2023 ALCS: Texas Rangers vs. Houston Astros

Two teams that supposedly hate each other from the same st

God I hate laptops. Will try again...

Two teams that supposedly hate each other from the same state, first time facing each other in the playoffs--this could be a great series. I wouldn't want to be pitcher in this one. The world outside of Houston will be rooting for Texas, but I think Houston will find a way to win.

(In 7.)

Texas in 6 imo

Astros in 6 as I think Bochy is good for only two wins here

Most people love Dusty Baker and hate the Astros. I think they will win in 7, and that we will have a repeat of last year's Series.

Texas in 7

Texas in six, sadly.

Bruce Bochy, 1984 Las Vegs Stars. @Padres pic.twitter.com/HpIF1lSsGG

— Vintage Jerseys & Hats (@PolyesterUnis) October 10, 2023

Might be just as sad as the dodgers losing if the astros win this.

bochy’s head almost as large in 84 as now

painful but Astros in 5

Houston can lick my *********

Go ****** a ******************

Sure hope so:

https://www.mlb.com/news/max-scherzer-ready-to-pitch-in-alcs-for-rangers

This is as cherry-picked as it gets, but they really do feel like the same kind of hitter.

https://i.postimg.cc/sDGb9sHN/orvarez.jpg

(With, obviously, the same flair for the dramatic.)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

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

uh is A-Rod going hard on the spray tanner?

Lol

Results are a tie, of course

Joe Davis is in the house

Rangers aggressiveness pays off

Verlander gets out of it, wow

Good game

The only thing that gets me anxious these days is seeing Yordan Alvarez at the plate in the post season. The dudes stoic face and massive frame is just suffocating. He looks like he doesn’t care, like he’d rather be fishing, yet he will hit a bomb on a high fastball outside the zone to take the lead and there’s nothing you can do about it

Honestly just walk him here

Did I just see a lady wearing a “Ran-Gels” jersey? Disgusting

What a pitch

Yeah that was perfect.

...

Couldn't score there, huh

Wow

Verlander giving it up to the 9th place hitter

Oh 2012

Montgomery is dealing

What a performance from Montgomery. Hope he gets through 7 scoreless

That Montgomery/Stratton trade looking very very wise from the Rangers right about now

It was a strike

Verlander being himself

They pull him and do get out of it

And now Montgomery is out

90 pitches, a wise preemptive move

Yeap

uhhh that was not ball 4

Frogbs, your all right

What

Wow

Great play

And he gets doubled up

lmao that was the MLB equivilent of ball don't lie

Here we go

Congrats to the Rangers

I liked that

Only saw a tiny bit, had a Zoom call; I saw the catch and Altuve's screw-up. I still expect the Astros to win...but not if they lose G2.

If the astros get to another world series I am going to be beside myself. MLB's parity in the post season is one of its most special qualities to me, I'm sick of these stros with their golden state-esque post season trips every year

I kinda like baseball dynasties but this team is very unlikeable to me. obviously you have the cheating scandal. then theres MAGA Verlander and the fact that Ted Cruz is a proud fan. I also don't like how overt they were about tanking and bottoming out several years in a row. I know it's the smart thing to do but I also feel there's sort of an honor system thing going on in pro leagues where you don't do that shit for more than one year. oh and did I mention Ted Cruz is a fan

extremely otm. They're just absolutely full of unlikeable blokes from top to bottom. How any baseball fan could cheer for them over the Rangers at this current moment of time is beyond me.

I am a little disappointed how quickly we seem to have moved on from the cheating scandal. yes it's been 6 years, but is that not the MLB story of this century? (actual question, has there been a bigger story? 2004 Red Sox/2016 Cubs?)

has ted cruz actually come out, this week, for the astros?

He tweeted he was at the game. Glad he got to experience that one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsCMnXYMZUQ

Maybe astros fans aren’t all bad

(Sorry I know they’re not, still just dirty)

Houston is a godforsaken malarial swamp.

TS: joel osteen vs. robert tilton

Oh 2012

Somewhere we used to joke that "baserunning wins championships" but damn was that failure to tag ever a rally killer.

Great pitching from the Rangers staff. Hoping to see Scherzer sometime.

Sounds like you’ll get your wish one way or another

Max Scherzer is being considered to start ALCS Game 3 or 4 for the Rangers, per manager Bruce Bochy. Scherzer is also available to pitch out of the bullpen, if need be, in tonight’s Game 1 against the Astros.

— Deesha (@DeeshaThosar) October 15, 2023

is that not the MLB story of this century? (actual question, has there been a bigger story? 2004 Red Sox/2016 Cubs?)

― Peach’s burner account (H.P), Sunday, October 15, 2023 9:03 PM bookmarkflaglink

Maybe steroid reform is a bigger story? But thank you for thinking of the Cubs. <3

True, that’s a little before my fandom, need to read into that era.

I don’t have any love for the cubs but I legitimately feel bad for their downfall after their World Series! I thought they’d be contending for a couple more years. You can probably attribute this to my fandom starting in 2016, but 2017 baseball forwards (with its cheating scandal, dodger/Braves/astros ascendency, the opener, juiced ball, etc.) feels like a different era to 2016. Like the cubs needed to win one to close the door on the last century of baseball for the new one to start.

The Cubs did fine for themselves, three straight NLCS appearances and a WS win. That's making the most of their contending window IMO.

the Cubs did really well, they made the playoffs in 5 out of 6 seasons during that era w/three division titles, and in those five seasons they were a 90 win team, if we include the pandemic write-off year's winning percentage extrapolated out to 162 games. so you know they were contending for quite awhile. and even this season they were in it, up til the very end.

Yeah they won one of the most thrilling WS in a legitimate season of the last decade, no pity necessary. I have been saving up that game 7 to watch when the postseason ends.

