2014 ALCS : Baltimore Orioles vs Kansas City Royals

I like Baltimore, and they're clearly a lot better than I thought they were through the season (I kept waiting for them to fold), but the Royals would have to be the most improbable Series participant since...'03 Marlins? I don't know. Anyway, they're a great story, and I'm even learning some of their names. Cain making those two catches last night made me like them even more. When the Royals won in '85, James wrote an epic 20-page history of Kansas City baseball in that year's Abstract. I figure Posnanski will be good for twice that if they win this year.

not voting

rooting O's

and they're clearly a lot better than I thought they were through the season

not unless you thought they were a 70-win team. SSS.

how do Baltimore's Not Wieters catchers throw?

My sense is that Wieters himself is not the CS machine he was earlier in his career.

Orioles arguably put out the best defense in the league, should be effective against a team that shoots singles through the infield instead of hitting balls out. O's in 5.

wonder how the tv execs feel about this one

Do Royals fans love Aoki yet?

xpost let's just say I won't be shocked to see a Jeter tribute or two, or "Great Moments in ALCS History" segments leading into commercial breaks featuring Jeter, Ortiz, Brett, Ripken, and Jeter.

I finally saw the Jeter "My Way" spot and want to kill

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BzSBBYDCIAAnCAx.png

Cruz is now tied with Aaron for ninth on the career postseason SLG list:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/Playoffs_batting.shtml

He's only one of three with over 100 AB, though. Pretty good list--three inner-inner-circle HOF'ers, with A.J. Ellis the only egregious name on there.

zach britton's wife will have her labor induced tonight so he can be available for game 1 on friday

this is one of those posts that i can't tell if it's for real or not.

popping one for the team

https://twitter.com/Britt_Ghiroli/status/519227799853600768

amazing.

how do Baltimore's Not Wieters catchers throw?

― son of a lewd monk (Dr Morbius), Monday, October 6, 2014 10:58 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

joseph is good and hundley is terrible. but hundley is basically chris tillman's personal catcher, and tillman has allowed 15 SBs in his entire career incl 2 in his last 400 innings.

no matter who wins this is going to be super exciting can't wait

Do Royals fans love Aoki yet?

Still for real curious about this btw. I'd heard earlier in the season fans were unimpressed or lukewarm with Aoki; has that changed?

how could you not love aoki

I heard a Uecker broadcast maybe just a month or two ago where he was talking about Aoki (one of his favorite all time players), and he was saying "they must love him out there in KC, right? What's he hitting out there?" Then he paused when he heard the answer. "That's it?"

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Royals in five.

has Showalter really not announced his pitchers for the initial games, per the mlb.com schedule? d'bag

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

These teams haven't played each other since May.

this is a hard series 2 predict i think i voted o's in 6 but since then ive been thinking kc tbh

going to game 1, which may become game 2, and game 7, if it happens

if tomorrow is rained out these two teams will play 5 in a row (unless sweep)

yeah, looks like they better get this one done by 11pm (or it'll be suspended)

this is pretty cool: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/how-chris-tillman-keeps-runners-from-running

Brian Matusz replaces Ubaldo on O's roster; KC the same as LDS

good to go, no rain expected til 12:30

Fairly excited.

what happens when u get *really* excited

TBS fucks up start of game

Hey do you guys know that the Orioles should control the Royals' running game?

now i do

man, that was a fat pitch that Escobar clobbered

shades of Al Weis

Aïe aïe aïe

good ab by gordon

would you like some pixie dust on your crabcakes?

Gordon should be batting higher than 6th, dontcha think

Another great catch by the Royals outfield.

but no SHUTDOWN INNING

Jones looked just slightly off-balance before he made that throw, prob the difference

One run allowed in four innings, but no -- no SHUTDOWN INNINGS yet.

Who lead the league in SHUTDOWN INNINGS?

Crucial statistic

lol Gordon picked off

Wow, Showalter removed his starter in the fifth inning to try and prevent a 4-1 game from becoming a 5-1 game. /playoffmanaging

this looks like a great game, sad i missed the first half of it.

