2010 World Series: Texas Rangers vs San Francisco Giants

San Francisco get home field.

i really didn't think these two teams would be here but here we are.

shouldnt this be a poll

too late, sorry

give predictions anyways!

Angels in 7.

haha, not that nightmare again

http://nbchardballtalk.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/nolan-ryan-george-bush-alcs-game-1-e1287200125618.jpg

rangers 6

phil hughes was a gift to both the rangers & the giants this year

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/boxscore.jsp?gid=2010_07_13_nasmlb_aasmlb_1

Hughes, P(H, 1)(L, 0-1)

ya - normally i'd say it's gotta be the rangers. but things aren't going as they should.

Giants in six

Lincecum
Cain
J. Sanchez
Bumgarner
Lincecum
Cain

Sanchez

Rangers in 5.

But I'm rooting for the Giants.

I don't know Bee, how many times are we facing Lee?

he will always pitch against Lincecum, will take that chance

Dude has been unconscious! Timmy'd better have some more 14 K games under his belt to have a chance.

it's baseball, you really have no idea what is going to happen

1958 is a long time ago and has never happened in San Francisco

so excited about the possibilities

the beisbol giants

I think it's the Giants' year. Lee is being talked about like he's Bob Gibson or Tom Seaver, and maybe he'll keep it going; Lincecum is the better pitcher, though. I hope Sorry, Doc can stay hot. For no reason other than a hunch, I have a feeling that most of the games will be high scoring. Giants in 7.

2010 WORLD SERIES: MOLINAS REVENGE

Lincecum is the better pitcher, though.

you say this like it's clear cut

Hey, apparently Bengie is guaranteed to get a WS ring.

again, can I say steers vs queers or is that uncouth

QUEERS over STEERS IN 6

I'm still saying 2-1 that Devendra sings in SF

i'd say giants have slightly better pitching but rangers have a significantly better offense

rangers in 6

you say this like it's clear cut

Okay--I think Lincecum's better, and I think a comparison of their whole careers would bear that out. But you're right, I have no single metric to prove it.

(Just out of curiosity, how is that it's okay to say you know RBI don't matter much around here, and it's okay to say you know momentum's not real, but saying that a 26-year-old, two-time Cy Young winner is better than a 32-year old, one-time winner who happens to be hot requires a qualifier?)

i've never said those things

That wasn't directed at you specifically--sorry if it came off that way. It was a more general statement: that what you can say you know on this board without raising an eyebrow, and what requires that you attach a qualifier, would seem to depend on who's doing the saying.

well uh let me put it this way--i'm not gonna call out folks who have already proven to be stubborn and intractable.

lincecum is younger and has had the better career for sure--but both guys at their best, talent against talent, i'd really think about taking lee.

i'm not gonna call out folks who have already proven to be stubborn and intractable.

Thank you, many times over. I was starting to develop a bit of a persecution complex around here.

Right now, you could be right. Especially as Lincecum was not at his best against the Phillies.

what an intriguing series!

Yankess and Phils getting knocked out is a great consolation prize for losing the Braves early. Hopefully roomfuls of Fox execs are wailing and rending their garments at the ratings hit they'll take.

Rooting Rangers and picking Rangers, even though the idea of Frenchy getting a ring before Brian McCann makes me burp acid a little.

I don't know much about markets, but do S.F. and Texas count as medium? I'm wondering if all the other attractions about this series--number-one, two longtime franchises who've never won (city-wise for the Giants) a Series, and number-two, that they're both colourful underdog teams--might counteract some of the market considerations. If it's a close series that goes 6 or 7, I could see some pretty good audiences towards the end.

I don't think I've genuinely liked both WS teams since 2002.

All this "torture" stuff is making me swing toward the Rangers.

they're both upper-medium, I think xp

http://www.tvb.org/rcentral/markettrack/us_hh_by_dma.asp

I'm wondering if all the other attractions about this series--number-one, two longtime franchises who've never won (city-wise for the Giants) a Series, and number-two, that they're both colourful underdog teams--might counteract some of the market considerations. If it's a close series that goes 6 or 7, I could see some pretty good audiences towards the end.

World Series TV ratings since 1984:

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

This year's WS compares well with 1997 (Cleveland vs Florida): two underdog teams advancing to the WS (and knocking off the WS teams from the previous year!), one team hadn't won a championship in 50 years, and the other team was there for the first time. The ratings were horrible. And you can't blame this one on post-strike apathy, because the ratings in 1995-6 were about as good as those in 1992-3 (although 1992-3 had low ratings compared to earlier years in part because the Blue Jays were involved).

Cleveland and Miami are smaller markets than the Bay Area and Dallas-Ft. Worth though.

wow had no idea baseball's audience had sunk so low since the 80s

and yet i read recently that baseball was -- by one metric or another -- still solidly the no. 2 sport in the nation (behind the nfl and, surprisingly to me, ahead of the nba).

I'm engaging in some wishful thinking, I know.

I get the feeling that '91 was a pivotal year--maybe the last time when a great Series equalled great ratings, regardless of who was involved. (I know Minnesota was small-market; not sure where the Braves sat then, but it was their first winning year in a while.) People have Glee and Blackberrys now to occupy their time. (And, um, message boards!)

As a dodger fan I am so conflicted.

xpost yeah, the World Series has drawn higher ratings than the NBA finals in every year except for 1998 (Bulls vs Jazz II).

I think you're right about the 1991 WS -- viewership was low at the start of the series but grew steadily once people undoubtedly heard about what a great series it was, and had nearly doubled by Game 7. The point of no return seemed to happen when FOX took over in 2000, perhaps because a) people got tired of seeing the Yankees every year, and b) FOX assumed that the answer to a) was to hype the Yankees (and Red Sox) even more. And they were surprised when nobody cared about Cards vs Tigers!

the idea of Frenchy getting a ring before Brian McCann makes me burp acid a little

"Players with rings" is the worst metric of all. Fuckouer is 3-for-18 in the tournament so far.

World Series ratings shrinkage is all about audience fragmentation through available TV channels mushrooming via cable. Most of those extra folks in the old days watched because nothing else was on. It's always been about about capturing the "casual fan," ie people who can't name anyone but star players at best (this is why we have Buck and McCarver); so no one need worry about these "horrible" ratings except TV execs.

have nfl ratings dropped over the same period?

or maybe "average ratings of all shows" rather than nfl is a fairer comparison.

"Players with rings" is the worst metric of all.

oh god, just eat shit why don't you.

no, I'm busily campaigning to put Luis Sojo and his 4 rings in Cooperstown. I'll eat shit later.

(also funny statement from fan of the 1-time world champions?)

lol tampa 2nd & goal from the 35 yd line

I'm just sick of your neverending negativity.

oops xp

yer even thinking abt Frenchy first is sick 'nuff buckaroo. He shoulda stuck to a moron sport like football.

lol keep going guys.

Is 85-87 the best three WS in a row?

that any of us have seen, perhaps, tho did not care for the turf fields in '87 or the ump blowing it in '85 (save that it torpedoed the Cards).

'71-73, '55-58, '24-26 all went the limit too.

(btw: Babe Ruth made the last out in '26, caught stealing at second. You think A-Rod would survive doing that?)

World Series ratings shrinkage is all about audience fragmentation through available TV channels mushrooming via cable.

This can partly account for it, but like caek said, it doesn't apply to the NFL -- their weekly TV and playoff ratings have gone up. Baseball is mainly losing its fans to other sports, not to cable TV as a whole. Baseball does a terrible job at marketing itself (i.e. its stars and its teams) compared to other major sports. And as if we don't complain about this every year -- it's tough to pick up casual fans when playoff games last forever and continue into the middle of the night.

He shoulda stuck to a moron sport like football.

