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MLB Playoffs - League Championship Series Thread
ericmvan
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Post by ericmvan on Oct 13, 2020 2:15:58 GMT -5
Dear God,
I want to first thank You for the two victories of the Rays over the Astros. While I did not pray for that, I did devoutly wish for it. If You do not mind, I will take partial credit, as infinitesimal as that part must be given Your glory.
However, I want to make it perfectly clear that at no time did I ever wish for the second Astros loss to be as agonizing as humanly possible for the team and its fans. Such a thought did not even cross my mind, and a mere defeat of any sort would have been entirely satisfactory. Even turning five Astros hits into outs by having them hit directly at, or just within the reach of a Rays fielder, while giving them just two cheap hits, would have seemed unnecessary to me, and yet I can see the point of it -- three extra hits usually amount to two runs, so there's your tie game to agonize over, plus an extra inning to try to win it. But arranging those hard outs and cheap hits in such a fashion as to cost the Astros seven runs or more? [*] That would have been inconceivable, and after the fact it remains nearly so.
So that one's all on You.
I love it!
[*] Statcast total hits by xBA was 12.9 rather than 10.
The hard outs were the Bregman and Correa liners to SS in the first and second, Tucker's deep fly outs to Kiermeier in the third and sixth, and Springer's GDP ball in the 9th. The two cheap hits were Gurriel and Reddick's singles to start the ninth. If anyone wants the details of how changing all of those leads to 7 more runs (and has 2 on and 2 out in the eighth), ask me!
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Post by philsbosoxfan on Oct 13, 2020 3:20:44 GMT -5
If the Dodgers lose the series, Sox should get on the horn and offer JDM straight up for Roberts. Give the Dodgers something to think about before they fire him. There's always a scapegoat when teams are expected to win and don't.
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Post by jerrygarciaparra on Oct 13, 2020 4:18:39 GMT -5
let's be honest here. one of the reasons that folks are rooting for the Devil Rays is that analytically minded people are impressed with their success. That's great. Plucky Underdog.....Owner's payroll wet dream...They deserve a lot of credit.
However, THEY PLAY AGAINST OUR FAVORITE TEAM, IN OUR DIVISION, AND ARE A THORN IN OUR SIDE.
Has the whole world gone mad ?
Can we at least leave fan base loyalty traditions in place ? There isn't a reason to root for them. The Astros, who are totally unlikeable, should be rooted for except in marriage / in-law circumstances, as has been pointed out.
Stop the madness !!!
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Post by philsbosoxfan on Oct 13, 2020 4:43:16 GMT -5
You prefer the Sox only play wimpy teams ?
I personally prefer the years where the Eastern AL is the best in baseball.
Yankees still suck though.
My general preference:
Red Sox Red Sox' Division Red Sox' League
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Post by unitspin on Oct 13, 2020 4:43:58 GMT -5
I'm rooting for the rays bcs of the pitching staff. They put that staff together by trades drafts and wise free agent signings. The fact they are getting by with their lineup is due to how good their rotation is. Let's be honest the yanks starters besides cole are horrendous, they have a great bullpen and great lineup. But they have no starting pitching. Houston is built the same way garbage starting pitching a great lineup, however they have a weaker pen then the yanks. Can't wait to see who the astros start next bcs Tampa still has two good starters to throw.
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Post by jerrygarciaparra on Oct 13, 2020 5:10:01 GMT -5
You prefer the Sox only play wimpy teams ? I personally prefer the years where the Eastern AL is the best in baseball. Yankees still suck though. My general preference: Red Sox Red Sox' Division Red Sox' League Think of it this way. The Rays are the MFY's lite
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Post by philsbosoxfan on Oct 13, 2020 5:43:10 GMT -5
I don't see any more comparisons between the Yankees and Rays than I do between any other club in baseball (Astros excluded).
ADD: Breaking it down to it's simplest format, there are only two kinds of teams in baseball. Those that are the Red Sox and those that aren't the Red Sox. If it isn't the Sox, it isn't important.
