MLB 2012

[cmlancas]

I love Tampa this week! (next week is a different story

My god, about to be tied for first in the division in September!   

Went to the game last night.  Still a good turnout for the Rays on a Tuesday; just shy of 20,000.

Can you guys lose a game already?

[JWIV]

I love Tampa this week! (next week is a different story

My god, about to be tied for first in the division in September!   

Went to the game last night.  Still a good turnout for the Rays on a Tuesday; just shy of 20,000.

Can you guys lose a game already?

There ya go! 

What's going to be fun is when we have Tampa up here next week, they're doing a flashback to 1992 pricing to help boost attendance.  There was also a side deal for stupid people that run stupid distances to come wearing running gear (conveniently enough, last years half marathon shirt is Orioles Orange), so . . .


What I was hoping to do though is ditch out of work early and catch the Thursday noon game as well with my daughter, but I'm torn on that now.  She broke her arm today, and I'm pretty sure if I took her to the stadium and she couldn't play in the bounce house it'd be hell for her, regardless of how much cotton candy I threw at her.

[JWIV]

Have no voice after that crazy game.  Stadium was rocking hard and after the first 2 innings, nobody was getting anywhere until the 9th where suddenly the Orioles remember how to play small ball.  
 

[cmlancas]

Have no voice after that crazy game.  Stadium was rocking hard and after the first 2 innings, nobody was getting anywhere until the 9th where suddenly the Orioles remember how to play small ball.  
 

The Rays had multiple chances to win and squandered them by striking out a million times.

I seldom get frustrated after baseball games, but if I'm Joe Maddon I'm chewing some ass after last night.  You can't RISP <2 outs and fail to score that many times.

[JWIV]

The Rays had multiple chances to win and squandered them by striking out a million times.

I seldom get frustrated after baseball games, but if I'm Joe Maddon I'm chewing some ass after last night.  You can't RISP <2 outs and fail to score that many times.
[/quote]

I'm going to be curious as to what Maddon comes up with today.  I wouldn't be surprised to see a bit of a shuffle to get a spark going, because you're right,  it's crazy to not be able to manufacture at least one run off of the multiple opportunities last night.  Hell, it wasn't ever fun easy grounder to 2nd to first double play that was doing them in. 

[cmlancas]

This is the fundamental difference between teams that make the playoffs and teams that don't.  Teams that find a way to win more often than not when they don't have it or don't deserve to win from a statistical perspective make the playoffs.

TB has given up two of the last three in this fashion (TEX and BAL).

[ghost]

I can't wait for the regular season to be over.   

[Paelos]

The Braves are trying to piss it away, but then again so is everyone in the NL wild card race. It's ridiculous. Nobody should be playing these games at this point. They are all exhausted.

[cmlancas]

Dear Orioles,

You're welcome.

-Rays Pitchers' Defense

[Ingmar]

I can't wait for the regular season to be over.   

There are some crazy great races going on in the AL.

[ghost]

Yeah, but it's all teams that I could really give a shit who ends up winning.  I've never been a huge fan of the baseball regular season anyway.  I only watch once the playoffs start and it means something.

[Paelos]

I can't wait for the regular season to be over.   

There are some crazy great races going on in the AL.

It's all AL East. Outside of the Orioles winning, I'm with ghost, I just don't give a fuck. Let her rip and let's get to the playoffs already.

[JWIV]

Dear Orioles,

You're welcome.

-Rays Pitchers' Defense

Someone needs to remind the Orioles that Chris Davis isn't available to pitch today, so stop doing stupid things like loading the bases with 0 outs and then failing to score.

[Ingmar]

I can't wait for the regular season to be over.   

There are some crazy great races going on in the AL.

It's all AL East. Outside of the Orioles winning, I'm with ghost, I just don't give a fuck. Let her rip and let's get to the playoffs already.

Tigers-White Sox, and A's-Rangers is starting to look interesting as well.

[ghost]

Yeah, I would like to see the Orioles win that one, if for no other reason than to have someone new in the game.  I have a soft spot for the Os, too, as I have a couple of buddies in Baltimore that are fanatics. 

[HaemishM]

I want the Orioles and the Rays to both make sure the Yankees don't even make it to the one-game playoff shit. The QQing of Yankees' fans would be electric.

[ghost]

Yeah, fuck the Yankees.   

[JWIV]

The Rays schedule this week is pretty damn brutal - they move on from the O's to New York.  Hopefully they can bounce back from this series and take at least 2 out of 3 from the Yanks. 

