As I said, as lifelong Cards fan, I’m loving the run, but the 1-game playoff is just as much of a cold shower to us as it is to the Dodgers. The Cards are the hottest team but the Dodgers have been the best team in the NL since the break. I’m not living in a parallel universe: the Dodgers are better than we are. They should win. If Dave Roberts doesn’t completely mismanage his rotation between now and then, they will win. The Cardinals offense is good at putting pressure on opposing defenses. They will probably score at least 4 runs but Cards pitching won’t stop the Dodgers from scoring 5 or more runs. And that will be that.
The mere existence of the Angels makes these two sentences a bit contradictory, don’t you think?
Yeah but the LA Market is what 18-20 million peeps? The Bay Area is maybe 9 million max.
And besides, the Angels don’t count
There’s no way to fix this except to
- Have a salary cap, or
- Let teams just move to wherever they want.
When people talk about MLB expansion they talk about places like Portland or Vancouver or Nashville, but the most logical place to put an MLB team would be somewhere in or near New York City. Just the part of that market you could get from a team in Brooklyn or in Jersey is a bigger market than a place like Portland. The second best location would be somewhere in greater LA, like in Long Beach or in the inland empire. Maybe both. (Every sport is like this; the next two NHL teams should, logically, both be in metropolitan Toronto.)
MLB does not, however, want the optics of a small market team like Tampa Bay or Kansas City moving to New York City. Still, economically, it makes sense… and other major sports leagues like the Premier League, which is occupied by the most inherently successful teams, tend to gather where the population is, not where the league wants TV markets; seven of the EPL’s 20 teams right now are in Greater London.
Crazy game in Fenway last night. Yanks drop two easy flies in 7th and let Boston take the lead. Boston returns favor with Judge having a foul ball drop and the catcher dropping a foul tip (questionable call). Judge promptly doubles. Stanton crushes yet another blast to ice the game. Tyler Wade enters game in 8th inning, still gets caught stealing not once but twice. Yanks needed a sweep and got it. The wild card race is still crazy hot in the last week.
God, how does Harold Reynolds still have a job in ‘analysis’? Insufferable.
Why look at all those consecutive seasons of drawing 3 mil+…
Yanks are finally getting the Stanton they thought they were getting. This last week he has picked up the team and carried it on his back. They have a chance to make a postseason run if Boone doesn’t let himself over manage. Of course, EVERY manager over manages in the post season.
Okay, new question.
I was a a game a couple weeks ago. Good seats behind home plate. There were two scouts seated near me, recording every detail on tablets.
I get the importance of scouting reports, but what could they learn by actually being at the game that wouldn’t be easier and more efficient to get from the video alone? I can see the pitches better on TV than I can from the stands.
I just returned from an extended road trip in which I saw the Brewers host the Cubs and Cards, the Tigers host the Royals, and the Indians host the White Sox. The home teams were 0-4 in those games.
I considered stopping in St. Louis last night on my way home, but I didn’t want to jinx the Cards. And of course they won again to extend the streak to 17, AND clinch the second wild-card spot.
I suspect that the TV broadcast only contains some of what they are scouting – in particular, much of a TV broadcast of a baseball game only shows you the pitcher, catcher, and batter, and doesn’t show much (if any) of the defensive positioning prior to each pitch, what kinds of leads are being taken by baserunners, how each runner is (or is not) being held on base, etc.
Stupid doesnt seem a strong enough word to describe this man.
The Blue Jays are still alive but on life support.
If they don’t make the playoffs this year will be the franchise’s biggest wasted opportunity except for 1987. They are getting career years from at least three starters, and I do mean career years - Marcus Semien is a legitimate MVP candidate, Robbie Ray is the best pitcher in the league, and Teoscar Hernandez will never do this again. None of those guys are likely to ever have a year this good again and Semien likely won’t even play here next year.
What do you mean? Tomorrow its Kluber v Ray. Yes Ray in a lhp against a NYY righthanded dominant lineup but Kluber has been rocked in 4 of his last 5 starts. Then the Yanks finish out with 3 against TB who have been 9-7 against them while Tor finishes off against visiting Baltimore. If Tor wins tomorrow they have an excellent chance to beat out the Yanks.
Giants win 1-0 and Dodgers losing. What an amazing season for the Giants. I cant recommend the MLB full season package enough. Buying it at the start of the season meant it was about .70c USA a day. One of the best entertainment purchases Ive made.
Dodgers have had a great run since the break, and yet it’s still not enough to beat the Giants, winners of 104 games
The top of the NL is just loaded this season. My Brewers are going to wind up somewhere around 95 to 97 wins (with a fair shot to set the franchise’s all-time record for wins in a season), they have four starters with ERAs under 3.00 (and the next guy is at 3.22), and they still are only the third-best team in their league.
I buy it every year and agree, I love the sport so it’s nice just to throw on a game even if I have no rooting interest. Watched a ton of Angels games for Ohtani (and Trout before injury) Scherzer with the Nats, lots of good stuff. And, if winter ever really gets to me, I can replay some random game and remind myself that it won’t be -50 windchill forever
How do you do the replays? Is it on-line only?
I do MLB TV but Christ, Harold Reynolds…insufferable.