2014 World Series: San Francisco Giants vs Kansas City Royals

Giants in six.

not sure if i will post here or not but have rearranged my work schedule to watch all these games live.

royals in six

rooting for a good series from joe buck

Royals in 4
#YOSTBOCHSEASON

unenthused, but I have a Royals souvenir plastic cup from last year so them

(in 6)

Interesting fact about KC: they had a better regular season winning percentage against playoff teams than the Angels, Dodgers, or Nationals. (Giants did not.)

Giants in 5

thought it'd be easy to root for kc but they've been so annoying about everything

Rooting KC, but no predicting.

go KC

i don't mind the giants at all, really, but i'd love to see the royals win

i forgot that KC owner usta run Walmart, ptui

(yeah i know, it's a circle of thieves)

KC in 7

Giants in 9.

giants in 5

If you're not a) from San Francisco, b) a Giants fan from elsewhere, or c) a disgruntled Orioles/Angels/Mariners fan, I'm not sure why someone would want the Giants to win their third in five years instead of KC winning their first in 29. I'll say KC in 7.

Giants in 6.

everything is always "in 6" so i'm going to be courageous and bet one million dollars on "royals in 4"

how did he have the courage to make that bet

If you're not a) from San Francisco, b) a Giants fan from elsewhere, or c) a disgruntled Orioles/Angels/Mariners fan, I'm not sure why someone would want the Giants to win their third in five years instead of KC winning their first in 29. I'll say KC in 7.

― clemenza, Saturday, October 18, 2014 2:18 PM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i mean a part of it definitely has to do with being disgruntled, it definitely feels like their obnoxiousness was rubbing their sudden uncontrollable success in our faces, but i think at least some of it is objectively noticeable. i was so glad they beat the angels, they were the team i was rooting for right after the o's, but they did enough to spoil it -- stuff that wouldn't really bother me normally but their darling status changes things and suddenly i'm caring about baseball etiquette ("who cares" - morbsy). the chest-thumping cocky responses to every little success, eric hosmer's unbelievably punchable grins, gordon's and moustakas' also-punchable-but-less-so grins, dyson's comment, guthrie's shirt (nb especially o's fan disgruntled but still). o's (non-stannish) beat writer roch kubatko mentioned that they were doing a lot of yapping from the dugout. actually his entire post about this is similar to what i'm saying now, and it's been shared by a lot of other o's fans at least. it's disappointing they're making this hard, but at least if they win the WS history will ignore any sour grapes i'm venting over right now. and the national media darling status isn't helping.

of course i sound like a super butthurt orioles fan anyway rn

It wasn't until Linda Cardellini started rattling off the specifics that I realized the preceding post wasn't aimed at the Giants.

i have never met a giants fan irl

by which i mean i have practically no personal background with the giants other than being annoyed at their success-despite-boringness and shitty unis

i find hunter pence way less obnoxious than the royals rn

"Disgruntled," a pejorative, was the wrong word. If the Royals had eliminated my team, I'd be rooting against them too.

but is that bc you're angry about losing or bc you're angry about their demeanor (which you may not've cared about otherwise) or both

I used to hate Eckersley, and for both reasons: he'd beat the Jays, and he'd showboat. (Making Roberto Alomar's HR in the '92 playoffs the greatest thing ever...even though I'd given up that game, and had turned to the presidential debate.)

If the Giants pull this off and win 3 titles in 5 years, it's a pretty impressive feat especially considering how much roster turnover they have had. There is a core with Posey, Sandoval, Bumgarner, Cain (hurt now), Romo and Affeldt that have been there the whole run but that's it.

Probably meant ironically, but terrible headline:

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/52750/welcome-to-the-worst-world-series-ever

Should maybe decide that after it's played. The '98 Series (to name one obvious example among many) involved 212 wins between the two teams, and I can't remember a single thing about it.

I remember that Bruce Bochy was the losing manager.

sensationalist title is the whole point of it

Oh, I know: click-something-whatever. I get it. I don't approve, though.

shitty unis

yeah orange and black, who'd wear that

the giants actually *did* eliminate my team, but i find them . . . weirdly likeable? posey is great and hasn't quite yet been granted jeterian status, pence is goofy and fun to watch, their first baseman's nickname is baby giraffe and thir third baseman's is panda, madbum is very good and only 25 and also goofy-looking, they have a decent manager who looks like a manager. they're rich but not in the top five, they don't have the best fans in baseball, and most of their dudes came up through the system. tbh the most annoying thing about them is when bee ok's passion becomes overwhelming

i want to love the royals and i'm happy for their fans and it's a pretty amazing story, but i can't quite shake the feeling that ned yost and dayton moore are bad at their jobs and should therefore not be rewarded with victory. this feeling is the internet's fault and i should get over it and enjoy the improbable ride, but it's a struggle

the main problem is that horrible slate gray. and any shade of orange that isn't bright orioles orange is crap (also looking at you tigers)

basically you're in san francisco why are you still keeping up this self-serious NY giants facade, go nuts. i agree that some of their players are v rootable tho.

i'm a fan of pence's abject dorkiness and willingness to actually practice hitting balls six feet off the ground

the best thing abt the giants is how well they troll the dodgers.

Latest odds, if you feel the need to put your life's savings on the line:

http://www.si.com/mlb/2014/10/17/world-series-betting-odds-royals-vs-giants

karl malone has already bet one million dollars iirc

On KC, I think...He's only getting $833,333.33 back (plus his original million, of course).

6/5 odds on KC winning the WS, but surely much longer odds on them sweeping, right? I'm expecting to make at least 10 million bucks on this. Guess I should have asked what the odds were before I gave them the million. I'm new to the gambling world

The '98 Series (to name one obvious example among many) involved 212 wins between the two teams, and I can't remember a single thing about it.

Awesome Tony Gwynn homer in Yankee Stadium! Crushed one.

Not the best example for me to use: I had my first full-time classroom in the fall of '98, and didn't care in the least who won that Series, so I probably didn't watch a whole lot of it. I was able to look up Gwynn's home run on YouTube--just shy of upper-deck.

Anyway, I think this year has the potential for a great Series: what seem to be two fairly evenly matched teams, two unusual teams, and a winner that will be guaranteed to leave many people scratching their head.

as a dodger fans I hate the fucking giants but really appreciate how much san francisco loves its baseball.. hard to believe they almost lost the team to tampa

and to Toronto in the '70s!

Giants in 9.
― My Life with the Thrillho Kult (Leee)

MVPs: Honus Wagner if the Giants win, Cy Young if it's the Royals.

We almost got the Giants ourselves in 1976. I'd forgotten how incredibly close we were until I recently watched a TSN special on the Jays' beginnings. Horace Stoneham had been given two or three hours to find a buyer for the team, or the other owners were handing it over to Toronto. That's when Bob Lurie stepped in.

77 players have been on both the Royals and Giants:

http://www.torontosun.com/2014/10/19/top-10-player-who-have-played-for-the-giants-and-royal

Most of the highlighted 10 had a drastic tilt in one direction: people like Cepeda and Perry who had big years with the Giants but did nothing with the Royals, Beltran and Quisenberry in the other direction. Melky Cabrera has the most equitable split.