― kind of shrill and very self-righteous (Dr Morbius)

mlb is chock full of mensa candidates

My highly biased best three in a row: '91-'93. (I'm so biased, I'd even settle for '92-'94.) If I eliminate the Jays from consideration, I'd probably go with, believe it or not, 2001-2003. All the other obvious candidates present problems for me. '71-'73 were great, but I was still in grade school, so my memory of them is pretty dim at this point. (Still remember fragments, like Kison's great game, etc.). I loved '77 and '78, but, as I've mentioned before, I started university in the fall of '79 and paid zero attention to the Pirates-Orioles 7-gamer. '85-'87 all went 7, but in '85 and (especially) '87 I was in mourning for the Jays--'87 was so bad, I doubt if I watched three innings of that year's Series. So even though 2003 only went 6, I thought those were three pretty great Series.

all that stuff about subpar marketing is true, sort of... but game attendance had been rising staedily until the economic meltdown. I think TV is where we see that baseball's rhythms are really not in tune with the culture anymore, even if the distended game times were dealt with. I'm sometimes amazed it's remained as popular as it is.

am0n, I meant that football substantially appeals to the moron within the spectator.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrkSElfm7Lk

All this "torture" stuff is making me swing toward the Rangers.

word. all NL west baseball is torture. the Giants dont have a monopoly on it..

well it has been their MO as game wins were sometimes hard to watch this year. i also like it better than the spotlight (the Padres) or the very stupid antler's thing the Ranger do.

I'd probably go with, believe it or not, 2001-2003

I was thinking the same, actually. Those series aren't quite as iconic as 85-87, but they're easily the best since then (or maybe 91-93).

The problem with 2001 is that although it was exciting, it was kinda badly played and badly managed. But it had one of the all-time great Game 7's.

baseball is better when you're there. football is better on TV. qed.

what's cannibalizing baseball viewing figures is clearly the burgeoning success of the Fox Soccer Channel

NoTime and I share the same Jays bias, but I think you can make a case that '91-'93 belongs on any list of the greatest three-in-a-row. Most people agree that '91 was one of the best Series ever. '92 only went 6, but there were four one-run games and one decided by two, and the sixth game was won in the 11th (on the first big WS hit by a future Hall of Famer). '93 was a little like 2001: not necessarily well played, but wild and close, with the incredible 15-14 game, one of two walk-off Series-winning HR ever, and one of the most colorful teams to ever find their way into a Series (the Phillies, obviously).

1993 Phillies vs 1934 Cardinals?

Oh, man...Dizzy vs. the Wild Thing!

Mike Lupica on A-Rod ending the ALCS with the bat on his shoulder in the 9th:

"They paid him $252 million once to put the Rangers in the World Series. Now he had."

Wait a minute... A-Rod still has SEVEN YEARS left on his contract?? He's 36!

but what is that in centaur years

rooting for giants, also think they have a pretty good chance to win so i'm saying giants in 6.

lol centaur years

well it has been their MO as game wins were sometimes hard to watch this year. i also like it better than the spotlight (the Padres) or the very stupid antler's thing the Ranger do.

― Bee OK, Sunday, October 24, 2010 10:10 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

Was it started by someone who doesn't normally watch much baseball? The Giants' run differential was +100 and they were a sub-.500 team rather recently for several consecutive years. If watching your team win its division and go to the World Series is torture, imagine being a fan of the Pirates, or the Orioles, or the Royals, or the Mariners, or...

I think Bee enjoys the self-manufactured drama.

not sure why people are making a big deal over tv ratings for this, it's not like either team is in a tiny media market like cincinatti or KC. i think people will watch.

all I can say is THANK GOD it's not the Yankees

that said, mlb really could do a better job of marketing the current generation of great players before they end up on the large market teams in their twilight years, i know too many 'die-hard' red sox fans who don't know who albert pujols is, let alone buster posey or ryan zimmerman or whoever.

baseball is better when you're there. football is better on TV. qed.

And this wasn't true 25 years ago?

I personally don't care if the ratings are good or not, and right now baseball is swimming in cash so I doubt that Bud Selig or the owners or anyone outside of the people who sell TV advertising care what the ratings are either. But I think the ratings decline is emblematic of baseball's inability to market itself effectively and a host of other problems with the sport that will affect its long-term health and popularity. Which is something I do care about.

would it help ratings if almost half the playoffs weren't on cable? there are lots of people who want to watch these games who can't because they don't have cable (including me)

Possible good poll hinted at above: the most colorful/wildest/funnest WS team ever. In addition to the '34 Cards and '93 Phillies, I'd immediately add the Bronx Zoo Yankees ('78, I guess) and one of the Charlie O. A's Teams. And, I guess, the '04 Red Sox.

xp it might, but i think the main issue is that it's become increasingly regionalized due to most games being on RSNs that only market up the home team

baseball could really benefit from some new players becoming household names out-of-market. everyone around here knew who ken griffey was even though he played on a west coast team that we rarely got to see when we were kids. i don't know if anyone's got that high a profile today besides jeter and a-rod and maybe ortiz.

and for a few million lucky Northeasterners, we want to watch the World Series games and can't (on our TVs) because we have Cablevision.

FCC hearing these two suucubi corporations today...

Rangers in a 4 game sweep

nice poll assholes

Yeah, let's fix that.

Looking for World Series tickets? Be prepared to loan out your beach house in San Francisco
http://www.mercurynews.com/giants/ci_16432174?nclick_check=1

By Monday, a free-wheeling online bazaar had sprung up, inflating the value of Series tickets like the currency in a banana republic. Standing-room-only tickets were being marked up on Craigslist by as much as 2,000 percent, front-row seats on StubHub were going for $20,000 a pair, and desperate fans were offering their beach homes in trade for a way into the game.

And as season-ticket holders set a price tag on their loyalty, high-rollers swarmed onto websites such as StubHub and Razorgator, willing to pay up to $5,000 for a pair of box seats. This left fans like Jesse Walker, a carpenter from Santa Clara who attended 25 regular-season games, fuming...

lol poor people

http://i6.tinypic.com/6chf3fc.gif

http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2010/10/a-gay-guide-to-the-world-series.html

haha, awesome. sent that around the office.

THANK YOU, ROB NEYER:

I do want to mention something else, though ... This "torture" meme strikes me as slightly overblown. Yes, it's sometimes been hard for Giants fans to watch. But that's because of the hitting, not the pitching. The Giants' bullpen has been fantastic. Even a fantastic bullpen is going to have a lot of close calls, if it's tasked with protecting small leads.

Even so, the Giants have not played a particularly large number of close games. They did play 52 one-run games during the season, but four of the seven other playoff teams played more. They did win 28 one-run games ... but so did the White Sox, the Padres and the Rockies (granted, the Rockies also lost 30 one-run games).

Maybe you'll find something different if you dig deeper, but I think the whole "torture" thing was just someone's clever invention -- Mike Krukow, perhaps -- and everyone else ran with it.

As for Brian Wilson, he's one of 13 pitchers with at least 60 saves over the past two seasons. In that span, his WHIP -- walks and hits per inning -- ranks seventh, exactly in the middle (Mariano Rivera is No. 1, of course; Matt Capps is No. 13). What sets Wilson apart are two things: He's pitched more innings than anyone else, and at the same time given up fewer home runs than anyone else.

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/6041/brian-wilson-instrument-of-torture

(Krukow has probably watched a fair amount of baseball, though.)

Apparently it was Kuiper who started it.

The most recent public, Neyer-related FB status updates:

J*** H*** rob neyer needs to die

J*** M******* Absolutely laughable article, regarding the Giants-Rangers, written by Rob Neyer on the MLB page on ESPN this morning. This guy is a clown. How does he write for ESPN?

A*** F****** I forgot, Rob Neyer (but only for a little bit), how much of a doucher you are..

kuip was not referring to one run games, he was referring to close and late games that the giants managed to blow or eke out a win. trust me on this one.

Close, meaningful games are a new experience for most of the bandwagoners who call themselves Giants fans these days.

wait are these people mad at neyer because he doesn't think watching the giants is torture?

okay i checked the stats, SF led the majors in Save Opportunities, meaning that rather than 1-run games, the Giants had a 3-run lead or less* "late" more than any other team:
http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/pitching/seasontype/2/sort/saveOpportunities/type/expanded/order/true

Sure, SF also led the majors in Save%, but if you've watched Wilson, you know his penchant for putting at least 1-2 guys on, maybe in tribute to former Giants closers like Rod Beck and Robb Nen who were equally sketchy. Although his WHIP isn't bad (1.18), he allowed 90 baserunners (16 xbhs, 4 inherited runners scoring)... he's not exactly Mo Rivera out there.

*(or a 4-run lead with RISP)

90 baserunners in 70 appearances

@SI_JonHeyman homeless guys lining 3rd st.with placards seeking tickets to game. funny town this is

Heyman is hilariously clueless.

http://www.seamheads.com/2010/10/26/bill-james-world-series-predictor-goes-with/

spoiler: giants

"homeless"

Brian Wilson is 5 for 6 in save situations this postseason and isn't afraid to walk hitters to get a matchup he likes.

