2014 World Series thread

I'm fully aware of James Worthy's nickname, which was well earned.
I've got nothing against Shields, but he had one great postseason outing six years ago, and his team lost that game.
I've heard a lot of people apply the nickname to him this postseason, and none of them were being ironic or sarcastic.

I don't blame Shields for the dumb moniker.

 

That's probably for the best as, on a rational level, I have a hard time processing the fact that someone was so good he was walked 13 times in seven games. I watched it happen, and it's still hard to believe. Those numbers are so ridiculous.

 

If there is a reason that some guys excel in October and others falter - if indeed there are examples where this occurs over a large sample size, with individuals - I wonder how much of it has less to do with clutchiness and more to do with guys being able to pitch more innings in a year without wearing down.

In other words, I wonder if the Shieldses or others who seem to lack clutchiness start regressing after a certain amount of innings pitched in a season.

 

It's well-known that Bonds shot the bird at Felix Rodriguez as he was running in from the bullpen in the 7th inning of Game 6. Rodriguez was so emotionally distraught that he gave up a 3-run homer to Scott Spiezio on the 8th pitch of the at-bat.

#chemistry

 

Rany on the Royals had this ...

Rany Jazayerli @jazayerli · 14h 14 hours ago
The gold standard for pitcher postseasons, Orel Hershiser in 1988, allowed 7 R in 42.2 IP. Madison Bumgarner in 2014: 7 R in 47.2 IP.

... which IMO serves not to compare Bumgarner's run to Hershiser's but to remind us of how unbelievable Hershiser's was.

He threw those innings in a span of 17 days -- made the Game 1 NLCS start (8.1 IP), then went on three days' rest the rest of the way and went seven, nine, nine and nine innings. Also threw in a save the day after one of those starts.

Bumgarner has been a horse, but it was 26 days from his first appearance to his last.

 

Well, there is this (and I still think the assertion by the OP is batshit):

"Belinda's first two pitches were balls. On the third pitch, Cabrera hit a line drive foul down the left field line. Seeing this, Andy Van Slyke in center field tried to signal to Barry Bonds in left to play shallower in order to cut off the potential tying run scoring from second. Bonds responded by flipping the bird at Van Slyke, years later Van Slyke confirmed this on MLB Network's 20 greatest games."

 

Yeah, my comment was an homage to that famous story. All of which had no bearing on what happened 10 years later.

 

I know. I figured. I hadn't heard it before.

 

The difference between the 2002 team and this team has no Felix Hernandez to foul things up late and no Dusty Baker giving the game ball when he pulls Russ Ortiz in the seventh. Yes Strickland can do a Hernandez impression, but Strickland isn't coming into the game in the seventh or eighth with a chance to close this one out.

For all his problems in the clubhouse, I wish I had Bonds coming off the bench in this one. Say what you will about him—and all of it justified—he had the ability to completely change the complexion of the game and how people attacked the Giants. The guy in front of him saw great pitches because teams didn't want to put a runner on first with Bonds looming. The guy behind him saw great pitches because they wanted to avoid putting two men on via the walk. There was a reason Jeff Kent put up gaudy numbers while in Frisco. There was also a reason why Kent couldn't wait to get away from San Francisco.

There were two things that happened in Games 4 and 5 that should have Royals fans worried: One, they choked away a three-run lead and their Big 3 relievers never saw action in the game. All the while, their middle relief couldn't do what Petit did for the Giants. Two, they just watched two of the Big 3 get touched up by Giants hitters, giving up three runs to effectively kill any hope they had to come back late.

That said, counting the Royals out in this one is going to be difficult. I said before Game 5 the Royals losing that game wasn't the end of the world. They were supposed to lose Game 5 and therefore had no pressure on them. They are supposed to win Game 6. They have the better starter going (in theory), they have their home fans and they have the DH back in play. The only question mark remaining is whether Kansas City has the mental fortitude to overcome the two losses and avoid elimination. The only real adversity they faced this postseason was the Wild Card Game against Oakland, so we'll see how this young team handles that.

 

Now Bonds would be ok coming off the bench. That's one hell of an outfield you have there if Bonds is on your bench.

I'm starting to believe this just might be the best team of all time.

 

Well, Barry is 50 years old. So he probably can't run well enough to play the field anymore.

Sort of like when Bill Lee said if they allowed you to play baseball in a wheelchair, Orlando Cepeda would have hit .400 in 1973.

 

but at 50 I bet he's more of clubhouse guy now and would realy help the chemistry.