Killeverything's (New)NeverEndingBaseballThread

[johnk5150]

I'm indifferent to both Baltimore and Texas, but that "infield fly rule" call was total bullshit. I don't watch basketball, because it's fixed. With the horrible umpiring. Maybe Selig ( who I hope dies, preferabley by fire ) has been hanging with Stern.

For someone that's so knowledgable abouit the game your boner against the Yankees and basketball is so counter to the rest of your internet personality.

[JakeYonkel]

By popular request... playoff predictions!

NL

Giants vs Reds
Reds have an awesome lineup but I'm getting a gut feeling to go with San Francisco. I hate Dusty Baker.
Giants in 4

Nationals vs Cardinals
Cardinals consistently surprise everyone in the playoffs but I think the Nats just have too much firepower. Imagine having Strasburg in a short series... oh well.
Nationals in 3

AL

Tigers vs As
Still wonder how Oakland is doing it. Seeing Verlander twice in a 5 game set is brutal. Between that and the beasts in the middle of the lineup, good luck.
Tigers in 3

Orioles vs Yankees
I keep writing off Baltimore due to their youth, poor run differential, and lousy pitching... but somehow they keep doing it. And Mark Reynolds kills the Yankees. New York is finally (basically) healthy so it's hard to choose against them, but in a short series, anything can happen.
Yankees in 5


PS. I HATE the new Wild Card rule and I hate the new home field set up for the playoffs.

Will be back with more in the next round.

[SkyDog112046]

I'm indifferent to both Baltimore and Texas, but that "infield fly rule" call was total bullshit. I don't watch basketball, because it's fixed. With the horrible umpiring. Maybe Selig ( who I hope dies, preferabley by fire ) has been hanging with Stern.

The MLB umpires make the NFL replacement refs look good. At least when the replacement guys made a bad call it was because they didn't know the rules. Umpires seem to get off on being assholes and rubbing blatantly bad calls in team's faces. 50' into the outfield is considered the infield? Balls that bounce of a left fielder's glove 20' in fair territory are foul balls? Maybe if you've got $10k riding on the game it is. A real commissioner would put a stop to this shit. Dying by fire is too good for Selig...

[Crazy Levi]

I got no problem with the new wild card.

You don't want to leave your postseason up to one game?

Win the division.

[WOLF]

Reds over Giants in 5: Pains me to say it, as I'm a Giants fan, but I like the Reds' closer vs the Giants' closer by committee, and am not so sure about Bumgarner and Lincecum in the 2-3 slots. They can be great or shite. Curious to see if the Giants go with Zito or Vogelsong in game 4 - if the situation calls for a 4th starter.

Nationals over Cardinals in 4: Gotta give the Cardinals credit, their resilient, but the Nats were the best team in baseball for a reason. I think the Braves might have had a shot vs them.

Tigers over A's in 4: I too have no idea how the A's do it. Who are these guys. I will give them some credit though and give them a game. Either Fister, Sanchez, or Scherzer will falter.

Yankees over Orioles in 3: Not so sure the Orioles pitching can hold up in the playoffs. Not that the Yankees starters are so great, but you can be sure they are going to get tons of run support.

IMO these playoffs, the storylines, are as interesting as we've seen in years.

[killeverything]

Last night is the reason I don't fuck with predictions.

I had Texas going all the way.

As for the rest, if Lincecum becomes who he is I see them beating the Reds. SF is fucking tough. I personally like the closer-by-commitee approach, Joe Morgan be damned it's a sabermetric wet dream, but collossal failure for Boston in '03. It works on paper though.

I'm not a Dusty Baker fan. I think he's a bad manager. That whole "old school playing hunches" mentality doesn't work in the playoffs. As good as the Reds are I think their downfall could be in game management.

Gotta say though today's Cain/Cueto matchup is gonna kick ass.

[johnk5150]

Tigers over A's in 4: I too have no idea how the A's do it. Who are these guys. I will give them some credit though and give them a game. Either Fister, Sanchez, or Scherzer will falter.

Can't wait to see Detroit's defense be the reason they lose one of these games.

[killeverything]

Tigers over A's in 4: I too have no idea how the A's do it. Who are these guys. I will give them some credit though and give them a game. Either Fister, Sanchez, or Scherzer will falter.

Can't wait to see Detroit's defense be the reason they lose one of these games.

