 46 L, 147 GS, 107 of them complete games, 488 SO and a 1.159 whip. Although his pitching stats were good his lifetime batting was even better – .342 avg, 506 2b, 136 3b, 714 Hrs, 2,220 RBIs, .690 OBP, and an OPS of 1.164. He did play a bit of outfield to help pad those hitting statistics though.
well, vlad was helpful playing defense in the 2010 world series. helpful to the giants, that is. btw, that ortiz hasn’t exposed his defensive incompetence in 3 games is fortuitous for boston but there’s a reason that they only play him in the field is with a gun to their head.
frankly, i think most of the opposition to the dh in the nl is the ‘old shoe’ argument- we’re used to it and we like it because we’re used to it. it’s comfy. i’ve heard all the arguments for and against- and they’re a push, imo. and some of the most impassioned arguments against the dh also happen to be the worst arguments- namely pitchers hitting and an irrational plea for the joys of the the sac bunt which brings out the very worst traits of managers- ‘the gene mauch syndrome’. thank god bochy hasn’t fallen prey to it. an offensively challenged pitcher hitting is better than a defensively challenged player hitting?
bottom line for me, i see absolutely nothing wrong with the al having it and the nl not having it. and frankly, having ortiz and napoli bat is a helluva better than one or the other and jon lester. so i guess i’m more for it than against it. the fact that tony oliva didn’t play the field in his later years was better than no tony oliva at all…or giambi, thome….
now i’ve been fan of teams in both leagues so maybe i’m not as partisan about it than some. but really, having watched *a lot* of both, it’s just not as different as one may think.
The way to dump the DH would be to do it at every level. If it was no longer an option at mlb level, then you could stop it at college, minors and all kid levels. Everyone learns to hit run throw and field a position and has to do it to stay in the LU, no matter how well you pitch or hit. Mgrs. play guys at whatever individual risk/weakness they have.
I admired watching professional hitters like Harold Baines and Bad Vlad extend their careers, agreed. To me tho its just a gimmicky bastardized version of the game; I also enjoy the added dimension of the decisions NL mgrs. have to make, esp late game, around pitcher ABs and when/if to remove them from the game.
And besides, any Casilla AB is worth the price of admission anywhere.
Good post. Agree.
I caught a few minutes of Woodson on air talking to the Mariners broadcaster. woodson noted the M’s hit 10 more HRs than the Sox did but scored 200 fewer runs. Ms guy mentioned RISP hitting first, noting how bad M’s were (.220s) as opposed to Sox and STL, .270s and near .300.
According to B-R, Safeco and Fenway scored same number (98) for park factor re: pitching. Sox and Det were best offensive teams in the league, scoring the most runs and tops in OB and slugging. A’s weren’t far behind, great OB and a lot of HRs.
By contrast M’s were awful pitching team, 13th in league despite two *aces* in Iwakuma and King Felix, and gave up 130 more runs than they scored. According to Pyth they should have lost 100. Sox were 6th in ERA and gave up 5th fewest HRs, 18 fewer than M’s did. They had 2 decent SPs and one that was fabulous, Bucholz, who missed significant time. By Pyth stats they should have won 100.
What I’m getting at is, what kind of a team would you hope for Giants to put out there 2014 to get back to where Sox and STL are? More offensive help to pick up the OB slugging and RISP at multiple positions? Or another ace at the top to hold down opposition? If not an ace would a Bronson Arroyo type help bridge to young in house options?
For all their offense, Sox are winning right now despite team BA of .205. What to make of that?
Can we have both hitting and pitching? Seriously, all things being equal, good pitching usually beats good hitting, so I guess I would like to have a top-flight pitcher. In my opinion, Arroyo doesn’t come close to meeting my criteria as “top flight.” I think we saw the best of Arroyo the last 2 years, i.e., he pitched quite well. However, the dude is 36 and has a life time 4.19 ERA. Ugh.
