Thursday, October 19, 2006

The Maine Event

I am disappointed that the NY papers weren't more creative with their headlines this morning. My pathetic attempt above is better than most. All the talking heads think the Mets are going to use every pitcher they have to tonight. Should be an interesting game if it stays close. A couple other observations from last nights game:

1. Is it me, or will both of these teams get crushed by Detroit?
2. Wagner is crazy unpredicatable or predicatably crazy?
3. Reyes is HUGE he's like a foot taller than Lo Duca
4. Booooit

18 comments:

  1. 1) Both. It's you, and also both teams will get crushed.
    2) Again, both. It not possible to predicate him, and his craziness can be predicated.
    3) Or two inches. Whatever.
    4) NOW you're making some sense.

    ReplyDelete
  2. (wow, this is wild. Google is ridiculous.)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Okay – a few thoughts.

    Relative to the previous post. I think Home Field has a lot to do with the fans and the park, but also there is a comfort level of being/playing at home, as well as having last at bats. I also think that in MLB, it matters the least of any of the sports. I don’t have any data to back it up, but going off the top of my head, people get really excited that the Twins and Red Sox won something like 50 or 52 games at home. In football, I believe a number of teams have been undefeated at home in recent years (NE, Indy, Pitts) and if you regularly scan the NBA standings, you will notice that usually only one or two team in each conference actually have a winning record on the road.

    Of course maybe I am kidding myself, because in football the “improvement” for a 14-2 team at home 8-0 versus on the road 6-2, may really be equivalent to a MBL team going 55-26 and 41-40. Who knows?

    Secondly, concerning the Cards making the WS with only 83 wins – how many games do you think the Mets, as currently constituted would have won? No Pedro. And some serious questions concerning Dookie and Tracshel. Or, one third of their victories. So while I understand the sentiment of not wanting the NL to be represented by team with only 83 wins, the Cards may actually be the better team.

    Its funny that everyone and their uncle will be picking the Tigers, which pretty much means the NL team will win. It seems every time something is so obvious, it ends up going the other way. It was only two weeks ago that the Tigers were the JV and the Yankees the varsity.

    Oh and Earl – since you are picking on Dino, I have a question for you. Is “Home teams are 7-4 all-time in LCS Game 7's” really a statistic?

    ReplyDelete
  4. "Secondly, concerning the Cards making the WS with only 83 wins – how many games do you think the Mets, as currently constituted would have won?"

    Sure, but at least the Mets got there by playing excellent baseball during the regular season. The big knock on the current playoff scheme (which I like) is that mediocre teams can sneak into the postseason. This only adds fuel to that argument. (It's bogus, since no NL teams besides the Mets were any good in the regular season.)

    I wouldn't say that the 7-4 record a statistic - that's why I put "statistic" in quotes - but ESPN made it sound like it was. (As in, "there's reason for Mets fans to be happy, since the numbers suggest the Mets will win.")

    ReplyDelete
  5. First off, note to self, don't write posts before coffee.

    Secondly, it must have been the camera angle but in the post-game-on-field interview he was towering over Lo Duca.

    Thirdly, I have nothing to say about the NL sucking

    Finally, does the "Amazin' Mets" come from their 69 season?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Well, I was just giving you a bit of shit because, well, we know Dino won't ever stick up for himself.

    I actually think ESPN hit the nail on the head. After all, they are talking about Mets fans. By watching FOX last night, I would say the collective IQ in that stadium was not very high....and the quote was specific to Mets fans. So perhaps it was sheer brilliance on behlf of the Mets.

    The Cards/Mets 83 win question is a very good one. I agree the Mets did accomplish something big. And agree that a team with 83 wins is generally not deserving of a WS trip. But as noted, the short series really can change things. Along with how well you are playing heading into the playoffs.

    Teh Cards palyed significant parts of the season without Pujols, Edmunds and Rolen (as well as Mulder and Izzy -who are still out) but they are coming together a bit now.

    The Mets on the other hand ahd their injuries at the end.

    Isn't that kind of what happened in one of the Pats in their first SB run. they were 5-5 and then went on an amazing run and took out the Steelers who something like 14-2.

    It goes back to the criticisms of the Sox and Yanks - Minaya has an expensive team. Largely built around aging/fragile pitchers and they are not really prepared for the consequences. Plus they have Shawn Green in RF (and this was a CHOICE). Compared to Green, Wily Mo would win a gold glove.

    I guess I don't really have a point here other than to say - teh NL sucks and the Tigers are going to whomp either of them.

    It would be fun to have the Mets so that we can keep getting Fox awful shots of Mets fans (can you not just keep the camera on the field) along with the terrible music they pipe into Shea - the silly olay-olay-olay soccer song, whomp there it is (hello 1992), and about 10 other hilarious moments each game.

    ReplyDelete
  7. And also to defend my Steelers...They sucked last year (were pretty much out of the playoff picture) and then rolled to a Super Bowl title...

    Also, the Cards are a very good team...They are better than their 83 wins.

    And let's say that the Dodgers or Padres advanced. Also crappy records. Pretty much the only good record in the NL belonged to the Mets.

    And Detroit doesn't really deserve a bunch of kudos, either. They were excellent early on, and sucked most of the rest of the way. Then, they get hot in the playoffs. If things went the way they SHOULD have (based on excellent seasons) the Yankees and Twins should have faced each other in the ALCS.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Also, the Tigers got hot in the playoffs...It might not be they are the greatest team out there...

    Their pitching could suck in the WS. Kenny Rogers could revert...

    Also, that Mets lineup is pretty solid. Both teams have solid pens...

