casimir

You should’of watched him more against the Tigers. He allowed only 4 runs in 15 innings this season. Or, I guess maybe you did watch plenty and the offense flexed it’s muscles for you vs Maeda?

In back to back posts: Love it. Hate it.

I agree, the number of playoff teams isn't going to be reduced. At the very least, great teams are not being excluded these days. so that's good. The 1993 Giants won 103 games but finished a game behind Atlanta. Philly won the East with 97 wins. 103-59 is a pretty darn good season. San Francisco got screwed twice by geography that season. (1) By being the second best record in the West. (2) Atlanta ain't even a western city!

I would like to see more research on it (if its available), but I suspect there's something to baseball that suggests the rust vs rest is bad for a resting team. The regular season is a day-to-day thing. I understand it cannot be replicated exactly in the playoffs. Travel days which are also a built in make up day, I get that. But some teams had 5 off days, 1 game day, an off day, a game day, an off day,.... That's 2 games played in over a week. That ain't baseball. So, something needs to be done for that. With tiebreakers in use for postseason participation rather than game 163, playoffs start on Tuesday for everybody. The scheduling for the first round, as is with byes involved, is fine. Travel day on Friday. The next round should start for everybody on Saturday and no more off days until a series changes locations. Broadcasting shouldn't be an issue. Don't worry about college football or the NFL. TBS/TNT aren't covering those, utilize those channels, stream, do whatever to push the product along the lines of a normal baseball calendar that is conducive to the participating teams. Or maybe they just need to go back down to 4 teams per league and everybody starts playing on day 1. Its probably more likely to go from 6 to 8, especially after they expand. Fine, I don't like 8, but its probably better that way rather than having byes in baseball. Playoff qualification and seeding should be done according to regular season record rather than divisions/geography. Reseed with each successive round. You want the regular season to mean something? If a division "winner" doesn't have a record that qualifies for the top 4 or 6 or 8 or whatever the playoff field is in a league, then they don't qualify. Sorry, best records should be the resume.

Of course we're going to feel differently about the Tigers beating the Yankees in the playoffs. We're Tiger fans and the opposition was the Yankees. But take away those prejudices and look at the differences in the regular season records of those 3 series vs the current Diamondbacks vs Dodgers 16 game split. In 2006 the Yankees were only 2 games better than the Tigers during the regular season. Same difference in 2011. The divide was 7 games in 2012. It ain't the same conversation.

Well, that was a fun game ending double play.

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.