(Yes, I wish they'd start the games.)

i always forget what a good hitter chili davis was, right up to the end.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

basically you're in san francisco why are you still keeping up this self-serious NY giants facade, go nuts

from way upthread but I can't believe anyone who has seen a giants game or even spent any time in SF in the last few years would use the words self-serious to describe either the team or the fans. Pretty much from April to October, and especially in even years it is not uncommon to see people decked out in absurdist iterations of black & orange. The ballpark atmosphere is mostly fun, pretty non-douchey for being a sports event and the teams in all their permutations appear to always be comprised of at least a few goofballs and few preening superstars. I don't know if they're more boring than other teams- but this postseason has made for some great games and I'm definitely excited for tomorrow night.

i'm talking specifically about their (official) unis, all looking like they were left out in the rain, with that same "GIANTS" font they used in NY

totally unbefitting for SF and everything you're describing, yes, agreed

haha of course. I don't take issue with the unis, but never have liked this logo that they use on occasion

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d9/San_Francisco_Giants_logo_1977-1982.png

still

Really excited for this to start. I would love to see the Royals win as they've been through so much over the last 3 decades and they're such a great story (and a fun team to watch) but I wouldn't mind the Giants taking another one, they're also a fun team to watch. Screw that "worst world series ever" talk, I love seeing the dark horse teams take it

when i was in SF last year i bought a Giants jacket specifically because it had that logo!

here it is: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dysign/15447570101/in/photostream/lightbox/

it's gonna be weird if the Giants have 3 titles in 5 years without ever being, y'know, great.

what % of championship teams are actually Great though? surely last year's red sox don't qualify either

Usually winning as many as 3 WS in 5 years has always qualified as a "dynasty" tho. This was discussed on the BP podcast today w/ Grant Brisbee. What is the 2010-14 Giants' identity?

i associate them with great pitching and good-enough hitting, though it looks like that's not even the case this year

This year's identity is screwing up less than the other team.

Their identity is from the continuity of players (and the manager) -- same as for any other successful team. They have a lot of them -- MadBum, Timmy Jim, Cain, the bullpen, Posey, Panda -- even if they all didn't have starring roles each of those years. All of the Red Sox's three 21st century championship teams had more player turnover for instance (not to mention managerial and front office turnover).

yeah to me their identity is more or less great pitching, good enough offense (which has been taken to a higher level w/ posey and sandoval) and good defense to match that OF made entirely of power alleys and strange gaps.

that and getting a shitload of good luck and amazing performances from randos like aubrey huff, cody ross, pat burrell, juan uribe, edgar fucking renteria, marco scutaro, etc etc etc etc etc

yeah the BPers were talking about future nostalgia for "the Andres Torres-Cody Ross years"

They'll be a great story if they win this year, and obviously they're a fantastic postseason team. As a dynasty, though, I don't think you can overlook that their regular-season win totals will be 88, 94, and 92--very ordinary, and the divisional-play era, probably not good enough to make the playoffs half the time at least. (I'm guessing.) Schoenfield rounded up the three-in-five teams the other day:

Only five times has a team other than the Yankees won three titles in five years: the Red Sox did it twice early in the 20th century, the last time from 1915 to 1918; the Oakland A's from 1972 to 1974; the St. Louis Cardinals from 1942 to 1946 and the Philadelphia A's from 1910 to 1913. So that's impressive company.

I'd have to look at the earlier teams, but they don't rank with the '70s A's, I don't think.

Giants made no changes at all to the roster that has brought them to the Fall Classic, while the Royals made just one minor tweak. Kansas City swapped out infielder Christian Colon for another infielder in Jayson Nix.

http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2014/10/21/7028555/royals-giants-set-world-series-rosters

Timmy lives

he's been down in the basement drinking coffee for about the last four hours, and he should be all ready to go.

yeah i don't have a problem with a team that's never really in contention for best in their league, but for a dynasty, come on now

http://www.clickhole.com/article/wow-scientists-taught-baseball-manager-rudimentary-1223

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/so-youre-about-to-pitch-to-pablo-sandoval/

There's a heat map of KC OF range within

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/2014-mlb-playoffs-giants-royals-world-series-preview-predictions/

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

so ready for this, have driven my co-workers crazy this postseason.

great start

i hear Giant fans.

Can't imagine.

Xpost

who is the 3rd base coach for the giants? why did he wave posey in? reynolds is talking about how great the relay was but any RF in baseball, even the very worst, would have been able to beat posey on that

baseball is a game of inches and posey was out by about 39 feet

SLIDE BUSTER SLIDE

come on royals, i have $1 million USD riding on this

RAM INTO THE CATCHER BUSTER

RIP KC

(occasionally appears in) BIG GAME(s) JAMES

was shields ever good in big games or is it one of those ironic nicknames?

just want to point out that my gf is really creeped out by the face and dimeanor of brandon belt

he looks like a more athletic samm levine from freaks and geeks

has she studied Pence carefully? xp

big gaem jaym

on pace for a 5-hr game

they should not have sent Posey home on that play but Tim Flannery probably said hell with it this is the World Series.

im OK with it though he did take a run off the board.

good reasoning by both of you

xposts

He got the nickname in the minors as a kind of tribute to the Lakers' "big game" James Worthy. So, not an ironic name, but not related to his on-field performance.

alright who's ready for the best pitcher in the history of all sports as well as sports movies

he's no curt schilling

madbum "walter big game johnson" bumgarter

Tim Flannery probably said hell with it this is the World Series.

If he really did literally think this, he should have his dick nailed to a two by four.

cyison youngbum

lol at William

best defensive pitcher of all time madjim bumkaat

everything had to be perfect but Posey was running.

ok stop making fun of me already

he is really good though

<3

madbee bumgok

i have a lot more

posey's been thrown out at home at least three times in the #postseason, yes?

goddamn harold reynolds is the unequivocal worst thing about this whole post season

why doesn't fox just stick cameras on players' crotches they know they want to

why the fuck are u not listening to Jon Miller! xp

watching on an illicit stream at the office..

i want to listen to Jon Miller!

goddamn harold reynolds is the unequivocal worst thing about this whole post season

otm and considering the midnight cowboy is in the booth too that's saying something

xp how do I shot Miller Time?

you could listen to miller if you have the at bat app, but theres almost always a delay between the radio broadcast and live tv

hosmer's face after a failure is such a wonderful thing

I have KNBR one pitch ahead of TV on mlb.tv, fine w/ me

are you really gonna use the term 'core 4' in conjunction with the sf bullpen?

i hope not

not sure if more than the closer will be used in this game

it is early though

I forgot I had Gameday Audio. This is much better.

see morbius is good for something dont ever let anyone tell you otherwise

if perez was a giant that ball would have hit his bat 5 more times then fallen for a hit

the Fox broadcast is cracking me up, didn't you watch Madison at all this post season?

where is VHS?

and Leee

and Spottie?

i thought that was gone

that place is huge

will shut up for awhile

just excited

lol

I got to go to Kauffman once.. was so excited even if it was for a shitty pointless game between the white sox and royals in the end of august.. game got rained out within an inning and I had to run off with my ex gf and drive through some midwestern hellstorm.

=\

(bored at work)

Hey when's the WS start?

Wonder if I can get tickets.

KC has not faced a pitcher this good yet this postseason.

