kevfc89
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Post by kevfc89 on Sept 5, 2020 23:41:31 GMT -5
I just watched Daniel Bard shove with two strikeouts to close out the Dodgers. Somehow, he still has his 99mph whiffle ball fastball and great slider that you remember from way back when, but he can locate it once again. He has over 11K's/9 innings and less than 2BB's/9 innings on the season; his FIP is 2.20.
All this after suddenly losing his command (and consequently his dominance) in his prime, toiling away for years in the minors as it got even worse, losing his baseball career, battling self-admitted mental demons, and eventually becoming a mental skills coach. All the way at age 35, nearly ten years removed from his last good season, earning his way back to a big league team and has been one of the best relievers/closers in baseball this year for a team with playoff hopes.
Suddenly, my goals in life feel a little easier to achieve.
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Post by tonyc on Sept 6, 2020 1:18:09 GMT -5
Terrible news. Fantastic pitcher. He brought the Mets to respectability and beyond (lead them to the 69 championship) and I still think the Sox might have won the Series with him perhaps starting Game 4 and coming out of the pen in Game 7 (or even 6?). When Clemens was young I thought of him (pitching-wise) as the new Seaver. Too young. I knew he was not doing well when he couldn't attend the 50th reunion of 1969. I think he had alzheimers. Awful. My exact thoughts- a Redsox writer claimed he was their second best pitcher down the stretch to only Clemens. Replacing the weak Al Nipper with him going against his former team in his last game- you bet he may have changed that World Series! I too thought of Clemens as the new Seaver, and despite the great longevity of Ryan thought of Seaver’s superior command comparing the two. I was taking a math test in 6th grade during game 4 1969 WS and had a radio with an earplug hidden by my hair. The whole class knew and kept whispering to me for the score- I screwed up that test, but despite being a Redsox fan, was a Met fan too that year- it seemed like the biggest upset ever and all of us in NY city went nuts! In fact as painful as 1986 was, they went more nuts then too than I ever remember Yankee fans going- there was a guy on the hood of a car going through the Lincoln tunnel playing a sax.
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redsox04071318champs
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Post by redsox04071318champs on Sept 6, 2020 12:09:21 GMT -5
Terrible news. Fantastic pitcher. He brought the Mets to respectability and beyond (lead them to the 69 championship) and I still think the Sox might have won the Series with him perhaps starting Game 4 and coming out of the pen in Game 7 (or even 6?). When Clemens was young I thought of him (pitching-wise) as the new Seaver. Too young. I knew he was not doing well when he couldn't attend the 50th reunion of 1969. I think he had alzheimers. Awful. My exact thoughts- a Redsox writer claimed he was their second best pitcher down the stretch to only Clemens. Replacing the weak Al Nipper with him going against his former team in his last game- you bet he may have changed that World Series! I too thought of Clemens as the new Seaver, and despite the great longevity of Ryan thought of Seaver’s superior command comparing the two. I was taking a math test in 6th grade during game 4 1969 WS and had a radio with an earplug hidden by my hair. The whole class knew and kept whispering to me for the score- I screwed up that test, but despite being a Redsox fan, was a Met fan too that year- it seemed like the biggest upset ever and all of us in NY city went nuts! In fact as painful as 1986 was, they went more nuts then too than I ever remember Yankee fans going- there was a guy on the hood of a car going through the Lincoln tunnel playing a sax. It didn't occur to me then but it does now. Perhaps had Seaver been healthy, he might have started Game 4 of the ALCS against the Angels instead of McNamara putting Clemens on short rest to avoid Nipper down 2 games to 1. Even though the Sox lost Game 4 after Clemens' brilliant performance - you might recall that the Sox blew a 3-0 lead in the 9th inning when Clemens tired, Rice misplayed a ball he lost in the lights, and one strike from victory Schiradi hit Downing with a pitch that tied the game and they lost in extra innings when Grich's hit scored Jerry Narron - our current bench coach and the guy who would make the last out of the ALCS, striking out against Schiraldi. All that was forgotten when the Sox had their miraculous comeback the next day and perhaps all that wouldn't have happened had Seaver pitched. But I can surmise that had he been healthy he could have greatly impacted the World Series - and who wouldn't have wanted to see Seaver pitch against the Mets?! I will say, Seaver was quite effective for the Sox, but I'd say he was behind Hurst and Clemens down the stretch. I recall Hurst being lights out in September and October after he came back from his groin injury. I think Clemens tired a bit down the stretch. I think Boyd was pretty consistent that year - and so was Nipper, who was consistently terrible. The funny/ironic thing