The 2020 Baseball Thread

[Cancer]

Lou Brock passed away at the age of 81.

[Badger]

Yankees need a new catcher. Hitting .128 doesn't cut after last year flop. (I always thought they were smoother when Romine was catching.

 

Sanchez has improved on defense from horrible to below average. So, with that and power with no average. He can be a career backup in the mold of Mark Parent and Ramon Castro.

[archer]

World Series to be held entirely at Texas Rangers' new ballpark in Arlington, TX rather than in the division-winning teams' home stadiums.

 

https://deadline.com/2020/09/mlb-postseason-schedule-2020-coronavirus-bubble-sites-1234577504/

 

 

[Pariah]

Another wasted season for my Rockies. They won 12 of the first 17 games and were one of the hottest teams in the Majors...and then won 14 games the rest of the season.

 

On the other hand, they did hand the hated Dodgers their only series loss of the short season, and that's not nothing.

 

Oh well, as my friend the lifelong Cubs fan says, there's always next year.

[unclevlad]

7 minutes ago, Pariah said:

Another wasted season for my Rockies. They won 12 of the first 17 games and were one of the hottest teams in the Majors...and then won 14 games the rest of the season.

 

On the other hand, they did hand the hated Dodgers their only series loss of the short season, and that's not nothing.

 

Oh well, as my friend the lifelong Cubs fan says, there's always next year.

 

Cub fans seemed to me to adore wallowing in their self-martyrdom a little too much, so...you don't wanna go there...Besides, all they had was a good stretch, that just happened to be at the start of the season.  As Brian Kenny, likes to say...Small Sample Size Theater.  Short runs say little overall.

 

ONLY the first rounds are being played at "local parks"...and even at that, all 3 games are at the higher seed's park.  NO in-series travel at all.  Division series are being played in LA and San Diego, Arlington and Houston.  All of which should be dry and reasonably warm sites.  But the entire postseason is being run in a fairly compact bubble, as much as can be done.

 

Tomorrow (Wed) is gonna be insane, as all 8 series will be in play.  Same as the Regional round of the College World Series...8 series, 2 out of 3, one ballpark, staggered starts.

[Starlord]

The Reds are in the playoffs.

 

Weird.

 

Their top 3 starters are actually VERY good and the bullpen is pretty solid.

 

I may actually watch a Reds game for the first time in 20 years.

[Badger]

10 hours ago, Pariah said:

Another wasted season for my Rockies. They won 12 of the first 17 games and were one of the hottest teams in the Majors...and then won 14 games the rest of the season.

 

On the other hand, they did hand the hated Dodgers their only series loss of the short season, and that's not nothing.

 

Oh well, as my friend the lifelong Cubs fan says, there's always next year.

I am a Royals fan, I usually cant find sympathy for other's lost seasons.

[unclevlad]

So, today, 2 streaks collide.  One of them must end!!!

 

Astros-Twins.  In this corner, we have Dusty Baker!  His teams are 0-10 in postseason close-out games!  In that corner, we have the Minnesota Twins, losers of their last 17 playoff games!  It's a battle royale you don't want to miss!!!

 

Twins really, really want to jump on top and never let the Astros feel like they're in the game.  Not after yesterday, where Polanco just *botched* a simple throw by being way, way too casual.  Never moved his feet, threw across his body, threw away what should've been the 3rd out.  Yeah, fine, that didn't lead to a run, but it left the door WIDE open.  So the Twins don't want to be in that position again.  

[Grailknight]

6 hours ago, unclevlad said:

So, today, 2 streaks collide.  One of them must end!!!

 

Astros-Twins.  In this corner, we have Dusty Baker!  His teams are 0-10 in postseason close-out games!  In that corner, we have the Minnesota Twins, losers of their last 17 playoff games!  It's a battle royale you don't want to miss!!!

 

Twins really, really want to jump on top and never let the Astros feel like they're in the game.  Not after yesterday, where Polanco just *botched* a simple throw by being way, way too casual.  Never moved his feet, threw across his body, threw away what should've been the 3rd out.  Yeah, fine, that didn't lead to a run, but it left the door WIDE open.  So the Twins don't want to be in that position again.  

 

Welp, the Twins streak continues. Eighteen games without scoring more than 4 runs in the playoffs will do that, but they should have managed at least 1 win even in that.

[unclevlad]

On top of not scoring...

