***Official 2011 World Series Thread - Rangers vs. Cardinals*** (1 Viewer)

[Doctor Detroit]

No doubles = prevent defense. Hate them both.

Makes sense with a runner on first and one or more out, but I don't like rolling it out with no one on and no one out. Motte had allowed one hit in 9 IP in the playoffs and Kinsler has five extra base hits (four doubles) in 45 at bats this postseason. I don't usually watch for no doubles in that scenario but I know Leyland doesn't do it until there is a runner on. I think it's dumb, play straight up until the other guy proves they can hit your lights out closer hard.

 

[Premier]

i hate st. louis. they already are on record for lousiest team to win a WS with their 83-79 team... this won't be much better.damn the 5 game series in the DS round.... the baseball playoffs has turned into a huge crapshoot in the last 10 years... we definitely aren't rewarding the best team with near the frequency. Regular season value plummeting all the time.NBA is about the only sport where the playoffs usually end up rewarding the best team.I love baseball... but the world series is losing meaning.back to tennis where the best player generally wins.

Such a horrible post in so many ways

I personally think the 5-game first round is stupid, but not nearly as dumb as most of dentist's anti-sports shtick.

 

[Tremendous Upside]

i hate st. louis. they already are on record for lousiest team to win a WS with their 83-79 team... this won't be much better.damn the 5 game series in the DS round.... the baseball playoffs has turned into a huge crapshoot in the last 10 years... we definitely aren't rewarding the best team with near the frequency. Regular season value plummeting all the time.NBA is about the only sport where the playoffs usually end up rewarding the best team.I love baseball... but the world series is losing meaning.back to tennis where the best player generally wins.

Such a horrible post in so many ways

I personally think the 5-game first round is stupid, but not nearly as dumb as most of dentist's anti-sports shtick.

Agreed. Anti best of 5 DS is pretty much the only part I agree with.

 

[coolnerd]

They got to Mottes!

I don't know a ton about the Cards bullpen - other than its completely different than it was in June - but pulling Motte for Rhodes doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

Because LaRussa gets credit for over-managing when it works, when the rest of us know that he over-manages into a loss a lot too. Stupid pulling Motte, they should have loaded them up and brought up Young for the force.

BTW, when TLR pulled this, I went what the bleep. In a situation where not alot of contact means at lesst a tie game, seems to me that you want the pitcher who is going to illicit the least amount of contact.

 

[Eephus]

i hate st. louis. they already are on record for lousiest team to win a WS with their 83-79 team... this won't be much better.damn the 5 game series in the DS round.... the baseball playoffs has turned into a huge crapshoot in the last 10 years... we definitely aren't rewarding the best team with near the frequency. Regular season value plummeting all the time.NBA is about the only sport where the playoffs usually end up rewarding the best team.I love baseball... but the world series is losing meaning.back to tennis where the best player generally wins.

Such a horrible post in so many ways

I personally think the 5-game first round is stupid, but not nearly as dumb as most of dentist's anti-sports shtick.

Agreed. Anti best of 5 DS is pretty much the only part I agree with.

OT: The NBA could use best of five in the first round. I like hoops but the opening round takes forever with all the off days.But tennis, really?

 

[Michael Brown]

i hate st. louis. they already are on record for lousiest team to win a WS with their 83-79 team... this won't be much better.damn the 5 game series in the DS round.... the baseball playoffs has turned into a huge crapshoot in the last 10 years... we definitely aren't rewarding the best team with near the frequency. Regular season value plummeting all the time.NBA is about the only sport where the playoffs usually end up rewarding the best team.I love baseball... but the world series is losing meaning.back to tennis where the best player generally wins.

Such a horrible post in so many ways

in the baseball forum is never awesome. Gerald Laird! Last year in Arlington I was yelling, "LAST GAME AS A TIGER FAT ###!!!!!!" I mean really loud, and I'm not a heckler, I'm rarely tht guy but I hate me some Gerald Laird.

 

[Ghost Rider]

Oof, tough way to lose, especially a very winnable game, but the Cardinals will rebound. Still gonna be a long series, but this one stings.

 

[Tremendous Upside]

Much props to Josh Hamilton. Rumours are he's playing on a badly sprained/ torn groin. Won't say anything. Limited in his pain killing options.

 

[Berserker]

The more I see Andrus' play on Furcal the more amazing it gets. ESPN estimated his flip was 25 feet. Think about that. That's longer than an NBA 3-point shot. And he put it right on the money, with his glove. To save a run in that tight a ballgame. After getting to it in the first place. I've professed my man-love for Andrus before, but I would let him babysit my wife...unsupervised.