I’m unreasonably stoked for TEX-HOU tonight. Hate them both so I’m just hoping for maximum agony on both sides. Playoff baseball baby

Plus it’s in our timezone

The Astros’ Yordan Alvarez is dealing with a virus, sources tell me and @Chandler_Rome. Upset stomach, headaches. Was not part of intros last night.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) October 16, 2023

xpost well yes. Not many of those left. I am planning to savo(u)r it! Which will mean an 8th run second inning obv

At a pinch I have realised I am pulling for the Rangers :/

Tracer:

https://y.yarn.co/62b09c14-4f86-4305-b77c-753191a82cf7_text.gif

Here we go

2 pitches, 2 men on. how do they do it

lmao not the start you want Houston

Lmao Jesus Christ (and I like La Grasa)

That was fast, maybe the Rangers are the best team in this series

Or better team...

No outs and two runs

but yea like even yesterday, 2nd inning they had bases loaded and one run in, and somehow Verlander's pitch count was at 19. these guys just jump on everything

Another run

Three runs on 10 hits

Or 10 pitches, I should probably work

Valdez fielding error caused another run to score but as per previous discussion it doesn’t get charged to him!

No outs

Wow

This is crazy, they might have to call the mercy rule before long

if its any consolation to Valdez fielding errors don't matter much when you give up 3 more hits

Valdez has been pretty bad since the break this year (2.51/4.66 this year...in case they just flashed that graphic, I haven't turned on the TV yet, I swear).

36.00 in this game so far

I fuckin knew it, whenever there’s a game on I can watch it’s a fuckin blowout

hey Astros got 27 outs to work with here

I haven’t seen an Eovaldi meltdown yet but this would admittedly be a really funny game for him to do so

I read that Eovoldi said "Attaboy, Altuve" in the clubhouse after G1, so watch out.

In general he’s been very good in the postseason. However… In the 2021 ALCS he gave up 4 ERs in 2/3 of an inning to the…. Houston Astros

lol how does Bregman miss that

Christ almighty Smoltz and Davis are making me miss the days of Buck and McCarver

Except for Ozzie Smith, I think the first baseball-cartwheel I've ever seen.

stuck the landing really well too

I have been saving up that game 7 to watch when the postseason ends.

No lie, I watch game 7 of 2014 probably yearly, and Ishikawa's pennant clinching HR probably 2-3 times a year. Better than xanax

“He sees some of that Posey, Crawford, Panik…”

Me hearing Joe Panik mentioned over about a million other Giants

https://i.postimg.cc/3NJrtzwm/IMG-6958.jpg

Maybe the cleats were to blame after all

xp what about the Belt 18th inning homer

All great memories, thanks

Alvarez is on fire

Yordan beating the diarrhoea allegations

A thing of beauty, that swing, even if you hate the Astros.

Yordan hits the ball pretty far huh

Why am I hearing so much grunting in the batter’s box? Did they put extra microphones there? This isn’t Wimbledon

he went yord

First Ozzie, now Brooks.

You’re right it’s weird

Fox always monkeying around with weird audio ideas in these series

Wow fantastic play

Heim’s slick manoeuvre

I'm heading tapping and thinking it's my front door

ope

Hearing

I don't know their bullpen situation right now, but time to pull the plug.

Anyways,they got it back

Dusty must be thinking he needs at least another inning out of Valdez

i've been able to hear the ump calls in some of the prior games (outside! high!) which is kinda cool

Yeah what would Bochy know about shepherding a 21 year old through the playoffs 🤔

i’m trying to come up with an indie guilt Bermanism involving HAIM but i got nothing

Onya Jonah Heim

Re: Cubs, points taken. It was just strange to me as a fan watching that 2016 World Series, followed by a competitive 2017 championship run (before being embarrassed by the dodgers in the CS), then getting embarrassed again at home in 2018 by the Rockies. They just looked like the best team in the world and then seemed to disappear from the “yeah that teams going to go far” category within 2 years. Credit my perspective to not seeing them play live before 2016, I only got to see an incredible team immediately decline, didn’t see any of the ascendency.

didnt think Valdez was pitching too badly before, just giving up a lot of sharp singles. he definitely looks off now though

1. Players micd up, natural interaction
2. Weird dugout interviews with players not playing
3. Weird dugout interviews with managers
4. Weird dugout interviews with players in the game

5. Interviews with players in the game during the game

You could say Valdez was a disaster for Houston

4. Over 1. If it’s the regular season and the player basically plays third commentator (+has charisma/personality)

xp an account I follow posted this video as he exited the game, not sure if you or Omar recognise it

He’s asking some departed relative for forgiveness for this atrocious performance pic.twitter.com/Ntqii7QE3M

— reaction memes @VideoReacts (@VideoReacts) December 10, 2021

It looked like they had him

Ouch

Nah safe by a good bit, Dusty didn’t even bother challenging

Nope, he did just beat it

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F8l2QU6WUAABJ1p?format=jpg&name=medium

oh thanks, I wanted to see the cartwheel.

xp It's kind of charming to think of the Cubs as measured from their 2016 arc onwards. I was at Game 7 of the 2003 NLCS 20 years ago yesterday. By the time of James Loney's grand slam, I had no more tears to cry. Winning a World Series in 2016 cleansed all their sins. I've even forgiven Dusty Baker. Like the Kens, they are enough.

This is not the felicity I know!
https://vault.si.com/.image/ar_1:1%2Cc_fill%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_1200/MTY5MTQ5MTEyNTU2NDYzNTc5/cubs-vault-leadjpg.jpg

2003 the Giants went wire to wire in first place, then got humiliated by the fish. Always felt like that was the team that should have won it.

2003 was also my last year in San Francisco

Was also just my third year of being a baseball fan. The baseball gods needed me to suffer a bit before the Big payoff

More than just one out away--I'd have to check--I think the Rangers were one pitch away, twice, from winning the '11 WS.

Edgar Renteria needed to move from the marlins to sf to hit that game 5 homer

…or not as he was actually a cardinal by then!

The much beloved Alex Bregman.

Brantley's a modern-day Molitor in the compact-swing department.

ok Houston has got to get something out of this

yeah no “sweet lefty swing” going on there, just straight to the ball

xpost

Not really wanting the Astros but do want a good game

Error

Pressure is on

aw feel bad for that kid

This is like the Rangers' first post-season test--they've been behind one inning in six games so far.

wow your cap is on TOO TIGHT rookie! my god!!

crazy that was maybe an inch away from being a rally-killing double play

xp he’s definitely not getting sun on his forehead today

Ouch, what a pitch.

Altuve is always scary

Feel for Yainer Diaz, a victim of the “Dusty Baker prefers his faves” fallacy. No shit if you’re playing him infrequently he’s going to be ice cold!

astros NOBLETIGER, love to see it

Fucking hell, Eovaldi has ice in his veins.

Get's out of it, wow

Eovaldi is a goddamn sorcerer getting out of that one

The much beloved Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman bring joy to the nation. (That was stellar pitching.)

he’s always been good but I never thought he could reach this level of consistency. Yet another indictment of the Boston pitching coaches tbh

Is Eovaldi a Greek name I wonder

Wheels!

Lmao?

Nice double play

(xpost) Texan through and through, according to the internet.

I calculate we’ve had to hear Nate Eovaldi grunt 83 times by now

Well 3 runs against this Texas bullpen seems doable tbh

well Sborz shut me up, sheesh

TORRID SBORZ PERFORMANCE POURS MORE SCORN ON STROS ORDER

LIGHT CHAPMAN UP

Every time they bring him in now, my first thought is "really?" I guess he did okay yesterday.

SBORZ and PFAADT are my two "brand names you're likely to find on amazon" names for these playoffs

tucker is absolutely lost out there

damn dawg

Yord work

https://i.postimg.cc/rFTSS2rs/IMG-0830.jpg

Honestly, Alvarez is the primary reason I have a slight rooting interest for the Astros--I don't want to lose the chance of watching him in the post-season.

Besides Ortiz, he also reminds me of Delgado in his prime.

brantley has had nerves of steel in this game, what a hitter today

Could have had a 2-0 count coming off two walks; announcers were right, overly aggressive.

Might get some insurance from that fuckup

Or not. Carter has an elite eye though.

I had to actually work but it looks like a hell of an ending

Interesting how the two celebrated managers have managed against type. Baker got his starter out of there as early as I think could reasonably be expected, then stitched together a great relief effort; Bochy stuck with his starter at a perilous moment and was rewarded for it.

Almost

Altuve's going to make the last out--having a rough series.

Helluva stop

We'll see

Xpost

Congrats Rangers

Got my hopes up there that they'd somehow get Alvarez up.

Would have been epic

TORRID SBORZ PERFORMANCE POURS MORE SCORN ON STROS ORDER

― Tracer Hand, Monday, October 16, 2023 4:07 PM bookmarkflaglink

Lol your variations on STICK NIX HICK PIC bring me great joy. I am going to start my first thread in 13 years to collect them if you keep this up.

objective: set

Could get anything from Scherzer. Like Verlander and Kershaw, he's had his postseason issues. Verlander: good in the playoffs (16-6, 2,92), terrible in the WS (1-6, 5.63). Kershaw: bad across the board (13-13, 4.49, little difference between the playoffs and WS). Scherzer: all over the place (good in divisional series, terrible in three wild-card starts, average in the WS), cumulatively so-so (7-7, 3.58). When you add up all three guys you get 37-32, 3.88, over 500 innings.

Greinke, same thing: 113 IP, 4-6, 4.14. All four: 661 IP, 41-38, 3.92.

(Madly killing time. I'm in a class I've been in before, a quiet 7/8 where the teacher leaves them six hours of independent work. 30 minutes so far that feels like four hours.)

Barry Zito has an ERA of 2.83 over 60 postseason innings

I guess it's the uniformity that makes those four unusual: the four "generational" pitchers of their era, problems across the board. I've been looking at others, and it's more of a mixed bag. With the '90s group, Clemens/Maddux/Johnson/Pedro/Schilling/Glavine/Smoltz, there's a wide spectrum. The '70s group, Seaver/Carlton/Palmer/Ryan/Sutton/Niekro, same thing (and, of course, much smaller sample sizes by then). Gibson/Koufax, a league of their own.

No conclusion. Killing time!

Yeah sorry I’m being cheeky, I’m waiting to go to the beach. But new immaculate grid should be out now!

I'm of course working on that too...You and the others are forcing me to focus even more on low rarity.

It's kind of charming to think of the Cubs as measured from their 2016 arc onwards. I was at Game 7 of the 2003 NLCS 20 years ago yesterday. By the time of James Loney's grand slam, I had no more tears to cry. Winning a World Series in 2016 cleansed all their sins. I've even forgiven Dusty Baker. Like the Kens, they are enough.

― felicity, Monday, October 16, 2023 2:38 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

all true. the Cubs in all honesty probably have performed to expectations extremely well, sometimes exceeding them, but weirdly never disappointing me except for the 2003 heartbreak. even with that, in retrospect, looking at that lineup one can see they were probably playing a bit above their heads and had some holes even their other truly great players couldn't quite compensate for. the world series team was the best regular season team and played like it, in other years they weren't and they did just fine. 2017 didn't matter since i'm pretty sure we were all still feeling the glorious hangover from 2016, i felt like Scrooge waking up on Xmas morning for half a decade after that.

Is it Scherzday yet?

Many people are saying this

If he pitches a gem and gets the W, I’ll be dancing in the streets. Three to O, let’s go!

"You have to score." -- Derek Jeter

steve cohen says - you're welcome

As always, baseball’s disappointment comes back to the Mets

Scherzer washed

Looks like we've got a series

4 innings is more than enough time for the rangers to score three runs. One can hope

perfect set up for a bases loaded bottom of the 9th two outs setup

Missed the first few innings for tennis, saw the hit that broke up the no-hitter. Was excited by Javier's low pitch count and the theoretical chance he might pitch one all by himself, but also rooting against another combined one. "I couldn't fake excitement in 2022--I'm a year older and even crankier now." Amazing catch off Alvarez...they found a way to stop him.

perfect set up for a bases loaded bottom of the 9th two outs setup

Saw some video of Scherzer and Bochy in the dugout--was he angry about being removed?

We'll see, but this does fit Posnanski's theory of ultimately fruitless pecking-away.

Just from the little I've seen, the Rangers are fortunate they're not down six runs.

yea Houston has 8 runs but there was also like what 5 warning track balls? one of which was surely going to be a home run if not for Taveras doing some Spider Man shit? they're smacking the cover off it

So he's not Willie Wilson to boot, what do you want?

Atta boy Garver

Let’s go Lowe

Well, it’s not what you want:

Reason #112 to hate the Astros: you have to watch a closeup of the inside of Dusty’s mouth as he graciously tongues a toothpick. Disgusting

Burt Young's Sopranos episode: "Another Toothpick."

It was nice of the Rangers to build a giant Tractor Supply that apparently favors Astros hitters' abilities in every way.

Wow

The angle on this catch >>> #ALCS pic.twitter.com/l2uOd3Urci

— MLB (@MLB) October 19, 2023

xp all I heard was that the Astros can’t hit at home, which iirc is supported by their W-L record there. This should in theory mean they get knocked out when the series goes back to Houston. 🤞🏻

from Sheehan’s newsletter:

Left-on-Left Violence (best LHB against LHP, since 1914, min 500 PA)

                 PA    AVG   OBP  SLG OPS
Babe Ruth      2787   .320  .453  .663 1116
Barry Bonds    4147   .289  .417  .569 986
Lou Gehrig     2274   .302  .401  .579 980
Yordan Alvarez  731   .301  .382  .565 947
Ted Williams   1984   .312  .431  .495 927

well i tried

Sheesh that was fast

Too fast

Love that group of hitters in the table above--best snapshot I've seen yet of how great Alvarez really is.

Hell yeah

Get that banana man out of there lol

Beautiful piece of ugly hitting. All arm, swinging at a ball at the shoulders, hits it well out

Don’t really like that home plate cam on hit batters

Bases loaded and no outs

I thought he had it

Damn, I wanted that to go out.

(Because it was Alvarez--Abreau's HR is just a HR, although he's underappreciated too.)

that was a bomb by abreu my lord

Bergman

Verlander is pitching, can't believe we are already five games into this.

I’m so sick of Justin Verlander

Jordan Montgomery… could get it????

Jeter is boring ffs

It's officially felt hat season in Texas 🤠😉@kevinburkhardt | @AROD | @davidortiz | @derekjeter pic.twitter.com/3FUY8ONrqq

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 20, 2023

There’s an old Giants clip maybe on their channel, where Bochy is introduced to Dubon and someone tells him his nickname is “Dubie.” “Dubie,” says Bochy contemplative, “that’s a good nickname for this city.”

Lol

Two completely wasted ABs from Semien and Seager with runners on 1st & 3rd…pathetic

Jordan Montgomery… could get it????
― I’m going to get fined for being right, again (gyac), Friday, October 20, 2023 2:28 PM bookmarkflaglink

https://ih1.redbubble.net/image.1938982133.2116/pp,840x830-pad,1000x1000,f8f8f8.jpg

Giving up a hit to playoff Kyle Tucker, have some shame please. But also what was that fielding error

I think he dropped it in the exchange , I think they got it wrong. Didn't cost them tho

Tie game

Difficult to argue that the Dusty Baker interview didn’t jinx the Astros

pretty low percentage play from altuve bunting with two out

astros deserve to lose purely for their obnoxious orange jerseys that say ASTROS on them instead of the name of their city which is what all road uniforms should say so that home crowd knows the identity of their team’s opponent

yeah was that supposed to be a squeeze?

Other teams don’t always do the city thing on the road greys but at least they’re grey?

https://ktla.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/09/urias.jpg
https://bostonglobe-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/kxpJwlRWM5YFeAW5ktXNwd3YKmE=/1024x0/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/bostonglobe/QYT5HLD26KCIRTYHDR3XVGKXB4.jpg

They do have road greys btw but they’re just not wearing them, I think the orange ones are alts
https://i.postimg.cc/9QjZKhZS/IMG-1069.jpg

Damnit Seager

These astros are relentless

Appreciate having the names on the away jerseys though. SF used to have only numbers and I found this kind of "DYKWIA"

How the FUCK did Seager get nominated for a gold glove. Rhetorical, Jeter, I know, I know

xp if you see a SF jersey with 55 or 28 you don’t need the name 😌, Tracer Hand can confirm this

There's been more than one group of Killer B's (Bell, Barfield, Moseby)...Alvarez/Abreau/Altuve need a nickname. (I know, I'm the only non-Houstonian in the world who would welcome this.)

You don't get a SBORZ without toasting a few marshamallows

IYKYK

Wait felicity, they did have the names on the away shirts I thought? It’s the home ones they don’t

xxp The A-Holes?

Oddly enough, I anticipated that.

It’s like you citing Joe P…It’s inevitable

Now, now--let's not break the peace we made here many months ago.

xp gyac you could be right. It was like, who do you think you are, the Dodgers?

Oh that was so hot

SEMIEN

I’m not fighting with you! I’m just saying we all have our (hopefully endearing) shticks?

sick play

that’s it, that’s the shit we love

toasted!

in the AL i think it’s only the red sox and the yankees who are arrogant enough to leave the names off the home whites, i kinda like it

I really hope these Rangers make that sick play worth it. Time to torch Verlander pls!

yeah, it's a charmingly swaggy bit

I wish the dodgers (and every other team) were still arrogant enough to leave them off. My sports should be inaccessible and reward die-hard fandom

give some meaning back to the number

6th inning best inning

Oh we like that!!!!!! GARCIAAAAAAAAAA

Joe Davis had absolutely no idea that was going out till it left the yard lol

I just went to brush my teeth and holy fuck!

third time through. no one is immune. literally seconds after the commentating crew note that verlander is facing the order for the third time and reassure each other “no reason to take him out now, his velocity’s still up”

This is fun

I love this damn sport so much. Still beaming. Thanks for pulling Verlander, time to make a coffee. Absolutely cackling the Rangers are using creed for their song too, just an absolutely classic move

As of 2023, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox do not display their players' names on their home uniforms

In a coffee shop, following online. No one will believe me after the WS last year, but after the single, I started a post to the effect that I'd probably pull Verlander--HR came so quickly (maybe internet lag?), didn't get a chance to finish. This is a three-game series, not seven.

Still laugh at this sorry

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F86wOwlXEAAjZg1?format=jpg&name=small

Find me one trump baseball tweet that isn't eternally otm. Say what you want about him, but the bloke knew ball

that’s a fucked up walk

Walking Martin Maldonado have some shame

Wow, what a comeback

SBORZ IGNORES UMP’S POOR FORM, SHUTS DOOR ON MORE SCORES

this ump doing some classic “balancing” calls

omg love it

xp

Still laugh at this sorry

even an indicted felon is right twice a day

Since we're highlighting terrible men's best qualities: I have always thought chapman's strike out pose was iconic and more pitchers need to do something like that

Also, he made this face after giving up a walk off hr to lose the elimination ALCS game and it's just an undeniably great bit of sports tragedy/humour

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kSu3c3ch4k

Bochy taking no chances with Afraudlis

omg @ leclerc looking up at the crowd to take in the moment

There’s no way this dude is 29

Thank you semien, that was scary

This games got everything

Wtf

What the hell Garcia there’s no way Maldonado is calling for an intentional beanball in ALCS game 5

Joe Davis with a great take (biggest home run of his life, he can walk as long as he wants and shouldn’t have to walk 100mph) that I find unbelievable Smoltz is agreeing with. On that note, I have watched or listened to every moment, but Smoltz has seems like he hasn’t said anything “old man yells at clouds” or stupid this series? Been pretty good commentary all around

now who gets the pitch clock violation? anybody? nobody?

The guys on the radio (on the Rangers network) are saying that there was "no way it wasn't intentional."

Oof this is ugly

Garcia whiffed on his chance to grab Maldonado's mask and make one of the best pictures of all-time.

— Red Sox Stats (@redsoxstats) October 20, 2023

Xxxp *wear, not walk

MORE SBORZ RESTORES SCORE, 'STROS POUR KERO WITH POOR THROW

Nah this is fucked up I don’t believe for a second that was on purpose

xp LOL

*haven’t watched (just wanted to clarify I have a job and responsibilities besides watching playoff baseball lol)

https://i.postimg.cc/h43Z6pDx/IMG-1072.jpg

Carvin' Marvin

what did garcia do wrong??

he got a little exercised about being thrown at, pretty natural idk

Bochy make Scherzer the pinch runner for Garcia you coward!!!

umpires need a pitch clock violation on themselves now

dusty is refusing to leave lol

Pinch run JT Snow to gracefully scoop Dusty up and remove him from the scene

Dusty, Dusty, he mad

I agree with others, this game is way too important to hit someone on purpose with no outs

xp
https://i.postimg.cc/sxNVZ7C8/IMG-1074.jpg

garcia went straight for maldonado so i wonder if garcia’s beef was with something he said rather than the pitch itself

Good point

What? The famously sweet Astros making inflammatory comments to other players? Nooooooooo

Yainer Diaz getting a hit after Dusty refusing to start him and pinch hitting him off the bench ice cold all postseason….

This is getting good

he had to wait until dusty’d been tossed lol

Who else would the Astros want up here then, Altuve

Well fuck

WOW

unreal

Good point

― Bee OK, Friday, October 20, 2023 5:00 PM bookmarkflaglink

lol

xp WTAF

thanks

leclerc’s poor face!

Altuve's only 33? Jesus got another 7 years minimum of this man taking all joy out of the post season

Can’t be letting John Singleton on base in 2023 come on Tracer

Time to walk it off I guess, too bad nobody’s there to ph for Semien

Good game, probably the best of these Championship Series

Ok, some drama

Great game. Garver is a stud

that ball had eyes!

crazy they didn’t send smith sooner

The Astros got out of two on,no outs in the last inning, well see

bracing myself for a terrible ball/strike call to decide this game

Yeah I'm not confident

But I'd love to be suprised

Why didn't he go, point taken Smoltz

smith u ain’t gonna try for third??

Bochy looks like he's watching lawn bowls on a Sunday morning

All cones down to this...

Garcia-replacement Jankowski walk off for sure right? Drawn in the stars?

if he’d gone earlier on heim’s AB he would have scored just then

talking about smith

Had to eat dinner after the fight what the fuck happened?

Don't ask

Feel sorry for the child making the final out cos Semien and Seager were unclutch

I HATE this team

texas consistently getting wood on pressley there but just not enough

Good game

Showing kids crying after sport loses: C or D?

I love baseball

D to showing it, C to the blokes jeering at the kid in the local winning sports bar

Feel good for Dusty and that’s it

Showing kids crying after sport loses: C or D?

It's fine for baseball

Bochy’s like, let me tell u about the time we were down 3-1 in the NLCS…and then he’s like, those guys weren’t fucking frauds, get out of my sight before I need a third stent please

i guess it's tough to ask marcus semien to do it, but if ever there was a place in any game for a bunt, that was it

If Marcus Semien didn’t like it, he probably should have tried not going 0-4

Of course I was in transit and missed all that. A fight? Jesus, I've got great timing.. I left right after Chapman struck out Alvarez. Three balls, came back to strike him out with three 100 m.p.h. fastballs--wished I'd seen that.

Still have to see the whole brouhaha, but agree with the consensus: down 4-2, runner on first, there's just no way you throw at a guy. Must have been something that was said.

Watching the 30-minute condensed version (terrible substitute, I know).

I'll stick with not-on-purpose--at the game level, it makes zero sense--but I will say: Garcia sure did take a stroll after his HR. Which I'm not at all opposed to--this is bat-flip city, after all--but that ball didn't clear the fence by a whole lot. He came very close to an embarrassing moment.

And I didn't realize how close the Rangers came to coming back in the bottom of the inning.

Bryan Abreu has been suspended two games and fined for "intentionally throwing at Adolis Garcia" pic.twitter.com/HQQ3O5U76S

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) October 21, 2023

Astros reliever Bryan Abreu was suspended two games for what MLB deemed an intentional hit by pitch in Game 5 of the ALCS. While the suspension could be implemented before Game 6, he is expected to appeal, and it likely won’t be enforced until next season.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 21, 2023

That's a pretty speculative suspension. I'm not ruling out that it was intentional after seeing Garcia's post-HR stroll, but the evidence is 100% circumstantial, and the game situation is a much more compelling argument that the pitch simply got away.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I didn’t think it was either but mlb have seen something otherwise

There's a writer I want to quote here, but I don't want to end up on the Posts Very Much in Character thread.

It was a first pitch fastball right at his upper body - the first pitch since Garcia hit the homer.

They were also down 4-2 in the 8th inning with nobody out, a runner on first, and in danger of falling behind 3-2 in games. It's like an appeal play: the evidence has to be clear before they overturn the call. Suspensions shouldn't be handed out based on mind reading. In five seasons and 180 innings, Abreau has hit 12 batters, thrown 12 wild pitches, and walks over four batters per 9 innings. You're not exactly dealing with Greg Maddux here.

everything about it *looked* intentional . . . apart from the fact that it would be an incredibly stupid thing to do in that situation

i'm willing to believe that abreu would be that stupid -- if for no better reason than making a dock ellis-type statement -- but yeah it seems like flimsy evidence

i suspect that MLB wanted to be seen doing something and also knew it wouldn't have to do anything when abreu appealed

https://theathletic.com/4983070/2023/10/21/adolis-garcia-hit-by-pitch-ejected-rangers-astros-brawl/

Not behind paywall

The incident will be debated for years.

not so sure about that, wee ken

Ha, just read that. Again, I'm not at all saying it wasn't intentional (see my initial post last night). But they removed him from the game, and beyond that, I think you need clear, incontrovertible evidence.

Harper got fooled on that change up, lays off the next two and then gets a base hit

Love him so much

Wrong thread Bee!

Lol

Watching a replay...Had no idea Don Kessinger's grandson plays for the Astros: Grae, the guy they sent out in the 9th to pinch-run for Singleton.

Feel like this has all the elements for a classic G6 (1975, 1986, 2011).

Oh no

Not the way the Rangers wanted to start

When I watched G5 on reply, I really liked the way Alvarez walked alongside Garcia after the HBP.

To only give up one run there was huge

Exactly the kind of inning you look back on after a loss.

I legitimately fear Altuve

Pretty strikeout, very fun AB from Nathan there

I love intentional walks.

Gift call

its crazy as good as Altuve's stat line has been this postseason that doesn't count the 5 or 6 warning track balls he hit in this series alone

"Warning-track power" used to be a putdown (not sure if the term is still in use), but when you're talking about a guy with the second most post-season HR, seems like a moot point.

Perfect timing for that post.

I think this whole Garcia situation has benefitted the Astros, Garcia looks totally stuck in his head right now

Heim

I thought that was caught!

Those ladies had the absolute worst preparation for that hr ball possible lol

I guess you can't say should've-had-it, but definitely could've-had-it.

Honestly lucky they didn’t get hurt@

I'd give Valdez the 5th and that's it. I remember commenting how awesome his curve looked in the WS last year. They look like lollipops tonight; Garcia is over-swinging, but Garver finally drilled one last inning.

When did six feet become "not very big"?

Thank you altuve

I thought that one was inevitable, glad to see he’s human

The hunger in his eyes as he is swinging the bat

Half over and seems to be going to a game 7

this lead doesn't seem too safe to me

Yeah game no way near done.

That would have been very hot

Mute city for the cut to comercial music? Weird, but I like it!

I will be starting a gushing Yordan Alvarez thread soon.

Here we go

Bochy leaves him in….. let’s go Nate

Huh? He moved his hands up the barrel, dropped the bat down...what the hell was that?

Common astros, do baseball fans a favour, give us a game 7

Was about to say Rubin doesn’t have a baseball body but then I remembered Mookie Betts

Ex-players take a lot of abuse as announcers, but they sometimes have a knack for telling you exactly what's about to happen before it happens (re the sacrifice fly).

2er’s over 6ip. Especially if he can get 7ip, this is another great performance in the Nathan Eovaldi post season legend.

Anytime I see Eovaldi play the first game I think of is 2018 game 3, 6 innings of extra inning relief with 1er; truly a legendary performance (even if he got tagged with the loss). To pitch an entire start like that unprepared? Crazy

Definitely due

Wow Neris, haven’t seen that before

Scherzer in G7? That'd be great.

What a player

Xp Recent history leads me to believe that’s an inevitable loss for the Rangers

Yup. Did a Ranger’s bench coach just tip his hat?

Big Game Nate

Great start. Add him to the list of the best active postseason pitchers I posted in the other playoff thread.

What a player
― Bee OK

Win or lose, I wonder if this series will rehabilitate him a bit with the non-Houston public. He's pretty quiet and modest when interviewed.

*non-Dodger-supporting

Yikes...

Pretty ballsy

Abreu would/could be out for G7? To me, one of the dumbest league decisions in a while.

Big run

don't agree at all with suspending Abreu but who knows maybe the league knows something I dont

I remember the pinch-runner from Dazed and Confused.

I don't know what they could know that we don't from watching...a scrap of paper with a "Nail this fucker" message scribbled on it.

I think it was absolutely meant as an old-fashioned "message pitch," and it got away from him. Besides everything else that's been pointed out, if the Astros wanted to throw at Garcia, couldn't they have burned someone else in the bullpen other than one of their key relievers? I've also got to say that, even though I found Garcia's theatrics entertaining (and understandable), for him to go all Claude Rains ("I'm shocked!") at an inside pitch is a little disingenuous.

Obviously, Houston won't have a better chance than right here.

Good pitching there

That second strike was brilliant.

...

I don't know about Leclerc again so soon, but definitely a better choice than Chapman.

Need to throw strikes

Wow

Walks are the worst thing here

none of those pitches were all that close either

Dubon, well it shouldn't be that hard

Yeap, same guy

Tense

How do you take that pitch

...

So close

sheesh this is a tense moment

Got him

he threw like 2 strikes total lol

From six years out of baseball to that moment, that pitch?!

So much fun

What an inning

"As I’ve written so many times before: I never argue with people who say baseball is boring. Baseball is boring. And then it isn’t. And that’s the magic."

I won't identify the writer.

that's gotta be Poz

Sorry, I know not who you speak of.

Wow

An opening

Did they ever reverse that Harper infield hit last night? That was legitimately an infield hit.

I saw two errors on the box score but not sure if that reflected that change or not

...

Pretty much a two-pronged miracle is required from Houston now...get ready for Scherzer-Javier.

wonder if that one was on purpose too

Suspend stane

Hahaha hell yeah

Wow

Come on Garcia, pimp it! Once in a lifetime!!!!!!

welp

WOW

It brings me great joy that Houston cannot seem to win in front of their fans

Took it away

amazing HR robbery too bad it means absolutely nothing

How much irony can you have in one inning? Seager gets hit, Garcia hits a grand slam, Tucker makes the catch he missed earlier.

Nearly caught a finger there as well

Rangers x Diamondbacks is back on the menu

now this is a score I can get behind

god its gotta kill these fans to see Garcia of all people hit that

I take a lot of joy seeing all those empty seats

Whatever happens, tomorrow is going to be a great day of baseball!

Nathan Eovaldi career ERA 4.10,
Nathan Eovaldi post-season ERA 2.87 ERA (10 GS)

Like a fine wine

Passan says they're going with Scherzer tomorrow? That's a bold move.

That was a really tense 9-2 game.

Nothing better than a tense game w/ a 9th inning blowout by the team you’re rooting for.

Passan says they're going with Scherzer tomorrow? That's a bold move.

For all I know, Bochy is thinking of him as more of an opener, and at the very least, I'm sure he'll have a very short leash. But I still think Texas must be pretty happy. It's still Max Scherzer; he could go out and strike out the first six hitters. This is somewhat comparable to G7 of the 2019 WS (against the Astros no less). Wasn't smooth, but Scherzer pitched pretty well--five innings, left down 2-0. I wouldn't blink about starting him tonight.

Good, or at least good enough. What mookieproof said: look like you're doing something while basically doing nothing.

https://www.mlb.com/news/bryan-abreu-suspension-upheld-deferred-to-2024

Corey storing some runs up for scherzer

I shouldn’t be so negative, I actually really hope Scherzer has a quality start.

The boos continue for king Garcia

Looooooooool Garcia

What the heck

Rewind

understandable reaction but you can’t be doing that in an elimination game. Lucky there was an rbi to get there otherwise that’s a massive embarrassment! Then again he just stole second so alls redeemed I guess

ya - not a good look at all.

I LOVE BASEBALL!!!!!!

figured he'd be running since he owed the fans a base

Please please please please please please please don’t blow this Scherzer.

It deserves to be said again, Garcia so lucky to have that stop and stare forgotten, coulda been a massive story

Batting practice

also looking better now that he's scored

Wow pulling Javier already 😬😬😬

great start rangs
plz dont blow it scherz

can't believe i'm sitting here cheering for the Rangers

Just got back from tennis...was really hoping for 0-0, so much for that. What happened with Garcia? I'll check the highlights.

Whatever I missed, he gives up a hit there and that's a pretty steep climb, so huge out.

Great start for Texas

Thought that third pitch to Alvarez was a strike.

FUNFACTZ4U: Dusty has never won a game 7 and Bochy has never lost one!

!

Early trouble for both starters. It's going to be a long, painful night.

What a great sport.

Huge double play--with Bochy, possibly even kept Scherzer in the game.

We have a game, unlike the first one

Bochy in the dugout furiously signing THROW A STRIKE like
https://i.postimg.cc/wTccs6Xh/IMG-9399.gif

I don't know if you can "chip away" at a Texas lead. I mean, you can, but they're probably going to score another two or three runs minimum.

Hey who started the Max Scherzer thread on the ILBaseball ILX forum?

nevermind, I think it was first mentions... boo on me.

I started one a few years ago.

It's a Good Name for You: the Max Scherzer thread

Houston pitchers sure must love Maldonado, because looking at his offensive line for his five years with the Astros, I'm surprised he's kept his job. A few HR, otherwise anemic...His defense doesn't look all that imposing on paper.

Incredible

Amazing. Second night in a row where he's gone from looking silly (I caught up) to shutting the entire stadium up.

Solo home runs shouldn't kill you

Ok, nice huddle

I expect some kind of miracle from Alvarez every time, but legging out a triple not on that list.

Bullpen elimination game

Which is why I'm happy the league postponed with Abreu. I agree that, over time, the whole thing will be forgotten. But if Abreu had been out tonight and Houston were to lose a bullpen game, it wouldn't be.

Houston has absolutely frittered away two good chances to tie this game, or at least to pull within a run.

Far out

8 - 2

I tip my hat to him. To do some of the things he's done, you've got to back it up. And Garcia has, exponentially.

what a beast.

That's 100% fair, no?

If the rangers can play like this for the next series, there’s no chance the Phillies or dbacks can touch them

I expect Dusty will face a fair amount of grief for letting Davis Schneider Jr. face seven hitters there.

I wanna see the Phillies boo Garcia. Give us Harper v. Garcia!

I wanna see the Phillies boo Garcia. Give us Harper v. Garcia!

Dusty has been facing criticism all year. Astros fans really aren't happy with him if internet discussion is anything to go by

Well...They're about as streaky as a team can be. It'll be a case of when (or if) you see the other Rangers team.

astros: five pitchers, 110 pitches, 55 strikes, 12 outs

Lopsided game, so allow me to stray a bit here.

Me on Abreu the other night: "You're not exactly dealing with Greg Maddux here." Here's what happens when you are dealing with Greg Maddux--exactly the same thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA08te-zTj8

Ted Cruz’s office has confirmed he will be in attendance for Game 7 on Monday, despite Astros fans on social media begging him to stay home.

More: https://t.co/1VYyuQfybR

https://t.co/1VYyuQfybR

— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) October 23, 2023

It was a good run

— Ben Verlander (@BenVerlander) October 23, 2023

Welp! Great season Astros… :(

— Justin (@wizdog16) October 23, 2023

Aw man rangers really going to the World Series!

— Hayden (@HaydenVassar) October 23, 2023

Congratulations to the TX rangers in their run to the WS

— Tiquegonzalez_17 (@Tiquegonzalez17) October 23, 2023

Congratulations to the Texas Rangers on clinching the American League pennant.

— DC95 (@DoubleClutch95) October 23, 2023

abreu cant control it huh

Half-watching, at first I thought Garcia was at bat (because of the bumper interviews)--oh, god....Surely that puts the matter to rest? Abreau's just not big on pinpoint control.

Empty seats behind home plate in the 6th inning of a game 7. Beautiful

Tucker ain’t having any luck on that wall is he!

SHOW. ME. MOREEMPTYSEEEEAAAAAAAATSSSSSS 💺

I know--less than a foot of daylight between the two HR. (This one at least doesn't matter.)

Tucker going to spend the whole off season working out how to gain an extra inch on his jump (not that either home run he didn’t save mattered too much in the scope of the games)

I thought last night's miss came at a pretty critical moment.

Oh wait yeah sorry I was misremembering home runs (thought it was the Garcia grand slam), that first one kind of did matter

The one he actually caught didn't matter in the least.

I am really happy for these Rangers

how often has a team lost 4 home games in a single series? that's just brutal for the fans

2019 ws iirc

astros did in 2019 ws lol

lol yes I was gonna say I knew it happened recently and also caused a few people to ask "how often does this happen", forgot it was this very same team

who has home field between the rangers and phillies? they may not want it

If it's Rangers-Phillies, as exciting as the Phillies are, I'll root for Texas because of their 2011 heartbreak (and Semien and Scherzer are among my favourite players). Has the makings of a great series. If it's Rangers-Diamondbacks...I will have to find some hook to keep me interested (above and beyond "it's the World Series").

if the d-backs win the ws does madbum get a ring y/n

Has any team ever knocked out three more formidable opponents? Probably. But the Rangers will have beaten a team that won 99, a team that won 101, and the defending WS champions.

Astros just trying to prove they don’t cheat at home anymore with these ridiculous home-road splits.

I don’t think he does? It’s only those on the team at the end of the season, right?

if the d-backs win the ws does madbum get a ring y/n

I read that he does

One of the Giants beat writers

What if they were to activate him and bring him out of the bullpen in a Game 7 just to mess with Bochy's head?

Ah, Yordan--I will miss you.

I’m not a fan of the cranky old man, but this is pretty funny

In the hours before another Game 7 for Bruce Bochy today, he got a text from Madison Bumgarner, offering to pitch.

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) October 23, 2023

I wish it was legal by Gardner being activated by the Rangers to pitch against diamondbacks would be an all time post season story, regardless of the result

*bumgarner (I really need to turn off autocorrect!!!!!)

Speechless!

garcia rubbing it in

C'mon, you're entitled: middle finger to the stands.

This is Reggie-Pujols stuff.

Damnit I just turned it off to walk to the homebrew store. What was I thinking!

The cupped ear's almost as good as a middle finger.

there's a homebrew store?!

Clearly payback for Garcia, I can tell--have to suspend him.

Homebrew supplies, truly the best hobby to mix with baseball fandom, and it’s a 5 minute walk from my house so Peach is always happy to get an extra walk down the street ⚾️🍻🦮

I would very much not like getting hit by a Chapman fastball

The only way to make sure is to permanently suspend all astros

I would not like getting hit by any major league fastball.

One more inning!

So who would be in line for the win? I forget the rule on this.

that is, not Scherzer

I'd give it to Garcia...If not, it's up to the scorer to determine who was most deserving (but I don't think Scherzer's eligible unless he goes five).

I suspect it will go to Montgomery.

wow that was a bomb

A homerun here, a grand slam afterwards, then a solo home run… and we’ll have ourselves a ballgame!

well that would at least make it a save situation

Damn thought we were getting bases loaded

Tucker will end this with a great warning-track catch by Garcia.

Woo!!!

Hahaha the colourful backpack!

the W is supposed to go to the most effective reliever, but in situations like this they almost always give it to the first one. in this case yeah it’s montgomery either way

Congrats Rangers

For Torontonians, think I just spotted Hazel Mae interviewing Bochy.

Astros are going to tear down Enron Field in the offseason

JUST IN: Dusty Baker has expressed to multiple inside & outside the Astros organization that 2023 will be his final season as manager, sources tell The Athletic.

◻️ 2x World Series Champion
◻️ 3x Manager of the Year
◻️ 19 years as a player
◻️ 26 years as a manager

Details ⤵️

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) October 24, 2023

Let Dusty Rest at his (solar) farm

"You don’t tug on Adolis Garcia’s cape."
--unnamed baseball writer