2016 NLCS LA Dodgers @ Chicago Cubs

cubs sweep

i am so ready to be a fully obnoxious patriots-style cubs fan

Cubs in no idea how many...let's say 5.

cubs in 5 seems right

dodgers aren't nearly as good talent wise - only way they advance is if the cubs cub themselves amirite. cant see kershaw pitching on three days rest until november and have that work out.

pretty crazy that the dodgers used Hill, Urias, and Kershaw last night. i know you've got to win that game to move on but there are also games after that if you do win.

they got lucky kershaw only needed a dozen pitches last night

xp gotta do whatever it takes to get the win. cross the next bridge when it comes

dodgers run differential - +87
cubs run differential - +252

holy shit

i really think this is it for the cubs #analysis

same rotation for the cubs this series: lackey, hendricks, arrieta, lester

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

Dodgers in 5
la4life

Roberts is being lauded for his creativity with managing the Dodgers in the decisive game. He pulled his starter in the third; went to his setup man that inning; used a 20-year-old in relief; put his closer in for the 7th; and then used his ace, Clayton Kershaw, on short rest in the ninth. Baker says that managing in that manner, which is going against the proverbial "book," is not something he'll be doing any time soon.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/dusty-baker-throws-shade-at-dodgers-after-game-5-loss/ar-AAiVOXE

And another manager chooses death as a certainty in do or die...

Iife in l a

Well what can I say

https://open.spotify.com/track/5UQU4mOapsL9ozuojv6TMb

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDGsh-Hrxho

should've saved that for the world series i fucked up

tough send

whos mans is marlin man hows he such a baller

baez is crazy

Lester contemplating shredding Maddon's first-edition copy of La Peste.

need eddie vedder's fistbumps in gif form immediately

if the Cubs get out of this without any runs scored...

gonzo bullet

yeah that was a rope

tie game. great swing by gonzalez.

they're intentionally walking heyward?

heyward was like one of the 5 worst hitters in the league this year

Oof.

Dave...

GENIUS MANAGER DAVE ROBERTS LADIES AND GENTS

nice ibbs

!!!!

They didn't just ibb Heyward, they walked him to get to Baez, the hottest player on the team who had two doubles tonight already. Baez popped out but still pretty wtf managing

i had to double check that this was THAT blanton. is he actually a high-leverage relief choice for the dodgers??

I didn't realize I was watching on a lag until I heard yelling and honking outside a minute before the grand slam

Blanton had a really good year and was good for Pittsburgh last year, too.

Blanton has been amazing. Shit happens!

http://66.media.tumblr.com/86e84334e70d166cadccb49ce1db8ce9/tumblr_ngdr4jS6SH1qm9rypo1_1280.jpg

Afterall, Blanton had thrown 64 two-strike sliders this year. Hitters batted .080 against those pitches, with only two singles in 25 at-bats, 19 of which ended in a strikeout. Moreover, Blanton had thrown 273 0-2 sliders in his career without ever giving up a home run.

http://www.si.com/mlb/2016/10/16/nlcs-game-1-cubs-dodgers-miguel-montero

Not having paid any attention to the Dodgers this year, Utley strikes me as a strange lead off hitter.

that's FUTURE HALL OF FAME strange leadoff hitter to you bub

baseball so much better when watched listening to PIL

real question does javy wear that ridiculous batting helmet to protect his beautiful face

(specifically the beauty of his face)

also lol kershaw

heads up play by baez

he's been a revelation to me this postseason

everyone saw this right https://vine.co/v/5XJE1B373j6

i've counted 5 drop-downs from kersh tonight

xp lol

is the weather keeping normal homers down or is the CHI crowd just batshit over every BIP

are they really gonna take kershaw out after 85 pitches?

we're about to find out

jansen is in

jansen and kershaw are their only two pitchers, gotta keep em equal

kind of hard to bunt a pitcher throwing 102 on every pitch

puig............................................

what

was

that

Jansen made the Cubs look pretty bad. Only 5 hits in the game though, great pitching tonight.

Kershaw brought his 7th-inning post-season ERA under 25.00.

how much of that is http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-history-of-clayton-kershaws-postseason-bullpens/

seriously that puig at bat

He's been working with Andrew Romine.

it would be nice if addison russell and anthony rizzo started hitting the ball

i have been asked to place this in the thread

@keithlaw
Kershaw came into tonight with a 34.50 ERA in 7th innings, which i totally just made up because "ERA in the 7th inning" is a garbage stat

FP'd you in His honor

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/adrian-gonzales-refuses-trump-hotel-reservation

Los Angeles Dodgers first basemen Adrian Gonzales didn’t join his team at Trump International Hotel and Tower in May, saying he had his reasons for making reservations independent of the rest of his team. Now, the story is making waves.

