Checking in on the teams that matter

by Stacey on Sep 29, 2009 9:44 AM EDT in News Comment 64 comments

Georgie has allowed 2 ER in 25.2 IP for the Dodgers. His ERA+ is a smoking 594.

American League

The Yankees clinched the AL East and home field advantage in the playoffs with their sweep of the Red Sox on Sunday. They're easily the best team in baseball right now, which isn't too hard to do when your GM's entire strategy is to overpay for every talented free agent athlete so they can't possibly turn it down. If that sounds bitter, it's because I am bitter. The Yankees 2009 starting infield makes more than the entire 25 man rosters of 13 other major league teams and is roughly equivalent to 3 more. That's half of the teams in major league baseball. I've always tried very hard to stay positive about a team's chance to compete if they're built the right way no matter their payroll, but the evidence against that grows stronger every year. Anyway, they clinched and while I know the playoffs can be a crapshoot, I don't see how they don't make it to the World Series. In the first round of the playoffs they will play either Detroit or Minnesota, two teams that will barely be over .500 at seasons end. They'll then play either the Red Sox or the Angels, both of whom they've manhandled in the 2nd half.

The Angels clinched the AL West last night with an 11-0 victory over the Rangers. I don't really have much of an opinion on the Angels, probably because I don't hear about them too much. They don't seem to have much of a personality, but again that could be because I don't know enough. I do know that no one would have blamed them if they had crumbled this year after the Nick Adenhart tragedy. But they didn't, and they're going to their 6th postseason since 2002.

The Red Sox magic number to clinch the wild card is just 1, so they'll probably clinch tonight. The Red Sox had a great first half but are just 37-31 since the AS break. Josh Beckett had to be scratched last night due to back spasms. They are a very good baseball team, but not as solid as I thought they'd be at the beginning of the year. They'll be playing the Angels in the first round. In the past several years the Red Sox have beaten up on the Angels, but they are 4-5 against them in '09.

The only real race left in the AL is in the central. The Twins are two games back of the Tigers with 7 games to play. 4 of those games are head-to-head and start with a double header this afternoon. That'd be pretty exciting if I thought either of these teams had an inkling of a chance in the postseason. Still, I thought the Yankees would demolish the Tigers back in 2006 and they didn't, so stranger things have happened.

National League

The St. Louis Cardinals clinched their division last Saturday night, but with the collapse of the Cubs it's been inevitable for most of the season. Albert Pujols, who is always awesome, has been just otherworldly this year, and Matt Holliday has been on fire since being traded. Unfortunately for the Cards other than that their lineup isn't very intimidating. They do have very good starting pitching.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have clinched a playoff berth and with one more win will clinch the AL West as well. The Dodgers also have good pitching. Randy Wolf is having a career year and Clayton Kershaw is blossoming into the beast we all know he would be. Their bullpen is just sick with Flat Breezy and Jonathan Broxton working the 8th and 9th innings.

The Phillies are doing their best Mets impression in the NL East. On September 20th they had an 8 game lead that is now down to 4. Cole Hamels got knocked around last night and the bullpen is a hot mess. Pedro Martinez, who looked like their savior for awhile, had to be scratched from his last start with a a stiff neck. The defending champs have a magic number of 3 and are 4 games ahead of the red hot Braves. I can't imagine they won't make the postseason, but who knows.

The Rockies are still in the NL wild card lead, but are just two games ahead of the Braves with six to play. It's their spot to lose but the Braves aren't giving them any breathing room. They've won 16 of their last 18 and seven in a row to seemingly come out of nowhere. The Giants, who had been in the race, have fallen down the stretch.

I mentioned in an earlier post that the races have been boring this year, and here's your proof. The Yankees have been in first place in the AL East for 85 days straight. The Angels have been in first place for 95 days. The Tigers, who could fall to second place this week, have been in first place for a whopping 156 consecutive days. Over in the NL, the Phillies come in at 135 consecutive days in first place, the Cardinals 141, and the Dodgers 170.

0 recs | Comment 64 comments | Share

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

This is going to be a very stressful October for anyone who actively roots against MFY and PHN

You know, if the Yankees don’t win it all, next year is a new decade. Can you believe that we might live through an entire decade without a Yankees championship? I was born in ’89, so I missed the eighties. Prior to that, you have to go to…WWI era, in the teens.

