Playoffs 2006!

[Raging Turtle]

Screw you fantasy league people.  I want a sports thread in general besides EPL. 

Let's get some picks and discussion going. 

Cards have already won today, so have the A's.  Picks for the series?
Cards - Padres
Tigers - Yanks
A's - Twins
Mets - Dodgers

Mine: 
Cards in 4 (I'm from St. Louis, therefore what happened in the last 10 games doesn't matter!)
Want the Tigers to win, but Yankees in 4
A's in 5
Met's in 4 but I really have no idea on this one or the A's twins series.

[HaemishM]

Cards - Padres - Cards in 5, since they won today.
Tigers - Yanks - Yankees in 4. The Tigers folded too much to have confidence in them.
A's - Twins - Twins in 5. They are hot.
Mets - Dodgers - Dodgers in 4. The Mets have too many pitching issues and pitching gets you through the playoffs.

[Raging Turtle]

Crap that's right, Pedro is out.  Should have gone with Dodgers.

[Paelos]

Cards - they are strong
Yanks - wow the Tigers have shit the bed late
Twins - that's a gut call
Dodgers - the Met's are taking the place of the Braves, and that's a death slot

[Trippy]

Winners in bold

Cards - Padres
Tigers - Yanks
A's - Twins
Mets - Dodgers

[WayAbvPar]

I am utterly sick of baseball, or at least what passes for baseball in Seattle. Add in Joe Buck, and the fact that hockey season starts today, and I will be amazed if I watch an inning of the post season. I am pulling for the Twins though.

[HaemishM]

I am utterly sick of baseball, or at least what passes for baseball in Seattle. Add in Joe Buck, and the fact that hockey season starts today, and I will be amazed if I watch an inning of the post season. I am pulling for the Twins though.

Yeah, I'm right there with you. This seasons fiasco with the Cubs totally put me off my feed. I haven't felt like watching a game since June. Maybe now that they've finally rid themselves of Baker, the Cubs can hire a guy who gets the most of out his young players, like Joe Giradi. But of course, they won't hire Giradi, because he "has a bad attitude" or something, as if telling Jeffrey Loria to shut his big doucehbaggy mouth is a bad thing. No, they'll probably hire either some retread castoff manager who has succeeded somewhere else through pure luck (Don Baylor again) or some no-name like Jim Essien.

[XboxGod]

All that really matters is that the Yankees lose. Other than that, I am pulling for LA and Oakland.

[WayAbvPar]

Bill Simmons, AKA The Sports Guy has been keeping running diaries while viewing each game. He hates Joe Buck, Tim McCarver, and all things Yankee about as much as I do, so it is a pretty amusing read.

[Hokers]

I there a page to see the diary real time (like the globe's world cup coverage) or is it all posted next day?

[WayAbvPar]

It gets edited first and then posted whole.

[HaemishM]

Bill Simmons, AKA The Sports Guy has been keeping running diaries while viewing each game. He hates Joe Buck, Tim McCarver, and all things Yankee about as much as I do, so it is a pretty amusing read.

That was fan-fucking-tastic.

[CmdrSlack]

I am utterly sick of baseball, or at least what passes for baseball in Seattle. Add in Joe Buck, and the fact that hockey season starts today, and I will be amazed if I watch an inning of the post season. I am pulling for the Twins though.

Yeah, I'm right there with you. This seasons fiasco with the Cubs totally put me off my feed. I haven't felt like watching a game since June. Maybe now that they've finally rid themselves of Baker, the Cubs can hire a guy who gets the most of out his young players, like Joe Giradi. But of course, they won't hire Giradi, because he "has a bad attitude" or something, as if telling Jeffrey Loria to shut his big doucehbaggy mouth is a bad thing. No, they'll probably hire either some retread castoff manager who has succeeded somewhere else through pure luck (Don Baylor again) or some no-name like Jim Essien.

Haem, as a Cubs fan, are you also stuck with the "for whom do I root" quandry in the Cards-Padres matchup?  I personally can't bring myself to cheer for either team.  I hate the Cards with an all-consuming fury, but I also hate the Padres (and Steve Garvey in particular) for the 1984 fiasco.

