MLB Thread

[BlueSkies]

10 hours ago, ebk57 said:

That was 12 hours of baseball today - yay!  And, at least there's one game tomorrow.  All in all, a pretty good day. 

Agree.

As someone whose gotten turned off to baseball for a number of reasons getting older, the playoffs so far have been pretty intriguing. 

[Jane Tuesday]

4 hours ago, smittykins said:

What about Waino, is he coming back?

I don't know. Before the season, he said it was "almost certainly" his last season, but setting the battery record with Yadi and getting 200 wins would make the decision a lot easier. He's sitting at 195. Other comments make it seem like he's done (talking Yadi into coming back for 2022 because he "couldn't do it without him", getting irritated with a reporter saying he can't get into the HOF without 200, that if you tell people you're retiring it seems like a lot of hassle). Listening to him on the R2C2 podcast before the season, it sounded like he was already making moves for his post-retirement career.

So, a month ago, I was sure this was it. But then he had the dead arm and ended up with his first losing season ever. I honestly don't know if that makes him more or less likely to call it quits. For a huge competitor like he is, I'm sure he doesn't want it all to end that way. Of course, it depends on the front office as well, and what they might offer. I think there's 0% chance he pitches anywhere else. 

Selfishly, I hope he comes back. I think the team and pitching staff need continuity and leadership with Yadi leaving. He's such a team guy... if he says he's good for another year, I would absolutely trust that he wouldn't come back unless he can win.

He's maybe my favorite athlete of all time, so I hate to see his career end with a whimper. 

[ProudMary]

21 hours ago, Notabug said:

The midges seemed to have hatched overnight.  Here's hoping the Yankees get to meet them up close and personal next weekend.

OMG, you weren't kidding. 😳

This popped up on my Twitter feed because Joba Chamberlain's trending. Not good!

I realize that this is where the Browns play, but I'm sure all these little buggers have family and friends already hanging out at Progressive Field!

I don't recall any issues with the midges in 2017 when the Yankees were last in Cleveland for a postseason series. Are there years where the bugs just aren't an issue?

[Notabug]

32 minutes ago, ProudMary said:

OMG, you weren't kidding. 😳

This popped up on my Twitter feed because Joba Chamberlain's trending. Not good!

I realize that this is where the Browns play, but I'm sure all these little buggers have family and friends already hanging out at Progressive Field!

I don't recall any issues with the midges in 2017 when the Yankees were last in Cleveland for a postseason series. Are there years where the bugs just aren't an issue?

I've lived in the Cleveland area for most of my life, and, no, I don't ever recall a midgeless season.  They are better or worse some years depending on the weather, especially rainfall; but we get them in the spring and fall like clockwork.

The only bad thing is that, once they hatch, they only live something like 3-5 days and they all tend to hatch over just a few days which may mean that midge season will be over before the Yankees come to town.  Alas.

Just turned on the Browns gams and those puppies are swarming!  Welcome to Cleveland!

Edited October 9, 2022 by Notabug

[BlueSkies]

23 hours ago, ProudMary said:

I absolutely have respect for Cleveland and for their great fans. I've always enjoyed watching your team over the years. I've never once thought the (historical) Indians/(current) Guardians were ever intimidated by the Yankees. 

Intimidated? That's the Twins. The Yankees have been living rent-free in their heads for two decades. 😄 

As mentioned, I would have preferred having the Yankees play the Rays in the LDS. The Guardians are young and they're coming in hot. The Yankees were playing a different kind of baseball down the stretch as they had already clinched and it was all about the Judge HR chase. And now they'll have had close to a week's lay off since they last played. I think the Guardians could be dangerous.

The Twins yeah definitely!  I think it was 2009 when their closer Joe Nathan was like 100% in close opportunities thought the year but come playoff time A-Rod and the rest of the gang beat him.

I like the Reds more than the Guardians but will be pulling hard for Cleveland.  The Browns had a terrible loss today so to make up a little for that.  I'll still be shocked if the Yankees dont win it.  Houston on the other hand might give your guys trouble.

[mojoween]

Even as a Yankee, I was not AJ Burnett’s biggest fan.  This popped up in my FB memories from nine years ago on this date.

In their most important game in 21 years, the Pittsburgh Pirates are starting rookie Gerrit Cole.

If that does not sum up AJ Burnett's major league career, I don't know what will.

[Xeliou66]

Padres strike first against the Mets on a 2 RBI single from Austin Nola.

[ProudMary]

[Carey]

No-No Joe trying to do better than what he did last year, and he's 1/3 the way there.  Meanwhile, David Cone is still pissed that no one named an IPA after him 23 years removed from a better performance than Musgrove!