I think that's going to be the reason they will. Remember in the '06 WS where the fans had signs that said "hit it to the pitcher"? I predict the same thing except "hit it at Cabrera" being the new target. It could be really ugly.

[Monkey_Julius_Bowaffle_]

Cincy w/their #1 starter injuring himself and only able to go part of the 1st inning....& not to mention, closer Chapman SUCKING...yet we STILL took game #1! And it was really never in question......

I've been EXTREMELY pissed @ Dusty Baker from time to time for certain choices he makes, but his players seem to love him almost as much as they love their own fathers. They play their asses off for Dusty.

Still a LONG, LONG, LOOOONNNNGGGG way to go, but the Reds are pretty bad-assed..........don't sell 'em short...........(same goes for the Cardinals, bad as I hate 'em)..........

[killeverything]

I think the SF/Cincy series goes 5, those teams are just too good.

How funny is it that one of Detroit's runs was scored on an error by the ptcher? Maybe the post season rookie curse is hitting the A's.

[killeverything]

Terry Francona announced as Cleveland's new manager.

[johnk5150]

Terry Francona announced as Cleveland's new manager.

Damn. He's one of the few things I like about the booyah network anymore.

[johnk5150]

Listen to me now as I'm only saying this once. Dusty Baker managed the hell out of that game last night.

I'll never say that again.

[killeverything]

Listen to me now as I'm only saying this once. Dusty Baker managed the hell out of that game last night.

I'll never say that again.

Well even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes ( ie. Arod got a hit in the postseason in 2010 ).

[madmaxfan]

Tigers up 2-0 on Don Kelly 9th inning sac fly.

[killeverything]

Tigers up 2-0 on Don Kelly 9th inning sac fly.

Helluva job Balfour. Walk Prince.....how'd that work out? Do or die in Oakland, even if they do they'll still have to face 11K Verlander. Ever felt like the weight of the world was on your shoulders?

[madmaxfan]

Tigers up 2-0 on Don Kelly 9th inning sac fly.

Helluva job Balfour. Walk Prince.....how'd that work out? Do or die in Oakland, even if they do they'll still have to face 11K Verlander. Ever felt like the weight of the world was on your shoulders?

Hell I would have took that gamble with Kelly hitting .196 for the year. Sometimes though you just get lucky.

[Monkey_Julius_Bowaffle_]

And the Reds just OBLITERATE the Giants in game 2. 9 to ZERO. Arroyo pitched an absolute GEM of a game. Just looked brilliant. Now we're going back to GABP. Be interesting to see if Cueto will be good to go in game 3 and if not, who it will be. Dusty might not even take a chance w/him now that we're up 2 - 0 and only need one more win to take the series. Might just save him for the NLCS.

I think the SF/Cincy series goes 5, those teams are just too good.

You still feel that way? Reds are looking BADASS, Giants are looking quite limp. Don't get me wrong, I damn well know this is baseball and crazy things can happen, but right now, I'm not feeling like this one is going 5 games and in fact might be over Tues. night.

[killeverything]

Nope.

I'm actually surprised. This whole season has been a surprise though, I had Texas going all the way.

[johnk5150]

I think the SF/Cincy series goes 5, those teams are just too good.

How funny is it that one of Detroit's runs was scored on an error by the ptcher? Maybe the post season rookie curse is hitting the A's.

Someone needs to tell SF the playoffs have started.

[Machado]