[Raging Turtle]

Cards win again! 

[Kenrick]

I'm just happy the ChiSux didn't even get the chance to make it back-to-back.  Ozzie Guillen can suck me.

[XboxGod]

Bill Simmons, AKA The Sports Guy has been keeping running diaries while viewing each game. He hates Joe Buck, Tim McCarver, and all things Yankee about as much as I do, so it is a pretty amusing read.

Excellent link, Bill Simmons is hilarious. Not related to baseball, but I thought it was funny-

"One of the highlights of living in California: The attack ads on Arnold Schwarzenegger leading into the November election. Do you really need to run an attack ad questioning Arnold's credibility? Couldn't they just run a clip from "Kindergarten Cop" and be done with it?"

[WindiaN]

I might gouge my eyes out if I have to listen to a double header featuring the amazing Joe Morgan (thank god that Yankees game got delayed). That guy is a complete moron, he either makes absolutely no sense at all or says the most obvious things in the world. When asked what the Tigers need to do to beat the Yanks his response was: "You know, this Yankee lineup is dangerous and you are not going to stop it. I think they should give up solo homeruns instead of homeruns with people on base because that hurts the team more."

Cheating because this is late but:
Yanks
A's
Cards
Mets

Yanks
Cards

Yanks in 4

[Yoru]

I haven't followed baseball in over a decade now, but after (accidentally) seeing the Mets' double-tag-out against the Dodgers while at lunch...

Deep down inside, there's a little boy sitting quietly in his seat, wearing a blue n' orange cap and praying that this year - please maybe just this year - the ole Mets will make magic happen. And, if he's extra super lucky, he'll get to see the apple pop out of the hat.

[HaemishM]

Haem, as a Cubs fan, are you also stuck with the "for whom do I root" quandry in the Cards-Padres matchup?  I personally can't bring myself to cheer for either team.  I hate the Cards with an all-consuming fury, but I also hate the Padres (and Steve Garvey in particular) for the 1984 fiasco.

I have so little interest in the playoffs now it's pathetic. The National League (otherwise known as Quadruple A league - thanks Page 2) choices all depress me. I can't root for the Cards, I KNOW the Padres have no shot with their offense, it seems the Dodgers really are going to shit the bed (I forgot to factor in the Grady Little equation) and though I dig some of the young talent on the Mets team (Wright, Reyes and Delgado who isn't young), I cannot really root for the fucking Mets. It's the Mets after all.

And the American League has the DH. Fuckers.

Seriously, though, if there was any time I would root for, it'd be the Tigers or the Twins. The Tigers because they've sucked so long and the Twins because of their small market status. And I can't convince myself that any team can beat the fucking Yankees no matter how many clutch at-bats A-Rod fucks up. So if I get stuck with a Yankees/Anyone matchup in the Series, forgot it, I'm just not going to watch. They'll likely sweep anyone in the Series other than the Mets and again, it's the fucking Mets. Watching two teams that spent their way to a championship will only turn my stomach as I think about the results the Cubs got from a $95 million payroll and how the Marlins and the Devil Rays got more money in revenue sharing than they spent on payroll.

Baseball so needs a salary cap.

[CmdrSlack]

At least we have Rich Hill.  I saw him in mid-September against the Reds.  He threw a complete game one-hitter shutout.  It was glorious.  And as long as our new coach isn't as bad as Dusty, well...

It's all about next year!

[HaemishM]

At least we have Rich Hill.  I saw him in mid-September against the Reds.  He threw a complete game one-hitter shutout.  It was glorious.  And as long as our new coach isn't as bad as Dusty, well...

It's all about next year!