WOW

royals baseball = torture

Felt the KC bubble really deflate there.

Nice escape act by Bumgarner. I thought he was going to blow it when he walked Cain to load the bases though.

Giants are looking good.

Tech N9ne warming up.

so after the game shields needs to stand in front of the assembled media and renounce the nickname, right?

i'm sorry to go back to this i just really dislike him as a player

at least he isn't constantly scattering spittle like matt garza

http://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/assets/4738312/Garza_face_2.png

i know i have over-hyped Madison Bumgarner but that is only because i really do think he is something special for right now.

game over

It'll be interesting to see how Aoki handles RF in San Fran. I wonder if they'll start him?

sorry, i had book club duties (...). and now i have a lot of work to finish for very soon so i'm skipping the rest of the game, i mean i'll keep an eye on it, but at 7-0, i feel okay about it.

it's cool, we still got the giants fan angle

(what was the book?)

that sure is a big ugly pix

the Giants did okay tonight

it's cool, we still got the giants fan angle

last year

(Rebecca by du Maurier)

i really didn't think he would give up a run

well to get one is impressive

re watching the pitch, he hit a cut pitch that was coming back towards him.

impressive

esp considering who is pitching

the second greatest pitcher of all time.

i'm joking Bee, <3 you.

sorry that i said impressive twice

got caught in the moment

so this moment is more important for Strickland than Timmy?

yeah i'm so sad for Cain and Timmy and i really wish they were pla...jesus christ Strickland stuff is electric!

Forgettable start, Bumgarner aside.

Pitch Duffy in Game 5?

took nap in 2nd inning, didn't miss much huh

Just finished. Haven't watched much royals this year but I loved watching Duffy pitch. Should be a better series than whatever happened this game. 1st inning shook em up too much. Everything went too perfect for the Giants.

Things have been going too perfect for the Giants since 2010

i guess

http://giant.gfycat.com/UnlawfulAcclaimedFlamingo.gif

We can basically cross out the slow curve; he threw only 19 this year, including three in the playoffs. If Bumgarner beats you on a pitch he’s thrown once every 10 innings, you tip your cap, you head back to the dugout, you stare vacantly into space for three minutes. For everything else, we build a plan.

alright, we're back on for tonight - DOUBLE OR NOTHING

i actually manged to talk some canadians into going out to watch this *while there is hockey on*!!!

It might be fun to see the road team win every game

(did this come close to happening in the last 20 years?)

The 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates are the last team to win a World Series Game 7 on the road.

(the home team only won twice in that Series)

big game james shields has a 5.7 era in 10 post season appearances

Most BP articles are free thru the end of the Series

What the Royals look like when they lose:

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=24903

goddammit man i thought that was just gonna be gifs of sad royals

I really hope we get a better Series than last night. I'm a terrible fan for saying this, but after a game like that, I always think "What a waste--I could have watched a movie instead." The 2011 Series was fantastic, and I remember Florida's win in 2003 being pretty exciting, but since 2002's 7-game Series between the Angels and the Giants, I'm don't recall anything being especially memorable. (Conceding that a) I sometimes only watch intermittently, and b) any Series where you have a rooting interest is memorable.)

I'm a terrible fan for saying this, but after a game like that, I always think "What a waste--I could have watched a movie instead."

Don't worry, I was teaching myself Android app programming after the 7th.

big game jamezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

i literally fell asleep on purpose that's how bored i was

I defeated 4 different dungeons in Legend of Zelda - Link Between Worlds

http://www.mercurynews.com/giants/ci_26773145/giants-lincecum-mysteriously-absent-during-world-series-introductions

Guess that's why we didn't see any Timmy Time last night.

Royals looked way too eager. Bottom of the 3rd, down 3-0, runners on 2nd and 3rd, no out, great time to bring it a run or two closer at least, alas Escobar and Aoki both strike out despite Baumgardner throwing maybe one strike between them

http://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2014/10/22/7040103/royals-tried-to-get-that-marlins-fan-to-move-during-game-1

That Marlins guy is the baseball equivalent of this dude but with a way shittier gimmick

http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/tjVcdJ_VjchvTXpxmHsGFA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NTt3PTYzMA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en/blogs/sptusnbaexperts/JVtop2413.jpg

it doesn't appear to be a gimmick, tho! He's just a simple Marlins season ticket holder.

not sure if everyone caught Old Hoss Radbourn's preview

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/just-a-bit-outside/story/old-hoss-radbourn-previews-world-series-royals-giants-102114

I am in a bar, with a pint that i fancy

I liked that stupid thing they opened the broadcast with last night (the song about being all about the bass), but don't they still do first pitch and lineups and all that ceremonial stuff? I didn't tune in until 8:00, so maybe I missed it.

http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/BN-FD570_1022ca_G_20141022153520.jpg

lol wow

holy crap

good thing verducci commented how good ventura looked after 5 pitches

Perez was right and Ventura shook it off.

Go get 'em Jake.

8.0 ratings for Game 1, lowest in WS history.

I don't actually care about ratings, but I am interested in them. I was wondering going in if the storylines this year would be worth more than geography. Evidently I'm living in some 1957 dream world, when the WS still meant something to the general public.

It almost seems like all mlb cares about are a handful of teams and since none of them are in it, nobody is watching

sounds crazy 2 me

clem the world series was pre-empted in los angeles because of a fucking lakers pre season game broadcast and banished to some channel I had to hunt down using the tuner

note to fox - watch out for that mic you got above the pitchers mound.. peavy's always workin blue out there

Can Bum and Petit start all the games?

(xposts) I believe it--it's sad. Not to be get-off-my-lawn guy, but when I started watching baseball in the early '70s, it didn't matter who was actually playing, people just watched the World Series. The NY-Boston overkill of the past decade didn't help, but that ended a long time ago.

Hey, KC looks alive tonight.

I must have seen a great WS play at first before, but I'm having a hard time thinking of one.

http://www.boston.com/sports/blogs/obnoxiousbostonfan/OBF/red-sox-buckner.jpg

Damn! Almost had a '54 replay.

I was living vicariously through Belt on this one.

Why do I have to see these stupid content-devoid interviews instead of baseball people playing baseball. Does anyone want this.

Agreed.

Ventura needs to hit the corners more.

It's a questionable move to let Ventura face the Giants' best hitters a third time when the bullpen is rested.

Strickland incoming.

And that'll be it for Strickland in the series.

Ouch ouch ouch.

Thank god i just ate a few nutella crepes to feel good about life no matter what.

oh jesus, grab some pine Hunter.

woooooow KC

I don't have sound at the pub I'm at - what was going on there?!

Strickland was angry at Perez for standing on the field.

Strickland angrily called Perez out right after the home run was hit, for no reasons.

Wild pitch, awful 1-2 pitch to Perez, awful pitch that Infante hit out, whining at the Royals like a baby, that's a nightmare sequence right there.

I'm no Bee OK (can we make sure there is no sharp objects around him right now) but I can't take an implosion from Affeldt right now.

Oh fuck yeah DP.

Jack Morris has competition: Ned Yost "manages to the ballpark." (I'm not even denying there's some truth there, the phrasing just made me laugh.)

Lincecum looked good.

