2007 MLB Playoffs (Predictions and Discussion) (1 Viewer)

[Chris]

Boras is saying that A-Rod pretty much wants to go somewhere where he can be guaranteed to play short, and that he doesn't want to play 3rd. That's a big part of what he's looking for. Boras, though, also says he is telling teams A-Rod will play until he is forty five, and as such will have more hits then Rose, more HR then imaginable (he's telling teams he has a shot a 1k HRs) and so on.. so.. he's hoping to get a deal around $500M. Good luck with that.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

and less RBI's in October than Dustin Pedroia.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Just the thought that someone could possibly reach 1,000 career homeruns is shocking.

Think of it. That would be a 40% increase over the number that most of us grew up with...714.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Come to think of it...when Babe Ruth broke the HR record...it was 138 and held by Roger Connor (who played most of his career with the NY Giants). To go from 138 to 714 is a greater than 500% increase!

 

[LewB]

Can you imagine what his and the records of the other 'old time' players would be if they took care of themselves and were able to train during the off season as many of todays players do ?
Think the Babe could have hit 800 if he'd have just cut down on the hot dogs stogies and booze ?

 

[Chris]

It's so hard to compare eras too because of rule changes. In Babe's day, a ball had to land fair.. it couldn't "wrap around the foul poll" where it landed had to be fair. The ball was nowhere near as tight or dense as it is now. Parks were larger. The mound was higher. Player's didn't take care of themselves as well and had to ride train cars from place to place so there wasn't a ton of rest in between. (well, that and the whores and booze, but I'm considering that a wash with current... )

On the other hand, Babe also didn't have pitchers who threw quite as hard, didn't have to play against minorities.. but I always find that a false argument.. I mean, before interleague play, lots of people never played other "greats". No one in the AL never hit against Walter Johnson, one of the most dominant pitchers ever, but I don't discount the AL statistics.. Just one of those things.

For all the talk about blah blah steroids, etc. etc. The biggest thing that makes us wonder about the hitting of the last years isn't drugs - it's expansion. There are lots of people playing in the bigs, especially pitchers who are just throwers with no real chance of staying for anything. In the past, even just twenty years ago, teams would setup a four or five man rotation and stick to it as best they could, and they would fill in as they could. Now, with the league expanded, you have more teams who throw out pitchers that they know are terrible because they are wanting to save good talent, or they need evaluations.. and it happens earlier because those teams know they are out of it by May.

This years playoffs is a lot of fun, and hurray! for the Rockies.. but I wonder if we're coming up on a time where for the good of the game, at least two teams need to be contracted to really heighten the drama and better even talent.

But back to the playoffs.. the more I watch the Rockies the more confident I feel that they have just the right makeup to roll through the diamondbacks. I could be totally wrong, but I feel like Cleaveland-Boston will be a hard fought series. If any series has the potential to turn into a rout, it's Colorado/AZ. Could be totally wrong, but it just feels that way watching how they both won their series. Arizona is a good team, but their style of play seems to be one that Colorado should eat right up.

 

[Jason Seaver]

It's also hard to trust Arizona since they were outscored during the regular season; them being in the playoffs seems like kind of a fluke. I realize that part of it is because they had a lot of young players who improved over the course of the year, but, still... A team that on average scores more runs than they give up should be able to beat them, right? They can't get much farther on smoke and mirrors, right?

It's not the specific opposing players a player didn't have to face that makes the fact that Babe Ruth set his record in what a friend calls "the apartheid era" relevant - it's the pool that people are drawing from. Yes, there are twice as many teams now as there were then... But there are also twice as many potential baseball players. Rather than just getting the best white Americans that could be found with the scouting possible in the early twentieth century, baseball is recruiting the best baseball players in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, and the far East, with the occasional Australian thrown in there. There are twice as many teams, but they're drawing from a pool that is more than twice as large. The average level of competition is actually better today than it was pre-expansion.

