2010 Baseball Season/Off-Season Discussion

[tim_m]

If they don't find some way to get rid of Javy this postseason Cashman might be run out of town. This guy has just totally given up on his team. I still think Girardi kept Sabathia in a batter or two long. If he takes him out when its 3-2 or 3-3 who knows? Maybe we could've stopped the bleeding. He brought Chamberlain into an almost impossible situation already down 4-3 bases loaded and still one out.

Javy is either a free agent or has a team option for next year.

Either way he's gone i think.

[pilferk]

Scored a ticket to the first ALDS game at Yankee Stadium (game 1 or game 3...whichever it turns out to be).  Not GREAT seats (terrace level, outfield) but hey...I'll be there!!

[tim_m]

Hopefully game 1. The damn Rays keep trying to give us the division crown but we won't take it. Our offense and pitching better wake up the next three days or we're gonna have a short stay in October.

[cotis]

Scored a ticket to the first ALDS game at Yankee Stadium (game 1 or game 3...whichever it turns out to be).  Not GREAT seats (terrace level, outfield) but hey...I'll be there!!

Got bleacher sets for all the home playoff games!!

[Falcon]

Postseason predictions:

NLDS
Phils over Reds
Giants over Braves

ALDS
Yanks over Twinks
Rays over Rangers

NLCS
Phils over Giants

ALCS
Yanks over Rays

World Series
Phils over Yanks in 6

[COMAMOTIVE]

TWINS IN 5
RANGERS IN 5

PHILLIES IN 4
BRAVES IN 5

RANGERS IN 6
PHILLIES IN 4

PHILLIES OVER RANGERS IN 6

[tim_m]

Roy Halladay just threw the second no-hitter in postseason history. WOW! What a game.

[Falcon]

Roy Halladay just threw the second no-hitter in postseason history. WOW! What a game.

The Dr. was definitely "in" so to speak, what a performance.

Loved seeing the "little bitch" Brandon Phillips making the last out - very fitting.

Yanks and Twinks now, here we go pilf

[tim_m]

Roy Halladay just threw the second no-hitter in postseason history. WOW! What a game.

The Dr. was definitely "in" so to speak, what a performance.

Loved seeing the "little bitch" Brandon Phillips making the last out - very fitting.

Yanks and Twinks now, here we go pilf

He sure was. That was one of the most dominant pitching performances i've had the privilege to see. 54 years between postseason no hitters. I honestly didn't think it would happen again. I'm glad i was wrong that was a thrill to see. Too bad he had that one walk.

[tim_m]

More bad uninspired play by the yanks. What a shock! When is this team gonna wake the fuck up?

[cotis]

I nominate you for poster of the year!


They will wake up, don't worry.

[cotis]

...told ya .

[tim_m]

They were worrying me there for awhile. It sure took them long enough to get the offense going. I hope they don't do that again tomorrow. They still tried to blow it a few times though. They can't keep doing that against teams this good. Its going to comeback and bite them in the ass eventually. They made pitches when they had to. Rivera of course when it matters most comes through yet again. 5 outs four of them official outs and 4 broken bats.

[pilferk]

3 GREAT games yesterday.  MLB must be beside themselves (other than the brief moment of terror last night..more on that in a sec).

A tremendous effort by Cliff Lee to more or less shut down the Rays.  That one was fun to watch....though I REALLY think a lot of that game hinged on the HORRIBLE foul ball call when Pena was at bat.  That count goes to 3-1, or worse yet, they actually call the glancing blow to his hand that may have occured, and that game might go very differently.   Ironic, considering Jeter, in the same park, "sells" his way onto 1st after the pitch hits the nub of the bat...and yesterday Pena get's hit and "undersells" his way to a strike call.

Lee would have been the story of the day, were it not for Doc.

Doc's no hitter...I mean, what can you say about it.  It was a thing of beauty.  I watched almost every pitch, and the guy was DEALING.  A lot of folks are saying, since Doc was throwing strike 1 almost every time, the Reds should have started hacking.  The thing is, if you were watching, he PAINTING to get strike 1 most of the time.  Those were crappy pitches to hit.  You swing at them and, sure, one might leak through...but those hitters weren't going to hit them hard.  Kudo's to Doc....this will be one I can tell my kids that I watched.

