2013 NLCS: Los Angeles Dodgers vs. St. Louis Cardinals

under normal circumstances i would root for the cardinals here, but i'm not sure i can do that right now

game 2 could be Wacha vs Kershaw

this year is like rooting for the Yankees in 2001. i think the St. Louis Cardinals can take this.

can't believe that can't give us a time yet

go detroit or Boston at this pt tbh

can't believe i'm rooting for a $200 million team but w/e

go detroit or oakland i guess

Busch is the only MLB stadium I will be able to afford to go to for a long time, plz lose Crads so I don't have to go through a year of renewed self-congratulation every time I want to see a gd ballgame

StubHub is yr friend

LA

wondering if they'll bring shelby miller back into the mix for the rest of the playoffs, and if so, if he'd replace lynn or kelly in the rotation. wacha seems to have cemented his place into the rotation, both for the playoffs and next year.

which group of players will emerge victorious from the series to spray foamy liquid all over each other while hard instrumental rock plays in the background??

light em mup mup mup

so the Bud ad is Chemical Brothers

I guess Cards as I just have hated the Dodgers since I was like seven years old, even though I don't really have too much beef with the current LA club. Cards aren't quite as smug and annoying with LaRussa gone and Carpenter watching from the bench.

I'm rooting for the Doyers just to see some different laundry out there.

they both have nice laundry, at least

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

The Cardinals are a giant sucking red hole of good old-fashioned Midwestern piousness, with a fanbase that does "classy" things specifically so that it can humblebrag about doing classy things.

I think Yankees fans are horrible people: selfish, arrogant, profane, and miserable all at once. But at least they don't attempt to hide their repulsiveness. At least there isn't this deliberate, "Oh, we're not like those OTHER fans" fakeness that OOZES from the Cardinals and their acolytes. Wanna know who you really are, Cardinals fans? You are this. You are poorly disguised Yankees fans in ugly Christmas sweaters carrying a Jell-O mold to your neighbor's door.

btw at Busch a couple years back I saw a couple teenagers sworn into the US Army in a pregame ceremony. Very classy.

so we finally have times:

Game 1: Dodgers at Cardinals, Friday, 8:30 p.m. ET, TBS
Game 2: Dodgers at Cardinals, Saturday, 4 p.m. ET, TBS
Game 3: Cardinals at Dodgers, Monday, 8 p.m. ET, TBS
Game 4: Cardinals at Dodgers, Oct. 15, 8 p.m. ET, TBS
*Game 5: Cardinals at Dodgers, Oct. 16, 4 p.m. ET, TBS
*Game 6: Dodgers at Cardinals, Oct. 18, 8:30 p.m. ET, TBS
*Game 7: Dodgers at Cardinals, Oct. 19, 8:30 p.m. ET, TBS

rosterz -- no Craig, LA makes two puzzling pitcher swaps:

http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2013/10/11/4827986/dodgers-cardinals-nlcs-rosters-mlb-playoffs

can't believe joe fucking kelly is starting this game for the cards.

would you prefer lance fucking lynn

no! i would prefer shelby fucking miller with a short leash.

i don't know, even that sounds wrong. i miss jaime garcia. and RIP chris carpenter.

;_;

I didn't realize the Cards' .330 BA w/ RISP is the all-time record, by .018...

http://www.baseballnation.com/2013/10/11/4826740/cardinals-dodgers-2013-nlcs-preview

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

got my 6 pack and miley cyrus mp3s, let's watch some baseball

Ethier!

Fuck, I'm marooned out at a restaurant, won't get back until halfway through. Morbs' post makes me sad, though. Joe fucking Kelly.

Oh, still no score!

wow, kelly looks awful

Yep

But he has a lot of wins so he is good.

- mike matheny

sorry man, shoulda gone w/ "he's in the lineup!"

Can I killfile the fucking "all-time postseason" idiot graphics plz?

Kelly needed that 1-2-3 DP

yes, how was that not out

beltran beltranning

Scully thinks nonrusty Ethier catches it

i thought it was going to be a home run. i turned on the TV and the ball was in the air.

synchronized bullpen stretching routines

it's the cardinal way

whoever invented post season cap patches shd be executed, and they shd keep executing people until there are no more patches

lol

well you have a guy on third and leave your pitcher in? not sure if i like it.

third second

i thought he was through six but he was only through five. so yes keep the pitcher in.

grnki is a good hitter too

are we sure that isnt LaRussa in a Matheny mask?

fuck

puiiiig

when's he gonna cost them a game with his reckless style?

some ballsy fielding that inning

good thing donnie pinch ran for gonzalez!

going to the ninth

99 MPH

18 runs in his last 14 starts

Samsung using LCD Soundsystem

wow @ that beard. wow.

