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smittykins
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The Cards and Giants have swapped the NLCS the last four years. Sigh. I hope people feel bad about the shit they gave the Yankees all those years!

No offense, but I'm going to be more excited about the ALCS than whatever configuration ends up in the WS.

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I'm also looking forward to the ALCS.  My dad is a Cardinals fan, but I'm so over both the Cardinals and the Giants, that I could care less as to which team goes to the World Series (although I was glad that the Dodgers lost).  I'd rather see an American League team win this year.  

 

As a Nationals fan, I'm not surprised that they lost in the NLDS.  I have a feeling that they're going to be that one team that always makes it to the playoffs, but never makes it past the first round.  Their lack of run support has been an issue all season, especially when Gonzalez and Strasburg pitch. They were much better pitchers than their win/loss record.  The one positive thing that I can say about this series is that at least Soriano was not responsible for blowing any of the NLDS games.  

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No baseball tonight. No baseball tomorrow. Waah.

I find it interesting that the Orioles haven't named a starter for Friday yet, at least according to the official mlb.com page. What are they waiting for?

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There's an article in the LA Times by Bill Plaschke.  He eviscerates the Dodgers owners, GM, and to a lesser extent, Don Mattingly.  One of his points is about the owners making a huge amount of money from a deal that ended with 70% of LA unable to watch the Dodgers.  It was a huge money grab, and Plaschke states that money was not applied to improving the team.  Anyway, I'm a Cardinals fan, but I never enjoy looking at those sad faces of the losing team. 

 

For me, a Cardinals and Giants playoff series will be anything but boring.  The Cubs/Cardinals are legendary enemies, but the Giants/Cardinals also have a lot of history.  When Tony La Russa and Dusty Baker were managers, there was a lot of bad blood between the teams.  It pretty much started in the 2002 NLCS (won by the Giants), and then mushroomed.  It evolved into batters being hit by a pitch, and then retaliation, etc.  It went on for years.  It's much better now that Tony La Russa, Dusty Baker, and Barry Bonds have moved on.

 

I originally went on a spiel defending the Cardinals and their frequent post season appearances, but on reread it came of too defensive and argumentative.  I will say that I definitely understand the irritation a non-fan feels to frequent championships.  I lived in Chicago in Michael Jordan's heyday, and as a non-fan, I was so sick of their three-peats, and MJ crying and hogging the trophy.  Unlike the Bulls, the Cardinals have frequently reached postseason and lost, so maybe that mitigates the dislike a little.

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I'm a Giants fan, and am rooting for them, but how about an I-70 Series (Baltimore and St. Louis) :)

 

That's quite a long drive on I-70 :-) 

 

I could get behind that, though.  I could also get behind my Giants fan friend's "#OrangeOctober" .  

 

Let's go O's!!

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There's an article in the LA Times by Bill Plaschke.  He eviscerates the Dodgers owners, GM, and to a lesser extent, Don Mattingly.  One of his points is about the owners making a huge amount of money from a deal that ended with 70% of LA unable to watch the Dodgers.  It was a huge money grab, and Plaschke states that money was not applied to improving the team.

 

I disagree with Plashke. Less money would have helped the Dodgers. They wouldn't have four (unhappy) starting outfielders and would have realized that the bullpen help they so desperately needed is relatively cheap.

Edited by xaxat
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It's stats like these that have me salivating over the ALCS match up:

 

The Orioles led MLB with 211 home runs this season and the Royals were last with 95 long balls -- and the Royals were first with 153 stolen bases while the Orioles were last with 44 -- but the teams are similar in several respects. They both rely on unheralded starting rotations, lockdown bullpens and defenses that pass the eye test and are hailed by the game's new statistical metrics.

 

They're also not much for taking a casual stroll to first base. The Orioles ranked 26th in the majors with 401 walks, and the Royals were last with 380.

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Yes! I have found the baseball thread on this forum! (I have it bookmarked on the show forums.)

Hello, I'm BoxedWine, and I'm an Orioles fan.

So crazy that NONE of the teams that the experts predicted to win actually won. Of course I'm rooting for the O's in the ALCS, but the Royals are just as deserving, and I would root for them in the WS if they beat us. And I think it's gonna be a tough series. I guess I'm rooting for the Giants over the Cardinals, but I don't follow the NL much.  You have to root for the underdogs unless your favorite team is not the underdog.

Oh, and going back a few pages, since I skimmed everything before posting, I had no problem with the Jeter celebrations even though I actively root against the Yankees. He had been on the team for his entire career and has been nothing but a class act.

