We'll all have a little while longer to get used to the Astros being in the American League as they did a favor to mankind by shutting out the Yankees 3-0 in the Bronx in the wild card game.
Now I want the Cubs to move on against the Pirates tonight. I have nothing against the Pirates. It would be awful to be one of their fans and to have to host this affair every year only to lose. Last year the Giants crushed them 8-0, as we all recall, in MadBum's opening act in his post-season masterpiece.
I still love baseball apparently, even when the Giants are sub-par.
Anyway, I thought we could all use a fresh thread.
20 comments:
I am, as usual, rooting against Big Media. I am so glad that the Yankees are out - of course the favored Big Media match-up would have Yankees vs LA. And that would have been unwatchable. So although I will always root for St. Louis (although not against the Giants), a Houston vs Pittsburgh World Series sounds good to me. Pittsburgh will have to go through Jake Arrieta, though, and that won't be easy.
1) Sure, Arrieta's great, but Gerrit Cole isn't exactly chopped liver. This will be a who-can-outlast-who type of game. The Pirates are certainly capable of pulling it off. Losing 2 consecutive crap shoot games would be cruel.
2) Toronto is my AL pick (not only my favorite of the AL Teams in the post-season, but, I would think, the favorite, based upon strength & recent results). Kansas City is tough, but seem to be unraveling a bit. Texas is just plain yucky - good, but yucky.
3) I don't think that any NL Team beats St. Louis this year, although Pittsburgh would be cool, too.
4) World Series Winner? Tough one to call: St. Louis based upon overall strength, but Toronto based upon momentum going in. Painful to go against the NL, but I think Toronto in 7. Price will go down as the Greatest Rental of All Time (then, sign for the Giants? ... unlikely, but, who knows?).
Our Eddy Julio Martinez deal appears to be in peril - not a good development. It appears that the youngster is getting a little greedy. I don't think that the Giants brass will take kindly to being jerked around by a guy with such a limited body of work. On the other hand, a $3M signing bonus seems like chump change compared to other recent overseas player deals.
I was happy for Houston as like most non-New Yorkers I usually root against the Yankees. I do like Joe Girardi, though. He strikes me as a thoughtful and intelligent guy and a very good manager. The boos from the Yankee Stadium crowd were classless. No one expected that team to do well this year but they "turned back the clock" and clawed their way to the post-season. They lost to a good team and an ace pitcher. Stupid fans. I hope Giants fans never behave that way. The Astros will have a hard time against the Jays. Only getting to use Keuchel for one game and not being able to match him up against Price puts them at a serious disadvantage.
I've always liked the Pirates and how can you not like the new version with McCutcheon and Cole and players like that? But I'd be happy to see the Cubs get a shot at the big prize. I remember thinking after the Red Sox and White Sox won the Series that the baseball gods would finally open the gate for the Giants. I can appreciate long-suffering fans. Of course it has been a while for the Bucs, too. Great matchup tonight with Arrieta.
Obviously we here at RMC will root for any team to Beat LA. I know several Dodgers fans who already think their club is going to lose to St. Louis! Speaking of the Cardinals, if they win the Series does that make them a "dynasty"? Since 2000 they've had ONE losing season, THREE 100-win seasons, TWELVE playoff appearances, NINE divisional championships, FOUR pennants, and TWO titles. Wow. That's a goddamn enviable run of success. I'd like to see the Giants sustain that kind of consistency for that long. Speaks volumes about their farm system and management.
--M.C.
Yeah, I would be good with Kansas City, Toronto or Houston in the World Series from the AL. Those are all small market teams. But screw Texas because, Texas. Pittsburgh also lost in 2013, to the Cardinals in the NLDS.
I grew up between Yankee stadium in the Bronx, and the Polo grounds just over the bridge in Manhattan. Even though I went to games in the Polo Grounds I was a die hard Giants fan, and used to root against the Yankees in the Bronx. But over the years I have lived in several places across the country, and everywhere I go, it seems folks hate the Yankees. The local disgust I had for the Yankees when I lived there was indeed local. When folks from Texas, or Los Angeles, or Philly hate the Yankees, I find myself less hateful of the Yankees, and I was upset they lost to a Texas team. A backward red state. Sorry Hunter, and Brandon. Of course, Houston won. As much as I despise the Dodgers, I can never forgive the Cubs for 1908. Even though it was before my time. The thought of what they did, is unforgivable. I would like to see a Giants, Yankees World Series with the giants coming out on top, to make up for the two world series we lost to them between 1951 and 1962. Anyway, I initially was driven to post by Pittsburgh's back to back years, of playoff inadequacy. Shut out again. Which reminds me. Will Arrieta or Greinke win the Cy Young, or will Kershaw sneak in with his 301 K's
I'd have picked the Cards too, but not without Molina's thumb tipping the scale their way.
Gotta believe that's the one injury they can't overcome.
Apparently, Garret Cole is chopped liver - well, he was yesterday, anyway. Given that quite a few of the attendees will have endured shutout losses in each of the last 2 Crap Shoot Games, this will throw a bit of a damper on the Cole / Crawford Wedding Celebration. Maybe, to lighten things up, Sean Rodriguez can punch the punch bowl.