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redsox04071318champs
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Post by redsox04071318champs on Oct 13, 2020 7:46:10 GMT -5
You prefer the Sox only play wimpy teams ? I personally prefer the years where the Eastern AL is the best in baseball. Yankees still suck though. My general preference: Red Sox Red Sox' Division Red Sox' League Think of it this way. The Rays are the MFY's lite Jerry, I don't get the comparison to the Yankees. They're nothing at all like the Yankees. I'm just so happy for them that they beat the Yankees. If anything the Rays remind me of the 1976-1985 Royals. They're a smart franchise with limited resources, who when they have success, find themselves in a situation where they cannot at all afford to keep their teams together so when those guys find success and are ready to bolt, the Rays must get rid of them (every good player is a "Mookie" situation for them) and make either a genius trade or find a way to draft well when they don't, which is not as easy to do when you're successful and picking toward the bottom. So after awhile it fails, the team finds last place for a few years and smartly rebuilds - guess that's where the comparison to KC ends - it took them 30 years to rebuild and after finding glory, and losing their players, they have yet to rebuild. Tampa has yet to find the ultimate glory but they didn't stay down for more than 3 or 4 years before finding success these past few years. So this team with 0 championships is supposed to be hated and reviled like they're the Yankees who stole Babe Ruth away (along with all other Sox stars), won 27 championships and stomped on the Red Sox for 85 years until 2004? I can't get behind that idea. If the Rays win, then I'll be happy for them. I don't suspect they'll become a hated dynasty. I'll probably be happier for them than their ten fans who would show up to the games before the pandemic. Likewise, should the Orioles or Jays rise up after years of being down and grab themselves some glory, then I'll be happy for them too. I mean the O's haven't won since 1983 and with the exception of the mid 90s and mid 10's, they haven't even been remotely competitive. And with the Jays, since Carter's HR gave them back-to-back in 1993, they have only been competitive in the mid-10s themselves and are just now finally becoming a respectable team again. Other than the Yankees, I can't hate any of these franchises. And if they should finish first in their battles with the Red Sox, then good for them. Or as like Phil said, what good is it if the Red Sox play in a division of creampuffs? As a Patriots fan, it's been hard to get too worked up about beating the Jets, Bills, or Dolphins over the past two decades. They've all been cream puffs. The victories have been more of a chore than a joy. Now if the Bills can have success, then playing them or beating them would mean something and should the Bills win, then good for them. It's not like they're the Yankees. Nobody should have hatred in their heart for anybody - except the Yankees. lol
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Post by jerrygarciaparra on Oct 13, 2020 9:12:58 GMT -5
i get it i am being a little heavy handed. My bad, i am bored. However, screw the Rays !!
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manfred
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Post by manfred on Oct 13, 2020 9:29:23 GMT -5
Oh god... if it is Rays-Braves, the ratings will basically be 2. That is the 2 tvs will be on in their clubhouses. LeBron wins another title in LA, then America gets treated to a dessert of, er, Freddie Freeman and ATL? Get those Wheaties boxes ready!
People can hate the Astros, and should, but that is the point: they are the heels. It is hard to feel anything about the Rays or Braves other than, well, acknowledgement that they, too, are existing baseball clubs?
I know... people are gunna jump on this and say “no, the Rays are fadcinating! So well run! Blah blah.” But remember: we are on baseball nerd board. The average fan doesn’t care about that stuff.
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Post by unitspin on Oct 13, 2020 10:30:07 GMT -5
Oh god... if it is Rays-Braves, the ratings will basically be 2. That is the 2 tvs will be on in their clubhouses. LeBron wins another title in LA, then America gets treated to a dessert of, er, Freddie Freeman and ATL? Get those Wheaties boxes ready! People can hate the Astros, and should, but that is the point: they are the heels. It is hard to feel anything about the Rays or Braves other than, well, acknowledgement that they, too, are existing baseball clubs? I know... people are gunna jump on this and say “no, the Rays are fadcinating! So well run! Blah blah.” But remember: we are on baseball nerd board. The average fan doesn’t care about that stuff. It seems like the average fan did not care much about the NBA finals as well. I saw somewhere worse ratings of nba Finals history. I'll watch the rays vs braves both are likeable teams.