Aaahhhh! So almost the entire country is pulling for the Royals? I don't know how they take these polls, but that makes me a little sad. The Orioles have sucked for a long time too.

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I like the Orioles, but the Royals have just had a dramatic run and have won the hearts of many over the last week and a half. Even though they crushed me by beating my A's in the wild card game, I ain't even mad (at them, at least).

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I was so stoked that my tweet made the broadcast on Mike & Mike in the Morning today, it was on screen for almost a minute (what can I say, it doesn't take much to amuse me).

@mojoween: @MikeAndMike I'm a Yankee fan in Syracuse but I'm very excited about the ALCS. There is NOTHING exciting about the NLCS.

I meant no offense to all of the lovely Cards and Giants fans but that NLCS is just not my bag. I like Strasburg and Harper and Zimmerman, plus the Nats are the parent club for the Syracuse AAA team. I also like Puig and of course Donny Baseball.

I still do not know what I am going to do with the ALCS. I cannot decide on a team, I like them both.

Edited by mojoween
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I was cleaning out the garage this week and came across a box of really old clothes. In it was a "Thanks for the Memories" T shirt given out during the last days of the Orioles final season at Memorial Stadium. The bleacher seats back then were so much fun. Friendly drunks, not mean like they can be today. My friend got season tickets for the O's next season at Camden Yards in the same spot we usually sat in at Memorial and, although the park is a major upgrade, it was not nearly as entertaining.

 

(As I type this, I'm feeling a wave of nostalgia that almost, but not quite, makes me regret throwing that shirt out.)

Edited by xaxat
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I was cleaning out the garage this week and came across a box of really old clothes. In it was a "Thanks for the Memories" T shirt given out during the last days of the Orioles final season at Memorial Stadium. The bleacher seats back then were so much fun. Friendly drunks, not mean like they can be today. My friend got season tickets for the O's next season at Camden Yards in the same spot we usually sat in at Memorial and, although the park is a major upgrade, it was not nearly as entertaining.

 

(As I type this, I'm feeling a wave of nostalgia that almost, but not quite, makes me regret throwing that shirt out.)

 

Wait - you threw the shirt out??  I was ready to make you an offer!  :-)   (I may have mine somewhere, but I don't know where...)

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You'd think on a Friday night I would stay up for an east coast game in its entirety but no, I had a stressful day yesterday and crashed by 11:00PM so once again I missed an amazing Royals finish.  I've yet to see any of their extra innings win this post season and perhaps I should continue to miss them since it obviously works for the team.

 

My cousin was at the game last night and he posted some great photos on FB.  I'm sure he's not a happy camper today (born and raised in Baltimore.)

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Cal Ripken's grammar is atrocious and I cringe every time he says something like "he hit the ball good" instead of "well."   I'm also not sure why he's working the ALCS since how could he possibly be unbiased?

 

It occurred to me that, Baltimore family be damned, I am rooting for the Royals.  There's something magical happening here, the likes of which I don't remember seeing since the 1991 Braves.

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John Tomase of the Boston Herald on Twitter:  "Prediction: the Royals end up being the 2007 Rockies. They'll blitz to the World Series and then get swept."

 

I can kind of see that, I guess, but I don't remember enough about the '07 Rockies to draw a reasonable comparison.  I was working my tail off at a new job that Fall, and I only vaguely remember Jonathan Papelbon doing the Riverdance.

 

Anyway, Tomase?  Right or wrong?

Edited by TheAnglican
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I turned to the Giants game by going to FS1 instead of FOX and they were doing coverage of the game from the studio, half studio cam half game cam, and I was thinking, wtf is this?  It took me a while to realize to try the other channel.

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I feel like the Royals are a team of destiny.

If Game 4 or 5 is a closeout game for KC the noise level at Kaufman is going to make the record at Arrowhead sound like a whisper.

All I remember from the Rockies is that Matt Halliday didn't perform in the WS like he did leading up to that. And didn't Colorado make the playoffs under controversy? Or maybe I'm thinking of the White Sox play-in game one year against the Twins.

I was reading up on the 85 Series and one thing I couldn't find is if the blown call was the third out? If it was I can see the resentment by the Cards fans but still...they had opportunities after that. I mean, 11-0? What happened there?

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My poor O's, but I saw this coming. The Royals do seem like a team of destiny, and with the way they are playing they may get the sweep. I don't know about the noise record- I always felt KC were crazier about the Chiefs than a Royals with their crappy average attendance. Looks like everyone now is hopping on that bandwagon.