It always is.  :-D

Rich Hill didn't impress me when I saw him, but that was earlier in the season when he couldn't find the plate with a map and a compass. Of course, that seemed to be the trouble with all the Cubs pitchers this year, well, other than their arms falling off. Every one of them had more games with 2 or more walks than they did games with 1 or 0 walks. I'm beginning to wonder if Barrett just doesn't call a good game, because it seemed to get better when he got hurt and Blanco became the every day catcher. Maybe they should consider moving Barrett to the outfield, where his knees won't blow out, but his offense will still be there. He played 3B as well as C at Montreal, and he ain't going to 3B with Ramirez there. Though Murton is good, Barrett is better.

I'm hoping they hire Joe Girardi, but that would make sense so they won't do it.

[CmdrSlack]

Hey, consider my endorsement of Hill his kiss of death.  I was calling him a bum earlier in the year and then he started producing.  I'm sure the fact that I called him decent will mean that he dies in a car fire this winter. 

Our family either curses or is cursed by the Cubs.  My grandfather's cancer seemed to get better, we had the game vs. the Padres where friggin Garvey punked us.  It got worse, there was some Cubs hope in the series.  We then discovered that he was going to make it, and the Cubs blew it.

In 2003, my dad had to have a second transplant, the Cubs were kicking ass.  He found a donor fast and it all went smoothly, Bartman. 


Seriously, we could write a book about it, and while it may seem too macabe to some, it's probably just par for the course for "I believe that I am part of the Cubs curse" stories.



EDIT -- consistent verb tense is hard

[Trippy]

A's win! Woohoo!

[XboxGod]

Wow, it looks like the Yankees just might get knocked out in the first round. Go Tigers!!!!

[Trippy]

Report: Joe Torre expected to be fired

[XboxGod]

Report: Joe Torre expected to be fired

I heard that today on ESPN, and I still can't believe it. Oh well, I hate the Yankees, so this is good for me.

[Trippy]

Well I was only 1 for 4 in my picks but I was right for the only one that mattered to me which was the A's so I'm picking the A's over the Tigers, and the Cards over Mets cause I like the idea of Tony La Russa facing his old team in the World Series with the A's winning it all!

[HaemishM]

Weeee, I got one series right, the Cards. I had no confidence in the Padres.

So I shall now make some more predictions sure to go wrong.

Cards vs. Mets - Mets - the Cards blew Carpenter's wad beating San Diego, while the Mets cruised. With as many issues as the Cards have with either injury or lack of quality starting pitching, I just don't see them beating this Mets team. Mets in 5
A's vs. Tigers - Tigers - Though I think the A's pitchers have the potential to be better, the Tigers have been better all year. Plus, the Tigers have Jim Leyland, and the man knows how to win. Ken Macha, not so much. Tigers in 7

As for Joe Torre getting fired, it'll likely happen, but as per usual with Steinbrenner, it'll be the wrong move. None of the Yankees losses in the postseason the last few years have been Torre's fault. I mean, when you have to move your star 3B who makes $25 million a year and drove in over 120 runs down to 8th in the batting order to protect his fragile little ego, you have a problem. A-Rod is not a leader, and he's not a clutch guy. He's not the guy you can count on when you need a big hit. He's the guy you count on to pile on the runs. He doesn't handle the pressure well, and he never will, especially not in a microscope town like New York. His big-ass salary actually puts him under a microscope no matter where he plays. Someone was talking about trading him to the Cubs and pray to God they don't, because he'll be a cancer. He might get them to the playoffs, but he won't win the big game. The best thing he could have done was take that paycut he was talking about when he was being shopped to Boston, but the union wouldn't let him. That would take the pressure off of him.

Of course, he's not the only reason they lost. Their pitching is mediocre and old, most of their star players are fragile and old, and none of them gel. That's the problem with All-Star teams, they have no chemistry. What Steinbrenner needs to do is trade and release a lot of these overpaid assclowns, get tons of young talent with potential and rebuild from within. But he won't. He'll go hire Lou Pinella, and bitch when Pinella does the same thing only with more bombast.

[WindupAtheist]

I don't follow baseball.  Can someone explain to me what the hell happened to the Tigers?  I'm used to them sucking legendary amounts of ass.  Then suddenly they're winning games one season, making the playoffs, and making the Yankees their bitch.  Are the real Tigers locked up in a cell somewhere?  Are these robots?  Someone must know.