...“I wasn’t doing it for publicity, I wasn’t doing it for people to look at me or talk about me,” he told the Times on Monday. “That’s not who I am. I just have my own values and morals that I want to live by.”

“You can draw your own conclusions. They’re probably right,” he said.

suddenly, the Cubs can't hit.

i am happy for rich hill

cubs gotta start lester tomorrow

and all the other games

Ugh

I'd imagine having such a loopy curve specialist like Hill following a power pitcher like Kershaw did provide some disconnect at the plate for the Cubs hitters tonight.

Kershaw, who the possesses of an even loopier curveball, is a power pitcher?

Be sure to loop loop loop loop

The pitching was good but the Cubs had chances against Kershaw and Hill and couldn't take advantage of them.

That replay ruling appeared to be horseshit.

You pitch a reliever with #68 at this point in a playoff game, most likely it's not going good.

I think this is when Rizzo busts out of his funk.

And there it is...

Zobrist looks like he should be a dentist. Cubs were overdue to bust out like tonight.

I love Zobrist and his crazy batting stance.

If i was a GM, I would make a team out of dudes like Zobrist and Hunter Pence. Kinda surprised the Giants didn't sign him, he seems like their type of dude.

Russell has some power for his size. It's not quite Mookie Betts level, but it is impressive. That shot earlier tonight was a blast in that ballpark.

It felt like LA made the conscious decision to concede the game when they left in Stripling to face Rizzo with the score 6-2.

i wasn't actually watching the game so i didn't see it til this morning but yeah how did they call gonzalez out even after the replay? he was obviously safe

https://twitter.com/RYDesignLA/status/789205749268230144

Justin Turner has a similar vibe to the bad guy in Outlaw Josie Wales.

http://content6.flixster.com/photo/11/35/29/11352988_ori.jpg

Going to the pen with the pitcher coming to the plate? Maeda seemed to be doing ok to me.

yeah a little odd to me too

Maeda seemed pretty much in control to me. It's not like Lester is Bumbarner at the plate. He's had a couple hits this year but for his career he's terrible.

Maeda looked kinda puzzled about it too. Hadn't seen him throw much until this post season, he's a good pitcher. I'm missing Ryu, that's dude I like to watch pitch. He's like the Korean David Wells.

I feel like Dave Roberts heard it's cool to go to the bullpen early in postseason games now and so that's his move.

I could see it if he was going to pinch hit anyway and double switched, but that wasn't the move.

Bryant kinda reminds me of A-rod at the plate. He's scary good now and he might have another gear.

I think he felt that Maeda was getting good up there in pitch count and might only have a couple of batters left in him, and with the reliever coming in maybe there's a tiny chance that the Cubs pinch hit for Lester with runners on.

yesss, Russell

joe blanton

If the Cubs would have someone already warming, I could see the pinch hitting being the case, but they had not yet gotten anyone up yet. Roberts is playing for seven with Kershaw going in game 6 either way. Thinking about it today, it seemed a solid move to me.

Want the Cubs to win, but really didnt' want to see seeing Blanton being the goat being a UK baseball player.

Rizzo went a little ole on that one.

that pick by baez was completely insane

That dude I think could become a superstar, he is crazy talented.

yeah i can't remember the last time i saw someone who just screams "baseball player" like he does

Baez kinda reminds me of Sheffield at the plate. Add a bit of bulk and wiggle the bat, he's there. I'm really impressed how much control he has gotten in a season on the strike zone.

Crazy thing about this club, they might not be at 'peak' at all and could have another step up. They did this season losing big boy in game one in left and their big free agent signing forgetting how to hit, not to consider that it is possible that Russell, Baez and Soler might have another notch to move up at the plate. They got a bunch of guys that could play regularly for other clubs sitting on the bench. Travis Wood would be starting for a bunch of clubs. They are as deep as I think I have seen anyone in a long, long time (like mid 80s Mets deep).

so. many. reviews

baez

Baez is my new favorite player

same

I have had trouble trusting the big improvement he's shown this season after watching him take huge hacks at bad pitches over the past couple of seasons but at this point it looks like a real change.

