ALDS: Detroit Tigers vs. Oakland Athletics

i'm voting A's as that is what my heart is saying but the Tigers will and should win. so deep down i'm hoping the Tigers will win as i think they can knock off the Dodgers.

still don't know if i'm voting for "want" or "should"

should: Tigers, want: A's

go A's

A's (totally biased though).

Brad Pitt is gonna get that pennank

This is the toughest series for me to figure out. The A's were third the AL in runs scored but three of the worst five pitching staffs in the league are in their division, so how good is their offense really? (they did manage to score runs against good teams outside their division though) Detroit's offense has been average with Cabrera playing hurt, even though their numbers for the whole season are great. Which version of Verlander will show up in the playoffs?

should: coin flip, but want: A's

As much as I like some of the Tiger players, I'm rooting for all the payroll underdogs. A's, Rays, or Pirates, any of them would be fine.

Rooting for Detroit because of Max Scherzer and what the city has been going through lately.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

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

Susan Slusser ‏@susanslusser 2m
Miguel Cabrera hitting balls out of the Coliseum with ease in batting practice. He looks fine.

Until he has to walk, sure.

blink and the A's are already down three.

i believe in u, fat man

what pct of hitters use mouthpieces? Reddick has a green one.

coco crisp looks 50 years old

good play at home

better slide woulda had it

Better 3B coach would've held Victor.

(If there's a remote chance Victor will have to slide, DON'T SEND HIM. I don't know if he scored with a slide all year.)

hoping that is the break the A's need

or not

What was the break? A base runner?

the dropped foul ball

Oh, right, strike two.

lol, cabrera almost got halfway to that popup

Accustomed to seeing the pitch count beside the score, all year, with Fox. Nice to have that constant reminder that it's game one instead, I guess.

no the one before that one, LF dropped the ball

xpost

YEAH

he took his eyes off the ball

the rare K, 1-3

Good game I guess but it really seemed to drag because of all the K's.

:(

http://www.baseballnation.com/hot-corner/2013/10/4/4804202/oakland-detroit-postseason-history-1972-reggie-jackson-video

I still remember Campaneris flinging the bat at Lerrin LaGrow (great name), but had forgotten how close a series it was.

let's go A's

really i thought Sonny Gray starred in B westerns in the late '40s

Much like Lerrin LaGrow should have had a handlebar mustache and been tying women to train tracks in silent movies.

SG throws a nice rainbow

my GOD, how did Bucknor get a postseason assignment, he is pitiful

‏@based_ball
/CB Bucknor approaches "Fine-lookin ride you got there" "That's a dog" "Be a shame if something happened to it" "Why are you threatening me"

first hit

46 plate appearances, 23 strikeouts for the A's so far.

strike him out and throw him out

That inning went from 3-0, runners on first and third with one out, to over...very quickly.

oh no

fail but, let him swing and see what happens

i thought he was o ut live but he was safe

This Vogt at-bat...

98 for his last fastball

bullpen game

no points in this game huh

need to get the red sox in there

lol owned

young ppl named sonny are so bizarre to me

omg it seems to be his given name

i could see it making a comeback

Big Godfather fans.

this game might go on until everyone on both teams is dead

fuck yes

ha oh

this game projects to have zero runs scored

oh i hope i didnt jinx it

it would be cool to see a game go into extra innings 0-0

Sonny Gray totally looks like teen idol.

Like he should have been in 21 Jump St.

why make reddick bunt earlier, but not coco in the 8th?

now would be a good time to score a run

no no wait

nice

why make reddick bunt earlier, but not coco in the 8th?

― mookieproof, Sunday, October 6, 2013 12:01 AM (21 minutes ago

to drive beane crazy, presumably

Tigers offense is looking like the Yankees' 2012 ALCS offense.

again nice

Prince Fielder not deft.

Sessile Fielder

if they don't score here

Calling a WP here.

Nice.

River Phoenix pitched a great game.

I don't think I've seen a successful intentional walk yet. Terrific game.

Great finish but wtf was Leyland thinking bringing in Porcello in a situation where you NEED a K? Especially against a team that's been striking out all series? Don't you play for the K and then bring in a guy like Porcello and try for the ground ball DP?

The Tigers would have trouble scoring with four-out innings right now, so my favorite part was when they handed the A's an out, moved a runner to second, then stranded him there, and ended the inning with Cabrera on deck.

