Baseball 2012 (2 Viewers)

[sammy719]

17 games left and all the AL division title races are up for grabs. All the NL division races are all but done. Wild cards races in both leagues still exciting. As it looks today, Atlanta has the #1 WC locked up in the NL and everyone else is fighting for the #2 WC. Several teams still in it but the Cards and Dodgers look to be the contenders, today.:wink2: The AL is just too much of a dogfight to call, either division winner or WC. Oakland is looking good for the WC if they can't catch Texas. Otherwise, there are going to be some near misses and I just hope Baltimore can either edge the Yanks for the division or take the WC, as the Angels and Rays are still right on their tail. -- Al

I'm so glad the Oakland series is over and the O's managed to only come out only 1 game behind the evil Yanks, now we need to handle our business in Seattle, but your right Al, this is going to go down to the last days of the season before it's all said and done, isn't it exciting!!!! even though my Ravens got spanked today it didn't bother me to bad as my O's won in Oakland...Sammy

 

[lancer]

I'm so glad the Oakland series is over and the O's managed to only come out only 1 game behind the evil Yanks, now we need to handle our business in Seattle, but your right Al, this is going to go down to the last days of the season before it's all said and done, isn't it exciting!!!! even though my Ravens got spanked today it didn't bother me to bad as my O's won in Oakland...Sammy

Yeah, buddy! The O's didn't get hurt too bad in Oakland as the NYY's spanked the Rays and have really hurt their chances. Now we have to keep an eye on the Angels as the more immediate danger. Going to be an exciting last 16 games. -- Al

 

[Peter Reuss]

The Brewers continue to amaze...they roll our some guy I've never heard of and shut out the Mets. When things fall into place...they fall into place! The Pirates lost once again, letting the BRewers sneak ahead of them. With the Phils losing two to the woeful Astros (how did THAT happen), it's just the 'Crew riding the heels of the falling Dodgers and Cards.

With this new Wildcard you can have a terrible year...and still have a chance!

 

[jazzeum]

Happy for you Pete. Hope they make it. It's an incredible story if they do. With a second WC it's a whole new world out there.

 

[lancer]

The Brewers continue to amaze...they roll our some guy I've never heard of and shut out the Mets. When things fall into place...they fall into place! The Pirates lost once again, letting the BRewers sneak ahead of them. With the Phils losing two to the woeful Astros (how did THAT happen), it's just the 'Crew riding the heels of the falling Dodgers and Cards.

With this new Wildcard you can have a terrible year...and still have a chance!

Especially when a team gets as hot as the Brew Crew is. Since August 18-19 (the last time the Brewers lost 2 consequtive games), the Brewers are 20-6. That is pretty hot! Brewers just 2.5 games out of the WC with 16 to go. It can be done, with Braun smacking balls all over the place. -- Al

 

[Peter Reuss]

The best part...we got good prospects for Grienke AND we get to have playoff hopes. Not a bad combo!

 

[lancer]

Lost weekend for the Nats. Got swept by the Braves and had their lead cut to 5.5 games. Now we come home and have to face the playoff hopefuls the Dodgers and the Brewers. I was really hoping to see the Nats win 100 games but we would have to win 11 of the last 16 and all of those games are tough ones. We have to play the Dodgers, Brewers, Cards, and we still have 6 games with the Phillies whom seem to have our number as they are the only NL East team we have a losing record against. I'd be happy with an 8-8 split as that would mean Atlanta would have to go 13-2 to tie or 14-1 to pass us. We'll see. Braves have stayed with us all season. -- Al

 

[lancer]

A little rain in NY on Tuesday night = rainout for the Yanks and BINGO, the O's are tied for 1st place after they win 4-2 over Seattle in an 18 inning marathon. Rays are falling off the pace and the O's now are looking pretty good for a least the wildcard. O's have a 3 game lead over the next nearest WC rival, the Angels, with only 14 games left. The race still has it's hottest days to go, but it is better to be 3 ahead, than 3 behind. Fingers crossed. -- Al

 

[jazzeum]

To me it's a three team race for two spots among Yankees, Os and Angels. I thought for sure the Angels were going to pick up a game last night with the Os looking like they would lose. I had trouble sleeping last night and woke up periodically throughtout the night to see how the Os Mariners game turned out and it was still going on! I got up at 430 and it was still going on. What a marathon. All credit to the Os for sticking it out. With a three game lead over the Angels, the Yankees and Os are definitely the favorites to sew up the two spots.