[Carey]

Since the perfect bid is no longer a thing (now he's all but perfect), I'd beam a Met as a reaction if I'm Musgrove

[Carey]

And the NLDS is now set with the Padres topping the Mets in a deciding third game behind 7 strong innings from Musgrove and decent run support in the form of a final 6-0 result.

Everything starts on Tuesday, October 11 (on FOX, FS1, and TBS)

[Xeliou66]

LOL down go the Mets!! There’s something about them I dislike, maybe I find their fans obnoxious and maybe it’s because they are rivals to the Braves and Marlins, but fuck the Mets!! 

[mojoween]

All the hullabaloo about the three game series in one park and only one home team won.  And only one series went three.

Sorry Lantern.

[Carey]

Definitely apologies to Lantern.  Went (the Mets, not Lantern) from hero to zero.  Though I'll admit I wasn't happy with Buck with his move on Musgrove.  Glad the latter stayed classy and dominated more

Edited October 10, 2022 by Carey
Specifics

[twoods]

Padres look pretty good beating the Dodgers with their pitching. The Dodgers pitchers are coming off of injuries so aren’t 100% and have to rely on their potent offense. Should be a fun series. 

[Lantern7]

Slept through most of it. Thanks for the condolences, guys.

This is basically the ultimate choke, right? And they went out like chumps. God damn it.

[Jane Tuesday]

22 hours ago, Jane Tuesday said:

Sad end to the Cardinals season <snip> 

So.... go, Mets! 

Sorry, Mets fans. I'm clearly playoffs poison.

Let's see if I can use this to my advantage. Go, Braves! LOL

[Xeliou66]

While you never know what will happen, especially in the playoffs, on paper the NL series seem like more compelling ones than the AL series - in the NL you have the defending champion Braves against their division rival Phillies, and the division rivals Dodgers and Padres, both of whom have high expectations on them. I could see any of the 4 emerging to get to the World Series. In the AL, I expect the Yankees to handle the Guardians and while the Mariners have been a nice surprise I don’t see them beating the Astros. It would really surprise me if the ALCS isn’t Yankees/Astros.

Edited October 10, 2022 by Xeliou66

[CrazyDog]

Showalter embarrassed himself. Musgrove is a stellar pitcher, and I'm thrilled he didn't let that shady move throw him off.

Onto the Dodgers, who are always tough. But the Padres seem to be gelling, which has taken a bit. Getting Grisham and Bell going is huge.

[Carey]

1 minute ago, CrazyDog said:

Showalter embarrassed himself. Musgrove is a stellar pitcher, and I'm thrilled he didn't let that shady move throw him off.

Yeah, I said that he should smack a Met.  Glad he didn't.  He might have under different situations.  San Diego has a chance to go the distance; no way he loses his cool.  Good on him knowing Buck had pulled this in the past

[Salacious Kitty]

56 minutes ago, Xeliou66 said:

LOL down go the Mets!! There’s something about them I dislike, maybe I find their fans obnoxious and maybe it’s because they are rivals to the Braves and Marlins, but fuck the Mets!! 

Actually, I would have rather seen the Mets play the Dodgers. The Padres were the Dodgers' bitch this season. I hope this series plays out more competitive than the regular season.

[Moose135]

13 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

LOL down go the Mets!! There’s something about them I dislike, maybe I find their fans obnoxious and maybe it’s because they are rivals to the Braves and Marlins, but fuck the Mets!! 

The Braves suck, and most of their fans are obnoxious...

[Lantern7]

From Deadspin: The Mets Didn’t Do Anything Wrong

There’s very little punching down, though there is the mental image of a butthurt fan in.a Doc Gooden jersey. My thing is that this season was supposed to be the one where ghosts were exorcised . . . failing to put the Dodgers away in ‘88, failing to capitalize in a period where no one team was truly dominant, the “Worst Team Money Can Buy” years, Kenny Rogers’ inability to find the strike zone to force a Game 7 in Atlanta in ‘99, coming up short against the Yankees in 2000, watching the Yankees win four titles in the span of five seasons, failing to catch Atlanta in 2001 after Piazza’s epic home run, Carlos Beltran looking at strike three to end the 2006 NLCS, the back-to-back seasons of epic collapses in 2007-2008 (the latter ending on the last game played at Shea Stadium), the subsequent fall into mediocrity, the 2015 team losing their mojo against the Royals of all teams, having their subsequent season start in Kansas City, going out meekly in 2016 (a year where everyone was so banged up, Bartolo Colon was their second-best pitcher), peaking too late in 2019, peaking too soon in 2021 . . . and now the shit from the last few weekends.