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ericmvan
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Post by ericmvan on Oct 13, 2020 12:58:43 GMT -5
let's be honest here. one of the reasons that folks are rooting for the Devil Rays is that analytically minded people are impressed with their success. That's great. Plucky Underdog.....Owner's payroll wet dream...They deserve a lot of credit. However, THEY PLAY AGAINST OUR FAVORITE TEAM, IN OUR DIVISION, AND ARE A THORN IN OUR SIDE.
Has the whole world gone mad ?
Can we at least leave fan base loyalty traditions in place ? There isn't a reason to root for them. The Astros, who are totally unlikeable, should be rooted for except in marriage / in-law circumstances, as has been pointed out.
Stop the madness !!!Even in a vacuum, the better the Rays (and this year, the Braves) do, the better it makes the Red Sox. It doesn't just make us look better, it means that we probably were better without realizing it.
Once your division rival gets into the playoffs and you don't, there's nothing more you can do or say. It's a fact you have to live with.
The playoffs cannot change the relative difference between you and them. That needs to be fixed in the off-season. But what the playoffs can do is move you and your rivals up or down compared to the other 25 teams. And that matters.
Imagine that they were only a few wins better than you in a tight race.
If they breeze through the playoffs to a WS victory, that suggests that the whole division was stronger than believed and that you could have done nearly as well. If they get swept by the Twins in the DS, that's not good, that's bad. It suggests that the division was weak and you weren't as good as you thought.
This is the reason for phil's rooting algorithm, which is spot-on. The stronger your division / league is, the fewer wins you need to be a WS contender of any given strength. But you don't know that until the playoffs are done.
The best thing for us would be to have the Rays and Braves sweep. That would strongly suggest that the West clubs were weaker than folks realized. Just like the first round showed that the Central clubs were relatively terrible.
Now ....
In the special case of us and the Rays, the better the Rays do, the smarter it makes Bloom. It doesn't just make him seem to be smarter; it means he did an even better job helping to build a great team in TB than we think at present.
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shagworthy
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Post by shagworthy on Oct 13, 2020 13:09:23 GMT -5
Oh god... if it is Rays-Braves, the ratings will basically be 2. That is the 2 tvs will be on in their clubhouses. LeBron wins another title in LA, then America gets treated to a dessert of, er, Freddie Freeman and ATL? Get those Wheaties boxes ready! People can hate the Astros, and should, but that is the point: they are the heels. It is hard to feel anything about the Rays or Braves other than, well, acknowledgement that they, too, are existing baseball clubs? I know... people are gunna jump on this and say “no, the Rays are fadcinating! So well run! Blah blah.” But remember: we are on baseball nerd board. The average fan doesn’t care about that stuff. It seems like the average fan did not care much about the NBA finals as well. I saw somewhere worse ratings of nba Finals history. I'll watch the rays vs braves both are likeable teams. I personally can feel quite a bit of animosity towards the Braves. I live in their market area and every time the Sox play down here my mlb at bat subscription is blacked out and I have to listen to the game on radio in my living room. I'm a Sox fan tried and true, but I have no problem rooting for the Rays considering what they have done with little to no support from fans. There are a few great personal interest stories within that clubhouse and Arozarena has been like a video game character. I won't root for the Astros not just because they cheated, but more the tactic they took after it was unearthed, the petulance and lack of contrition make everyone in that organization look horrible.
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Post by orion09 on Oct 13, 2020 15:53:27 GMT -5
Sorry but I can't root for a division rival...Believe me I tried HARD for that one but I just can't do it. To me, it’s hard to see the Rays as a true rival. They’re kind of like a kid brother... you root for them to do well, but you can’t really take them seriously. Maybe that’ll change if they win a World Series.