 

[lancer]

Things really looking good for the O's after sweeping Seattle. They won in extra innings, again, to take the WC lead and now trail the Yanks by only 1/2 game, with 13 games to go. The O's have no set starting rotation at this point. It's Chen, Tillman, and whoever they feel like using, but it works and they just keep winning. They are now 12-6 in September and after their last 2 overtime wins, are 15-2 in extra innings. The really impressive thing about their overtime record, besides being 15-2, is that the two losses came in games # 5 and 6 of the season in April. They have won 15 extra inning games in a row. Coupled with a 27-8 record in 1 run games and the O's have become the team no one wants to face in any kind of close game. The extra inning game win streak is the longest in MLB since Cleveland's 17 in a row in 1949. I have no way of knowing how this will all end, but it sure has been a fun ride to this point. I am beginning to think that maybe the possibility of a Baltimore-Washington World Series is not so far fetched. Wouldn't that be something? ^&cool -- Al

 

[lancer]

Congratulations to the Nats who clinched a playoff spot with tonight's win over LA, the first post-season spot for a DC baseball team since 1933. It has been a LONG wait.^&grin^&cool -- Al

 

[lancer]

Just looking at the O's stats and I realize how incredible/unlikely a season this has been for them from the standpoint of starting pitching and the resultant wins. There is NO way this team should be as good as they are if starting pitching is used as a measure. The O's have exactly one (1) pitcher with more than 128 innings pitched, Chen, who has 181. There are only 3 other pitchers with more than 100 innings logged, Hunter with 128, Hammel with 118, and Arrieta with 109.2, and none of those 3 is currently in the rotation on a regular basis (Hamel is out injured). Outside of Chen, with 30 starts, only Hamel and Hunter have as many as 20 starts. The O's have used a total of 12 different starting pitchers this season. This instability in the rotation should have spelled complete disaster for the O's, as it has so many times in past seasons. So why hasn't it? Basically the answer is that the bullpen has been superb. The 5 pitchers in the pen that are most heavily used/depended on, all have ERA's between 2.26 and 2.73. They have been remarkable in their consistency with 53 holds amongst them, and the closer, Johnson, having 45 saves. The bullpen, coupled with the late season insertions of Tillman (8-2) and Gonzalez (6-4) into the starting rotation, and Showalter's ability to make the right pitching moves at the right time, have kept the O's at the top of the race and enabled them to be on the verge of a playoff position despite them being the only team over .500 in MLB with a negative run differential. All of this adds up to an unequaled record in close games, 27-8 in 1 run games and 15-2 in extra innings. They are a dangerous team even though they don't present as such with what is essentially a no-name roster (to all but their fans). Could be that the planets are lining up this year.:wink2: -- Al

 

[lancer]

The push to the pennant is proving to be a typical rough road. The frontrunning Nats have only gone 14-13 in their last 27 games but Atlanta has been unable to do much to close the gap. More disturbing for the Nats is the trouble with the backend of the bullpen, which had been 'lights out' all year. The lefty set-up man, Burnett, has either gotten tired or his elbow is acting up again, as he has been ineffective for about 5 weeks now. They keep running him out there but in his last 12 outings he has only pitched 8.1 innings, given up 21 hits, blown a couple of leads and lost a game. Clippard, the closer, is also struggling in September. He has a 9.72 ERA and 3 losses this month. This is not what you want to see heading into the playoffs. Clippard blew a 1 run 9th inning lead again last night, for the second time in the last 3 games. Davey Johnson has a viable alternative in Drew Storen, for closer, but DJ is a little stubborn about changing personel, sometimes. Clippard has been outstanding all year and this is probably just a rough spot like every pitcher goes through, but it is BAD timing. -- Al

 

[lancer]