 

[Disco Stu]

Much props to Josh Hamilton. Rumours are he's playing on a badly sprained/ torn groin. Won't say anything. Limited in his pain killing options.

Yep. He's not himself, but he's doing what he can. They have to at least consider letting him DH tomorrow.

 

[Disco Stu]

OT: The NBA could use best of five in the first round. I like hoops but the opening round takes forever with all the off days.

They need to remove off days, not games imo. Two off days between games 1 and 2 is lolz. There's no reason they can't have multiple games rolling at the same time. NBA playoffs started on April 16th, ended on June 12th.

 

[curta269]

Elvis Andrus is just sick at SS! He made some outstanding plays last night.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

Cardinals in 7 games. Should be a great series. Don't know how anyone could pick one of these teams to sweep. It is a pretty even match. Rangers are a little better overall, and Cardinals have home field which hurts the Rangers' lineup in those games.

20 of the last 25 have gone to the home field advantage team, throw in 3-2 series odds and I'm on the dog Cards.

This bet looked awesome thru the first 17 innings. Now not quite so much.

 

[ctdub]

Elvis Andrus is just sick at SS! He made some outstanding plays last night.

He is a great SS. If he can do a better job not making careless errors he will win a couple of gold gloves.

 

[Bogart]

If you ranked the things I love in my life right now it would be something like:

My kids

The Rangers

Porn

Dirk Nowitzki

Everything Else

That said, I totally dig the NL style of baseball. I don't watch a ton of it due to the Rangers place in this world, but everytime the playoffs and WS come along I am reminded of how much I love it.

 

[culdeus]

why does kurt ravich hate the rangers so much? Seriously.

 

[culdeus]

just to recap what's being talked about here

So Kinsler had a green light and stole 2nd on molina. Bunt was on but e pulled up on it when he saw the huge jump kinsler got.

Then on the hiterror kinsler rounded 3rd to go home and ended up in no mans land after (insert cardinal outfielder I don't know name of right now) made a poor throw. Pujols botches the relay (MLB changed score to error this morning) and Kinsler heads back to 3rd.

Kinsler probably had home on that play, but couldn't have seen pujols booting the relay like that. Pujols gets that cleanly and you might have gotten both baserunners.

Rangers eventually take 5 bases in that inning and 2 runs without a hit.

 

[Dentist]

i hate st. louis. they already are on record for lousiest team to win a WS with their 83-79 team... this won't be much better.damn the 5 game series in the DS round.... the baseball playoffs has turned into a huge crapshoot in the last 10 years... we definitely aren't rewarding the best team with near the frequency. Regular season value plummeting all the time.NBA is about the only sport where the playoffs usually end up rewarding the best team.I love baseball... but the world series is losing meaning.back to tennis where the best player generally wins.

Such a horrible post in so many ways

in the baseball forum is never awesome.

I'm not fishing. I'm not anti-sports.I just don't like the 5 game DS round and feel like it compromises the playoffs.I also don't like it when one of the highest quality teams of the year doesn't win.If the Rangers win I'm fine with that, but I feel robbed I didn't get to see Phils vs. Rangers (or yanks would've been fine)As time goes on I get more and more frustrated with playoffs as a whole. There's too much variance. It's not designed to determine the best team, it's just designed to make money and deliver a winner of the post-season.Basketball, though, has its best team win at a very high rate of the time to crown a champion. Baseball and Football don't accomplish this nearly as often.Baseball has a long enough season that if it just had total interleague play that at the end of 162 games you could probably just give the title to the #1 team in wins and be done with it... we've had enough competition to decide a champion.You could probably say the same for basketball.I get the need for playoffs in football, but I hate the 1 and done format... same problem the NCAA tourney has, but for reasons unknown everyone seems to like that format.Whatever.

 

[Ghost Rider]

If you feel like you were robbed of seeing Phils vs. Yanks or Rangers, then don't blame the format; blame the Phillies and Yankees for being unable to get out of the first freaking round of the playoffs.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

if you feel like you were robbed of seeing Phils vs. Yanks or Rangers, then don't blame the format; blame the Phillies and Yankees for being unable to get out of the first freaking round of the playoffs.

You'd think with those giant payrolls they could find a way to win 3 of 5.

 

[Ghost Rider]

if you feel like you were robbed of seeing Phils vs. Yanks or Rangers, then don't blame the format; blame the Phillies and Yankees for being unable to get out of the first freaking round of the playoffs.