[CmdrSlack]

I don't follow baseball.  Can someone explain to me what the hell happened to the Tigers?  I'm used to them sucking legendary amounts of ass.  Then suddenly they're winning games one season, making the playoffs, and making the Yankees their bitch.  Are the real Tigers locked up in a cell somewhere?  Are these robots?  Someone must know.

Sparky Anderson is secretly in charge of the team, that would explain a lot.

[HaemishM]

I don't follow baseball.  Can someone explain to me what the hell happened to the Tigers?  I'm used to them sucking legendary amounts of ass.  Then suddenly they're winning games one season, making the playoffs, and making the Yankees their bitch.  Are the real Tigers locked up in a cell somewhere?  Are these robots?  Someone must know.

The previous two years, they started signing decent veteran free agents that no one else would pay that kind of money for, mostly because the ones they signed had some kind of injury problems and were a risk. Guys like Ivan (Pudge) Rodriguez, Magglio Ordonez and others. Some worked out, some didn't. They also had been stockpiling good pitching talent in the minor leagues, and it all just happened to mature this year. Plus, they hired Jim Leyland, one of the best managers in the game. He's like Bill Parcells in football, he's usually successful (though not always championships) and then he leaves and retires for a few years. Leyland just knows how to get his teams to believe they can win, and they do. He led the 1997 Florida Marlins to win the World Series, he got a few outs away from taking the Pirates to the World Series in 1989 and 1990, right before Barry Bonds left and the Pirates haven't had a winning season since. They beat the Yankees because their pitching was really good. They even signed Kenny Rogers when no one would after that shameful punching a cameraman incident last year, and he shut the Yankees out in Game 3.

In short, though they had a losing record the last 2 seasons, they implemented the tried and true 3-year rebuilding plan and it worked.

[Trippy]

Report: Joe Torre expected to be fired

Nope, he's still manager.

[XboxGod]

Report: Joe Torre expected to be fired

Nope, he's still manager.

What do you think of the reports that they should trade A-Rod? Guy was the best player in the league for several years before he came to NYC, and he didn't have THAT bad of a year, just a really bad postseason. I don't know, seems like they might be jumping the gun on this one.

[Trippy]

What do you think of the reports that they should trade A-Rod? Guy was the best player in the league for several years before he came to NYC, and he didn't have THAT bad of a year, just a really bad postseason. I don't know, seems like they might be jumping the gun on this one.

Heck he was MVP of the AL last year as a Yankee so yes he's still one of the best players in baseball. However he doesn't seem to fit in with the rest of the team and he's having problems handling the mental stress of playing as a Yankee letting various psychological issues affect his hitting and fielding. And at the moment the Yankees need pitching more than they need hitting (was it only two weeks ago people were talking about their modern day incarnation of the Murderer's Row?). Given that he has a no-trade clause, though, and he's stated he wants to be a Yankee, it seems unlikely they'll be able to ship him off somewhere.

[HaemishM]

I wouldn't want A-Rod on my team. Period. There's been talk about him going to the Cubs and I scream NOOOOOOO!!!! every time I hear it. Someone even suggested they should trade Zambrano for him, for which I passed out.

A-Rod has great numbers, but he's not a "winner." He doesn't hit in the clutch, he doesn't lead a team, and he's never made it past the ALCS, despite the playoff teams he's played on being good teams (Yankees and the 116-win Mariners). He's a role player. As long as he's not the only good thing on your team, he'll be great. But you saw it in Texas. He can't carry a team. Derek Lee carried the Cubs last year. Bonds carried the Giants in 2004. Guys with his stats have to be able to carry a team when everyone else can't hit shit, and he doesn't. For someone making the kind of money he makes, he SHOULD be expected to, and he can't. If he's on a team like the Yankees where he doesn't have to carry them, he'll do fine as long as they do, or as long as no one's watching him closely. But if the team goes bad, he'll go bad with them.