Jeff McNeil won the batting title with that bat and that choke-up. He's great, and I wonder if more people will start trying the weird knobless table leg bats...
My adopted rooting interest Mariners are currently favored by the baseball gods. But the baseball gods are fickle and capricious. Cal Raleigh needs to sacrifice a chicken, stat.
Just noticed the Phillies (#6 seed) will be playing the Braves (#2) seed and not the Dodgers (#1 seed). Please MLB, consult the NFL on how to run a playoff!
I believe the thinking was that the #1 seed shouldn’t have to play another division winner right away: so if the Cards had won, they’d have played the #2 division winner. And as a division winner themselves, the Cards played the lowest Wild Card seed. Makes sense to me….
No, if the Cards won then LA plays the winner of Padres / Mets .
The key to the division round is the #1 seed plays the lowest remaining seed. #2 seed plays the remaining team. This is how the NFL does it. MLB is using the rigid, fixed bracket method, why?
That’s a good point: I suppose there were reasons for not using a flexible “if/then” format (scheduling the best-of-five series? Giving everyone visibility of what opponents to expect?). Maybe they’ll tweak it for the future: it’s the first time for this format, after all.
The playoffs were set up as a bracket at the outset - no reseeding after each round. So #1 seed gets 4/5 winner (expected outcome is 1 vs 4) and #2 seed gets 3/6 winner (expected outcome is 2 vs 3)
Pretty well the whole season, watching the Jays for me has been like hearing an engine sputtering and not quite catching. Like they were winning, and the offensive statistics were grand, but there was always the sense that there should be more in there, somehow. If things were adjusted just right, there would be an almighty vroooom and the thing would really take off.
But that never really came, and though 10-9 was hard to see coming it's also hard to say that not being able to get on a run in the playoffs was a surprise either. It just never really felt like it was working as well as it could.
They do need to find some new pieces (1 starting pitcher for sure, perhaps 2) but there's a lot of excellent parts to this team if they can figure out how to make it run consistently.
Bichette is not a good defensive SS. His instincts are frequently wrong. He should have had the presence of mind to know that when he’s that far into the OF that an OFer is converging, and a charging OFer will have a better chance out there in no-man’s land. To be blind to that possibility leads to unfortunate possibilities. Could an unobstructed Springer had one last burst and caught the ball? Perhaps not, but he likely could have prevented the tying run from scoring. Springer had the play and momentum in front of him.
Assuming Springer is ok, it’s also plays and games like this that make the postseason fun to watch. In the end, the best team may not win, but we do have all the best teams at the dance.
Bullpen looks like a much bigger issue than starting. Manoah will be fine - he's young and m/b Gausman should have been given the game 1 start. Game 2 loss largely due to bad management (removing Gausman) and not great luck along with an artificial turf bounce on the pop up that cleared the bases.
I don’t like the expanded playoffs either, but none of the teams that have been / could get knocked out in the opening round are one of the top two in their league. So for me it doesn’t seem unfair yet no matter who wins. Maybe in the next round it will.
As an Oriole fan, I despise the Blue Jays. I might Jeterate them more than the Yankees. It goes back to 1989 and Cito Gaston beng a jerk in the 90s. It didn't help that I married a Rangers fan, another franchise the Blue Jays tormented in recent years.
So it hurts me that the Jays have a lot of players I like. This is a hard team to hate, and trust me, I've tried. But that collapse... it felt so wonderful. We fans of teams not in the playoffs have to get our joy somewhere. I wish I were a better person and it was by the Phillies remarkable rally or the Guardians joy. But no, it was the Blue Jay's misery that did it for me. All the hate came back as the lead shriveled.
The Jays are talented and have some young players, but as a team are they likable? They celebrate HRs they haven’t hit, and often show way too much emotion when they hit a HR down 7-1.
Quite a few comments in the Toronto papers today about the immaturity of the Jays players, in particular Bichette and Vladdy Jr. This is from fans who watch them everyday.
