Warning!! It's Baaaaaack!! Off-topic Baseball Thread '08 !!

[grunewar]

Originally Posted by M&M Guy

It would be interesting to see if someone has such a list, perhaps showing this season or the past 3 or 5 seasons, to see if the players that give the impression of being clutch hitters (Manny, Big Papi, Vlad, etc.) truly are, or if the ones that give the impression they aren't (A-Rod) truly aren't.

And I'm sure there would be some real interesting surprises (in smaller markets perhaps) we've never thought about or are rarely mentioned too.....

[ChuckElias]

Not a very inspiring performance from Dice-K last night. Somehow, he managed to work out of it with only 3 runs. Rays left a TON of men on base, which kept the Sox in it. Bay does it again, but Papelbon just cannot seem to have an easy outing. He blows the save and takes the loss. Even when he manages to get the save, he is putting a lot of men on base (for a closer).

I haven't even checked the rest of the standings.

Plus, Brady's gone for the year, after 8 minutes of the first quarter of the first game. I can't even think about that yet.

[grunewar]

Originally Posted by ChuckElias

.....but Papelbon just cannot seem to have an easy outing. He blows the save and takes the loss. Even when he manages to get the save, he is putting a lot of men on base (for a closer).

When Armando Benitez pitched for the Orioles we always joked that he seemed to walk the bases loaded and then strike out the side......Frustrating!! A fan killer!

[ChuckElias]

14 innings. Great outing by Beckett wasted. Back to 2.5 out in the division. At least we're still 5 up in the wild card. I was a little surprised that Francona took both Veritek and Lowell out of the game for pinch runners in the 7th and 8th. Especially in the 7th, it seemed kind of early to me. And, of course, it backfired, b/c they lost Lowell's bat for 6 more innings.

DJ's Mariners finally had a big win last night!! Unfortunately, it was big for the Angels, as the Texas loss to Seattle allowed the Halos to be the first team this season to clinch its division.

[M&M Guy]

Zambrano injured? Maybe not.

- 1st no-hitter for the Cubs since 1972 - Milt Pappas.

(The following are meaningless bits of info, for those of us into that kind of thing.)

- First no-hitter at a neutral site in the modern baseball era (after 1900).
- First no-hitter ever by a pitcher whose last name starts with Z.

[ChuckElias]

Another one that I forgot. I was at the IAABO Interpreter's conference over the weekend, so I didn't get to talk about this; but K-Rod (Francisco Rodriguez) of the Angels broke Bobby Thigpen's single-season record for saves. Very impressive, but does anybody remember what happened to Thigpen the year after he set the record? I'll be real interested to see if he holds up next year or if they've overused him.

[ChuckElias]

One year ago today, the Devil Rays lost their 90th game of the 2007 season. It was the 10th consecutive year that they had lost that many games. They became the only team in big league history to lose as many as 90 games each year over the span of a decade.

But oh, how times change. The Rays have completely turned the tables, as they recorded their 90th victory of the '08 season on Wednesday night against the Sox.

(At least they lost last night to Minnesota. If the Sox can win 2 or 3 in Toronto this weekend, they're guaranteed to pick up ground in either the division or wild card race, as the Twins and Rays are forced to beat up on each other.)

[grunewar]

Tribute to Yankee Stadium was nice yesterday. A lot of nostalgia and a great many memories present and on film. Reggie, Yogi, Whitey, Boomer, Don Larson, Tino the Bambino, Willie Randolph, etc. - a lot of generations represented.......

However, honoring look-alike actors, and family members representing the greats was a bit of a stretch and a bit hokie if you ask me. I mean, cheering for someone in a Ruth and Dimagio uniform number? A standing ovation for Mickey Mantle's son as he ran out to center field? Phil Rizzuto and Catfish Hunter's widows as they took the field? I enjoyed the show and seeing the legends, but, that was a bit much for me.......

[ChuckElias]

Sox finally clinch a playoff spot, eliminating the Yankees. (That's just not as much fun to say without Dan around. )And Papelbon looked like his old self in getting the 4-out save. Got out of the 8th inning with one pitch and dominated the 3 hitters he faced in the ninth. Okijima also came in with the bases loaded and got out of it without giving up a run. That bodes well.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by ChuckElias

Sox finally clinch a playoff spot, eliminating the Yankees. (That's just not as much fun to say without Dan around. )

Admittedly, it would much more therapeutic.