The cool thing with this series is both teams have great bullpens. There was always a team with an iffy bullpen in the division series.

it might just be the first third... xp

2 hrs 10 mins for five innings. That post-midnight rain might come in the 8th.

called strike 3 to Hardy looked like ball 4

yeah, it probably was though i thought it might be a stick until i saw the replay.

*strike

I guess Yost has chosen Finnegan to be his 6th inning guy to bridge to the big three.

Leadoff walk. We'll see if Yost leaves Finnegan out there to die or makes a change if Markakis gets on.

i really don't know the American League, so all these guys are sort of new to me.

they had him but threw it away, wow.

The ones in blue are the Royals.

lol

wow

Because of the Orioles RUNNING GAME this probably won't be a SHUTDOWN INNING.

lol O'stball

I've never seen a bloop hit quite like that one.

Who lead the league in SHUTDOWN INNINGS?

my ex-wife amirite

hahaha

Do the Royals just have a Wackiness Field Generator?

huge double play there and a quick three outs for Herrera, who can probably go another inning

@BenLindbergh
Brandon Finnegan's origin story has been retold more times than Batman's

Hosmer really does play first like a recently converted catcher

all these leadoff walks are giving me flashbacks to John Franco and Armando Benitez

i just tuned in and this is already hilarious

looks like the return of the deadball era may be postponed

The Yankees-Red Sox 4hr nine inning game is back with a vengeance though.

i may have to start drinking coffee after dinner

sheeeit

back to back walks with no one out in the 9th. good opening game.

How do you give up leadoff back to back walks against a team like the Royals?

2-0

jfc

I wonder if the Royals walked six times in any game this season?

I'm not watching this but I assume the crowd is going nuts right now

great play

was that "possession" by Hundley? juggle juggle

@keithlaw
HE'S BUNTING THROW IT DIRECTLY AT HIS BAT

how did they get out of that?

had em all the way

cruz walkoff imminent

what an escape act that was

brillant brillant game

yeah the plan was to load the bases and then give up no runs on unbelievable plays.

i hope zachylon didn't have big Saturday plans

The O's had no chance against Davis.

Wade Davis is pretty pretty good

KC and extra innings.

yoo

boom

Davis for a third inning???

oh wowwwww

can we get KC's HR rate/AB in the last 5 games vs the regular season?

The Royals are going to win the PS undefeated, and we will all have to bow down to Ned Yost and the concept of clutchness.

4 extra inning HR's in one postseason has to be approaching some kind of record.

Gordon has been beasting since the DS.

nuts

the Royals know how to say goodnight when it goes to extra innings.

Holland in. Was thinking Davis was the closer.

Is it just me, or does every ALCS come down to critical at-bat by Delmon Young?

how can people not like baseball?

Not knowing about it is the main reason.

goddammit

only 15 hours til Game 2

i am dead

Like Gregg Zaun, I was still aghast after the game over Hosmer swinging at that 1-0 pitch in the top of the 9th. The team that blows--gift-wraps--a bases-loaded opportunity in the 9th is not supposed to go on and win.

i guess james shields sucking and the royals winning was my best-case scenario for this

z'lon how many ppl left after the 3 KC runs scored?

there was a small hemorrhage. sort of ridiculous, it isn't hard to get out of baltimore at 1am no matter the crowd, but the weather made that game really soul-crushing so it wasn't too surprising i guess

Billy Butler hit a double.

i know the Oriole starting pitchers are no-names, but why does it look so eay to stick the bat out and go the other way on them?

*easy

missed the Jones HR of course

no way this'll be over before the NL game starts

Billy Beane's misery is now justified with this Royals team winning 5 in a row.

Loving this game

How many great catches by Cain this PS?

jeez Cain

what did his defensive metrics look like this year?

looks like another good game, just got home from working some OT.