I like your analogy of Bo Bichette looking like he was a dog chasing a frisbee. I don't know if everything else disappears for dogs at such a time, but the momentary obsession caused me to run into a wood pile once, so I'll buy it.
There was this time I was dashing after a frisbee, took a quick glance ahead and saw nothing, then crashed into the corner of the building I'd just looked past. Arf!
For some reason, I was intrigued by pitcher George Pipras's 5 strikeouts at the plate. This came in the 1932 World Series. In the "called shot" game, specifically. Pipgras struck out twice against Charlie Root, including making the final out of the inning where Ruth called his shot. His other strikeouts were against Bud Tinning, and twice against Pat Malone. Malone only struck out 4.6 per 9 innings in '32, but he was one of the better strikeout pitchers of the time, finishing in the top 3 in the NL in strikeouts every year from 1928 to 1932 except 1931.
Pipgras was a lifetime .163 regular season hitter with 129 strikeouts in 539 at-bats. Two home runs, so it's not like he went for the downs. His career ratio of strikeouts to hits is similar to the ratio of this post season that Joe quoted. He had a 1.47 ratio, while it's been 1.38 this postseason.
Yeah, it dawned on me partway through the Cleveland game yesterday that the 3-game wild card is kind of brilliant for milking the wild card concept because Game Ones are always exciting and crucial... and then you instantly have an Elimination Game--possibly two in a row if they split! I feel like the regular season actually mattered more this year than in the old wild card system because the seeding suddenly really matters. No one wants to win their division but be bounced out like the Cardinals. So much chatter in the AL east this year was about the need to rack up win totals and not just about being first in the division standings. It's going to be interesting to see what happens when we have the truly balanced schedule next year and the AL East teams aren't just beating up on each other all the time.
The decision to remove Gausman was right up there with Kevin Cash taking out Blake Snell in the 2020 World Series - after loading the bases following a long inning on the bench, Gausman rebounded with a K and a pop-up and his splitter looked to have its usual bite. Watching the game, I really couldn't believe what I was seeing. It looked like a very analytics driven decision as Schneider came to the top of the dugout right after the second out. You have to temper use of analytics with what you're seeing on the field. If you leave Gausman in and he gets all or part way through the 7th, you may need to get only 9 outs from your pen - a key consideration for the Jays who don't have the bevy of shutdown relievers that a team like the Rays or Guardians have. Schneider will have the long cold great white north winter to think about what might have been.
My favorite thing about people who don't know anything about analytics is the constant blaming of things that are absolutely not analytically correct on analytics. This is mostly not their fault, this faction is mostly led by ignorant announcers who still loudly vocalize their opinions.
As Joe pointed out, Santana hits left handed batters quite a bit better than he does right handers, so bringing in a lefty to face him was certainly not an analytically driven decision. The decision to pull Gausmann was likely led by the idea that he was at 95 pitches and would likely or at least possibly have reached 100 facing Santana (who is very selective at the plate). It is some sort of magical round number in manager's heads. Push button managing. Managing scared. Scared managers lose in the playoffs.
The Snell thing was even less analytically correct, but touted as analytically driven by every single announcer/writer out there at the time. It was a ridiculous notion. It was actually the opposite of analytically driven.
The idea that it was analytically driven was based on the general knowledge that pitchers, as a whole, tend to drop in performance the third time through the order. As a general notion, this is true. But it also does not differentiate between pitchers who are cruising and pitchers who are struggling trying to get through 5 innings and hit that third time through earlier in the game. Snell has had similar numbers the 2nd and third time through during his career, as well as in 2020.
The thing that made it anti analytics is that he removed lefty Snell for a right handed reliever. That season, Mookie Betts (the batter due up) had an OPS of .531 against lefties and 1.061 against righties. Basically double. It was a stupid move. Cash used a vague notion for push button, scared managing, ignoring analytics, and it blew up in his face.
