2010 Baseball Season/Off-Season Discussion

[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.

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..

He just continues to amaze me. Big win after big win. I know Sabathia is the ace, but, in a big game i'd still want Pettitte on the mound. He just seems to rise to the occaison. Hopefully Hughes can keep it going and we close this out Saturday. I like our chances. We typically give Hughes tons of run support.

[pilferk]

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..

Except.....he'd called the strike zone the same way, for both sides, all night.

Pavano was getting EVERY pitch that was away, sometimes by as much as 6 inches+...which meant the Yankee hitters had to cover a LOT of real estate, outside.

Wendelstedt wasn't giving ANYTHING inside.

The same was true when Pettite was on the mound.  Getting the call away, not getting the call inside. 

If fact, if you watch the game, the Twins scored their first run because Andy couldn't figure out the Umps strike zone...and was pitching to contact WAY too much.  That walk to Kubel (which was the ONLY time, all night, that the ump wasn't giving the outside pitch) set that whole inning up.

The Twins second run (the home run) came after Andy got behind on the count due to a curveball was low and inside, but was a strike (according to gameday and pitchtrax), and called a ball.

My point is: Both teams were playing with the same strike zone.  Both pitchers seemed to adjust to it (and so, apparently, did Berkman...who talked about it in his postgame).  So not getting that call (and I agree, it was a textbook strike) was just indicitive of what had gone on all night, for both teams/pitchers.

Those saying that ONE call would have effected the outcome are, IMHO, incorrect.  If you change the strike zone, throughout the WHOLE game, I'm not so sure the outcome changes. 

[COMAMOTIVE]

Lincecum = Filthy last night

[pilferk]

Lincecum = Filthy last night

'

The post season pitching has been pretty impressive, thus far. 

I HOPE the Giants and Phillies win their series.  As a baseball fan, I salivate at the thought of Lincecum vs Halladay in game one of the NLCS.

[COMAMOTIVE]

Lincecum = Filthy last night

'

The post season pitching has been pretty impressive, thus far. 

I HOPE the Giants and Phillies win their series.  As a baseball fan, I salivate at the thought of Lincecum vs Halladay in game one of the NLCS.

I couldn't agree more, man.

The only thing is, Philly has so many dangerous hitters and SF ....just does not

[Falcon]

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..

Except.....he'd called the strike zone the same way, for both sides, all night.

Unfortunately I didn't get to see the game - just the wrap ups on TBS, MLB and ESPN who all focused on the Berkman pitch and the Pettitte (forgot who was batting) strike that was obviously a ball. 

Moving on:

Pitching was indeed great last night, loved it.  Nothing better than playoff baseball when the hurlers are dealing.

Looking forward to Philly and "that other Roy" mowing down the Reds later today.

[pilferk]

Unfortunately I didn't get to see the game - just the wrap ups on TBS, MLB and ESPN who all focused on the Berkman pitch and the Pettitte (forgot who was batting) strike that was obviously a ball. 

Moving on:

Pitching was indeed great last night, loved it.  Nothing better than a playoff baseball when the hurlers are dealing.

Looking forward to Philly and "that other Roy" mowing down the Reds later today.

I watched every pitch...and the nice thing about TBS (at least in HD...not sure if it's there in SD) is they have the "pitch tracker" up for every pitch.

Even without it, it was obvious the ump was giving the pitch, away...there were some calls I would say were EASILY as bad, that went the Twins way, during the game.

http://www.brooksbaseball.net/pfxVB/zoneTrack.php?month=10&day=7&year=2010&game=gid_2010_10_07_nyamlb_minmlb_1%2F&prevDate=107

There's some pretty good graphical evidence of what I'm talking about.

Edit: And here's a great article on the subject..
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AqSnOeQjxrgR1ixzeGvGiz45nYcB?slug=jp-twinsyankeesumpires100710

[tim_m]

The pitch trax thing is HD only. For the playoffs they've added to it by adding a home plate showing where the ball crosses. That's one thing i love about watching the game in HD on TBS.

[tim_m]

Well the good baseball hasn't continued for a third day. What an UGLY game in Philly.

[Falcon]

Well the good baseball hasn't continued for a third day. What an UGLY game in Philly.

A tough watch all around although I did enjoy seeing Brandon Phillips make two
critical errors contributing to the Reds meltdown..

[D]

Being a lifelong Braves fan, I hate the Reds but do think its bullshit, that because of a retarded,ridiculous rule that a Wildcard team can't play division winner if they are in same division, that they are rewarded for their amazing season by having to play the juggernaut PHillies in rd 1.

that rule is just stupid.

[Falcon]

As a Cards fan and a follower of Rick Ankiel since he was in the low minors, I must say I got chills when he absolutely fucking crushed the game winning bomb last night for the Braves into McCovey Cove.

Rewind ten years to the very public meltdown against the Mets, who would've known "the best lefty pitching prospect" Cards brass had seen since Steve Carlton would emerge through all the adversity (father being busted for cocaine trafficking, 2 arm and 1 knee surgeries, etc) to hit a game deciding post season homer a decade later.

What a story...

[tim_m]

Well the good baseball hasn't continued for a third day. What an UGLY game in Philly.

A tough watch all around although I did enjoy seeing Brandon Phillips make two
critical errors contributing to the Reds meltdown..

It was pretty brutal to watch. 6 errors. 3 hit batters. 6 walks. Not a game you would wanna remember for either team really but more so the reds.

[tim_m]

Being a lifelong Braves fan, I hate the Reds but do think its bullshit, that because of a retarded,ridiculous rule that a Wildcard team can't play division winner if they are in same division, that they are rewarded for their amazing season by having to play the juggernaut PHillies in rd 1.

that rule is just stupid.

I agree completely D. The best team should play the worst team regardless of the division they are in. That's how it is in Football, Hockey and Basketball. Why not Baseball?

[Falcon]

Being a lifelong Braves fan, I hate the Reds but do think its bullshit, that because of a retarded,ridiculous rule that a Wildcard team can't play division winner if they are in same division, that they are rewarded for their amazing season by having to play the juggernaut PHillies in rd 1.

that rule is just stupid.

I agree completely D. The best team should play the worst team regardless of the division they are in. That's how it is in Football, Hockey and Basketball. Why not Baseball?

C'mon fellas, we're talking about a sport that has different sets of rules for its two leagues and home field advantage in its championship series based on the outcome of a mid season exhibition game.

Just a little perspective..

[D]

Now u mentioned it. how silly is it that Home Field is based  on a stupid all star game? LOL!

[tim_m]

What an impressive first playoff start for Phil Hughes. The few times he got in a little trouble he made a big pitch. He gives us a start like that in the next round i'll be VERY happy.

[novemberparadise23]

pettite and hughes were great. I thought giradi pulled pettite early he looked great in the 7th...but it turned out ok so i gotta give him some credit

[tim_m]

Yeah, he probably did pull him a little early. He was probably thinking ok he's only had 3 now 4 starts since from returning from injury. Lets not overdo it.

[Falcon]

Loved seeing the Phils dispose of Johnny "Kicky"Queto and the Reds in short order last night,  Hammels was dominant..

Will give SF and Atlanta a look tonight with interest and a periodic check of Tex/Tampa tomorrow - not much interest here in that one..