The stock market will never recover, our armies will never again be #1, and our children will drink filthy water for the rest of their lives - HST

by the fix is in on Sep 29, 2009 9:54 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

don't jinx it man!

by O'sFan21 on Sep 29, 2009 4:54 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Here is a list of the 2009 payrolls:

Team 2009 payroll
New York Yankees $201,449,189
New York Mets $149,373,987
Chicago Cubs $134,809,000
Boston Red Sox $121,745,999
Detroit Tigers $115,085,145
Los Angeles Angels $113,709,00
Philadelphia Phillies $113,004,046
Houston Astros $102,996,414
Los Angeles Dodgers $100,414,592
Seattle Mariners $98,904,166
Atlanta Braves $96,726,166
Chicago White Sox $96,068,500
San Francisco Giants $82,616,450
Cleveland Indians $81,579,166
Toronto Blue Jays $80,538,300
Milwaukee Brewers $80,182,502
St. Louis Cardinals $77,605,109
Colorado Rockies $75,201,000
Cincinnati Reds $73,558,500
Arizona Diamondbacks $73,516,666
Kansas City Royals $70,519,333
Texas Rangers $68,178,798
Baltimore Orioles $67,101,666
Minnesota Twins $65,299,266
Tampa Bay Rays $63,313,034
Oakland Athletics $62,310,000
Washington Nationals $60,328,000
Pittsburgh Pirates $48,693,000
San Diego Padres $43,734,200
Florida Marlins $36,834,000

http://www.getlisty.com/preview/2009-mlb-team-payrolls/

Unless Minnesota creeps in, then the top four payrolls in the AL will be going to the playoffs. Parity is a bitch.

On a side note, Nick Adenhart was from Williamsport, Maryland which is right outside of where I live in God awful Hagerstown, so I will be rooting for them to go all the way.

When you're born into the human race you're given a ticket to the freak show. When you're born in America, you're given a front row seat. And some of us have notepads.-George Carlin

by Afghanistan Steve on Sep 29, 2009 10:13 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Hagerstown isn't that bad...

Ever live in new jersey?

by GeoffreyA on Sep 29, 2009 1:54 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions 0 recs

I LIVE IN HAGERSTOWN!!!

by Wieters Wieners on Sep 29, 2009 3:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

AND LOVE IT by the way...!

by Wieters Wieners on Sep 29, 2009 3:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I grew up in Hagerstown

I don’t love it, don’t hate it, don’t live very far from it…

"I hate making excuses. If I suck, then I suck. And I suck. That's the way I'm playing. If you suck, you suck. You have to take responsibility in this game. Right now, that's the way I feel. Yes, I suck." - Jose Guillen/quote of the year

by getxstoked on Sep 29, 2009 5:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I grew up in Frederick

and now live in Hagerstown. They seem like world’s apart. Hagerstown is the pregnant 15 year old capitol of the world, but if Demcorp finishes all their projects, downtown(where I live)it will be very nice in about ten years. It’s a good place to invest in real estate, but we have to figure out where to put all the white trash when we hopefully price them out of the city like Frederick did a few years back. Sounds heartless, but it will happen……hopefully.

I do love the Suns games though. Wish they were still an Orioles affiliate. THIRSTY THURSDAY’S RULE!!!!

When you're born into the human race you're given a ticket to the freak show. When you're born in America, you're given a front row seat. And some of us have notepads.-George Carlin

by Afghanistan Steve on Sep 30, 2009 4:44 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I heard Tim McCarver on the radio

talking about how there is more competitive balance now than ever before, with the example he cited of “back in the 30s and 40s it was the Yankees every year…and now they haven’t won the World Series in nine years!”

I 100% agree. That they’ve been in the playoffs every year since ‘95 except for last year, that they’ve won the so-called hardest division in baseball 11 times since ‘95, that they’ve won more games than anybody else since ‘95, that they’ve won over 100 games in a season 5 times (far more than anyone else) since ‘95, that they’ve been picked to win the World Series by some major outlet basically every year…

Yes, it’s nice that we don’t live in a Yankee-centric era of baseball.

Then there is this: I’m super-interested in the parity issue in baseball (I remained unconvinced in either direction so far), and I was talking with my Yankee-loving girlfriend yesterday (she has her head on her shoulders) about it and she told me a fun story about her less-rational father.

She asked her dad over lunch yesterday whether he thought that baseball could survive long-term in the current economic sense, because the smaller payroll teams can’t afford to stock up on quality free agents the way the higher payroll teams can, and besides the big names don’t want to play for the smaller payroll teams that can’t win consistently.

