# MLB: Post-Season 2019 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** baseball-mlb\ **Created:** [September 30, 2019, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2019/841046 "2019-09-30T14:37:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2019, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2019/841046/301 "2019-10-20T16:21:06Z")
Also on a small list for, ‘Greatest MLB short-heighted player of all time.’ This list goes into some detail: [https://m.herosports.com/mlb/shortest-players-all-time-eddie-gaedel-wee-willie-keeler-hack-wilson-phil-rizzuto-jose-altuve-aiai](https://m.herosports.com/mlb/shortest-players-all-time-eddie-gaedel-wee-willie-keeler-hack-wilson-phil-rizzuto-jose-altuve-aiai) FWIW, from people who’ve claimed to have met him, Altuve is much shorter than his claimed 5’6". In other news, and what looks a little strange to my baseball neophyte wagering eye, Game 1 of the Series has Cole and the rest of the Astros as a -200 favorite over the Nats. It opened at -220. [http://www.vegasinsider.com/mlb/odds/las-vegas/](http://www.vegasinsider.com/mlb/odds/las-vegas/) What’s weird is that a futures bet for the WS as a whole has very similar odds: Astros -220, Nats +180. [http://www.vegasinsider.com/mlb/odds/futures/](http://www.vegasinsider.com/mlb/odds/futures/) I would’ve expected a greater difference in Game 1, given how much better Cole is than the other, still very good, Astros pitchers. Anyway, Astros in 6. I think Cole will blow 1 of these games. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2019, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2019/841046/302 "2019-10-20T16:51:30Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Altuve has 13 career postseason dingers, tied with George Springer for the Astros career record. Of course guys play more postseason games now, but they’ve both racked them up in just 43 games, which is impressive. In 2017, Altuve hit seven home runs in the postseason. Only 3 players have hit more home runs in one postseason, and they all hit eight: Barry Bonds in 2002, Carlos Beltran in 2004, and Nelson Cruz in 2011. Beltran’s 8 homers came in only 56 plate appearances. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2019, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2019/841046/303 "2019-10-20T17:17:41Z")
> [@Gray\_Ghost](#): > > Also on a small list for, ‘Greatest MLB short-heighted player of all time.’ This list goes into some detail: [https://m.herosports.com/mlb/shortest-players-all-time-eddie-gaedel-wee-willie-keeler-hack-wilson-phil-rizzuto-jose-altuve-aiai](https://m.herosports.com/mlb/shortest-players-all-time-eddie-gaedel-wee-willie-keeler-hack-wilson-phil-rizzuto-jose-altuve-aiai) > > FWIW, from people who’ve claimed to have met him, Altuve is much shorter than his claimed 5’6". Short people always seem shorter than they really are. He is probably five-six, but especially next to other pro athletes he looks tiny. How tall is Peter Dinklage, the guy who plays dwarf Tyrion Lannister on Game of thrones? Most people would guess “I dunno, three feet tall?” You’d think he is half the height of a normal man. Actually he’s 4’4", about three quarters the height of a normal man. Similarly, a man who is quite tall - say seven feet tall - will seem to be much taller than a foot more than a six foot tall man. It’s odd. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2019, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2019/841046/304 "2019-10-21T14:59:46Z")
So in addition to everything else, it will be nice to see Anthony Rendon, who is already the second-best player to ever come out of Rice University and who has a chance to pass Lance Berkman as the best, play some World Series games in Houston. (Third best is either Jose Cruz Jr. or Norm Charlton, depending on how much extra credit you give Charlton for that one World Series.) ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2019, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2019/841046/305 "2019-10-21T15:17:32Z")
(actually apparently some guy named Pete Runnels is ahead of Cruz and probably Charlton). ---
**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 21, 2019, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2019/841046/306 "2019-10-21T15:50:11Z")
On a sad note, MLB umpire Eric Cooper died at 52. He worked the Yankees-Twins ALDS just 2 weeks ago. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2019, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2019/841046/307 "2019-10-21T17:11:14Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > On a sad note, MLB umpire Eric Cooper died at 52. He worked the Yankees-Twins ALDS just 2 weeks ago. 52 is way too young. ‘Blood clot’ was stated as the cause of death in the news blurb I read. I’m guessing heart issue from said clot? Hug your loved ones. We may not get another chance to. ---