Aoki's job is to replace Cain's divots

here comes Mr TCU

CALEB

@BenLindbergh
Bizarro TBS talks about batters trying to score in Breakopen Innings

KC showing the pressure? you can't be making those type of mistakes this time of the year.

sure you can

man, gotta run thru the bag there

teams have been winning series while making those mistakes

(don't turn into HR, Bee)

lol

well walks are mistakes too.

wow, the baltimore white stripes chant is the lamest thing on earth

well they DID get away with it.

so is popping up w/ bags full & 1 out xxp

a number of teams are doing it

still beats the Braves chant

i agree, it is slso big in College Football.

xxxpost

Bringing a right hander in to pitch to the #7 and #8 guys. (Maybe they'll leave him in for Moustakas?)

i know i voted for KC but sort of hope that the O's pull this game off.

everything on earth beats the braves chant

Man, if KC plays extras AGAIN ...

speed def slows the pace of the game.

i hate speed.

O's were either going to have a righty/lefty matchup against Moustakas or a lefty/righty matchup against Escobar. They went with the latter and Escobar came through.

i suspect this serious is over #BlueMagik

they're gonna go 12-0 aren't they

The Royals are going to win the PS undefeated, and we will all have to bow down to Ned Yost and the concept of clutchness.

― Van Horn Street, Saturday, October 11, 2014 12:29 AM (20 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

When your opponent starts losing ground balls in the lights, you may have invisible forces on your side.

just like everyone predicted the royals will never lose another game and the lion will lay down with the lamb

just brutal

i'm starting to think extreme bullpens, good or bad, are the most soul-crushing part of baseball for fans. just going into the 7th and knowing the total buzzsaw of herrera/davis/holland is right there for as long as they're needed, and it'll be like that for all four of KC's wins, it makes it so much harder to stay positive. and i imagine it was the same with detroit fans, knowing no game is safe in the hands of their bullpen and they have to bite their nails through those innings.

also "lorenzo cain" sounds like a bond villain

I submitted a "Hey Bill" two years ago along the same lines. I think there's validity to the idea--that blown saves are "soul-crushing"--but James was skeptical.

Bill -- A leap into the dreaded land of intangibles...Most everyone agrees now that the irreplaceability of a closer was vastly overstated for a number of years; teams move guys in and out of that role continually. Watching the Jays' struggles this year, though--five blown saves in 21 games--has hurled me back to the couple of years in the early '80s before they got Tom Henke, and the memory of how demoralizing a series of blown saves can be to an otherwise good team (to a fan, anyway). Question: even though the difference between a great position player and an adequate one is undoubtedly quantitatively larger (in terms of WAR, or Win Shares, or whatever) than the equivalent difference between a great/adequate closer, might there be an intangible psychological importance to the great closer that can't be measured?
Asked by: Phil Dellio

Answered: 4/29/2012
Implying that it isn't demoralizing to lose a game in other ways? If your offense is poor and you lose games because you can't score runs, this doesn't demoralize the pitchers? If your starting pitching is bad and you're playing from behind every day, this doesn't demoralize the rest of the team?

Of course it is POSSIBLE that there things we can't measure, in the same way it is possible that the world around us is full of creatures or beings of some nature of which we are unaware because none of our five senses will pick them up. The question is, why should one believe in any one of these things?

More soul-crushing for fans than for players, definitely.

having a sick ass bullpen is def one of the most powerful things in all of sports

I don't see how you top the way the Nats lost that 18-inning game

game PPD. i might be happy about this. idk.

nah i guess not. shitfarts.

@jcrasnick
All the #royals refer to Ned Yost as Skip, except Yordano Ventura, who calls him "Nedyo"

One thing about KC's lineup is that there really isn't anyone you need to try to pitch around but they don't strike out as much and put the ball in play, sometimes you do that good things happen. I think quite a few of the big bomber hitting clubs especially Torre's Yanks, those good hitting Indians clubs, the Angels this year etc., but in a playoff match up with superior top shelf pitching, they get rung up for K after K.

what i'm hoping for here is that the extended time off might cool down their, idk, #ROYALSDESTINYMAGIC or just their bats, and if we're lucky enough to get to more than two games in, exploit the tired arms of the HDH buzzsaw, who make up the entirety of that amazing pen.

