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George:
According to KNBR (the Bay Area Sports talk station), the Giants plan on signing a few more too. With Zito's $26 mil per year coming off the books they have a bit of cash to spend.
Baseball 2013 (3 Viewers)
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George:
According to KNBR (the Bay Area Sports talk station), the Giants plan on signing a few more too. With Zito's $26 mil per year coming off the books they have a bit of cash to spend.
Warrior
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He may not have quite lived up to his contract, but without Zito last year, they don't win the WS IMO.
He was money in the post season last year.
SO glad they are keeping Pence as oftentimes, once a guy reaches free agency, he's gone..........
Warrior
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A's lose; Sox clinch best record in AL, HFA and they avoid the Tigers and play whoever wins the wild card play in game.
So instead of having to go through the Tigers AND the A's, now it's the wild card play in winner and either/or Tigers/A's.
Outstanding.
So instead of having to go through the Tigers AND the A's, now it's the wild card play in winner and either/or Tigers/A's.
Outstanding.
A salute to Andy Pettitte of the NYY's, who pitched his final game before retirement, and made it a complete game win, 2-1, over Houston tonight. Another Yankee great says goodbye in style, with his 255th career win. :salute:: -- Al
Small consolation for the O's but by beating the Red Sox 6-5 tonight, they won the season series, securing a 10-8 lead with the one game left. About the only other thing left for the O's is to see whether Davis can lead the AL in RBI's as well as Hr's. He is currently one RBI ahead of Cabrera with a 138 to 137 lead. Tomorrow will tell. -- Al
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There as been a real uprising here about the way the Giants try and maintain the status quo and hope they win. In this day and age that is simply not possible.
I had the chance to meet Zito and actually chat with him. He is a nice guy who seems as though he was never really comfortable with the huge contract etc. I wish him well with thanks as he has been part of this franchise for many years.
Warrior
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Had a Yankees fan friend of mine email me yesterday to say "congrats on finishing first and good luck in the playoffs, even though I hope they get bounced in the first round."
Nice.
I told him cheer up, next year the Yankees only have holes at catcher, second (unless they come up with 305 million), short, third, center, third and fourth starters and closer, so cheer up, they'll be fine as long as they dig up some holy water from underneath monument park and sprinkle it on various over the hill MLB corpses they sign, who will then go on to have career years..........................:wink2:
Nice.
I told him cheer up, next year the Yankees only have holes at catcher, second (unless they come up with 305 million), short, third, center, third and fourth starters and closer, so cheer up, they'll be fine as long as they dig up some holy water from underneath monument park and sprinkle it on various over the hill MLB corpses they sign, who will then go on to have career years..........................:wink2:
O's and Sox still hammering away at each other in the 5th inning and Chris Davis has left the game with a hurt wrist. Davis leaves the game as the AL Hr and RBI leader for 2013 as Detroit was no-hit and shutout by Miami, leaving Cabrera 1 RBI short of tying Davis. Davis set O's records for HR's and extra base hits in a single season. Despite his enormous power numbers, he probably has no shot at MVP because Sabermetrics rule the roost nowadays in determining how valuable a player is. Hr's, RBI's, BA., Wins, etc. no longer hold sway. Things used to be easier.
Anyway, Davis had a monster year and deserves recognition. -- Al
Anyway, Davis had a monster year and deserves recognition. -- AlO's got another consolation achievement in today's win over the Sox in the season finale. Jim Johnson, the O's closer who has had a real hit or miss year, closed out the victory and earned his 50th save. This gives him back to back 50 save seasons (he had 51 in 2012). Congratulations Jim. It hasn't been done often or recently. -- AlO's and Sox still hammering away at each other in the 5th inning and Chris Davis has left the game with a hurt wrist. Davis leaves the game as the AL Hr and RBI leader for 2013 as Detroit was no-hit and shutout by Miami, leaving Cabrera 1 RBI short of tying Davis. Davis set O's records for HR's and extra base hits in a single season. Despite his enormous power numbers, he probably has no shot at MVP because Sabermetrics rule the roost nowadays in determining how valuable a player is. Hr's, RBI's, BA., Wins, etc. no longer hold sway. Things used to be easier.