Good day for the Nats and O's. Nats beat the Brewers to reduce their magic number to 6 for the division crown and got Gio Gonzalez his 20th win, to lead MLB. The O's, once again, spun their overtime magic to beat Boston, and go to 16-2 in OT this year. They are also 1 game back of the Yanks for the division title and show no signs of giving in. The O's are in real good position for the WC as they presently lead the WC by 2 games over the 2nd place A's and 5 games over the 3rd place Angels, with only 11 games left. It would seem only a complete collapse can keep the O's out of the playoffs. What a season this has been. -- Al

 

[sammy719]

Game one of a double header for O's in the books for a "W", if we can pull off a win in second game and hope for a Yankee loss things will be even tighter, this is so much fun, which is better?? O's pulling off a doubleheader win or last nites Raven win over the Pats?? both are just as great!!...Sammy

 

[lancer]

Game one of a double header for O's in the books for a "W", if we can pull off a win in second game and hope for a Yankee loss things will be even tighter, this is so much fun, which is better?? O's pulling off a doubleheader win or last nites Raven win over the Pats?? both are just as great!!...Sammy

A sweep would be outstanding but the O's will have to come from behind as they now trail 4-0 in the 2nd. Chen is getting hit right now. A split will still put the O's within 1/2 a game if the Yanks lose. O's still in great shape for the WC. -- Al -- P.S.- Here they come now! 4-2 after 2.

 

[jazzeum]

As lose and now only have 2 game lead on Halos. Schedule could favor Halos. They have six against Mariners and three against Rangers while it's the reverse for As.

 

[lancer]

A sweep would be outstanding but the O's will have to come from behind as they now trail 4-0 in the 2nd. Chen is getting hit right now. A split will still put the O's within 1/2 a game if the Yanks lose. O's still in great shape for the WC. -- Al -- P.S.- Here they come now! 4-2 after 2.

O's lost game 2 and Yanks won so O's 1.5 games back. O's, while not clinching mathematically, have a good hand on the WC. O's only need to go 4-4, which forces the Angels to go 8-1 to catch or 9-0 to pass them. Even rougher for the Rays, who would have to go 9-0 to tie. NO COLLAPSES, PLEASE. And they could still catch the Yanks, if the Yanks stumble at all. -- Al

 

[Louis Badolato]

O's lost game 2 and Yanks won so O's 1.5 games back. O's, while not clinching mathematically, have a good hand on the WC. O's only need to go 4-4, which forces the Angels to go 8-1 to catch or 9-0 to pass them. Even rougher for the Rays, who would have to go 9-0 to tie. NO COLLAPSES, PLEASE. And they could still catch the Yanks, if the Yanks stumble at all. -- Al

Its kind of funny Al, but back in July, when the Yankees had a substantial lead, George thought the Yankees were going to run away with the division, and I posted no way, it would come down to the wire and teams would be sweating it right up to the last day in the AL East. I thought Boston would be one of the teams fighting for a playoff spot, along with the Yankees, Baltimore and Rays, and I was wrong about the Red Sox, but the Yanks, Orioles and Rays are having one of the most exciting penant races I can remember. Indeed, with the one game playoff making the wild card unattractive, I fully expect te Yanks and Orioles to play their respective butts off right down to the last game, with Boston, Toronto and the Rays (all of whom face off against the leaders) doing their best to play spoiler in the last week of the season.

 

[Louis Badolato]

George my friend, its only July 1st, don't get worked up. I don't allow myself to get too high or too low about the baseball season until September 1st. Despite a rash of injuries and a poor start, your team is only 6-1/2 games back in the division, and 1-1/2 games back of Baltimore for the second wildcard, paying well above .500 ball. Even if this were September 1st, this would not be cause for panic. Enjoy your terrific new third-baseman, what is going to be a tough, exciting and close pennant race, and relax - with the loss of Mariano and the injury to Pettitte, there is almost no chance that the Yankees are going to get past Texas, so your biggest worry should be out of the way.:wink2: On July 28th, my wife, kids and I will be a Yankee Stadium watching our teams face off. Lets see how things look at that point. I suspect we will both be sweating a great AL East race.

This is what I posted on July 1st. Dead wrong about the Red Sox, but I was right about sweating out a great AL East Race.