Earl--you're Dave Fleming in disguise:

Question 3: Okay, so making contact doesn’t seem to help a team reach the playoffs. What about when they’re IN the playoffs? Do high-contact teams tend to do well in October baseball?

This might be something...there is at least a suggestion that teams with low strikeout rates tends to do pretty good in the postseason.

http://www.billjamesonline.com/contact_speed_and_the_2014_royals/

istg tho if they beat us and then lose to the NL i will purchase a vat of lava and say goodbye to dear earth

at last ROYALS STOPPED

having a sick ass bullpen is def one of the most powerful things in all of sports

no you really don't know baseball

almost all sickass bullpens can be beaten, unless it's Mariano Rivera vs the Red Sox

(and then even that one year)

Basically nothing is unstoppable in any sport except apparently Bill Russell.

You show me a Bill Russell, I raise a Mario Lemieux.

I must be missing where Lemieux's team dominated at every level for nearly two decades.

no off day in this series now... if it goes long, KC could have to start Danny Duffy.

who may still be better than all of the o's starters

he may be hurt tho. and how is Ventura?

sheffield is the worst out there

Gregg Zaun wants the Orioles to win four straight, because he's offended that a KC guy had the temerity to say that if the Royals win today, there will be people in the Baltimore clubhouse saying, "No way we can win four straight against these guys." Zaun doesn't like guys who provide "bulletin board fodder" for the other team.

I've always wondered why you guys fixate on Harold Reynolds and Tim McCarver, but now I have my own personal bete noire: Gregg Zaun.

WE GOT JOE WEST AT HP

is there some way to stream actual am radio online? the online stream for my local station is blacked out and i don't want to dig around for an old boombox

idk how radio waves work

10 pitch first for guthrie, that's one way to avoid the pen

joe west already making his mark jfc

http://tunein.com/radio/WIOO-1000-s29634/

YES THANK YOU oh joe angel beautiful beautiful man

I missed the pre-game show...They're saying old Royals were there for a ceremony--who? They also had a summary box of key players from the '85 team, with their stats. That Balboni's 36 HR that year is still a club record--that it was ever a club record, really, but even more that it lasted through the '90s and beyond--defies comprehension.

no off day in this series now... if it goes long, KC could have to start Danny Duffy.

― this horrible, rotten slog to rigor mortis (Dr Morbius)

who may still be better than all of the o's starters

― johnny crunch

he may be hurt tho. and how is Ventura?

― this horrible, rotten slog to rigor mortis (Dr Morbius)

Whoops, meant to add I don't remember reading he was hurt? Just that he had mechanical issues and some subpar outings toward end of season. Had great numbers otherwise.

Does Lorenzo Cain ever get regular-type hits? The ones that bounce once or twice before an outfielder picks it up?

istg if they lose to the NL i will purchase a vat of lava and say goodbye to dear earth

what a catch

so tired of those miraculous catches

(OK sorry yer right Duffy was out for a while in Sept. Sorry to interrupt. His numbers are really something, though.)

KC's Greek is out-Greeking Baltimore's Greek. (I'm Greek, so I can make Greek jokes.)

sick of this kauffman outfield

here comes Cerberus

please just let in one HR, just one.

god this is depressing

davis hasn't allowed a HR all year

fuck joe west that was five feet outside

i might literally die of heartbreak tonight

oh dear.

kc is playing some extremely good baseball, huh.

The Royals are going to win the PS undefeated, and we will all have to bow down to Ned Yost and the concept of clutchness.