He replied: “Not all free agents go to winning teams”.

“Oh really? Give me one example of a big-time free agent who went to a losing organization?”

“Mark Teixeira.” He was dead serious. I couldn’t even get mad, I thought it was hysterical. Now I sort of feel like my fandom has been cheapened by the Yankees, but what else is new? So I told him with a straight face, “Well, I’m sorry you had to deal with all of those losing years last year, and I’m glad the Yankees somehow figured out how to win with their homegrown talent.”

God I do hate New York.

"I like baseball, movies, good clothes, whiskey, fast cars ... and you. What else you need to know?"

by Andrew @ TLC on Sep 29, 2009 10:28 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I always thought parity was always better measured by the teams that make the playoffs, not the teams that ultimately win the title.

I dont have the stats handy, but i believe this is where the difference in parity between baseball and football really becomes apparent.

by kba26 on Sep 29, 2009 10:32 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I feel like we can do even better than that

Because a team can make the playoffs in a flukish way (Rockies in ‘07 or the Diamondbacks that year they got outscored), and some teams can only afford to make the playoffs in a short window (Marlins). So I’m more interested in the turnover rate, I guess.

I sort of suspect that baseball is doing fine outside of the AL East. Over the next 5 years, I will be very interested to see if the Rays can sustain any success (which means they have to be better than a blue jayish team) and also what happens in the NL East. Those Mets are pretty big-spenders themselves.

"I like baseball, movies, good clothes, whiskey, fast cars ... and you. What else you need to know?"

by Andrew @ TLC on Sep 29, 2009 10:46 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The playoffs are a crapshoot

Anything can happen in a short series. I don’t know that you can look at the World Series winners and say either way about parity. It’s somewhere between that and the flukes.

Unfortunately for the Orioles, the flukes never come from the AL East.

Some Day, Matt Wieters Will Make The Cooperstown Crowd Laugh By Talking About The Time He Batted Behind Melvin Mora And Luke Scott. -Keith Law via Matt Wieters Facts

by Stacey on Sep 29, 2009 10:50 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

But do we KNOW for a fact

that a medium-payroll team can’t consistently play with the big boys if they are smart enough?

It hasn’t really been addressed in the AL East yet, in my opinion

"I like baseball, movies, good clothes, whiskey, fast cars ... and you. What else you need to know?"

by Andrew @ TLC on Sep 29, 2009 11:01 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree with that

And unless something changes with the Rays, they won’t be the ones who prove or disprove it. It has to come from the Orioles or the Blue Jays because those guys can afford to spend (at least, I assume the Jays can based on their payroll the last several years). I think both the O’s and Jays can support an $80-$100M payroll if they’re winning. They’ve both had years in the $80s and $90s.

Honestly, I know I was very negative in my post, but it was more my immediate mood than my overall outlook. I DO think it’s possible for a team like that to compete for stretches at a time, but I don’t know they could ever be in Yankees or Red Sox territory as far as decades of dominance because teams like that have to let their young guys come up and play and that doesn’t always work out at first. When you’re contending every single year there is never any time to allow a young prospect to play unless he’s just very good from the get go. The Yankees don’t need to worry about that because they can just go buy someone.

Some Day, Matt Wieters Will Make The Cooperstown Crowd Laugh By Talking About The Time He Batted Behind Melvin Mora And Luke Scott. -Keith Law via Matt Wieters Facts

by Stacey on Sep 29, 2009 11:08 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

No it's fine. Negative is fine.

I’m negative. Gun to my head I do not believe that this is a surmountable obstacle. I think the best case scenario for Baltimore is to have a magical season like the Rays did last year, but mostly to be just over .500 ala the Blue Jays. The worst case scenario is basically where we’ve been…and the most likely scenario is to be the Blue Jays of the 2010s.

That’s negative, but until I see some reason to think otherwise, that’s what I think. Not that those reasons don’t exist.

"I like baseball, movies, good clothes, whiskey, fast cars ... and you. What else you need to know?"

by Andrew @ TLC on Sep 29, 2009 11:22 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

You said the magic words...

if they’re winning

$90 is a bargain if it gets you a pennant, its bad business if you finish 4th.

