2014 World Series thread

*shrug*

Enjoy your greatness in that format while the rest of us suffer through Septembers where 90% of the games are meaningless.

 

Ledee, definitely. Like he could have jacked his only homer without the juice.

Strawberry did have 24 in 295 ABs at the washed-up age of 36 after the previous 6 years of: 5, 5, 4, 3, 11, 0.

But my sentiment was more that they played in the Steroid Ball era.

 

Dusty Baker would have blown out Bumgarner's arm by May.

 

Eh, Straw played in 100 games that season for the first time in seven years. He was bound to pop a few more homers than in the previous years when he averaged 35 games.

I get your point, was just giving you a hard time because you picked a team from the steroid ball era that didn't have a 30+ home run hitter on the roster.

 

I know. It all goes back to 3OF. I think we'd all like to see "true greatness" a little more often, team-wise, but we saw it in boiled-down form with Bumgarner.

We have a modern Koufax in Kershaw, but even he melted down, twice, in 4 days. Will we remember his 3 Cy Youngs, or his Maddux-like playoff failures.

 

I don't want to see Travis Ishikawa playing in a World Series a position he almost never has played in his fkin life. That's all.

 

I preferred that format as well but that is never happening. We are definitely in the minority.

Just get to the playoffs and take your chances.

 

They could probably get back to "normal" results (better teams winning) by closing up the schedule. One reason the Giants made it through the early rounds was their old-ass pitchers got eight to 10 days of rest between starts. As much as Bumgarner pitched, he didn't have to get out of the every-fifth-day rhythm until last night.

Waiting so long to start the first round, and then jacking in extra time before the LCS, takes away a lot of the demands on endurance and depth.

 

Check out Maddux's playoff numbers. He pitched some great playoff games.

 

You're right, he did. And I'm not saying it to bash him. He's probably my favorite non-Dodgers pitcher.

At the same time:

° '93 NLCS, Braves need to win to force Game 7, and he goes 5.2, 6 runs (5) with 4 walks and 3 Ks
° '95 WS v. Indians, series 2-2, and he gives up 4 ER
° '99 WS Game 1, you want a great start, and while he gives 'em 7 IP, he gives up 4 runs (2 earned) with 3 walks
° '00 NLDS, Game 3, Cardinals blister him to complete sweep
° '01 WS, 10 IP, 8 runs (6) and 2 losses, including Game 4 when the Braves could've tied it but he left after 3 IP (8H, 6R, 4 ER)

I stopped after those 5 examples.

Just saying that as much as I loved Maddux, his postseasons (by and large) paled to those Cy Young campaigns. You just never know.

 

If Bumgarner pitches in 13 postseasons, he'll have some games like that too.

Maddux career ERA: 3.16
Career postseason ERA: 3.27

Given enough time, it all balances out.

 

Maddux didn't pitch in the 2001 World Series, must have been the NLCS.

And yeah, people ready to anoint Bumgarner as the GREATEST OF ALL TIME are ignoring that he'll have a decline phase like everyone else.