― Van Horn Street, Saturday, October 11, 2014 12:29 AM (20 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

― Van Horn Street, Saturday, October 11, 2014 8:29 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i might literally die of heartbreak tonight

at least no one is likely to post

happy happy

joy joy

itt

man, a Giants-Royals WS i would so not give a shit

i really thought this series was going to be fun

still lots of games left in the NLCS

hahaha

I'm going to behead a pigeon, drench it tar and dance and pray to the spirit of Kevin Millar, Johnny Damon and Terry Francona for these Orioles.

i'm dead serious here: the royals have the magic. it isn't happening.

i just want a game 6 to spite jarrod dyson.

what would kevin millar say, zach

"i was horrible for the orioles during the nadir of their entire existence why are you letting me talk"

Fuck baseball forever

I guess I'm mildly happy for Jeremy Guthrie

In conclusion, fuck baseball forever

no matter who wins this is going to be super exciting can't wait

if i could go back in time and punch myself in the face i would think about it

http://i1059.photobucket.com/albums/t427/sayhey1/yost_zps48325bf6.jpg

Obviously the entire history of sabermetrics is going to crumble to the ground, and Omar Moreno and Pete Vukovich are going to go into the Hall of Fame. Not a big deal--this is fun.

The ultimate outfield?

Royals outfielders collectively led the league in both DRS and UZR this season, and Gordon, Cain, and Dyson ranked third, fourth, and ninth, respectively, among individual outfielders in DRS. The Royals outfielders’ arms account for some of the strength of their defensive ratings, but they nearly doubled the closest club in UZR Range Runs, which measures only how good they were at getting to balls. “We’re not just talking about a good outfield, or a great outfield,” wrote Baseball Prospectus’s Sam Miller on Monday, noting that the three outfielders’ 2014 DRS totals at the positions they play would prorate to a combined plus-80 over 135 games. “We’re talking about what one might decide to argue is the greatest defensive outfield of all-time.”

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/2014-mlb-playoffs-exploiting-kansas-city-royals-ultimate-outfield-jarrod-dyson-alex-gordon-lorenzo-cain/

i thought Dyson wasn't normally a starter?

he isn't -- they use this OF from the 6th or 7th on.

i'm starting to think i might have to buy a Dyson jersey. i mean – how can i not?!

IT'S YOU

One of the other highly rated defensive OFs historically is last year's (?) Brewers -- also featuring Aoki as a part-timer.

dyson's ranking 9th in DRS with that kind of limited playing time is insane

So now, one game away from a trip to the World Series, I have one more suggestion for Ned Yost.

You have two starters available on full rest: use both of them.

Due to the Monday rainout, the Royals have both Jason Vargas and James Shields available to start today’s Game Four, though the Royals have already announced that they’re going to stick with Vargas, while Shields remains on deck to pitch a Game Five, if it proves necessary. The easiest way to make that game unnecessary, though, would be to use both of them on Wednesday.

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/just-a-bit-outside/story/kansas-city-royals-jason-vargas-james-shields-game-4-alcs-101514

that doesn't sound like a very good idea

no.

@keithlaw
Orioles on the phone with Dave Roberts' agent as we speak

Ed (El Paso, TX)
You and others have often criticized Royals manager Ned Yost and yet the Royals are in the ALCS and two wins away from the WS. Could it be he is doing something right?

David Schoenfield (1:22 PM)
Not necessarily. Bob Brenly won a World Series.

stealth bomber flyover at the k

wtf

what, 3 pitches, 2 outs?

the defense, too. this is just pathetic.

yeah.

i'm gonna bee ok this shit today

good one miggy

triple play

just kidding don't exert yourselves, don't want to start 2015 with any injuries

just toss it underhand miggy

yost just trying to spite the internet now

if cain really wanted to take advantage of #ROYALSDESTINYMAGIC he would've done a little shimmy backwards and gotten some laffs out of the crowd

alright throw ball

ahahahah did that just happen

nevermind don't throw ball

just maybe kick ball around like hacky sack

billb urtler comtry brakfst y

good

welp this is getting off to a Kansas City Royal kinda start

no team in the history of baseball has won their first 8 postseason games. so the O's have history on their side

looking at the faces of this royals team is going to make it really hard to root for them in the WS

jason vargas is on pace to shut out the orioles on 4 pitches

first-inning bunt works bcz ERROR

update on the game, please

i miss joe west's strike zone, at least he added an element of surprise

KC up 2-0, Lorenzo Cain (their #3 hitter, by the way) bunted after the first two got on via infield single and HBP. At least one run scored on error.