Most teams try to sell as many tickets as they can, especially during the playoffs. The Oakland Athletics have a different philosophy.
A's management said Friday that it does not plan to sell 20,878 of O.co Coliseum's 55,945 seats next week for the A's division showdown with the Detroit Tigers. Those seats account for about 37 percent of the Coliseum's baseball seating capacity, and A's management has sealed them off with tarps since 2006 due to low attendance.
But now the Oakland A's are drawing sellout crowds. So many fans showed up for the last game of the season on Wednesday that A's management warned people to stay away because there were no tickets left.
Fans are demanding that the team remove the tarps to let more people in - some have started a petition via a website called Removethetarps.com. Many have pelted A's management with complaints.
On Friday, A's management explained to The Chronicle why they would not remove the tarps.
More intimate
A smaller crowd, A's managers said, would create a closer, more intimate environment for the American League Division Series.
"The fan experience is better without spreading fans out over more seats," A's executives wrote in an e-mail. "The energy in the park and the fan experience over the last week (when the seats were tarped) was incredible."
Since 2006, shortly after Lew Wolff bought the team, most of the third deck and the outfield stands known as Mount Davis have been covered with dark green tarps. The Raiders, who share the Coliseum with the A's, remove the tarps for their home games.
The A's rationale is that most games are far from sellouts, so they want fans to gather in the lower decks rather than scatter throughout the stadium.
"Here's a team that says they need to leave Oakland because there's no support. Yet here you have thousands of people who are begging to put money in the A's pockets, and they tell fans, 'Sorry, you have to watch it on TV,' " said Doug Boxer, a former Oakland planning commissioner and organizer of an A's fan group called Let's Go Oakland. "It doesn't make any sense." So far this year, the A's have sold out only seven of 79 games in the 35,067 seats in the non-tarp area.
A's fans already feel betrayed by Wolff, who's been trying for years to move the team. He's awaiting word from Major League Baseball on his request to move the A's to San Jose, saying his team cannot succeed in Oakland while sharing a stadium with the Raiders, and Oakland has no other suitable sites for a ballpark. The team has defied all odds and expectations, however. Despite having the lowest payroll in the American League, the team shocked the sports world and thrilled their fans by overcoming a 13-game deficit and clinching the American League West title after sweeping the Texas Rangers.
They open the division series Saturday in Detroit and return to Oakland on Tuesday for the best-of-five series. That game is sold out, as is Wednesday's, if it's played.
A's managers said they'll roll up the tarps only if the A's reach the World Series.
That's not good enough, said Oakland City Councilman and Coliseum Authority Co-Chairman Ignacio De La Fuente.
'Denying fans'
"Anyone in their right mind would open those seats," he said. Keeping the seats closed "is denying fans the chance to show their incredible support for the A's. I don't understand it."
Even seasoned sports marketing professionals were bewildered by Wolff's decision.
Longtime sports marketer Paul Siri of Redwood City, a former executive with IMG, said he'd never seen an owner say "no" to the chance to sell more tickets, hot dogs, beer, T-shirts and other merchandise at a high-profile game that's sure to sell out.
The move makes sense only if Wolff is trying to convince Major League Baseball he can't build a successful team in Oakland, Siri said.
"Looking at this from his point of view, this is the worst thing that could happen," Siri said. "His team wins, media exposure increases, the stadium sells out, and suddenly he loses his leverage to move. It kills his argument. ... I don't blame the fans for being upset."
Sara Somers, an Oakland resident who's with a group called Save Oakland Sports, was reluctant to criticize Wolff but said the players deserve a strong, boisterous crowd.
"Intimate is not what you want for a playoff game. You want noise. You want the crowd's energy to be contagious," she said. "Management needs to give the team the best home-field advantage they can."

[Crazy Levi]

I like it.

The As are saying "oh NOW you want to show up? Well fuck you."

It's the classic Cartmen theme park gambit.

[killeverything]

I like it.

The As are saying "oh NOW you want to show up? Well fuck you."

It's the classic Cartmen theme park gambit.

Unfortunately they're playing like Cartman in the playoffs too.

[Facedown]

Report:
Employees in the Blue Jays organization have been suggesting they will not let John Farrell go to the Red Sox.

[Machado]

Report:
Employees in the Blue Jays organization have been suggesting they will not let John Farrell go to the Red Sox.

I'm sure both teams will work something out.
I read last week the jays would be open to "trading" the manager
to the red sox.

[WOLF]

Report:
Employees in the Blue Jays organization have been suggesting they will not let John Farrell go to the Red Sox.

Probably just posturing to get a better prospect, or cash, out of the Red Sox. Farrell has insinuated he wants to leave. Nobody wants a lame duck manager who doesn't even want to be there.

[Kerry King's Pentagram]

Really pleased that Baltimore made it to the post season. I'd love to see them go all the way.

[Facedown]

I don't think the Red Sox are stupid enough to give up any prospects. (Did I just say that?)
After what they let Chicago get away with, they should know better.

[killeverything]

I don't think the Red Sox are stupid enough to give up any prospects. (Did I just say that?)
After what they let Chicago get away with, they should know better.

Last year Toronto stated "trade talks for Farrel start with Clay Buchholz." I don't think anything is gonna happen.

Gentle Ben and Luchhino don't have the skill to pull it off without severly crippling the team moving forward. Epstein already fucked em'. Let's get his stink off the team first ( 2-3 seasons ), then laugh as we watch him keep the Cubs at the bottom.

[killeverything]

Arod is 1-9 with 5Ks in the ALDS