Arroyo’s fastball is in the 87–92 miles per hour range. Yes, it has excellent movement and he is good at “spotting” it. He also has a hard slider that moves away from right-handed batters, and a straight changeup. However, Arroyo’s best pitch is his curveball. He is also one of the better pitchers at holding runners on base (which would be an anomaly for a Giants pitcher). In any event, I don’t think Arroyo moves the “needle” much in terms of the Giants improving their pitching.
well, i’m waiting for what happens when reality sets in and people realize that we are not going to get much help from outside the organization at the plate next year. offensive improvement is going to mostly come from improvement from this year’s cast. as far the pitching, timmy’s signing just means the same thing- he has to improve. so far about 35 million( tim and the preacher ) has been added to the 2014 payroll to just maintain what we had last year… sabean needs 3 pitchers- a price or tanaka level, another starter, and a solid middle/late reliever. i know i’ve said this before, but i just wouldn’t expect more than a marlon byrd for lf and maybe a utility infelder with a bit of pop for improving the offense for next year. bottom line- our incumbents have to hit better and sabes needs new blood in the rotation. imo.
Willie. the Mariners didn’t score 200 fewer runs than the Sox because of their RISP stats. They were 13th in the league in OBP, and only hit 237 as a team overall. Unlike the Sox, the only thing they did well offensively was hit HRs. RISP continues to be one of the biggest red herrings among baseball stats. It is about as useful for measuring an offense as Ks.
and the announcers are the worst at pushing the risp stats at us. jon miller, as wonderful as he is in most ways, is unrelenting. despite the wealth of data that utterly debunks the myth of the ‘clutch hitter’, the myth persists because of the willingness of the fan to believe that there are *real* men who walk among the weak-willed choke artists who routinely hit grounders into the ‘rowand triangle’ when ‘the chips are down’. it’s a romantic fantasy that we all fall victim to. and it’s one that we’re willing to dismiss if the *wrong* guy excels at hitting with risp in a given year, and at that most heroic of all- hitting with risp AND TWO OUTS. by the *wrong* guy- that’s one we don’t like- panda was a fat slob *and* a choker when hit .208 w/risp in 2010. this year, well, he was just a fat slob- who cared if he hit .356 w/risp..blanco was very good with risp- do any the clutch folks want him in lf next year? of course not.
btw- is a 2 run homer with a runner on first more or less clutch than a 2 run homer with a runner on second? was it good that randy winn hit .319 with 50 rbi with risp in 2009? or was it bad that he had *one* rbi all year with runners not in scoring position?
yeah, their other numbers were the shits. Sox led the league or were at the top of a lot of offensive stats along with Detroit. Nobody else scored within 100 runs of Boston beside Tigers.
i’m not surprised that many disagree. but despite the many arguments against the dh, most still are of that ‘old shoe’ argument. i’m sure I’ve been a fan as long as most here and i know have as much respect for the game as any. but change is not all bad and, in fact, there are decisions the al managers face that nl ones don’t.
this is not an argument I’m going to pursue because there is no willingness for an anti-dl person to even consider the many arguments for it. But whatever one’s view- it is not going away. That is a fact that even the most ardent opponent of the DL is going to have to face.
Ah, get rid of the DL and the DH!! ha ha couldn’t quite resist Twin. Anyway, I have always been a NL fan so yeah I will agree with you, I am Biased. can’t really see going over to the Dark side.
Why stop with a DH? There are some pitchers — especially on the Giants — who have as much trouble making a throw to second on a forceout as they do hitting. Let’s have a Designated Fielder stand beside the mound so the pitchers don’t have to make this most difficult of plays.
And why not a Designated Runner standing beside the batter’s box for those who can’t run? Because who wants to watch someone like Allan Craig barely make it to first after hitting one off the fence?
