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2008 MLB Playoffs thread - Page 4

post #91 of 220
10/19/08 at 3:40pm

Re: 2008 MLB Playoffs thread



NESN?!?!? Nope! And there are a LOT of Red Sox fans here in the greater Albany-area! Lots of 'em!

Nope. We just get YES (which is why I am so intimate with the Yankees) and SNY (Mets). I'd have to buy the MLB package (if cable ever gets it back) to watch Sox games on NESN.

So...what I've done is buy the MLB.com audio gameday package so I can listen to the WRKO/WEEI feeds on the computer rather than try to tune in WTIC out of Hartford. Lots of Joe Castiglione and Dave O'Brien for me!
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post #92 of 220
10/19/08 at 4:27pm

Re: 2008 MLB Playoffs thread

Mark: Some anonymous writer to Boston.com had this to say about TBS:

Quote:
I can't believe that Turner Networks does not know what a UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) is. Evidently they paid so much for the broadcast rights that they can't afford the extra few hundred bucks to build a quality operation. Maybe Sager could sell some of his garish wardrobe to freight the bill. Throughout this series, they've come across as a cheap imitation of the Fox Sports Network

Love the line about Sager!
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post #93 of 220
10/19/08 at 4:49pm

Re: 2008 MLB Playoffs thread

^^ LMAO! So True
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post #94 of 220
10/19/08 at 8:24pm

Re: 2008 MLB Playoffs thread

anyone here usiing the tbs.com live game video feed.

the pitch tracker is up for every pitch.
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post #95 of 220
10/19/08 at 8:51pm

Re: 2008 MLB Playoffs thread

Congrats to the Rays. Excellent ALCS.

As I've said all season, they look good and they really played their hearts out against the Red Sox all year. I said so in April and I said so in September.

They certainly didn't back into the World Series.

It'll be interesting to see what they can do next year.
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post #96 of 220
10/19/08 at 8:52pm

Re: 2008 MLB Playoffs thread

OK a Phils - Rays World Series.

Phils in 6.

The best part of this is no Papelbon, that guy is scary in the playoffs
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post #97 of 220
10/19/08 at 9:06pm

Re: 2008 MLB Playoffs thread

aren't the Rays basically doing exactly what the Tigers did a couple years ago? The Tigers have underperformed since. it'll be weird having ~three~ powerhouse teams in the AL east.
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post #98 of 220
10/19/08 at 9:32pm

Re: 2008 MLB Playoffs thread

Well, I knew the results because I was following the game on radio, cell phone and even the scoreboard at Raymond James Stadium while I was at the Bucs game. I decided to not let my season tickets go to waste tonight even though the other person who was supposed to go with me had to work the Red Sox clubhouse tonight for the Rays.

I recorded the game, so I'm going to watch it now.

Go Rays!
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post #99 of 220
10/19/08 at 9:38pm

Re: 2008 MLB Playoffs thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by nolesrule
I recorded the game, so I'm going to watch it now.

Go Rays!

Joe: Let me know if Youk really swung at strike 3 to end the 8th!
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post #100 of 220
10/19/08 at 9:50pm

Re: 2008 MLB Playoffs thread

that was actually drew.
he swung.
i just watched the replay
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post #101 of 220
10/20/08 at 6:19am

Re: 2008 MLB Playoffs thread

Yeah. After I had walked away from the computer I realized it was Drew.

He swung, huh? Oh well. Not much I coulda done about it anyway...
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post #102 of 220
10/20/08 at 6:27am

Re: 2008 MLB Playoffs thread

I suppose now I have to take my foot out of my mouth from earlier in this thread when I suggested that TBS seemed to be doing a better job with the playoffs this year.... :/

Phils - Rays. It's not the Dodgers / Red Sox series that the people at Fox Sport surely wanted, but I'll be watching. Go Phils! I may be the only one in the country who likes the Trop, it will be nice to see it in HD (I only have HD over the air).

So do we start a new World Series thread?
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post #103 of 220
10/20/08 at 7:47am

Re: 2008 MLB Playoffs thread

Maddon put the game in the hands of the least experienced guy on the team. Good decision!