**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:** [October 21, 2019, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2019/841046/308 "2019-10-21T18:10:47Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > So in addition to everything else, it will be nice to see Anthony Rendon, who is already the second-best player to ever come out of Rice University and who has a chance to pass Lance Berkman as the best, play some World Series games in Houston. Rice Owl here. I’d say he’s already arguably the best to come out of Rice, despite the shorter (so far) career. Another couple good seasons, and there should be no doubt. Loved watching him play at Reckling, and I’m taking great pleasure that his World Series debut will be in his hometown where his friends and family and former teammates can watch him Also, I suppose you can technically count Runnels, but he was only at Rice for the fall semester in '48 (GI bill) and never played baseball for Rice before going out for the majors in the spring of '49. The others all at least played on the school team. He was also coincidentally on the Colt '45s before they became the Astros but only at the tail end of his career and was cut by the team not long after. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2019, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2019/841046/309 "2019-10-21T19:13:13Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > Rice Owl here. I’d say he’s already arguably the best to come out of Rice, despite the shorter (so far) career. Another couple good seasons, and there should be no doubt. (Rendon vs. Berkman) Purely on the numbers, he isn’t quite there yet - it’s easy to underestimate how good Berkman was. Rendon this year had a 6.3 WAR, but Berkman had two years of 6.5 and 6.9 - it would take another couple years at his current level and better-than-average longevity for Rendon to win out. (edit: actually looking at the numbers again, Rendon had a 6.6 WAR in 2014, helped by a lot of defensive value - but he’s still a bit short on that measure.) ---
**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:** [October 22, 2019, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2019/841046/310 "2019-10-22T00:45:41Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Short people always seem shorter than they really are. He is probably five-six, but especially next to other pro athletes he looks tiny. He looks like Andre the Giant compared to [Eddie Gaedel](http://www.baseballreliquary.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/eddie-gaedel-20.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2019/841046/311 "2019-10-22T14:30:54Z")
And how many walk off homers did Eddie hit, huh? ---
**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 22, 2019, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2019/841046/312 "2019-10-22T15:27:36Z")
But Eddie reached base in every single plate appearance. ---
**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:** [October 22, 2019, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2019/841046/313 "2019-10-22T16:11:57Z")
Altuve can’t be “much shorter” than his listed 5’6". For what it’s worth, when he first came up back in '11, he was listed at 5’7" (170cm) but a few times admitted his currently listed 5’6" (168cm). The figure was originally fudged by the scouts so the Astros front office wouldn’t get scared off a talented player. There’s not much reason to doubt the corrected figure that removes the almost de rigeur athlete measurement inflation. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2019/841046/314 "2019-10-22T17:38:21Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > But Eddie reached base in every single plate appearance. On the other hand his batting average is “not available” or an asterisk… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2019/841046/315 "2019-10-22T23:09:33Z")
I wish the game still had ownership with a sense of humor and showmanship. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2019/841046/316 "2019-10-22T23:59:05Z")
Holy shit, this is actually happening! After 86 years, including 33 seasons when DC was without a MLB team of their own, the Nats are about to play a freakin’ WORLD SERIES game!! PLAY BALL!!! ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2019/841046/317 "2019-10-23T00:00:23Z")
Stay classy, Astros. > **[Astros executive Brandon Taubman under fire for Osuna comments](https://www.chron.com/sports/astros/article/Astros-executive-Brandon-Taubman-under-fire-for-14551952.php)** > > The Astros have disputed the Sports Illustrated report regarding assistant general... I understand for Game 1, they’re bringing in Sean Penn to throw out the first punch. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2019/841046/318 "2019-10-23T00:02:33Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Stay classy, Astros. > > [https://www.chron.com/sports/astros/article/Astros-executive-Brandon-Taubman-under-fire-for-14551952.php](https://www.chron.com/sports/astros/article/Astros-executive-Brandon-Taubman-under-fire-for-14551952.php) > > I understand for Game 1, they’re bringing in Sean Penn to throw out the first punch. Because everyone knows that accusations are always true and once someone is guilty they can never, ever be forgiven. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2019/841046/319 "2019-10-23T00:49:52Z")
The Astros have ALREADY abandoned their original denial. The accusations - supported by multiple witnesses - were true. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2019/841046/320 "2019-10-23T01:02:02Z")
Scherzer definitely doesn’t have his good stuff tonight, and Cole quite definitely does have his. Glad to be down only 2-1 after 2. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2019/841046.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2019/841046.md?page=17)