MLB Thread

[mojoween]

Aww man, this East Coaster couldn't make it past 11 p.m. when it was 7-3. I would have loved to have seen the walk off, did the fans at least stay the whole time?

Adam Dunn declared his retirement. Poor guy didn't even get to play in his last game.

I find it surprising that after they played James Shields's gracious comments about the clusterfuck Yost caused in the middle of the game one of the Baseball Tonight guys was critical of Shields for being a good teammate. They can disagree with Yost all day, and they can say they know what Shields is really thinking, but to rip on him for being a nice guy is a curious decision.

Edited October 1, 2014 by mojoween

[TheAnglican]

You know, I might almost be OK with the Angels winning the whole damn enchilada if it would mean they could retire the rally monkey from 2002. It's been 12 years, guys - you need a new gimmick!

[wanderingstar]

Time capsule - NYT looks at cultural highlights from the last time the Royals were in the playoffs.

[Sweets McGee]

What a game for the Royals and those fans who have been waiting a long time. But this green and gold soul of mine is crushed. Maybe next year, eh Brad PItt?

[MyAimIsTrue]

I'm the fan the networks don't give a shit about, because I'm going to watch the MLB postseason even if I hate all of the teams.

I mean, how can you not watch?

 

You and me both!!!  I will watch for the love of baseball until the final out of the WS regardless of who is playing!

 

That being said when I went to bed last night the Royals were down 7 - 3 so imagine my surprise at finding out they won in extra innings.  Are you kidding me???  I can't wait to get home from work tonight and see the highlights on MLBN.

[mojoween]

I can't wait to get home from work tonight and see the highlights on MLBN.

I saw the highlight of the game-winning hit and to my untrained eye, it looks like the ball missed the third baseman's glove by inches, and it might have even hit his glove. I can't wait to read your impressions.

[MyAimIsTrue]

If only the stupid firewall at work didn't block video sites!  I suppose I could watch highlights on my phone but that's not as much fun.

[rippleintime17]

I definitely did. But even if he had made the play, who knows if there would have been an out. The run might not have scored there but the Royals still would have had a chance. 

 

That was a CRAZY game and I hope some of the chaos is out of the Wild Card's system. I'd love a fun and thrilling game tonight but I also don't know if I can take 12 innings of not knowing what the hell is going to happen! 

[MyAimIsTrue]

I've read about Jarrod Dyson stealing third.  Can I assume he pulled a "Dave Roberts" move in terms of it being a game changing/winning move?

[King of Birds]

Well I'm biased obviously, but I don't see it as Dave-Roberts-esque. I mean, everyone in the world knew Roberts was sent in to steal 2nd. EVERYONE. It was just a matter of when, and "how many times can Rivera throw to 1b?"

 

Dyson taking 3rd was a bit of a surprise, I wasn't expecting it. Though the Royals ran all over on Norris last night.

 

Let me just get this mini-rant out, if you will: Once Again, an incredible baseball game and exciting ending that happened far too late for any kid who wanted to watch, to see live. I detest everything about playoff baseball, with games starting later than they should- for "prime time" and extra commercial time between innings.

 

This is part of the baseball news cycle today: MLB to test pace-of-game rules in Arizona League.  But why should those minor leaguers even go through that bullshit when there is some asinine idea that baseball games should start after 8pm ??

 

Football games sometimes run late- MNF/ SNF etc.  But football playoff games? NOPE.

 

No wonder why baseball "loses" the kids. They're not even trying to keep them as viewers.

Edited October 1, 2014 by King of Birds

[mojoween]

I believe from 6:30 to 7:30 yesterday on TBS they were showing Seinfeld reruns. I mean, are you telling me that a syndicated rerun of a 20 year old show would earn more revenue than a one and done baseball game? I highly doubt it.

Same as whatever is on ESPN tonight. There is no reason the baseball pregame show couldn't start at 6:30 and have first pitch at 7:10, which is the same as what is done for the majority of games 1 through 162.

The only wrinkle I can see is FOX, because at least in my market they show Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! from 7 to 8.

I'm not making it up, am I, that I used to watch day playoff games during the Mets '86 championship run? I swear I watched them during family dinners.

[MyAimIsTrue]

Let me just get this mini-rant out, if you will: Once Again, an incredible baseball game and exciting ending that happened far too late for any kid who wanted to watch, to see live. I detest everything about playoff baseball, with games starting later than they should- for "prime time" and extra commercial time between innings.

 

Not just kids as the game ran too late for this 49 year old working girl.  I'm often out the door by 6:30AM so my days of staying up much past 11:00PM are long gone.

[xaxat]

I understand the desire for earlier start times in general, but I think it would have been incredibly unfair to the people of Oakland to have that game start at four local on a weekday.

Edited October 1, 2014 by xaxat

[MyAimIsTrue]

I do agree with that.  Basically there's no good way to do this anymore.

[King of Birds]

I don't know- this year the first round games are split up on Fox Sports 1 and TBS and MLBN. I recall a few years ago, when TBS had all the games (I think?) and so start times varied for the divisional series.