good update, but needs to be 10 characters or less, a real "gut", raw instinct reaction set of 10 characters

ugh, come on

^example

ten character update: Yostseason

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B0A8CgmCUAAakFu.jpg

since last night i've been consoling myself by thinking about a 2015 team with a healthy wieters and machado and a decent chris davis and a hero turn from kevin gausman, even though i know that type of thinking is stupid and unexpected things always happen. maybe the apocalypse will greet us before april and i'll die happy.

it IS kinda amazing the O's have gotten this far without manny and wieters tho, right? those are pretty major absences relative to what other teams deal with.

in other words

=/

vargas has already thrown 26 times as many pitches to nelson cruz than he did in the first inning

everything is terrible

worried abt u

vargas is gonna throw a no-hitter

btw that was lorenzo cain's first sac bunt in the major leagues

mookie i've accepted it, i really just wanted the O's to show SOMETHING today. i really wanted to just force a game six because of what dyson said, it's pathetic that such a stink was raised over it and it turned out to be true. another thing that makes it difficult to root for KC in the WS tbh.

obv game 6 wasn't gonna happen but i was hoping for a game that wouldn't be this embarrassing

In conclusion, fuck baseball forever

― Guayaquil (eephus!), Tuesday, October 14, 2014 11:07 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I'm all for trash talking in baseball but the idea of the Kansas City Royals doing it doesn't sit well for some reason. Dyson kinda has a point though?

this was the last year the o's were gonna get any sort of love in the postseason right? media's already treating them like the bad guys this series.

I thought it was 100% obvious I was gonna root for KC if they won this series but now I can't stand to look at their stupid fucking faces. I can cheer for the Giants over them -- if it's the Cardinals, I'm just gonna pretend the season is over and they're showing the 85 series again on Classic

my goodness, mike moustakas, you certainly are chewing gum and squinting meaningfully like a scrappy unexpected hero, you clod

u mad

I want us to win this game 25-2, I'm at ease with whatever happens after that, I just want to run roughshod over these tools for one freaking game

xp lol same. problem is this is the type of team you really just don't want beating you and then losing next round. that's extra embarrassing if some shitty NL team takes them down.

let's keep everyone convinced they're just magic and the O's were just hapless victims

btw forgot to mention this before but fuck kauffman stadium and its fucking outfield, i know it's a beautiful park and has the novelty of being the only one from that era that wasn't a disgusting piece of shit but burn it to the ground

is that carson daly

let the roughshod running begin

i have a lot of ideas for improving kauffman

the main one is always have the 10 feet in front of the outfield walls on fire and outfielders have to retrieve balls from there at their own peril

i guess a moat could work too

they have those fountains, just add some onto the field

when i was there last year i thought it was "nice" and kinda boring

ie the best thing in KC besides Arthur Bryant bbq and the Negro Leagues Museum

i've heard a lot of people referring to it as a hidden treasure etc

thats cuz they put it 7 miles outta town on the highway

i've heard good things about the art museum and arthur bryant + negro league museum are legit great

moustakas really does need to close his mouth periodically

gonzalez cruising, great news, we can lose this game 2-1 on a HBP and an error

oh yeah, the art museum has a great Caravaggio! xxp

can the o's just start hitting non-stop homers or would that make them more evil

ok where is this "O's are evil" narrative coming from, everything I've heard is "I don't care who makes it out so long as they win the World Series"

that was before KC became a media darling

i'm being pessimistic you dingus

great

can't believe i've wasted approx. 7 hours a game this october when i could've been coming up with a really clever halloween costume

now i have to go as the spirit of dread and ruined dreams

ok now I'm hoping Balt wins this just to make you look stupid

do you think i don't want to end up looking stupid here

let me have my bee ok moment

ofc that would mean my team already won two world series

YAY KC DID SOMETHING STUPID

look I'm a Milwaukee fan born in 1986 I totally understand this ok

fuck alex gordon

also goes without saying but fuck kauffman stadium

The Royals outfield really do catch everything don't they.

HAAA gordon has some spit in his beard i feel better now

lol

This IBB is going to backfire.