Oh, that's what it is.

Barry Larkin just said, "Let's strap it on and get it on."

why is first pitch often (always?) at 57 minutes past the hour?

RIP Timmy

RIP Giants.

That was a Timmeh-sized brain fart.

he had to have thought that renteria sprinting into third was a runner right?

I always have to explain and re-explain the force rule to my students. I'm trying to remember if I ever had Lincecum as a student...

Here's a great stat I just thought of:
If the Giants sweep the world series they will be the first team named after scary monsters with black & orange colours to win on hallowe'en.

This is gonna get ugly. Oh wait, it already is.

New ways for double plays.

Giants miscue tally through one inning: ||

Vlad makes a nice decoy.

OT: nice thing about the 15+ second delay between radio and tv is I know when to look away when things get bad.

It looks like Cliff Lee is a better hitter and baserunner than anyone on the Giants.

g/o

Jeez, Vlad! Wha happened?

i.e. he'd fit in the Giants' outfield.

Vlad runs to the ball like he's running through a minefield or something. He hasn't gotten close to anything all night.

I'd like to see Vlad and Bobby Cox compete in a 40-yd dash.

is vlad bat really worth it?

david murphy is pretty decent...

I've completely changed my mind on Lee. I'm ready to empty out the vault for him.

xp he's gonna kill them out there

just got home

this sucks

I'm glad they are getting jitters out of the way without giving up too many points

"Time to go to work, Cliffy?" Good God. Buck and McCarver almost make me miss Rick Sutcliffe.

haha my sister is mad

http://i52.tinypic.com/wldw6o.jpg

Joe is right though. :\

torres should have gone for it yn

freddy is the new cody ross

also yes

Errr, don't stop believing, etc.

Posey

or not

well at least pat burrell isn't batting clean up

oof

Sanchez should have run but was double off in the last inning? so he played it right.

new game, now that the Giants showed they can score off this guy might make this game really fun.

My name is Cliff and hearing "Cliffy" always makes me madddd.

Pat looks horrendous, but I'm not complaining about those two runs.

Muse have a cover song in a commercial? kind of cool, loved that second album.

Anyone else wonder if Timmy was going to throw that comebacker to first?

the Giants are looking pretty good in this game

The Green Screen job is so bad it's v. distracting

five runs off of Cliff Lee!!

-10M Dollars

WoW

this is amazing!

The legendary Big Train Lee is just not on his game tonight.

Who had "Cliff Lee yanked in the 5th" in the betting pool?

how was that not a balk?

not important

i think i just died and went to heaven

7 ERA on Cliff Lee

ERA ER

I think you understand, don't you, that the Dallas skull is badly dented?

(I don't really believe that, I just like quoting Sweet Smell of Success.)

oh woooooord

Lee obviously not fit for the postseason

lol

The amount of Lee ass kissing was getting unbearable.

McCarver didn't specify that he meant 6-run-inning in the World Series...Those of you in San Francisco, please tell me you haven't been waiting since 1958 for your team to score six runs in an inning.

Target practice on Timmy tonight.

Yankees make 8-year offer to Cliff Lee

Lincecum was looking dialed in when the inning started. Now it's a game again! This is definitely not how I expected this game to turn out.

Morbs: *this* would be a good time to complain about pitching matchups not living up to the hype :)

so Timmy couldn't come back with a shut down inning. figures as the Giants with a six run lead just isn't Giants baseball.

tim mccarver compared bengie molina to a ballerina iirc

That was the best version of GBA this postseason! Tony Bennett is still a genius.

Listening to Spanish-language audio channel, play-by-play guy sounds like Brent Musburger.

Insert obvious "... and he still makes more sense than McCarver" joke here.

that Tony Bennett moment was stunning, absolutely gorgeous.

is it plausible that romo can keep safe a 4 run lead?

ahh the kitty is gone

Huff was out at second, good call. the umpires need praise every once in awhile.

Some Giants-like baserunning there.

Romo has been good for the Giants. He mealed down in New York to the Mets and the playoffs haven't been kind. don't think he will get a lot of time for the rest of the year.

He did the outside corner like Rothko though.

He did paint, that is.

Giants are playing a good game. hard to believe San Francisco were down by two runs and facing Cliff Lee in this game.

it was over wasn't it?

Huff made an error, then makes a great heads up play and tags the runner rounding first.

It wasn't a heads up play, Kinsler made a stupid baserunning mistake, which is something he's excelled at this postseason.

amazingly, it's on my tv too. xpost

RIP Vlad.

It's a pretty safe bet that Vladi won't be starting in right tomorrow ... then again, with Ron Washington, you never know!

I'd like to see Vlad and Bobby Cox compete in a 40-yd dash.

― Unfrozen Caveman Board-Lawyer (WmC), Wednesday, October 27, 2010 7:39 PM

Vlad vs. Renteria would be even better, come to think of it.

Feel bad for Guerrero. The Jays had a similar decision way back when with Winfield and Molitor.

Ishikawa drives in a run = officially a laffer.

Ok, now I'm feeling bad for Vlad too.

F. Sanchez has had the best game of any Giant tonight

Giants need to save some runs for the rest of the series.

Is it a good idea for a team that doesn't score much to be scoring so much?

Damn, that was fast:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG1IyYxV7jk

why bring in Wilson?

Wilson has been off for a long time, is this practice?

all hands on deck

Style points, I guess?

Finally.

happy happy joy joy

WHY DOES THIS WORLD NEED A DANCE REMIX OF SONG 2?

4 things:

1) what the fark was the over/under on this mofo? that's a huge payout imho.

2) B@rry from Canada (also clemhydinza): <3 u guys (not really), but welcome to NL baseball. when your clean up batter is better suited for tee-ball, gtfo.

3) Cliff Lee was not the top 5 pitcher on the field tonight. JordanS, s my d you ignorant kook. jk <3 (not really)

4) I still hate Brian Sabean and his fatman goatee.

before i load these, i wonder who was first to post "RIP Giants"?

B@rry, as you can see the charm of NL ball is watching half a player like Old Vlad play defense.

so Shasta is gonna end his season w/ 3 rong series predictions?

morbs, go to the poll thread you quack.

also scroll up one single post, va fannculo.

welcome to NL baseball. when your clean up batter is better suited for tee-ball, gtfo.

I'm not even sure what this means. You're ridiculing Guerrero, right? Oh. You almost make me want to root for Texas.

but Shasta he is not far off, you have hated the Giants all season

The only team I have hated is the Yanquis, can you please pay attention after almost 7 months BeeOk, ya goombah.

RIP Giants.

― Cliff Leee (Leee), Wednesday, October 27, 2010 8:09 PM

upset! i had you seeded third.

yeah Shasta, you have shat all over SF all year.

Also that Gay Guide to the World Series article was... gay. No tasteful fag thinks someone w/ Posey's Jon Heder face is HOT. also, fills typical stereotypical view of gays & sports, no wonder Shasta loved it.

the only team I have hated is the Yanquis

lol, u sent Alderson a good-luck Candygram today?

great, let's see how the Mets collapse next year okay.

anywaysssssssss, the Giants are horrible, but Cliff Lee is worse, let's be real.

RIP Giants.

― Cliff Leee (Leee), Wednesday, October 27, 2010 8:09 PM

upset! i had you seeded third.

i think buster posey is hot tbh

self-negating! xxp

J0rd yer weeeeird

jordy don't forget about cliff lee, the greatest pitcher in baseball right? is he hot or just lukewarm?

stick to denim, shasta

lol, stick to overrated pitchers dawggy.

jk jordy, you'd make a great GM. very similar to sabean imho.

>:O!!!!

a two-time world series GM!

ss has entire ILBB gay mafia after him now

rmde at the ILB gay mafia.

It's velvet mafia : /

Shasta, is your animus due to Sabean not re-signing Bonds?

there is not a character limit that would allow me to document the crimes tbqh...

but honestly haven't seen you around much, do you only pay attn when SF is in the playoffs?

Yes.

i know BeeOK hits his daily post quota, but LEEE, let's be real, you've been kinda out of the ILX loop!