You make some really good points, Mac. 😉
didn’t i see that base runners were 39 of 39 against timmy this year? i think it was him, but whoever it was- i’m all for a designated holder on-der. i’m for other revolutionary changes, as well. until they outlaw blowing up the catcher, i’ve been in favor of spiked chest protectors. i’m for allowing drinking on the field- if we can we leave our coors next to the second base bag, why can’t the pros? as kevin noticed, i’m for outlawing the dl, i’m against tubby clutch hitters, and i’m absolutely totally against fans east of or next to the mississippi river…
I still think that when MLB changed the leagues to odd numbers so they had to have more interleague games, it was to push the DL without having to say a thing. Colorado had Giambi as a pinch hitter/DH or a kind of NL hybrid DH, as Interleague play continues other NL teams will probably start to follow suit. This was probably the smoothest transition that ol Bud could come up with. I don’t like the DH but I do believe it will be added to the NL in the next few years.
Today I was pondering whether the Cardinal fans or the Red Sox fans have a more insufferable sense of entitlement.
Well, I’d be willing to bet that the Boston fan demographic generally supports entitlements more than St. Louis’ does 🙂
Lots of good points on the DL. I don’t give a shit what types of arguments you have…I fucking HATE IT.
With that said, I agree with Twin, John and a few others…that it is NOT going away. I just hope like hell that they keep it status quo.
FUCK THE DH and the horse all of ’em rode in on.
i’m glad someone agrees with me- only pussies go on the dl 😉
Flav, read your email – IMPORTANT regarding the tournament tomorrow on Fan Duel.
Keep the leagues’ DL dichotomy. It adds flavor to the baseball mix. Add one or two more to the rosters to shut up the MLBPA, and keep the DL out of the NL. So many teams are now using 12-13 pitchers anyway, an extra utility guy or two would add spice to the games and counter the specialists from the Pen from dominating…
i think i’ve spread a terrible virus and we all need to go on the dl until we’re well enough to dh..
note to steve and kevin- your prizes will be on the way in the next day or two, i haven’t been able to get to the post office…
i ordered some stuff for myself, too. i have a copy of windows 8 i’ve already paid for so i splurged and bought a touchscreen monitor with money i’m not supposed to have. i’m hoping that will eliminate some of the stress on my fingers. or will it make it worse? i’ll find out. i’m going off the rails on pcs again. i’ll have 5 plus a notebook and a tablet. i’m officially outta control…
No hurry. In fact, as far as I am concerned – if you want to wait until after the PC contest and do all of this mailing in one swoop, I am down with that. Thank you.
speaking of the contest- if boston closes it out tomorrow, denny will win the pc and birddog the turntable w/software to convert vinyl records to digital.
if the sox win in 7, chi and denny tie with 10 and it goes to tie breaker with the winner getting the pc, the loser the turntable.
if the cards rally to pull it out salty and rooster tie with 10 and that goes to tie breaker with the winner getting the pc and the loser the turntable. so the 5 with 8 or more all have a shot- with denny having the edge.
Mike, nice job on the possible contest permutations . . . However, if an earthquake takes out the entire west coast and somehow you survive, I see my total winning . . . umm, by default. I’ll expect the PC delivered as soon as the U.S. Postal Service is up and running again.
I agree, if it is easier on you to mail everything at once go ahead and wait to mail Steve and my stuff at the same time.
the pc and turntable will go ups, your prizes usps, so it’s not easier. it’s a matter of me getting to the post office for yours.
I’ll go Mac’s 12:35 one better: bud’s clone decides in 2020 that DH should not just be limited to pitchers but can be extended to include any 2 other positions. So you could have Ishi and DLew or some good field/no hit SS in the LU for defense, but hit 50 yr old Todd Helton and Chipper Jones or anyone else in their place.
well, you know of the food show where they handicap the chefs? like make them cook a dessert with fish entrails, like that. that would work and be a lot more entertaining. each manager gets one handicap per game. for instance, donnie could make pablo pitch to puig. or zito. same result…
And in further related news from bud’s clone after 6 more years of declining offense that first began in 2013, the mound height has been reduced to zero.
With extra DHs now available, Julio Franco un-retires, as does Manny Mota.
Bonds, who never retired in the first place, also returns to Giants tho his Barcalounger does not, having been replaced by the mother of all spinning machines.
just heard miller say on radio that angels walked bonds 7 times back in, 2002, including w/RISP..