And I'd be willing to bet that Leyland has called for a runner-on-first sac bunt at least 20 times this year. It has resulted in a run once -- MAYBE twice. Several times, the bunt wasn't even executed.

good game, the starter were fantastic

starter(s)

Wish I had been awake.

Alex, he does not look like River Phoenix, what the hell?

I was watching on cheap feed so it was a bit fuzzy but tell me he couldn't double for Stand By Me era River:

http://vanderbilt.scout.com/2/634080.html

that's not bad, but where's the fuzzy stache? looks older than 13 tbh

Stache didn't even reg on lo res feed. :-/

@beckjason
Some #Tigers LFers over years have said day games can be tough with glare off concourse or off seats. Sun in and out behind clouds today.

Tigers lineup: 1 Jackson cf, 2 Hunter rf, 3 Cabrera 3b, 4 Fielder 1b, 5 Martinez dh, 6 Peralta lf, 7 Avila c, 8 Infante 2b, 9 Iglesias ss

looked okay on that one, at least

Good time to break that 20-inning scoreless streak.

Thank you.

jhonny

brian mccann disapproves of torii hunter showing up his own pitcher that way

wau, is the ball really carrying today or is Sanchez just lollipopping it up there?

Pre-game radio broadcast noted that balls to left were flying. Is that where they are going? (Able to only check the score periodically.)

sonny gray hasnt heard of burt blyleven

i flipped over and caught some expert analysis from mike francesa - "leyland is going to rune the day he sent sanchez out for the 5th"

did he say anything about al albuquerque

hahaha

Detroit's offense is a sad look.

jesus fuck. try and act like you're taking this game seriously guys.

Balfour making sure nobody forgets about australian stereotypes

2-1, A's. I don't see the Tigers coming back from that.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/erikmalinowski/tigers-as-drop-numerous-f-bombs-on-live-television

I don't understand what even happened there

My guess is that Balfour wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary (for him), and Martinez saw a good opportunity to get his teammates worked up.

Oh, wait -- Balfour didn't like that Martinez was looking at him? OK.

That's a great clip. Made me think of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quu9Uzmjs50

http://blog.sfgate.com/athletics/2013/10/07/grant-balfour-victor-martinez-get-into-tiff-in-ninth-inning/

From Chronicle Staff Writer Susan Slusser at Comerica Park

Seemingly out of nowhere in the ninth inning today, the benches cleared during Game 3 of the American League Division Series after Tigers DH Victor Martinez hit a foul ball off A’s closer Grant Balfour, then advanced toward the mound, yelling.

Balfour said that Martinez “gave me the death stare, he had his eyes locked on me like he wanted to come out,” so Balfour said he told Martinez, ” ‘Hey man, if you’ve got a problem, come on out.’ ”

Balfour acknowledged his exact phrasing was “saltier,” and audio replays indicate he said, “What the f- are you looking at, b-?”

Martinez responded, “F- you, b-,” and took Balfour up on the invitation to the mound.

“I’m like, ‘Really? I don’t take that s-, I’m not some rookie who’s going to be intimidated by that,” Martinez said afterward.

Catcher Derek Norris jumped forward quickly and got in front of Martinez and “it took three or four of our guys and a couple of umpires to get Balf back on the mound,” reliever Sean Doolittle said.

Balfour said he didn’t pitch inside the entire at-bat, so he was a little confused why Martinez was giving him the eye, but, Balfour said, “He was staring me down, he knows what he’s doing. It’s all good, I like a little fire. He’s a great competitor, he’s a great hitter. I like a little fire and obviously he does, too. It makes for a little fun, right?”

Things happened so fast that many A’s didn’t realize what was happening; Josh Reddick said he’d turned to walk back to his position in right and heard the crowd roaring; Dan Otero said he’d watched the foul ball go into the stands, looked back and everyone was rushing onto the field. It was his first big-league benches-clearing.

“I found myself between Balfour and (Miguel) Cabrera and I was like, ‘I don’t know what to do here!’ ” Otero said with a laugh. “So I followed Tye Waller’s lead and grabbed Balf.”