A similar thing happened this year in the first Cardinal - Phillies game, when Marmol removed leftyJose Quintana, at 75 pitches and cruising with no one on base, just before he faced the first right handed batter a third time. Though it did not blow up right away, it led to him burning his top bullpen guys early and trying to use Helsley, who was nursing an injury, for 2 innings at the end, and we know the result. A scared manager pushed a button. His team lost. People who don't know any better blame analytics.
I am just so tired of the "Mets narrative." If they lose tonight, it's not any different than the Cards losing yesterday. There is no such thing as a jinx and no such thing as curses, and I am sick of people acting like such a thing exists.
And yet...no Mets fan ever breathes easy. It makes no sense. None. Why do we believe this nonsense with all our hearts and souls?
I was in T-Mobile Stadium yesterday for the Watch Party for the Mariners' epic comeback. I've never had a more joyful, stressful, and bewildering experience during a sports event. When it was over, we were all screaming like crazy but then many of us just stared at one another with awe. "Did that just happen?" we asked. And it has just a few times in history but not after 21 seasons without a playoff game. I'm extremely biased but I think that game, considering the circumstances, was the most miraculous comeback in sports history—all sports of all time. I've been sober for 31 years but damned if I don't have a massive emotional hangover today.
Yo! I love your book “absolutely true diary...” have read it as a teacher with several different HS classes and they loved it. Thanks for sharing your story in such an impactful way!!! Can’t wait to read Robert Johnson inspired book!!
How many times did Jim Rockford get knocked unconscious only to pick himself up & nab the bad guy later? Answer: almost as many as Joe Mannix.
Jeff McNeil won the batting title with that bat and that choke-up. He's great, and I wonder if more people will start trying the weird knobless table leg bats...
My adopted rooting interest Mariners are currently favored by the baseball gods. But the baseball gods are fickle and capricious. Cal Raleigh needs to sacrifice a chicken, stat.
Just noticed the Phillies (#6 seed) will be playing the Braves (#2) seed and not the Dodgers (#1 seed). Please MLB, consult the NFL on how to run a playoff!
I believe the thinking was that the #1 seed shouldn’t have to play another division winner right away: so if the Cards had won, they’d have played the #2 division winner. And as a division winner themselves, the Cards played the lowest Wild Card seed. Makes sense to me….
No, if the Cards won then LA plays the winner of Padres / Mets .
The key to the division round is the #1 seed plays the lowest remaining seed. #2 seed plays the remaining team. This is how the NFL does it. MLB is using the rigid, fixed bracket method, why?
That’s a good point: I suppose there were reasons for not using a flexible “if/then” format (scheduling the best-of-five series? Giving everyone visibility of what opponents to expect?). Maybe they’ll tweak it for the future: it’s the first time for this format, after all.
The playoffs were set up as a bracket at the outset - no reseeding after each round. So #1 seed gets 4/5 winner (expected outcome is 1 vs 4) and #2 seed gets 3/6 winner (expected outcome is 2 vs 3)
Precisely.
So Jose Siri became the fifth player to strikeout five times in a postseason game, about an hour after Andres Gimenez became the fourth.
Strangely, Siri is the first of the five to play for the losing team.
Pretty well the whole season, watching the Jays for me has been like hearing an engine sputtering and not quite catching. Like they were winning, and the offensive statistics were grand, but there was always the sense that there should be more in there, somehow. If things were adjusted just right, there would be an almighty vroooom and the thing would really take off.
But that never really came, and though 10-9 was hard to see coming it's also hard to say that not being able to get on a run in the playoffs was a surprise either. It just never really felt like it was working as well as it could.
They do need to find some new pieces (1 starting pitcher for sure, perhaps 2) but there's a lot of excellent parts to this team if they can figure out how to make it run consistently.
Bichette is not a good defensive SS. His instincts are frequently wrong. He should have had the presence of mind to know that when he’s that far into the OF that an OFer is converging, and a charging OFer will have a better chance out there in no-man’s land. To be blind to that possibility leads to unfortunate possibilities. Could an unobstructed Springer had one last burst and caught the ball? Perhaps not, but he likely could have prevented the tying run from scoring. Springer had the play and momentum in front of him.
