Not a baseball fan myself, but MANY folk here in Chicago are quite excited. I’d like the Cubs to win, just to avoid them being more depressed than they were when the Cubs were down 3-1.
I’ve watched 1 complete game (the 1-0 yawner), and parts of a couple more. That’s more baseball than I’ve watched in the last decade! Playing music til 9 tonight, so I’ll probably watch the last couple innings afterwards. Is there ANYTHING slower than a televised baseball game? 
Good article here questioning the wisdom of using him. Conclusion - who the hell knows what the impact was or what will happen tonight. It’s not a black and white world.
The last two minutes of a televised basketball game.
I’m a firm believer that “Do whatever it takes to win today” is the correct strategy in any elimination game. That said, I didn’t agree with any of the moves that Maddon made with his pitchers last night.
First, I would have left Arrieta out there in the 6th. He had a 5 run lead and was still throwing 92 MPH. He’s not going to pitch tonight in any case, and after today he has several months to rest.
Second, I would have left Chapman in the bullpen. Did I mention that they had a 5 run lead? There was no need to “shut them down”, and even if there was, there were plenty of other arms on the team that should have been capable.
Third, I wouldn’t have brought Chapman out for the 9th. At that point they had a 7 run lead. If you can’t trust the rest of your bullpen to get 3 outs before giving up 7 runs, then you have no business winning the game in the first place.
Of course, after all, that, Chapman will probably come back and throw three perfect innings tonight to seal the win…that’s baseball.
FTR, Suburban Plankton, I agree with all three of your points.
I was all WTF about the Chapman move, but one of the WSCR radio guys in Chicago today mentioned that Maddon had been the bench coach when the Angels came back from 5-0 down in the 7th in Game 6 of the 2002 WS against the Giants (3 in the 7th, 3 in the 8th).
He also was the manager of the Rays in the 2008 playoffs against Boston when they were winning 7-0 in the 7th, and ended up losing 8-7. (!) Coco Crisp had an RBI single for Boston in that comeback, too.
After hearing that, I can’t blame him for wanting to be sure the Indians were down and stayed down last night.
Right - but that’s the old “managing to minimize the chance of looking bad” approach. A better approach is one that maximizes the chance of winning the series, and accepts that 1 in 40 flukes may happen, but should not dictate strategy.
See, a 1-0 game is NOT a yawner. It’s a pitching duel, and very exciting.
Once I became educated in the finer points of the game, I found that it was definitely not slow. There is something going on all the time, unlike, say, football, where you have 30 seconds of action followed by a minute of guys walking around. But to each his own. As I used to tell my kids, if we all liked the same thing there wouldn’t be enough of it to go around.
I like a good pitchers’ duel and am “educated in the finer points of the game,” but that 1-0 game was not a thrill ride. Over three and a half hours, eight pitching changes, too many visits to the mound - that’s not an exciting duel.
The 1-0 Cubs/Dodgers game was exciting - 2:45 time, pitching changes mostly between innings. All 1-0 games are not the same, and the Cubs/Cleveland game was not a great one.
Damn!
Compilation of badly called pictures favoring the Cubs.
So you’re saying it’s rigged?
Can’t link to it at the moment, but Jeff Sullivan of Fangraphs had an article yesterday saying that the strike zone has been “almost perfectly even” for both teams.
Well, if the Cubs are to lose, it will have to be in spectacular fashion.
Yeah, the idea that the Indians have been screwed by the ball and strike calls doesn’t pass the sniff test.
Looking grim for Cleveland now, at 5-1.
I think Chicago and New York are the last two cities with two professional major league baseball teams. So how will White Sox fans feel if the Cubs win. Do they root for them because they are at least a team from their own city?
Middle of the 5th, 5-1 Cubbies.
Sumbitch-I’m at the edge of my seat.
I realize that Joe Madden knows more about baseball than me, but taking Hendricks out of the game seems absolutely absurd to me.
Getting there …
Hell. Yes.
I hate it when managers pull that shit. The guy gets two easy outs, gets a total of ONE walk, and you pull him? To play righty/lefty BS on a pitcher with short rest? Whyyyyyyy
I was planning on posting that same thought, but didn’t want to jinx it for the Indians. Unbelievable over-managing by Maddon. And these dumb announcers didn’t even call him out on that.