The A’s are used to Balfour’s swear-laden tirades, and Doolittle said he’s always figured something like this would happen. (It has before: While with Tampa Bay, Balfour yelled at Chicago’s Orlando Cabrera to “sit the f- down” during the playoffs in 2008 and the two exchanged words.)

“He gets so fired up, he’s always yelling at hitters or himself or umpires, I never know who,” Doolittle said. “Emotions are running high. … He goes to a totally difference place to get fired up.”

“We all know how much fire Balfour has,” Reddick said. “Some people don’t appreciate it. He’s mouthy out there.”

Asked to describe the language used, Reddick laughed and said, “Not age appropriate.”

“I don’t really know what to say,” third baseman Josh Donaldson said. “Balfour is crazy. He’s always yelling at himself, not someone else. I don’t really know what happened.”

Once order was restored, Balfour retired Martinez on a flyball, then when Martinez ran back to the dugout, some of the umpires checked to make sure Balfour wasn’t going to do anything. Balfour laughed at the idea; he falls off the mound toward the third-base side. “What am I going to do, run to their dugout?” he said.

Asked if he and Martinez had any previous history Balfour laughed and said, “I don’t know. We do now, I guess.”

Eh, I see no "death stare" from Martinez. His demeanor prior to Balfour's outburst was not out of the ordinary.

He looked a bit glary but I'll admit that might be because I was looking for it.

Balfour does seem like the more excitable player. Just a hunch.

Wonder if he is into Whitehouse.

i flipped over and caught some expert analysis from mike francesa - "leyland is going to rune the day he sent sanchez out for the 5th"

― johnny crunch, Monday, October 7, 2013 3:20 PM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

finally, thank you for this

*updates mikefrancescalizardilluminati.xls*

Catcher Derek Norris jumped forward quickly and got in front of Martinez

this is not actually true -- gary darling did, sort of

@GrantBalfour
Love all the big talk coming from #Tigers fans. Bring it on. I'd be mad too if my squad was headed towards an extended vacation. #OAKtober

Scherzer available to relieve tonight

That wasn't actually Grant Balfour on twitter fwiw

Outfielder Josh Reddick was asked if any drama might linger today after the benches-clearing incident. “I don’t think we’ll see carryover,” he said. “We’ve all seen Balfour when he pitches, he’s yelling at baseballs, blades of grass, the mound, who knows what’s going on.”

haha yes

If the A's advance and Crisp subsequently sucks, I am going to be irritated about it.

Brandon Inge's career Sept/Oct (regular season) slugging percentage: .352
Miguel Cabrera's Sept/Oct (regular season) slugging this year: .333

Eight pitches for Dan Straily through three innings.

well, I was gonna say don't get too secure...

we got ourselves a bawlgame

dang...

wow, I dunno

What exactly happened

if it's on a path to land in HR territory, it's "the fan's ball" a la Bartman.

Leyland hasn't seen Avila's several failed bunt attempts?

fan leaned over as Reddick leapt to try to rob the HR

xp

Reddick at wall to make a play on Martinez's long ball, fans lean over railing to interfere in ball's path. Ball hits fans' hands, falls into field, ruled HR despite never leaving park.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BWFz3B3CcAAeahy.jpg:large

Fuckin' rally killers.

A's best get 3 here

Reddick chases full-count breaking ball way out of strike zone for first out. sigh

sigh

Singles hitter Miguel Cabrera grounds out on a 3-0 pitch.

...and Prince Fielder, who leaned into a pitch earlier to take a HBP, watches strike three down the middle.

Buck Martinez is incoherent sometimes

whoops

2-1, A's. I don't see the Tigers coming back from that.

I should've asked yesterday, VHS, but have you seen baseball before?

oh I just made the Jack White-Detroit connection

this "they don't try so hard when it's not a save sitch" voodoo really needs to be met, literally, w/ a sock o' manure

Leyland LOVES sacrificing a runner to second base, but when he's on the opposing side, ahead by more than one run, he's 100% OK with defensive indifference.

Darn.

that was a pretty insane game

being at home w/ Colon is a pretty good deal even vs Verlander

Agree but still nice not to have face Zoolander.

my money's on Outlander.

After dropping Game 4, the A’s are now 1-11 in potential clinch games dating back to the 1990 World Series. Oakland lost Game 5 of Division Series in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2012, the last of which came to Detroit last year in Oakland.

Starting to feel bad for Brad Pitt...