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redsox04071318champs
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Post by redsox04071318champs on Oct 13, 2020 16:04:13 GMT -5
Sorry but I can't root for a division rival...Believe me I tried HARD for that one but I just can't do it. To me, it’s hard to see the Rays as a true rival. They’re kind of like a kid brother... you root for them to do well, but you can’t really take them seriously. Maybe that’ll change if they win a World Series. Well you wouldn't have to worry about obnoxious bragging entitled Rays fans being overly grating and constantly rubbing things in (like those 1918 signs that used to exist) the way another fanbase did.
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Post by kevfc89 on Oct 13, 2020 18:18:33 GMT -5
Dodgers down 2-0 in the 4th after Freeman does his Casas impression . Dodgers are in big trouble if they lose tonight, Kershaw has been so good this year but has been pushed back to game 4 with back spasms. Urias goes tomorrow, and not sure how he'll fare against this Braves lineup.
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Post by sarasoxer on Oct 13, 2020 20:22:46 GMT -5
Sorry but I can't root for a division rival...Believe me I tried HARD for that one but I just can't do it. To me, it’s hard to see the Rays as a true rival. They’re kind of like a kid brother... you root for them to do well, but you can’t really take them seriously. Maybe that’ll change if they win a World Series. Well, in the next few years you might be whistling a new tune. The Rays, with an annual paucity of funds that would throw us Sox fans into paroxysms of near eternal despair, have muscles...Yup, they've been our little brother forever but now they are all 'growed' up and kicked sand in the Yankees faces..So I am proud of 'junior'...but wary that he may kick my butt for things I did to him as a kid.
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Post by soxfaninnj on Oct 13, 2020 21:18:42 GMT -5
What a crazy 9th inning. Braves hold on by the skin of their teeth
add: Albies hit it to melancon in the ninth again
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Post by soxfaninnj on Oct 13, 2020 21:39:02 GMT -5
Wtf is up with Altuves arm?
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Post by philsbosoxfan on Oct 13, 2020 23:43:25 GMT -5
A good day for baseball. It would have been better if the Astros instead of the Dodgers got excruciatingly close but the results are what's important. Sweep the Stros.
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ericmvan
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Post by ericmvan on Oct 14, 2020 2:24:15 GMT -5
The Rays tonight played the best defensive game I've ever seen in the post-season.
Meanwhile, some worker drone at Comcast failed to mark the NL game as a live broadcast, and I only got 3 hours recorded. I set up the repeat broadcast, so I'll watch the last 3 innings tomorrow, but I couldn't avoid hearing the final score. Damn!
OTOH, the recording of the last Dodgers / Padres game was 16 hours long. Presumably the same guy failed to hit the "stop" button for that one.
East is now 5-0 versus the West ...
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Post by philsbosoxfan on Oct 14, 2020 5:12:59 GMT -5
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Post by unitspin on Oct 14, 2020 8:29:21 GMT -5
Get the brooms out, hopefully this lingo is okay with the English teacher on the board.
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Post by philsbosoxfan on Oct 14, 2020 8:59:09 GMT -5
Gabrielle @gfstarr1 · 9h A list of MLB teams that have come back from being down 3-0 in a postseason series:
1. The 2004 Boston Red Sox
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Post by jerrygarciaparra on Oct 14, 2020 9:57:02 GMT -5
The Dodgers series is surprising. However, I put them in the class of teams that can come back from this deficit. The Rays series is over, there isn't any reason to think otherwise.
The playoffs are so tough. When I think of 2018, that our guys went through the Astros, MFY and Dodgers with an 11-3 record, it seems more amazing than when they won 108 games, if that is even possible.
I miss our team not being in playoffs the last few years, but it bears repeating. That was the greatest Red Sox season in history. Feel so privileged to have witnessed.
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