2004 ML Baseball Playoff Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[Lew Crippen]

Nor would I.

My reasoning for picking the Cardinals is that Clemens will probably have to pitch twice against the Braves and may not be fully rested for the next series (and the rotation may not be set either). Plus St. Louis will probably win one or two with their bats—something that Houston can’t match.

Of course I’ll probably be wrong on both counts in my predictions. I’m usually so bad at this, that I don’t even bother to guess.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Playoff games on top for today:

Astros at Braves 4:00 p.m. EDT
Clemens vs Wright

Twins at Yankees 7:00 p.m. EDT
Radke vs Lieber

Red Sox at Angels 10:00 p.m. EDT
Martinez vs Colon

All games are on ESPN today.

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

Of the 2 teams that lost yesterday and play again today, I think it is more of a must win game for Anaheim. Even with the "Curse" I find it more likely that the Yankees could come back from down0-2 to the Twins, than the Angels would come back from 0-2 down to Boston.

Go Braves!

 

[Shane Martin]

I'd tend to agree with you.

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

Lets see if you agree with my reasoning then. Its simple, run production, Minnesota just doesn't have a lot of run production. So even if they win tonight, I don't see it as that big of a stretch that they could get little or no offense in games 3-5. It wouldn't be easy for the Yankees to come back and win considering they'd see Johan Santana again in game 4, but I give them a better shot to do that, then Anaheim beating Shilling and Paedro in games 4-5.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

More McCarver idiocy:

He called for Torre to try a hit-and-run because "Johan Santana is a contact type pitcher."
Tim, Johan Santana led the AL with 265 K's last season. When you have 265 K's in a season (Pedro was next w/ 227, Schilling 3rd w/ 203), you are nowhere near a "contact" pitcher.

He also stated that "St. Louis and Boston won by the same score tonight, 8-3".
The Red Sox won 9-3, about half an hour before the start of the Yankees/Twins game.

This is the guy Fox wants to represent them as a baseball expert?

 

[Shane Martin]

I don't think its a lack of runs but a lack of firepower to keep up with the Yankees. They CAN produce more runs but might not. If anything I think the Twins can score 5-6 runs a game. To me its all downhill from here for the Twins as Mussina is their best pitcher. Brown is done(but cashing in those 15 million dollar paychecks!), and the rest of their staff is pretty poor. Lieber won't be a big deal tonight at all.

 

[Lew Crippen]

He is the benchmark for baseball announcers. And right up there for sports announcers of any type.

My sentimental favorite for baseball was the Tigers’ (also Dodgers, Giants, Orioles and even for one lamentable year away from the Tigers, the Angels) Ernie Harwell.

But I think that Scully is the best.

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

Yeah, he pretty much sucks, and I never get tired of bashing him. I think he says things just to hear his own voice, and it doesn't really matter to him if they make sense or not. I did like it when Deion Sanders poored water all over him, that time had bad mouthed him on the air, or called him selfish or whatever he said...its about the only thing Deion Sanders has done that I liked.

 

[Andrew Pezzo]

I just dont get this about the city of Atlanta. This may be overly critical but if you cant sell out a playoff game you dont deserve to host one. The arguement that they make the playoffs every year only to fall short doesnt hold any water IMO. Only one team is going to win it all and no one knows who before hand, thats why you have to support your team. This trend has been going on for a couple of years now.

About game one of the Yanks/Twins series, being the Yankee fan I am and watching just about every game during the season (I think I missed 6 this year - my poor wife) double plays have plagued them for years. THey had plenty of opportunites to score runs, they had baserunners in almost every inning. Five DP's is embaressing.

I thought the Yankee lineup was good (at least early in the season) but I think St. Louis is going to to tough to beat no matter who they face if they make the world series. Its kind of nice when there is no clear cut favorite.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Well, Atlanta tends to get screwed by the non-prime-time start times, so that has an effect on ticket sales.

Actually, I was amazed the tickets sold number was near 40,000, I was thinking it was going to be around 35,000.

 

[Patrick_S]

That sounds like an excuse to me.

With the later 4pm start time it shouldn’t it be even easier to sell out the game? After all you could still go in and work half a day and then go to the game.

Of course I fondly remember when we would just take the day off from school to go to the A's playoff games in the 70s. Little things like that made it even more special, that’s probably why I so fondly remember the experience.

 

[Lew Crippen]

Let’s see: There were 44.608 at Anaheim for a 1:00 start yesterday and 52, 127 in St. Louis to see the Dodgers (12:00 start).

The night game (8 pm) at Yankee Stadium drew 55.749.

Angel Stadium holds 45,050, so their first game was filled to 99% capacity.

Bush Stadium holds 50,345, so it was filled to 103.5% of its capacity.

Yankee Stadium holds 57,546, meaning their first game played to 96.9% capacity.

Turner Field holds just a little under 50,000, so 40,000 would be around 80% capacity.

I don’t really think that the late afternoon start in Atlanta is any more disadvantageous than the starts in St. Louis or California. The night game in New York probably does have an attendance advantage--but it was a late start on a week night, which might also drag attandance down.

Both New York and St. Louis are traditional baseball towns. And ones where the local fans know a lot about the game. Orange County is not exactly known as a baseball Mecca, but they have recently won the World Series and have been in contention for some years.

Bottom line is that Atlanta is not a baseball town—although today’s attendance figures may prove this wrong.

edited to correct start times.

 

[Shane Martin]

I bet if a Nascar race was in Atlanta at a "bad start time" it would sell out. I would bet Atlanta is more of a Nascar city than a Baseball city.

 

[Patrick Sun]

So Atlanta fans are jaded. Whatever. If the Braves make it to the World Series, there's a small, remote, possibility of the games selling out.

 

[Shane Martin]

I will say this much. After dealing with taking Large Satellite Dish phone calls regarding programming, the Braves fans you do find out there are quite passionate about their Braves. I could make a redneck joke or something along those lines but that isn't necessary.

That also said, Nebraska Cornhusker fans are NUTS with regards to their team. I firmly believe that is the only thing that exists there.

 

[LewB]

I was there last night and noticed a whole section in right field that was set up to handle the extra press that attends playoff games. If there was an un-sold seat in there last night, you couldn't prove it by me.

My big highlight came before the game in Stan's across the street from the stadium. It was amazing to hear the cheers and 'Boston sux' chants that broke out when Schilling went down on that play up the 1st base line. Yeah, I know it was in bad taste, but I loved it anyway !
Mussina did what he was supposed to do and the hitters did not. Any Yankee fan who says game 1 wasn't a MUST win, is lying. Hopefully Lieber, et al will perform.

 

[Chris]

When full, Nebraska stadium is the third largest city in the state, behind only Omaha and Lincoln (Fact).

Or, as a UofN tour guide pointed out to us, when referring to the giant Nebraska "N" on their building:

"Here at Nebraska, we celebrate our academics. The Big "N" stands not just for Nebraska, but for knowledge"

I still laugh about that everytime.

 

[Andrew Pezzo]

Thats how I see it. They had so many men on base and couldnt do a thing. Its funny, at the beginning of the season I felt they addressed the weak hitting from the prior post season but now I am realizing it was at the expense of the pitching. I partially agree with game 1 not being a must win but I would rather not see the Yanks go to a game five facing Santana.

 

[Todd Terwilliger]

Top of the 9th in Atlanta... classic image of the little Braves fan crying in the stands...

Kudos the 'Stros. It's nice to see the killer Bs finally doing something in the post-season. Granted it's one game but it still basically surpasses all their previous games... combined.

And with Lidge in the bottom of the 9th, it'll be tough for the Braves to come back in this one.