[Nevadaref]

Dodgers @ Giants
Bottom the 6th, runner on first, one out
Bengie Molina hits a deep fly to right. It hits right at the edge of the brick face and green metal top of the wall. It is called a single on the field, and the Giant have runners at the corners.

The ground rules of the park specify that a ball which hits the green metal is a homerun, so the Giants manager disputes the call. Also in a silly move on his part, he replaces Molina with a pinch runner, Emmanuel Burriss, at this time.

The umpires elect to use video to review the call. The call is overturned and ruled a homerun. Emmanuel Burriss is instructed by the umpires to run from first to home. He does so while laughing.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy now comes out and argues that Molina should be allowed to remain in the game, since the pinch runner was unnecessary after the call was reversed and a homerun credited. The umpires say no. Molina has been replaced and is out of the game. Bochy lodges a protest and the game continues under protest following a seven minute delay.

Less important, but not less interesting, is how to score the play. Does Molina get a homerun and two RBIs, but Burriss gets the run scored? Burriss can't get the second RBI as he never batted, right?!?!

Obviously the intelligent thing to do would have been to wait for the outcome of the video review prior to making any changes (similar to the NFHS basketball rule about not granting time-outs while a replacement for a DQ is pending), but neither Bochy nor the umpires went that route. So now we have a nuance to the new video replay rules.

This play reminded me of the homerun last year by a Red Sox player and a runner was injured rounding 2nd base. They had to wait to remove the injured player and put in a pinch runner to finish the play.

[ChuckElias]

Sox are in the playoffs and will get the Angels in the first round. The Angels' history against the Sox in the postseason is not good, so this will be an interesting series.

The Rays win the division, which I still can't believe, even though they've been pretty steady all season, with only a couple weeks where they faltered. They'll Chicago or Minnesota. That's a pretty interesting battle in itself.

Phillies clinched the division yesterday, leaving the Mets and Brewers to fight it out for the wild card. Cubbies finish with the best record in the NL.

Sadly, without Dan -- and the Yankees -- around, this thread doesn't seem to generate the interest that it once did. I'll check in a couple times through the playoffs, especially if the Sox make a run at the World Series, but it may have run its course. Either way, enjoy the October baseball!!

[BillyMac]

As the season winds down, despite their second place finish in the division, I feel very good about Boston's season. They have the fourth best record in all of baseball despite injuries to Schilling, Lugo, Ortiz, Lowell, Drew, Casey, Matsuzaka, Beckett, Wakefield, and Youkilis throughout the season. The trade of Ramirez didn't seem to hurt the Sox, although there's talk of Manny getting some MVP votes in the National League. Theo did a nice job picking up Bay, Kotsay, and Byrd to fill some holes during the later part of the season. No matter what happens to the Sox in the playoffs, the future looks bright. Youkilis and Pedroia will both get votes for American League MVP. Although he won't win it, Matsuzaka, will get some votes for Cy Young. Several young players have contributed this season: Lowrie, Ellsbury, Pedroia, Masterson, and Lester; and will be back next year.

As a fan of baseball in general, the playoffs have the potential to be very interesting. Will the Amazing Mets miss the playoffs again. Will the Brewers, a small market team, make the playoffs? The Yankees, without Torre, miss the playoffs, while the Dodgers, with Torre, have the potential to go far. Tampa Bay, and the Twins, both with small payrolls, have done quite well. And, how about those Cubs? Maybe this will be their year, as it was for the Red Sox in 2004. Imagine World Series baseball in Wrigley Field, the second best park in the majors. My supervisor is a bigger Red Sox fan than me (a proud fan since 1967), and he said that even he could get excited about a Cubs championship.

[mick]

The White Sox slammed the Detroit Tigers 8-2, forcing a one-game playoff Tuesday night (7:37 ET) at U.S. Cellular Field against the Minnesota Twins. - usatoday.com

Let's see, Gardenhire or Guillen ....
Go Twins.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseb...x-tigers_N.htm