Assuming Springer is ok, it’s also plays and games like this that make the postseason fun to watch. In the end, the best team may not win, but we do have all the best teams at the dance.
Bullpen looks like a much bigger issue than starting. Manoah will be fine - he's young and m/b Gausman should have been given the game 1 start. Game 2 loss largely due to bad management (removing Gausman) and not great luck along with an artificial turf bounce on the pop up that cleared the bases.
I don’t like the expanded playoffs either, but none of the teams that have been / could get knocked out in the opening round are one of the top two in their league. So for me it doesn’t seem unfair yet no matter who wins. Maybe in the next round it will.
This. It's baseball's version of the play-in tournament.
As an Oriole fan, I despise the Blue Jays. I might Jeterate them more than the Yankees. It goes back to 1989 and Cito Gaston beng a jerk in the 90s. It didn't help that I married a Rangers fan, another franchise the Blue Jays tormented in recent years.
So it hurts me that the Jays have a lot of players I like. This is a hard team to hate, and trust me, I've tried. But that collapse... it felt so wonderful. We fans of teams not in the playoffs have to get our joy somewhere. I wish I were a better person and it was by the Phillies remarkable rally or the Guardians joy. But no, it was the Blue Jay's misery that did it for me. All the hate came back as the lead shriveled.
Nothing beats postseason baseball.
The Jays are talented and have some young players, but as a team are they likable? They celebrate HRs they haven’t hit, and often show way too much emotion when they hit a HR down 7-1.
Quite a few comments in the Toronto papers today about the immaturity of the Jays players, in particular Bichette and Vladdy Jr. This is from fans who watch them everyday.
I have residual Vladdy love.
It's Garrett Cleavinger.
As a Mariner fan the only thing that could have made that game better was if it had been against the Yankees. Who knows, could still happen.
My first real glimmer of hope was when the Blue Jays removed Gausman. “ oh really? Thanks for giving us a chance. “
I like your analogy of Bo Bichette looking like he was a dog chasing a frisbee. I don't know if everything else disappears for dogs at such a time, but the momentary obsession caused me to run into a wood pile once, so I'll buy it.
There was this time I was dashing after a frisbee, took a quick glance ahead and saw nothing, then crashed into the corner of the building I'd just looked past. Arf!
For some reason, I was intrigued by pitcher George Pipras's 5 strikeouts at the plate. This came in the 1932 World Series. In the "called shot" game, specifically. Pipgras struck out twice against Charlie Root, including making the final out of the inning where Ruth called his shot. His other strikeouts were against Bud Tinning, and twice against Pat Malone. Malone only struck out 4.6 per 9 innings in '32, but he was one of the better strikeout pitchers of the time, finishing in the top 3 in the NL in strikeouts every year from 1928 to 1932 except 1931.
Pipgras was a lifetime .163 regular season hitter with 129 strikeouts in 539 at-bats. Two home runs, so it's not like he went for the downs. His career ratio of strikeouts to hits is similar to the ratio of this post season that Joe quoted. He had a 1.47 ratio, while it's been 1.38 this postseason.
Yeah, it dawned on me partway through the Cleveland game yesterday that the 3-game wild card is kind of brilliant for milking the wild card concept because Game Ones are always exciting and crucial... and then you instantly have an Elimination Game--possibly two in a row if they split! I feel like the regular season actually mattered more this year than in the old wild card system because the seeding suddenly really matters. No one wants to win their division but be bounced out like the Cardinals. So much chatter in the AL east this year was about the need to rack up win totals and not just about being first in the division standings. It's going to be interesting to see what happens when we have the truly balanced schedule next year and the AL East teams aren't just beating up on each other all the time.
"the AL East teams aren't just beating up on the Red Sox all the time." There, fixed it for you.
Fair enough!