 

Game 1, first inning.  Load the bases with 1 out, fail to score.  9th inning, commit the error with 2 outs, then give up a walk and a 2 run single.

Game 2, first inning.  Load the bases...ok, 2 outs.  But fail to score again.  8th inning, 2 outs, down 1...a pinch runner gets picked off.

 

Failures to execute in key moments.  COMPLETE failure of the offense;  granted that hitting is a lost art, but 7 hits total in 2 games?

 

Granted that it's not indicative of every game, but these 2 games, and game 1 of Reds-Braves...37 Ks, Reds also failed to score when they should have, several times.  A-Rod was losing his mind when poorer hitters weren't bunting, then failed to move runners.  Can't blame him, altho the core problem with saying "bunt you idiot!!!" is the plain fact that practically no MLB player *can* bunt properly.  Or so it seems.

[Cancer]

Bob Gibson has passed away.  RIP, sir.

[Badger]

On 9/30/2020 at 8:43 PM, unclevlad said:

On top of not scoring...

 

Game 1, first inning.  Load the bases with 1 out, fail to score.  9th inning, commit the error with 2 outs, then give up a walk and a 2 run single.

Game 2, first inning.  Load the bases...ok, 2 outs.  But fail to score again.  8th inning, 2 outs, down 1...a pinch runner gets picked off.

 

Failures to execute in key moments.  COMPLETE failure of the offense;  granted that hitting is a lost art, but 7 hits total in 2 games?

 

Granted that it's not indicative of every game, but these 2 games, and game 1 of Reds-Braves...37 Ks, Reds also failed to score when they should have, several times.  A-Rod was losing his mind when poorer hitters weren't bunting, then failed to move runners.  Can't blame him, altho the core problem with saying "bunt you idiot!!!" is the plain fact that practically no MLB player *can* bunt properly.  Or so it seems.

Not helped by the fact that analytics says bunting is evil in just about every circumstance.

 

Earl Weaver is their patron saint. But, Mark Belanger twice lead the AL in sac bunt. Weaver was a practitioner of superior defense first and foremost. It was pragmatic to keep Belanger likely the greatest defensive SS ever in the lineup and get some value out of his weak bat.

 

 

[Starlord]

4 hours ago, Cancer said:

Bob Gibson has passed away.  RIP, sir.

 

They lowered the mound and shrunk the strike zone because of how awesome he was.

[Badger]

Well a lot of pitchers were doing well at the time, to be fair.  But, not 1.12 era good. (He lost 9 games, of which a good chunk were either shutout or 1 runs, and if I remember right Gibson only gave more than 3 runs once)

[unclevlad]

3 hours ago, Starlord said:

 

They lowered the mound and shrunk the strike zone because of how awesome he was.

 

It wasn't just him.  It'd been building.  From 63-66, Koufax's worst ERA was 2.04,  Drysdale wasn't much worse.  Lolich dominated in the AL.  Strikeouts were notably up for several years, compared to the 50s.  But, yeah, that insanely good year of his was probably the impetus.

Of course, if strikeouts are the concern...here's a tidbit for you.  Every year since 2005, strikeouts per 9 innings goes up.  Raw strikeouts went down this year...but there were also a LOT of 7 inning games.  SO/9 broke 9 this year.  That's MLB-wide.  Yes, on average, there's a strikeout an inning.  (In '68 SO/9 was 6.)  Oh, and note that it still went up this year, despite the 3 batter minimum rule.

[slikmar]

There was an old joke about when Koufax or Drysdale pitched.

person 1 : K or D pitched shutout today

person 2: did he win?

 

If I remember there was at least one game where both pitchers went 10 innings and ended 1-0. Don't remember the pitchers.

 

There are times I really wish A-Rod had not been a steroid guy (not looking to start arguments, this isn't about steroids) because I really like him as an analyst, from all reports he is a pretty nice guy. Watching the Atlanta/Cincy series and the futility of Cincy, he was going crazy at their inability to score guys from 2nd or 3rd with none or 1 out. that every batter, no matter who it was, went up there thinking HR and pull the ball. He asked the question "If Pete Rose, Tony Gwynn or Wade Boggs and their ability to just make contact played today, would they be overlooked or still lauded as great players?". His partner answered (I think was Buck) that those guys are such outlyers on how good they are, still lauded, but he gets the point.

