50/50. He’s erratic and they’re twitchy. The Dodgers were hoping for a sweep, but that looks doubtful.
Yanks lose today, but take 3 of 4 from the Rangers. Unfortunately, the scrappy Orioles have been keeping pace and a victory over the dysfunctional Red Sox tonight would allow them to stay 5 back.
That’s a drinking game called mound ball!
I like watching the home plate umpires get into their strike and strikeout calls. I want them to yell out “STRIKE!” and emphatically gesture to their right. Some umps just kinda point their finger to the right. I need full arm usage! And I absolutely love the two-fisted arm motion that accompanies a strikeout.
Last night Derek Jeter joined Willie Mays as the the only players with 3,000 hits, 250 homers, 300 steals and 1,200 RBIs.
:D:D:D
Holy Shit!
“Also, it’s weird to put a guy named “Jim Joyce” under a literalist label – the dude practically invented Modernist umpiring – but at least he gets a little weird with his, doing a floaty, smooth martial-arts thing that’s reminiscent of a briefs-clad Martin Sheen in a Saigon hotel room.”
:D:D:D
That’s awesome…thanks!
The big difference being that Mays had 660 HRs and over 1,900 RBIs.
Bill James used to write about how you could tailor one of those ‘clubs’ for anyone that made it look like their peer group was a cut or two above what it really was.
Derek Jeter’s had a great career, has had his ticket to Cooperstown punched for some time now, so there’s no need to gild the lily like this.
A good comp here would be Paul Molitor. Molitor is a much closer match to Jeter; 3319 hits, 234 homers, 1307 RBI, 506 steals. But he’s not in the same defined group here as Jeter is, though he is obviously a much closer comparison to Jeter. Robin Yount is also similar; 3142 hits, 251 homers, 271 steals, 1406 RBI. Or Craig Biggio (the only player with 3000 hits and 250 homers who doesn’t meet the 1200 RBI category - by just 25 RBI.)
I’m not claiming Jeter is the offensive equal of Mays. However, in a career that’s currently 4 years shorter than Mays’, Jeter has 35 less hits and 8 more stolen bases. He is, of course, far short in HR and RBI. They are different types of players, Jeter leading off or hitting 2nd most of his career.
The Nats are in their longest sustained hot streak of the season, having won 21 of their last 27.
They’ve needed it, too, just to stay ahead - the Braves have won 18 of their last 23, and 28 of their last 38.
Meanwhile, the Reds, having won 6 of their last 7, have won 28 of their last 37, even with that 5-game losing streak in there.
I personally like “Gwyneth Paltrow’s Head in a Box”.
Make that 7 of 8 and 29 of 38 for the Reds, since they won the day game of their day-night doubleheader.
I’m rooting for the Reds to be even hotter than the Nats, and edge them out for best record in the NL in the end. This is because of MLB’s new playoff structure, which has fixed some problems from the old structure, but hardly all of them.
What it’s fixed: it takes away the ‘ho hum, we’ve got the wildcard clinched, who cares if we finished second in the division’ thing from past years. That one-game playoff with the other wildcard means that your entry into the ‘real’ postseason of 5- and 7-game series is up for grabs in a one-game playoff where anything can happen. You really don’t want to finish second in your division if first is within reach.
What it hasn’t fixed: there’s little difference between being the second- and third- best division winner, since they’re guaranteed to play each other. Worse, the incentives may as often as not be backwards in terms of whether you’d want to be the best division winner, or the second-best one.
We’ve got a laboratory of 34 league-seasons since MLB went to three divisions in each league, and instituted the wildcard. In 21 of those league-seasons, the wildcard team had a better record than the third-best division winner. And in 10 of those seasons, the wild-card runnerup (which would be the second wildcard under the new structure) had a better record than the third-best division winner.
And that’s the sort of reality we’re contending with, this season. If you’re the Reds or Nats, would you rather play the Braves, or the West winner, in the first round of the playoffs? That’s easy: if the Braves keep playing like they’ve been How about the Pirates or the West winner? That’s a closer call, but the Pirates still have a better record than the West teams.