Love this little feller, just proved Bochy wrong.

bee are you OK

I hope Lincecum isn't injured, suddenly the Giants bullpen looks thin.

I don't know - Machi, Romo, Affeldt, Casilla, Lopez, Petit.

Watching that at a bar in SF was heavenly

Two lopsided crappy games, but an even series.

I realized tonight i can't root for either of these teams.

when the WS still meant something to the general public.

Richard Sandomir wrote about the history of the WS TV market last Sunday in the NYT. Peak viewership: 55 million for last game in 1980. Now averages about 15 million per game.

Strickland man alive bro chill. Altho a little fire in the series would be welcome.

Yeah. Strickland was being ridiculous, but in the age of I'm-OK-you're-OK fraternization (which basically amounts to I'm-a-multi-millionaire-and-so-are-you), a little hatred between the teams always livens things up.

you gotta root for the Royals because of this

http://deadspin.com/south-koreas-biggest-royals-fan-is-back-for-the-world-s-1648976175

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Series_television_ratings

Does the decrease in ratings match the decrease in network TV ratings in general though?

Cleveland vs Florida in 1997 drew higher ratings than any subsequent series involving either the Yankees or the Red Sox (except for 2004, barely). That seems impossible to imagine today. Neither team was particularly great and it was sloppy as hell, but it went seven games so people watched.

watching the marlin's guy behind home plate was the best part of the game.

The conclusion I draw from that data is that a well-played six or seven game series or a series involving great teams (as opposed to cinderella teams) will get better ratings than a series involving big market teams. MLB promotes the postseason like it's the opposite.

you gotta root for the Royals because of this

see LONG DUK DONG thread

I'm wondering why the cinderella teams don't draw people in, because my impression is that it's different with the other major sports. Is it because baseball fans are still conditioned to think that winning the most games and/or winning your division is what's important (as opposed to "clinching a spot in the playoffs")?

Then again, TV ratings probably don't accurately represent the audience that is actually following the games.

yeah the typical tuning-in-in-October viewer's key thoughts are along the lines of, and i quote from a random comments section, "Kansas seems great."

http://m.espn.go.com/mlb/story?storyId=11733670&src=desktop

jason whitlock, our master prose stylist, as only he can tell it:

Ned Yost has done the impossible, and, not surprisingly, he's been ridiculed every step of the way. The Wall Street Journal labeled him a dunce. Pedro Martinez shredded Yost on TV and Twitter. Royals fans and local talk-show hosts bitch about Yost like he's a busted cheating spouse claiming he was driven into the arms of a conniving harlot.

The way it once developed--I'm pretty sure--is that the ratings for a Series would get better as it went along if the Series became a story, if the early games were exciting and the idea that a great Series was in progress got out there. Not sure if that still happens; I doubt it. The 2011 Series might fit that profile.

see LONG DUK DONG thread

jeez, really?

not much discussion there, really, just where i saw it mentioned. I don't know enough about the guy and the team's PR stuff with him to judge for certain, but there's a possibly disquieting 'mascot' vibe, as we discussed at the WS FAP last night.

I mean I guess some people are thinking of it that way, I just think the idea of a dude being a hardcore Royals fan all the way across the world. Like in Mexico you have fans of teams from Texas or L.A. and occasionally someone will like the Green Bay Packers because of Brett Favre or whatever, but finding a Royals fan there who had no ties to KC would be confusing and awesome

I didn't know Infante had 6 HR this year, which means Al Weis' 1969 WS HR (2 in 269 PA during the season) for the Mets was more unlikely.

Escobar had a big homer in the alcs too and he only had 3 homers all season

Although it seems as if Strickland has thrown everything in October over the heart of the plate, he ranks 38th out of 52 postseason pitchers (minimum 50 pitches thrown) in grooved-pitch percentage — the percentage of pitches thrown within a baseball’s width of dead-center in the batter’s zone. (Peavy ranks second.) Grooved or not, however, Strickland’s hard, flat fastballs have proved easy to elevate. The only other reliever to allow five homers in a single postseason was Chris Narveson in 2011.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/2014-mlb-playoffs-world-series-game-2-royals-beat-giants/

see LONG DUK DONG thread

jeez, really?

i posted it there. i don't doubt the dude's fandom and it's cool that he likes the royals. i dunno, it's not really my place and hey he's been able to come see the games, but the locals' response to him seems awfully mascot-ish.

i don't envision a european royals fan getting the same response at all

http://www.csnbayarea.com/giants/strickland-embarrassed-hopes-another-chance

Given a day to process everything that happened, though, and after talking with coaches and teammates, the right-handed rookie said he had an even better understanding of how bad it looked when he stared down Royals catcher Salvador Perez and started an unprovoked war of words.

“I’m embarrassed. I’m not going to deny it,” said Strickland, who allowed extra-base hits to both batters he faced -- a two-run double to Perez and a two-run home run to Omar Infante – in the Kansas City Royals’ 7-2 victory.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for those guys over there. I do. It happened and I can’t take it back. There’s a lot of emotion going on but you’ve got to control it.”

Strickland knows that his outburst, on a World Series stage, will create a reputation among fans that will be hard to shake. He said he hopes to get a chance to prove he can grow from it.

he stopped off in Vegas

https://twitter.com/Marlins_Man/

amazing.

Chris (MN)
Are the narratives being pushed harder this postseason than normal (perhaps as a backlash against rational thought)? Or am I simply more aware of and/or annoyed by it?

Klaw (2:10 PM)
The ignorati who want to tell you that the use of analytics is bad for baseball or doesn't work - even though 29 of the 30 teams employ it in some serious fashion, most of them quite heavily - will grasp at any opportunity to restate their argument. They are wrong, and they will eventually go gently into that great good night.

Ryan (Pittsburgh)
Are the Phillies that thirtieth team?

Klaw (2:16 PM)
Correct. Although they have a potted plant that prints out the occasional spreadsheet for them.

come on, surely ruben amaro has a surface tablet someone gave him at xmas as a re-gift

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B0u1t10IcAEVmiD.jpg

juan uribe hat

will the outfield gazelles master the SF angles? (man, they looked positively mortal in Game 2 despite the win)

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/52910/royals-ready-for-quirky-outfield-dimensions

Aoki benched!

http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2014/10/24/7063475/giants-royals-world-series-game-3-lineups/in/6790702

I'd want the rangiest outfield possible in SF.. also aoki is the left handed bat off the bench

"bat"

left handed human off the bench

@robneyer
Here's the thing: If Yost is going to bat Hosmer and Moustakas back-to-back, MUST be willing to pinch-hit for Moustakas. #CountryBreakfast

honestly in march if you told me gm 3 of the ws was gonna be jeremy guthrie vs tim hudson id def think 1 or both of them had been traded

Big Time Timmy Jim 2.0.

That fourth pitch to Cain called for a strike -- holy shit.

Good catch by Cain.

i swear was tolling me tongiht.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B0wHegSCYAA1grX.png

Red: strike

First WS game for that ump, let's not go berserk on him.

"it's still 60 feet, six inches"

http://cdn5.movieclips.com/mgm/h/hoosiers-1986/0219506_5367_MC_Tx304.jpg

Where does Guthrie get his elixir of looking quite young I want that.

wait how old are you

too young to say such things.