Oh, I've been keeping myself to a small range of threads nowadays. Lot of people not worth engaging on most of ILX.

who cares and he did start the Giants rolling thread for 2010. Leee is a fan and let people have fun Shasta.

xpost

it's the World Series, ffs

Thank you Bee OK, you are right, every fan has a right to celebrate tonight, no matter how worth engaging they are. Why did you lay off the sauce tonight if you don't mind me asking?

fair enough

welcome to NL baseball. when your clean up batter is better suited for tee-ball, gtfo.

I'm also not sure what this means ... but AFAIC, when players play out of position (e.g pitchers trying to hit, DH's trying to play defense) then they usually embarrass themselves and it leads to shitty baseball. Sounds like an endorsement of the DH rule!

I'm glad I wasn't the only one who didn't find the "Gay Guide to the WS" funny.

Although I'm sure that Vlad's rustiness can be chalked up to lack of practice, I'm sure if he were forced to play the OF everyday then he could bring his skills up to the level, of say, a Pat Burrell. Viva NL baseball!!

The amount of Lee ass kissing was getting unbearable.

Seconded. I found myself supported the hated Gints for this reason alone. Sorry Cliff, but your small sample size has amply demonstrated its fragility.

What a load of errors! I watched the condensed game on mlb.tv and not knowing most of the players, it was only when reading this that I realised just why the Texas RF was so appalling. But the defence was pretty horrible all night - was it Sandoval who made the best defensive play? And poor old Timmy will have bruises...

A small sample size of April 2008 through October 2010?

Apparently Guerrero will be playing right tonight! Painful to watch, but Washington deserves to have it cost his team the game.

I'm also not sure what this means ... but AFAIC, when players play out of position (e.g pitchers trying to hit, DH's trying to play defense) then they usually embarrass themselves and it leads to shitty baseball. Sounds like an endorsement of the DH rule!

Cliff Lee hit a dope double last night, not sure if you saw the game or not.

Guerrero was brutal last night, but I expect he'll be better (or at least inconspicuous) second time around; I have faith that great players adjust. Did either of his errors come during SF's six-run inning? I can't tell from the play-by-play...I didn't feel like he cost them the game or anything.

Bottom 8th: San Francisco
- J. Cantu at first
- M. Lowe relieved A. Ogando
- E. Renteria singled to right, E. Renteria to third on right fielder V. Guerrero's fielding error
- T. Ishikawa hit for J. Lopez
- T. Ishikawa doubled to left, E. Renteria scored
- A. Torres fouled out to third
- F. Sanchez doubled to right, T. Ishikawa scored, F. Sanchez to second on right fielder V. Guerrero's fielding error
- B. Posey grounded out to shortstop
- M. Kirkman relieved M. Lowe
- N. Schierholtz singled to shallow center, F. Sanchez scored
- C. Ross popped out to shortstop

And not just the 8th, look at how many of SF's doubles were hit to RF. Those are normally singles fwiw.

man i didn't realize it was that bad--stopped watching at 8-2

I was happy for Lee's hit because it occasioned a Chad Ogea mention.

Vlad looked like he was trying to chase down shuttlecocks in a hurricane.

It was 8-4 going into the bottom of the 8th. To repeat: a) he was brutal; b) he didn't cost them the game.

I used to love the Ogeas.

Saw them open for the Embrees.

I predict that the Giants are going to get sonned tonight.

Hell to the no. Giants win tonight but do get sonned at least once in this series. That said, I will concede that last night's type of game is not a sustainable path to victory. They were way overdue for one of these wierd blowout games,but they can't give up that many runs and stay on top.

Matt Cain in SF 2010/Career:
ERA 2.93/3.19
WHIP 1.01/1.18
BAA .208/.221

Not saying it ain't possible but the odds will be better that the Giants are gonna get sonned in games 3 - 5.

One thing I don't totally understand. I know the Rangers have a great offense, and I know the Giants have very little in that department. But: the Giants won a fairly competitive division with 92 wins, and the Rangers took a fairly weak division with 90. Yet the Rangers were clear favorites going in--here, and everywhere I've looked. Is that based primarily on the fact that they blew out the Yankees, or is there something I'm missing? They may very well win this, but I don't see why they're such obvious favorites based on the entirely of the season. Is it run differential or something like that?

east coast media bias imho, you beat the yanquis than you are world champions qed.

^^^

i mean did you hear buck and mccarver at a loss for words when Lee started shitting the bed? pretty sure i heard them gasping once the wheels came off.

Buck is the smuggest #*&^! in sports commentary.

That was such an odd game. The Giants scoring 11?! It was definitley not following the pundits' script. The first two innings little Timmy looked alone, bewildered and out of sorts. Then the rest of the team showed up and he looked better and buoyed by that they went on a rampage but also looked sloppy in defense. Despite all the hype about Lee, the thing I did take away from this game is AL be damned, he's as good a hitter, if not better than Tim.

I thought Lee was an odd combination of brilliant and very mortal. On a few of his strikeouts, he looked unhittable; on all those doubles, it was batting practice.

You could see the pressure come off of Tim's shoulders and alight on Lee's.

Baseball is such a crazy ass game. If you told me at the beginning of the year that Juan Uribe and Cody Ross would lead the Giants to the world series....

I would have said, "Who's Cody Ross?"

clemenza: AL > NL

Anybody in the major leagues can be a hot hitter for a month. Even Jeff Francoeur.

AL > NL

Haven't you heard? They only play real baseball in the big tough N.L.--I learned that here.

I don't know--that's a hard thing to empirically prove. The American League's won 6 out of the last 10 WS; you flip one of those and it's a draw. They've been dominating the All-Star Game, but I'm not sure how seriously that should be taken. An edge, probably; but whether that league-wide advantage would translate to the two Western Divisions, I don't know--probably a good part of the difference resides in the A.L. East.

The American League's won 6 out of the last 10 WS

with homefield advantage!

Is there any fair way to determine homefield advantage between the AL and the NL for the WS?

coin flip

I liked the complicated old Rip Van Winkle way; take turns.

coin flip

Is there any way MLB and the network could make money out of that?

keep the coin?

televise the coin flip as a special, obv!

http://loudouncountyre.com/loudounforeclosures/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/flipping-homes.jpg

THIS TIME IT COUNTS

I prefer best record, no matter the diff schedules/strength of leagues etc.

clemenza, though you're our "anti-stat" regular I'm not even gonna start on the myriad ways you can tell the overall AL is better than the overall NL.

(interleague W-L perhaps)

Interleague would be the obvious place to start--duh, should have thought of that. Any idea where they sit right now?

since '05
Winner AL NL
2005 American 136 116
2006 American 154 98
2007 American 137 115
2008 American 149 103
2009 American 138 114
2010 American 134 118

I'm not anti-stat! I've been obsessing over baseball stats for 35 years. I just don't treat them as the be-all and end-all in every situation, and, as I've pointed out many times, I want to know a whole bunch of different stuff, and I want to make up my own mind as to what matters and how much weight it should be given. I don't want somebody to tell me RBI don't matter anymore, because we've got this new godlike metric that takes care of everything. (And, yes, before you say so yourself, I know that's not what you're saying...no more than I'm "anti-stat.")

Just looked at the numbers above--now that's convincing. (See? I'm not an unreasonable man.)

Wonder what the NL-hosted record looks like.

Now I'll leave it to Shasta to reconcile the A.L.'s clear superiority in this sport that they're allegedly not even playing properly.

RBI has a very low VORS.

I looked into VORS, though--he never hits in the clutch, and he doesn't know how to win the close ones.

I don't know that I've ever heard someone say RBI 'don't matter.' They're a narrative stat rather than an analytical stat - a high RBI total is not necessarily reflective of a player's quality, but they're not not-valuable as a number.

We've hashed that one out eight ways till Sunday. What you just said is basically what I've been saying all along.

We were speculating on what kind of TV audience the Series would get. I didn't hear anything--Lee/Lincecum should have been pretty decent viewership, I would think.

for people who love baseball and know who those guys are. Fox wants the OTHER people.

Off to a "slow start."

USC Vs Oregon will kill them on Saturday.

Ratings probably didnt get helped by the blowout.

The 9th was pretty exciting though.

damn, forgot Modern Family was on.

Vlad's not starting tonight.

http://a323.yahoofs.com/ymg/ept_sports_mlb_experts__69/ept_sports_mlb_experts-255172990-1288283031.jpg?ymYez_DDZQf4PA1P

Vlad and Bengie are out of the lineup... I guess CJ Wilson has his own personal catcher?