If I were the Nats, I’d want to finish behind the Reds and ahead of the Braves. And if I were the Reds, I’d want to finish ahead of the Pirates, but behind the Nats. Because if the Braves win that one-game playoff, I want to play only one of the other two hottest teams in baseball in the postseason, not both of them.
Proponents of the new system say that the wildcard winner will have probably messed up its rotation by throwing its best pitcher into the wildcard game. I doubt it - they’ll probably get to choose between two pitchers that will have four days’ rest, and will pick the better one, but that’s as far as it goes. And since they’ll still have just one game, and two off days, between the end of the regular season and their first game in their five-game series against the team with the best record, the wildcard game isn’t going to throw them very far out of whack.
I really think they should have designed this system so that the team with the best record could have played the team of the final four with the worst record, but that’s not the way they did it. That’s MLB - capable of doing a half-assed job with even a pretty good idea.
Interesting take. What I really want for the Reds is very simple: to not flame out in the last month (which there is a chance of that happening…despite their relatively easy schedule they still have a series against the Cardinals, two against the Phillies and Pirates, and another against the Brewers, whom always seem to give them trouble…I am also concerned about the starting pitching getting fatigued. The innings are piling up, and its still the same five guys, with the exception of tonight when they put Redmond on the mound due to the doubleheader rule where they can bring up an extra player for the game…same five guys all season long! Its pretty remarkable.) and to win a playoff series.
I literally can’t wait for Votto to come back and I hope he will provide that surge we need at the end of the season to avoid a meltdown and propel them into the playoffs as the divisional winner.
This is uncharted waters for the Reds since 1990. Even in the smattering of playoff appearances since, they are easily on pace to win 100 games or more this season. It makes me nervous! That’s the aura surrounding Cincinnati sports teams lately…waiting for the other shoe to drop!
I obviously don’t know the Reds’ pitching staff very well, but just looking at the stats, it looks like everyone except Cueto is going to come in around 200 innings or a little less, for the regular season. Cueto seems to be headed for ~225 innings, which is ~40 more than his previous high, so that’s somewhat concerning, especially if the Reds go as far as the NLCS.
It’s hard for me to believe that a team could play .750 ball for nearly 40 games without having come together as a genuinely good team. It’s not to say there won’t still be downs as well as ups, but I can’t see them falling apart.
See you in the NLCS, with any luck. 
Any reason Oakland/Tampa Bay don’t play next Sunday, Aug 26? The Republican convention doesn’t start unti lAug 27. I can’t remember a team getting a scheduled Sunday off during the summer in a MLB season.
Reds win again. The no-names are up to their old hijinks. Tied 4-4 with the woeful Cubs in the 9th, unknown Xavier Paul hits a leadoff triple, followed by a walkoff single by catcher Ryan Hanigan to ice the game 5-4. These Reds just keep finding a way…a different hero every night. I love that about this team. The are a true team. Also, Johnny Cueto became the first 15 game winner yesterday. Here’s hoping he gets 20 wins this season.
They’ve also done all this without Joey Votto. When is he back? (if he isn’t already)
A side question: can a reliever win the Cy Young award? I think Eric Gagne or Trevor Hoffman won it one year…can’t remember, although I don’t think Mariano Rivera ever did. If they can, then Aroldis Chapman deserves serious consideration for the award. His numbers are sick!
In 59 innings pitched he’s 5-4 with 29 saves, a 1.37 ERA, allowed only 27 hits and 9 earned runs, has issued only 15 walks and struck out 108 (!!!) batters. That’s pretty fucking good. Is anyone else besides the greedy Yankees paying attention to this guy?
Also: Johnny Cueto has to be in the conversation too. He’s on track for 20 wins and stands at 16-6 in 170 innings with 135 strikeouts, 46 earned runs, 37 BB and a 2.44 ERA. Who else in the National League besides maybe Dickey is putting up stats like that?
I think the timetable still isn’t clear. After his original procedure on his knee the prognosis was 3-4 weeks, but then he needed an additional procedure after some baserunning practice recently that included him sliding legs-first. I’m guessing he had some floaters in there that needed scoped out. If I were to guess I’d say within two weeks…which, if the Reds keep playing like they are without him, would be a HUGE lift right before playoff time.
Wow, Reds! I haven’t felt like this since I was 7 years old.