My wife called me @ work today to convince me to get tix and take her to the game.

Now THAT'S a great call!

That's not the same team, Andy K, that's fucking laundry.

.....anti-Bartman.

Cabrera's injury seems most aggravated playing the field. Should he DH and Martinez catch on Thursday?
Also, isn't it also preferable to put Peralta back at ss and ...um....trade for a left fielder?

No need to get upset over a factoid quoted without comment.

xposts

I should've asked yesterday, VHS, but have you seen baseball before?

Actually, I am quite new to baseball, but Detroit's offense in game 3 was disheartening and I am an eternal pessimist.

the best teams lose about 40% of the time, just sayin'

Game 5 has been moved up to 5:07 PT, so prepare for FUN WITH TWILIGHT.

Facing Verlander with shadows on the diamond? Good luck with that, A's.

it's all part of Selig's rich pageant

Reddick going on about being 100% sure that he would've caught the Martinez HR, but the "gold glover" couldn't cleanly field Jackson's single, allowing Dirks to score.

Talk radio guys were talking with Keith Law about how Josh Donaldson hasn't been clutch in the postseason. Law sighed a few times.

so Law doesn't know what to expect on talk radio?

it's Sonny Gray!

That is an extremely ballsy move imo.

Fearing Cole and Gray both losing and hearing dinosaurs talk about "postseason experience"

you'll tell them about Gray and Wacha.

PECOTA puts this one at 56.3% for Detroit.

Vegas is completely volatile picking a favorite, odds are all over the place.

Online is definitely favoring the A's (albeit slightly).

^Oddsmakers

oddsmokers

A's can't hit Verlander at all. I'm pessimistic about this one.

Rooting for Oakland--if nothing else, it's painful to watch Cabrera these days (not belittling him, it's just a bad situation all around)--but have to believe Verlander's a major advantage, Santino Gray notwithstanding.

in that case i would go w/ "hit it to Miggy and Prince"

xp

i'm pulling for the A's. they're a team who's overarching philosophy was, what, defense?!

Odds are still all over the place, lots of activity.

One thing I noticed is that some places are offering 10-1 for the A's to win the WS. It was 7-1 two weeks ago.

Not for Cardinal haters:

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/41400/the-best-organization-in-baseball

I like this: "I would argue the Cardinals don't obsess too much about defense." (There's a qualification a couple of sentences later.) Don't expect anyone to agree, but I feel like things are coming back full circle to the early '70s when defense was overvalued; teams didn't think twice about giving 600 AB to middle infielders who hit .250 and never walked, as long as they carried (deserved or not) defensive reps. James came along a few years later, and he was always ridiculing such teams for not thinking it mattered whether or not your shortstop contributed offensively. (Best summed up by something he once wrote about Pedro Guerrero after the Dodgers moved him to third base: "'Is that the one over there?' he said, and just kept on hitting"--he wrote that approvingly.) I internalized all that, which is why I'm still biased in favour of hitters. Not that I don't enjoy watching great defensive plays as much as anybody.

Oops--meant for the Dodgers/Cardinals thread!

i am rooting for the a's, but it feels rude to say so right in front of andy

Ha! No shame in pulling for the A's.

Really nervous about this game.

It'd be nice to have Jackson and Hunter on base for a change.

Great--I can't even watch this game.

why

No one's carrying it--TSN here has a football game, the other sports station has something else. Should I be checking somewhere else?

And Fox has people sitting at a table while people sing songs for them.

you could watch leafs-preds. but also

http://www.vipboxonline.eu/baseball/182934/1/alds-game-5:-oakland-athletics-(2)-vs-(2)-detroit-tigers-live-stream-online.html

http://hockeynight.org/channel1.php

In Canada, its on sportsnet1

Callaspo shaded toward the 40 yd line

Thanks. I just get the regular-cable Sportsnet. That live feed breaks up frequently, but I'll try it for a while and see if it gets better.

Also, who came up with the bright idea of Thursday Night Football?

the forces of evil

not much hitting til the sun goes down eh

Football is trying to establish itself in the North American market.

Sonnyball or sunnyball?

not much hitting til the sun goes down eh

― eclectic husbandry (Dr Morbius), Thursday, October 10, 2013 5:22 PM (7 minutes ago)

The shadows stretch deep into the outfield, don't see it being an issue.

pitches must still be coming out of a sunlit background, tho

lol Fielder

Starting to wonder if Verlander was just messing with people when he stunk during the regular season.

pitching to the calendar

Verlander: And now for my greatest deception.

He went 22 innings without an out recorded at 1B.

welcome back, miggy

Gray has lost it.

Wow, season still alive but they'd better not send Gray out for the fifth.

Colon, or a normal middle reliever?

:

A's digital composite:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/51/Jeffrey-dahmer.jpg/220px-Jeffrey-dahmer.jpg

http://cdn0.sbnation.com/assets/3368457/dombrowski.gif

xp ppl used to tell me i looked like him : /

'george plimpton recites the litany against fear'

I don't think they have a better option for the 5th than Gray, not even George Kuchar.

(is that Dahmer?)

Jackson is completely lost.

Not sure why they let Gray face Cabrera again.

Deney Terrio?

why do they keep showing this, he was obviously out

I really don't understand why Gray was out there in the sixth. He'd been in trouble in two straight innings and verlander is pitching like VERLANDER again.

@susanslusser
Justin Verlander goes into the bottom of the sixth with a 27 inning scoreless streak vs. #Athletics in postseason.

ouch

i guess that is why the saved him, just in case.

lol this is gonna be the second year in a row i'm forced to go "uh, go tigers, i guess?"

nice baseunning by reddick there

Another great fly-ball read from Don Orsillo.

i like don orsillo, but he's a big dave matthews fan

TBS still uses that terrible '90s/early '00s Detroit logo with the tiger crawling through the D.

xp ppl used to tell me i looked like him : /

― mookieproof, Thursday, October 10, 2013 9:30 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

you look nothing like Dave Jimbrowski

Man, I wouldn't want to be a metal folding chair nor a cinderblock wall in the o.co home locker room tonight.

RIP Brad Pitt

you look nothing like Dave Jimbrowski

thanks phil mickelson

lol verlander is such a teachers pet

lol that looked like a swing

I want the A's to win bit not have Billy Beane redeemed. so confused.

1 bitcoin to the first person who posts "my shit doesn't work in the playoffs"

Rollercoaster Benoit

what was that Juggalo dance at the pitchers mound all about?

what the hell with that chant?

they've been doing that

it's either like a "yay we won" chant or maybe a "honoring our ancestors" chant idk i'll keep you updated ballplayers can be complicated

i couldn't make it all out, it sounded like "Sigma Chi, Sigma Chi, Tim Lincecum's undefended cherry asshole, Sauce Boss Ross Clot watch Duck Dynasty"

this is gonna be the second year in a row i'm forced to go "uh, go tigers, i guess?"

Baseball: NOW it's boring.

xp believe the chant was "QUALCOMM QUALCOMM TONIGHT IS ABOUT QUALCOMM"

Three straight ALCS appearances is impressive.

Go back to reading your fascinating analysis of how Billy Beane was the GM of the century or whatever.

― ┌∩┐(◕_◕)┌∩┐ (Steve Shasta), Sunday, February 21, 2010

Gave up on that live feed early, followed along on cnnsi. I take it Verlander was pretty awesome.

I guess the Dodgers are the only semi-novelty left at this point.

yeah all dodgers all the way now

i couldn't make it all out, it sounded like "Sigma Chi, Sigma Chi, Tim Lincecum's undefended cherry asshole, Sauce Boss Ross Clot watch Duck Dynasty"

― action bronson pinchot (sanskrit)

hahaha

Last year it seemed like they were barely hanging in against the Tigers, this year it seemed like the Tigers had more weaknesses (especially on offense) and the series was there for the taking. You can't say the A's didn't have their chances in Game 4.

He's had more bad series (serieses?) than good ones, but largely because of his last four starts against Oakland, Verlander's postseason stats are now almost identical to his regular-season numbers in a few basic categories:

ERA: 3:41 (regular) - 3.48 (post-season)
W%: .640 (regular) - .636 (post-season)
WHIP: 1.191 (regular) - 1.113 (post-season)
SO/BB: 3.07 (regular) - 3.50 (post-season)

I've found a number of great players over the years where this is true, once their post-season sample becomes large enough. Which shouldn't be surprising.

http://i.imgur.com/USQtZ30.gif

ha