The Yanks game:  CC wasn't CC, but the Yanks offense FINALLY woke up for a couple innings to give them the lead.  Bullpen was serviceable (but they all looked nervous) and Mo looked like Mo (thankfully) again.  For the Yanks, this seems to be a "textbook" postseason win over the Twins.  They've beat the Twins 7 straight post-season games...and the Twins have held a lead in every one of them.  I think Gardenhire left Liriano in a LITTLE too long, but....his bullpen isn't nearly as long as the Yanks, so maybe that was what he was thinking.

And, at the end of that game, was the moment that struck terror into the MLB brass:  That fly ball to Golson was caught...not trapped.  The ump blew the call, and it took 3 seconds, and ONE replay, to see it.  Had Thome come up and put one in the seats, tying the game.....THAT, as much as the Doc no hitter, would have been DOMINATING the press coverage.  Luckily, Mo does what Mo normally does and shattered Thome's bat on a routine infield pop up.  6 umps, 2 DEDICATED to the outfield, and they STILL blow a big call in a big spot.  That is just not acceptable.

[pilferk]

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/orlando-cabrera-needs-to-rethink-his-postgame-comments.php

I agree with the author.

Cabrera should:

1) Apologize

2) tip his cap to Doc

3) Admit he was frustrated by the events of the day

Because the pitch chart shows that Cabrera is nuts.  And, having no real horse in the race, I will say I don't remember ONE "bad call" by the ump yesterday, in terms of balls and strikes, while Halladay was pitching.

[tim_m]

You're right they clearly blew that call on Golson's catch. I could see from the naked eye in real time that he caught that ball. How could SIX umpires all miss it. Completely inexcuseable. The yankees need to play better though. They have to stop trying to and giving leads back. This has been their downfall the last month. They either get a lead and the pitchers give it back. Or they fall behind by a lot early then can't overcome the deficet.

[Falcon]

Because the pitch chart shows that Cabrera is nuts.  And, having no real horse in the race, I will say I don't remember ONE "bad call" by the ump yesterday, in terms of balls and strikes, while Halladay was pitching.

More on the above from STLToday's Bernie Miklasz:

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/bernie-miklasz/article_e5067414-d21e-11df-9408-0017a4a78c22.html

Hypocrisy -- and payback -- can be a beautiful thing. You'll recall Brandon Phillips calling the Cardinals "whiny little (female dogs)" before the teams played a three-game series at the Not So Great American Ball Park Aug. 9-11. Fast forward to Wednesday, Game 1 of the NLDS between Cincinnati and Philadelphia. After the Reds were no-hit by the magnificent Roy Halladay in Game 1 of the NLDS, shortstop Orlando Cabrera gave credit to ... the home-plate umpire. Cabrera whined about ump John Hirschbeck's strike zone.

"Another umpire, he wouldn't have thrown like that," Cabrera told reporters. "He was getting every pitch. We had no chance. We had to swing."

Actually, the Pitch FX data revealed a different truth. Hirschbeck had an excellent day overall. He missed only one pitch (in Halladay's favor) in nine innings. That's right; the umpire called only one non-strike a strike in nine innings and 104 Halladay pitches. But Hirschbeck missed four Halladay pitches that were strikes; he called them balls. So if anything, the Reds benefited from Hirschbeck's strike zone.

The problem: Halladay was at a peak level of performance, and the Reds couldn't do anything with him. They couldn't get to Halladay, not even when the devious Phillips tossed his bat in fair ground to try and disrupt Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz when Ruiz jumped in front of the plate to pick up Phillips' nubber.

Instead of praising Halladay, as the other Reds did, Cabrera opted to whine. I wonder what Brandon Phillips thinks about that? Perhaps Phillips can induct Cabrera into the WLB Club.

As Halladay mowed down the Reds, I was thinking that maybe we'd see Karate Man Johnny Cueto emerge from the dugout to do a little Kung Fu action on Halladay's right shoulder and arm, right around the sixth inning or so. It was about the only shot the Reds had to beat Halladay

[tim_m]

Pettitte comes up with a big win yet again. He has got to be considered one of the best ever when it comes to the playoffs.

[tim_m]

All this great pitching so far in the playoffs. Isn't this fun to watch? Wow! Great starts by Halladay, Lee, CJ Wilson, Andy Pettite and Derek Lowe and Tim Lincecum.

[Falcon]

Pettitte comes up with a big win yet again. He has got to be considered one of the best ever when it comes to the playoffs.

A fine outing for sure.

Can't say the same for Hunter Wendelstedt, he should issue a public apology to the state of Minnesota.

Pathetic.

That said, happy to see the Yanks win - I'm still pissed at the Twinks for '87..