So you're that old, enh?

The day I was born the Expos beat the Giants 7-5, fittingly.

darn in-game interviews, and they wonder why the WS has such low ratings.

i'd never looked this up before, but the day i was born the pirates of course lost to the fuckin cardinals

blowing a 4-0 lead

that should have read:

i swear traffic was tolling me tongiht.

finally caught up to this game live

fist pitch is Hudson only mistake, so far, tonight.

still having problems spelling tonight is see.

xxxpost

this ump is horrible.

having problem spelling all over ilx i see

hey Bee that's my favorite meditation and relaxation website/application: https://www.headspace.com/

damn hudson made some fantasy football trades today, good 2 know

the pace of the game committee are looking at the game and wondering if they are obsolete.

when did Joe Buck become the best thing about the broadcast booth?

hey Bee that's my favorite meditation and relaxation website/application: https://www.headspace.com/

fuck that i would rather do a line.

loool

j/k my drug days are mostly behind me. still have the hang over from living in San Francisco for seven years.

do you Be OK do you

that's not good

Tim Hudson has pitched fine tonight for a number three, the thing is how are the Giants not scoring off of Jeremy Guthrie?

ok switching to Giants broadcast, can't take it anymore.

petit hasn't thrown a pitch in this world series yet

maybe all i needed was some Jon Miller?

so close

crushed but foul

that was a huge foul

Bee OK choose life

lol

i have had an amazing one.

it's time.

there's so much left though!

think of your family!

this time delay is freaking me out

all im asking for is a single.

runners advance, posey and pence are the next two at bats.

RE28ECT

two is good, you needed to answer.

it was pablo not pence you schmuck

loooooooool

don't be so hard on yourself

AL managers?

Not completely sure I understand letting him hit.

RIP sound engineer

why cant Jeff Foxworthy drop a Star Spangled Banner? #YostIlluminati

lol walked Pence.

so they way to win is to beat this bullpen.

at home with a few outs to play with.

3 outs left. not feeling too good about this one.

so it is up to the Posey, Panda and Pence. plus (i hope).

heart of the order!

the only the is the Panda, man oh man.

just missed it

there it is

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oabcM9SOF-E

was only looking to take two out of three. with Bumgarner you felt good about one of those. this game was winnable and was probably lost on the very first pitch. hard to take this lost but all you need is two out of three.

so yeah tomorrow is the Giants must win, just like game two was for the Royals.

I saw the Giants' 6th in a bar in Jersey City (site of their top farm team 1937-50). That was all.

The day I was born Casey's Mets lost in Pittsburgh! They had not yet won a game.

"the thing is how are the Giants not scoring off of Jeremy Guthrie?"

Guthrie really had the sinker working for a few innings. I think after Hudson flew out to center, Guthrie got the next 5 or 6 guys to pretty much hit harmless infield nubbers to the second basemen or first basemen. He was really tough in the 3rd through 5th.

I would think at some point Bochy might have to consider giving Morse a start in left.

i keep letting this thread go but day i was born the o's gave up 8 runs in the sixth to lost 12-4 to the tigers. cal had 4 hits tho lol

a week and a half later they'd give up 15 runs to boston

this was also the season they started 0-21

i make bad things happen

you gotta monetize that shit - "a hundred a week or I'll look at your car sideways"

if only the terror could be controlled

missing the game because i'll be on a date, if I manage to forget about the game she's a keeper.

what if when you look at her all you see is buster posey

Or perhaps more troublesome: all you see is Kung Fu Panda.

Buster? I hardly even etc

@jonahkeri
Royals have the infield in, in the 1st inning. Ned loves his run prevention.

In the same situation last night, Bochy opted to have his infield play at normal depth. How'd that work out?

*looks at calendar*

that was a MANNAFACTURED run w. zero hits

a dizgrace to baseball

Dang, HDTV hella lags behind radio now, it's like a 15-second difference now.

@injuryexpert
The lesson of Marlins Man being behind the plate at every World Series game? Kids, go into Workers Comp law.

man, these teams are crap.

Petit when?

Congratulations, Royals.

Vogelsong gave Infante a gift, is down by two, and is still in the game.

Bochy doing a Yost impression.

Bochy the genius

I've been living and dying with this Royals team for such a long time now--almost two weeks. They're the best.

lotta bloopers n' bleeders

still if Giant fans are going on DATES during the WS they're clearly bored with trophies, go Royals.

Wish I were on a date right now.

quien es mas Machi?

put that Vogelschlong in that Bumguarder #equality #originalcomedy

thats Verducci's feed not me

dude is housed on Bartles & Jaymes wine coolers.

Calling a Vargas grand slam here.

last WS pitcher to bat twice in an inning?

this is a long half inning

trying to imagine Machi and Sandoval going thru a doorway at the same time

ha haha hahah ahaaaa

this was amazoing

no way a struke

i don't need sleep i don't need caffeine i am fueled by my hatred of eric hosmer's face

welp the royals are going to win the world series huh

Man, if Vargas had just smacked that ball down the line...

saved by the awfulness of nl baseball

this is NOT FOOTBALL ppl, it aint over

i just dont care

last WS pitcher to bat twice in an inning?

Buck sez Luis Tiant, 1975, game one.

i remember the Tiant game, so long ago it was played on Saturday AFTERNOON

see crunch?

i'd also like to see the Perfect Bullpen brought low at some point

I keep meaning to time the breaks between innings. I swear they seem like 4-5 minutes.

i mean im most rooting for this to go 7 games so im fine however we get there

that catch was sick

Man, that was great--going for it the whole way.

Escaping bases loaded, one out with only one run allowed was huge for the Royals. They tied the game but I feel SF missed a big opportunity there.

are the giants fans kidding with using the ramones chant dat shit's cornier than the Os and 7 nation army

What's with all the bloop/broken bat/lucky hits tonight?

#brokenbattober

First replay challenge in WS history!

Panik needs a different team, one with fewer syllables. For the headlines: "Panik in the Streets of Boston!" "Panik in the Streets Tampa!" etc.

Not sure about the strategy here for KC. Instead of the IBB to Posey and letting Pence hit with the platoon advantage, why not bring in Davis and go for the K?

And there you go.

I mean, they got the force out at the plate with Pence but how do you live and die with Finnegan here?

Sandoval's one of the most amazing, purest hitters in years, the way he can hit any pitch with that physique. He's totally John Kruk.

For the headlines: "Panik in the Streets of Boston!" "Panik in the Streets Tampa!" etc.

Panik in the FRISCO

i'm finding myself rooting for the giants so i guess i'm rooting for the giants

but man remember when dynasties would have like multiple hall of famers on them

posey and madbum better keep it going after this

I can't do it with this basic even year shit I simply cannot much as I love #penceface and the awesomeness of madbum

panda reflex/fall down, nice d

Sandoval's one of the most amazing, purest hitters in years, the way he can hit any pitch with that physique. He's totally John Kruk.

He's way better than Kruk but also they are very dissimilar hitters! But hey they're both fat so close enough.