In the game where Donny took out A Gon for the PR, they pitched around Hanley twice to get to M Young didn’t they?
Big Papi…….will he be pitched to……?
Why not Nip,the Cards are stupid enough to keep pitching to him.He’s “Only” 11-15 against them while the rest of the team is batting .144.
8 of boston’s 21 runs have been driven in by the batter in the spot immediately following Ortizes’ spot, including the 3 driven in by Gomes winning HR in game 4. So 14 of Boston’s 21 runs have been driven in by either Ortiz ( 6 rbi ) or the next spot in the order (8 rbi).
The NBA season opened last night, and it’s never too early to get a jump on the Andrew Wiggins sweepstakes. Orlando has the early lead: http://zagsblog.com/articles/nba-executive-says-6-teams-are-tanking/
Mac, just my take – but of the teams mentioned, the 76ers will have the 1st selection in the 2014 draft EASILY. They have Jeff Green leading them and absolutely no one else (nevertheless, Green will be lights out in fantasy due to Pierce and Garnett being gone, i.e., little or no other alternatives and if you play FL I would pick him up. Good value pick).
Zzzzzzzz…. 😉
I think you meant Celtics re Green/Pierce & Garnett. Regardless, you’re right, the Sixers are going to be awful. They’re already 9,999-1 odds to win it all.
Whoops. Yeah. Actually, for the 76ers, I meant Turner and Young, but I do like that kid, Anderson (who was a former number one pick for Houston I think).
In the worst development of the start of the NBA, Le Bron James is in about a million commercials now, somehow surpassing the amount of commercials that Peyton Manning was in.
—–
How embarrassing for the Clippers to lose that game to the Lakers last night. If you’re the Clippers, go away. Come back in about 5 months. If you weren’t ready to seize the moment last night, you still got work to do.
In fairness to the Lakers, they played quite well, e.g., Pau had no ill effects from his injury (foot) riddled season last year, as well as sharing an awkward role with Dwight Howard; Farmar is a better player than Nash; Kaman can play when healthy; and, Kobe’s temporary replacement, Xavier Henry, can play some ball as well. Quite frankly, this team will surprise and the Warriors need to ensure they don’t let up on them tonight.
My gut says Sox finish it off, but I want to see it go 7 and especially would love to see the rally monkey Lackey get whacked hard.
Believe Chi needs 20 runs to beat Dennis if Boston prevails in 7. With Kelly/Peavy in gm 7, that could be a 9-7 type affair.
That’s right, Salt…I need Boston in 7 and a minimum of 20 runs scored over those two games.
Wash Post reports today the NSA is gathering gobs of data not only on the front end, but the back end of Google and Yahoo data networks. Could the Flap be the only place they’re not looking for anything meaningful — maybe we should store our secrets here? Unless there are some Dodger fans in the NSA mid-level directorates. Has 1984 finally arrived?…
Just to keep the folks at the NSA entertained, I try and do at least one weird and random Google search each day. Today was headless spider attack, and it did come back with results and images (one was something called mongbat mush, you know I’m gonna google that shit). J Edgar Hoover midget lover, also came back with a few results but nothing entertaining.
Speaking of Midgets Bozo.
When the appropriate time to slap a midget?
Answer..When he tells you your wife’s hair smells good.
“Could the Flap be the only place they’re not looking for anything meaningful”
🙂
I’ll assume that could have been said in a different way. 🙂
I was trying to deflect NSA surveillance… 😉
Congrats to Dennis, wherever you are.
Good hitting beats good pitching . . . 50% of the time!
Not in the postseason. Maybe about 20% of the time. Perhaps 25%.
It all depends on how you choose to define things of course. Scoring for the playoff teams does drop, but evens out, which makes sense, since the teams are basically evenly matched and you don’t see the 4 and 5 starters.
