[quote]DBCooper wrote:
San Francisco Giants: Making fools of sabermetricians since 2010.[/quote]
Ten straight postseason wins is kinda impressive.
I never thought the Giants would win the series. They played like shit at the end of the year and almost didn’t get that second wild card spot. Props to Hudson though because he wasn’t very good down the stretch and he pitched good.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
[quote]LankyMofo wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
If no one’s favourite team does well this season, this thread won’t make it past the 2nd page.[/quote]
This also appears to be accurate. [/quote]
haha nope!
Jays and Giants are both in first place in their respective divisions.
This thread died due to a lack of interest out on T-Nation. I haven’t been watching as much baseball this summer either.
As much as I love baseball, I end up regretting the amount of time I spend in front of the tube during the short period of time I’m exposed to hot weather.
After the Jays tanked last year, I stopped watching in June and ended up going out a lot more and overall enjoying the warm months more.
Nowadays I catch 1 game/week, don’t dedicate time calculating stats or reading Blue Jays blogs.
Though I can see this changing if they’re playing meaningful baseball going into September… the first time since 1993.
[/quote]
I had the exact same attitude for a while when the 49ers were horrible last decade. That’s what happens when your team sucks as much cock as the Blue Jays every year.
Now on to baseball teams that don’t suck cock. NLCS/ALCS predictions?
I like the Royals over the Orioles. Their strength is pitching, speed, and defense. The Orioles thrive on power hitting. Given the long layoff that both teams will have endured by tomorrow night, I like the Royals to come out and shut down the Baltimore offense in the first two games at least. Layoffs really hurt hitting since timing is so important to a good swing. Hitters get out of rhythm pretty easily after time off as a result.
Pitchers generally enjoy significant benefits from layoffs like this, though. The arm can regenerate itself a little bit and it’s easier to stay in rhythm with the pitching motion since starters and relievers are used to pitching on an intermittent basis, unlike hitters who play day in, day out all year.
History has also shown us that power pitching in the playoffs typically pays off. Each moment in a game is magnified greatly, which is why the little things and attention to detail (qualities that the Cardinals and Giants have more than any other two teams in the game today) are so important in the postseason. Power pitchers usually end up with less balls in play, which limits the chances of something going wrong in the field. How many times have we seen an error or a throw to the wrong base or something that would otherwise be entirely benign, end up being the difference maker in a game? Shit like that happens in pretty much every postseason game the Giants have played in the last several years.
In the NLCS, I like the Giants, but I would have liked their chances a lot more if LA had been able to pull things out. The Dodgers don’t do any of the little things well, and Mattingly is a fucking joke of a manager. He’s been blatantly outmanaged by Bochy in at least a half dozen games the last few years. But Matheny is almost Bochy’s equal, and STL is a very even match for the Giants since they also pay great attention to detail. I’m still going with the Giants in 7. Bumgarner is going to be a beast this series and I envision him pounding about 5 or 6 beers at once after it’s all said and done. If they win the Series, he’ll eat the trophy.
[quote]chillain wrote:
[quote]DBCooper wrote:
San Francisco Giants: Making fools of sabermetricians since 2010.[/quote]
Ten straight postseason wins is kinda impressive.
[/quote]
It’s all about Bochy. I was pretty down on the Giants the entire second half, but quite frankly, it’s amazing that they even made it in at all. If you had told me that Lincecum would end up as the 12th pitcher on the roster, Cain would be out for the year, Pagan would be out most of the year, Belt would miss most of the year, they’d have to start Joe Panik at second and rely on Susac as the backup catcher, they’d start IshiFuckingKawa in left field, Romo would blow the closer’s role, and Yusmeiro Petit would end up being the 5th starter, I never would have guessed they’d even finish above .500.
But Bochy is the fucking man and the best manager in the game. I’m not even sure the next-best guy, whoever that may be, is even in his league. The way he handles the bullpen is an art form, which is only magnified when you see the managers from the two best teams in the league in the regular season completely shit on their handling of their own 'pen.
Matt Williams ran his 'pen like a fucking circus. Game 4, facing elimination on the road, and he has Storen, Clippard, Strasburg, Roark and Soriano available. Who does he go to in a crucial situation? A fucking rookie who pitched his way right out of the majors a couple months ago. Unbelievable.
And Mattingly. Holy fucking shit! You’d think he would have learned from last year’s disastrous handling of Kershaw in the playoffs, but no, the fucking guy sticks with him too long in two more fucking games. And he pretty much had to do it anyways since his handling of the bullpen is such a debacle that the whole fucking thing is a complete joke now and he can’t even trust it.
The Giants still suck, but they’ve got the biggest fucking cocks in the bigs, and Bochy could probably choke a fucking walrus with his. And that goes a long way under the bright lights of October. That and the fact that the Giants already play in 82 playoff-atmosphere games a year anyways, plus the road games in LA.
Well I suck at predictions, haha.
I guess I’d have to pick the Cardinals and the Orioles to go to the World series. Although I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t. I feel like whatever team from the National league makes it wins it all.
Jesus Christ - a wild pitch in the 9th to tie the game.
These last two games (ALCS game 2 and NLCS game 2) have been absolutely phenomenonal to watch.
Yup. I’m hoping the Royals go all the way. I like their scrapiness.