It didn't, but it was a dumb decision anyway.

gonzalez cruising, great news, we can lose this game 2-1 on a HBP and an error

― Guayaquil (eephus!), Wednesday, October 15, 2014 4:00 PM (39 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

game is on in break room, saw Gordon catch

6th inning, Vargas cruising with about 60 pitches thrown, holy trinity warming up for KC, this is pretty much the last chance for Baltimore here.

Davis is the only one of the three I truly believe Baltimore can't score off of. The other two haven't given up runs but have looked hittable.

game over

omg ned went to herrera in the sixth is he mad

great catch by gordon but he played up his collision with the wall

As I was saying

Orioles will not touch Davis, it's all up to the bottom of the order against Holland

Gotta give Yost credit, after the WC game he's figured out how to manage a bullpen in the playoffs, Matheny, Williams, and Mattingly never figured it out (and still haven't).

god tbs so bad at replays and when to show them

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B0BRbG6CEAAhMvc.jpg

need to stop putting balls in play

Billy Butler doubled.

#destiny

Mousakka so clutch #RE2PECT

Ok, we gotta have a real painful 9th inning, right? It can't just be 1-2-3, Lorenzo Cain has to make an impossible catch to prevent a 3-run double or something.

moustakas will catch a ball in his asshole

http://ealesmopandbroom.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Polycorn-broom-orange.jpg

Well, Jones walked twice today, maybe the apocalypse is coming.

Leadoff walk, ridiculous catch against the wall to save the run coming up.

why not challenge for the hell of it

blaming this postseason loss on that terrible strike call

maybe it's a good thing it was a sweep

i feel nothing

Ned Yost: 8-0
Buck Showalter: 5-13

The O's led for two innings in the entire series.

I really want to hate the Royals, but their run has given me hope that my own team could overcome 20+ years of dumbfuckery and win another WS before I croak.

there should just be a year where everyone wins the world series!!

not miami

winning yr division is for suckers

I will lol if St. Louis makes the series and possibly loses bc wainwright grooved a pitch in the AS Game to cap'n jetes.

not miami

otm tho

not boston

Had to go somewhere, so only caught an inning mid-game. Empathy to the Orioles fans on here--KC did it to the Jays in '85, and I still vividly remember what a punch in the gut that felt like.

not montreal

man why would i post that garbage of course a reconstituted montreal.

oh fuck i forgot to do it

happy happy

joy joy

dag

Now watch these jokers get swept.

Shades of the 2007 Rockies?

if that happens... who was Colorado's bullpen?

list 1985 funfacts Fox will put on infographics

Rockies bullpen was Brian Fuentes, Manny Corpas and Jeremy Affeldt

should someone start the 2014 World Series: Kansas City Royals vs who cares thread?

more like who cares vs who cares amirite?

Now watch these jokers get swept.

Wouldn't be shocked--they're kind of living on borrowed time. If they win, though, I think it'll be good for the analysis industry. The last few years, new kinds of conventional wisdom have been replacing old kinds of conventional wisdom. The Royals seemingly make no sense according to some of the new kinds. People will try to figure out if them winning means anything. It almost certainly doesn't--they got hot at just the right time, instead of, say, the Jays getting hot in May; you just need to stay hot for a 15-20 game window--but people will try anyway. And they'll find out that they don't just great defense in the outfield, it may be historically great. Or the thing that Fleming wrote about, the possible value of being a contact team in the post-season. All of that is good to know.

this was a fun game, the royals and the orioles are both fun teams

or maybe it's just the fact that joe buck wasn't weighing everything down with his leaden foghorn bray

I've pretty much explained it to a buddy that same way, every decent team will go on a 15-5 run (or whatever) at some point, the Royals are just doing it in September.

24 hours later, i grudgingly have to concede that the royals are a fun team to watch and right-thinking people should root for them. i think i just feel a little morose that the world forgot that there were TWO long-suffering fanbases in this alcs, and the fans in kansas city were the ones who had a pennant MORE recently.

but the O's hadn't been as pitiful in the interim.

