THERE'S ONLY ONE POSTSEASON (thread for 2019)

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2007/10/21/sports/21chass.1.600.jpg

pretty sure every single prediction i've seen has the astros beating the dodgers (or occasionally some other NL team)

UNTIL NOW

AL

WC: Rays vs A's: Rays
Astros vs Rays: Astros
Twins vs Yankees: Yankees
Astros vs Yankees: Yankees

NL

WC: Brewers vs Nationals: Nationals
Dodgers vs Nationals: Dodgers
Cardinals vs Braves: Cardinals
Cardinals vs Dodgers: Cardinals

Cardinals vs Yankees (the matchup all true Americans crave): Cardinals

----

NL West: Dodgers
NL Central: Cardinals
NL East: Braves
NL WC1: Nationals
NL WC2: Brewers

oops, ignore the part after the dividing line at the end. the rest of my analysis is rock solid, though

the upper midwest longs for the Twins-Brewers series though a lot of unlikely events would have to conspire to bring this about

yanks-cards surely the drabbest series imaginable

rematch of 1991 twins-braves, greatest series of the contemporary era, not inconceivable though

my gut (which is a mad man) tells me that's what we'll get. my personal preference would be Rays v Brews.

i would love to see the Rays do well, too. Tommy Pham 4ever

i think yankees-braves would be drabbest -- cardinals at least have lovely uniforms

rooting against nyy/atl/was; after that i guess i don't really care

i'll always root against any team that encourages their fans to do the tomahawk chop, and also against any team that employs craig kimbrel

even as a cubs fan i lol at the craig kimbrel signing, did theo not witness the 2019 season and playoffs?

DID THEO NOT WITNESS IT

he was busy witnessing the 2020 playoffs

A couple Ben Lindbergh pieces... First, we may have two of the all-time great teams here:

The 107-55 Astros and the record 106-56 Dodgers made 2019 the second season ever to boast two teams with at least 105 wins, after 1998, when the Yankees and Braves won 114 and 106, respectively. But wins and losses don’t always accurately reflect a team’s true performance. Baseball Prospectus’s archive of third-order records extends back to 1950, encompassing 70 seasons and 1,742 teams. (The complete list is here.) The Astros and Dodgers rank first and third all time, respectively, in third-order winning percentage, with only the 2001 Mariners placing ahead of L.A.

https://www.theringer.com/mlb/2019/9/30/20891140/houston-astros-los-angeles-dodgers-rematch

and next, baseball juiciness and the postseason:

https://www.theringer.com/2019/10/1/20892852/juiced-ball-home-runs-launch-angle

also heard on the EW pod today that when relievers face more batters in this PS (do you doubt it? missed by two last year), it will be the first time.

3rd order?!

second order is how many teams a team should have won, considering overall runs scored and runs allowed. pythagorean wins and losses, in other words.

third order considers all that, plus quality of opponents

https://legacy.baseballprospectus.com/glossary/index.php?search=pct3

how many ^games^ a team should have won

Feels like the team that wins the post-season is the one with the most tools in the box, no matter what you threw at the Red Sox 2018 or Astros 2017, they always had a solution and they didn’t stick to one particular plan. I think this is the Dodgers this year, who might have learned from having a too monolithic approach at the plate in last year’s WS (loud swings/loud contacts). I think the Astros are the only team that can realistically stop them.

oh interesting.
xpost

that also sounds like the Rays – they are a team comprised of nothing but moving parts. their problem (with the playoffs) being, no big-name superstar that could potentially carry a line-up/rotation. which is kinda one reason i like them so much.

I think Meadows is a superstar in the making but yes, agreed. Rays will be my bandwagon team (despite that shithead of an owner).

i can't keep the shithead owners straight, except for the Cubs and Mets.

Probably gonna root for a Presidential Resignation Series of 1974 rematch: Dodgers-A's.

(that could be shattered Wed night, of course)

oh god - what did they Rays owner do (aside from being cheap)?

just in time for the AL WC

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/amp/Oakland-s-curveball-City-sues-county-over-14481751.php

i know a Baseball Prospectus writer suggested this week that Nats piggyback Strasburg after Scherzer tonight. Anyone think they will?

you'd have to be almost certain they would (if the brewers can hit scherzer, at least). it's a do-or-die game, and the nats bullpen is terrible

that doesn't sound like a dave martinez kind of move

also . . . idk.

i mean yes, it's a do-or-die game, but the goal is to win the world series, not beat milwaukee and get crushed by the dodgers. and i don't see how they can beat LA without scherzer/strasburg/corbin operating at full strength

True, but assuming it's like a Straburg "throw day" ... two innings?

The Ringer MLB Show guys also suggested that the first game in the Atlanta series is more must-win than usual for the Braves because of Flaherty in Game 2.

ugh i don't think i can bear it! Dodgers relief pitching will be the end of me .

keuchel has G1 for the braves, presumably soroka for G2

I have no idea whether ATL has been sandbagging the last 10 days or if they really ran out of steam at the worst time.