We definitely have some exciting games.
I have to say, though: the Cardinals aren’t playing like a championship team. Yeah, they were able to dig and make a play when needed, but I don’t think you can do that nightly for the next potentially 12 games. For a team known for their defense, I’ve been let down…
Wong seems to always just miss the catch; I think if he wanted it more, he’d at least make a stop. Holliday hasn’t been doing much defensively. Carpenter had some great d chances that he blew… and if Molina is out… forget it, giants will take the next 3 games. But who knows… if they found their bats…
I’m really wondering why Bochy keeps putting that guy Strickland in the game in key situations. That was the 4th home run he has given up in the post season this year and he isn’t even a starter! I know he throws fast and has some good movement on his slider. His fastball doesn’t have much movement on it at all and they aren’t always well located.
Anyone picking the Royals over the NLCS winner?
[quote]therajraj wrote:
Anyone picking the Royals over the NLCS winner?[/quote]
If the Giants beat the Cardinals tomorrow I say the Royals are hot and I would pick them to win it all. If the Cardinals win tomorrow then there will be another off day in the series before they go back to St. Louis. The Royals will have too much time off and will lose some of that momentum if that happens.
Has there ever been a World Series with two wildcard teams before?
[quote]strungoutboy21 wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
Anyone picking the Royals over the NLCS winner?[/quote]
If the Giants beat the Cardinals tomorrow I say the Royals are hot and I would pick them to win it all. If the Cardinals win tomorrow then there will be another off day in the series before they go back to St. Louis. The Royals will have too much time off and will lose some of that momentum if that happens.
Has there ever been a World Series with two wildcard teams before?[/quote]
2002, Angels and Giants. I’m not sure about other years.
I like the Giants to win this series. The styles are a little bit different, mostly due to the obvious advantage the Royals have in team speed and outfield defense, but for the most part they’re both pitching/defense/detail-oriented teams that won’t die.
But the Giants are the experienced, veteran version of that. The Royals certainly haven’t shown a tendency to shrink in big moments, quite the opposite. But with two evenly-matched teams, this is a series that will most likely come down to who blinks first in the huge moment.
After the last five seasons, I’ll never bet against the Giants again in a situation like that.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
Anyone picking the Royals over the NLCS winner?[/quote]
Damn straight I’m picking my Royals! I’m biased but I’ve also been waiting my entire life to see them play and win in October. The Giants are a formidable team and a team I like to watch, but I’m not going to stop believing now lol.
It’s really hard to tell who is going to win this. History and experience is on the Giants side but the Royals have yet to lose a game in the post season.
It’s pretty hard to bet against either team.
Royals gonna sweep bitches
[quote]thehebrewhero wrote:
Royals gonna sweep bitches[/quote]
I laugh. You just discovered playoff baseball for the first time in your life and now you think your team is going to sweep in every round.
[quote]DBCooper wrote:
San Francisco Giants: Making fools of sabermetricians since 2010.[/quote]
Hey, wouldn’t you say the move sticking Ishikawa (who just got a hit a moment ago) into left field is a saber metric move?
[quote]on edge wrote:
[quote]DBCooper wrote:
San Francisco Giants: Making fools of sabermetricians since 2010.[/quote]
Hey, wouldn’t you say the move sticking Ishikawa (who just got a hit a moment ago) into left field is a saber metric move?[/quote]
What is a sabermetric move? He’s out there due to necessity, not strategy. Morse hasn’t played an inning in the field since late August and Perez was in the minors most of the year (and he sucks cock for the most part).
Sabermetrics simply tell people what they can’t understand about the game without having played it. All it takes is someone who has actually played the game and understands the nuances of it to understand why the Giants are a great team. They aren’t lucky, they have what Machiavelli would call “virtu”. Stats don’t account for it and stats geeks can’t comprehend this so they call it “luck”.
[quote]DBCooper wrote:
[quote]on edge wrote:
[quote]DBCooper wrote:
San Francisco Giants: Making fools of sabermetricians since 2010.[/quote]
Hey, wouldn’t you say the move sticking Ishikawa (who just got a hit a moment ago) into left field is a saber metric move?[/quote]
What is a sabermetric move? He’s out there due to necessity, not strategy. Morse hasn’t played an inning in the field since late August and Perez was in the minors most of the year (and he sucks cock for the most part).
Sabermetrics simply tell people what they can’t understand about the game without having played it. All it takes is someone who has actually played the game and understands the nuances of it to understand why the Giants are a great team. They aren’t lucky, they have what Machiavelli would call “virtu”. Stats don’t account for it and stats geeks can’t comprehend this so they call it “luck”. [/quote]
LOL did you post that about Perez before or after he blasted the ball off the wall? I honestly can’t tell by the way you stated that.
The move putting Ishikawa into left field reminds me of the the example in Money Ball of converting that catcher into a first baseman, despite having no experience, for his offensive production.
I love it, btw, when guys struggling to stay in MLB come up big in the post season. Especially the World Series. Perez and Ishikawa are prime examples. I really hope that Ishikawa kid has found his niche and can solidify himself as a major leaguer.
WHO IS READY FOR GAME 7???
What kind’ve shitty fucking thread is this? Not a peep about the game tonight?