You don't EVEN KNOW who O's21girl is!

by Senatorrosewater on Sep 29, 2009 2:20 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It's fucking ridiculous

A few months ago, this new intern came to my (now former) job and was placed directly behind my desk. In an effort to be friendly I struck up a conversation, which led to baseball, and it turned out he was from Manhattan and is a Yankees fan. Fine, whatever. But then he proceeds to lament how unfair it is that the Yankees haven’t won a World Series in almost a decade, and oh it’s been so hard because the Yankees have become such “losers,” and oh he doesn’t even follow the team anymore because what’s the point if they can’t even win a World Series, and oh it’s been so hard dealing with big bad Boston sweeping in and trading for/buying all the talent (SERIOUSLY?). And all of this was said without one single drop of irony.

Mixed in with all of the above were his snarky remarks to me as I tried to talk about my own love for an actual crappy team that I still follow religiously… I believe he said something like “The ORIOLES? Really? Are they even, like, a real team? They suck!” Indeed, intern. He also laughed at me when I deigned to say “you know, Brian Roberts leads the league in doubles,” to which he responded “no one cares about doubles.”

Unsurprisingly, the intern turned out to be a fantastically incompetent idiot in many different ways, but yeah man… Yankees fans. And New York. Eff ‘em. (Not your GF, she sounds sane and I’m sure she’s a lovely person.)

by O Nina on Sep 29, 2009 10:49 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The best part

name for me one impact player who went from New York to Boston. Just one. I’ve got a million examples of the other way around:

Babe Ruth, Roger Clemens, Wade Boggs, Johnny Damon, etc. etc.

Heck, name one free agent who turned down the Yankees (actually I know this one, it’s Greg Maddux). Nobody ever goes to Boston or anywhere else when the Yankees are an option.

I’m not sure if it’s money or the winning or both, though.

"I like baseball, movies, good clothes, whiskey, fast cars ... and you. What else you need to know?"

by Andrew @ TLC on Sep 29, 2009 10:52 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The winning is part of it

But it’s the money that clinches it. It’s not like they just barely outbid another team, they purposely go so far above and beyond it that there is no way to turn it down.

Some Day, Matt Wieters Will Make The Cooperstown Crowd Laugh By Talking About The Time He Batted Behind Melvin Mora And Luke Scott. -Keith Law via Matt Wieters Facts

by Stacey on Sep 29, 2009 11:02 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

You watch

how much they throw at Aroldis Chapman. He is going to make more than Lincecum, Carpenter, Wainwright, and Greinke combined. Chapman is a cool baseball story, but if he is in pinstripes I hope that he is a bust.

When you're born into the human race you're given a ticket to the freak show. When you're born in America, you're given a front row seat. And some of us have notepads.-George Carlin

by Afghanistan Steve on Sep 29, 2009 1:36 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The problem is

I’m guessing he’s younger since he’s an intern, and the younger fans just don’t know anything else. My best friend who I mentioned in the game thread last night, she had witnessed four WS wins before her 21st birthday. She always tries to be super careful when she talks to me because she recognizes that she’ll never in a million years understand what it’s like to be an Orioles fan and that she doesn’t really know how to relate to it. Last year when the Yankees weren’t in the playoffs she started to say something about it that I’m sure would have pissed me off, but she caught herself and ended up saying that the fact that they aren’t there is completely foreign to her because the the last year they weren’t she was 12 years old. It gets on my nerves but it’s a concept that I understand.

I’m pretty close with her entire family and two years ago when the Yankees started out really really slow, the whole family was in panic mode. I went to visit her and her parents, her aunts, her cousins are all expecting me to empathize with them because now they know how it feels to lose and all of this ridiculousness. I humored them for awhile but finally I was like, “You guys need to get a hold of yourselves, you’re not the freaking Pittsiburgh Pirates.” I told them to wait and see if the Yankees even miss the playoffs (they didn’t) or have a losing record (of course not), then multiply that by 10 and add in a Yankee outfielder losing a ball in his jersey and a pitcher who can’t even successfully complete an intentional walk and a season ending stretch of 4-32, and then they can come talk to me.

