2012 Baseball Season/Off-Season Discussion

[pilferk]

AL East and AL Wild Card update:

Yanks: +1 AL East, +6 (losses) in the AL Wildcard, 10 games left, 3 at home, 7 on the road, 0 against teams with winning records, 4 against the Jays.  The combined record of their remaining opponents 199-259 (.434 winning %).

O's: -1 AL East, +4 (losses) in the AL Wildcard, 10 games left, 7 at home, 3 on the road, 3 against teams with wining records, 4 against the Jays (doubleheader today).  The combined record of their remaining opponents 218-240 (.476 winning %)

Rays: -6 (losses) AL East, -4 (losses) in the AL Wildcard, 9 games left, 3 at home, 6 on the road, 7 against teams with winning records, 4 against the White Sox.  The combined record of their remaining opponents 237 - 221 (.517 winning %).

A's: -4 AL West, + 3(losses) Al Wildcard, 10 games left, 6 at home, 4 on the road, 7 against teams with winning records, 7 against the Rangers.  The combined record of their remaining opponents 162-143 (.531 winning %)

Angels:-7 (losses) AL West,-3 (losses) AL Wildcard, 9 games left, 3 at home, 6 on the road, 3 against teams with winning records, 6 against the Mariners.  The combined record of their remaining opponents 162-143 (.531 winning %).

Tigers:-1 AL Central, -6 AL Wildcard, 10 games left, 4 at home, 6 on the road, 0 against teams with winning records, 7 against the Royals.  The combined record of their remaining opponents is 134-171 (.439 winning %).

White Sox: +1 AL Central, -5 AL Wildcard, 10 games left, 7 at home, 3 on the road, 4 against teams with winning records, 6 against the Indians.  The combined record of their remaining opponents 146-160 (.477 winning %)

Gonna be a wild last 10 days of the season!

[tim_m]

I'm getting beyond annoyed with all the shitty calls at first base lately. Its starting to be a daily thing lately.

And it's not just the Yanks seeing them.  They seem to be happening across baseball the past couple weeks.

Yeah, its getting out of hand. The league needs to start fining umps for this. These are really bad calls. Not close ones.

[faldor]

I'm getting beyond annoyed with all the shitty calls at first base lately. Its starting to be a daily thing lately.

And it's not just the Yanks seeing them.  They seem to be happening across baseball the past couple weeks.

Yeah, its getting out of hand. The league needs to start fining umps for this. These are really bad calls. Not close ones.

Not sure you want to start firing professional umpires.  Be careful what you wish for.  You've seen what's gone on in the NFL.

Granted, the NFL is a LOT harder to call than a baseball game.  But still, worth considering.

[tim_m]

I'm getting beyond annoyed with all the shitty calls at first base lately. Its starting to be a daily thing lately.

And it's not just the Yanks seeing them.  They seem to be happening across baseball the past couple weeks.

Yeah, its getting out of hand. The league needs to start fining umps for this. These are really bad calls. Not close ones.

Not sure you want to start firing professional umpires.  Be careful what you wish for.  You've seen what's gone on in the NFL.

Granted, the NFL is a LOT harder to call than a baseball game.  But still, worth considering.

No, i said fining them for bad calls. 

[pilferk]

Not sure you want to start firing professional umpires.  Be careful what you wish for.  You've seen what's gone on in the NFL.

FINING not FIRING.

Still, the ump union would never go for it.  HOWEVER: Post season umping, bonuses (they get 'em), salary increases, and even RETENTION (season to season) should be based on quality of their calls.  Again, ump union would probably not like it..but might be more amenable to that than something more overt (like fines) because they'd say fines can undermine the umps authority.

I agree, though, they have to do something.  It SEEMS like (and maybe it's just the 24 hour news cycle and the increased amount of coverage of just about every game) the umping has gotten much worse over the past 10 years.  I get a missed call every so often, but the frequency really seems to be up, across baseball.

[Falcon]

I agree, though, they have to do something.  It SEEMS like (and maybe it's just the 24 hour news cycle and the increased amount of coverage of just about every game) the umping has gotten much worse over the past 10 years.  I get a missed call every so often, but the frequency really seems to be up, across baseball.

The statement bolded above hits the nail on the head.

Even moreso really, with twitterverse it's literally an instantaneous news cycle.

A screen cap from a bad call and boom, viral.

[Bodhi]

nice win by the A's tonight, they have a legit shot at that division, they are in a good spot to be able to control their own destiny at home against Texas next week. 

[tim_m]

nice win by the A's tonight, they have a legit shot at that division, they are in a good spot to be able to control their own destiny at home against Texas next week. 

Yep, win tomorrow and they're two back with 6 to go.

[pilferk]

Scherzer scratched for tomorrow, for Detroit.  Starting to look like he may not be back in time for the 1st round of the playoffs with this deltoid issue.

IF that turns out to be the case, it makes Detroit a LOT less scary in the short series.

[AxlsMainMan]

Blue Jays shut the Yanks down - these next 3 games should be mighty interesting.

[pilferk]

Blue Jays shut the Yanks down - these next 3 games should be mighty interesting.

And the Yanks pissed one away today.  Same story, different day. Lots of men on base. Shitty situational hitting.

This is what might kill them.

[tim_m]

Blue Jays shut the Yanks down - these next 3 games should be mighty interesting.

And the Yanks pissed one away today.  Same story, different day. Lots of men on base. Shitty situational hitting.

This is what might kill them.

