Warrior
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Baseball 2011 (1 Viewer)
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Peter Reuss
2nd Lieutenant
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Many thanks to the Phils for helping drop the Brewer's magic number to 5!
theBaron
Major
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I was born in the Year of the Blue Snow, George, 1964, and I lived through the terrible, terrible late 80s (Von Hayes--ugh!), and the tailspin after 1993, and remember that the Phils have over 10,000 losses in their history as a franchise, so even today, with as good as the Phils have been, and having seen the majority of their lineup come up through the farm system, I still half expect some disaster to befall them, till they actually make it.
It's kind of funny, though, to think about the fact that there is a generation of Phillies fans now who know only winning seasons and nothing of those other times.
So, it was nice that they clinched last night. Now the countdown to 100+ wins.
Prost!
Brad
theBaron
Major
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Sorry, Padre, in the Central, my team is the Cardinals
It's a long shot, but I'd like to see them make the postseason. I guess the wild card is more likely.Prost!
Brad
Warrior
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Understood, pre 2004 being a Red Sox fan was an excersize in futility, going through one lousy season after another, making the playoffs and World Series and losing in gut wrenching ways, always looking up at the Yankees.
2004 changed that forever, 2007 was a bonus.
My best friend has an 15 year old son who has seen three Super Bowl wins, two World Series wins, one NBA and one NHL championship.
Now THAT kid is spoiled rotten.
Things are looking grim in Boston. On Sept. 1, the Bosox were in first place with a 1/2 game lead on NYY and a 9 game cushion on Tampa. After today's loss, Boston holds 2nd place, 4.5 games back of NY, but only 2 games ahead of Tampa for the wildcard. Boston has gone a miserable 4-13 in September. The bright side to all of this is that they have 7 of their last 10 games against the last place O's and still have 3 games against NY. Catching NY is a long shot at this point but the Bosox should be able to hold off the Rays if they can muster a few good games against the O's. Personally, I would rather see the Sox get in than the Rays but Boston has to play better. NY has gone an adequate 10-7 in September but have made things more difficult by virtue of mediocre starting pitching. A better staff could have put the race away by now. I'll be glued to the tube watching to see if the O's will spoil Boston's season. O's still have to play 7 against Boston (3 home, 4 away) and 4 away against Detroit. No easy season's end for the O's who are trying to better last year's miserable 66 win season. They will have to find a way to win at least 5 games against these brutes to do so. Good luck, O's. -- Al
Warrior
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At this point I'd rather they not make the playoffs as if they do, it will be 3 and out vs the Tigers, so what's the point?
Dice K going down was tough, Jenks out basically the whole year, the Buchholz loss was a killer, not to mention Drew out for basically the whole year, Youkilis is a corpse out there, Crawford has been a monumental bust, on and on it goes.
Gonzalez has not been the same since the stupid HR derby either.
Nope, this ain't the year for the Red Sox.............
Dice K going down was tough, Jenks out basically the whole year, the Buchholz loss was a killer, not to mention Drew out for basically the whole year, Youkilis is a corpse out there, Crawford has been a monumental bust, on and on it goes.
Gonzalez has not been the same since the stupid HR derby either.
Nope, this ain't the year for the Red Sox.............
Sahara
Command Sergeant Major
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Trust me there is still talk about the Granderson trade in Detroit. Jackson has worked out good and Coke has his good days and his bad but in the end Granderson was a fan favorite and everyone knew he would be a stud so it was kinda a shock to see him go.
I'm extremely biased but Verlander is the man and should get the MVP. I know its extremely rare for a pitcher to get this but the guy has done nothing but pitch lights out and win games. Yeah, he isn't on the field for every game but think about it. Does that really matter? Take Verlander for example he touches the ball for 7-8 innings non stop modifying each pitch for the individual batter. How many times do other position players touch the ball and make plays during a game 5-6 times? So when it comes to being a on the field issue I always toss that argument out the window. Obviously Verlander doesn't take at bats unless its inter league play or this years World Series ^&grin so it would be hard to make a argument on that issue. To bad we can't just line the possible MVP candidates up and see if they can successfully hit off Verlander.
Louis Badolato
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Mariano Rivera got save #602 today, in the Yankees win over the Twins 6-4. This is a record that could stand for the remainder of our lifetimes. A closer would have to average 40 saves a year for 15 years to match his present record (and Mo will pitch next year, and possibly a year or two after that). When you consider he has 42 post season saves, and a post-season ERA under 1, he is head and shoulders the best closer ever.