You'd think with those giant payrolls they could find a way to win 3 of 5.

You'd think so, wouldn't ya? Also, Dentist, as far as one of the highest quality teams winning it goes, the Rangers/Cardinals WS features the teams that had the 3rd and 8th best records in the league this year (out of 30 teams). I'd say that's better than the NBA, which you apparently like, which gives teams that have the 15th or 16th best records a shot at winning it all in the postseason.

 

[Dentist]

If you feel like you were robbed of seeing Phils vs. Yanks or Rangers, then don't blame the format; blame the Phillies and Yankees for being unable to get out of the first freaking round of the playoffs.

Tough to blame the players rather than the game. As it is, it can be tough to get differentiation between teams.. it often takes months.In general just about every team starts with 60 wins and 60 losses... leaves the other 40 games to determine who's good and who's terrible. You could've stuck my pathetic royals in a 5 game series with the phils or yanks and maybe, just maybe... they could win that.. in fact i'd say against those two teams given baseball's randomness that they royals beat the phils or yanks in a 5 game series about 20% of the time. That's horrible.If anything we need longer series... 9-11 games wouldn't be unreasonable. go back to just taking the top 4 teams from each conference and let's have 11 game series.... it would definitely reduce the variance.Oh... the public doesn't want to see that and this is just about the money anyway? nevermind i guess... i thought the goal was to determine the best team

 

[RnR]

If you feel like you were robbed of seeing Phils vs. Yanks or Rangers, then don't blame the format; blame the Phillies and Yankees for being unable to get out of the first freaking round of the playoffs.

Tough to blame the players rather than the game. As it is, it can be tough to get differentiation between teams.. it often takes months.In general just about every team starts with 60 wins and 60 losses... leaves the other 40 games to determine who's good and who's terrible. You could've stuck my pathetic royals in a 5 game series with the phils or yanks and maybe, just maybe... they could win that.. in fact i'd say against those two teams given baseball's randomness that they royals beat the phils or yanks in a 5 game series about 20% of the time. That's horrible.If anything we need longer series... 9-11 games wouldn't be unreasonable. go back to just taking the top 4 teams from each conference and let's have 11 game series.... it would definitely reduce the variance.Oh... the public doesn't want to see that and this is just about the money anyway? nevermind i guess... i thought the goal was to determine the best team

Phils would've been down 3 games to 2 needing to win 2 in a row to beat St. Louis. Why do you assume that is a given?

 

[Dentist]

if you feel like you were robbed of seeing Phils vs. Yanks or Rangers, then don't blame the format; blame the Phillies and Yankees for being unable to get out of the first freaking round of the playoffs.

You'd think with those giant payrolls they could find a way to win 3 of 5.

You'd think so, wouldn't ya? Also, Dentist, as far as one of the highest quality teams winning it goes, the Rangers/Cardinals WS features the teams that had the 3rd and 8th best records in the league this year (out of 30 teams). I'd say that's better than the NBA, which you apparently like, which gives teams that have the 15th or 16th best records a shot at winning it all in the postseason.

i don't like the NBA, but i do like the NBA champion is very frequently also the best team in the regular season.I agree that the NBA should only take 4 teams per conference and then do the same thing.Basketball is a lot less random than baseball... if you're better, you win. Not uncommon in basketball for the best teams to win 3/4 of their games. In baseball it's 6/10 at best.... that necessitates significantly longer series to shake out the best team.My proposal is for only 4 mlb teams to make the playoffs and have best of 11 series

 

[Dentist]

Phils would've been down 3 games to 2 needing to win 2 in a row to beat St. Louis. Why do you assume that is a given?

i don't assume that, but you have to figure that the longer the series, the more likely for the cream to rise to the top. Obviously when they lost ryan howard in game 5, that would've made it tougher.That being said, this is why i advocate 11 game series.Hockey has the same problem... way too much variance.Here's how you fix every sport's playoff structure IF you wanted the best team to come out on top more often than not (it would not work everytime, but would help... and no one wants to see it):NFL - get rid of all conferences, one big league, everyone plays 16 random opponents. Top 4 teams make playoffs. Best of 3.NBA - Top 8 teams make playoffs. Best of 9NCAA Football - i have no clue. I do know that the current format does produce the top team as champion a lot.. helps when you just take the top 2 best teams.MLB - top 4 teams (get rid of al/nl DH crap) 162 games, one big league, everyone plays everyone. Best of 11Hockey (does anyone watch this?) - same thing - no conferences, no leagues... one big grouping.. everyone plays everyone.. top 4-8 teams... best of 9NCAA basketball - top 16 teams, best of 3's... final is best of 5/7Tennis - no change - they do it perfectlyHorse racing - run the race three consecutive days, total time is winnerGolf - don't give a crapOlympics - seems like they know what they are doing too.