Garza was the right choice for MVP. He won the only two games deemed unwinnable by the pundits. Talk about poise, balls, guts, je ne sais quois. Had the ALCS only gone 5 (or even 6), I think it would have gone to Upton.

I think I made the right choice going to the Bucs game rather than stay home last night. I would have worn a trench in my living room watching that game live.
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post #104 of 220
10/20/08 at 8:00am

Re: 2008 MLB Playoffs thread

I thought it was a check swing by Drew.

I remember joking it was Bizarro World when the Rays were in first place back in April. No joke now!

I may go to the stadium for Game 3, at least hang out there and watch it on the jumbo screen.

Here's hoping a Philly team will finally end the jinx against a Tampa team.
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post #105 of 220
10/20/08 at 8:15am

Re: 2008 MLB Playoffs thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by TonyD
Phils in 6.
You think a mere National League team can beat the survivor of that sort of ALCS? I find that extremely unlikely. Rays in 5.

The AL Beast is going to be a tough division next year, especially if things start breaking the Blue Jays' way on occasion - they've got some great pitching. Boston would probably be in the World Series right now with a healthy Mike Lowell, New York will reload, and as a Sox fan, I don't like the idea of Tampa adding Price to their rotation at all.

Great series, though - I look forward to another like it next year, hopefully with the roles and outcome reversed.

My only real complaint is one I feel churlish about voicing, since it probably wouldn't have been the difference-maker, but why were the Red Sox carrying three catchers on the postseason roster if they were going to let Jason Varitek hit in the seventh and ninth innings of a Game Seven? He's gotten to the point where his at-bats make me think that this is what following an NL team must be like - there's men on base, a chance for a rally... Oh, Tek/the pitcher is up, and the upside is a strikeout where he looks completely overmatched versus a double play. Theo Epstein's priority this season has to be prying some of Texas's catching surplus away.
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post #106 of 220
10/20/08 at 9:03am

Re: 2008 MLB Playoffs thread

Jason, I would like to say that the reason for keeping Tek in was due to respect for the guy, but it definitely is curious as to why they have 3 catchers on the roster.

And yes, as much as I would have loved to see the Sox go the the World Series again, they are pretty beaten up. I'd rather them get healthy for next year because they're going to need to be extra healthy considering the way the AL East is looking these days.

And while I'll be rooting for the Phills, I don't think they have much of a chance. The AL is just too powerful. I loved Crisp's comment about how the Sox vs. Rays should really have been the World Series.
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post #107 of 220
10/20/08 at 9:04am

Re: 2008 MLB Playoffs thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by Walter C
Here's hoping a Philly team will finally end the jinx against a Tampa team.

You wish.

As for Drew, it was an attempted check swing by Drew, but the umpire called it a swinging strike. I can't remember if they showed an angle to verify it on TV, but apparently the plate ump felt it was enough of a swing that there was no need to verify with the umpire down the line.

As a Seminole, it's hard on me when Drew comes up to bat. We both attended Florida State at the same time, and I watched him play in Dick Howser Stadium numerous times.
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post #108 of 220
10/20/08 at 9:26am

Re: 2008 MLB Playoffs thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkHastings
Jason, I would like to say that the reason for keeping Tek in was due to respect for the guy, but it definitely is curious as to why they have 3 catchers on the roster.
Respect is nice during the regular season, but in an elimination game when he's 1-for-19, been swinging a lead bat all season, and the GM has accepted the reality of his offensive collapse to the point where he's structured the roster so that they won't be screwed if Varitek is pinch-hit for and then Cash is injured? As much as I like Francona, that sort of willfully choosing to ignore the tools he's been given is the sort of thing that got his predecessor fired.

I'm also kind of curious what the deal with Sean Casey has been - a 101 OPS+ is far from impressive for a first baseman, but it beats what Mark Kotsay has brought to the table this year. I know he was hurt at some point, but if he's not going to be used, why is he on the roster?