We just aren't good with RISP. We rely too much on the homerun and that's gonna be our downfall.

[pilferk]

AL East and AL Wild Card update:

Yanks: Tied AL East, +4  in the AL Wildcard, clinched playoff berth, 3 games left, 3 at home, 0 against teams with a winning record, 3 against the Red Sox.

O's: Tied AL East, +4  in the AL Wildcard, clinched playoff berth 3 games left,  3 on the road, 3 against teams with wining records, 3 against the Rays. 

Rays: eliminated from AL East, -3 in the AL Wildcard, 3 games left, 3 at home, 3 against a team with a winning record, 3 against the Rays. 

A's: -2 AL West, + 3 Al Wildcard, 3 games left, 3 at home, 3 against teams with winning records, 3 against the Rangers.

Angels:eliminated from AL West,-3 in AL Wildcard, 3 games left,  3 on the road, 0 against teams with winning records, 3 against the Mariners. 


3 Day (or maybe 4) day sprint for the AL East.

A's are holding on to the slimmest of margins in the AL West..but play the Rangers the last 3 games.  No chance for a game 163 there...either the A's sweep and win the division, or the Rangers win one and it's all over but the crying.

Wildcards are somewhat locked down.  Likely going to be some combination of the O's, Yanks, Rangers or A's holding the 2 divisions (AL East and West) and the 2 wild cards...just waiting to see which is which.

[tim_m]

The way the Rangers are playing as of late. I would not be entirely shocked to see the A's sweep them and take the division. Rangers pitching has been garbage recently.

[pilferk]

Yanks take a one game lead.

Rangers lead down to one over the A's.

Rays are eliminated based off A's win last night.  Now, it will be interesting to see what they do against the O's the last 2 games.

[pilferk]

Some grumbling about the Red Sox lineup from last night.

I get the "gentleman's agreement" when playing against people competing for something meaningful.

But I'm not sure what they expect the Sox to do.  Pedroia got hurt against the O's.  Ellsbury's got a lat strain...and hasn't hit lefties all that well.

By way of comparison, here are the starting line ups over their last 4 games:

O?s Game 1: Posednik, Ciriaco,Pedroia, Ross, Loney,Saltalamacchia, Lavarnway, Nava, Iglesias

O?s Game 2: Ellsbury, Podsednik, Pedroia, Ross, Gomez, Saltalamacchia, Lavarnway, Ciriaco, Aviles

O?s Game 3: Ellsbury, Pedroia, Ross, Gomez, Valencia, Lavarnway, Nava, Ciriaco, Iglesias

Yanks Game 1: Ciriaco, Nava, Ross, Gomez, Lavarnway, Saltalamacchia, Valencia, Lin, Iglesias.

Lin is really the only notable difference...but with the Pedroia injury, I'm not sure what other options they'd have.  Loney, maybe?  Not a whole lot better...

[faldor]

Yeah, Yanee fans were complaining about the Sox trotting out an anemic lineup against the O's. That's all they've got. And their best pitcher went last night and couldn't get through 2 innings. So it probably wouldn't have mattered if they had the 2004 lineup last night. There's a reason they've lost 90 games this season and another 20 loss September. It's not all of a sudden. They're just that bad.

[pilferk]

Yeah, Yanee fans were complaining about the Sox trotting out an anemic lineup against the O's. That's all they've got. And their best pitcher went last night and couldn't get through 2 innings. So it probably wouldn't have mattered if they had the 2004 lineup last night. There's a reason they've lost 90 games this season and another 20 loss September. It's not all of a sudden. They're just that bad.

I had the same conversation with some Yanks fans, while the O's were playing them. 

My question was: Who would you like them to play?

I got blank stares. 

They can only play the guys on their roster.  They can't somehow convince Youk and Agon to come back and man 1st and 3rd.  They can't magically heal Ortiz's foot or Pedroia's hand or whatever is wrong with Middlebrooks right now.  They're not getting Texas to lend them Beltre tonight.

And the fact is: They got a bunch of AAA guys on their roster.  The O's got to play them a few days ago...Yanks get them now.  It's not like Bobby V is resting his MLB guys and just fielding a team of September call ups because he WANTS to.  That's just all he has in the clubhouse.

[tim_m]

And the Rangers collapse continues just as i was predicting. I said they could get swept by the A's and lose the division. Well a loss tomorrow and they have to play a game playoff against Baltimore. Not a game i would want to play.

[pilferk]

And the Rangers collapse continues just as i was predicting. I said they could get swept by the A's and lose the division. Well a loss tomorrow and they have to play a game playoff against Baltimore. Not a game i would want to play.

I'm rooting for Oakland, too.

And the Yanks (obviously).

All for very selfish reasons.  I'd prefer the Yanks NOT have ANY chance to have to be playing on the West Coast in the ALDS.  If Oakland wins the West and the Yanks win today...the earliest they could see them would be the ALCS.  Given the awful format for the ALDS this year....I'd prefer the Yanks at LEAST get to stay somewhat closer to home.  The flip side is: Yanks own the tie break against Texas (if they win, and the Yanks lose today, but win the AL East..the Yanks get the #1 seed).  If Oakland wins, the Yanks lose, and the Yanks manage to win the AL East...the A'sdivisional winning % will be, I think, a couple points higher than the Yanks...so they'd win the tie break.

After all the issues the Yanks have had in the 2nd half....one win today means they clinch the AL East AND best record in the AL.

Dice K is pretty much all the O's only hope, right now.