# Major League Baseball: The 2010 Playoffs **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** baseball-mlb\ **Created:** [October 6, 2010, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-league-baseball-the-2010-playoffs/556197 "2010-10-06T00:24:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-league-baseball-the-2010-playoffs/556197/81 "2010-10-10T16:58:15Z")
Indeed a Tampa win today would be huge. Then I don’t really care who wins tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-league-baseball-the-2010-playoffs/556197/82 "2010-10-10T17:31:46Z")
A great confidence builder for the Yanks. I can’t decide who I’m rooting for but I’m leaning Tampa just to avoid Cliff Lee. Speaking of Cliff Lee, the Twins should go hard after him in the off-season. I don’t know what they can do about that offense, though. How did they win so many games? Their inter-league schedule wasn’t easy. Maybe it’s playing K.C. and Cleveland so many times. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-league-baseball-the-2010-playoffs/556197/83 "2010-10-10T18:00:44Z")
They’re better than they looked in this series. But you’re right, Lee would be a big pick up for that team. They really need a tough as nails #1. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-league-baseball-the-2010-playoffs/556197/84 "2010-10-10T18:36:41Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > How did they win so many games? Their inter-league schedule wasn’t easy. Maybe it’s playing K.C. and Cleveland so many times. The 2010 Minnesota Twins had a .417 season against the American League East and .444 against the National League, but .653 against the AL Central and .667 against the AL West. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-league-baseball-the-2010-playoffs/556197/85 "2010-10-10T19:55:21Z")
There’s also the fact that shit happens. Sometimes you have a bad three games. Momentum is today’s starting pitcher, as the Rays and Rangers are currently demonstrating. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-league-baseball-the-2010-playoffs/556197/86 "2010-10-10T20:31:31Z")
And indeed, the Rays and Rangers shall go back to Florida to play a fifth game. There’s no such thing as momentum in baseball. This series was over just 12 innings ago and now suddenly it’s tied. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-league-baseball-the-2010-playoffs/556197/87 "2010-10-10T20:39:18Z")
The Braves have lost Billy Wagner for at least this and the next series, and likely forever, as Wagner had planned to retire after this season. Wagner had a truly dominating season. It’s a shame. He’s quietly had a great, great career. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-league-baseball-the-2010-playoffs/556197/88 "2010-10-11T00:19:42Z")
Giants Baseball…Torture! Yogi Berra was right. The game ain’t over 'till it’s over 🙂 So the Braves stole one in San Francisco, and now the Giants have returned the favor. It’ll be interesting to see if Boche starts Madison Bumgarner in Game 4, or if he goes with Lincecum for the knockout punch. Personally, I’m in favor of Bumgarner. He’s pitched well the latter part of the season, and I really like the idea of having Lincecum for Game 5 if it’s necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-league-baseball-the-2010-playoffs/556197/89 "2010-10-11T00:20:25Z")
**RickJay** , I know you’ve come up with some rationalization here, but the Braves’ defense really is pretty atrocious. Can’t complain at the moment, though. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-league-baseball-the-2010-playoffs/556197/90 "2010-10-11T00:30:30Z")
> [@Zakalwe](#): > > > [@astorian](#): > > > > People thought for years that Tampa/St. Pete would be a great baseball market (and many teams USED the Tampa Bay region to extort new stadiums and concessions from their local governments). We now know Tampa ISN’T a baseball town, and the Rays can’t draw crowds even when the team is very good. > > > > So what? People have no obligation to go to ballgames. The people of Tampa have spoken: they have better things to do with their time and money than watch the Rays. And that bothers me not a whit. > > > > The Rays must now decide whether to stay around or search around for a better market. Good luck finding one. > > Actually the people of Tampa have voted that they have better things to do than go 30+ miles to another city to watch baseball. The team is in St. Petersburg and is a decent length commute from Tampa (particularly the suburbs which is where the people are). I would offer that we still know very little about the actual Tampa market’s willingness to go see a local team. On the other hand we DO know that the Rays have great television ratings. Agreed. Tampa is a baseball town; St Pete isn’t it. It was really a stupid place to put a stadium. FWIW, I had four tickets to both game 1 and 2 and didn’t attend because I work in Los Angeles. When I bought them I was hoping they’d be playing in town during the weekend. So I’m personally responsible for four empty (but paid for) seats at both games. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-league-baseball-the-2010-playoffs/556197/91 "2010-10-11T00:45:22Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > FWIW, I had four tickets to both game 1 and 2 and didn’t attend because I work in Los Angeles. When I bought them I was hoping they’d be playing in town during the weekend. So I’m personally responsible for four empty (but paid for) seats at both games. Not five minutes after I wrote this I got an email from a United Airlines pilot I sat next to on a flight last week, asking if I had tickets to game 5. Bad timing - I didn’t bother to get Game 5 tickets because I knew I’d be out of town. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-league-baseball-the-2010-playoffs/556197/92 "2010-10-11T00:50:53Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > Giants Baseball…Torture! I take full credit for this win. When Sanchez was down to his last strike, my wife said, “Well, it’s OK…” I snapped at her, “It’s not over YET!” Then he singled up the middle, and I won the game! Joe ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-league-baseball-the-2010-playoffs/556197/93 "2010-10-11T01:09:47Z")
The Simpsons were great tonight for the record. I say lovingly to all the Sabermetrics fans. 🙂 I strongly suspect the Phillies will also be wrapped up tonight. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-league-baseball-the-2010-playoffs/556197/94 "2010-10-11T01:11:16Z")
Bill James was pleased to make his first appearance on the Simpsons. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-league-baseball-the-2010-playoffs/556197/95 "2010-10-11T01:44:06Z")
Dusty Baker pinched hit for his pitcher in the 5th with 2 outs with Miguel Cairo? Pitch count was only 83. Cairo of course Ks to make it worse, but what was Dusty thinking? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-league-baseball-the-2010-playoffs/556197/96 "2010-10-11T03:49:15Z")
Well, the Reds go out with a whimper. Giants up 2-1. You have to feel for Brooks Conrad, a career journeyman who’s playing out of position replacing a star and he just happened to have the worst week of his life. ---
**Author:** ![unwashed\_brain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a9adbd/32.png) [@unwashed\_brain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unwashed_brain)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-league-baseball-the-2010-playoffs/556197/97 "2010-10-11T12:30:12Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Dusty Baker pinched hit for his pitcher in the 5th with 2 outs with Miguel Cairo? Pitch count was only 83. Cairo of course Ks to make it worse, but what was Dusty thinking? Dusty is an idiot. To the Braves’ loss, which I attended. Conrad had been playing a lot of 3rd after Prado was hurt, so I was a bit surprised to see him at second last night. My friend noted this early on and it proved to really, really matter. Conrad looked lost out there all night. I was surprised and disappointed Cox yanked Kimbrel in the 9th. If he’s supposedly our closer next year, he’s going to have to face left-handed hitting, as well as learn how to get out of the messes he makes. You might argue that Cox was playing the lefty-lefty matchup against Huff by bringing in Dunn, but **Huff hit .296 against LHP this year** , and Kimbrel held lefties to .176. Ob I may in the vast minority in this among Braves fans, but I’ve been ready to see Bobby Cox ride off into the sunset for several years. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-league-baseball-the-2010-playoffs/556197/98 "2010-10-11T12:38:57Z")
I always felt Cox was in the category of excellent regular season manager and poor post-season manager. Buck Showalter is a more extreme version of this, great regular season and team building manager but always become too tight and over-manages in the post season. I mean Cox is clearly going to the Hall of Fame as a manager and you could do a whole lot worse with a manager but I have never considered him a truly great manager. ---
**Author:** ![unwashed\_brain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a9adbd/32.png) [@unwashed\_brain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unwashed_brain)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-league-baseball-the-2010-playoffs/556197/99 "2010-10-11T12:48:30Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I always felt Cox was in the category of excellent regular season manager and poor post-season manager. The end results clearly support this position. It’s hard not to think that a different manager could’ve done more with the talent the front office laid at his feet over the last 20 years. ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-league-baseball-the-2010-playoffs/556197/100 "2010-10-11T13:03:57Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > > [@phungi](#): > > > > You can put a fork in the Reds… > > In the middle of the first game? I don’t think so. Halladay is pitching like a god but that’s no guarantee that Hamels or Oswalt will. The Reds _do_ have an offense, even if it isn’t readily apparent against one of the best pitchers in baseball. Toldya… ; ) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-league-baseball-the-2010-playoffs/556197.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-league-baseball-the-2010-playoffs/556197.md?page=6)