Some Day, Matt Wieters Will Make The Cooperstown Crowd Laugh By Talking About The Time He Batted Behind Melvin Mora And Luke Scott. -Keith Law via Matt Wieters Facts

by Stacey on Sep 29, 2009 11:01 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I do miss the todd

"I like baseball, movies, good clothes, whiskey, fast cars ... and you. What else you need to know?"

by Andrew @ TLC on Sep 29, 2009 11:05 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It's true

the intern was young, but he was old enough to not be a jerk and to have some perspective, even if he’d grown up expecting things to go a certain way. Like your friend! Basically this guy needed someone to sit down and present some perspective, as you did to your friend & her family… but he turned out to be pretty arrogant and insufferable so that person wasn’t gonna be me. Also I lolled at your last sentence.

by O Nina on Sep 29, 2009 11:19 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I will never understood the "You like Team X? Eeewww!" logic

I am also a Buffalo Bills fan. People give me shit all the time, questioning why I’d like a terrible team. I often find myself speechless; it just seems like such a pointless question to me. I’ve been a die hard Bills fan for almost 20 years now (O’s fan for even longer). I think I’ve pretty much locked myself in for life. What the hell is the point of being a fan if you aren’t really loyal to the team? What am I supposed to do, just pick a new team every 3-4 years?

Maybe they’re all the smart ones and we’re the fools for wasting time/money/emotion on lost causes… I don’t know. I just hope one (or both) of these teams turns it around soon, because this is really getting hard to take.

Team Relish

by kramertoneman on Sep 29, 2009 1:10 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I do find it odd

to see a Yankees or Cowboys fan that was born and raised in Detroit or Orlando or (insert any city where jerkoffs follow the trendy teams).

When you're born into the human race you're given a ticket to the freak show. When you're born in America, you're given a front row seat. And some of us have notepads.-George Carlin

by Afghanistan Steve on Sep 29, 2009 1:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed

I see that fairly often also, and yes, those tend to be the two worst offenders. Throw in PHN and the Lakers for good measure.

Although I’m a MD native, my dad grew up in Buffalo, so I was indoctrinated from an early age.

Team Relish

by kramertoneman on Sep 29, 2009 2:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

“I will never understood”… oh boy, I’m a fool

Team Relish

by kramertoneman on Sep 29, 2009 1:56 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

“What the hell is the point of being a fan if you aren’t really loyal to the team? What am I supposed to do, just pick a new team every 3-4 years?”

Wise words. And noooo, they’re not the smart ones… we may love crappy teams, but at least we have the satisfaction of staying true to a team and being real fans. (Ahem… excuse me for sounding like a sappy made-for-tv sports movie there.) At least that’s what I keep telling myself to retain my sanity.

by O Nina on Sep 29, 2009 2:14 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

You have to say that to keep your sanity.

My two favorite teams are owned by Peter Angelos and Daniel Snyder. Yeccchhh!

Throw in Abe Polin, and it doesn’t make things any better. Thank God for the one Ted Leonsis in my life. I love me some Caps.

When you're born into the human race you're given a ticket to the freak show. When you're born in America, you're given a front row seat. And some of us have notepads.-George Carlin

by Afghanistan Steve on Sep 30, 2009 4:47 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Where do you work?

I’d like to punch this guy in the throat.

by O'sFan21 on Sep 29, 2009 5:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Don't work there anymore

but it’s one of the bigger think tanks in DC. (I’m paranoid and don’t want to say which one… also, you might actually track him down and punch him in the throat ;) )

by O Nina on Sep 29, 2009 5:28 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

He really has it coming though.

by O'sFan21 on Sep 29, 2009 5:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Maybe a

swift kick in the nards. Just like the Wolfman.

I hope someone got that reference.

When you're born into the human race you're given a ticket to the freak show. When you're born in America, you're given a front row seat. And some of us have notepads.-George Carlin

by Afghanistan Steve on Sep 30, 2009 4:48 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Wolfman Doesn't have nards

kick
Wolfman has nards!

Hating the New York Yankees is as American as apple pie, unwed mothers and cheating on your income tax ~ Mike Royko

by Graham71681 on Sep 30, 2009 8:21 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

"Nice job fat kid!"

“My name is Horace!!!” click click.

When you're born into the human race you're given a ticket to the freak show. When you're born in America, you're given a front row seat. And some of us have notepads.-George Carlin

by Afghanistan Steve on Sep 30, 2009 10:28 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Don't get bitter

I think it’s going to be this way for years to come. I suspect that most teams still manage to make money, with the payroll tax helping money to flow from the big spenders to the low payroll teams. Owners with middling teams that still make money don’t have much incentive to push payroll and try to close the gap against the teams that can readily buy the talent they want. If a smaller revenue team takes on higher contracts, they take on greater risk and are still face a lot of challenges to compete against the rich teams. it takes a super sharp front office to assemble a team without the luxury of deep pockets. The A’s and Twins have had some success, but not consistently, but they are not playoff regulars.