Among the eight remaining teams, there isn’t much that wouldn’t make a Mets fan miserable. If the Guardians, Padres or Mariners win, that puts the Mets one step closer to being one of those teams with the longest title droughts. Yankees win, their fans will never STFU about it, even though they were more or less crapping themselves when the team slumped. Atlanta wins, you get a parade full of fans making that noise, as well as the possibility of a few players thanking the Mets for their epic collapse. Phillies win . . . well, that would be funny given they finished miles behind the leading teams in their division, and we might get a sequel to “The World Series Defense” from It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia . . . hoping without Mac slobbering over a player that could injure a Met years later and received zero comeuppance for it.

Damn . . . an Astros/Dodgers World Series might be the best thing for Mets fans, and I think that’s not what a lot of fans of other teams would prefer.

Edited October 10, 2022 by Lantern7

[cleo]

I'm rooting for Houston/Cleveland ALCS. 

In the NL- I don't like the Braves either but I don't really want LA/Houston part 2 mainly bc I'm sick and tired of hearing about what happened in 2017. Plus I don't want to hear all the editorializing if Houston won again.

I'm not a huge Philly fan but I suppose I prefer them to the Braves. I'm neutral on SD and LA. 

It's a holiday here and I have to say it's really rude of MLB not to have any games scheduled.

Edited October 10, 2022 by cleo

[Salacious Kitty]

4 minutes ago, cleo said:

I'm rooting for Houston/Cleveland ALCS. 

In the NL- I don't like the Braves either but I don't really want LA/Houston part 2 mainly bc I'm sick and tired of hearing about what happened in 2017. Plus I don't want to hear all the editorializing if Houston won again.

I'm not a huge Philly fan but I suppose I prefer them to the Braves. I'm neutral on SD and LA. 

It's a holiday here and I have to say it's really rude of MLB not to have any games scheduled.

It's a holiday here for many as well. But they do this so as not to conflict with MNF. It's been this way forever. 

[CrazyDog]

14 hours ago, Salacious Kitty said:

Actually, I would have rather seen the Mets play the Dodgers. The Padres were the Dodgers' bitch this season. I hope this series plays out more competitive than the regular season.

I hope I don't have to eat my words, but this is one of the first times this year that it finally feels like Padres are aligned with starting pitching being on, having a solid bullpen, and Hader back in form, all at the same time. The offense has been the Padres issue this year, but I'm hopeful that they are turning a corner there, at the perfect time.

I think it will be a competitive matchup. 

[Salacious Kitty]

Just now, CrazyDog said:

I hope I don't have to eat my words, but this is one of the first times this year that it finally feels like Padres are aligned with starting pitching being on, having a solid bullpen, and Hader back in form, all at the same time. The offense has been the Padres issue this year, but I'm hopeful that they are turning a corner there, at the perfect time.

I think it will be a competitive matchup. 

I hope you're right! I enjoy both teams, so I have no dog in the fight. I just hope the rejuvenated Padres show up. 

[twoods]

The Padres trying to restrict tickets to certain zip codes is laughable. They do realize that there a ton of Dodgers fans that live in SD right? 

[Lantern7]

1 hour ago, twoods said:

The Padres trying to restrict tickets to certain zip codes is laughable. They do realize that there a ton of Dodgers fans that live in SD right? 

They're trying to keep out Dodgers fans. It's probably not the best move, but I understand. Maybe they should hand out fish tacos at the gates, and anyone who spit 'em out is barred from entry.

I slept through Buck calling for a check on Musgrove. Yeah, that was a bush move. Also, I have a vision where the Dodgers call for a check, and Musgrove actually has stuff on his person.

Edited October 11, 2022 by Lantern7

[Carey]

Philadelphia in 4, New York & Houston in 5, and Los Angeles in 3.  I guess I'd love to see Seattle advance, and it would be great if Atlanta knocked off Philly for a chance to repeat (or to create a 1996 repeat of MLB events).  I made a last-minute swap since it's tough that all four home teams advance (lower number seeds)

[mojoween]

I don’t know if it’s because I pretty much watch games exclusively on YES for six months, but I am really hating this camera angle FOX is using.  It’s WAY too close to the pitcher’s mound and makes the entire dimensions of the field look wrong.

[Carey]

Looks like Verlander will be chased outta there early in the ALDS.  4-0 road lead for Seattle after 1.5 and Houston's ace north of 40 pitches

Edited October 11, 2022 by Carey
Pitch Count

[Carey]

Philly escapes, I guess.  1-0 series lead and ownership of home field for now

[mojoween]

I know Bryce Harper makes people feel some type of way, but I really just want nice things for Nick Castellanos.

[Carey]

If you're a Mariners fan, that had to suck

[ProudMary]

🤬

[Lantern7]

2 hours ago, Carey said:

Philly escapes, I guess.  1-0 series lead and ownership of home field for now

Cut to the gang at Paddy’s wondering why that was so hard for the Mets to do. And then Dennis calls himself a “golden god” at the top of his lungs.