 

[Shane Martin]

The Angels had injury problems. They didn't have their good record because they were lacking power in the season.

That said, their owner will do whatever it takes to win.

 

[Chris]

I don't see it that way. Since there isn't a world draft, etc. you have teams in the league that might as well be minor league teams. They aren't throwing out the best from Japan or Cuba, etc.. they are throwing out kids who have no business being on the mound.

You get some teams with stacks of money and some incredible talent.. and you get also rans which don't have any of that and look like a bunch of scrubs. That's the other thing that's changed.. the imbalance in quality of teams is hard to comprehend at times.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Another way of looking at that is: the US Population in 1930 was 123-Million people. In 1990, it was 248-Million people. Just the US population has doubled since the depression.

But, you know, Babe Ruth was just a stud. Simply the best player ever to play the game--in any era.

 

[EricW]

If Boras thought that he could get more money by saying Arod wants to play for a team that had a cool mascot, he'd say that. everything that comes out of his mouth is designed to get more $$$, whether it's the truth or a lie.

 

[Chris]

The moment that Barry Bonds takes to the mound goes 86-46, and on his days that he's not pitching play first base and outfield on rotation...

Or, 94-46 career (including 3 dominant world series pitching jobs) with a career ERA of 2.2..

For passsing baseball fans, they out to read: The Year Babe Ruth Hit 104 Home Runs: Recrowning Baseball's Greatest Slugger, on how Babe was expected to play in countless "exhibition" games to drum up support for teams, and exhibition games against other pro teams to make $$, all star games, etc.

Great telling.

BTW, to make this playoff worthy: Babe had a better post-season ERA then Clemens

 

[Robert Crawford]

The first part of your long post is wrong because Jeter can't refuse something he wasn't even approached about or asked to do. As far as the rest of your post, we'll see.....

 

[Mike Frezon]

Is anyone else having the same problem I am?: Watching tonight's NLCS game on TBS-HD, I cannot see the score graphic strip at the top of the screen.

If I switch to my SD TBS station, I can see the score, outs, etc. Darndest thing. Never had this happen before.

I can just see the bottom edge of the bar at the top of the screen but cannot make out any of the numbers. etc.

 

[Shane Martin]

It's ok here but it's definitely pushed up to the top of the screen moreso than usual. I wonder if it's an overscan issue?

 

[Marvin]

I hope they realize this before they sack him.

 

[Chris]

I don't know, NY needs shook up. I -LOVED- the idiocy on ESPN radio today, saying that since there was a shakeup in Atlanta would George go after Cox. I about pissed my pants laughing.

Well, my prediction on Colorado / Arizona looks like it's in good shape as of right now, they should take this game pretty easy.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I just checked again in the 7th inning. Looks absolutely normal now. Go figure.

BTW, I think the ump over-reacted on Upton's slide. That wasn't so offensive. He was right to the bag. I don't think Matsui was even going to throw the ball to first.

And that sure was a nice bunt by Cirillo. Those guys in the senior circuit sure know how to bunt, eh?!

 

[Patrick_S]

That was a good effort by the Rockies and the last out was a classic.I totally disagree, the ump definately made the right call.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I think your assumption is wrong and will be proven so as soon as next season. For the first time since 2003, barring any type of major injuries, I believe the Yankees will have one of the best starting rotations in the near future. For the last 2-3 years, the Yankees have been pouring money into their player development and this season started to reap some benefits from that investment. The benefits will be even moreso next season. Furthermore, the Yankees have some very good pitchers that will be at AAA and AA next season that will probably be brought in as relievers in order to shore up their bullpen. Just about every Yankee fan I know that follows the minors very closely are more than a bit excited and can't wait until next season despite our disappointment this season.

My concern for the Yankees is not so much about the players as it is with the Yankee organization's management. If Torre returns to manage the team then my concerns will be lessen quite a bit because it means that decisions are being considered and made in a mature and thought-provoking manner.