MLB. And here comes the Post Season!

I think the police just need to find the only guy not holding a beer. Case closed.
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For whatever its faults, the MLB system in not nearly as screwy as that in the NFL. In the fourteen years since they’ve gone to four divisions, two sub-500 teams have won division titles and made the playoffs (Caroline 7-8-1 in 2014 and Seattle 7-9 in 2010). And in every year but 3 a team with a record no better than 9-7 has won a division.

I was rooting for the Orioles, but I’ve never had an issue with the Blue Jays. Their fans, though? Booing Showalter, Jones, and Kim? That’s a fan base I would be happy to see sent home disappointed.

Just announce that the entire section is immediately ejected and banned for life unless they give the guy up. They might throw him on the field.

How often do they find these people?

I am not a baseball fan ( just watching at the bar in a hotel in calgary) but you would hope the fans around the jackass would do that without the threat. There are several people in blu jay shirts ( including the one serving the drinks) who all pretty much callled bullshit on the behavior.

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Jesus.

When it’s tied going into the bottom of the 9th, you don’t want to see Donaldson, Encarnacion, and Bautista coming up next.

Ladies and gentlemen, your 2016 Blue Jays offense.

Fuck, you gave me a heart attack.

I’m watching on MLB.com, and their stream is usually a good 15-30 seconds behind the regular TV coverage. When i saw your post, i thought you were implying a home run or something like that. There was immense relief when i saw the double play.

That might have been the most costly double play in a long time as Osuna leaves with an injury.

Tonight’s home plate umpire has a pretty large but, it seems to me, pretty consistent strike zone.

And we’re now waiting on the 13th pitcher of the night - 7 for Baltimore, 6 for Toronto.

This is nail-biting stuff.

This is not good. Buck needs to bring in Britton.

And Reimold? WTF?

Strikes out on three pitches, and then bobbles the ball in left and allows the runner to advance to third.

Edit:

And now it’s over. Well done Blue Jays.

And now we get an ALDS between Toronto and Texas. That should be interesting!

Ed wins.

I think Britton was hurt. He warmed up and then was shut down. Once you’re in potentially who knows how many extra innings at some point you have to bring in a long man or a starter and commit to that.

I am pumped. As you can imagine.

Bring on the Rangers.

I want to jump in about the thrown beer can. Remembering last year’s fiasco postseason game there against the Rangers, some of those Blue Jays fans there are real jerks. The one who threw the beer can tonight is truly an asshole.

As a Blue Jays fan I totally agree. That guy was truly an asshole.

Thanks (seriously, thank you), for saying “some of those Blue Jays fans there are real jerks.” (Italics added by me.) Not all of us Jays fans are like that.

At our local sports bar, with a couple of hundred Jays fans in attendance, the thrown beer can was met with universal disdain. A selection of comments from those around me would include:

“Not cool.”
“Real class, asshole.” (Sarcastically, of course.)
“Dahell? Dumb, dumb, dumb. [Headshake.]”

I was glad to see that the can did not hit Kim, and did not keep him from making the catch. I may be a Jays fan, but like many other baseball fans, I’d like to see a fair-and-square game played, not one tainted by some asshole in the stands.

It wouldn’t have mattered. The umpires would have called Upton out on fan interference. All that the dumbass achieved was guaranteeing that Upton would be out. Even having missed the distraction of having a beer can whiz by his head would easily have been enough for interference to be called if the ball was dropped.

I’m very glad that he missed, though. If Kim had been hurt on the play that would have been a travesty.

Cool, with that out of the way, the game was a tense nailbiter. I was rooting for Toronto mostly because of Tulo, who went to high school just a couple of miles from my house - Ijust looked it up, Homestead High is 3 miles from my house.

Tulo!

My picks in recent years haven’t been as good as they used to be but I’ve been thinking along similar lines. Ortiz may be in his final year but he’s still got a lot left in the tank and he carried this team 3 years ago and could easily do it again. The Sox pitching isn’t outstanding but it gets the job done. Porcello wins games, Price gets Ks, and the bullpen holds leads. I don’t always believe in home field advantage, but if there’s a sport in which it actually does exist, it’s baseball, considering that fielders have to adjust to the unique dimensions of each park. Fenway’s probably the toughest place to visit, with its short porch in right and the monster in left. The one thing that could turn out to be advantageous for Chicago - if they make it that far and that’s a big if - is Jon Lester, who is a good lefty and has spent quality time pitching in Fenway. Lester knows the dimensions as well as anyone. He’d probably be the ideal pick for games 2 and 6.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The Cubbies will have their hands full if they end up playing either the Mets or the Giants in a short series. The good news is, they can set up their rotation in a way that their opponents can’t. The Dodgers are also another potential problem for the Cubs because of their left-handed pitching. Chicago can massacre righties, but they’re pretty average when facing southpaws. That said, Clayton Kershaw has looked, dare I say, more ‘human’ since his return.

I will probably be wrong on all my picks but just for the heck of it, I see it as follows:

*Giants over Mets in WC (Mets get out to an early lad in a rare bad start by Madbum, but Madbum smooths it out, bullpen holds it together, SF lineup claws their way back, and Bochy outsmarts Collins in late innings. Romo with the save)

National League:
Cubs def Giants 3-2: This will be a tough series for the Cubs but I think they’ll pull it out. They’ll split in the first two, split the next two, and even if the Giants use Madbum for game five, he won’t be his usual dominant self.

Dodgers def Nats 3-2: This is a tough one to call. If Strasbourg were healthy I’d pick the Nats, but without Stras, the Dodgers have a chance to pull off an upset. Scherzer probably puts the Nats out in front but like last year, Kershaw comes in and pitches a strong game five on the road for the win to avenge his defeat.

Cubs def Dodgers 4-3: The Dodgers will put the scare into Cubs’ fans hearts but Joe Maddon will troubleshoot and this team loaded with talented veterans will figure out how to overcome LA. The Cubs will probably need to win in dramatic fashion in game six to keep their season alive. And they’ll be deadlocked again in game seven until around the 6th inning when the Cubs knock Kershaw or Hill out of the game.

American League:

Texas defeats Toronto 3-1. The Rangers pitching is going to struggle at times but it scores lots of runs to make up the difference.

Boston defeats Cleveland 3-2. Big Papi and the Sox pitching combine to take a hard-fought series from Tito and the Indians.

Boston defeats Texas 4-1. The Rangers pitching problems will surface against Boston.

World Series

Boston 4 Chicago 2