Congratulations to Mo. On the down side of the win, I see my hero, AJ "Gopher ball" Burnett, once again did himself proud. Handed a 5-0 lead, he couldn't pitch the 5 innings required to get credit for a win and in the process gave up another 2 Hr's. I have not been impressed, at all, with the state of the NYY starting pitching this month. Hope it steps up for the playoffs or it's going to be a short run. -- Al
O's and Bosox split. O's bullpen did a good job in the first game to preserve a 1 run win after some suspect outfield play from both teams. The second game was just plain ugly. Neither team could put a decent starting pitcher on the mound with the result that the score was 4-3 Bosox after one inning. It was 11-5 Bosox after 4 innings, with the O's starter long gone. The Sox starter only went 4.1 innings and couldn't hold on long enough to get a win, giving up 8 runs. The Sox ended up winning 18-9 but it was an awful pitching display from both teams. Hope the next 2 games in the series are a little sharper. -- Al
This has been an interesting season. I follow 3 teams and it has been business as usual for 2 of them. The Oriole's are typically awful, again, and will end in last place in the AL East, again. The NYY's have been good, again, and will make the playoffs, again. That leaves the Nationals. In 2009, they won 59 games. In 2010, they won 69 games. With 9 games left in this season, they have 74 wins (after a doubleheader sweep of the Phillies, yesterday:wink2, and have a good chance to reach 79 wins (or, dare I dream, .500), with a decent shot at third place in the NL East. At this rate of steady improvement, the Nats could be a wildcard factor next season. At this rate, the playoffs are within reach, for sure, by 2013, at the latest. A ray of optimism from a team that have tried to build theirselves from the bottom up, and are succeeding. Patience is a virtue. Now if only the O's can figure out the same formula. Must say that I feel bad for Twins fans as they won the Central crown last season and this season are going to finish, (barring a minor miracle), with the worst record in the whole AL. First to worst in one season is not an enviable achievment. Now to sit back and watch the playoffs and see how far the NYY's can get with that hit or miss starting pitching staff. -- Al
, and have a good chance to reach 79 wins (or, dare I dream, .500), with a decent shot at third place in the NL East. At this rate of steady improvement, the Nats could be a wildcard factor next season. At this rate, the playoffs are within reach, for sure, by 2013, at the latest. A ray of optimism from a team that have tried to build theirselves from the bottom up, and are succeeding. Patience is a virtue. Now if only the O's can figure out the same formula. Must say that I feel bad for Twins fans as they won the Central crown last season and this season are going to finish, (barring a minor miracle), with the worst record in the whole AL. First to worst in one season is not an enviable achievment. Now to sit back and watch the playoffs and see how far the NYY's can get with that hit or miss starting pitching staff. -- Al
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I am beginning to wonder if anyone wants to win the AL wildcard position. Boston has the advantage with a 2 game lead over the Rays, (the LA Angels are still in it mathmatically, but not realistically), but Boston seems to be doing it's level best to blow the wildcard. They are now 5-15 in September and have not looked good against the O's. The Rays had their chances against the NYY's but couldn't do it, and on a night when the NYY left 18 (that's right, 18) men on base. Talk about lack of situational hitting. That kind of crap will get you beaten in the playoffs. At least Nova continues to shine. Just hope it lasts until the WS is over. My money was on Boston for the wildcard, but I am beginning to doubt, but as I said, Tampa Bay hasn't made a big push, either. Going to be a real good final 8 games. -- Al
Louis Badolato
Lieutenant General
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The Yankees just punched their ticket to the post season, and can clinch the Division tonight. It looks like my idea of piecing together a key win with the bullpen (check an earlier post on this thread about who I would rely on in the 2nd game of a post season series if CC lost the first game) isn't as crazy as it sounded. In an emergency today, with Hughes out with backspasms, the bullpen pitched nine innings of 2 run 8 hit ball. I wouldn't trust any Yankee starter other than CC and Nova to pitch this well.
Rob
Four Star General
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Reading you guys words is fascinating, I must confess I don't have the faintest clue what it all means and yet at the same time its exciting,it sounds like a great sport. The next time I get to the states I am definitely going get my arse to a ball game and drink in a little of this icon of American life. Can I ask when the season starts and finishes??
Rob
Rob
This has been an interesting season. I follow 3 teams and it has been business as usual for 2 of them. The Oriole's are typically awful, again, and will end in last place in the AL East, again. The NYY's have been good, again, and will make the playoffs, again. That leaves the Nationals. In 2009, they won 59 games. In 2010, they won 69 games. With 9 games left in this season, they have 74 wins (after a doubleheader sweep of the Phillies, yesterday:wink2
Hi Rob. The baseball regular season starts on or around April 1 in most cases, and runs to the end of September. Each team has 162 games. The playoffs start at the end of September, run through October, and the World Series ends in early November. A ballgame is a wonderful experience and I am sure you will enjoy yourself.^&grin -- Al
Rob
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Thanks Al, I appreciate that. Just one of those things I'd like to experience one day. It seems Baseball is one of those things deeply imbedded in the heart of America, looks like an exciting sport too.
Cheers
Rob
Louis Badolato
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