Button yr damn shirt

i was about to say Wilson usually walks a whole lot of people, what happened to that

not quite

YEAH

wowwwwwwwwww

not quite

that was not smart

lordamighty

jerry meals thinks he was safe

you have to call him out there

tag shmag, he was obv out

woo our bench suuuucks

somehow subtracting Ty wigginton made it worse

nice

it could have been really interesting

this game sucks i hope they both lose

to inning 12

Lance Lynn is coming in so there's that

it has been a great game

xxpost

this is the trade off we must make for him not to start game 4

Just got home, who won?

nice night for young - 2 ABs, 4 outs

not fair that they don't walk enough ppl

times like this is when i love living on the West Coast

it's only 10:07

god i'm so tired

it is 4 am here

actually told dvr to record 6 hours just in case...

3 more outs and i'm calling it a night

There's still the curfew rule in MLB right?

intersting

carlos b

smiles

fucking beltran man, wow

dude is something else

has to be one of the best postseason games ever

Cards are like serial killers toying with their victims instead of making it quick. Disgusting.

Lynn gets the win? Haw

times like this is when i love living on the West Coast

eff you

has to be one of the best postseason games ever

AND you

OHHH, MOTHERFUCK THAT NON-TAG BY MOLINA

entering this as Dodger win in the ledger

Bee OK and k3vin k, send me your shipping addresses so I can send you a rulebook

actually told dvr to record 6 hours just in case...

― brand nubian wafers (bnw), Saturday, October 12, 2013 1:08 AM (8 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

hahaha

gonna really enjoy video bringing some TRUTH to umpiring next year and upending unwritten [sic] rules. Baseball will be more Catholic.

David Schoenfield ‏@dschoenfield
So if this game goes on and on and the Dodgers use all pitchers except Jansen, does Mattingly use a position player?

Skip Schumaker is the designated position player pitcher and he struck out on a pitch above his eyeballs in the 8th or 9th so he wasn't available. He has a 0 era this year. Hee hee

morbs i meant beltran's individual performance, not the game itself

and ellis was out at the plate

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BWWT7arCUAEZ9OI.jpg

and even if there wasn't a "tag", ellis basically pushed molina's glove hand out of the way. i can't find anything in rule 7 about that kind of thing, but obviously the way the rule has been interpreted forever is that if you barrel into a catcher (provided the catcher's back isn't turned to you or something), who maintains control of the ball, yer out

following up http://deadspin.com/why-your-cardinals-suck-1443513646

beltran's WPA was 0.366, the second highest of his postseason career (the highest being a week ago, incidentally). throw in him gunning out ellis at the plate in a tie game in extra innings, and yeah that's a historic game

Yeah, I also don't understand why people are getting upset about the supposed phantom tag, it's not like he tried for a swipe tag and missed, or didn't have possession of the ball. When the ball beats the runner by ten feet and he barrels into the catcher (making contact with his glove arm), he's out, and I'm fairly sure it's always been called that way.

didn't this game just end?

beltran got a timely hit and threw a guy out in a close game ergo historic? highly suspicious

he also drove in the other 2 runs!

i mean if it was an elimination game rather than game 1 it'd be a much bigger deal obv

that was the timely hit, no

he had 2 timely hits!

oh right, but still

i see we have reached the but still portion of this debate, i win

lol no i mean wpa is a fun stat but it doesnt really judge whether someone had a good or really good game or not

beltran went two for six and there happened to be some guys on base when he got his hits, and the game happened to be close. really not at all any sort of alltime great game

also not even close to alltime great even judged by wpa

oh yeah i hate WPA too ftr, but in a one-game vs one-game comparison it can have some value if you agree on the meaning of "good game" beforehand

i mean it has very little predictive value but it can do a decent job of describing what happened, and if you're only talking about one game then sample sizes are so small that you might as well talk about the sikkk plays a dude made rather than if it was due to luck or whatever

he made some great plays and had a cool game im sure we can all agree

beltran went two for six and there happened to be some guys on base when he got his hits, and the game happened to be close.

lol this sounds like something an anti-sabr person would say as they create their strawman

Apparently just fifteen minutes left until the shadows cover the whole diamond so the real game can start.

finally

lol this sounds like something an anti-sabr person would say as they create their strawman

― ^^ post obviously honoring and supporting Qualcomm (zachlyon), Saturday, October 12, 2013 5:14 PM (16 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

idgaf but isnt rbis arent a meaningful stat like one of stats dudes most cherished truths

it's also the postseason, which is one great big small sample size, it's ok to get overly silly and romantic about it

so many rules

He had a great game, and it seems even greater because it was Beltran--he reinforces perceptions that were already in place. I don't see it as historic, though, Kevin. If you're including pitchers, just in the past few days I'd say Wainwright and Verlander have him beat. (By WPA, I don't know.) If you limit the statement to position players, top...50-100?

that is some good pitching

Wainwright was 0.371, Verlander 0.416--if you put any value in that, both slightly higher than Beltran last night. (Does his throw have any WPA value? If not, then yeah, Beltran's would undoubtedly be higher.)

(For the record: yes, Morbius, I am aware there's a game on right now, and I am watching it.)

One Kershaw AB plus two IP for one AB from Michael Young seems like a big net loss for the Dodgers.

Who needs the best pitcher in baseball when you have VETERAN PRESCENCE.

kershaw's a more clutch hitter anyway

he's still an alleged hitter. xp

just got in for the Young ph, didnt think game wd be this fast even with these pitchers.