Vlad I get, but benching Bengie could be a big mistake. Molina knows the park (2.5 years starting catcher) and knows the staff ridiculously well.

Weird.

I mean, yeah, I get Vlad after last night's game but the omission of Bengie is weird.

yes, for reasons unknown cj always works with the other guy

personal catchers are so wack

the only time i can even fathom is it for a knuckler, but otherwise it reeks of prima donna diva drama.

Neither of them have OPSs over .600 as a Ranger so I don't really see why it matters. Maybe Treanor can circle the bases in less than an hour though.

say what?

Treanor: .211/.287/.308 in 237 ABs
Molina: .240/.279/.320 in 175 AB

Granted that this sample does not include the robust .257/.312/.332 Molina put up with the Giants, but still.

wau... that is really bad and coupled with BM being the slowest runner in baseball = yeesh.

But of course Molina is hitting well in the postseason (.960 OPS in 34 AB).

(Though Treanor has been adequate too (1.260 OPS in 11 AB).)

Mr. Misty May is going to rake.

Did Ozzie just say he expects "a lotta ballgame"?

ready

Ron Washington has not exhibit managerial prowess during this series, guys

nor have I exhibited typing prowess

Leaping onto first base is a great way to beat a throw.

stay hot Ross

Where's Steve Shasta to brag about Cain's "dope single"?

I thought Shasta was on Bumgarner's jock?

I thought Shasta was on the jock of any .085 hitter as long as he knows how to pitch.

finally some solid contact against this CJ guy, now they just need to find some holes

that is the luck the Giants usually get

Did I just see King Buzzo in the crowd?

YES

now it time to score

Indeed, francisF.

Buzzo is totally in da' house.

GOOD CALL BEE OK. I'M GIVING YOU CREDIT.

feel free to do it again, btw.

Taekwondo Elephant goes deep.

1-0

Where's Steve Shasta to brag about Cain's "dope single"?

― NoTimeBeforeTime, Thursday, October 28, 2010 5:50 PM (25 minutes ago)

Oh sorry, I know that hit was really cutting into your appreciation of true AL gold like Josh Hamilton and Michael Young.

I thought Shasta was on Bumgarner's jock?

― Cliff (Leee), Thursday, October 28, 2010 5:52 PM (23 minutes ago)

Did anyone ever confirm that MadiBum+Posey will be the youngest battery in (playoff?) WS history?

isn't the whole claw to the bench after each and every single diminish the worth of the claw?

what would KLAW think?

Cain is pitching one hell of a game

now here is a PITCHING DUEL

wtf talking about a hit to the outfield "getting down"? Never heard it til the last month or two. Stinks of football jargon.

I liked the way he defied the laws of time and space to get kinslers pop up to perfectly bounce off the wall

(both Buck & Jon Miller have said it tonight)

xp

Scott Pose, more like.

wwhat a play

vlad could have made that schierholtz catch

yeah that was rather routine

a bit like Al Gionfriddo

melisma

I know I should give a combat vet a pass and all, but wtf is this "God Bless America Mr. President" shit?

Quick, hit the mute button, she's a PsyOps brainwasher.

...too late

"wtf is this "God Bless America Mr. President" shit?"

I hit mute -- they dug up Marilyn?

Yeah it was like sexy God Bless America.

I guess that kind of singing has become sort of detached from the connotation of sexiness, but it still sounded weird.

that was BIG

Ross had no doubt that thing was dropping in.

giants have sold their souls to the devil

i like this move to leave in Cain

you have a run sitting out there but Cain is dealing

Nolan Ryan would let Matt Cain stay in the game even if he had thrown 4800 pitches

giants have sold their souls to the devil

no, in the musical that was the Senators!

bring in the beard for the 5 out save

That was a nice slapstick hat-fly-off/afro-reveal

Here comes the bullpen...

*cooks popcorn*

Cain Cain Cain

what a performance tonight.

McCarver has said some partic stupid shit tonight

two pitches by Lopez

Whose 1-4 is worse? Aside from Sanchez this is some shitty top of the order hitting.

who cares when god is on your side and you have uribe and ross

Justin Bieber's Rangers warm up jacket with Giants hat was worse.

Cain and Wilson were so lucky to run into all that lousy top-of-the-order hitting.

Bee OK, now would be an opportune time for some of your magic.

lol

HEY RON WHY DONT YOU LET NEFTALI FELIZ PITCH IN A GAME ONCE

Ron Washington's bullpen "management" is completely ridiculous. He leaves his LOOGY in the game to pitch to righthanders (and to give up the insurance run), and in the *next* inning he brings in his righty specialist, lets him pitch to the heart of the Giants order, and brings in his long relief guy to pitch to the bottom of the order. And I assume he won't be easing his closer into the series until they get back to Texas.

9 straight balls

10

11

the streak is over

1

(new streak)

haha

Bee, you are truly amazing.

i mean, it's only 3 runs. didn't wilson allow 3 last night in 1/3 of an inning?

bring in Romo

oh wait

was hopin for a sub-3-hr game

Rangers shd've had Whitey Herzog or Billy Martin's corpse manage this series

When you need someone to rescue the game and get an out with the bases loaded, always bring in the guy who got rocked the night before (who wasn't even on the playoff roster until the WS).

Ron Washington might be the stupidest manager I've ever seen. Seriously, who is worse than this guy?

amazing, can't believe my eyes

RIP 2010 Texas Rangers: 2010-2010

I don't think Washington is nearly as bad as his bullpen tbqh

this is psycho

http://www.edbaran.com/mtihomevideo/artwork/Meltdown_key.jpg

bud selig needs to wrest control from ron washington for the good of this series

I don't think Washington is nearly as bad as his bullpen tbqh

I don't think so, but I'm wondering how the Rangers could have possibly been 2nd in the AL in bullpen ERA.

and why not add a base hit

http://www.burlisonlaw.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/070311_medical_malpractice.jpg

not putting in feliz at any point in that inning totally invalidates the argument about washington vs bullpen -- i would buy that if he had put in feliz and feliz had melted down

Might as well let Nolan Ryan pitch to a batter or two.

im v disappointed that was not a walk, going to bed now

w/r/t the bullpen... i don't know, this is a completely different stage/arena/spectacle. SF fans are bristly, these guys could be spooked. There are a lot of seedy neighborhoods near the park and the hotel district, I figure that's what's up with JosHam.

the bullpen obv isn't great -- game one of the alcs proved that -- but holy fuck put in neftali feliz

Also I hear there are gays in SF.

I can't wait to see all the big hits from this game on ESPN instead of the pitcher's windup, a frozen frame, and the OF throwing the ball back in on MOTHERFUCKING MLB.TV

http://i479.photobucket.com/albums/rr159/XXxXXx_xxXxxx/LOL/snort.gif

I feel my team is complicit in getting the Giants home field advantage.. the last notable thing Jon Broxton did before turning into absolute shit.

Rick Sutcliffe has been ripping Ron Washington for the past half hour. Repeat: even Rick Sutcliffe gets it!!

I'm enjoying the cutaways to Nolan; there's an implied old-guy "Jesus, this is not how the game's supposed to be played" thought bubble over his head. Except I'm guessing he had one or two ugly bouts of wildness himself.

And we thank you, mayor dingleberries.

PINE TAR.

http://www.faniq.com/images/blog/346ba27a41d693c37e2a2721542e03b9.bmp

Jeez, save some for the honeymoon.

are we lookin at 1990 Reds' style sweep?

Looking forward to post game interview with Washington.

SF has batted around 3x so far this WS?

what's most runs a team has scored in a 4-game series?

how about in the first 2 games of any series?

Michael Kirkman? Who is this guy? Has he pitched at all this month? And now they're warming up their Game 4 starter??

Fun Fact:

30 of SF's 50 runs scored in the 2010 playoffs were with 2 outs.

I believe Kirkman is a comic book writer known for his fondness for zombies.

maybe feliz is hurt?

The Giants have now scored more runs in this series than they have the previous series.

How does a pudgy guy like Uribe move around like that?

Walker Texas Rangers, amirite?

happy happy JOY JOY

enjoy your team of destiny

Derek Holland: 13 pitches, 1 strike.

So close to having 9 innings of good ball.

how about [the record for most runs scored]in the first 2 games of any [world] series?