Panik in the FRISCO

amazing.

pick a key already, singer guy

Sandoval's not way better than Kruk, not at all--Kruk's OPS+ was 10 points higher for his career. If you want to call it a wash, sure. And yeah, of course I'm talking about their physiques; they both look like they'd be more at home in a Tuesday night bowling league than playing major-league baseball.

y is finnegan still in this game

he on his way out rn

Timmeh

(Severely shrunken Kevin Smith)

well

yost's really gotta start using the good ones for 2-3 innings every game

hell don't even use your starters burn their arms out until they fall off come on dude

For some reason Yost decided to give up on the game down by three runs, so he brought in Finnegan for the 7th and is leaving in Collins to get hammered so that all his best guys will be rested for tomorrow.

oh my

Can Raul pitch?

I should ask Blanco how to score.

xpost Ibanez isn't on the WS roster, so unfortunately ...

I see Petit bailed the team again.

Oh no here's Strickland.

omg strickland fuckin hell bochy is feeling way cocky

What the hell happened.

I'm talking to you, VHS.

Singled to first base.

good game to get him back in and build his confidence but really tho he shouldn't be pitching again in this WS

cool game

'panik at the frisco' good work on that one

Bumgarner next.

I'm glad I decided to watch Star Trek on Netflix tonight.

BTW sorry to hear that VHS.

It's all good, already planned for the next time.

CRAZY CONSPIRACY THEORY TIME: the royals front office said that bringing the series back to KC was a major priority. (Ben Lindbergh quoted it on his twitter somewhere, for those who wanna find it.)

I'm not really saying they tanked that game bc one doesn't easily make the slapped-ass moves the royals made in certain instances on purpose...but I'm also not NOT saying it bc while yost isn't quite the moron he's maligned to be he's also dopey enough to interpret that front office desire quite literally

Apparently that was taken a bit out of context from a Joe Pos tweet: https://twitter.com/JPosnanski/status/525864901798281216

ahhhhhh. k. so the giants just went TURN DOWN FOR WHAT on them and KC was not prepared, which IS what I genuinely thought but my hungover brain was like "crazier shit has happened #cantpredictbaseball oh fuuuuu"

I've been trying to decide if Hunter Pence is actually insane, or if he just looks insane. I'm starting to lean "actually insane."

http://i1059.photobucket.com/albums/t427/sayhey1/pence_zps070ce63a.jpg

http://i1059.photobucket.com/albums/t427/sayhey1/pence_zps070ce63a.jpg

"actually insane" is a pretty fair bet.

https://i.imgur.com/dVAzcX0.jpg

regarding the juxtaposition between current/past #penceface: cocaine is a hell of a drug

You see that before-and-after thing all the time. It usually takes people a little while to go insane--a few summers, a long winter, it varies from person to person.

http://www.overthinkingit.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/typewriter-270x300.jpg http://imageserver.moviepilot.com/jack-nicholson-the-shining-kubrick-producer-jan-harlan-slams-room-237-as-idiotic.jpeg?width=300&height=300

man how much better would the shining have been if they cast an actor you didn't automatically presume as batshit nuts from the first scene #justsayin #hereticalnonbaseballthoughts

moving on: if the giants take this series madbum has to be a lock for world series MVP, right? with an outside chance of pence?

i honestly can't pin down one single player who's done more for the royals than any other - they havent played as well this series in general and the existing goodness is pretty spread out. maybe omar infante for the lols

I wouldn't say a lock. If he pitches well tonight, probably the favourite, but Pence is having a great series. Perez or one of the relievers for KC.

my friends threw me a World Series party last night. there were kids writing on orange balloons for me, they that i was a bit loud. had a great night because of the score. they showed a lot being down 4-1 and this is the team i have been waiting for.

they *said

madbum looks pretty madbummy

i really would not want anyone besides Madison Bumgarner starting tonight's game. wow.

I would, but I'm anti #evenyear. so yes, giants fans should be fairly calm right now

it's an ongoing joke...

and i know pretty much everyone wants KC but i don't give a flying fuck.

to quote the social network, "which part"

and of course, everyone's entitled to their rooting interests

magnificent

don't even give them a pulse.

http://deadsp.in/rChViFJ

that's just fucking awful.

what the fuck

...

ugh

RIP

getting one is so HUGE right now.

now i just read that, it is sad...real life. RIP.

Assume they'll speak to it on the air next inning.

whoa! holy shit.

it's on mlb.com

this is probably not going to be the final score but one might be enough for Bumgarner tonight.

dealing

That's some kind of year Bumgarner had with the bat--outslugged Bob Gibson's best year by 70 points.

underpants you're not supposed to throw the bat

then again he was p nice about it with the "my bad"

Dyson boot! plz don't tell me if HR said anything about lack of expeerience

Pablo was going to stop, have no idea why with two out, and the Giants do get an added run.

I'm sure whatever he said was way dumber than that, but I wouldn't know I'm listening to KCSP via at bat

i love NL ball.

http://www.mercurynews.com/giants/ci_26801299/giants-crush-royals-11-4

As Bumgarner quietly walked out of the park late Saturday night, his mind already churning, Petit stood on the damp infield at AT&T Park and gathered his family for a photo. He smiled wide as he hugged relatives who carried paper bags full of Giants gear. Hours earlier, he had allowed a park filled with that same orange and black to finally take a deep breath.

Wonder if the writer reads this board.

the MARK OF CAIN!

before that i dunno how Panda was planning to hit a pitch over his shoulders

i wonder how close aoki would have come to that

not very close for anyone. that was a good play.

Bumgarner is on one for the ages.

Pretty good outing from Big Game.

Even if this holds, I like the Royals' chances in Game 6 pretty well, esp the pitching matchup

what a performance tonight from Bumgarner.

So I've heard.

xxpost it's the peaves vs. ventura, right? as a Red Sox fan I can tell you that peavy is more or less fucked, and if #evenyear does prevail for him it'll be due to giants offense and/or the royals blowing it.

MB starts the 9th? He has the proverbial All Winter to Rest.

bochy is cocky enough to do that

ok now the giants are playing jock jams at AT&T park this team needs to die

Davis is mortal!

i really wish they would not pitch Madison but Bochy is saying goodbye to him for this year.

Yeah, I don't know...

good luck with peavy on Tuesday, SF! #godblessit

I'd feel a lot better if Petit were starting game 6.

I didn't realize until this game how much Ned Yost looks like Goerge W Bush

This is why they will lose

Has anyone photoshopped Bum into Cupcake Dog? There was a shot of him in the dugout where he was staring forlornly at something ineffable.

Start peavy but only let him pitch one inning, then roll w Petit

Madison Bumgarner's World Series ERA in four starts: 0.29.

w/ 5-run lead MB should NOT have pitched the 9th; may be needed in relief on Wednesday

Bochy was asked about that in the postgame interview, he said MadBum only threw about ten more pitches in the 9th and was never labouring, so it won't affect his readiness if there's a Game 7. I think he's right.

could be... unless he labors in Game 7. i'd be curious if he'd have done the same if it was 8-0.

We're talking about 2 IP in relief, max, in Game 7 aren't we? Unless there's a day of rain and he can pitch G7 on three days rest, like with Carpenter in the 2011 series.

