1776 Posted October 7, 2021 Share Posted October 7, 2021 We stayed up the end last night. This will be a tough game to top in the playoffs going forward. I Cardinal Nation is hoping St. Louis native Max Scherzer comes home next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1776 Posted October 7, 2021 Share Posted October 7, 2021 15 hours ago, Tigeraholic1 said: Al Avila, please say hello to the REAL drunken sailor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Brian_K Posted October 7, 2021 Share Posted October 7, 2021 For the stanks I do not think it is so much winning WS, although that is obviously a big part of it...more about staying relevant with all the big names. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oblong Posted October 7, 2021 Author Share Posted October 7, 2021 Not sure if this is just a promo that goes away before tomorrow but MLB Network is now showing up on my cable. It wasn't there last week. First game tomorrow is on MLB and I was actually going to upgrade my sub level to get it. Now I'm not so sure if I need to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtutiger Posted October 7, 2021 Share Posted October 7, 2021 Former Tiger Steve Sparks sighting.... doing color commentary on Astros Radio.../. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger337 Posted October 7, 2021 Share Posted October 7, 2021 5 hours ago, lordstanley said: This Washington Post column may be behind a paywall for some. I agree with a lot of what the writer says. Sometimes I feel the game is passing me by, which may just be a function of my age (I’m 54). https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2021/10/07/dave-roberts-max-scherzer-bullpen/ I am always caught in between. As a saber, I appreciate modern strategy, but the old man in me does not always like the aesthetics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandyMarsh Posted October 7, 2021 Share Posted October 7, 2021 It sucks but unfortunately in this day and age pitchers feel they have to throw max effort on every pitch. Gone are the days of throwing 75-80% most of the game and just letting the hitters get themselves out. You do that now and you're going to be putting a bunch of balls in the seats. Rolling back the ball will certainly help but I think in general with players now working out all year round with the top trainers, equipment, nutrition and workout plans available they all just gotten stronger with quicker bats so there are fewer and fewer "punch and judy" hitters that you can relax and not go full effort with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archie Posted October 8, 2021 Share Posted October 8, 2021 I liked seeing the White Sox getting it handed to them. McCullers had a nice game with 6 2/3 and 4 hits and no runs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandyMarsh Posted October 8, 2021 Share Posted October 8, 2021 Rays up 5 to 0 over Boston in the 5th. Nelson Cruz doing what he always does in the postseason whether facing the Tigers or not and that's hit HRs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gehringer_2 Posted October 8, 2021 Share Posted October 8, 2021 (edited) 6 hours ago, RandyMarsh said: It sucks but unfortunately in this day and age pitchers feel they have to throw max effort on every pitch. Gone are the days of throwing 75-80% most of the game and just letting the hitters get themselves out. You do that now and you're going to be putting a bunch of balls in the seats. Rolling back the ball will certainly help but I think in general with players now working out all year round with the top trainers, equipment, nutrition and workout plans available they all just gotten stronger with quicker bats so there are fewer and fewer "punch and judy" hitters that you can relax and not go full effort with. yeah - I think the article is misleading. 30 yeas ago managers weren't just leaving guys in who were giving up a lot of runs late because they were stupid. Mickey Lolich or even Jack Morris was a better choice in the 9th than your BP. It's not that analytics have changed strategy, it's that the game has changed pitching. For whatever reasons that no-one has been able to do more than speculate about, enough things in the game have changed such that pitchers need to throw more pitches per inning and they are more spent at a given pitch count (more effort per pitch) than they used to be. Net result that the guy in the BP is better now. Just to give an example - when our young guys go out there, they are pushed to use all their pitches right out of the box, and if they don't they get hammered. A young JV would often go through the lineup the 1st time without showing anything but his FB. Well that would leave you in a much better position to face that lineup a 2nd and 3rd time if you haven't had to show them anything. So that is only 15yrs. Why could a top young pitcher get by with just a FB for an inning or two then but it would be considered daylight madness today? Edited October 8, 2021 by gehringer_2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archie Posted October 8, 2021 Share Posted October 8, 2021 The one thing I hate about the wild card games is that its a one game playoff. A one game playoff is for teams that are tied in the standings and they need the playoff to determine who gets in. Wild card series should be best 2 of 3, Divisional series 3/5 and the rest 4/7. They could even schedule the first day as a double header to shorten it up. Anything could happen in one game and its not a good representation of the playoffs. If they need more time and don't want to play so late into the year they should adjust season schedule. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chasfh Posted October 8, 2021 Share Posted October 8, 2021 18 hours ago, RandyMarsh said: It sucks but unfortunately in this day and age pitchers feel they have to throw max effort on every pitch. Gone are the days of throwing 75-80% most of the game and just letting the hitters get themselves out. You do that now and you're going to be putting a bunch of balls in the seats. Rolling back the ball will certainly help but I think in general with players now working out all year round with the top trainers, equipment, nutrition and workout plans available they all just gotten stronger with quicker bats so there are fewer and fewer "punch and judy" hitters that you can relax and not go full effort with. No matter how much hitters jack up to hit jacks, they could always deaden the ball enough to overcome it. If they could cut homer rate by a third or so—basically, 2014 level—and maintain that, pitchers would eventually get more comfortable laying up on the down-the-order hitters who wouldn't be able to put the ball out of the park if they tried. Then we would get the benefits of fewer strikeouts, more balls in play, shorter at bats, faster games, longer starting pitcher outings, all of it. They will never do this because the home run music video is Baseball's #1 marketing tool (with the strikeout/punchout music video running well behind in second). But high pitcher attrition rate will continue to be the cost, at least until someone can figure out a heretofore-unconsidered innovation to solve that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben9753 Posted October 8, 2021 Share Posted October 8, 2021 4 hours ago, Archie said: The one thing I hate about the wild card games is that its a one game playoff. A one game playoff is for teams that are tied in the standings and they need the playoff to determine who gets in. Wild card series should be best 2 of 3, Divisional series 3/5 and the rest 4/7. They could even schedule the first day as a double header to shorten it up. Anything could happen in one game and its not a good representation of the playoffs. If they need more time and don't want to play so late into the year they should adjust season schedule. Then win the division. As a fan without a team in the postseason I’m loving that we get started with 2 elimination games. I read somewhere that the Yankees Red Sox game was the highest rated game in years, so I’m not alone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archie Posted October 8, 2021 Share Posted October 8, 2021 1 hour ago, ben9753 said: Then win the division. As a fan without a team in the postseason I’m loving that we get started with 2 elimination games. I read somewhere that the Yankees Red Sox game was the highest rated game in years, so I’m not alone. I think one game is meaningless. Anything can happen in one game. If the playoffs and World Series is about crowning the best team then it needs to be best 2/3. I would rather do away with the WC teams and keep it at division winners and then it would be a non-issue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oblong Posted October 8, 2021 Author Share Posted October 8, 2021 56 minutes ago, Archie said: I think one game is meaningless. Anything can happen in one game. If the playoffs and World Series is about crowning the best team then it needs to be best 2/3. I would rather do away with the WC teams and keep it at division winners and then it would be a non-issue But I think that’s the point. I like this setup better, with two WC teams in one game, than the old way where one wild card team was treated equally to division winners. These teams didn’t win their division so let them have the stress of a one gamer and let division winners reset their rotations. A best of 3 is almost as random as a one game playoff and I don’t want to stretch out the playoffs any more. I think this current setup is about as good as can be expected given what the league wants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandyMarsh Posted October 8, 2021 Share Posted October 8, 2021 (edited) 12 minutes ago, oblong said: But I think that’s the point. I like this setup better, with two WC teams in one game, than the old way where one wild card team was treated equally to division winners. These