[Starlord]

- IMO Alex Rodriguez is an excellent analyst

- NEVER heard of him being a 'good' guy; I've heard many, many stories from ex-teammates who said he was actually a bad guy with a 'fake' personality, although he might've changed since he retired

- Interesting he mentioned Pete Rose (a thoroughly scuzzy fellow) as they have both admitted they talk to each other frequently about baseball

- Pete Rose, by the way, should absolutely be in the HoF IMO.  Put him in and explain everything he did, good and bad.

[Pariah]

Pete Rose absolutely belongs in the Hall of Fame, because his transgressions had no effect on his ability to play the game.

 

Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa, Alex Rogriguez, Barry Bonds, et. al. absolutely do not belong in the Hall of Fame because their transgressions profoundly affected their ability to play the game.

 

YMMV, of course.

[Starlord]

2 hours ago, Pariah said:

Pete Rose absolutely belongs in the Hall of Fame, because his transgressions had no effect on his ability to play the game.

 

Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa, Alex Rogriguez, Barry Bonds, et. al. absolutely do not belong in the Hall of Fame because their transgressions profoundly affected their ability to play the game.

 

YMMV, of course.

 

Agreed.  The sad thing about Rodriguez and Bonds is that they were clearly great players who would've been  HoFamers without 'roids.  McGuire was a great power hitter, but couldn't stay healthy until he juiced.  Sammy Sosa was having a good career till the mid-90s, then went from averaging 35 homers to hitting 66 in '98.  The problem with the 90s is that it seems a good portion of MLB players, including pitchers, were juicing.  Frankly, that makes the careers of guys who are 'suspicion-free' like Tony Gwynn, Ken Griffey Jr. and Greg Maddux even more amazing.

[Cygnia]

Spiders, Speculation and Trademarks — What's Next in the Cleveland Indians' Search for a New Franchise Name

[Cancer]

Wahoo?  Burning River?  Lake Effect?  Cadavers? 

[unclevlad]

19 hours ago, slikmar said:

There was an old joke about when Koufax or Drysdale pitched.

person 1 : K or D pitched shutout today

person 2: did he win?

 

If I remember there was at least one game where both pitchers went 10 innings and ended 1-0. Don't remember the pitchers.

 

 

Oh yeah.  I was a kid in LA at the time.  Dodgers had NO offense;  I do remember quite a few instances of them losing 1-0, 2-0, 2-1.

 

So, who woulda guessed Dodger Stadium would be a freakin' launching pad???   It's quite warm...90...and yes, that makes a huge difference.  Still...3 1/2 innings in the books and *4* dingers already.  None cheap;  all of em between the alleys, and Dodger Stadium isn't a small park.

[Badger]

21 hours ago, unclevlad said:

 

It wasn't just him.  It'd been building.  From 63-66, Koufax's worst ERA was 2.04,  Drysdale wasn't much worse.  Lolich dominated in the AL.  Strikeouts were notably up for several years, compared to the 50s.  But, yeah, that insanely good year of his was probably the impetus.

Of course, if strikeouts are the concern...here's a tidbit for you.  Every year since 2005, strikeouts per 9 innings goes up.  Raw strikeouts went down this year...but there were also a LOT of 7 inning games.  SO/9 broke 9 this year.  That's MLB-wide.  Yes, on average, there's a strikeout an inning.  (In '68 SO/9 was 6.)  Oh, and note that it still went up this year, despite the 3 batter minimum rule.

Lost in 1968, was the denny mclain 30 win season. He and 1934 dizzy dean being the only 2 to do that in 100 years.

 

Hmm, Lefty Grove might have done it too, come to think of it 

[unclevlad]

49 minutes ago, Badger said:

Lost in 1968, was the denny mclain 30 win season. He and 1934 dizzy dean being the only 2 to do that in 100 years.

 

Hmm, Lefty Grove might have done it too, come to think of it 

 

Google is your friend.  Yep, Grove in '31.  He is the only other one in the last 100 years.  And unless there's a huge shift in managerial style, we'll almost never see another.  Justin Verlander had 24 wins in 2011, but that's the high-water mark since 1981.  And with 5 man rotations, openers, load management, paranoia about arm strain, terror about letting a pitcher try to go through a lineup a third time...20 is exceptionally high now.  But then, most pitching records will never be approached any more.

[slikmar]

Except maybe strikeouts, but could be not enough innings to do it.

Dammit, will somebody beat Houston and get their cheating asses out of the playoffs.