It's really a kind of curious postseason that way - one of the things Theo Epstein is really good at is creating a deep bench with a lot of useful redundancy, but that was really not the case this October at all. The Lowell injury proved so crippling that I found myself wondering whether he could have hit - playing Youk 3B/Ortiz 1B/Lowell DH would have been unconventional, but I wonder if it might have been the difference.
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post #109 of 220
10/20/08 at 9:57am

Re: 2008 MLB Playoffs thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jason Seaver
My only real complaint is one I feel churlish about voicing, since it probably wouldn't have been the difference-maker, but why were the Red Sox carrying three catchers on the postseason roster if they were going to let Jason Varitek hit in the seventh and ninth innings of a Game Seven? He's gotten to the point where his at-bats make me think that this is what following an NL team must be like - there's men on base, a chance for a rally... Oh, Tek/the pitcher is up, and the upside is a strikeout where he looks completely overmatched versus a double play. Theo Epstein's priority this season has to be prying some of Texas's catching surplus away.

This must be fodder for discussion amongst the talking heads in Boston, Jason.

I was screaming at my TV set for Francona to PH for Tek in the 9th last night. That was a horrible decision...and one that, as captain, Varitek would have understood was for the good of the team--win or lose. But they certainly would have had a better chance of winning, I think, with Sean Casey (even though a lefty batter) or practically anyone else at bat in that spot.

IIRC, Tek was only pinch-hit for once during the entire post-season. As you asked...then WHY carry three catchers?
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post #110 of 220
10/20/08 at 10:52am

Re: 2008 MLB Playoffs thread

Could it possibly be that he was worried about getting the lead and then having Cash catch for Paps?

Other than that, I'm not sure why.
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post #111 of 220
10/20/08 at 11:06am

Re: 2008 MLB Playoffs thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkHastings
Could it possibly be that he was worried about getting the lead and then having Cash catch for Paps?

Other than that, I'm not sure why.

Nah. That situation would definitely fall under the category of: you gotta do whatever you can to get the lead or else Pap ain't never gonna pitch! Which turned out to be true in this case.

And, anyway, I'm sure Cash would catch Papelbon just fine and probably even got the opportunity in a number of games this year.

It's just like if the problem for Boston had been pitching in Game #7--everybody but Beckett could have thrown in the game if it meant getting into the WS. You do whatever you need to do. And massaging the Captain's ego (not that I'm saying Francona did that) is not what would have been called for there.

I haven't heard/read any Francona comments about that decision, but I would guess he would just reference the Saturday HR as reason to leave him in the batting order. Not enough for me.

For the record, I also screamed at my TV when Grady Little was walking back to the dugout after having left Pedro on the mound in Game #7 of the 2003 ALCS!
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post #112 of 220
10/20/08 at 11:13am

Re: 2008 MLB Playoffs thread

This is from an article today at boston.com:

Quote:
On Saturday night, Varitek ended an 0-for-15 slump with a stunning homer against righthander James Shields to put the Red Sox ahead. Varitek, a switch-hitter, went into that at-bat with only two singles in 23 at-bats against righthanders this postseason.

Varitek homered on a subpar 89-mile-per-hour fastball. Garza was working with a better and wider variety of pitches than Shields. Garza had frozen Varitek on a curveball for a called strike three in the second and got him to ground out on a 93-mile-per-hour fastball in the fifth.

Francona nonetheless stayed with Varitek in the seventh. Varitek said he missed two juicy pitches before chasing a slider in the dirt for the inning-ending strikeout.

Maddon had two relievers ready: lefthander Trever Miller and righthander Grant Balfour. Francona felt more comfortable with Varitek against Garza than a pinch-hitter from a thin bench against a reliever.

"They've got double-barrel in the bullpen," Francona said. "We're going to end up with a matchup that doesn't work."

Francona also let Varitek bat as the tying run in the ninth against lefthander David Price. This time, Francona had no viable alternative. His best bats on the bench were lefthanded hitters: Jacoby Ellsbury and Sean Casey.

Varitek struck out. The manager always looks bad when that happens.

