# MLB 2021 Playoffs **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** baseball-mlb\ **Created:** [October 5, 2021, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2021-playoffs/951930 "2021-10-05T13:47:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 18
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2021, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2021-playoffs/951930/341 "2021-10-31T14:05:10Z")
Oh wow. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2021, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2021-playoffs/951930/342 "2021-10-31T20:46:43Z")
Tonight could be the very last game that pitchers bat in an MLB game. Sad to see, I’ve always hated the DH. ---
**Author:** ![3AxisCtrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/ecd19e/32.png) [@3AxisCtrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3AxisCtrl)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2021, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2021-playoffs/951930/343 "2021-10-31T22:20:49Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Tonight could be the very last game that pitchers bat in an MLB game. I think Shohei Ohtani may extend the streak a bit. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2021, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2021-playoffs/951930/344 "2021-10-31T22:35:24Z")
True, the rare exceptions like him or when teams voluntarily give it up late in the game due to an injury or something but we’ll never see another game where both teams have pitchers bat the entire game. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2021, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2021-playoffs/951930/345 "2021-11-01T00:42:01Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > where both teams have pitchers bat the entire game As long as we’re being picky, this is already rare—since it’s rare for the starting pitchers to last the whole game, and rare for relief pitchers to bat, even in the NL. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2021, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2021-playoffs/951930/346 "2021-11-01T00:45:51Z")
He didn’t say anything about _starting_ pitchers. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2021, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2021-playoffs/951930/347 "2021-11-01T01:04:53Z")
I know, but as I said, relief pitchers usually don’t bat. So you don’t usually have pitchers batting the entire game. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2021, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2021-playoffs/951930/348 "2021-11-01T03:22:21Z")
I understand some people think Joe Buck is a terrible caller, but he’s not that bad. Not the greatest but serviceable. John Smoltz, on the other hand, is a terrible color commentator. How has he lasted this long? Great player in his day but I have to mute the games in case he says anything. Sure, some of that is on Buck, but you play the best with the hand you’re dealt, and he was dealt a busted straight against a full house. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2021, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2021-playoffs/951930/349 "2021-11-01T03:29:10Z")
I’m watching this delayed on my DVR. So far a good game, Astros up 7-5 through 5. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2021, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2021-playoffs/951930/350 "2021-11-01T03:33:58Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > John Smoltz, on the other hand, is a terrible color commentator. How has he lasted this long? Great player in his day but I have to mute the games in case he says anything. Still, better than Tim McCarver. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2021, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2021-playoffs/951930/351 "2021-11-01T03:41:52Z")
What a low, low bar to set. ARod is also a terrible commentator. He can be insightful in the studio when he has time to prepare some stuff but definitely isn’t cut out for the booth. Runs out of intelligent things to say over the course of a game. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2021, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2021-playoffs/951930/352 "2021-11-01T03:43:14Z")
Well, the good thing about Joe Buck is that baseball doesn’t really have the equivalent of “Pass is…caught!”, which accounts for about 50 percent of all Buck’s football calls. Except for, maybe, “Swing and a miss.” Someone once commented that if Joe Buck had been a reporter on 9/11, he would have said, “Airplane…airplane…airplane…building!” ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2021, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2021-playoffs/951930/353 "2021-11-01T04:09:56Z")
Astros lead 9-5 going into the bottom of the 9th. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2021, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2021-playoffs/951930/354 "2021-11-01T12:30:05Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > As long as we’re being picky, this is already rare—since it’s rare for the starting pitchers to last the whole game, and rare for relief pitchers to bat, even in the NL. True enough. The starter might get a couple at bats, in a close game the relievers may combine for one at bat. But this element of strategy is gone forever- do you let your starter bat in the fifth or sixth inning in a scoreless game or bring in a pinch hitter? Man on first none out, do you bring in a pinch hitter or let the pitcher bunt? All laid to rest on the altar of the almighty home run or strikeout strategy. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2021, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2021-playoffs/951930/355 "2021-11-01T13:24:10Z")
I’m in the opposite camp, where we recognize that pitchers hitting is an act against nature, or at the very least, mind-numbingly boring. But the compromise I’ve seen is universal DH, but when the starter is pulled, you lose the DH. It eliminates the opener role, and pushes a manager to keep his starter in as long as possible. It also creates a reason to have an extra bat or two on the bench instead just more relievers. I don’t hate the idea. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2021, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2021-playoffs/951930/356 "2021-11-01T13:27:27Z")
I can live with that. And, I liked how Zack Greinke came through last night as a pinch hitter. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2021, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2021-playoffs/951930/357 "2021-11-01T13:41:35Z")
Yes I like that idea. Or even have the DH tied to an individual pitcher. Change a pitcher, change the DH or lose it. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2021, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2021-playoffs/951930/358 "2021-11-01T15:21:01Z")
When Alex was still playing, it was often said that he had a great baseball brain. That he was a student of the game, and that he helpfully passed that knowledge on to the young 'uns. It’s hard to accept that as truth listening to the stream of inanities pouring out of his mouth during a broadcast. Compounding the problem is his _terrible_ speaking voice. Who thought fans would enjoy listening to that nasal whine for three hours? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2021, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2021-playoffs/951930/359 "2021-11-01T15:24:55Z")
It’s a pleasure watching Brantley hit. What a pro. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2021, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2021-playoffs/951930/360 "2021-11-01T15:27:19Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > John Smoltz, on the other hand, is a terrible color commentator. How has he lasted this long? He just seems to hate baseball. > [@BlankSlate](#): > > It’s hard to accept that as truth listening to the stream of inanities pouring out of his mouth during a broadcast. (Referring here to A-Rod.) Broadcasting is one of those things that looks/sounds easy when talented people are doing but it’s actually insanely difficult. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2021-playoffs/951930.md?page=17) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2021-playoffs/951930.md?page=19)