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2013 MLB Season Thread
- Thread starter quagmire
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After the series the Red Sox had against the Tigers, the ball from the Cardinal pitchers is going to look like a beach ball. Sox in 6.
The big knock on the Tigers going into the series was their pen and they lived up to their billing - in a bad way. Their starters put them in a position to win the series and the pen just couldn't hold their end of the bargain. I can't imagine how frustrating it must have been for Scherzer to see that error and then an 0-2 hanging breaking ball wipe away what was a hell of a start.
The 2 best teams in baseball are in it though, which is how it should be. Both teams have great starting pitching and clutch offenses, so I think it's actually going to be an exciting series. They really do seem evenly matched. I do think, as it did in the ALCS, that it'll come down to the pens.
Obviously I'd like the Cards to win, but I think we may be seeing another Red Sox championship this year.
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Haven't you said over and over you don't really follow baseball that much? Don't hurt yourself jumping onto that bandwagon....
The 2 best teams in baseball are in it though, which is how it should be. Both teams have great starting pitching and clutch offenses, so I think it's actually going to be an exciting series. They really do seem evenly matched. I do think, as it did in the ALCS, that it'll come down to the pens.
Obviously I'd like the Cards to win, but I think we may be seeing another Red Sox championship this year.
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Haven't you said over and over you don't really follow baseball that much? Don't hurt yourself jumping onto that bandwagon....
I've never followed baseball as much a hockey or football but I still pay attention to how the Sox are doing. The regular season is just too long for me really get into it and watch every game.. I'll catch some of them but otherwise I'll just read the recap and catch the highlights. There's no rule saying you have to watch all 162 games to enjoy watching your home team in the playoffs.
It's interesting listening to sports stations talk about the Tigers / Red Sox series. Almost all of the stations are complementary of both teams. They put some of the blame for the Tiger's lose on the Tiger's bullpen but they put most of the blame on Prince Fielder. The Boston stations equate him to many of the overpaid / under performing / bad team chemistry players that the Red Sox have had in the past.
I've never followed baseball as much a hockey or football but I still pay attention to how the Sox are doing. The regular season is just too long for me really get into it and watch every game.. I'll catch some of them but otherwise I'll just read the recap and catch the highlights. There's no rule saying you have to watch all 162 games to enjoy watching your home team in the playoffs.
I don't blame you. The more you follow, even a little bit, the more it gives your city/region a chance for a championship. I follow the four major sports, some more than others but when one team chokes, like the 49ers inability to finish it off in Super Bowl for first time, then it's nice to fall back on that season's baseball year.
Boston has definitely had some great times of late and it's nice to have a city not named New York be in the spotlight for the most multiple wins. After the Mavericks I thought maybe the Texas Rangers would pick up at least one WS win and the Cowboys would get the act together with the talent they have which seems to underperform (but we will have to see if this is their year). The bay area had at least one of the region's baseball team win it all but our basketball team and hockey team had our hopes up and so did the Niners but it was chokesville so it's not our time to be like you or New York with most teams peaking at the right time. New York can fail at the WS most thought they should have won and then they turn around and pick up a couple of Super Bowls in a short period of time. Boston can lose said Super Bowls but then turn up the heat with the Bruins. It must be nice to be Boston or New York.
With us, it's hard to lose in playoffs but then only just wait a few months to probably have another team in region win the big one. That's your MO. For your Patriots who lost two big ones you have balanced it out with Bruins and probably the Red Sox coming up. Any memory of any curse is probably gone but a win here will make you the ones to beat and erase last year. People have short memories and this could be the David Ortiz dynasty.
The Sox are hot and they need to bring that on against the Cardinals. It's not too long ago that they won this dance for Stl so they know it coming in with quite a few guys. It will be a great series and I hope a 7 game one that's decided late in the last game. Either you or they will tie on a third one in a decade, NYY style.
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So did the Red Sox. Or were Manny and Ortiz clean in 04?Also won more World Series with players on PEDs!!!! Coincidence??
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It wasn't Scherzer that gave up 2 grand slams, that was all on the managers poor decisions.blah blah blah scherzer verlander blah blah
All we keep hearing about is those two guys and how great they are.
Nobody wants to give any credit to Lester or Buchholz. Let's not forget Buchholz was the best pitcher in the league for the first 2 months of the season until he "slept wrong". But as long as he slept the right way, he's just as good as Scherzer.
Well yeah but that wasn't my point.
The media was continually fellating Scherzer and Verlander like they were the greatest thing since sliced bread while completely ignoring the Sox starters. Scherzer and Verlander are great no doubt, but Lester, Buchholz, and Lackey deserve some more credit.. they pitched just as well.
oh they were clean.
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Got to agree with you on that, Fox should have had Verlander in the booth they were stroking him so much.
I like the matchup.
Old School two best teams of the season (as measured by wins).
They both seem pretty similarly built with the exception that Boston has more potential for power hitting.
Both teams had to overcome LCS opponents with the best rotations in their leagues.
Boston is like a Phoenix rising from it's ashes (last year was awful for them), and the Cardinals are looking for 2004 redemption.
Pretty historic franchises with alot of respect for each other. This is what October baseball is supposed to be. I love it.
Go Cards!
Old School two best teams of the season (as measured by wins).
They both seem pretty similarly built with the exception that Boston has more potential for power hitting.
Both teams had to overcome LCS opponents with the best rotations in their leagues.
Boston is like a Phoenix rising from it's ashes (last year was awful for them), and the Cardinals are looking for 2004 redemption.
Pretty historic franchises with alot of respect for each other. This is what October baseball is supposed to be. I love it.
Go Cards!
