MLB Playoffs 2018: Who Wins It All?

[BlankSlate]

@DSYoungEsq

What the hell difference does it make if he brings Jansen in during the 8th or 9th inning? It’s not like he was brought in mid-inning, so he should have been ready to go. He’s not going to pitch the 8th any different than he would the 9th, since it’s his first inning pitching. If he gives up a gopher ball, which he did in each game, there’s no reason he wouldn’t have given such a home run up in the 9th of each game, had Roberts waited until then to bring him in.

The usual knock against bringing your 9th-inning closer early is that it forces him to pitch a second inning to close things out. If as a result, the 8th is clean and the 9th is bad, you can criticize the move. But that’s not what happened, and there’s no reason Jansen shouldn’t be able to pitch a clean 8th.

It can be problematic for other reasons. Jensen didn’t have a very good year and that’s probably the biggest problem. There is also the way he has been used. Jensen made 69 appearances this season and only seven were for more than one inning. Only once was he asked to get six outs, and none of his appearances in August and September were more than one inning.

Basically, he pitched the ninth and only then ninth all year. Now he is asked to go two every night. Subconsciously or not, he will pace himself. He can’t just lay it all out in the first inning. This backfires fairly regularly in the postseason with closers.

[asterion]

I’m a little surprised Price is starting and not Sale.

[Colibri]

Now all six runs in the game so far have scored on home runs (all but one solo).

[asterion]

Apparently Roberts was lustily booed before the game.

[Velocity]

yuk yuk yuk

[Telemark]

Sale striking out Machado is the perfect way to end. And who would have thought Price would be the hero.

I’m hearing fireworks outside right now.

[goldmund]

@Telemark

And who would have thought Price would be the hero.

I’m hearing fireworks outside right now.

He certainly shut a lot of people up. He’s got to be MVP.

[goldmund]

@goldmund

He certainly shut a lot of people up. He’s got to be MVP.

Or not. I can get behind Pearce too but I still think it should have been Price.

[Snowboarder_Bo]

Congratulations Boston!

[Bullitt]

@Telemark

Sale striking out Machado is the perfect way to end. And who would have thought Price would be the hero.

I’m hearing fireworks outside right now.

Way to go Red Sox!

(As a Celts fan) I loved the Magic-Bird opening to this game. How could you not smile, not enjoy it?

Kershaw’s postseason woes continue, for one of the greatest LHPs of our time.

David Price. True stud.

I see Sale not starting, because the Sox could afford to lose this game, and it’d give Sale a couple more days rest. And he does much better that way.

Machado striking out — couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.

Alex Cora — great job.

[Fear_Itself]

Just pointing out that the Red Sox traditionally are great at winning World Series in the first 18 years of a century. They don’t fare well in the remaining 82 years though.

–Ben Jacobs, The Guardian

[Locrian]

Aye, but baseball Dopers ye,
What dost think for the future of Clayton the clan of Kershaw
And David Roberts be?

[Bullitt]

@Fear_Itself

–Ben Jacobs, The Guardian

Too funny.
Boston titles since 2001 — pretty impressive: Boston Titles Since 2001 - Album on Imgur

[DKW]

My sister and one of my favorite YouTube personalities (Bob “Moviebob” Chipman) live in Boston…and that was the extent of my rooting interest. They’re both great people, so hey, works for me.

Wow. 4 World Series championships in a span of 14 seasons. If any other franchise that had a run like that, I’d consider it one step shy of a rampaging juggernaut. In the case of the Red Sox, however, it seems like the universe is simply righting itself. Just a couple more before we get to the number they should have had over those 86 years. Pardon, 100.

The biggest memory I’ll take from this will be the stadium erupting into cheers after the final out. Swear to god, I looked around and thought “Wait a minute, this can’t be Shea, the entire outfield wall is the same height.” Imagine being a Dodger, or even a fan, in there and hearing that. Had to be withering.

Aaaand, someone just launched a very loud f-bomb on ESPN. Since it had nothing to do with sex, I’m okay with it.

[Spoons]

Nicely done, Red Sox. After the great season you had, your win was totally deserved.

[Fleetwood]

And we’ll let Pine Tree John and the Designated Hitters (John Lincoln Wright) take us out with a song usually played on or around Opening Day:

THE RED SOX SONG - 1976 (John Lincoln Wright)

[Jasmine]

Well, for six months of the regular season, the Red Sox basically squashed the rest of the league like a bug. Then, in the playoffs, they … squashed the rest of league like a bug. What were they, something like 11-3 versus the 100 win Yankees, the 103 win Astros, and the red hot Dodgers?

I’ve run out of superlatives for that team, I truly have.

[RickJay]

I thought Pearce was the correct choice for MVP. He had the highest WPA in the series (0.63) which works pretty good as an indicator in a short series of who really was most valuable. Price would have been a decent choice too.

By WPA, the Most Valuable Most Valuable Player in a World Series in the live ball era is Jack Morris in 1991, at 1.26.

[Tom_Scud]

@RickJay

I thought Pearce was the correct choice for MVP. He had the highest WPA in the series (0.63) which works pretty good as an indicator in a short series of who really was most valuable. Price would have been a decent choice too.

By WPA, the Most Valuable Most Valuable Player in a World Series in the live ball era is Jack Morris in 1991, at 1.26.

You could probably construct a version of WPA that measures the shift in probability of winning the series, rather than each individual game; Morris would probably do even better in that measure.

[Annie-Xmas]

Since there’s no sticking-our-your-tongue smiley, this lady from Boston will just say