 

[Ghost Rider]

I agree that the current format is less likely to result in the supposed best team winning than it did years ago when less teams made the playoffs, but the current format is more exciting for fans, creates more matchups, and makes the end of the season a lot less predictable. A lot of people nowadays are not as into baseball as they used to be, but they get excited for the playoffs, especially when their team is involved, but bust it back down to four, or even two, teams, and interest would drop even lower than it already has for the nation as a whole.

As for the Cardinals 83-78 team that won it (not 83-79; they didn't have to play their rained out 162 game because they finished the season with a 1 1/2 game lead over Houston), yes, you can call them the lousiest team to ever win a World Series, but really, they were essentially the same team that won 105 and 100 games the two previous seasons, but injuries killed them in the middle of the '06 summer, which is why they stumbled to an 83-78 finish. But they got healthy in time for the playoffs, and we all saw what happened. And technically, they were better than 83-78. They were 80-69 with a week and a half to go in the season (and a 9 1/2 game lead) before they let their guard down, Houston got hot, and they almost blew the division. But once it got close, they put the foot back on the pedal, clinched the division, and then won the postseason. Not trying to hype them up as an all-time great team or anything, but just saying that they weren't as average as their 83-78 record might have indicated.

 

[Dentist]

I agree that the current format is less likely to result in the supposed best team winning than it did years ago when less teams made the playoffs, but the current format is more exciting for fans, creates more matchups, and makes the end of the season a lot less predictable. A lot of people nowadays are not as into baseball as they used to be, but they get excited for the playoffs, especially when their team is involved, but bust it back down to four, or even two, teams, and interest would drop even lower than it already has for the nation as a whole.

I agree with all this. the goal of the playoffs is not and has not been for a long time, to produce the best team as the champion, rather to increase fan interest.It's like with the FFL leagues I'm in.. we take 1/2 the teams into the playoffs and rarely the best team is crowned... because if we only took the top 2 there would be so many people that would quit 1/2 way through the season. The only saving grace is that we award 1/2 the money to the overall points champion, which is by definition the bets team anyway.The problem is that people consider the superbowl winner, ncaa basketball winner, world series champ, etc... to be a coronation of the BEST TEAM... that is not the case anymore and hasn't been.And that's my problem and point. I'm not a Phils Fan, but to me that was the best team this year regardless of what happened in October, just as the Pats were the best team in '07 and possibly all-time regardless of what happened in the superbowl that year.

 

[Ghost Rider]

Well, FF is different, but I definitely agree. I love playing in leagues that emphasize greatness over the whole season. I am still bitter (not really, but bitter in a funny haha way) about not winning it all in a family league we do back in '08 when I had the best team by far, but lost in the first round to my cousin (four of eight of us make the playoffs) because his whole team went nuts that week. On the flip side, in a different league last year, I had the best team again (scored the most points and had the best record), lost the playoffs, but won the league (since the league champion is the team that wins the most money, and I did that by virtue of winning almost everything but the playoffs, which are just for fun and not worth a huge amount of money). But enough of that tangent...I think you get my point.

 

[ctdub]

 

[ctdub]

Much props to Josh Hamilton. Rumours are he's playing on a badly sprained/ torn groin. Won't say anything. Limited in his pain killing options.

You don't play you are soft, like Ladanian Thompson. You play and you don't produce and everyone in the media calls for you to sit.

 

[Bogart]

Dirk is throwing out the first pitch Saturday. All is right in the world.

 

[Eephus]

Much props to Josh Hamilton. Rumours are he's playing on a badly sprained/ torn groin. Won't say anything. Limited in his pain killing options.

You don't play you are soft, like Ladanian Thompson. You play and you don't produce and everyone in the media calls for you to sit.

If it was best of 11, he'd have a chance to heal

 

[RnR]

Much props to Josh Hamilton. Rumours are he's playing on a badly sprained/ torn groin. Won't say anything. Limited in his pain killing options.

You don't play you are soft, like Ladanian Thompson. You play and you don't produce and everyone in the media calls for you to sit.