The team with the best offense in baseball won this year. I highly doubt that there is a pattern that the team with the best pitching staff entering the playoffs or WS emerges the winner 80 or 75 % of the time (which, I know, is not exactly what you are saying). You could take any 16-17 game stretch (post or regular season) in which a team has a winning record, say, 11-5 or 12-5, and their pitching is probably going to be very good over those games.
Well, going into tonight Boston was hitting .226. I don’t consider that good hitting but I’m sure you do. As you’ve said ,you’ve never lost an argument. So- you win.
2 things that made me LQTM today:
1) All I’ve read about is how bad the 76’ers are, how the O/U on their win total is 14.5 this year, how they are shamelessly trying to lose to score the first pick in the draft…and then they go out and defeat the reigning champs tonight.
2) Denny winning the contest. Congrats.
That reminds me, Flav: Can you delete my 11:39 a.m. post? 🙂
I kinda feel bad for not caring about this WS, other than pulling slightly for the Cards, only because of my NL preference. I haven’t watched any of it, radio on occasion, and a bit of internet MLB highlights. Seems like a poorly played and somewhat poorly managed series, with good pitching, generally. I don’t get why Metheny continued to pitch to Ortiz, virtually the only RSox that was hitting. If he were Bonds, he’d have been walked half a dozen times, probably. I would think that the way the Gyros were playing in late September, they would have given the RSox at least as good a fight as the Cards have. So, the only plus for me out of a RSox Series win is that it will really piss off Yankee fans. Other than that, I’ll go with what Sibelius told the idiot GOP House rep yelling at her today: “whatever”…
well, he had 6 rbi and the spot behind him had 9.
I don’t feel bad at all. I didn’t watch one inning of either the playoffs or World Series. However, I do feel bad about not having more Breaking Bad episodes to watch. One more season of episodes would have gotten me through games 4, 5, and 6 of this lame World Series. 😉
It wouldn’t hurt my feelings if Denny did something other than enter the contest and then boogie.
Congrats to Birddog, as well.
And I need you to send me your address for your prize. Thanks.
Igloudala looks like the real deal. Great floor awareness. Great passer. Dubs up by 24 5 minutes iinto the 3rd quarter.
Hello everyone. It’s been a while. A long while. But I had to stop in and thank TF for his kind generosity. He goes above and beyond board when it comes to that. It means a lot to me. I truly do appreciate your magnanimous nature. I can’t believe I won. I really didn’t watch all too much of the playoffs, I didn’t even flip on tonight’s finale until the 7th. I guess I picked the Sox kind of for the whole “Boston Strong” thing from the marathon. Figured they would have the baseball gods looking at for them. It helped that they fielded a damn good lineup and pitching staff between the lines as well. Congrats to the Sox. I think the best team won.
I see it’s the same old motley crew hanging out on the Flap. Up to no good I’m sure. But where’s Loo? Did he have to go spend time away again? It’s the Breeders’ Cup this weekend. I hope they have cable wherever he is. And an OTB.
Go Giants!
Dennis
Or is it still Denny? You’re the only people that call me Denny.
You’re welcome. Enjoy.
I think Loo had a sex change operation. He’s pretty hot. Or she, whatever…
His, her nails look sharper then Freddy Krueger’s. I bet that rendezvous would leave ya with some serious claws marks. Speaking of Freddy, I just got through watching him and I’m now watching my all-time favorite, “Night of the Living Dead.” I’m in the Halloween spirit.
Nice call DMD. Rather see you gloat here than the guy that does about those other guys 400 miles away.
Btw, Flav was trying to grow a beard and wrote something on FB about trying to look like the Dos Equis guy, and I remembered you had a post from a long time ago with a bunch of great one liners describing same.
Those were a lot funnier than the ones they play on the radio commercials nowadays.
After he got through vacationing in the Virgin Islands, they’re known only as the islands.
Speaking of vacationing, have any of you ever been to Ireland? I’m thinking of taking a trip the beginning of next year. The countryside looks remarkable.
Congrats to The Dennymiester!! Where is everyone? Sleeping in, hung over? Well baseball is officially over. On to football, over to Chucks page. See ya all there
Congrats to Denny and Birddog on their wins.
