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The real season...

• frappefort 3,994 Posts

  Thu, Oct 4 2012 3:41 PM

  olkiwi63:

  Hey americans.. this so called "World Series". Just how many other countries actually have a team in the competition? Or is this just some yankee bullshite to make it bigger than it actually is?

  It is never ok to promote national hatred on these forums. I will refrain from doing so or I will be subject to moderation.

  need to say this  American baseball,  if you look at the players  they come from all sorts of countrys, ...... Hockey  Canadian sport,  look ,players are from all over the world ......why  they call it World series  ,  because the best players of the world join in this great American  sport     why do they call NHL    because the best from all nations   join in >     

• Choppography 2,166 Posts

  Thu, Oct 4 2012 3:58 PM

  I really, really like Rich's idea.  I just wish I could get on board this year.  Wish I followed the rest of baseball better...........are the Angels in there, though?  Ouch, low and cheap Albert Pujols shot.

• Ducati916 1,116 Posts

  Thu, Oct 4 2012 4:01 PM

  Choppography:

  Hey you with the ass-backwards seasons, it's been going on since 1903.  Take it up with history.  What popular sport do you offer that the world has even heard of anyway?  We have several with CLEARLY the best athletes in the world participating........like golf, for instance.  The only exception being futbol/soccer/etc.

  Joking aside, how bout next time you either make your sarcasm obvious or just let a fun thread have it's run without being a killjoy?  

  As for countries participating, there are Canadians, Mexicans, Dominicans, Colombians, Puerto Ricans, Japan, Venezuela, Cuba, Nicauragua, Curacao, Korea, and even your neighbor down there, Austrailia.

  Think he was just referring to the fact that every US Major sport calls it's championship The World---whatever....seems  bit myopic gven that there is a World Baseball Classic---which the US hasn't won...and the World Champion Miami Heat don't play many games outside of the U.S/Canuckistan......  Also, you might have picked the wrong time to offer golf as your example.....14 1/2--13 1/2 ring a bell at all?  

  That being said......how about those Mutha Funyun Oakland A's......doesn't matter how far they go...that team is the World Champions of over achieving (too much or not enough sarcasm?).... a bunch of rooks and throw aways that showed what they can do if put in a good situation.....I'd love to see them hand the Dark Empire a serious ass whipping if they meet.

• YankeeJim 25,827 Posts

  Thu, Oct 4 2012 4:24 PM

  Ducati916:

  a bunch of rooks and throw aways that showed what they can do if put in a good situation.....I'd love to see them hand the Dark Empire a serious ass whipping if they meet.

  Erm, they already did. Swept them 4 straight on their home turf over the summer. In fact, that sweep propelled them into a contender. They were 13 games behind the leaders back then. Good success story there. Not sure they'll be doing the Yankees  this time around, though. :-)

  FWIW, the present A's management set the tone for how major league teams run their clubs now. It's all stats and bottom line, right down to how team managers set their lineups every day. Billy Ball is what they call it, after the General Manager of the A's-Billy Bean. Moneyball, with Brad Pitt,  was the movie of his success at turning the A's into a competitive team with a low payroll.

• LeGeNdCrUsHeR 2,067 Posts

  Thu, Oct 4 2012 4:42 PM

  Choppography:

  are the Angels in there, though?  Ouch, low and cheap Albert Pujols shot.

  poophole needed cali :)

  He was not good enough for the midwest.

• Lobsterboy 4,729 Posts

  Thu, Oct 4 2012 5:09 PM

  

• LeGeNdCrUsHeR 2,067 Posts

  Fri, Oct 5 2012 8:59 PM

  EWW, Baltimore???  

  LOL

• JaLaBar 1,254 Posts

  Fri, Oct 5 2012 11:42 PM

  And the Cards and Os advance as the Braves and Rangers make tee times.  So round 2 will be the Nats vs. the Cards and the Reds vs. the Giants in the NL, and Yanks vs. Os and As vs. Tigers in the AL.  With the strange (this season only) 2-3 format to games where the first two games will be played at the lower seeds home stadium.

  Note that my pick of Rangers over Reds has already been dashed to hell, here are my 2nd round picks:

  Nats over Cards in 4

  Reds over Giants in 5

  Yanks over Os in 5

  Tigers over As in 5

   

  As for the AL MVP, and why I said Trout had been more 'valuable':  As was mentioned, Trout led all of baseball in WAR no matter which version of WAR you use, and by a healthy margin.  He finished 2nd to Cabrera in BA at .326, hit 30 HRs despite missing nearly the first month of the season, stole 49 bases at a 90% rate, led the majors in runs, and played outstanding CF while Cabrera was merely passable at 3B.  Cabrera led the majors in Total Bases (from home), but in true total bases (which takes into account SBs and extra bases taken ex. 1st to 3rd on a single) Trout led the majors by 12 bases, and if you give him that 3 weeks he missed before being called up, he may have caught Cabrera in Total Bases.  I have never held with the thought that a player is inherently more valuable because his team made the playoffs, and in fact Trout led the Angels to one more regular season win in a tougher division than Cabrera's Tigers could muster in the Central.

  However, I also said that I'd give the award to Cabrera.  First, 45 years.  How can you not give the MVP to the first guy to win the Triple Crown in 45 years?  I can't.  But more importantly (same point I made for choosing Harper as the deserving NL RoY), over the last month of the season when both the Angels and Tigers post-season fates were up in the air, Trout slumped while Cabrera raked like no one else in baseball (except Harper).  Cabrera was instrumental in getting the Tigers over the White Sox hump.  Trout couldn't do the same.  So, Miggy gets it.

  For the record, this isn't even Cabrera's best season... it's third.  He can thank Prince for seeing a lot more pitches to hit.  Note that his walks are well down from previous years.  That's where that additional production came from... seeing more pitches to hit because a .300/.400/.500 guy hits behind him.

• Buggyyy 1,963 Posts

  Sat, Oct 6 2012 12:32 AM

  As a Yankee fan, I am not proud of the competition we have in the AL. All of these teams can win it. It just comes to who plays the best baseball. I don't want to wish bad luck on the Tigers, but I hope that the Triple Crown will screw up their minds. Detroit is one of the last teams I want to face in the ALDS or ALCS. 

  My biggest hope is the Bryce Harper and the Nationals make it to the world series. I have followed Bryce ever since I was a junior in High School and he was a a year and a half older than me. That guy is just phenomenal. I hope in the long run that he remains a great baseball player and goes to the Hall of Fame. 

• YankeeJim 25,827 Posts

  Sat, Oct 6 2012 5:33 AM

  JaLaBar:

  Trout slumped while Cabrera raked like no one else in baseball (except Harper).

  And Cano's chopped liver? He smoked them both when it counted. If Harper doesn't get ROY then something's fixed.

  What's not to be proud of in the AL? The toughest division in all of baseball yielded 2 playoff contenders and it took 162 games to determine that. The A's are playing possessed and the Tigers are playing their best ball of the year. Verlander and Pfister are a good 1-2 punch along with their 3 and 4 hitters.

  I'm a little astounded the O's pulled it off the way they did but Texas did their 2010 Yankees' imitation and I am happy for that. Yankee Stadium South (Camden Yards) is much friendlier to the Yankees than Arlington PLUS all the games are in the same time zone. Good fun coming up. 

  Interesting side note. The one game WC playoff burns a team's ace. LOL. Not Baltimore. They got away with throwing Saunders and should be lined up just the way they would have wanted with the starting rotation. The 5 game call on that series was a good one, I'm just not sure which Yankee team will show up.