Regardless, will be rooting for them over the NL- sick of the Cards and Giants.

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John Tomase of the Boston Herald on Twitter:  "Prediction: the Royals end up being the 2007 Rockies. They'll blitz to the World Series and then get swept."

 

I can kind of see that, I guess, but I don't remember enough about the '07 Rockies to draw a reasonable comparison.  I was working my tail off at a new job that Fall, and I only vaguely remember Jonathan Papelbon doing the Riverdance.

 

Anyway, Tomase?  Right or wrong?

 

I don't remember anything about the 2007 Rockies so to me it's not an apt comparison.  KC has numerous players who stand out (to me) even at this point and seem to be firing on all cylinders across all positions.

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I think he'd be allowed to play if they "benched" him, but if they take him off the roster due to his injury to replace him with someone else, he wouldn't be able to play. Obiques are pretty rough, Michael Morse just missed over a month with a mild strain, so I'll be surprised if Yadi is available for the rest of this series. I do wonder if they'll just eat his roster spot though.

 

Ugh, to tie the game like that and then still lose was a bummer!

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In case anyone is interested tomorrow at 10 on ESPN they are showing the 30 for 30 "The Day the Series Stopped" about the 89 quake. It might be a repeat, because I know I remember seeing a show about it before.

Still hard to believe it's been 25 years. I was watching that game and it was surreal because no one knew what was happening while it was happening.

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I'm not mad at the outcome, but I feel badly that it came down to a throwing error.

And all this extra baseball is super fun. I hope it continues!

I had the TV on mute when Erin Andrews was interviewing Hunter Pence so I don't even know what she was saying, but her body movements were still annoying.

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I could see Tomase's 2007 Rockies/2014 Royals comparison, but one difference in my mind is that the Rockies really did have a Cinderella feel about them. They came out of nowhere. They were only four games over .500 and in fourth place in their division in mid-September. They just went on a tear at that point -- 13 of 14 games in the remainder of the regular season, sweeps in the first two rounds of the playoffs. Then they ran into the Josh Beckett buzzsaw in WS Game 1, and that was that. Some said it was because they had had a long layoff while a tense Cleveland/Boston ALCS went the distance; some thought they were simply overmatched against the '07 Boston team, their bubble of good fortune having burst. Probably a little of "A" and a little of "B."

 

My sense is that KC has been more consistent through the year, more of a force in their own division than the Rockies were in 2007. KC did have that 10-game win streak in June.  

 

I don't think Tomase's point is invalid because people don't remember much about the '07 Rockies today, though. If KC puts up an anemic fight in the WS and recedes to also-ran status in the next few seasons, memories of them will fade too.  

 

Erin Andrews was only on level 5 (of 10) annoying for me during that Pence interview. She's moderately better at the interviews than the in-game stuff. I cringe when she has to ditz and coo her way through medical terminology. 

 

So, I was reading a piece on which of the playoff teams (counting the ones eliminated) were the most hateable, and the criteria were things like "most million dollar contracts," "fans invade other stadiums," "recent pennants," "SI covers in 2014." Two of my own criteria were not there: "National media talks too much about how great they are/disproportionate hype that slights other team in series" and "Play in a dump I don't want to see on My TV Screen™. " That's one thing that can said for MLB October 2014  -- every team left standing plays in a good-looking place, and Camden/AT&T would be a gorgeous World Series, scenically. The only eyesore possibility in the playoffs is long gone (see ya, Oakland!). Thank God Tampa Bay's mausoleum was not even a factor this year.  

 

Also, Bryce Harper? Still a douchebag. Just because.  

Edited by Simon Boccanegra
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What I remember most about the '07 Rockies was that crazy play-in game with the Padres, that was much like the Royals/A's wild card game this season. Came from behind, extra innings, etc. Only Matt Holliday was probably out at the plate and may have been called out if replay existed.

Edited by Sweets McGee
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In case anyone is interested tomorrow at 10 on ESPN they are showing the 30 for 30 "The Day the Series Stopped" about the 89 quake. It might be a repeat, because I know I remember seeing a show about it before.

Still hard to believe it's been 25 years. I was watching that game and it was surreal because no one knew what was happening while it was happening.

 

Recorded it. I grew up in the Bay Area, was living there at the time, 12 years old and sitting in the living room getting ready to watch Game 3 of the World Series. There wasn't a lot of damage at our house but we were about 10 miles away from the freeway that collapsed. Scary times.

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