Even if it was 8-0 I'm not sure it helps to pull him early. If it was G4 and you want him to pitch G7 on three days rest then yes, pull him after five or six innings. But he's not going to start G7 on two days rest after G5, and the extra pitches he threw last night shouldn't affect him coming in as a reliever in G7 (or even G6).

if you get to 8-0 you pull him so he doesn't hurt himself, which has a greater chance of happening than the Giants losing the game. (i think)

The decision to leave him in seemed to be more about building his case for the WS MVP than anything else

He probably has it locked up now (provided the Giants win--do they ever give it to someone on the losing side?), with one caveat: Pence might get as many as 10 or 12 more AB. If he does a lot, maybe gets a Series-winning hit, and it goes 7, and Bumgarner doesn't have a role in the 7th game, Pence could still win. Long shot, though.

w/out looking i'm going to say that Bobby Richardson was the WS MVP in 1960

Saving the bullpen could be significant too. KC's bullpen (incl. Davis and Herrera) is finally wearing down. Bochy can get more out of Casilla in games 6 and 7, and he'll still have Bumgarner available to pitch in relief.

...and still the only one! I'm guessing Mazeroski didn't care too much.

xp

correct indeed

I think madbum could be the 2nd exception to that rule, to be quite honest, like he's definitely earned it, but they'd prob find someone to give it to on the royals bc who likes uncommon decisions.

MadBum is also winning the Babe Ruth award.

Granted the Giants win.

Nobody on KC is deserving right now, but if they win the series somebody will probably step up. In '09 Matsui didn't really make his case until Game 6. Before that, Chase Utley was the best player in the series.

Bonds could have, and probably should have won MVP in '02.

I think I heard the BP guys say this morning that Petit's Win Probability Added is higher than Bumgarner's.

(not making an argument for Petit)

petit has been tremendous. if he'd played more (and that could always change), there WOULD be a reasonable argument for him.

like in the NLDS when he threw 6 scoreless during the 18-inning slog? put most people from the giants pen up there for half that many frames and bryce or rendon would've more likely than not hit a rocket off 'em.

how the Giants changed Petit's curve

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/yusmeiro-petits-invisiball/

― blood on the peaves (slothroprhymes)

:(

i suffered through him bottoming out this year in a red sox uniform. overall i like him and it was nice to seem him resurgent in the NL in the regular season, but yeah, at his age he needs a pitcher-friendly park and NL hitting or he has control and pace issues like a mofo

to be fair the team i predominantly root for did him no favors by being all of the suck offensively

No worries, I'm just preemptively mourning game 6.

hudson coming up big in a game 7 is the only good giants headline I am ok with

hoping this comes down to Jayson Nix vs Lincecum in the 16th inning Wednesday night

i have an early meeting wednesday - hoping this gets settled tmrw!

Anybody have any good pics/gifs of Madbum in the dugout from yesterday's game?

Has anyone photoshopped Bum into Cupcake Dog? There was a shot of him in the dugout where he was staring forlornly at something ineffable.

I made this while watching the Walking Dead last night:https://scontent-a-pao.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-9/9750_10152857046505152_6099990621743470097_n.jpg?oh=179a0ba2c18f18310f82edf9ac0c380e&oe=54E52CE2

http://jimromenesko.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/wikipedia.jpg

irl lols

at Bumtown?

xxxxxpost: https://v.cdn.vine.co/r/videos/EA3A621A901138346865298124800_3d1ff025b73.0.1.15887312671197393655.mp4?versionId=XCmtmQjv93pX0u6H9Lv2H414nQnV4.48

Ty

Only HUGE NERDS like me will laugh at this but there's a character in the anime BLEACH that that look is a spitting image for

i love the "aw shit i blinked, motherfucker!" at the end of the vine because either the peaves or pence has prob issued such a challenge for the lols, and that would be the inevitable result

Tyrone Slothrop u r da man.

i didnt make that, someone on deadspin did, although if you are complimenting me otherwise ty

or if you are complimenting slothrop as an avid pynchon fan please carry on

Thanking you for posting it, also the Pynchon.

Bonds could have, and probably should have won MVP in '02.
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Monday, 27 October 2014 15:07 (3 hours ago) Permalink

Definitely. (Eckstein, right?) I've never seen, and will likely never see, a Series that was so completely about one person.

Dusty Baker?

Maybe Dusty's kid--it was all about Bonds, J.T. Snow, and Dusty's kid.

http://i.usatoday.net/communitymanager/_photos/daily-pitch/2010/10/05/bakerx-large.jpg

Troy Glaus won in '02. He had a great series but Bonds was on another planet.

My ideal game 6: 2 IP from Peavy, with Petit, Bumgarner, Affeldt, Casilla closing it out.

Why not have Peavy throw one pitch, Petit and Bumgarner with three innings each, one K from Timmy for old time's sake, Affeldt, Casilla, and Romo in a poker match to divvy up the next seven outs, and the ghost of Barry Zito returning to get the last out? Dare to dream!

Juan Marichal is still kickin'

Why not have Peavy throw one pitch

If this is the ceremonial first pitch, even better!

even with one pitch there's the risk of what red sox twitter called #ObligatoryPeavyHomer during the first half of 2014

ghost of barry zito should be with the giants at all times. after all he is the barry with 2 world championships while the other barry just has bunch of shitty lawsuits

real lolz you Dodger-rooting scum. :)

im a sad clown over here

i wanted the dodgers as the NL team for this WS so bad, or the nats

maybe next year, odd year n all

next year it'll just be the cardinals again

Not without oscar. He was the centerpiece for the next 6 years

If Matheny ever played him maybe

Buster Posey's name is Gerald.

Gerald Dempsey "Buster" Posey III, no less

I didn't know this til just now and had some irl lols

how dare u laugh at our new jeter

http://gfycat.com/OfficialFakeInchworm

Gerald Napoleon Dynamite Posey

how can buster gerald be our new jeter when i literally cannot recall what he looks like the second he's off-screen

guy's a heart-and-soul winner

if you can't remember his quintessentially american face, that's on you, commie

I'm still optimistic about the Royals' chances. You watch baseball long enough, and you know that things often reverse course at the exact moment when you least expect it. (More specifically, getting some production from right field would help, and it looks like Gordon won't be starting tomorrow night.)

(Left field, I mean.)

wait does that mean ned won't dance with who brung him?

I'm trying to think of some movie I've seen numerous times where someone says something like, "I have the ability to change--I know that now." Blanking out...Anyway, Ned has the ability to change--he knows that now.

(I'm hearing it in De Niro's voice, but I can't match it to a specific movie.)

maybe he'll put jayson nix in left

Gordon isn't starting?

how can buster gerald be our new jeter when i literally cannot recall what he looks like the second he's off-screen

― linda cardellini (zachlyon), Monday, October 27, 2014 7:42 PM (57 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Gerald Napoleon Dynamite Posey

― this horrible, rotten slog to rigor mortis (Dr Morbius), Monday, October 27, 2014 7:41 PM (57 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Sorry, I read this SweetSpot post too quickly--Gordon's starting.

Key guy for the Royals: Alex Gordon, hitting .100/.100/.200 in the first five games and just .170 in the postseason -- following a .190 September. Yost will go back to Norichika Aoki in the outfield over Jarrod Dyson, likely moving Gordon back down to sixth in the order.