[cmlancas]

The Rays schedule this week is pretty damn brutal - they move on from the O's to New York.  Hopefully they can bounce back from this series and take at least 2 out of 3 from the Yanks. 

If they don't win tonight, they are going to be way out of the race.  5 GB with 20 to play isn't an enviable position.

[ghost]

I think he just wants them to kick the shit out of the Yankees, not actually win the overall race. 

[JWIV]

I think he just wants them to kick the shit out of the Yankees, not actually win the overall race. 

I'd love to see Tampa knock the Yankees completely out and take the wild card. 

[ghost]

That would be awesome.  No doubt about it.  

I think Oakland or Texas pretty much have that wrapped up though, don't they?

[Paelos]

Not to shit on everyone's parade, but I think anybody who honestly believes the Yankees won't win this division are probably Baltimore fans.

The O's are playing out of their minds and they look great, but I have one major problem with their team. They have a negative run differential. Nobody has won a division with a negative run differential total since the Diamondbacks edged out the Rockies in 2007. For those that remember, that happened to be the season the Rockies went to the World Series, because their differential was 100+ (best in the NL). They got beat by a Boston team with a +210 (best in the AL).

I put a lot of stock in that stat down the stretch. It's a concerning factor for me when I think of the Orioles chances. At this point I think Texas is the odds on favorite to represent the AL in the Series (change from my previous belief in the Yankees) and that the Nationals would be the NL team (change from my previous pick of the Reds).

[ghost]

I think most people dislike the Yankees enough to willingly suspend disbelief. 

[JWIV]

Not to shit on everyone's parade, but I think anybody who honestly believes the Yankees won't win this division are probably Baltimore fans.

The O's are playing out of their minds and they look great, but I have one major problem with their team. They have a negative run differential. Nobody has won a division with a negative run differential total since the Diamondbacks edged out the Rockies in 2007. For those that remember, that happened to be the season the Rockies went to the World Series, because their differential was 100+ (best in the NL). They got beat by a Boston team with a +210 (best in the AL).

I put a lot of stock in that stat down the stretch. It's a concerning factor for me when I think of the Orioles chances. At this point I think Texas is the odds on favorite to represent the AL in the Series (change from my previous belief in the Yankees) and that the Nationals would be the NL team (change from my previous pick of the Reds).

If you take away the games from the Angels and Rangers, the run diff shifts to something along the lines of +41, so there's that.

That does however lead to the next problem.  Which is if the O's do get into the post-season, chances are they're playing Texas (either in the ALCS or ALDS), and so far, the Rangers have completely owned them.   So yah, I think a Rangers-Nats WS is probably the most likely scenario.

[Ingmar]

That would be awesome.  No doubt about it.  

I think Oakland or Texas pretty much have that wrapped up though, don't they?

2 wild cards this season, remember, with a play-in game.

[HaemishM]

Not to shit on everyone's parade, but I think anybody who honestly believes the Yankees won't win this division are probably Baltimore fans.

I don't THINK they'll lose the division. I just hope they do because, seriously... fuck the Yankees.

[ghost]

That would be awesome.  No doubt about it.  

I think Oakland or Texas pretty much have that wrapped up though, don't they?

2 wild cards this season, remember, with a play-in game.

Ah.  I didn't realize that.  So I guess somebody in charge wanted to guarantee the Yanks a spot?   

[Ingmar]

The idea is that it makes winning the division much more valuable - which it does. All getting a wild card spot does it get you a one game playoff, if you want to be guaranteed a full series you need to win your division.

[Teleku]

I'm still not on board with it.  Leaving anything in baseball to just a one game showdown doesn't really work so well.  That's why everything is played in series.  I thought the one wild card spot for each league worked perfectly.  But on well, guess we'll see how it plays out across the next several seasons.

[Ingmar]

I dunno, I envision a scenario in which either the Dodgers or Braves get fucked by a one game playoff, and I enjoy this scenario.

[Paelos]

I dunno, I envision a scenario in which either the Dodgers or Braves get fucked by a one game playoff, and I enjoy this scenario.

NO YOU GET FUCKED! 

[Ingmar]

WIN/WIN

[Teleku]

Problem with that is that I instead envision the Dodgers and Braves fucking a way superior team through this method, because their pitcher had a bad day.  

[Sjofn]

I will be surprised if the one-game thing stays as is for any length of time.