2013 MLB postseason running thread

Ryan, as a fan of the 1964 Phillies, I'm pretty sure I know a choke when I see one, and I haven't seen one so far this season except from the Rangers.

 

And again, I don't disagree.

I'm sorry the word Choketober was taken so literally.

 

You want to see baseball karma balance out? Costanza (loved seeing that on the back of the jersey) had a huge bat flip when he knocked in the go-ahead run; no one got drilled; play on. Then Uribe (oh yes I'll never forget the 2010 Uribe memories) blasts the bomb then does his bat flip. Perfect (even if its the Dodgers.)

As for the Dodgers being unbeatable in a series with two aces, well the Braves won Gm. 2 started by Greinke and were in position to win Gm. 4 started by Kershaw. Its all talk. Sure its comforting but hardly automatic. Those nondescript Gm. 3 & 4 starters are why you win (I'm thinking D'Backs in '01 (Bautista), Twins in '91); you can't win with just 2 starters. Giants won because of Zito and Vogelsong last year (and Bumgardner in '10).

 

He's on a ring drive.

 

http://extramustard.si.com/2013/10/08/chipper-jones-pick-dodgers-prediction-first-pitch/

So now the Braves are pissed at one of their own? Good grief.

 

The fact the Braves won 96 games is incredible, no doubt Moddy. What I've always wondered, and still do, is why skippers don't go to a closer early if another reliever gets in trouble to protect the damage. In that situation, Kimbrel could have come in with a man on second and nobody out and attempted to get out of the inning with the lead.

If that happens, you can go to someone else if you really don't feel Kimbrel can go anymore and at least you navigated one potential disaster. To me, that seems a lot safer than just leaving another reliever (who isn't the best reliever in baseball) out there in a high-leverage situation of a must-win game.

 

He even nailed it in four games.

Brandon Phillips was wrong. It's the Braves, not the Cardinals, who are little bitches.

 

I don't think that anyone thinks the Dodgers are unbeatable because of those two, but I certainly think they give them an advantage that most teams do not have. Yes, the Braves could have won last night, but they didn't. And a big reason was because of Kershaw.

Indeed, sometimes the big guns lose. Sandy Koufax lost a potential clincher in the 1959 World Series. Roger Clemens got tossed from the first inning of an ALCS game.

I don't like your argument. it reminds me of the people who call Chicago sports radio during hockey season and argue that some fourth-liner is the "team's most important player." He's not.

 

Yeah. It's getting pretty absurd at this point. But....they have plenty of time to think about their actions now.

 

Baseball is going to get there eventually. It makes too much sense for it not to. The save needs to be phased out as a relevant statistic and another one phased in. As soon as that happens, you'll get the relievers on board, psychologically, and the game will change for the better.

 

The thing is the current line of thinking makes, perhaps, a tiny bit of sense during the season. You don't want to throw your closer into EVERY high-leverage situation because then you tire him out before October.

But if you have a set number of innings you want him to pitch for the season, you can map it out and let him pitch only high-leverage situations. Even if a closer is going to pitch one inning with the bases empty no matter what, some 8th innings will be tougher and more important than 9th innings because of where the batting order currently stands.

If a team's 3-4-5 is up to start the 8th inning and you have a 1-run lead in the regular season or playoffs, why not bring your closer in to get those three outs? That way you set up your next reliever (if you don't choose to leave your closer in) to pitch to 6-7-8 with at least a one-run lead if everything goes according to plan.

Do you honestly think we'll ever reach a point managers think like that, though?

 

Yes, because it essentially amounts to a huge market inefficiency that someone is going to exploit.