If it was best of 11, he'd have a chance to heal

Could probably just put him on the 15-day DL with the travel days.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

Much props to Josh Hamilton. Rumours are he's playing on a badly sprained/ torn groin. Won't say anything. Limited in his pain killing options.

You don't play you are soft, like Ladanian Thompson. You play and you don't produce and everyone in the media calls for you to sit.

If it was best of 11, he'd have a chance to heal

Could probably just put him on the 15-day DL with the travel days.

By Thanksgiving (game 9) he might be 100%.

 

[Apple Juice]

I agree that the current format is less likely to result in the supposed best team winning than it did years ago when less teams made the playoffs, but the current format is more exciting for fans, creates more matchups, and makes the end of the season a lot less predictable. A lot of people nowadays are not as into baseball as they used to be, but they get excited for the playoffs, especially when their team is involved, but bust it back down to four, or even two, teams, and interest would drop even lower than it already has for the nation as a whole.

I agree with all this. the goal of the playoffs is not and has not been for a long time, to produce the best team as the champion, rather to increase fan interest.It's like with the FFL leagues I'm in.. we take 1/2 the teams into the playoffs and rarely the best team is crowned... because if we only took the top 2 there would be so many people that would quit 1/2 way through the season. The only saving grace is that we award 1/2 the money to the overall points champion, which is by definition the bets team anyway.The problem is that people consider the superbowl winner, ncaa basketball winner, world series champ, etc... to be a coronation of the BEST TEAM... that is not the case anymore and hasn't been.And that's my problem and point. I'm not a Phils Fan, but to me that was the best team this year regardless of what happened in October, just as the Pats were the best team in '07 and possibly all-time regardless of what happened in the superbowl that year.

You're disregarding several factors in what makes a team "the best", the biggest of which are players' ability to perform under pressure and perform against top competition. Hypothetically, if a team like the Phillies fattened up on the worst teams in the NL and played less than .500 ball against the top five or six, even if they finished with the best record, would that make them the best? Because they were the best at beating bad teams? And I don't buy for a mili-second that the Yankees were the best team in the AL. Their pitching staff was average to below-average. Their line-up scored a ton of runs but the post-season is about doing it against premium pitching with pressure, and as usual, the Yankees sucked at it again this year. Regular season records don't proclaim which team is the best--just which team is able to grind out wins against against mostly crappy teams.

 

[Bogart]

YT to catch tonight, Napoli to 1B, Young to DH. I guess Hamilton is going to continue in the OF.

 

[culdeus]

leaving now to ensure I'm in the proper mindset for this. have good sports everyone

i'll be sitting in same seats as the alcs pictures if anyone else is going.

 

[Limp Ditka]

Yep. No need for replays in baseball.

 

[coolnerd]

Yep. No need for replays in baseball.

Napoli darn nea knocked him down, but really that is a simple throw that Kinsler has to make properly, so I am not going to blame the umps for that.

 

[Encyclopedia Brown]

Texas' defense is brutal.

 

[Bogart]

This thing is falling apart.

 

[George Jefferson Airplane]

Texas' defense is brutal.

I can't believe they've made it this far with the starting pitching they have.

 

[Bogart]

Texas' defense is brutal.

I can't believe they've made it this far with the starting pitching they have.

Did you just start watching with the playoffs?

 

[coolnerd]

Texas' defense is brutal.

I can't believe they've made it this far with the starting pitching they have.

Did you just start watching with the playoffs?

They must have started watching game three.

 

[George Jefferson Airplane]

Texas' defense is brutal.

I can't believe they've made it this far with the starting pitching they have.

Did you just start watching with the playoffs?

They must have started watching game three.

Texas starters have like a 5 ERA in the playoffs don't they? That's good in baseball now? Maybe it is based on these responses, maybe I should watch more AL baseball.

 

[Encyclopedia Brown]

Great throw by Holliday.

 

[coolnerd]

Texas' defense is brutal.

I can't believe they've made it this far with the starting pitching they have.

Did you just start watching with the playoffs?

They must have started watching game three.

Texas starters have like a 5 ERA in the playoffs don't they? That's good in baseball now? Maybe it is based on these responses, maybe I should watch more AL baseball.

And the Cardinals starters' ERA has been what?

 

[coolnerd]

Great throw by Holliday.

But they are replaying throwing out the catcher...I mean fat 1st baseman like it was some miracle. Good baseball play, but it was Napoli running.

 

[George Jefferson Airplane]

This is a fun game

 

[Mr. Know-It-All]

Did he just "Brad Lidge" Ogando? See how Ogando responds....