― kind of shrill and very self-righteous (Dr Morbius), Thursday, October 28, 2010 8:02 PM (51 minutes ago)

The 2010 SF Giants, not sure who had it before them.

7-game WS record is 55 by the Yankees in '60 (in losing to Mazeroski)

Timmy's hair idols?

Steve Perry ca. 1980
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4QkTvK2OEw

or Arnel Pineda ca. 2008 (Timmy is 1/4th Filipino fwiw)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpu8D8sP5Sg

wow this series has been garbage huh

The questioners at Wash's press appearance last night were walking on eggshells. "Can you, uh, tell us your thinking for each of the pitching changes?"

http://grungereport.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/buzzworldseries.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mtc4agrW9cE

btw why are fans paying tribute to Brian Wilson by wearing Hasidic beards?

was going to sign this up last night http://twitter.com/str8edgeblister

but i'm kind of sick of sports novelty tweets (girardisbinder, werthsbeard, etc)

Music sensation Justin Bieber's world premiere of the acoustic version of "Never Say Never," will debut during Game Three of the World Series Saturday on FOX.

while Texas is throwing 13 staright balls

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4059/5125969541_13d2e837e3.jpg

bieber reflects on game 3, nolan ryans fresh approach to starting pitching, vorp

forgets what team he likes

has to be a Blue Jays fan.

Pick a team, duder.

Alex Rios' road to 50 stolen bases and three home runs, aka 2010 White Sox

Hope Zito slips him some Gino Vannelli.

Just some mellow hippy fans out to chillax after the game with some mcfood...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHkUKLLm7Z0

"This was taken at the McDonald's right next to AT&T park. Some chick was arguing about their order, the chick with the yellow thong tells her, she shouldn't talk like that in front of her daughter. Chick says she's not my daughter and throws soda at the yellow thong chick. then all hell breaks loose."

uh, about those 'low' TV ratings -- I wouldn't worry.

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/39834946/ns/sports-baseball/

The "going-rate" for 2010 WS tickets was/is ~3x what the 2002 rate was fwiw. That seems nuts.

Getting worse. You can't say it's because of the lopsided score, as it was a great pitcher's duel through seven-and-a-half. Good luck to MLB on the new Bieber Initiative; I asked my grade 6 class Friday morning how many had watched last night's World Series game, and it was a nice round zero out of 25, with most of them not really even knowing what I was referring to.

I hadn't seen Morbius's link two above...I don't know what the disconnect means. I wonder if there's an analogy to be made with the stock market three or four years ago; as long as everyone's making money, no one worries too much about the looming catastrophe.

I ACTUALLY DON'T GIVE A DAMN HOW POPULAR BASEBALL IS WITH YOUNGSTERS.

If it peters out of existence, much like America, I'll be dead.

If the postseason including the WS were relegated to ESPN2, at least I'd have it on my TV right now.

clemenza/chicken little, over the past 10 years something's happened with every other media industry (print, film, music, etc.), the audience has changed the way the consume media via alternative distribution channels.

Putting a lot of stock in the archaic Neillson ratings in 2010 is like using the billboard charts to measure what kids are listening to these days. I went to a party for game 1 where the twentysomething Google-employed hosts had linked a HD feed of the game to their expansive TV(? might have been a wall sized monitor tbh?) that was not Neillson-kosher (no commercials). Yes I know this is not the norm for the whole of the country but you're playing more than typical faux-naif if you think that archaic view rating share = total audience.

yeah, Neilsen ratings basically monitor age 40+ viewers at this point

right, that's part of it, but if it was the whole explanation then baseball's ratings should have fallen no faster or slower than nfl, which has to contend with the same fragmentation of media consumption etc.

right, that's part of it, but if it was the whole explanation then baseball's ratings should have fallen no faster or slower than nfl, which has to contend with the same fragmentation of media consumption etc.

― caek, Saturday, October 30, 2010 10:13 AM (5 minutes ago)

can o' worms here imho...

sure, just wanted to make the point that changes outside baseball don't entirely account for its declining ratings. neither "it's baseball's fault" nor "it's changing media's fault" will do.

anyway, looking forward to earlier start and no work tomorrow today. first pitch at 2am is not a good look the next day.

do we have data on baseball vs. other sports Neillson share over a decent time frame?

i tried looking at superbowl ratings, but my impression is that there's so much more going on in that tv event that it was apples and oranges.

yeah, it might be best to compare the whole of the playoff rounds for all sports... the Superbowl game is mostly just background noise at any rate ime. It's probably the only event were people pay more attention to the commercials/non-game entertainment than to the event itself.

in my experience it's more about drinking and eating.

hell yeah, I wonder if Neillson will ever come up with ratings of calories consumed during various events.

(btw NIELSEN, apologies to usage nazis)

Usage? It's a proper name, not a matter of usage.

</usage nazi>

Over/under of Giants' thrown bats == ?

joeks brov

xp

http://sfist.com/attachments/SFist_Brock/bieber%20is%20a%20dodgers%20fan.jpg

theres plenty of other embarrassing billboards to chose from too.

my friend made this one in photoshop

http://cdn2.sbnation.com/profile_images/279053/5414_102643511683_674816683_2028103_6780072_n.jpg

I mam champing at the bit for some swingin' Frenchy suckage tonight

if you show bunt on a ball and don't hit the ball does that count as a strike for swinging and a missing?

Hahaha there you go, Morbs.

Yes, caek, in most cases, unless you pull tthe bat back.

ty

Do you know how hard it is to walk Bengie Molina? Wow.

Figured, when you walk Bengie Molina, something is seriously wrong with you. RIP JoSanch.

hiyo

wherezat pitch?

His armslot has dropped a couple o'clocks since the first. Righetti or Posey should be out there talking to him about that.

Did Fox show Ryan's first pitch?

Not sure, but the SF radio guys clocked it at 90mph (not sure how serious they were being).

Who is more useless JosHam or PatdaBat?

They showed it, but not live. (Clocked at 68 btw.) They did show ceremonial Ventura Mound Charging live, though.

missed the opening of this game, is J. Sanchez been that bad?

Up and down.

Someone needs to gif Frenchy's reaction to the SO.

Sanchez looks worse then he did against the Phils imo.

Walking Molina 2x has to be a first in the last 3 or 4 seasons that Molina walked 2x in a game.

yes Shasta, in your Oswalt Cy-winning dimension JosHam is "useless"

nope, but i get your point

xpost

fuck, i'm really starting to hate Sandoval

... again.

geez on pace for a 2:50 game here

nice play but i think they both were safe

i take it back

Morbs unjinxes JosHam. Sanchez has the composure of a wet blanket out there.

Who is more useless JosHam or PatdaBat?

― i love you but i have chosen snarkness (Steve Shasta), Saturday, October 30, 2010 8:05 PM

JoSanch looks like Texas' bullpen in game 2. Hasta luego amigo.

this lines up Sanchez nicely for Game 7, huh?

REACTIVATE ZITO

(j/k)

jesus, i thought J. Sanchez would have a bounce back night

They could if SF claims that JoSanch got injured right?

Jonathan Sanchez walked Bengie Molina 2x and Vladimir Guerrero once = pretty amazing performance.
Both the HRs were hit by LHers as well = garbage.

lol

there's always next year.

where is the life tonight?

it almost like the Giants wants to give baseball ratings and gave in tonight

why the hell would Texas run there, it's 3-0? if he got thrown out than it would have been a epic fail.

i love that guy

but why couldn't the Giants have one guy on base and make this interesting?

tim mccarver has been particularly excruciating 2nite

nice, they had to make their move here

Neftali Feliz sighting!!

can only hope

not about Feliz about Posey though

well, it looks like it wasn't meant to be tonight

Dude, you have no idea if Ron Washington will bring in his 8th best reliever to pitch the 9th, don't give up hope.

i haven't given up, only tonight because they just seemed off

i vote for give up hope

i think one of the biggest problem with this team right now is Pat Burrell. he is looking rather lost at the plate and a game off should clear his head a bit. it just isn't Pablo Sandoval's year. he should not play another game, maybe come in for a pitch a bat. i really thought J. Sanchez was going to have a bounce back game tonight. haven't seen the beginning of this game yet but it sounds like the walks did him in. home runs will happen but if you are walking people before them than you are playing with fire.

still Giants in six

I'd take some solace from the fact that they were down 4-0 and made a game of it. On the other hand, I'd be a little nervous about how awesome Feliz looked.

you're playing more than typical faux-naif if you think that archaic view rating share = total audience

Shasta, I assure you I don't "play" at anything. If something interests me, I post on it; if I don't know what it means, I say I don't know what this means. I have no idea how to interpret Neilsen ratings, and your Jeffrey-Lebowski-meets-Dumbo imperiousness aside, I doubt that you do either. Morbius says that Neilsens measure the 40+ demographic--if those are the people who still care about baseball, then wouldn't that suggest higher ratings?

As a grade-school teacher, I guess I do care a little whether baseball is reaching a younger audience. It's not a huge deal, but I show my students a number of clips of Mays, DiMaggio, Mantle, etc. over the course of a year, so I would prefer that they take an interest in the game.

also screw you Eric Karros you Dodger, of course you are a hater.

i re-watched what i missed. J. Sanchez was pitching fine, Moreland hit a foul ball with the second pitch and i thought, don't throw that pitch again. then Sanchez threw that pitch again in a 2-2 count no less, tenth pitch in the at bat and didn't miss. J. Sanchez was done after that.

i love the Giants chances with MadBum on the hill tomorrow!

it almost like the Giants wants to give baseball ratings and gave in tonight

― ILB's biggest fanboy for the SF Giants (Bee OK)

Guy, just be grateful they are here.

btw ad departments basically don't give a crap about 40+ viewrs except for the ED and finance ads.

great game

Cedar Point was showing the game on some viewable-from-hundreds-of-feet-away monstrosity. We just happened to be strolling by as Moreland hit the HR.

has guillen ALWAYS been doing prgame this series, because he is unlistenable

no, Guillen has only been here for the World Series.

FOUR BUSHES IN THE FIRST ROW

that's a Texas Halloween

GWB threw a nice first pitch though -- I think he throws harder than Jonathan Sanchez.

Nice catch by Hamilton!

Maybe Morbius can help me out here. Bumgarner reminds me of some other lefthander from the past who had a deliberate motion and threw across the mound on a very flat plane...I thought it might be Jerry Reuss, but I looked at a couple of photos online and it looks like he threw more over the top.

I can't remember my current work phone number, let alone Jerry Reuss's motion.

nice leap

Everyone knows Jerry Reuss's motion...except Mrs. Jerry Reuss. I don't know, maybe I'm just thinking of Glavine or Key.

If Bumgarner is the 5th-youngest WS starter ever, this must be the youngest battery.

v likely. who were the younger 4?

only when the fucking giants are batting would an announcer to be able to say "well, he would take a hit"

wait a sec... Gary Nolan and Bench were both 22 in the '70 WS. xp

hiyo

Huff

i felt it might be the Giants inning

That third strike to Posey was a foot outside.

yeah but if he gives that pitch to Bumgarner than the Giants are in very good shape

i thought he had it

That third strike to Posey was a foot outside.

― NoTimeBeforeTime, Sunday, October 31, 2010 6:22 PM (8 minutes ago)

pitchf/x said 5 inches outside.

They didn't say who the four younger were. Bumgarner and Posey also add up to 44, so you'd have to check months...They're younger than Jamie Moyer, with room to spare.

Speaking of, MadiBum has kinda that same 3/4 arm slot of Moyer with the cross the body action.

cheap first hit

Posey is amazing

They didn't say who the four younger were. Bumgarner and Posey also add up to 44, so you'd have to check months

Just heard that MadiBum/Posey are the first rookie WS battery since 1947 (Spec Shea/Yogi Berra). But if Bumgarner is the fifth youngest WS starter then they have to be the youngest ever battery ... I think?

and the Giants have knocked out the starter

What was the radar on Posey's throw? JosHam had a HUEG leadoff and he got gunned down without question.

clemenza/chicken little, over the past 10 years something's happened with every other media industry (print, film, music, etc.), the audience has changed the way the consume media via alternative distribution channels.

Putting a lot of stock in the archaic Neillson ratings in 2010 is like using the billboard charts to measure what kids are listening to these days. I went to a party for game 1 where the twentysomething Google-employed hosts had linked a HD feed of the game to their expansive TV(? might have been a wall sized monitor tbh?) that was not Neillson-kosher (no commercials). Yes I know this is not the norm for the whole of the country but you're playing more than typical faux-naif if you think that archaic view rating share = total audience.

― i love you but i have chosen snarkness (Steve Shasta), Saturday, October 30, 2010 12:11 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

super late to the party on this derailment but.. for the final game where San Fran clinched over Philly I was at a wedding reception with Cablevision lockout at the bar, not that they would have played it. Sure, I wasn't a "viewer" but I did sneak out to the parking lot to listen to Brian Wilson finish it out on my blackberry MLB extra innings app, with no headphones, transistor radio style. before i could even start it i ran into a guy who had streaming video and audio on his iPhone via Slingbox (i didn't even know this was possible). and this is just the beginning of platform fractionalization.

Bumgarner/Posey have Nolan/Bench beat by a few months: B/P total a little under 45 years, N/B a little over 45. They've got to be the youngest.

Bench was, roughly, 22y 10mo when he caught in '70
Gary Nolan was 22y 4+mo pitching

Posey is 23y 7mo
Bumgarner is 21y 3mo

so yes, SF is slightly younger combo. Don't know the others (Spec Shea was a 27yo rookie).

xp

via mlb.com:

At a combined 44 years, the Giants' Game 4 battery will become the second youngest pitcher-catcher combination in World Series history, behind Jim Palmer and Andy Etchebarren, who were a combined 43 years old when they teamed up in Game 2 of the 1966 World Series for the Baltimore Orioles.

Finally an answer to my question from 3 days ago!

John Stuper!

Bumgarner is showing our staff how to do it tonight. what a performance.

well outside Cain that is

i'm loving it

Anybody remember Del the Funky Homosapien's "Mistadobalina"? Edgar Renteria's a Mistadobalina, in that you can substitute his name into the lyric: "Mister Renteria, Mister Edgar Renteria..." It's a highly esoteric group I've always kept track of.

MadiBum is the SF's best pitcher qed fuiud.

lol uribe playing third

i have no problem with Uribe playing third for this team

what a pitch

vlad looks terrible against bum

vlad looks terrible against bum

gets out of it, nice

Uribe (playing 34d) saved Timmy's ass in game 1 inning 1 when Timmy was brain farting all over the goddamn place in case you didn't catch that jordy.

34d = 3rd

Giants may have dodged a bullet there with Bum facing Kinsler with nothing left in the tank.

O'Day = oh dear

hahahahahaha

pretty sure O'Day has given up more homers than recorded outs.

the fat lady (and they have lots of em in Texas) is clearing her throat

i want Bumgarner for one more inning

well there you go.

i thought it was out

The Rangers look so pathetic right now that I guess there's no harm in letting Bum pitch the 8th before unleashing the Beard in the 9th.

106 pitches.

I guess that's it. The fan in me wants him to finish, but except for the last pitch, that wasn't a pretty inning.

the Rangers have only been shut out once this year in their ballpark and that was against the other Bay Area team. Bumgarner pitched the game of his life tonight. he is not the best Giants pitcher but is one amazing kid.

it's like having an autistic Bob Costas constantly chiming in.

thats not nice

When Bochy goes right to Wilson with a four-run lead, I think he's sticking it to Ron Washington!

Yeah!

Mission Terrace blowing up over here!

every time i see Bush's fucking face i want the giants to win even more.

happy happy joy joy

but i lost my buzz

To my AL-supremacist dudebros:

Boring NL baseball: 13.5 runs a game
Awesome high-scoring AL baseball: 5 runs a game

Pitchers + Pinch Hitters (for pitchers) in Games 1-2: 6/12
Designated Hitters in Games 3-4: 1/13

In fact, the Starting Pitchers in games 1-2 outhit and outslugged the DHs for games 3-4.

Sup with that?

SSS

What did I miss?

i feel so less speshul since "Steve" started trolling everyone

I will troll anything that moves.

What are the Rangers hitting as a team this WS? Spent ~2 mins trying to find this out, halp?

every time i see Bush's fucking face i want the giants to win even more.

― got electrolytes (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Sunday, October 31, 2010 11:35 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

.242/.315/.368

http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/2010_WS.shtml#post_batting_loser::none

after tonight it's probably a <.650 OPS

SF is the first World Series team since the 86 Red Sox where all 4 members of their starting rotation are homegrown products of the farm system.