Hasn't he fucked up a couple of times this season for misreading his own hits and not hustling on the basepaths? He's been 100% hustle in the playoffs afaict.

there was a game against the giants in these playoffs where he thought he hit a homer and so he jogged down the path but it hit off the wall. should've been a double but he ended up with a single.

he has always had great speed and good power and defense but his plate discipline and defense have gotten a lot better this season

https://theathletic.com/22964/2016/10/22/fall-classic-kyle-schwarber-to-fall-league-with-hope-of-playing-in-world-series/

Heyward out, Almora in for starting lineup tonight.

this will be the first ball game i watch this season

My Sling trial ended so I don't have a way to watch live :(

i got u:

http://hehestreams.xyz/mlb/games/ed0126f0e8f0edcc

go cubbies

that. double. play.

was hoping for a 3 pitch inning but turner had to ruin it

gasp

Lmao

oh dear Tholes, that looked really bad. Kershaw in a mess.

granted i havent watched baseball in a while and maybe all pitchers are like this but kershaw has those dead eyes

really want kersh to have his HOF postseason. not this year.

could have been much more than 2 runs, that being said. however, he is already at 35 pitches.

My Sling trial ended so I don't have a way to watch live :(

The mlbstreams subreddit always has reliable sources for me.

Remember when Russell was traded for Samardzija? Now here we are.

Kershaw is a mess. He has no command of any of his pitches.

feels like a blowout by the 6th.

Kershaw has no movement at all.

I'm not getting cocky, last game six was going good until it wasn't.

Should be a great World Series. I'm getting worn out defending Kershaw in the post-season...

Even with it not working tonight, Kershaw is a huge reason the Dodgers are here now and he has pitched pretty hard for the past two weeks in the playoffs coming off the injury. I give him more a pass on this year than the times against the Cards, by comparison.

It's still way too early to be writing the check too. Baseball is a weird game at times.

well i look forward to what kershaw puts together next year. he hasn't been vintage at all since coming back.

he's had a couple of vintage starts

Hendricks is dealing, no emotion and totally dialed in.

Rumor has it that Schwarber might be available for the World Series, if the next three innings go well.

Kersh is spent. Bring on the offseason and the alleged puig for Braun trade

Am I the only one pulling for a historic collapse for the Cubs now? It would be good TV.

fuck a cleveland though

should've started the closer

Star tattoos are new...pretty much said Chapman just throw 100+.

Congrats NA and all Cubs fans on the board.

I think we all agree the most deserving teams got to the World Series?

@BostonGlobe
The #Cubs, laden with former #RedSox, have won their first pennant in 71 years

jon lester and two guys no one thinks of as former red sox

amazing....my dad was a few months shy of being born when the cubs even made it to a WS, he's freaking out now.

I think we all agree the most deserving teams got to the World Series?
― Van Horn Street, Saturday, October 22, 2016 10:54 PM

Cubs, obviously, but without trying to take anything away from Cleveland (clearly, at the very least, the A.L.'s second-best), I think the Red Sox were the A.L.'s best team. It's a moot point, but over the regular season, I'd take the Red Sox.

Main memory of visiting NW Indiana relatives during summer '84: smack talk about the Cubs' inevitable WS sweep of the Tigers.

man even in '84 i knew the tigers were scary, i think cubs fans then were kinda just happy to make the 'offs.

this is the best world series matchup obv, just for storylines. i didn't think it would happen, i had thought the cubs would probably swing it but they'd be facing off against Boston.

It sounds pretty nuts outside. A little worried about what would happen if the Cubs win the World Series.

I only watched parts of the game--who was the older gray-haired lady they kept cutting to in the stands? Someone who was there in '45 maybe?

I don't know about most deserving (whatever that means) but neither one is a mediocrity that got hot at the right time.

>>I only watched parts of the game--who was the older gray-haired lady they kept cutting to in the stands? Someone who was there in '45 maybe?

Dorothy Farrell?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFHzi6ri8U8

It is the first time that the Cubs were the best team going into the playoffs. They were close in 2008, but then got swept.

Cleveland is deserving, they were cruising and somehow overcame the injuries that they got hobbled with in the last six weeks of the seasons.

It is one of the most intriguing World Series match-ups in a long time going in, no matter who wins.

Dodgers swept them in 2008. Back atcha cubs.

Gg wp tho. No shame in losing to the team with the best record.

i was at the game! it was great.

i am so ready to be a fully obnoxious patriots-style cubs fan

― na (NA), Friday, October 14, 2016 10:39 AM

Musta been a real stretch for a prince of a guy like you.

i'm such a prince i've never been FP'd from ilx

i love how one of the first things you do back on ILX is revive a thread from two weeks ago to dish out a weak zing at me, and then you're like I DON'T GET WHY EVERYONE FLAGS MY POSTS, THE SYSTEM MUST BE RIGGED AGAINST ME, MODS ARE DUMB. you are seriously pathetic.

it took you almost an entire month to come up with "Musta been a real stretch for a prince of a guy like you."

i was glad to hear what yer like IRL

?