about that year was that two years earlier as a kid I had a rough time dealing with the Red Sox' slow start in 1984. The Tigers blew everybody away in April and there was no pennant race after April. The Sox started out like 19-26 or something, on the heels of a sub-.500 season where my favorite player Yaz had retired. So while I was a huge Boggs fan, I let myself wander over to the Mets, who were young and exciting and on the way up and kind of got interested in them and started rooting for them. Naturally they cooled off as the Cubs were the even bigger exciting rags to riches story and while they were doing that I hadn't noticed but the core of the Red Sox was changing and improving. Clemens came up. Eck was traded for Buckner. Barrett and Gutierrez were the new keystone combo, Gedman matured, Easler was truly The Hit Man, and that OF was amazing - Rice, Armas, and Evans, each knocking in 100+ RBI, when we thought that was the true worth of a player - when we didn't know any better. And Boyd, Hurst, Ojeda, and Nipper all took a step forward in their development that year to go along with Clemens and the Sox finished a respectable 86-76 (albeit 19 games out and in 4th place), but it felt like there would be better things ahead. So by the time the Sox faced the Mets in 1986, I was really intrigued. I can honestly say that by the time the Series was over and Davey Johnson uttered his "We were the best team - we should have won" line, I had become a Mets hater. Except for when they played the Yankees in the Series in 2000, I could never root for the Mets to succeed ever again, and I hope I live a very, very, long life and the Mets (and Yankees) never win another World Series during it! That said, I will always have a soft spot in my heart for the 1969 Mets (and 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers and Dodgers team of that era). How can you not?!
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manfred
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Post by manfred on Sept 6, 2020 19:41:45 GMT -5
I don’t want to jump the gun on this, but I am leaning towards saying Matt Harvey might not be good.
In all seriousness, what a waste. I know injuries were the main problem, but he did not exactly take great care of himself.
Add: and his 11.70 ERA comes after a relatively good performance today. But 22 hits in 10 innings... not so good.
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manfred
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Post by manfred on Sept 6, 2020 20:28:25 GMT -5
First Seaver, now Lou Brock. Both guys I really admired when I was little. Anyone here remember Brock-a-Pop? Vess soda made it in St. Louis. Cool branding long before that was a thing.
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Post by Chris Hatfield on Sept 7, 2020 12:33:18 GMT -5
Crazy fact: Lou Brock faced Tom Seaver more than any other pitcher, and Tom Seaver faced Lou Brock more than any other hitter.
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Post by philsbosoxfan on Sept 9, 2020 7:15:46 GMT -5
This price is of course temporary but... The Athletic updated their profile picture. 1tS0ghmponsorerfd · Here for every sports story that matters. Sign up for $1: theathletic.com/checkout2?plan_id=48
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Post by kman22 on Sept 9, 2020 22:28:57 GMT -5
In honor of the NFL season starting tomorrow, the Braves win 29-9.
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Post by soxin8 on Sept 10, 2020 16:58:31 GMT -5
When we were discussing taking on the Wil Myers contract back when we were dreaming about raiding the San Diego farm, I seem to remember there were a couple of people who opined that Myers could be considered a bounce back candidate. He currently has an OPS of .994 so if you were one of those people, congratulations.
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jimoh
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Post by jimoh on Sept 10, 2020 20:24:29 GMT -5
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mobaz
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Post by mobaz on Sept 10, 2020 20:41:28 GMT -5
Dave Robert just might not be a good coach.
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manfred
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Post by manfred on Sept 10, 2020 22:16:47 GMT -5
Wooops.... another Workman blown save.
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Post by philsbosoxfan on Sept 11, 2020 4:22:33 GMT -5
Jon Heyman @jonheyman Level 1: #SFGiants dfa Pablo Sandoval. End of an era? . . . Maybe the Sox should take a look.
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manfred
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Post by manfred on Sept 11, 2020 10:12:14 GMT -5
Jon Heyman @jonheyman Level 1: #SFGiants dfa Pablo Sandoval. End of an era? . . . Maybe the Sox should take a look.Could sign him to one-day contract so he can retire a Sox legend.
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Post by philsbosoxfan on Sept 13, 2020 2:27:41 GMT -5
Bob Nightengale @bnightengale · 11h Awful news for the Oakland #Athletics who lose Gold Glove 3B Matt Chapman for the season. The A’s were my spring training pick to play the #Dodgers in the World Series.