You're actually going to do this for a wild-card game? I mean, sometimes the Blue Jays beat the Astros.

https://www.mlb.com/news/brewers-nationals-position-by-position

They might instead limit themselves to two or three pertinent questions, starting with "Is Max Scherzer lights out?" If yes, that's enough right there.

The Unbearable Search for Content.

hypothetical starting pitchers as relief pitchers probably a moot point anyway with scherzer starting, of course

The Brewers will win in 11 innings tonight because Dave Martinez will try to get six outs from Rodney.

Scherzer has not been very Scherzer post-injury.

see above

ohhhh lol max

Off to a good start!

Yessssssssss baby

Do your dance, YG, do your dance.

will this game end before midnight eastern y/n

Daym.

Might be over soon!

wow. ok, so...imo get strasburg in but that's me

def not lights out

scherzer has only thrown 20 pitches - he can still throw a game 2 or 3.

i was promised lights out

thames was so on that

i’m not sure that working insanely fast is in max’s best interests

Strasburg has had a 1.50 era or something since Max’s injury.

if Martinez waits til it's 5-0 before pulling Max, would that be... Mathenaging?

The throw was actually way better than the catch (and the catch was great).

Hey douchebag with the astros astronaut helmet on

The astrodome is just a huge teepee and when the fly ball is corrupted by big business, what are the outfielders to do?

Brantley has always been an underrated player. I saw him make an unbelievable catch for the Indians against the Reds in the far corner of right field. It was a full speed and dive extension up in the wall corner. Amazing catch, easily one of the best I ever saw in person.

I haven't heard many Smoltz-called game the past couple of years...he seems like he's got a little tiredness or brain fog or disinterest going on now. He trails off without finishing his sentence more than he used to.

Come on Gary

I think *that* double play was the death blow, finally.

on what planet is that not a swing

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

deej

I hope George isn’t blaming himself, he was as close as he could be.

Congrats DJ LeMahieu on having your number retired by the Yankees.

BOOM

Juiced ball is back just in time to save the fucking Yankees.

Fucking epic

you root for Amazon too?

Springer will walk it off -- I'm calling it now.

now walk 3 more, wifebeater

Everyone has their own opinion

Hahahaha eat shit yankees

helluva season

let's go nats

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I literally love Jose Altuve!

EVIL VANQUISHED

SUCK IT, CALSTARS

ALTUVE¡¡¡¡¡

That crack of the bat and the sound of the crowd was **kisses fingers**

Dual abusers collapse! What an ending!

hahahaaaaaa, great finish

The Astros just don't know when to stop quitting.

Springer will walk it off -- I'm calling it now.

Nailed it.

The elation of knowing the Chapman’s sweating shit grin will be replayed over and over and over for the foreseeable future.

I appreciated that response.

We can now put the 2010s in the books as the greatest decade of New York baseball in a century.

Mets pennants: 1
Yankees pennants: 0

After the 2016 World Series I coulda told the yanks fans to not rely on Chapman in postseason crunch time.

https://imgur.com/a/NnmiyV0

As a Yankee fan I am disappointed, but as a baseball fan I must really appreciate the great heart and talent of Jose Altuve and the rest of the Astros. They were the better team. I wish
them the best in the WS. And like the Brooklyn fans of old I say, “Wait For Next Year.”

— Rudy Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) October 20, 2019

We can now put the 2010s in the books as the greatest decade of New York baseball in a century.

Really? Better than the 80's?

The Mattingly teams were definitely the most boring Yankee teams of the last century.

Yankees World Series appearances
1980s: 0
2010s: 0

The Yankkes played the Dodgers in the 1981 World Series

^^^^^^

admittedly the '80s are a close second

but Mike fuckin' Scioscia

Giuliani avoiding the word "till" up there til he gets his hand out of it.

The Mattingly teams were definitely the most boring Yankee teams of the last century.

They had Rickey for awhile!

I... got my info from a tweet that's been deleted. Shame on me.

Those 80s teams were shitty but far from boring. The hirings and firings and Bronx Zoo melodrama kept on, and Winfield in addition to Rickey. Donnie Baseball was a joy.

Most boring Yankee decade was def the ten years pre-George, the Bobby Murcer/Mel Stottlemeyer teams

If we're talking about ten consecutive years, then those pre-George years were definitely the worst. But if we're dealing with decades, then they still won three WS titles, Whitey and Mickey, Maris' record ...

The '80's teams had some good players but not a single memorable team, the hirings and firings were a sad joke because the team wasn't winning (as opposed to the 70's).

The '85 team was sort of memorable in that they took the Jays to game #161, Mattingly and Henderson (and Brett) had a great MVP duel, Billy Martin was brought back again (4th time?), and--game #162--Neikro won his 300th. Maybe just memorable from a Toronto perspective.

Possible cheap win by Osuna last night.

Steinbush bought em in '73, so'65-72 was the nadir of the CBS years. In NYC they're often called the Horace Clarke era.