You're a true fan even though you hate Boston, gotta respect that. At least the ALCS was eventful, even if it wasn't the outcome you hoped for. And ew, rooting for the Cardinals. I get it, but ew.Going to slightly disagree with you here. Scherzer, Verlander and Sanchez (game 1) were really amazingly good. Like really, really good. The fellating, while annoying as a Red Sox fan, was pretty much deserved. The issue was the Red Sox were so much better in all of the other facets of the game, not that either of those guys didn't pitch stellarly. If the Tigers had done one of the following well: bullpen, baserunning, defense - I think they win. Their starting pitching was really incredible. I don't think it can be overstated enough. They took no hitters into the 9th/6th/5th inning in three straight games. They made our badass offense look utterly pathetic. Thankfully, the team hung in there and battled, waiting for an opportunity to do something. But yeah, the praise was deserved.
That said, I do agree the media acted like the Sox rotation was chopped liver. It's not by any stretch of the imagination. Lester was fantastic without his best stuff in either of his starts. Lackey pitched the game of his life against Verlander. Peavy's start was disappointing, but didn't cost the Sox. Red Sox pitchers are very good, with very good defense and a grinding and multidimensional offense behind them. It's much more balanced and in the playoffs I'll take it.
But Scherzer/Verlander is just a sick 1-2 punch. Sick. It's a testament to the will of the Red Sox, Detroit's top heavy/slow offense, and Detroit's bad bullpen that the Red Sox went 3-0 in those games.
Although having watched these guys all season, I wasn't surprised. I was surprised that so many people made it seem like Boston had no chance. cough 63dot cough.
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That was ridiculous. Every game it seemed like they were interviewing a Tigers pitcher for a freaking hour. During a playoff game. I really do hate Fox and Buck/McCarver.
I put the TV on mute and listen to Castig/O'Brien on WEEI with MLB at Bat. They're a few seconds behind, but it's worth it.
God I hate JB..... ugh.
Pulling for the Cards in this one!! Or should I say, just hope it is a close series!!!
You guys totally proved me wrong. It was amazing to know what a great 1-2 punch can be with Detroit's pitching but the Red Sox were resilient in a way that even the hardest core believers were left stunned. I am glad you pointed out how well Detroit's starters actually played. That home run is something I think will live on Red Sox reels and commercials for years to come. It was as powerful as a walk off.
Who thought it would kind of look like a team saying, "I think I will play badly and then pop a couple of home runs when needed." Even in movies this type of thing does not happen. I put it up there as amazing postseason hitting akin to Reggie's famous three home runs in a single WS game. Truth is stranger than fiction.
But the Cardinals were a team that seemed to be doomed at one point in 2011 WS but they pulled it off. It will be fun to see which team coming from behind, as they both have, will reign in the end. If the Cardinals still have that don't quit spirit leftover from 2011 along with what Boston has shown America then we can be in for seven very close games. I was starting to drift into football, but now?...what's football?
I will be watching Victorino who came out of any slump he had and I think he will be able to make a few amazing plays whether the Sox win or not. I think a lot of people were falling asleep who weren't direct fans of either team and then Detroit pulls Scherzer and all hell breaks loose!
I don't really agree with that. I mean, the guy is going through a playoff slump, and he made a bonehead base running play but I've never heard that he was a bad clubhouse guy. The fact that Cabrera was hurt made Prince's failures even worse.
How do you not put the blame on the pen? Yes, Prince struggled, but the starters handing leads to the pen and they couldn't hold them. If you want to win in October, your pen has to be lights out.
I cringe at that idea. Baker has consistently cost his teams wins, he is a hold out from old school baseball that refuses to embrace ways of analyzing games that doesn't include toothpicks and his gut feelings. I watched too many times this year where he cost the Reds wins. There is a reason he is fired even though he has a year left on his contract.
The teams that have won under him win in spite of him, not because of him.
If you can't tell I really question his baseball managing chops.
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The reason he was fired because they wanted to fire the hitting coach, but stood up for him saying if anyone should be fired it should be him.
At one point that came out. They asked him to retire first. He opted not to. Then they wanted a new hitting coach. He declined. So they separated ways.
Jocketty and Castellini have both come out since the management change making it clear they wanted Dusty out, and an overall management change.
This article has a few quotes in there that leads one to believe it wasn't just the hitting coach.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/reds/2013/10/04/dusty-baker-fired-manager/2923417/
When they say things like the players stopped responding, and they needed a new voice a new direction... Makes you think it wasn't because of a hitting coach. Crap I mean here is a damning quote from Cast:
It wasn't just the hitting coach.
As far as his managing Chops... Look no further than the Reds vs Bucs wild card game. Not only did he send in an unknown quantity (Cueto who just came of the DL, granted he had two W's from sub .500 teams), leaves him in the game too long to get batted around, and then goes to another arm fresh off his disabled list when he had two pitchers from the top of the rotation available to bail Cueto out. He couldnt manage that elimination game. Then there is the fact he was very rigid in his management of regular season games that cost him wins, like his refusal to adjust usage of Aroldis Chapman when it could have given the Reds a better chance to win a game. Heck, Chapman is the Reds BEST reliever.... Why did he not throw a single pitch in the wild card game? They had nothing to lose and the rest of the Bullpen could not stop the Bucs from hitting. Refusal to optimize his lineup... How long did he let Cozart languish in the 2 hole? For over half the season it seems. As soon as he bows to pressure, Cozart starts hitting better in the 8th slot, and the top of the lineup starts producing more.
I'm pretty militant about Baker, I'm sure some of that comes across, so I must apologize. But he shouldn't be managing another major league team unless the club needs a sacrificial lamb for rebuild years.
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Game 1 tonight! I am having serious difficulty being a functioning adult at the moment.
The bearded ducklings and Paul Revere are ready!
The bearded ducklings and Paul Revere are ready!
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