You know, I bet if Tek hadn't hit Saturday's HR, Francona might've hit Cash in that situation in the 9th.
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post #113 of 220
10/20/08 at 11:14am

Re: 2008 MLB Playoffs thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Frezon
For the record, I also screamed at my TV when Grady Little was walking back to the dugout after having left Pedro on the mound in Game #7 of the 2003 ALCS!
...you and just about every single Red Sox fan!!!
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post #114 of 220
10/20/08 at 11:31am

Re: 2008 MLB Playoffs thread

I passed up the opportunity to go to a Rays home game in each of the last two series for financial reasons and because there was hope I could get a hold of a World Series ticket. Well I'll be at Game 1 on Wednesday! And it only cost me $100.

Here's hoping the Rays finish this worst to amazing worst to first story.
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post #115 of 220
10/20/08 at 11:32am

Re: 2008 MLB Playoffs thread

FWIW, I started a Hot Stove thread so as not to take away from the upcoming World Series discussion with thoughts about Jason Varitek and other pending decisions by MLB teams.
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post #116 of 220
10/20/08 at 11:34am

Re: 2008 MLB Playoffs thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jerry Almeida
I passed up the opportunity to go to a Rays home game in each of the last two series for financial reasons and because there was hope I could get a hold of a World Series ticket. Well I'll be at Game 1 on Wednesday! And it only cost me $100.

Here's hoping the Rays finish this worst to amazing worst to first story.

Wow, Jerry! $100?!? Where's your seat, Jacksonville?



Good for you! I'm glad (for YOUR sake) that it worked out for you! Really, though, where is your seat?
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post #117 of 220
10/20/08 at 2:43pm

Re: 2008 MLB Playoffs thread

Quote:
Where's your seat, Jacksonville?




I'll be in the upperdeck. I usually sit in the outfield, but I've sat up there once before. Surprisingly good view. We'll be just to the right of home plate, not very high up.

I'm glad it worked out too. I really hated giving up those tickets. It's just with the cost of parking, beer, etc; a night at the ball game can get expensive.
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post #118 of 220
10/21/08 at 6:31am

Re: 2008 MLB Playoffs thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jerry Almeida
I passed up the opportunity to go to a Rays home game in each of the last two series for financial reasons and because there was hope I could get a hold of a World Series ticket. Well I'll be at Game 1 on Wednesday! And it only cost me $100.
Did you get one of the seats under the tarps they just uncovered? Hopefully it has a back. Enjoy! I'm jealous! I had the pleasure to attend one game each of the last two Phillies World Series visits, at the Vet in 1993 and Memorial Stadium in 1983. It is a memorable experience.

My prediction: Phils in 6. The Rays are a great story, and my hat is off to them, but the Phils have the best bullpen in baseball, and the Rays bullpen has shown serious weakness in the ALCS.
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post #119 of 220
10/21/08 at 7:54am

Re: 2008 MLB Playoffs thread

Since neither of the teams I picked to get to the World Series got there, here's my predictions from Page 1 of this thread:


Division Series:
Red Sox over Angels in 5. Right team, 1 too many games.
Rays over Sox in 4. Right all around.
Cubs over Dodgers in 4. Totally wrong on this one.
Phillies over Brewers in 5. Right team, 1 too few games.

League Championship Series
Cubs over Phillies in 6. Wrong all the way.
Red Sox over Rays in 7. Wrong all the way.

World Series
Cubs over Red Sox in 7. Wrong all the way. I got off to a good start, but blew it in the LCS and World Series.

New prediction: Rays over Phillies in 6.
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post #120 of 220
10/21/08 at 12:27pm

Re: 2008 MLB Playoffs thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by Philip Hamm
Did you get one of the seats under the tarps they just uncovered? Hopefully it has a back.

When you're that high up, you don't need a seat back, since you'd never be touching it anyway.

Rays in 6.

The Rays bullpen did show some weakness in the ALCS, but that doesn't mean it will stay that way. It's been better than what we saw in games 5 and 7 most of the year.
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