The baseball owners have no problem with the system as long as they majority aren’t losing money.

by drj on Sep 29, 2009 10:38 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

the thing I hate about the luxury tax

Is that the intention is to 1) discourage owners from spending ungodly amounts of money, and 2) give the smaller teams a chance to compete when they do spend it. But what it really does is make it so that if you’re going to spend a bazillion dollars, you have to also be financially capable of kicking in for the luxury tax. So that pretty much just leaves the Yankees year in and year out, and the Red Sox, Mets, whoever on a sporadic basis.

Some Day, Matt Wieters Will Make The Cooperstown Crowd Laugh By Talking About The Time He Batted Behind Melvin Mora And Luke Scott. -Keith Law via Matt Wieters Facts

by Stacey on Sep 29, 2009 10:48 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The way I see it

There are three groups that need to be appeased, and two of those three are currently being appeased:

1) The owners are making ridiculous profits and many of them seem to be 100% fine with just that. Those that aren’t are at least making good faith attempts at winning, even if some of them do it in incompetent ways (Kansas City, I’m looking at you!). But, I agree, for the most part, owners seem only interested in the bottom line and everybody is making a lot of money.

2) The players are getting better salaries than ever before and have one of the strongest unions in professional sports. They certainly can’t complain about very much, since they have a lot of choice in where they play and for how much.

3) The fans are the problem, and this is what parity needs to address. If it turns out that unless you rank at the top of the payroll in your division year-in, year-out, you can’t be a regular participant in the playoffs, then that is the sign of failure. And the fans are the ones who suffer. Well, unless they root for those big-spenders.

The problem is in separating simple big spending from big and smart spending. Clearly just a large budget won’t get you much unless it’s so big that the solutions to your problems are the most obvious ones (it’s the Yankee-way, for better or worse*).

*Credit where it is due: I hate the fucker, but the Nick Swisher trade was the smartest move the Yankees made all year, even if they don’t/didn’t realize it.

"I like baseball, movies, good clothes, whiskey, fast cars ... and you. What else you need to know?"

by Andrew @ TLC on Sep 29, 2009 10:59 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

One of the strongest unions period, not just in sports.

by O'sFan21 on Sep 29, 2009 5:06 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

BOS = '09 World Series Champs

That’s my prediction….Beckett, Lester, Buchholz is a nasty combo provided the back spaz isn’t a serious problem for Beckett….plus they got some power arms in the bullpen…this team looked shaky at times in the reg. season, but are built nicely for success in short series

by oriolez on Sep 29, 2009 10:38 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

hmmmm

did you miss their last 9 games against the MFY?

by O'sFan21 on Sep 29, 2009 5:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ok, so here's a first attempt at organizing some parity-related data in the NL

Number of playoff appearances since 1995 (and longest streak) by division:

NL East:
Atlanta 11 (11)
New York 3 (2)
Philadelphia 3 (3)
Florida 2 (1)
Montrington 0 (0)

NL Central:
St. Louis 8 (3)
Houston 6 (3)
Chicago 4 (2)
Cincinnati 1 (1)
Milwaukee 1 (1)
Pittsburgh 0 (0)

NL West:
LA 5 (2)
Arizona 4 (2)
San Diego 4 (2)
San Francisco 4 (2)
Colorado 2 (1)

The west looks fine, but the Central and the East don’t resemble parity to me. We could expand this some and stop just looking at the playoffs and rather look at teams in contention, and perhaps that would make the east look less top heavy.

"I like baseball, movies, good clothes, whiskey, fast cars ... and you. What else you need to know?"

by Andrew @ TLC on Sep 29, 2009 11:19 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Just to throw it out there

The NL West looks fine parity-wise because most years all those teams are awful and whichever one sucks the least can make it to the playoffs by being 6-8 games over .500. I didn’t look up any records or anything so I could be completely wrong, but that’s what it seems like most years.

by O'sFan21 on Sep 29, 2009 5:09 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Another forums I used to read/post on

While I was in Honduras swore we didn’t need texeira. I argued that convincing one major free agent to come here would lure more in on top of the fact I didn’t see a real prospect coming at 1b for us. I work in NJ now surrounded by mfy and phn fans. Their opinion is top flight, lemme tell ya…

by GeoffreyA on Sep 29, 2009 2:03 PM EDT via mobile reply actions 0 recs

Looks like a hell of a game in Detroit

Tied 1-1 in the bottom of the 7th

Some Day, Matt Wieters Will Make The Cooperstown Crowd Laugh By Talking About The Time He Batted Behind Melvin Mora And Luke Scott. -Keith Law via Matt Wieters Facts

by Stacey on Sep 29, 2009 2:06 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Aw, pinch-hitter for Huff.