It wasn't until Hunter's 79th pitch of the night — a first-pitch fastball to Nate Schierholtz(notes) with two outs in the fourth inning — that Hunter recorded his first swing and miss of the evening. Two pitches later, Schierholtz would swing over a curve ball, giving Hunter his second and final whiff of the evening.

At a combined 44 years, the Giants' Game 4 battery will become the second youngest pitcher-catcher combination in World Series history, behind Jim Palmer and Andy Etchebarren

My dad always claimed he made a killing on the '66 Series. There must be some people poised to make a lot of $$ off the Giants (for their whole playoff run, not just the Series).

In fact, the Starting Pitchers in games 1-2 outhit and outslugged the DHs for games 3-4.

Sup with that?

Of course! Every AL team should dump its DH and sign an NL pitcher to take his place. It's all right there in the data.

DH'ing pitchers -- baseball's newest market inefficiency!

And since the AL DHs can't hit anyway, maybe some NL teams can sign them and teach them to pitch. Big Papi looks like he'd be a real horse on the mound.

Sure, if you have a chance to sign a 250-pound washed-up DH to pitch for close to the minimum, say $500K, then you have to do it. If he puts up a 32.00 ERA then you're getting the same value than you would from a closer making $8M with a 2.00 ERA. See, that's 16X the performance, but also 16X the salary. However, the injury risk to the DH is less because he's a fat guy who can barely move, and the whole team can rub his tummy for good luck.

We're buying a baseball team: you've got the looks, I've got the brains, let's make lots of money!

I finally realized who Lincecum reminds me of:

http://images2.fanpop.com/images/quiz/208000/208695_1242084773344_299_300.jpg

sorry bee ok.. please get very drunk and post when they take it all tonight or wed!

xpost: Great photo--who is that?

someone who looks nothing like tim lincecum

(the character of harris from 'freaks and geeks')

Harris from Freaks and Geeks!

I only came to this conclusion after seeing a Lincecum presser on SportsCenter this morning, his hair looked exactly the same and it was easy to imagine him as the dungeon master in a game of D&D

http://mlb.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=453311

Click the 'Lincecum on his pitching routine' video and tell me you don't see it!

oops I accidentally clicked "suggest ban" instead

Haha, that's some funny humor!

well they both definitely have long hair.

i see it a little, but lincecum makes more eye contact than harris

Princess Tam: I think it's a pretty good comp. That just won't cut it around here, though. The fact that Cody Ross's name spelled backwards is "Ssory Doc" elicited a yawn because it's slightly off.

Wow, catching up on Rob Neyer's WS articles... how much money do you think he put down on the Rangers? I've never heard him so butthurt about a team that he's never really written about (?)

Lincecum reminds me more of what this dude would have looked like in 20 years: http://www.americanpress.com/lc/blogs/wpDubois/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/dazed-and-confused.jpeg

you've had no use for the Giants til this Series

xp

That is all you have to say about Neyer's blatant whinging? C'mon Morbs.

Haha, is that the kid from Dazed & Confused? I was just talking about it with someone and they nominated him as the superior Lincecumunculus! I can definitely see it.

shasta i think it's submerged AL patriotism coming up with neyer.. all those years rooting for KC

Neyer's stuff seems fine to me.

Comparing Lincecum to Wiley Wiggins is so 2007.

I read Neyer's most recent entry. There seems to be a little bit of sour grapes there. Saying that Sanchez made a great skill play but such hits usually go through for singles and doubles is kind of tautological. Of course they mostly go for hits--that's what makes it a great play.

It doesn't read as sour grapes at all. It reads as him talking through the breaks of the game. And his overall point was that the team that played better won the game, despite getting a lot of breaks.

yeah, wakeboarder musta hit his head wipin' out again.

guys, c0sl0y was all over the D&C/Freak angle 2 weeks ago.

i fail to see what the point of listing the "breaks" of a baseball game is but whatever floats yer boat

But great plays like Sanchez's aren't breaks--they're great plays. It makes about as much sense as saying the Giants caught a lot of breaks in game #1, because normally a weak-hitting team like them wouldn't be hitting doubles all over the park against a pitcher like Cliff Lee.

i fail to see what the point of listing the "breaks" of a baseball game is but whatever floats yer boat

Because baseball "is a game of inches"! I don't know why Neyer thinks it's an interesting column but it is not the first time I've seen a piece like it.

But great plays like Sanchez's aren't breaks--they're great plays.

Yeah, but he just barely got high enough for it. If it was an inch higher he probably doesn't get it, just like the ball that bounced off the wall instead of going over the wall.

yeah i guess--way too speculative for me.

yeah i think pretty much everyone who watches any sport implicitly understands that a) the best team doesn't always win and thus b) playoffs reward the team who played the best in those particular playoff games, not the team with the most talent

yet a lot of times neyer and others seem to write as if they assume that people don't understand this, hence the pointing out of 'breaks' etc

Many people don't understand many things that seem obvious.

Many people are butthurt sports journalists?

Sorry, I don't speak wakeboarder.

fwiw i'm referring to his near-apologistic game 1 and equally subjective game 2 write-ups. Then comes game 3 and he's basically "see this is what was supposed to happen" (subtext: the Rangers won a game?)

idk i stopped paying attn to Neyer a few years ago but a cursory glance at what he's doing today makes me glad for this.

more fun facts:

Texas is the first team to be shut out twice in a World Series since the 1966 Dodgers failed to score in the last three games while being swept by Baltimore.

Texas was scoreless at home only once during the regular season.

Yesterday was Guerrero’s first three-strikeout performance in 43 postseason games, and his first for Texas this year.

Texas' team slash through yesterday's game: .211/.283/.309 = .592 OPS

They're due!

I just re-read his game 1 analysis. Too much mercury in your sushi, maybe.

I seem to recall Neyer saying in a chat at the start of postseason that the fan in him was rooting for SF in the NL (TB in the AL, I think).

On the Yankees/Rangers thread, the question of where Lee sits on a list of the game's best pitchers came up--at one point, specifically where he sits in comparison to Lincecum. James got that same question on his site yesterday (be prepared for a long, detailed analysis):

I was watching game 1 with my dad, and he said that he would take Cliff Lee over Lincecum no question. I think it's fairly obvious to take Lincecum for the next ten years, but I would also rather have him for 2011. Who would you rather have for 2011?
Asked by: Mantis
Answered: October 31, 2010

Lincecum.

(Hope I haven't jinxed the Giants.)

Predicted final score tonight: Rangers 3, Giants 1

OK, I will play Captain Save A Princess TamTam and say that "Lincecumunculus" is display-name-worthy.

http://www.teesforall.com/images/Nintendo_Princess_Saves_Herself_White_Babydoll2.jpg

Cliff Lee's career ERA at the Ballpark at Arlington: 5.07

Another butthurt Royals fan OMG you guys

JPosnanski Joe Posnanski
The Giants, have been bending reality this whole postseason. But this lineup? Whew. Ross cleanup? Uribe 5th? Burrell? Rowand?

The thing that surprises me about comments like Posnanski's is that there seems to be an obliviousness to how good the Giants' staff is--like, should they go on to win the Series (still a "should"; must...avoid...jinx), they'd be the first-ever Series winner who got there on excellent pitching and a less-than-imposing lineup. Preventing runs is half the game, right?

First post-steroid era team?

oh jesus^

also "Glee" looks strained and unfunny, huh

Lee is getting hit hard but luckily right at guys.

Wow--that curveball on Ross...Could we actually be headed for a two-hour WS game? Isn't there a rule that they have to create some kind of diversion and slow it down at some point?

Lincecum's split-fingered pitch is killing the Rangers, they look hopeless up there.

http://www.mocksession.com/30fps//2010%20November%201%2020%2039%2014.jpg

This is beautiful watching these two guys. I hope the Giants win it in the 9th on a solo shot, with the last out recorded at the 1:59 mark.

great pic johnny crunch!

ZOMG LINCECUM LOOKS LIKE THAT KID FROM THAT MOVIE DASED & CONFUZED

LIKE IF HE WAS IN HARRY POTTER

Hopefully Rob Neyer will explain tomorrow how the first one not getting by Cruz and the second one barely caught in the heel of his glove were "breaks" against the Giants.