9 minutes ago, ProudMary said:

🤬

Mariners fan? I’m sorry. Funny how the home teams in both games put up runs in the ninth inning. Obviously, not “ha ha” funny for everyone . . .

Edited October 11, 2022 by Lantern7

[Salacious Kitty]

Well that sucked. Fuck Houston.

[Carey]

What comes around, goes around.  Seattle was on the positive side over Toronto, but the opposite today.  Totally a painful loss since they crushed JV.  We'll see how they handle this adversity.  The WC game without a comeback just would've meant Game 3, whereas a lost chance at stealing home field is still one game, a loss on the road.

FWIW, the announcers were pimping Altuve, and at worst for Houston, that just pulls to within one. While Munoz set up the successful comeback, Sewald was so close to the escape and couldn't close before the 3-run shot.  I actually was thinking that Seattle needed to have a decent 9th in case Houston got to people on before Alvarez showed up.  Anyway, too bad, and that after they took out Altuve

[ProudMary]

20 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

Mariners fan? I’m sorry. Funny how the home teams in both games put up runs in the ninth inning. Obviously, not “ha ha” funny for everyone . . .

Yankees' fan who's sick of the road to the WS going through Houston every year, after having two pennants stolen from my favorite team, not to mention what really was Aaron Judge's first MVP award in 2017 by that cheating gnat Altuve.

Also, I'm an odd Yankees' fan in that I've never hated the Mets. Unless the Yankees and Mets are playing head to head, I always pull for the Mets. I love it when both teams are winning. It's great for the city. I was definitely rooting for them to win the NL pennant and not only because I'd have loved to see another Subway Series. I don't care which NL team makes it to the WS now. I probably will only watch the AL games moving forward. 

Shorter version: You'll get no crap from me about your team. I'm truly sorry that the Mets didn't advance. It hurts when your favorite team is eliminated. 

[twoods]

Come on Seattle, WTF was that. You could have beaten the cheaters in game 1. Yeah, I’m still salty. You shouldn’t continue to be this good when you cheated for a championship. You should have lost all your talent and future talents and sanctioned them like they do in college sports so they suck for years. Absolute horse shit.

Edited October 12, 2022 by twoods

[Danielg342]

The Toronto Blue Jays to the Seattle Mariners right now: payback's a jerk, isn't it?

[Salacious Kitty]

Padres looking like they did in most of their previous 19 meetings with the Dodgers. 

[smittykins]

11 hours ago, ProudMary said:

Also, I'm an odd Yankees' fan in that I've never hated the Mets. Unless the Yankees and Mets are playing head to head, I always pull for the Mets. I love it when both teams are winning. It's great for the city.

As the widow of a Mets fan, I agree.

What a weird schedule for the Yankees:  game last night, off tonight, game tomorrow, off Friday, and games Saturday through Monday if necessary.

Edited October 12, 2022 by smittykins

[Rickster]

52 minutes ago, smittykins said:

As the widow of a Mets fan, I agree.

What a weird schedule for the Yankees:  game last night, off tonight, game tomorrow, off Friday, and games Saturday through Monday if necessary.

I thought it might have been because of the chance of bad weather? Looks like tomorrow’s game may be rained out, so they could make it up Friday.

[Carey]

While this past weekend was great in terms of Wild Card Baseball, it'll be great next year when they return to their regular schedule (combined with the new best of three first round).  I imagine it'll be starting the first week of October during the week.  However, if they're not going to have double-headers in the Wild Card Round, then maybe do away with the structure of having a day off before AND after the WC Round (following the regular season & preceding the LDS).

Usually during the League Division Series, there's one day where one league starts by itself, and then on the second day, both the AL & NL have games.  It's the opposite for some reason.

I agree this is a weird schedule for the Yankees and the rest of the AL.  While I don't think it's a super big deal, New York could've played today and then it could rain all day and nobody is affected.  But I guess they'll have to play in New York before Cleveland in back-to-back days

[shoregirl]

Bad weather in Atlanta. game will be delayed until they can start and not have to stop.

[Salacious Kitty]

I just checked Atlanta's forecast. It doesn't look like there will be a decent break until the 8:00 hour. That means both games will play simultaneously. Certainly not what FOX wanted.

[Carey]

Looks like the game has resumed. Atlanta vs Philly, which was scheduled to air on FS1, is currently on FOX as of this post

[Salacious Kitty]

1 hour ago, Carey said:

Looks like the game has resumed. Atlanta vs Philly, which was scheduled to air on FS1, is currently on FOX as of this post

Atl/Philly was always scheduled for FOX. I was home sick today, and I got a reminder for the game. It went to FOX, not FS1.  Dodgers/Padres was scheduled for FS1 (and is currently airing there). 

Edited October 13, 2022 by Salacious Kitty