I just turned this game on the mlb tv channel and they had a “catch all the great moments on MLB TV” commercial and it started with Wieters’ first ML home run!

by O Nina on Sep 29, 2009 2:19 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Looks like Minny has something cooking in the 9th

Some Day, Matt Wieters Will Make The Cooperstown Crowd Laugh By Talking About The Time He Batted Behind Melvin Mora And Luke Scott. -Keith Law via Matt Wieters Facts

by Stacey on Sep 29, 2009 2:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The value of a sacrifice bunt

With a runner on 2nd and no outs in the 9th, Minnesota was given a 62% chance of winning the game. With the sacrifice bunt to put a runner at 3rd with one out, it went down to 61%.

Some Day, Matt Wieters Will Make The Cooperstown Crowd Laugh By Talking About The Time He Batted Behind Melvin Mora And Luke Scott. -Keith Law via Matt Wieters Facts

by Stacey on Sep 29, 2009 2:28 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

oh and look

they didn’t score.

Some Day, Matt Wieters Will Make The Cooperstown Crowd Laugh By Talking About The Time He Batted Behind Melvin Mora And Luke Scott. -Keith Law via Matt Wieters Facts

by Stacey on Sep 29, 2009 2:29 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Suicide squeeze

That was crazy…

by O Nina on Sep 29, 2009 2:35 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

You have to be pretty sure of the bunter on a play like that

Some Day, Matt Wieters Will Make The Cooperstown Crowd Laugh By Talking About The Time He Batted Behind Melvin Mora And Luke Scott. -Keith Law via Matt Wieters Facts

by Stacey on Sep 29, 2009 2:36 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

and again the sac bunt doesn't work

Some Day, Matt Wieters Will Make The Cooperstown Crowd Laugh By Talking About The Time He Batted Behind Melvin Mora And Luke Scott. -Keith Law via Matt Wieters Facts

by Stacey on Sep 29, 2009 2:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

This game is, I say again, crazy

2 wild pitches in a row

by O Nina on Sep 29, 2009 2:43 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

and the Twins take the lead

ridiculous.

Some Day, Matt Wieters Will Make The Cooperstown Crowd Laugh By Talking About The Time He Batted Behind Melvin Mora And Luke Scott. -Keith Law via Matt Wieters Facts

by Stacey on Sep 29, 2009 2:44 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Minnesota is so stupid

They sacrifice with Carlos Gomez, didn’t they realize they’d IBB Cuddyer who is not only good but also on fire to get to Delmon Young?

Some Day, Matt Wieters Will Make The Cooperstown Crowd Laugh By Talking About The Time He Batted Behind Melvin Mora And Luke Scott. -Keith Law via Matt Wieters Facts

by Stacey on Sep 29, 2009 2:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

So I was in the middle of typing “well, at least it’s okay as long as Detroit doesn’t score 2+ runs” aaaaand Detriot hits a HR with no outs.

by O Nina on Sep 29, 2009 2:54 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

off of Nathan no less

Some Day, Matt Wieters Will Make The Cooperstown Crowd Laugh By Talking About The Time He Batted Behind Melvin Mora And Luke Scott. -Keith Law via Matt Wieters Facts

by Stacey on Sep 29, 2009 2:56 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well that was fun

I wonder when the 2nd game starts.

Some Day, Matt Wieters Will Make The Cooperstown Crowd Laugh By Talking About The Time He Batted Behind Melvin Mora And Luke Scott. -Keith Law via Matt Wieters Facts

by Stacey on Sep 29, 2009 3:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

7:05

Indeed, that was a splendid distraction from all the stuff I have to do but have no desire to do.

by O Nina on Sep 29, 2009 3:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Holy crap

Span goes from first two third on two consecutive wild pitches? That’s a crying shame.

Some Day, Matt Wieters Will Make The Cooperstown Crowd Laugh By Talking About The Time He Batted Behind Melvin Mora And Luke Scott. -Keith Law via Matt Wieters Facts

by Stacey on Sep 29, 2009 2:43 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs