2017 MLB Thread

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

I woke up at like 1AM and saw that the game was still in the 9th. That game was insane. 

[Maxx]

1 hour ago, Buschy Heenan said:

it was a fun game to watch - but the baseball purist inside of me thinks it's bullshit that they've gone to this degree to alter the baseballs just increase offensive numbers.  The 2015 All Star Break is when pitchers first started mentioning that the baseballs felt different, and now in this World Series the complaints have gotten even more prevalent.  When Clayton Kershaw, the best pitcher in baseball for years, sets the single season record for home runs allowed in a postseason - you know there's a problem.  Rey Ordonez would've hit 20 home runs a year in today's game.

Having said that, my Facebook was blowing up with posts about the game by people who don't normally ever comment on baseball, and I've heard people at work talking about it even though baseball talk usually dies here once the New York and Boston teams are out.

This is what Manfred wanted.  As much as it pains me to admit - casual fans just don't give a shit about low scoring pitching duels the way purists do.  Baseball is still a business first and foremost, and so this offensive boom is here to stay.

nah, totally the same!

[Your Mom]

HRs are cool and all but count me in the side who would rather see a tight 3-2 pitchers duel

[The Buscher]

The Astros are one win away from turning Ben Reiter into a prophet, as per his 2014 article when they were coming off of three consecutive 100 loss seasons.

[GhostMachine]

8 hours ago, The Chiksrara Special said:

HRs are cool and all but count me in the side who would rather see a tight 3-2 pitchers duel

I much prefer pitchers duels over multi home run games. I'll take a lot of Ks over a lot of HRs any day.

Which is funny, because I also love grand slams. Go figure.

[Meacon Keaton]

I like the mix. If every game was 2-1 or 3-2 I'd get bored eventually. I watch baseball more or less every day during the season, so games with four, five, or six homers is a welcome change up from the usual.

[gunnar hendershow]

I am with Meacon in that variety is good. I think a 5-4 game that goes back and forth and is settled in the 8th or 9th is my ideal offensive game. 13-12 is kinda the same just excessively longer. I love baseball but I don't need 5 hours of it.

A 2-1 2:30 game is the very best though, but I 100% understand why non-fanatics don't see the appeal. Me? I love gushing at filthy breaking balls all day. But a HR or timely hit is much more accessible to your everyday fan looking for entertainment.

Interesting stat, teams that go on the road up 3-2 win the World Series a little under 2/3 of the time. I think Roberts has mismanaged his bullpen a bit this series, the early hook on Rich Hill in game 2 snowballed a lot of problems for them. But the Astros pen has obviously not looked good either. Juiced balls or not (they're definitely juiced) this series comes 100% down to the game 6 starters. Game 7 is gonna be an all-hands-on-deck story, but whoever of Hill and Verlander has a better start is going to win this series I think.

[gunnar hendershow]

The best words in the English language are "World Series Game 7"

However the worst words are "After this there's no more baseball until the spring"

Also it's been 86 years since two 100-win teams played a game 7 in the World Series. On top of that I'm hard-pressed to think of a World Series where almost every game has been this kind of edge-of-your-seat intensity. 

I think Roberts screwed up pulling Hill so early last night. He's got absurd numbers the 3rd time through an order. Letting him mow them down until the 7th would have been wiser, saves Maeda for a game 7 and only needs 3 outs from Jansen. I know you have to throw it all out there when you're facing elimination, but it's not like Hill was walking guys and missing the strikezone. At the same time, Roberts has Kershaw and Wood to work the middle of the game should Darvish at any point look bad. I was telling my friend in a perfect world Darvish goes 4, Kershaw goes 4, and then Jansen comes in for the save. Maybe a third of an inning gets pitched by Morrow here. I think you hang onto Wood in case of extras, much like Hinch will probably do with Charlie Morton.

[The Buscher]

Much as I'd like the Astros to win, I just audibly groaned at Puig's fly out.  I thought it was gone off the bat and would've made it 5-3 instead of 5-0.

I don't want this great series to be sullied by a Game 7 blowout.  

[MalaCloudy Black]

Stros 3 outs away from their first WS title. 

 

Great Series. Congrats Astros. 

[CobraKaiEnTai]

Way to go Astros!

[Your Mom]

I couldn't bring myself to watch. Kinda regret it now

[The Buscher]

Was worried the game would be a blowout after the 5-0 start.  Dodgers at least had their chances and just got mowed down by great Houston pitching.  What a series.

Imagine telling someone 10-15 years ago that the Royals, Cubs, and Astros would one day win titles over a three year span.

[gunnar hendershow]

Feel bad for Darvish, Dodger pitching completely shut down Houston after he left. I think the offense was super tight as soon as they got guys on base too, trying to get it all back at once instead of 1 run here and there. I thought we'd have a blowout and instead we had a pretty exciting game for awhile as the Dodgers kept threatening and then getting deflating outs with runners LOB.

I questioned it last night, and even more now that he pitched 4 innings. But why, since it's his throw day, did Kershaw not get the start? You're planning on using him right out of the bullpen, is it really that much different if he goes through a starting routine?

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

Very happy for the Astros. Delighted to see Altuve, Verlander, Reddick and Beltran get a ring.

You know what I love as much as actual baseball - the baseball off-season!

The Angels signed Upton to a five year deal. Not sure I love that deal.

 

[DMN in the House]

Knew they'd win on Halloween, but they just waited until the absolute last minute to Dodger it up. Not sure I wouldn't prefer a traditional mid-season collapse...

Congratulations to Houston.

[The Buscher]

As a Mets fan, it's bizarre to realize that Beltran could very well be wearing a Mets cap on his HOF plaque given that he played more games with the Mets than any other team and also had his best overall years there.  I loved him and would be glad to see it, the only reason it'd feel weird is because there's a big portion of the fanbase that gave him more shit than he deserved.  Yeah he dealt with some injury drama, but the main reason Mets fans seem to hold a grudge against him was because he struck out looking on a ridiculously good Wainwright curveball to end the 2006 season.  Dude hit 41 home runs that year and was the best center fielder in team history, yet so many want to judge him by one pitch.  It's insane.

Having said that, it's a tough call.  Spent almost as much time with the Royals as he did with the Mets and he won ROTY there and established himself.  Productive stops in St. Louis and the Bronx.  Cups of coffee in SF and Arlington but productive down the stretch for both.  Then in Houston he had one of the best postseason performances ever in 2004 and won a ring with them in 2017.

Beltran may just be a guy they decide to put in with a blank cap because he's helped every single team he's played for.

[gunnar hendershow]

3 hours ago, DMN said:

Knew they'd win on Halloween, but they just waited until the absolute last minute to Dodger it up. Not sure I wouldn't prefer a traditional mid-season collapse...

Congratulations to Houston.

They did try the mid-season collapse but they were so good before they still won the division.

I am happy for every player on the Astros except Yuli Guriel, fuck that guy. They built the perfect organization in the early part of the decade and are reaping the rewards. The process worked.

[Meacon Keaton]

I’m ready for Hot Stove season. Let’s see some wheelin’ and dealin’, folks.

[The Buscher]

Ruben Amaro Jr. is the new first base coach for the Mets.

I'd completely forgotten that he held the same role with Boston for the past two seasons, so this has given me another chance to have a nice laugh at the fact that the guy managed to go from being the GM of a team that was just coming off of a World Series win to becoming a first base coach.