casimir

The problem with playoff baseball is there’s just not a good way to replicate the regular season to the postseason in the earlier rounds and balance a schedule with TV (the way TV wants it) and have teams waiting around for a series. Even the teams that were in the first round have “rusty” schedules. The NL teams had two days off (although in fairness, one of those is due to a two game sweep), then a game day, then another off day, and then repeat the game day and off day again? That’s not a baseball schedule.

I think that’s probably right. Plus, owners aren’t going to give up gates and players aren’t going to shave that off of their pay/benefits. I’d guess we’d see more games and more active roster spots or a pandemic before the regular season gets reduced below 162.

I wonder what a payout would have been for that?

Yeah, I don’t assume he’s a starter to begin the season. In fact, it might be more about matching up with the opposition. Cunningham and Duren are starting. Stewart is likely at opening 4. I do think Ivey is probably pencilled into there as well, but it might depend upon who gets the 3. Hopefully there are plenty enough games where the 4th quarter matters. By that point, it doesn’t matter who started. Who is playing well that game? I like those 5 guys on the court then.

Bowling Green beat Georgia Tech at Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech beat Miami at Miami. I’m pining for Miami at Bowling Green. Somebody needs to make that happen.

Agree. But giving Evboumwan all that run in overtime? Come on, as if he needs crunch time run.

Hey, let’s keep the cancel culture commentary to the political forum.

I would hate for the best overall team(s) for a season to miss the playoffs due to a split season format. Edit to add: I would probably just hate a split season format, period.

I read the disclaimer loud and clear. Plus, I saw it was your commentary, so that adds another grain of salt. 😁

I think in general when there is a difference of around 7 games or more, its a bit of a different tier of accomplishment over the course of a regular season. Specific to Tampa in the East vs Houston in the West and Minnesota in the Central, even with a more balanced schedule, I would think Tampa had the tougher regular season schedule to deal with this season. But you're right, they're all good teams at this point. Anybody can take a 3 or 5 or 7 game series. One of the things about baseball that I like over the other major sports is that it truly is a day-to-day game. Almost all teams are within a winning percentage range of 40-60%.

That's outstanding.

Its kind of ridiculous that Tampa wasn't seeded 2 in the AL to begin with. They won 99 games in the toughest division in baseball and the seed goes to 90 win Houston. But sports and fans are thoughtlessly blinded by geographical divisions.

Wiseman looked like he was just learning the rules for the first time.

I think they nicknamed him "Manson".

Jim Eisenreich had a battle with Tourette’s that sidelined him for 2 full seasons early in his MLB career. He sat out his age 26 & 27 seasons. Made a comeback and played until he was 39. I don’t want to compare the situations. It doesn’t sound like Tourette’s is an issue with MeadowsA. I don’t think it’s been mentioned. Hopefully he can get through his situation and have a productive life. I only bring up Eisenreich as an illustration of a non physical issue that a former MLB player faced and was fortunate enough to get the right he,p that he needed which allowed him to return to the diamond.

1st chili of the season here. I go with the tried and true crock pot rather than fire pit. As much as I hate to admit summer is going away, the chili did hit the spot with the daytime temperatures settling into 50s for a stretch here.

There’s ample time before next season begins, so now’s as good of a time as any to see who wants game threads for 2024.

It’s also on BSD. I completely forgot there was a game today. So did the defense. 46 given up in the 1st. Quarter. If anyone wants to do game threads this season, have at it. I did them last season. I think I might have done them the season before, too. I can do them again, but if someone else wants a crack at it, I’ll pass along the keys to the complimentary company car to you.

I don't know whether to use the sad face or the haha face.

Willi Castro brought some serious will to win to Minnesota. Discuss.

Did he inherit Cabrera's 2023 fielding mitt?

Oh, I know. You're Wimpy or bust.

I heard this opinion which makes sense. In a three game set, perhaps part of a team's strategy is to take the 3 best SPs and then you fill in your bullpen accordingly. Maybe this gets a team to 24 or 25. Then you decide whether you need another position player (maybe for defense, base running, or whatever) over another pitcher. That might be part of the rationale here. Or maybe he's just simply pitched himself off of the playoff roster altogether. I still wonder about the workload he has had this season vs prior seasons and he was bound to hit a wall somewhere after 100-115 IP.

Do the Tigers gain anything by removing Shepard and replacing him with Impemba and his prior incident? Was Impemba that much more of a game caller that they take on the possible headache associated with him? Morris was a World Series winning franchise hall of fame pitcher who could actually add some sense to a broadcast (although not nearly as often as he could/should have). His mouth got him nontendered from the booth.

I guess the more I think about it, the more I don't like the length of the contract coupled with the fact that he might be declining already. At his peak was 2021 and might be the blip in the radar. That's questionable. What isn't questionable is that each season after 2021 saw a decline (I'm tossing out his debut season of 2020 because 2020). Do the scouts see something which indicate a bounce back is likely? We have numbers to look at, but they've got other data points to use. If they did happen to bring him aboard (1) what is the entirety of the trade and (2) what happens with Keith & Jung? Both are a part of the equation. I question where he fits in defensively now and the future. If he is passable at 2B/3B now, then it doesn't make sense to acquire him knowing that Torkelson is already at 1B and I prefer keeping the DH spot for partial rest days or some final piece of the puzzle type acquisition that cannot field.