 

I'm on the west coast, fan of an east coast team, and often would either DVR the game to see the first few innings, or just follow on my phone til I got home.  I guess I'm just used to games starting 4- 430pm.

[AndreaK1041]

As an A's fan and a Michigan alumni, I feel a little broken these days.  I am so pissed at the A's - not for losing last night, but for putting themselves in a position to even be playing a wild card game on the road. It was a thrilling game, and being a local fan and having the game end before 10pm sure was convenient.  And I did race home from work to make sure I saw the first pitch, so I wouldn't have wanted an earlier game.  

 

Hopefully the Giants lose.  I just cannot deal with Giants fans around here.

[Sweets McGee]

The last two months were a slow, torturous death and the Wild Card game a microcosm of the entire season. At one point the A's had a 95% statistical chance of winning that game. Rewind to two months ago and we probably had the same percentage chance of winning the division. But all the bad things that can happen happened. Into the cold autumn and winter we'll go but we'll be back, and we'll do it all again next year! (for better or for worse)

Edited October 1, 2014 by Sweets McGee

[mojoween]

Ahh sorry I was one of THOSE PEOPLE who didn't take into account the games would then start at 4 or 5 in the Pacific/Mountain times. Damn. There really IS no happy medium here.

I saw this lady in the stands last night and I'm glad a puppy in Kansas City is going to be rescued.

Edited October 1, 2014 by mojoween

[MyAimIsTrue]

Well I'm a doofus and forgot that my cable box went belly up last night (and the cable guy won't be here until tomorrow) so instead of watching last night's highlights on MLBN I watched video clips on my laptop.  Not quite the same thing but still a lot of fun to see what I missed.

 

And now to watch my baseball boyfriend Cutch on my 7" tablet.  It's better than nothing.

[mojoween]

See I pay attention more when I'm watching on my tablet because I can't use it to play with while the game is on haha.

When do they announce the awards? I mean, Kershaw really has no competition in the NL for MVP, right?

Edited October 2, 2014 by mojoween

[MyAimIsTrue]

The awards are announced after the World Series ends so expect them some time in November.

[ebk57]

The good thing about the game tonight is that I get to go to bed before 2:30am.  The not-so-good thing is that now the O's game on Friday is at noon, so I have to get up early to get parking.

 

Woe is me...  :-)

[King of Birds]

Ooof. That was just painful to watch. That crowd was just slayed. That's part of why I was going for the home teams. Baseball's no fun with a dead crowd.

 

Hey hey EBK - have fun at the game!

Edited October 2, 2014 by King of Birds

[rippleintime17]

As a huge Brandon Crawford and Brandon Belt fan, that game was really fun for me. I genuinely like the Pirates but the Giants are my guys and this season has been so up and down. That Madison was able to deal and those two were able to back him up with SEVEN RBIs between them? It's amazing. I can't get over how good Madison Bumgarner is and I probably won't any time soon. Can't wait to see what this Nats series brings!

[mojoween]

Well that was a big bummer. I was amused at one time when Kruk said something like "Bumgarner has excellent location tonight" and as he's saying that, Posey has to practically stand up to get the pitch because it was so high.

I like Posey a lot, but just can't get on board with the Giants. So go Nats and Dodgers.

I'll be interested to see how the AL plays out. I have this feeling that the Orioles may not be a lock, I feel they were a good team in a weak East.

[MyAimIsTrue]

I'll be interested to see how the AL plays out. I have this feeling that the Orioles may not be a lock, I feel they were a good team in a weak East.

 

Which is exactly why I expected my Braves to flame out of the post season last year, being a decent team in a weak NL East.  And they did.

 

Sorry to the good folks in Pittsburgh if I somehow jinxed the Pirates.  I have no real issue with the Giants except that my grandparents roll over in their graves whenever they do well (going back to the New York days.)

 

Lesson learned last night:  my 7" Galaxy Tab tablet has an HD picture, something I'm not used to with my ancient 27" cathode ray TV.

[Rick Kitchen]

Giants grand-slammer Brandon Crawford's sister is dating a Pirates pitcher.  Needless to say, her Twitter feed was interesting last night.  :)

[mojoween]

Adam Jones is my non-Yankee boyfriend. If the Royals and O's meet I don't know who I will root for.

[MyAimIsTrue]

Now that Cutch is out I don't know who my playoffs boyfriend will be.   I could go back to Brad Ausmus, I suppose, or Smoltzie if he's calling any of the games.

[xaxat]

You know what I really want the new commissioner's to do this off season? Get rid of the rule that the All Star game determines home field for the World Series. It's not a big problem, but it annoys me. And it's something that could be done quick and easy, no need for a committee to study it or renegotiating the CBA or TV deals.

 

It would be an easy way to generate goodwill with the fans. Outside of Bud, and the people working for him at MLB, is there anyone that likes that rule?

[Rick Kitchen]

The reason that the winning All Star league gets the home games of the World Series is because of previous years when the All Star Game meant absolutely nothing and they just went through the motions and fans were bored.