I'm fairly sure it's always been called that way.

I still don't care; it's wrong.

i guess i don't ever remember seeing a guy 'out by 10 feet' not being tagged? Yet another credit to the Almighty Yadier i guess.

Don't know that I've ever seen a manager questioned over the course of two post-season games like Mattingly has been thus far--he's in Grady Little/Ron Washington territory.

I can think of some dubiously managed World Series that wd've been more buzzed about if there had been internets -- eg 2001. (esp by the guy who won)

right down the middle

good game

I came in late, what did Donnie do wrong today? I'm not nec buying Michael Young as a mistake.

go bucs

he's still an alleged hitter. xp

just got in for the Young ph, didnt think game wd be this fast even with these pitchers.

I'm fairly sure it's always been called that way.

I still don't care; it's wrong.

― eclectic husbandry (Dr Morbius), Saturday, October 12, 2013 6:13 PM (54 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ffs morbs did you look at that picture i posted, he was out. at the very least there's not enough evidence to say for sure there was no tag

I saw that Tommy Herr tweeted that pic this morning -- I don't see any evidence of a tag in it. Slo-mo video looked fairly clear to me this morning.

lol STL is already up 2-0 before the ALDS starts

one series always plays 2 games first, it seems

lol Puig:

http://www.baseballnation.com/hot-corner/2013/10/12/4830144/mark-ellis-yadier-molina-safe-gif-beltran-throw-bees-pants

I came in late, what did Donnie do wrong today? I'm not nec buying Michael Young as a mistake.
--eclectic husbandry (Dr Morbius)

Only reason Donnie is getting destroyed for his decisions is moody on the team is executing anything. It's easier to question 2-3 decisions than pick apart 40 at bats of futility

mattingly looked hella depressed at the post game press conference, barely looking up, mumbling, not a great show of saught after leadership qualities

Only reason Donnie is getting destroyed for his decisions is moody on the team is executing anything. It's easier to question 2-3 decisions than pick apart 40 at bats of futility

― panettone for the painfully alone (mayor jingleberries), Sunday, October 13, 2013 12:44 PM

I need to bookmark this post for future Braves threads.

mattingly looked hella depressed at the post game press conference, barely looking up, mumbling, not a great show of saught after leadership qualities

But maybe this is like the thing that your mom did when you fucked up as a kid, getting so bummed out by you failure that you're motivated to not fuck up so they can be happy again.

im just saying if youre wondering why the media is all over him, not a great understanding of media 101, as to how it plays out w the team i have no idea

https://soundcloud.com/todd-thomas-stl/what-do-the-cards-have yadiyadiyadi

jayson stark brings his trademark deep analysis:

1. Do the math

There's an important principle to remember here: When a team is down, two games to none, it means the series couldn't possibly be more one-sided after two games. But if that team wins Game 3 and only trails 2-1, the series couldn't possibly be closer after three games.

gonna need to think about this

hah wow

*does the math*

Scully did a preamble about General Wainwright and Corregidor

no one else watching = east coast bias

Does Jayson Stark smoke a lot of dank doobage before he posts?

If this was mid-season Jon Jay would be riding the bench for his terrible fielding.

btw I'm watching this on a HD big screen tv for the first time in months and holy moly this is great.

PS damn you Jon jay.

damn it

well at least it didn't go out

brian mccann seethes

they should hit him in the ribs next time he comes up

Hershiser criticizing Beltran, thinking he could've possibly caught that if he hadn't been deked by Puig's upraised arms at the plate.

lousy baserunning and defense not the Cardinal Way

@miklasz: Someone please pass this on to Charley Steiner and Rick Monday: Jon Jay minus 10 in defensive runs saved, 32nd among MLB CF.

They found our weakness U_U

he was safe

Yep

cracked rib no big deal for Hanley

I would be crying so hard

A relatively quick postseason game, finally.

oh well

nbd

"As a player, I just think he doesn't know [about how to act]," Cardinals outfielder Carlos Beltran said. "That's what I think. He really doesn't know. He must think that he's still playing somewhere else.

"He has a lot of passion," Beltran said. "No doubt about that. Great ability. Great talent. I think, with time, he'll learn that you've got to act with a little bit more calm.

"So you know, he's going to learn. It's going to take him time, but he's going to learn. When you try to do those things sometimes, you know, you get that attention. And you don't want to wake up nobody. I always thought if you hit a home run off a pitcher, you've got to make him believe he made a mistake. You don't wake him up. Or next time, the pitcher's going to be more focused with you and he's going to try harder to get you out.

"So he will learn," Beltran concluded. "I don't think he's a bad kid. I just think he doesn't know right now."

But when Beltran was asked, "Did Yasiel Puig just 'wake up' the Cardinals?" he made it obvious that the alarm bells had just sounded -- without actually saying that.

"I'm in the outfield," Beltran said, trying to choose his words carefully. "I mean, it's not great. To me, I don't like it. But what can I say? I don't play for them. I just play over here. I just need to do my job. It is what it is."

http://espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs/2013/story/_/id/9827035/yasiel-puig-made-mark-game-3-win-los-angeles-dodgers-mlb

which is the more hilarious disparity between MLB and the NFL, level of PED-use sanctimony or tsk-tsking about "celebration" of one's feats?

ha yeah was just thinking about that

oh no a guy looked at a home run he hit, maybe try not letting him hit home runs if it bothers you so much

well, I will grant it's a more unique event when a guy looks at a triple he hits.

has anyone ever looked at triple before, that was impressive

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BWlhYi_CQAAA-Sz.jpg

Grant Brisbee finds that teams fielding three stinko outfielders tend to be good enough to do so.

http://www.baseballnation.com/2013/10/15/4839934/st-louis-cardinals-outfield-defense

if Puig is pissing off the Cardinal outfielders then he must be doing something right

never looked at jay's defensive numbers before but i always thought it was weird that a chubby little dude like him played center

He used to be mediocre, and every once in a while he'd make a flashy play (probably because of bad initial reads or positioning or pathing that caused him to have to exert more effort than necessary) so people thought of him as a defensive plus.

This year he hasn't made the flashy plays and his mediocre skills have descended into a liability.

http://deadspin.com/why-dont-the-st-louis-cardinals-respect-the-game-1445679050

YES

funny. still nothing near puig admiring a triple.

haha

well, there was a reason Mattingly was laughing grimly in his in-game interview.

Still I'll remember it, just as I've forgotten every single thing about, say, last year's Detroit-Oakland series.

when I saw that Carpenter triple that was my thought exactly, "the Cardinals probably would've complained about this"

You guys

no one ever complained about puig until now

except like his own team

A) Puig's triple was hilarious and unforgettable and awesome

B) his celebration in the batters box and then on the way to 3rd was way over the line by baseball standards, especially early on in a game. I'm not saying the standards are good or making some bullshit comparison to football or anything, I'm just saying it was noticeably more brash than the common sterilized baseball player celebration, and the fact that it drew comment is utterly predictable. It is no way comparable to other players pumping their fist after a strikeout or clapping their hands after scoring an important run. Pretending not to be able to see the difference is an insult (a baseball insult) to whoever is reading your words.

Still hilarious! But the fact that a few old stodgy baseball people got all traditional on his ass is not breaking news

Now get off of my goddamn lawn my show is coming on the tv

Do Cardinals fans understand the whole country hates their team, or are they in a bubble? (I don't mean this question as a value judgement; lots of sports fans are isolated from how their team is perceived away from home.)

Most don't

Are you serious, bnw?

since he remembers him gettin benched, yes I'd say he's serious

imagine Buck Showalter as Puig's mgr

xpost
That's probably true of most teams, as you say, but I think maybe the ignorance is especially pronounced in cards fans because of the large geographic area that follows the team. You know those maps that show which parts of the country likes which teams? The cardinals share of that is a big chunk of the flyover states, and a lot of those people aren't exactly cosmopolitan. Lots of people on Missouri never go beyond Chicago. We know cubs fans hate us, for obvious reasons, but most don't realize that everyone east of Chicago and west of Kansas hates us as well! But most never travel to those places, so they have no idea. On top of that, a lot of the people in the vast swath of CARDINAL NATION (puke, I'm sorry. Fucking sports team nations) are big, big fans of the team.

I don't hate the Cardinals.

I just find them very blah.

i don't think the whole country hates the cardinals!

i mean the whole 'best fans in baseball' thing is punchably smug, but they're not the yankees, they're not boston fans, no one left a visiting cubs fan with brain damage, etc.

i can understand that when baseball is your career/life you get wrapped up in these judgment rituals that seem bizarre to outsiders -- like kevin towers last week, or puig, or mccann. but this whole surly complain-in-the-press thing is nagl -- if you're mad and want to drill someone, then do it, don't complain to the media because you feel disrespected.

i'm not a ballplayer so i don't have the correct pov, but i would make a big distinction between being happy at doing something well and being a dick to someone you've bested. carlos gomez was being a dick, i guess because he got plunked earlier in the season. jeffrey leonard's 'one flap down' was sublime dickery. puig just seems excitable.

i don't think the whole country hates the cardinals, in fact most of the country does not give a shit about the cardinals. and i'd bet the cards aren't even in the top 3 most hated among baseball fans. people who read blogs/tumblrs/whatever too much tend to think the whole world thinks just like their little echo chamber

i'm pretty much cheering for them at this point.

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BWpCsgVCIAAbDKH.png

lolololololol

i'm not good with my US geography. that Missouri and Alaska, correct?

Fun Police map

GA is just Brian McCann voting 5000 times

btw it really is gonna be Nolasco tnite, huh?

Orel H said at end of game last night he "had been told privately" Greinke wd go, so those are some unimpeachable sources.

drunk tommy lasorada is not a trusted source

I don't hate the Cardinals at all--admire them. Especially (hindsight is 20/20) for having the guts/business sense to let Pujols walk. I never would have done it, that's for sure.

they prob know his real age

25th anniv of Kirk G's HR

The thing about this game is, the series is as close as it could possibly be, 2-1

i would just like to state for the record that i hate the cardinals and the dodgers

more than the yankees?

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright wasn’t thrilled following Game 3 of the National League Championship Series, and it wasn’t just because he took the loss against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Wainwright didn’t pitch poorly by any stretch of the imagination — he gave up just two runs over seven innings — but the Cardinals couldn’t push any runs of their own across. So Wainwright took the loss, and the Dodgers are now back in the series after losing the first two games in St. Louis.

So Wainwright’s frustration is understandable, but he took issue with more than the way he pitched. The Cardinals pitcher was also a little upset by the way Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez acted.

After Gonzalez hit an RBI double in the fourth inning, he stood on second base and made some celebratory gestures. It was a big hit in a big spot for a player who doesn’t have a ton of playoff experience, let alone playoff success, and Gonzalez celebrated as such. Two batters later, Gonzalez scored on Yasiel Puig‘s triple. It was Puig’s celebration and actions that had everyone buzzing during the game, but Wainwright could only take issue with Gonzalez, as that was the celebration he saw.

“I didn’t see Puig’s reaction,” Wainwright said, according to USA Today. “I saw Adrian doing some Mickey Mouse stuff at second, but I didn’t see Puig.”

Gonzalez defended his actions by saying that’s his go-to move.

“I did what I always do, but we are in L.A., so Mickey Mouse is only an hour away,” he said.

the yankees are too lol to hate right now.

the cardinals are smug and gross, lad is full of rejected red sox.

More like taint sox

I spent all evening thinking of that

time well spent

yall are too focused on who to hate, u shd concern yrself with who to love

one thing i hate is pitchers batting, what a downer

I love ozzie smith

Even though he's kind of a dick off the field

the best is when he would do flips

He was a level 20 wizard

damn bomb

one thing i hate is pitchers batting, what a downer

u hate real baseball, big zurprize

hey theres this one position that doesnt try to be good at hitting, literally the players dont even bother, sometimes they wear jackets when they bat, it def makes the game better and more fun to have them hitting, because of the strategy of trying to prevent them from hitting

while we have lead I'll say I feel bad for Hanle y Ram.

gna be the worst world series ever

like sure, a pirates-rays WS might be terrible for baseball or w/e, but i think the 2013 WS will go down as "FOOTAGE MSSING" bc the idea of it was so boring no one taped it

boston and st louis are two of the most popular teams, so if it came to that the h8rs of ilb aside i doubt anyones losing the footage

uh oh, mickey mouse attack

is he trying to activate wonder twin powers

puig time baby

HAHA

RBI for Puig, minimal celebration.

tbs v. disappointed

boston and st louis are two of the most popular teams, so if it came to that the h8rs of ilb aside i doubt anyones losing the footage

― lag∞n, Tuesday, October 15, 2013 9:15 PM (9 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

you're totally right, i am so stupid, of course someone will tape the world series

oh you meant that literally

well good thing it wasn't the pitcher who grounded into that DP, that would have been bad

wow pretty small sample size there kev

thats not what ur mom said

here i thought i was staying on ILX for baseball, and lag∞n lays waste to that rationalization

this board is your natural habitat

lance lynn, getting on base

give walks, gets walks. Only fair

lance lynn, getting on scoring position.

lance lynn with great baserunning

dancing, distracting the pitcher

deceptively fat

Knowing very little about him, and based only on watching a post game interview with him last night and his smile on the mound visit just then, Hanley seems like a really good guy.

he quit on the marlins, so that's a plus in my book

pasta diving descalso

big zone tonight, yeesh

a balk and catchers interference. Weird wild stuff

they needed that

who is shane robinson

Brillant play by Kozma.

(56 Chambers)

ethier's gotta do a better job of avoiding the tag than that

well 220 million might not be enough

how did puig even hit that ball to second base? thing was like a foot inside

dude is strong as fuck

I hope he admired his gidp ;)

F the haters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNj64AykY0M

down two runs, picked off second? smdh

Punto lives and dies with the scrap

http://i.imgur.com/jTJlLz4.gif

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/10/16/you-should-love-the-cardinals-because-they-uphold-strong-values

well 220 million might not be enough

― Bee OK, Wednesday, October 16, 2013 3:26 AM (13 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

hey bee last time the cardinals were up 3-1 your tiny small market payroll team was able to pull it off and win it all

Hanley, Ethier both in lineup

http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2013/10/16/4845204/dodgers-vs-cardinals-nlcs-game-5-starting-lineups

think i'd put puig 3rd. compromised hanley not giving you much

feelin u bnw

hanley being in the lineup is dandy and all, but batting third is probably not the best idea.

http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/78149/hotsportstakes-the-dodgers-are-a-disgrace

haha more of this shit

Let's Kickstart a baseball-writing parody blog.

http://baseballtonight.blogspot.com/

off to a strong start

Let's Kickstart a baseball-writing parody blog.

rip yard work

sic curve

Y'all see what I did there.

omg a pitcher got a hit is lagoon ok

Holy cow--what kind a pitcher gets a hit on a two-strike curveball like that on the heels of a fastball?

Eye-opening research from Rick Sutcliffe: Cardinals tend to win when they give up few runs, tend to lose when they give up a few.

Uh, where was the right fielder?

Of course Adams gets sawed off and reaches first safely.

lotsa hits so far eh

hah u stink Yadier

lagoon has more important things to do during NL series like handicap the 2016 prez race

lol adrian did a mickey mouse taunt

https://vine.co/v/hww7OAbmEIZ

did shelby miller hit on matheny's daughter or something?

Yeah, the lack of info about it had been weird. There were rumors about it that bit had to so with injury, but he pitched in the NLDS so that doesn't seem right. Then there's the idea that they're limiting his innings, but no official word, and doing that in the postseason seems odd.

Matheny's sitting Miller to send a message to his parents. They were too vocally supportive during games.

*colby rasmus nods*

But srsly, does anyone know what's going on? I've been at a grandma's playing contract bridge for 3 days do I don't have the latest details.

I saw a guy wearing an LA Nomar shirt, now that's pathetic

i'm fine with a Dodger-Tiger WS as long as Lasorda drops dead during Game 7

today i learned that bobby valentine of the spokane indians was pacific coast league mvp in 1970. his manager, tommy lasorda, shared the manager of the year award with chuck tanner of the hawaii islanders

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/joe-strauss/culture-clash-pits-bravado-team-respect/article_2b44d276-ae63-5a44-996b-e1e389876d33.html

The whole thing, but...

Hey, baseball is the primary religion in Our Town. Out here it’s a place to be seen, maybe flash some gang signs on the matrix and bat a beach ball.

*facepalm*

oh god make the whole thing go away, i just want to watch the games

I've seen beachballs in the crowd at Fenway, no lie.

Bos-LA would provide dreaded Wilson v Napoli beardo showdown.

@dfreese23
Sometimes u realize how serious life is then u see Eddie Murphy in MJ - Remember This Time...

If I have to beg and plead to the symphony

http://imgpark.donga.com/mbs/fileUpload/201310/525f6c021f49797c9cf9.jpg

Koreans are super excited about the prospect of a game 7. Caption is something like 'Greinke passes the bomb to Kershaw. Can Ryu turn it into fireworks'

http://i.imgur.com/8I51wn5.jpg

just saw the thing about shelby miller

his K% this season

March/April: 27%
May: 26%
June: 27%
July: 24%
August: 23%
Sept/Oct: 12%

he's probably just burned way the fuck out. that said if i was the cards i'd consider maybe not letting joe kelly start a game the rest of the playoffs.

he admitted he was fatigued in september, ppl forget that part. (mujica admitted the same and yet...)

I was convinced Miller was a shoe in for ROY because of all the winzzzzzz. He done fell off.

Puig and Ryu have strong cases too but I assume the rookie from Miami will win it.

fernandez is the easy winner and puig is the only one in his league

i voted JF-Puig-Miller

No Hanley in the Dodgers lineup today. Might be better off with Punto at this point but the Dodger record without Hanley is abysmal.

http://twitter.com/molly_knight/status/391336243184685056/photo/1

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BW5OywECIAEsdrg.jpg

had to peel back the layers of twitpic to get the link. nice of adrian and yasiel to play along with the stl fans.

go dodgerssssssssss!

hanley back in ?_?

yes

Wish he'd try a liiiiiitle harder

@AdamKilgoreWP
I hope the Dodgers, if they win Game 7, hop on some Clydesdales and race them around the warning track. While drinking craft beer.

That was funny. If the umpire had called that a ball, Puig would have looked silly in a way completely opposite to how it usually happens.

OK, what stream doesn't suck tonight?

dunno what is your standard for online illegal streaming, but the first link from streamhunter.eu is ok to me (british advertising otoh)

the best is when you get feeds from weird foreign places where they dont cut to commercial instead you get a shot of the court w audio of the announcers shooting the shit and talking to the producers and so forth

i have cable now tho

I've been getting good quality streams throughout the playoffs.

Kershaw getting rolled.

Sutcliffe is ripping on Puig nonstop for the offbalance throw that allowed Beltran to take second on his hit.

is there a lamer major leaguer than matt adams? dude looks like a douchebag bouncer

Was just going to say--if the Cardinals win, Sutcliffe will still be going on about that throw in the 9th inning. It was a sloppy play, but it wasn't all that noteworthy (and the batter after Molina got a hit anyway).

wow kersh got hosed on that AB

love to see the dodgers unravel like that, love it.

Nice throw rookie

That's it, Puig--you're the villain. ("Playing way too emotionally...")

Wow, those live mics. Never knew that "Fuckin' horseshit" screamed from the dugout wasn't enough to get a manger kicked out.

"manager"...sorry, Jesus.

fix is in for Team Clydesdale

On the radio they speak of
Earned runs and errant throws

Long shot of magic johnson's face

All streams hiccup and freeze on me, but I assume that's just cuz I don't understand my laptop.

That was what my dad always automatically said whenever his team was losing: "the fix is in." I think he believed it, too.

No excuse for airmailing the throw to home, although it didn't lead to a run.

I almost feel like they should have pinch hit for Wacha there and tried to really stick the dagger in.

Kershaw threw more pitches in the third (48) than in any inning in his career.

Morbs the bootleg stream on lemonparty.org isnt feezing at all. plus HD if option if you want.

one good play in LF. one bad one.

Grant Brisbee ‏@mccoveychron
Puig's decisions on when to make crazy throws and such are like a three-minute accordion solo in the middle of OK Computer.

No idea why Kershaw is still in there. He hasn't been right since the third.

I am wastered

Want to research post-season meltdowns by great starting pitchers, but I'm sure someone will have a full list up tomorrow.

RF

The second basemen regretted his throw to home mid-throw - hilarious slowmo replay

i'm a little tipsy myself.

xpost - ya - loved the head drop immediately following the throw! dodgers looking like real crud out there.

The idea that no error is charged there is why people write passionate screeds against the error.

Think it's time to go back to my movie.

Kershaw enjoying his thumb

wow

what the dodgers need right now is Scutaro

welp

Oh man!

it'd be nice to just go a year without the cardinals

congrats, you all get a year off, go pursue your secondary hobbies

is there a lamer major leaguer than matt adams? dude looks like a douchebag bouncer

f u matt adams rules

uh oh

Nothing like watching the season end with your fourth and fifth best relievers out there. But at least Kenley Jansen will be fresh for limiting the damage in the eighth!

Shouldn't they be pulling Wacha? The game is over, he had to run the bases in the last inning, save his arm for the WS.

http://www.stlcardinalbaseball.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/matt-adams-babe-ruth-cardinals-spring-training.jpg

Zachlon take a chill pill dude, dance dance revolution

Misspelling unintentional!

i wish i was drunk

Shouldn't they be pulling Wacha? The game is over, he had to run the bases in the last inning, save his arm for the WS.

No. The Cardinals are an organization with class and integrity.

jesus christ wacha

fire mattingly, trade kershaw

Wacha 'would be youngest NLCS MVP since Avery in '91.'

http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/multimedia/photo_gallery/1112/athlete.wags.90s/images/steve-avery.jpg

so i just got home, what happened. :-)

http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/images/2005/04/08/gcgY9n9Y.jpg

http://i.a.cnn.net/si/2006/writers/albert_chen/10/28/weaver.cardinals/T1_1027_weaver.jpg

It'll be cool to see Beltran in the WS.

true but now i know i will want whoever comes out of the American League.

I usually root for the AL on principle, and that's what I'll be doing this year.

i usually root for the nl on principle

it's a struggle

Had to dvr and holy shit ^_________________^

http://youtu.be/s9XZXfxVHJs

go Tigers, or winter

yes, let the winter cold take all of them

^too big an advantage for Red Sox

Want to research post-season meltdowns by great starting pitchers

if we're using this callow level of "great," Andujar in '85 obv (man that was sweet).

I did think of Andujar, who was pretty good for a few years, but I meant HOF territory (realize it's still early for Kershaw). Someone mentioned Koufax's 6-0 loss in Game 2 of the '66 Series, but it's not even close: 6 innings, 6 hits, 4 runs, only one of them earned. (Willie Davis's three-error game.)

Schoenfield has an interesting thought up today--not saying it's true, but it caught my attention.

In this day when hitters swing from their heels no matter the count or situation, willing to trade strikeouts -- lots of strikeouts -- for home runs, the Cardinals excel at that old-school stat that everyone loves to denigrate: batting average.

They put the ball in play and that leads to more hits. They had the lowest strikeout rate in the majors this season -- as they also did in 2011, when they won the World Series -- and if there’s a trend to watch in the playoffs these days, it’s that: not striking out. Since 2009, teams that had the lower strikeout rate in the regular season have won 23 of 29 postseason series. The statisticians may argue that the sample size is too small to draw any conclusions; maybe they’re right. But tell that to the Cardinals.

(The reason I'm skeptical is that the odds of putting together a long string of hits seem especially long against a great pitcher like Kershaw.)

yes, IT'S STILL EARLY for Kershaw, and then you went on to ignore that

I mean, obviously it did happen last night, but as a deliberate, conscious approach against the Kershaws and Verlanders and, um, Wachas, I'm skeptical.

Well...Kershaw's got at least as much of a head start on the HOF as Trout, no? He'll have two Cys and a second-place at the end of this year, to go along with a 2.60 career ERA and lots else. He could be Dwight Gooden or Tim Lincecum, sure. I'd bet he ends up in the HOF. (Which is kind of irrelevant in terms of the Andujar comparison anyway--he's great right now in a way that Andujar never was.)

Or let me put it this way: if you extend the meaning of great to Andujar, I wouldn't have bothered asking the question. I'm sure that list would be really long.

I presumed you really meant "aces"

Okay, that's fair. Tudor and Cox were better that year--Tudor was a lot better--but Andujar was probably perceived as the staff ace that year.

