# MLB Postseason prediction and playoff talk thread! **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 30, 2008, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-postseason-prediction-and-playoff-talk-thread/465833 "2008-09-30T12:46:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-postseason-prediction-and-playoff-talk-thread/465833/241 "2008-10-17T14:37:57Z")
Yes, that kind of sucked last night. Good news, I guess, is I get to take the kid to game 6 tomorrow. There were a couple of dubious decisions by Maddon and a couple of good calls from Francona. 1. Probably should have let Kazmir pitch into the eighth. Even if you don’t, I have never been comfortable with Dan Wheeler pitching. Maybe should have stayed with Balfour or gone with Howell earlier, or better yet, bring in Price or Jackson. 2. Once you had that big lead and Matsusaka out of the game, I would have brought in Fernando Perez for Gabe Gross. Gross just doesn’t have the defensive range that Perez does. Game would have been over - that one hopper to Gross in the eighth is an out with Perez in there - probably also that double over Gross’s head. 3. Brilliant to bring in Papelbon when he did to stop the bleeding. He doesn’t do that, the Rays probably get 2-3 more runs. 4. Crisp for Ellsbury just made a ton of sense. Ellsbury is just too cold to take the chance on him. Of course the game goes into the 10th if Longoria doesn’t rush his throw on Youkilis. Such is life. Nice come back by the Red Sox. See them tomorrow in our house. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-postseason-prediction-and-playoff-talk-thread/465833/242 "2008-10-17T15:14:29Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > 1. Once you had that big lead and Matsusaka out of the game, I would have brought in Fernando Perez for Gabe Gross. Gross just doesn’t have the defensive range that Perez does. Game would have been over - that one hopper to Gross in the eighth is an out with Perez in there - probably also that double over Gross’s head. The TV guys had just finished praising the arm strength of the Rays’ outfield in the 8th – and then that guy (totally unfamiliar with the Rays’ roster) in RF comes up firing and barely hits the cutoff man. I thought for sure there would be a play at the plate. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-postseason-prediction-and-playoff-talk-thread/465833/243 "2008-10-17T16:06:16Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > So I set the DVR to record the game […] > Oh this is so exciting I could just about shit in my … > > … friggin’ recording ended. yeah, I wish there was a global DVR setting for “Always record any sports event for 1 hour longer than the hopelessly optomistic network schedule” I mean, you can set it manually each time, but the one time you forget… ---
**Author:** ![rockle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@rockle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockle)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-postseason-prediction-and-playoff-talk-thread/465833/244 "2008-10-17T16:24:31Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > Not to speak for **Jack** , but the Red Sox pattern this decade is to come back from a deep hole in the ALCS, then sweep the World Series. > [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Bingo. The really sad thing? _Is that I know this_. Because I am a bit-more-than-casual Sox fan myself (“they’re my AL team”) and my husband is batshit butternuts crazy for them. So, durrr. It just doesn’t seem “inevitable” _to me_ that they’ll sweep the Phils, because the Phillies are so … erratic? unpredictable? _stroke-inducing_? Like, they drop games where they shouldn’t and then score 10 runs when they ought not. So who knows what the crap will happen … Obviously I am both thrilled and horrified about the World Series. Can the Phils _actually do it_ this time? Or will they, once again, as is their wont and custom, _tear out my heart and shred it into little bits?_ I mean, Mitch Williams is long gone, but clearly Brad Lidge is personally trying to _kill me dead_. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-postseason-prediction-and-playoff-talk-thread/465833/245 "2008-10-17T17:46:20Z")
> [@rockle](#): > > Can the Phils _actually do it_ this time? Or will they, once again, as is their wont and custom, _tear out my heart and shred it into little bits?_ Angst like that is reserved for fans of teams who haven’t won a pennant since the year we dropped the bomb on Japan. The Phillies won the WS in 1980 for Og’s sake. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-postseason-prediction-and-playoff-talk-thread/465833/246 "2008-10-17T17:54:54Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Angst like that is reserved for fans of teams who haven’t won a pennant since the year we dropped the bomb on Japan. The Phillies won the WS in 1980 for Og’s sake. > > 🙂 Yes, but those teams you’re just used to them losing. The Phillies sometimes get _so close_, and then…boom, disaster. (cf. 1993 World Series, 2007 NLDS) But that doesn’t matter, because they’re going to beat the crap out of either Boston or the Rays - it makes no difference which one. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-postseason-prediction-and-playoff-talk-thread/465833/247 "2008-10-17T18:47:04Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > The TV guys had just finished praising the arm strength of the Rays’ outfield in the 8th – and then that guy (totally unfamiliar with the Rays’ roster) in RF comes up firing and barely hits the cutoff man. I thought for sure there would be a play at the plate. Gabe Gross. He played quarterback in college for Auburn. Yeah, if Perez is there much better chance to gun him down, although not a sure thing. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-postseason-prediction-and-playoff-talk-thread/465833/248 "2008-10-17T22:30:26Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > Hmmm, let’s see. The team that will still likely be the world series participant this year from the American League just gave up 8 runs in three innings. I’d say they are a pretty damn good team, and I’d say that the lead wasn’t safe. > > Now, would the result have been different in a more cavernous stadium? Hard to say. But Fenway does offer some advantages for scoring piles of runs quickly. So I’d have to say that your thesis is missing a bit of factual support. 😉 Well that’s kinda my point. The Rays’ held their leads in the first two games, and I was hoping for more of the same in the third game, because they’re a darn good team. The Mariners, OTOH, have blown any number of leads at Fenway in the last few years, and every time Niehaus & Rizzs loudly give credit to the ballpark (at least that’s how it comes across on the radio) instead of just saying the Sox are a much better team than the Mariners. They’ve done the same, to a lesser degree, when the M’s have blown leads at Yankee Stadium. Any other ballpark, and they readily admit that the M’s blew it. You never hear them blaming Kaufmann Stadium or Camden Yards when the Mariners lose to the Royals or Orioles. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2008, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-postseason-prediction-and-playoff-talk-thread/465833/249 "2008-10-18T19:30:49Z")
I sure wish that they’d left Game 6 as a day game instead of night. So tired. Hope to be jacked up soon. The evil villainy of Red Sox Nation must be repelled! ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2008, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-postseason-prediction-and-playoff-talk-thread/465833/250 "2008-10-18T21:21:02Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > I sure wish that they’d left Game 6 as a day game instead of night. Not me. I turned on the radio at the originally-scheduled time, found the WSU/USC football game and thought, “Oh for fuck’s sake, midseason college football is preempting the MLB playoffs again!”\* When I checked [MLB.com](http://MLB.com) a bit later so see how the game was going, I was relieved to see the game time had been changed. - This exact thing happened to Game 6 of the 2003 World Series, in which the Marlins clinched the title against the Yankees. The local sports radio station was broadcasting WSU football instead of the WS. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-postseason-prediction-and-playoff-talk-thread/465833/251 "2008-10-19T00:15:01Z")
Where the hell’s the game? I’ve got Steve Harvey on TBS right now. I’m freaking out! ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-postseason-prediction-and-playoff-talk-thread/465833/252 "2008-10-19T00:18:30Z")
TBS = Total Bull Shit These guys could fuck up a wet dream!!! ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_the_turtle/32/2926_2.png) [@Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_the_Turtle)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-postseason-prediction-and-playoff-talk-thread/465833/253 "2008-10-19T00:20:29Z")
Same here. I was thinking rain out, but then remembered they are playing at The Trop. TBS glitch? DirecTV glitch? ---
**Author:** ![bbs2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-postseason-prediction-and-playoff-talk-thread/465833/254 "2008-10-19T00:23:16Z")
Reports are that there was a power out at TBS/Turner Center in Atlanta. I’ve got it on the radio right now and am watching it on [mlb.com](http://mlb.com) Gameday. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-postseason-prediction-and-playoff-talk-thread/465833/255 "2008-10-19T00:24:46Z")
Technical difficulties. Nice job, Ted. There goes your contract for post-season. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-postseason-prediction-and-playoff-talk-thread/465833/256 "2008-10-19T00:31:26Z")
You have no idea what kind of psychosis I was going through. I thought I was having trouble figuring out my channels or something. Nice to know I’m not insane. ( [sub]\<-------- free straight line[/sub]) ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-postseason-prediction-and-playoff-talk-thread/465833/257 "2008-10-19T01:45:42Z")
BJ Upton Regular Season Home Runs: 9, in 145 games Postseason Home Runs: 8, in 10 games Talk about turning it on. Upton also has 11 RBI just in the ALCS. The record for RBI in any postseason series is 12, by Bobby Richardson in the 1960 World Series. (Ominously, Richardson’s team lost.) So Upton has a shot at that record. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-postseason-prediction-and-playoff-talk-thread/465833/258 "2008-10-19T01:58:53Z")
Beautiful 3-1 play ends the Rays’ inning. The Sox can play a little D. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Quack\_s\_Echo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f0a364/32.png) [@Duck\_Quack\_s\_Echo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Quack_s_Echo)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-postseason-prediction-and-playoff-talk-thread/465833/259 "2008-10-19T04:01:06Z")
Going to seven. Well done, Sox. Even though TB have home advantage, I think the Red Sox would be favourites with the oddsmakers. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-postseason-prediction-and-playoff-talk-thread/465833/260 "2008-10-19T04:04:45Z")
Bah. Can anything go right tonight? First, TBS fucks up the broadcast and then the Rays lose. If the Rays blow this, they can blame game 5. I still can’t believe they blew a seven run lead. I really wanted to see Rays-Cubs. I hope I can still see one of them in the Series. If the Sox win, I will be rooting for the Phils hard. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-postseason-prediction-and-playoff-talk-thread/465833.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-postseason-prediction-and-playoff-talk-thread/465833.md?page=14)