The decision to remove Gausman was right up there with Kevin Cash taking out Blake Snell in the 2020 World Series - after loading the bases following a long inning on the bench, Gausman rebounded with a K and a pop-up and his splitter looked to have its usual bite. Watching the game, I really couldn't believe what I was seeing. It looked like a very analytics driven decision as Schneider came to the top of the dugout right after the second out. You have to temper use of analytics with what you're seeing on the field. If you leave Gausman in and he gets all or part way through the 7th, you may need to get only 9 outs from your pen - a key consideration for the Jays who don't have the bevy of shutdown relievers that a team like the Rays or Guardians have. Schneider will have the long cold great white north winter to think about what might have been.
My favorite thing about people who don't know anything about analytics is the constant blaming of things that are absolutely not analytically correct on analytics. This is mostly not their fault, this faction is mostly led by ignorant announcers who still loudly vocalize their opinions.
As Joe pointed out, Santana hits left handed batters quite a bit better than he does right handers, so bringing in a lefty to face him was certainly not an analytically driven decision. The decision to pull Gausmann was likely led by the idea that he was at 95 pitches and would likely or at least possibly have reached 100 facing Santana (who is very selective at the plate). It is some sort of magical round number in manager's heads. Push button managing. Managing scared. Scared managers lose in the playoffs.
The Snell thing was even less analytically correct, but touted as analytically driven by every single announcer/writer out there at the time. It was a ridiculous notion. It was actually the opposite of analytically driven.
The idea that it was analytically driven was based on the general knowledge that pitchers, as a whole, tend to drop in performance the third time through the order. As a general notion, this is true. But it also does not differentiate between pitchers who are cruising and pitchers who are struggling trying to get through 5 innings and hit that third time through earlier in the game. Snell has had similar numbers the 2nd and third time through during his career, as well as in 2020.
The thing that made it anti analytics is that he removed lefty Snell for a right handed reliever. That season, Mookie Betts (the batter due up) had an OPS of .531 against lefties and 1.061 against righties. Basically double. It was a stupid move. Cash used a vague notion for push button, scared managing, ignoring analytics, and it blew up in his face.
A similar thing happened this year in the first Cardinal - Phillies game, when Marmol removed leftyJose Quintana, at 75 pitches and cruising with no one on base, just before he faced the first right handed batter a third time. Though it did not blow up right away, it led to him burning his top bullpen guys early and trying to use Helsley, who was nursing an injury, for 2 innings at the end, and we know the result. A scared manager pushed a button. His team lost. People who don't know any better blame analytics.
Isn't the 100 pitches decision based on analytics?
No, not even a little bit. It is based on the idea of a round number. It is a push button benchmark with no basis in analytics.
I always thought it was a suspicious coincidence and I don't believe in coincidences. Thanks.
I am just so tired of the "Mets narrative." If they lose tonight, it's not any different than the Cards losing yesterday. There is no such thing as a jinx and no such thing as curses, and I am sick of people acting like such a thing exists.
And yet...no Mets fan ever breathes easy. It makes no sense. None. Why do we believe this nonsense with all our hearts and souls?
Because we are sports fan. Nothing about our fandom is rational.
I only get that way with the Mets. With the Knicks, it's entirely "this team is owned by a moron" and never "this team is cursed."
I was in T-Mobile Stadium yesterday for the Watch Party for the Mariners' epic comeback. I've never had a more joyful, stressful, and bewildering experience during a sports event. When it was over, we were all screaming like crazy but then many of us just stared at one another with awe. "Did that just happen?" we asked. And it has just a few times in history but not after 21 seasons without a playoff game. I'm extremely biased but I think that game, considering the circumstances, was the most miraculous comeback in sports history—all sports of all time. I've been sober for 31 years but damned if I don't have a massive emotional hangover today.
Yo! I love your book “absolutely true diary...” have read it as a teacher with several different HS classes and they loved it. Thanks for sharing your story in such an impactful way!!! Can’t wait to read Robert Johnson inspired book!!
Thank you, Paul!
On TV it sure looked like Seattle was the place to be yesterday! I love it when that town catches baseball fever.
We have the first home baseball game in 21 years on Saturday. The bedlam that awaits!