[ebk57]

Went to the O's game this evening.  What an electric night at the ballpark!!  I know I should get some sleep since I have to get up early for parking (!), but I'm a bit keyed up.  And, there's more baseball on the TV!

 

Great start for my team.  Hope we can keep it going!

[Mittengirl]

Who the hell starts a baseball game at noon?!

[Rick Kitchen]

Who the hell starts a baseball game at noon?!

 

You mean today or tomorrow?  Tomorrow there will be four games broadcast.  Today TBS had both games, they had to adjust accordingly.

[King of Birds]

Who the hell starts a baseball game at noon?!

Major League Baseball! That's who! F'in money grubbers!

 

I'm just looking forward to the interview post game where some player says "Well, we started some Gulf Coast league games at 10am back in the day..."

[MyAimIsTrue]

Once again I miss an extra innings win by Kansas City because this stupid thing called "a job" gets in the way of me staying up late on week nights.  Why can't I just win the lottery already!

[rippleintime17]

I understand and appreciate in a lot of ways the effort to keep the games from overlapping. But the noon start time is a sucky one. And with three West Coast teams involved, it makes it so that anyone on the West Coast trying to enjoy the postseason has games starting at 9am! But there's really no way around it, I don't think, if they want to keep games from overlaping, and they are obviously trying to consider time zones when deciding which teams get which slot (both ET teams in the noon games, no ET team in the last game) but yeah. It can be annoying.

[Mittengirl]

An article by a Detroit Free Press writer said that each pitching change took an average of 3 minutes and there were about 3 minutes of commercials between each half inning, which added about an hour to the game. Reducing that by half takes the game from 3 hours and 42 minutes to a little over 3 hours. Which would account for most of the overlap.

The networks and MLB really need to work together to shorten the games. First pitch should be at one minute after the hour, not 10. Lose the horrible sideline and dugout interviews. Last night, at one at bat Victor Martinez had one strike against him before they even showed him at the plate. Inexcusable.

Edited October 3, 2014 by Mittengirl

[xaxat]

Hard to believe Joba Chamberlain isn't even thirty yet. That dude looks like a fifteen season veteran.

[King of Birds]

Well when Joba has innings like that, it ages you. It ages your manager even more! What a comeback by the O's!

[Sweets McGee]

The Tigers bullpen is so, so bad. How does a team have a payroll of $160 million and such an awful bullpen?

[MyAimIsTrue]

My Orioles fan coworker wasn't in the office today and he didn't have an out of office email or voice mail on either.  Me thinks he may have been **cough cough** sick and sitting at a bar somewhere around noon watching the O's game.

[mojoween]

SO MUCH BASEBALL.

I know it sucks to have a game start at nine a.m. for those on the left but four games back to back to back to back sounds like a good time to me. And since I don't work weekends I might be able to make it to the last out this time!

This Nats/Giants game is so good.

[MyAimIsTrue]

My heathen atheist ass will be in synagogue tonight for Kol Nidre services (Yom Kippur begins at sundown) but damn if my mind won't be on the baseball games being played. 

[Rick Kitchen]

My heathen atheist ass will be in synagogue tonight for Kol Nidre services (Yom Kippur begins at sundown) but damn if my mind won't be on the baseball games being played. 

 

Just think of Sandy Koufax sitting out the World Series start for Yom Kippur.

Speaking of which, has anybody heard anything about Brad Ausmus missing a game?

 

Man, Baltimore hasn't had any problems with Detroit's Cy Young winners yet, have they?

Edited October 3, 2014 by Rick Kitchen

[rippleintime17]

Mmm, that was a good game. Good pitching by Peavy, some timely hitting and a pretty Bryce homer that didn't mean anything in the long run. Good on the Giants for grabbing that first one!

[mojoween]

Pardon me while I change into my Mrs. Robinson dress for a moment...Yasiel Puig is soooooo good-looking. I mean, damn.

Ok, I'm back, the not at all lascivious baseball fan. I guess I didn't realize how much the Dodgers and Cardinals hate each other; I forgot about the broken rib last year. That scuffle between Gonzalez and Molina was fun. I still can't believe Kershaw gave up a dinger in the first inning, though.

I know people think Bryce Harper is a dink, but man that HR was pretty. That was a no-doubter if I've ever seen one.

[ebk57]

Just think of Sandy Koufax sitting out the World Series start for Yom Kippur.

Speaking of which, has anybody heard anything about Brad Ausmus missing a game?

 

Man, Baltimore hasn't had any problems with Detroit's Cy Young winners yet, have they?

 

Brad Ausmus won't have to miss a game since the game today ended (seemingly just) before sunset and tomorrow is a travel day.  

 

Went to the game again today.  Orioles Magic - Feel it Happen! :-)

[mojoween]

I can't believe Mattingly left Kershaw in that long. I mean, five out of six singles went to the exact same spot. It was clear Kershaw lost it, and look what happened. What a bummer. I don't want to live in a world where the Cardinals make the NLCS again. Both home teams I was rooting for lost boooooo.

[Rick Kitchen]

I wonder if the heat had anything to do with Kershaw's pitching woes.