I really can't get over this fucking gerald dempsey thing I didn't know buster's wasp game was on 100 like that

also, giants people, you honestly don't want to have the next jeter, and even if you did posey isn't that because he's, y'know, really good at zee defense.

http://sfgiantsphotos.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/poseyb-021913-mm0031.jpg

Nothing to do with anything, but I remembered the movie: the very obscure Godfather II. Exact quote (Michael speaking to Kay): "I'm gonna change...I'll change...I've learned that I have the strength to change."

looking at the EOY standings for some reason and learning that every single NL team over .500 made the playoffs except the brewers who finished a game over

That's how they corn-hole in Georgia.

You watch baseball long enough, and you know that things often reverse course at the exact moment when you least expect it.

It wouldn't remotely be unexpected.

"Goddamn, Martha, how did the Royals ever win a ballgame at home against Jake Peavy? Then they up and won another one!"

I saw someone tweet yesterday that the duck boat peavy bought after the last WS has fallen into muck and disrepair and is covered in vines, which seems like quite the omen

http://www.mercurynews.com/mark-purdy/ci_26811598/purdy-world-series-fun-ride-even-if-few

aw man his kids are adorable

good article!

PECOTA puts the Jints as 55% likely to win Game 6, can't quite figure that.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=24938

Are you guys ready for Morse's championship winning home run?

if he tears his uni off and does a CroMagnon dance on the dugout roof, possibly

xpost he's not hitting it off a rested yordano ventura...in theory, at least, but then again #evenyearbullshit seems to surpass both time and space

#evenyear is a red herring! The real impetus is Taylor Swift: http://wapc.mlb.com/cutfour/2014/10/27/99792924

as far as bazonkers superstitions go, i do quite like that one

but what if the TS album is mediocre as it is in this case (cue the high likelihood of jokes about how all taylor swift is mediocre), does that have any effect?

If her oeuvre is all mediocre, then it's all good, because Giants won in '10 and '12 too!

its not tho i like her for what she does (i have schizophrenically wide-ranging tastes) and i think her new album is super meh. those other two are pretty solid taylor...AND the best one is the 2012 one, which coincided with the giants swept the tigers (sob)

so if the logic holds fast idk man

*sweeping, agh

I like how we're treating this seriously.

completely irrational baseball superstitions are no laughing matter, come on don't you believe in #intangibles and #thewilltowin

jeezus, i have to read about Taylor Swift and j0rdan doesn't even post on ILB.

also do i have to ask jaymc who slothroprhymes is or will you just come out with it?

http://cdn2.teen.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/taylor-swift-shake-it-off-music-video-thug.gif

i'm no one of any note, nor am i anyone's troll sock.

idk who jaymc is so he or she won't know me, i'm assuming.

slothro what are your favorite sports teams

all sports or just baseball?

if y'all want i suppose i can fill out one of these? Welcome to I Love Baseball! Please Introduce Yourselves!

it should prove that i'm relatively new to all this that i had to be told these existed by the dude who introduced me to ILX

No worries dude, you're already fitting in (in fact I thought you were a long-lost poster for a bit). You're not really an ILXor till Morbs gets old-man cranky at you.

don't troll him tho. he must come to you.

through the cornfield

i might do one at some point for the hell of it.

in brief: my baseball old lady is the red sox since childhood, so the past 4 years have been an absurd seesaw. my AL mistresses have been the tigers and As, especially the former.

my NL team is the mets and i found myself listening to a lot of dodgers games once i got at bat and could regularly enjoy vin scully for 2/3 of each game.

i honestly don't hate that many teams tho, except for a few you could prob guess given my two major rooting interests. for this WS i'm rooting royals but will go on w/ my life just fine if they lose

don't troll him tho. he must come to you.

Yeah, trying to summon him by saying "Morbius, Morbius, Morbius" is a playground legend meant for credulous youths.

you rang?

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7xbkboTbcKI/TftjFBJiffI/AAAAAAAAAOs/aV-xShd2I_g/s1600/5842434968_b8c2b6b476_o.jpg

irl lol

also 2012 Giants weren't mediocre, they are arguably the better winning team of this decade.

unless the idea is that nowadays every team is mediocre because back in the day there was no playoff rounds and men were men and the astros were the NL or something.

wut?????

no, the 2012 giants were a fucking wrecking crew and that coincided with taylor swift's best album

her new album isnt that good so if the superstition in the article leee posted held any water i was wondering if it'd negatively affect the giants

...i mean, it doesn't, but that was the point of the goof.

i thought Lee said the 2012 were mediocre, my bad.

no, the 2012 giants were a fucking wrecking ball and that coincided with taylor swift's best album

Fixed, now we need to investigate any possible connections to Miley.

holy shit. miley put out an album in 2013, and the giants TOTALLY SUCKED.

it's all clear to me now

Guys, Swift released an album called 1989.

May I remind you of ?

stoppppppppp

Bumgarner says he's ready to relieve tonight

oh god preserve us

or then again maybe doing that will work out about as well as yordano ventura in that WC game (yes I know KC eventually won but still)

Bill Swift had a couple of excellent years for the Giants in '92 and '93.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/swiftbi02.shtml?redir

the 2010 team was the ridiculous one featuring pat burrell, juan uribe, aubrey huff and edgar renteria

Aubrey Huff in the role now being played by Hunter Pence.

"still don't know what they're doing"

http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2014/10/28/7085523/world-series-2014-mlb-royals-ned-yost-kevin-seitzer-atlanta-braves

ready to put this away. need to i don't think my heart can take much more of this. i was so geeked up for this game that i had a very hard time sleeping last night.

have we dropped that stat about peavy's opponent OPS this year during the 3rd time through the lineup or should I

rooting for a game 7 i guess

Win or lose, I love watching these guys chase down fly balls. They're hanging in the air, will he get it? will he get it? got it.

PETIT TIME DAMMIT.

yeah this has been a pretty berzerk series no matter way you slice it.

Is anyone throwing up in the bullpen yet?

that walk cannot score, especially in the first inning.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B1Ep6jUCIAAF3DU.jpg

sorry slothroprhymes about before, i thought you were a sock trying to troll me.

20 pitches, let's hope Peavy's limit is 60

Running theory: Bochy, for all his vaunted pragmatism, still has his "guys" like Peavy (SD connection), and for whatever reason, Vogelsong. He had no skin in the game when it came to benching / forgetting about Zito and Timmy.

xpost por quoi?

goddamnit *xxpost

ao close

*so

That is a sexy dashboard.

if this was the nfl they would have shamed ventura into changing his cap with the 'rip ot' on it

Man I'm really missing out with these Canadian ads.

uh so mlb.tv is showing the WS domestically?

Illegal Pine Tar Helmet up to bat.

anyway no I'm not a troll, an occasional poker of hornet's nests re: fandoms but naht malicious

if all else fails just throw clay buccholz 2014 stats at me and I'll probably shut up and start crying

Yeah where's that leash.

OHHHG THAT LITTLE PEAVY KID JINXED US.

yeah Peavy might be finished

THIS IS DUSTY GIVING THE GAME BALL TO RUSS ALL OVER AGAIN. NOW YOU GOT A MOLDERING DUCK BOAT AND NO TROLLEY CAR, WYATT.

lol

not all is lost

all they need is a split.

Geez, Infante--didn't throw a strike, two of them weren't even close.

dat homer tho

bad fundies, jp