    Of course, tonight features the pitching showdown we've been dying for in a Game 7...Suppan v. Perez.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Suppan v. Perez

    No kidding. I actually think STL will win this one. I totally see Willie Randolph screwing this game up. He'll do something stupid like bring in Glavine for the 6th inning or Wagner in the 7th or 8th. He'll figure - Hey Torre used to do that with Mussina or Pettite or Rivera. Unfortunately for Willie, Glavine is old. And Wagner is no Rivera.

    And is it almost a given that Green will misplay another ball tonight. Is this a record for most triples by one team in an LCS?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Deadspin: "The Fight To Lose to Detroit Ends Tonight"

    I expect the Cards to win but will be rooting for the Mets. X, you say Willie Randolph could screw this up for the Mets, but you forget about the Mets' secret weapon: Tony La Russa. If anyone can royally mess up in terms of in-game management, it's La Russa.

    May the least-bad team win!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Deadspin: "The Fight To Lose to Detroit Ends Tonight"

    I expect the Cards to win but will be rooting for the Mets. X, you say Willie Randolph could screw this up for the Mets, but you forget about the Mets' secret weapon: Tony La Russa. If anyone can royally mess up in terms of in-game management, it's La Russa.

    May the least-bad team win!

    ReplyDelete
  12. re: the "best" team not winning in the playoffs... I assume this has always been a problem, it's just more obvious now that there are more chances for playoff elimination.

    Back when there was just an AL and an NL, either the best team or the second best team won the World Series. Once playoffs were expanded to the LCS, the 3rd and 4th best (regular season) teams were able to advance. Now even the 8th best (regular season) team going in can go all the way.

    Basically, winning in the playoffs is about getting hot at the right time, and always has been. This concept just becomes more obvious with more rounds of playoffs.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Well Larussa has made some questionable moves over the years, but Willie has never been there.

    I fully expect him to have a Grady like moment tonight. Something so boneheaded that McCarver and Buck will be saying things like "I can't believe he is ____________."

    And for tony, as they say "even a blind squirrel gets a nut every now and then."

    I am rooting for the Mets if only I can give a guy I know a lot of crap about his change in allegiance from the Mets to the Yanks in the 90s. He foolishly claimed it was because of the Dykstra trade and he "never looke back." But that is a blatant lie. It was not until 96 he started cheering for the Yanks - mostly just to piss me off, but still. I can give him a load of crap and say if he had not deserted his boyhood team, he would be a champion today.

    Probably applicable to more than half of Yankee fans that are our age.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Well, I guess depending on how you look at it, Willie had his hiccup. I say depending because Wagner has been erratic, but last game of the season. Tie score at home. Usually that is an invitation for the closer to be brought in.

    I guess he should be thankful, for if not for Endy Chavez' AMAZING catch, they would not have even been that close.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Well, I guess depending on how you look at it, Willie had his hiccup. I say depending because Wagner has been erratic, but last game of the season. Tie score at home. Usually that is an invitation for the closer to be brought in.

    I guess he should be thankful, for if not for Endy Chavez' AMAZING catch, they would not have even been that close.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Randolph did pull a bad move last night, and so did the hitting coach...

    Here they are in all their glory (in my opinion):

    First, with Valentin and Chavez getting consecutive singles off Wainwright in the ninth, I know that the conventional wisdom is that you don't bunt and give the guy a free out (because he is struggling)...But, you have the pitcher's spot up. Floyd is very hurt. You need two runs. The odds of Reyes and/or Lo Duca getting on base, or hitting a single and scoring two runs is MUCH higher than Floyd coming off the bench and hitting a HR.

    You also put a ton of pressure on Wainwright to be very careful to Reyes and Lo Duca because that single means a tie game.

    Having Floyd swing away in that situation (and he couldn't run so was a VERY big double play possibility) is ridiculous. Send in a guy to bunt...

    BAD MOVE WILLIE

    Now to the hitting coach...
    What's with that game plan? Suppan was grooving all first pitch fastballs down the middle. Why? Because the Mets were trying to be patient with him (because of regular season wildness). After the first 5 innings, how about changing it up a bit?

    Those two things killed the Mets.

    And now to the ironic department...
    With all the injuries the Mets had to their pitching staff, isn't it ironic that it was their vaunted offense that ultimately let them down?

    So, here's a question...If a team gets hot in the playoffs (remember they were GOOD enough to make the playoffs in the first place), and wins it all, does that mean they're the best team? We are all saying it doesn't mean that. So, in that intensity, could you put the KC Royals, have them get hot and be champs?

    Maybe...and probably closer to yes.

    But that is why there are sooooo many games during the season. The deep and talented teams have to overcome a lot of adversity.

    If you get to the playoffs, that is huge. If you get hot...good for you. That isn't a bad thing.

    And couldn't one argue that the Tigers were the best team for most of the year in the AL?

    Couldn't one argue that the Cards were healthy, the Mets weren't, and the better team at this moment won?

    ReplyDelete
  17. Well, that was exactly my point when Earl was saying that the Cards in the WS would be bad b/c they only won 83 games. I think they were the better team right now. The Mets were without 3/5 of their rotation and wins. The Cars won only 83 games in part due to injuries to Rolen, Pujols and Edmonds.

    So sure, the Royals could win the WS if it was an open tournament. I think in European soccer there is some tournament like that (I think it is the FA cup) – all teams from all leagues and levels can enter. Even the Lowell spinners could enter and potentially win it all.

    The other boneheaded move Willie made was to let Valentin hit with the bases loaded. Terrible.

    ReplyDelete