Arrieta was most impressive and is on an unprecedented run. The Giants rode on the back of their ace last season, I wonder if the Cubs can do the same, especially since they have another good pitcher (Lester). You have to love their youth. We'll see!
Baggs pointed out that Dexter Fowler is a free agent and thinks he'd be a good fit in SF. He sure had a big night.
I'm going to miss the LDS matchups. KC over HOU? Probably. TOR over TEX? I think so. But I've no preference, really. Payroll rankings: TEX #8, TOR #10, KC #16, HOU #29.
In the NL ABTD, of course. Mets would have been better off at home but at least they can throw out some seriously good pitchers. LA seems like the favorites. #1 in payroll by A LOT. Mets #21. Let's hope they are hungry for glory!
Cubs #13, Cards #11. Too close to call, don't you think? Maybe the fact that they used Arrieta already will be enough of an edge for St. Louis, plus they seem to hit well off Lester. Whoever wins has the more important responsibility of beating LA in the LCS should they get that far!
Jays favored to win Series, Cards second.
Arrieta has been amazing. Forgot the stat, but I read somewhere that the run he's had over his last, roughly, 20 starts, is something no one has done in 100 years or something like that.
Lester had 5 starts against Cards this season, 2.59 ERA, 3 at home (3.63ERA), 2 in St. Louis (1.29 ERA), and really, he dominated them in his last four starts, with the only start that he had a disaster start was in his first start against them, opening day, first time with new team, and he got BABIPed, 8 hits in 4.1 IP, 3 ER. Had he made it to 5 IP without further damage, he had a 3 PQS, which is perfectly OK for a start. So while it would have been better for the Cubs to have Arrieta going first, being able to throw Lester in games 1 and 5 is pretty good too, he has dominated the Cards four times, twice in September, and it was not like they were going to have both pitch twice in the series.
The Cubs main problem is that the Cards have four outstanding starters in their rotation right now, Lackey, Wacha, Lynn, Garcia, while the Cubs only have two. The Cubs best chance is if they could somehow pitch Arrieta and Lester twice in this series.
If Molina is truly damaged goods that should offset the effectiveness of the Cardinals pitcher, at least a little.
David Price is now a perfect 0-6 in 6 post-season starts. I do NOT want to see him in orange and black.
I predict Kershaw will also maintain the consistency of his playoff history.
As of this writing all home teams are a collective 0-4. Wazzup with that? Coincidence?
Price is good. I'd have no qualms if he came to SF. I wouldn't say "no" to Kershaw either just because the Cards have whipped him a few times. The early results tell us what we already knew: anything can happen in a short series. And playoff teams are evenly matched. "Favorites" are not favored by a whole hell of a lot.
Kershaw got another L.
I don't exactly blame Utley, however I do think he is vile scum for making that play. The blame is completely with the umpire. It was an easy interference call, especially since he never touched the base and didn't really try. If umpires can not call that, something is wrong. Sure a few good old boys will be bent but it is clearly a call that is needed to be made. I mean, gee, there was a broken player on the ground!!! Utley's intent had nothing to do with reaching second base safely AND IT WAS A VERY CLOSE PLAY! He avoided his clear path to second (which he is obligated to take) and chose to make contact instead. That is obviously interference, isnt it? Huge blown call, that inning should have ended there with the Mets up 2-1. This one will be talked about for a while, but interference was the call I made at the time.
BTW Anyone else get immediate Panik and BCraw flashbacks???
Even if it was not interference (which it way, you are totally correct) Utley was out because he never touched the base before he was tagged. They said something about an appeal play, but they have to appeal after Mattingly appeals after he was already called out? That's not right. Put an asterisk next to that win.
This was an '* next to the series' kind of play. It would be sickening if LA somehow wins, after benefiting from a horrendous & criminal slide, a poor umpiring decision, & by injuring an opposing Team's Player on purpose, putting him out of action for the remainder of the Post-Season. I saw that play live, & I've seen it a couple of times since. It get worse every time I see it.
Utley getting a 2-game suspension is absurdly short (basically, it just means that he gets out of even having to suit up & take the field in New York, where he would have been booed continuously, if not assaulted). That slide was vile & against the rules of the game (both literally & from the perspective of the so-called Players' Code of Conduct). It made the Holliday / Scutaro incident seem like a little Kids' scrap - this one was jailhouse violence.
New York could have had a chance to close out the Series tonight after beating both Kershaw & Greinke in LA. Now, short-handed, they definitely have to face Kershaw again, if not Greinke, too.
Almost all pitchers pitch worse on short rest, though obviously their worse is better than the best of a lot of pitchers. But the Mets have some pretty good pitchers too, and as they showed tonight, they are pretty riled up. Hope they give it pretty good to Kershaw and eliminate the Dodgers post-haste.
David Price got a W but it doesn't really count.
Oh, and it was so fine to see the Dodgers get crushed, and the home run derby at Wrigley was sweet.
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