Also congrats to Boston. I was pulling for them mainly because of the marathon bombing thing, as also thought it would be cool for their fans to experience their team winning it all for the first time since 1918.
And you have to tip your cap to the Cards, too. I heard the other day that they have 17 players who currently cost 650k or less. That is a hell of a nucleus to which they have financial control. Couple that with their ability to scout well and develop players…let’s just say they are going to be in hunt for a while.
Otherwise – Dubs get the Ass-Whoopin’ win of the Fakers. Kings win their home opener (Cousins with 30/14 – if the dude can keep his emotions in check and head screwed-on straight…he’ll be a monster). And Sharks get point in an OT lost to Queens.
Time to throw some logs onto the hot stove and see what our Gigantes will do to get back in the hunt for another World Series title.
Three in Five – GO GIANTS!
Congrats Denny! Don’t let Twin’s computer fall off the ledge.
Btw, I thought you were banned over here…If not, don’t be a stranger. I always enjoyed your self-deprecating humor.
It’s a miracle I haven’t jumped off yet. But if I hear the words “left field” and “platoon” again this year that just might do it.
The superior League won. NL needs to improve. Giants need to improve.
Yeah, the NL has only won 3 out of the last 4. They’re really slacking off.
Exactly. Best team playing best ball won last few years before this one too.
Tigers and Rangers weaknesses exposed big time.
Giants and STL have been in couple times now lately, others not so much.
Btw, how old would Reagan, pres last time dodgers won, be today?
Superior league my ass. Fuck the JUNIOR CIRCUIT and their bastardized brand of baseball. And I don’t give a rats ass if they (JR Circuit) has won more titles…they still suck and play an inferior brand of baseball.
This will sound snarky, but whatever….I have a question. Is Beltran still “arguably the greatest post-season MLB player of all time”? Did his reputation survive this World Series unscathed? If somebody on the opposing team hits .600 and wins the MVP does that factor in at all? Or is it just all numbers on a spreadsheet, and that’s all that matters?
Beltran? Shows what I know, I thought it was Edgar “The Barranquilla Baby” Renteria.
Personally, I don’t give a flying fuck, either way. You CANNOT argue that the guy (Beltran) doesn’t have some of the best post-season stats ever (regardless of whether his team has won it all or not…the stats are there).
I only recall that he was said to be *one of* the greatest post-season MLB players , and he is *inarguably* that. And in any case, whoever one considers the *best* postseason player of all time, it’s subjective- just as who is the best player *period* of all-time.
“If somebody on the opposing team hits .600 and wins the MVP does that factor in at all? ” Apples and oranges. Now you’re arguing who was the best in just one series.
BTW- you are the “clutch” guy, Beltran was far and away the ‘clutchiest’ in this postseason with 9 hits in 12 AB with 13 RBI . Yep, his rep survived.
Ortiz’s grandslam against the Tigers was pretty clutch. Ortiz will be remembered for this post-season. Beltran’s will be a quasi-interesting footnote.
Carlos Beltran will be remembered as one of the greatest post season performers ever, as will Ortiz. That’s *not* arguable. Who is the *best* ever *is* arguable. At least decide on what you are arguing- first it was all postseason series’, now it’s just this year’s postseason.
With all the rounds of playoffs that exist today, records are skewed anyway. A lot of recent players are looking like all-timers now.
The extra rounds actually provide a more accurate evaluation of performance due to the greater sample size. Now if someone is just going by totals, such as RBIs and HRs, that would not be an accurate evaluation.
By the weekend SF should be rid of Zito once and for all, and have declined to pay Vogs $6.5 mill, tho it’s certainly possible both sides agree on a make good type contract for RV.
After the calm of the *quiet period* ends this weekend, first storm of off season looming; possible some FA stuff shakes out soon, GM meetings in another 10-12 days.
Buddy of mine who is lifelong Redskins fan always says off season is his fav time— as opposed to once they start actually playing and reality sets in.