2013 MLB postseason running thread

I seem to remember Torii Hunter talking at one point about some sort of football-style 'breakdown.'

 

There is no longer some proprietary "Moneyball" system that differentiates the A's from other franchises. Billy Beane is a smart, innovative GM who is just working to stay a half-step ahead of a couple dozen other smart, innovative GMs.

 

It's the nature of sports conversation in this country. You've got to win multiple championships to be considered legitimate. Even if the A's had won the World Series this year, Beane's legacy would be that his team won "only" one championship (like the 1990s Braves).

Look at Peyton Manning. Guy's got a Super Bowl ring and is going to finish his career with every meaningful NFL passing record (or at least No. 2 behind Favre). But if the Broncos don't win the Super Bowl this year, his legacy will be that he couldn't win the big one.

 

The nature of sports conversation in this country isn't quite as fucking stupid as the nature of political conversation, but it's getting closer every day.

 

Radke?

 

Poor Jim Kelly.

 

Tigers will start Sanchez in Game 1. I am surprised, Scherzer went only 47 pitches Tuesday and I figured three days' rest would be plenty, but I guess this way Scherzer and Verlander are lined up for Games 6 and 7.

 

Interesting article here about the A's insistence on loading up their lefties against Verlander:

http://www.mercurynews.com/athletics/ci_24288713/oakland-went-away-from-strength

Trouble is, although it's the conventional wisdom, Verlander was better against lefties this year by a vast margin.

vs. LHB: .237/.307/.351, 68 AB/HR
vs. RHB: .275/.327/.412, 34 AB/HR

Seems odd that Beane and Co. went on auto-pilot for this one with all the right-handers they had available, especially as the innings wore on and he was unhittable. The A's got six hits against him in 15 innings, and three of those hits came from the only two right-handed hitters in the lineup.

 

I guess it costs too much money to teach guys how to slide on a play at home plate.
That little gaffe, not a lack of payroll, is what cost the A's two of their best chances to make the World Series.

 

Dodgers take Paco Rodriguez, Chris Capuano off NLCS roster, replace them with Carlos Marmol, Edinson Volquez:

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/10/11/dodgers-add-carlos-marmol-and-edinson-volquez-for-nlcs/

I guess Ryu must really be hurt, so it makes sense to add Volquez. But Marmol against a team that works the count like the Cardinals? Good God.

 

How much do the current A's suffer because they can't shorten their pitching staff effectively the way teams like the Tigers and Dodgers can? You read a lot now that the playoffs are a crapshoot, and that regular-season records don't matter. But what about the records when the first three guys in the rotation pitch, in-season? What about the records when the first four guys in the rotation pitch? The first two? I'm going to look into that. I don't think all 95- or 96-win teams are created equally for the postseason. I bet there are a lot more 2001 Diamondbacks than 2005 White Sox that succeed.

 

One of those things is certainly not like the others. Radke was a decent pitcher, but certainly not in that class, but he did handle Oakland very well in the 2002 playoffs.