teams didn’t win their division so let them have the stress of a one gamer and let division winners reset their rotations. A best of 3 is almost as random as a one game playoff and I don’t want to stretch out the playoffs any more. I think this current setup is about as good as can be expected given what the league wants. Agree, if you're going to have wild cards you have to put an incentive out there to winning division. I suppose they could do a best of 3 series with just the one travel day in between game 1 and 2. The higher wildcard team would host games 2 and 3 while the lower game 1. This way both teams get atleast one playoff game at home and the money that comes with that. The division round would only be delayed a day or 2 at most in this scenario. Edited October 8, 2021 by RandyMarsh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandyMarsh Posted October 8, 2021 Share Posted October 8, 2021 (edited) 5 minutes ago, RandyMarsh said: Agree, if you're going to have wild cards you have to put an incentive out there to winning division. I suppose they could do a best of 3 series with just the one travel day in between game 1 and 2. The higher wildcard team would host games 2 and 3 while the lower game 1. This way both teams get atleast one playoff game at home and the money that comes with that. The division round would only be delayed a day or 2 at most in this scenario. Just as an example the Wild Card round could be Tuesday, Thursday and Friday for one league and Wednesday Friday Sat for the other. If you want to get rid of that travel day that works fine for me as well. You could still start the 2 divisional series that aren't effected by the outcome on Thursday or Friday. Edited October 8, 2021 by RandyMarsh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oblong Posted October 8, 2021 Author Share Posted October 8, 2021 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandyMarsh Posted October 8, 2021 Share Posted October 8, 2021 11 minutes ago, oblong said: So true, Smoltz is the worst, a couple times a game we will start to bring up some good input and breakdowns but then quickly revert back to bitching and moaning. I thought Morris was bad sheesh no way I could handle Smoltz 150+ times a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandyMarsh Posted October 8, 2021 Share Posted October 8, 2021 I will say though that you get similar things from NFL and NBA analysts too. In the NFL its all about how soft it got and all the penalties, kinda similar in the NBA too but they also will bitch about all the 3s and lack of traveling calls on legal moves like the stepback and eurostep. Basically having players from bygone eras is just the worst. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oblong Posted October 8, 2021 Author Share Posted October 8, 2021 42 minutes ago, RandyMarsh said: I will say though that you get similar things from NFL and NBA analysts too. In the NFL its all about how soft it got and all the penalties, kinda similar in the NBA too but they also will bitch about all the 3s and lack of traveling calls on legal moves like the stepback and eurostep. Basically having players from bygone eras is just the worst. Good to know. Only other sport I really watch is hockey and they got rid of Don Cherry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtutiger Posted October 8, 2021 Share Posted October 8, 2021 (edited) Man, the White Sox are really getting exposed in this series.... Edited October 8, 2021 by mtutiger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oblong Posted October 8, 2021 Author Share Posted October 8, 2021 That’s good. I switched over to ATL. I do think the best of 5 series hurts the team with games 3-4. Remember when the tigers in 2012 had to play Oakland in 2-3 format? That was when they added the wild card play in game at the last minute so the first round was 2-3 instead of 2-2-1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandyMarsh Posted October 8, 2021 Share Posted October 8, 2021 The Astros have an impressive organization. They lose Cole, Verlander and Springer, their once top prospect Forrest Whitley flames out, they have all the distraction of trashcan gate yet they keep churning on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtutiger Posted October 8, 2021 Share Posted October 8, 2021 2 minutes ago, RandyMarsh said: The Astros have an impressive organization. They lose Cole, Verlander and Springer, their once top prospect Forrest Whitley flames out, they have all the distraction of trashcan gate yet they keep churning on. Am I the only one who feel like they've flown under the radar all season? Don't get me wrong, all the AL East teams and NL West teams are impressive and deserve the coverage they have gotten, but the Astros are still kinda sitting there and they seem as well built to win the pennant and make a WS run as anyone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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