Andrew (Raleigh )
Did you see the Time article on the Royals (or their perceived style of play) being the future of baseball? Not every postseason result has to mean something. Sometimes teams just win. People should enjoy the ride and stop trying to create false narratives.

Klaw (1:09 PM)
I didn't, and that's pretty silly. I do think you'll see two changes in player valuation, though. Players who make more contact will see an increase in value after years of teams just not caring at all about hitter strikeout rates, and I think the recent shift toward assembling bullpens of power arms to try to shorten games to 6 innings will accelerate.

Klaw (1:09 PM)
I also think or hope that teams notice that the Giants have a huge advantage from having two long men in their pen.

On this point, I had forgotten that when I went to the Baseball Prospectus event at Kauffmann two summers ago, our major in-stadium event was a session with... the Royals analytics department! Ivy Leaguers and other smart young guys.

Andrew (Raleigh )
The Royals are an organization that heavily utilizes analytics, right? I don't understand the narrative that they are "anti-saber".

Klaw (1:11 PM)
Yes, they are. And the idea of assembling a high-contact lineup with speed isn't anti-saber, nor is the idea of preventing runs by playing great defense (especially range) and striking the last nine hitters out every night.

Eh, every time there's a surprise team in the playoffs people predict that we'll see a whole slate of copycat teams, and it never happens. Every team is different. The idea of winning in the postseason with defense and power pitching is hardly new either -- wasn't that 2/3rds of BP's (now discredited) secret sauce?

yes, starter strikeout rates, closer win value, and fielding

@McCulloughStar
Ned Yost was up this morning by 6 a.m. He was on the phone with his good friend Jeff Foxworthy.

Jeff Sullivan tells us how good Lorenzo Cain has been:

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/welcome-to-stardom-lorenzo-cain/

tell me more of this discredited secret sauce!

for best results, google "secret sauce nate silver"

http://i1059.photobucket.com/albums/t427/sayhey1/alex_zps43531d82.jpg

One, two princes kneel before you
That's what I said now
Princes, princes who adore you
Just go ahead now

every decent team will go on a 15-5 run (or whatever) at some point, the Royals are just doing it in September.

They've won 24 games more than they've lost so far this season, a .570 winning percentage equating to 92-93 wins in a 162 game season (5% of which is postseason against good teams). Not inclined to view that as just decent.

is he trying to convey the length of his dick

I'm hoping Guthrie and Vargas can give Jeff's Suppan and Weaver a run for the money as the shittiest duo of pitchers to headline a world series team.

...

I just looked at the stats and my god Weaver and Suppan were awful. 5ish K/9 and 2.5-3 BB/9 between the two of them. At least Vargas and Guthrie are about 6:2 K:BB/9

But those are the 3 and 4 guys and Duffy isn't pitching. I don't think you have to go that far back for something comparable. 2009 Yankees went with three man rotation or it would have been Pettite and Joba Chamberlain. 2009 Phillies had Pedro and Hamels.

2008 Rays - Matt Garza and Andy Sonnanstine

One more: Phillies (who won) same year - Moyer and Blanton.

They've won 24 games more than they've lost so far this

ah, combining reg & PS records, haven't seen that trick since the '98 Yankees

in the PS, the top 3 relievers can and do pitch way more (proportionally) than they did in the 162. They call it "postseason" cuz it's different in many ways.

The most immediately apparent way would be that it's actually harder to win.

Five of those 8 wins were some of the most God-kissed lucky weirdness I've ever seen.

those count

morbs as a fan of the mets i'm sure you're familiar with such types of timely wins!

I am and won't deny it. But really, KC is no better than the #5 of the 10 PS teams, i believe.

(however, the Mets were clearly the best team in baseball in '86 and likely the best in the NL in 2000)

Have we had two wild cards in the series before?

2002 was the first time.

Ishikawa first national league player to finish the NLCS with a home run.

woops wrong thead.

William (Spokane): What is your assessment of Norichika Aoki's defense?

Andy McCullough (KC Star beat writer): Humorous but effective. I once asked Lorenzo Cain to sum up Aoki's routes in one word. "Wow," he said. Then he started laughing.