Kershaw's got at least as much of a head start on the HOF as Trout, no?

by JAWS, Kershaw is 211th among starting pitchers, after 6 seasons.

Trout is 117th among CFs, after 2+.

I remember Andujar's meltdown fairly well. Even uglier than last night, set up by Denkinger's missed call the night before. Andujar looked like he was ready to murder someone when he was ejected.

However, after Horton gave up a single to Brett, Herzog immediately replaced him with the volatile Joaquín Andújar, normally a starter but pressed into relief. Andújar allowed an RBI single to Frank White to increase the Royals lead to 10–0 before the Cardinals came completely unglued. With Sundberg at the plate, Andújar twice charged home plate umpire Denkinger to disagree with his strike zone. First, Denkinger called an Andújar pitch a ball. Herzog, who had been berating Denkinger for most of the game, rushed from the dugout to defend Andújar, and was ejected—reportedly after saying to Denkinger, "We wouldn't even be here if you hadn't missed the fucking call last night!" According to Denkinger, he replied "Well if you guys weren't hitting .120 in this World Series, we wouldn't be here." The next pitch was also called a ball, and Denkinger ejected Andújar, who again lost his cool and charged at Denkinger. It took three teammates to restrain him and get him off the field.

And if the great majority of voters were guided by JAWS, that'd be compelling evidence that Trout's far ahead. But they're not (not yet, anyway--20 years from now, who knows?)--Kershaw's hardware will figure in prominently. You're arguing "should"; I'm talking about "is."

But I also realize pitchers are a much bigger roll of the dice. Trout's similarity comps include seven HOF'ers, one player who will go in, Vada Pinson, and Tony Conigliaro. Kerhaws's include Seaver, Clemens, Palmer, and Pedro--great start--but also Gary Nolan, Vida Blue, and Lefty Liefeld (?).

Zone was a mess all series but I think the better team won. Cards beat Kershaw twice and Greinke once. Dodgers also had Hanley and Ethier in the lineup but they were hardly a presence. We'll get em next year.

All SP's vs CF's (not all OF's or all position players) isn't a fair comparison (different sample sizes). But Kershaw is clearly the best pitcher in baseball based on a body of work stretching over a few years, so it would be like Johan Santana getting knocked around in '06-'07. Whether they continue(d) on a HOF path isn't really the point.

He was never the best in baseball, but Andy Pettitte had a lot of meltdown starts in the playoffs considering his reputation as a big time pitcher (and possible HOFer). I count at least six (although none since 2001).

But Kershaw is clearly the best pitcher in baseball

hmmmmm

kershaw is obviously the best pitcher in baseball, yes

same thing i mentioned with the trout vs cabrera thing -- unless we're talking hitters in coors, everyone is apparently perfectly happy to acknowledge park factors, but no one actually cares to include them in their evaluation of players

i think kershaw is probably in the top 2, maybe still the best even in LA, but i'd put verlander right up there even with this last year under his belt

well yeah i mean you almost have to weigh more recent seasons more heavily when you're talking about who the best pitcher/player is RIGHT NOW. if we weigh each season equally then over the last 3 years verlander is right there with him, maybe even better

Whether he's #1 or #1A doesn't really change the argument.

Dodger Stadium has averaged about a 96 PF during Kershaw's career, the last few years Coors is around 115-120, down from it's high 120's heyday in the 90's. So basically there's a good reason why Coors was and remains a special case.

ok -- coors being super special doesn't make other park differences smaller or something, kershaw would still look like a different pitcher in most other parks

That's what I was thinking of (xpost). At any given time there are, what, maybe five to ten starting pitchers who are more or less in their prime and on a HOF track? Today's list starts with Verlander, Kershaw, and Felix, and you can fill in the rest different ways. I don't think Andujar was one of those pitchers in 1985, but I'd have to go back and check.

wasn't alive at the time, but andujar had a career losing record coming into 1985, so i doubt it

i was wondering, in WAR, who is best starting pitcher of the past 5 years?

Verlander -- Lee -- Felix -- Kershaw -- Greinke (in fWAR)

no idea how to find that in bb-ref but kershaw has a 0.1 lead on verlander there

kershaw would still look like a different pitcher in most other parks

Not so different -- his home/road splits this year were almost identical, his ERA was half a run higher on the road but the difference is probably due to luck, because his peripherals are virtually the same.

Dodger stadium is interesting for park factors... the symmetric outfield suppresses doubles and triples, night games you dont see many home runs, but when its warm you get an uptick. Whats the stat equivalent for that? hehe

xp h/r splits are never a reliable way of determining that, especially in a 1-season sample size (for his career his road ERA is 0.86 higher)

during andujar's time i remember that the dominant pitchers everyone seemed to fear were guys like the usual HOF suspects + candelaria, mario soto, steve rogers, dave stieb, frank viola, and yeah andujar for several years. but he was only "great" for 3 seasons iirc.

some of those guys were incredibly good too. perennial all-stars, guys who started the all-star game, deservedly feared.