sammy719
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Well at least my O"s won today and took the season series from the red sox, a congrats to the boys from Boston as they took it the distance and won a tough AL East crown, I will be pulling for them in the playoffs (as I was a little league Red Sox team) should be a good playoff series...Sammy
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Sammy-
Like I told Al, the O's deserve a huge tip of the cap as well. They played a great season and showed themselves as worthy against everyone. I got to see them when they played Oakland and they are exciting to watch and loaded with young talent.
And no matter what happens Davis is the MVP of the American League.
National's season ended up at 86-76, which considering the expectations, is a real disappointment. However, looking at the context of the season in isolation, it turned out to be a relatively good record considering that the Nats were still below .500 as late as mid-August. They closed with a flourish and proved that the talent to win is there. The demarcation line for success or failure for the Nats was stark and very telling. When scoring 2 or fewer runs, the Nats were a dismal 8-57. When scoring 3 or more runs, the Nats were an outstanding 78-19. It was the lack of consistent offense that doomed the playoff aspirations for 75% of the season and once the offense started clicking, it was too late to make up all the ground. The other game stats were pretty average. The Nats were 13-12 in shutout games, 28-23 in 1-run games, and 5-8 in OT. So, ultimately, it was a disappointing season that ended with a definite ray of sunshine going into 2014. -- Al
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I was listening to sports talk this morning and the topic of expectations came up. They were actually talking about the Niners but the host mentioned the Nats saying that fair or unfair the expectations placed on a team can more often than not be a burden. He went on to mention the difficulty it puts on the manager and how he approaches the subject with his team. He can't say, "come on guys we are going to win because we're supposed to", nor can he say "just ignore all of that, you are not that good anyway".
The Nats have so much young talent that as a fan I know that they are built for the long haul. Harper will only get better and their staff will get more cohesive and consistent. Their finish was not a fluke and a sure sign of things to come.
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The point about expectations and how the manager handles them is very apropos in Davey Johnson's case. One might argue that HE put the pressure on the Nats by his pre-season proclamation "World Series or Bust!". He also then made the mistake of announcing in pre-season that 2013 was his last year, that he was retiring after the season. This also put pressure on him and the team, not to mention the factor that some players now viewed him as a 'lame duck' manager. Many in DC have speculated that perhaps Johnson 'lost' some of the players because of this status and that the resultant team chemistry was weaker than it should have been. At any rate, the two ill-conceived announcements combined to put unneeded extra pressure on all involved. The Nats thus started the season with very high expectations and a manager that might have had less of a connection to his players than was necessary to be able to handle those expectations. Interesting that the Nats own manager may be the one who shot the team in the foot.:wink2: -- Al
Warrior
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Cleveland.
Their closer situation is bad, but Rodney's no day at the beach either.
The Rays have a better rotation and a better line up.
Something about the Rays concerns me, although the Sox would have the crowd behind them for all five games.......................:wink2:
Baseball fans of a certain age will remember the name Gates Brown as a key member of the 1968 World Champion Detroit Tigers. He was their stellar pinch-hit expert who batted .370, hit 6 Hr's with 15 RBI's in 104 plate appearances that year. Gates Brown passed away on 9/27/13 at the age of 74. RIP. -- Al
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I guess the purist in me just likes the idea of a classic battle between Cleveland and Boston. No offense to Tampa but I still see them as an expansion team.
jazzeum
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Tampa is the prototype of how to stay competitive in today's market. They spot talent very well and trade a player before they have to. They have a great front office and one of the best managers around. The only thing wrong with them is Tropicana Field and their fans. Every team could learn a lot from them.