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Post by philsbosoxfan on Sept 13, 2020 6:47:08 GMT -5
YAY Dodgers fans..
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Post by incandenza on Sept 13, 2020 9:51:13 GMT -5
Fangraphs currently has 8 teams in the AL with a 96% chance to make the playoffs, and no other team with more than a 3% chance. With a quarter of the season left to play the playoff picture is basically locked in already.
That's kind of fluky, but it really will make the season so boring if they permanently expand to a 16-team playoffs. All the drama will be about which 79-83 team will get the last playoff spot and if your team is a juggernaut you'll just have to twiddle your thumbs for months until you can see whether they win a coin flip of a 3-games series in the first round.
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redsox04071318champs
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Post by redsox04071318champs on Sept 13, 2020 10:58:10 GMT -5
Fangraphs currently has 8 teams in the AL with a 96% chance to make the playoffs, and no other team with more than a 3% chance. With a quarter of the season left to play the playoff picture is basically locked in already. That's kind of fluky, but it really will make the season so boring if they permanently expand to a 16-team playoffs. All the drama will be about which 79-83 team will get the last playoff spot and if your team is a juggernaut you'll just have to twiddle your thumbs for months until you can see whether they win a coin flip of a 3-games series in the first round. Yup, exactly my feelings on the subject. I was never a huge fan of the wild card but I get the merits of it. You're including more of the 90 - 95 win teams that wouldn't have made it before. I was actually cool with the 2nd wild card because I like the idea of a wild card team not having the easy access to winning the division winners have. By including the 2nd wild card you're now including a team most likely from a 85 - 90 win tier. But this tournament type thing - for 2020 it's fine, but for a real 162 game season, no way. You're basically inviting the 79-83 teams in and leaving them as the drama to make the playoffs like you said. You know that owners want this to happen. I just hope like hell it doesn't. Baseball doesn't need to be watered down any further!
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Post by foreverred9 on Sept 13, 2020 11:52:57 GMT -5
Fangraphs currently has 8 teams in the AL with a 96% chance to make the playoffs, and no other team with more than a 3% chance. With a quarter of the season left to play the playoff picture is basically locked in already. That's kind of fluky, but it really will make the season so boring if they permanently expand to a 16-team playoffs. All the drama will be about which 79-83 team will get the last playoff spot and if your team is a juggernaut you'll just have to twiddle your thumbs for months until you can see whether they win a coin flip of a 3-games series in the first round. Doing the math (assuming independence) that means there's only a 9% chance that that a team outside of the top 8 makes the playoffs. I'm surprised it's that polarized, but I think that's a function of the 7th and 8th teams being the Yankees and Astros. Take names off of things and you have 3 teams at 20-25 and a team at 23-23, the odds should be less certain.
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Post by ramireja on Sept 13, 2020 23:27:53 GMT -5
Jon Heyman @jonheyman Level 1: #SFGiants dfa Pablo Sandoval. End of an era? . . . Maybe the Sox should take a look.Could sign him to one-day contract so he can retire a Sox legend. Ha. Be careful what you wish for...he's been known to derail premium draft positions.
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Post by philsbosoxfan on Sept 14, 2020 19:24:30 GMT -5
The Mets and Cohen have agreed to a team sale. It now has to be voted on by the rest of the owners and needs 23 votes to pass. The sale price is $2.4+ billion, a record for an American sports franchise. If approved, Cohen would be by far the richest owner in baseball (by about a 4 to 1 margin). www.mlb.com/news/mets-sale-agreement-steve-cohenMaybe a bright future for the Mets.
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Post by kman22 on Sept 14, 2020 23:16:13 GMT -5
Wow, Wil Myers and the Padres are red hot.
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Post by philsbosoxfan on Sept 15, 2020 6:49:55 GMT -5
Jon Heyman @jonheyman Level 1: #SFGiants dfa Pablo Sandoval. End of an era? . . . Maybe the Sox should take a look.Could sign him to one-day contract so he can retire a Sox legend. He's apparently not ready to retire: Jon Heyman @jonheyman · 13h Breaking: Braves sign Pablo Sandoval. Minors deal. Will start at alternate site.
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mobaz
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Post by mobaz on Sept 15, 2020 11:23:12 GMT -5
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Post by beasleyrockah on Sept 15, 2020 12:51:39 GMT -5
So in typical MLB fashion, the league wants to make a bubble but somehow include fans, even though the games will be held at neutral parks.
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