MLB

[Reality]

zig, what boggles you more:
Oaklands choke job including Zito up 4-2 with only 8th and 9th to go being allowed to take himself out for what appears to be nothing more then late season tiredness that most all MLBs have at this time.  He himself saying the next day he should not of, it was just that his legs were tightening.  The coach that allowed it  :huh:  :crazy:

SFs and one of my favorite all time coaches Alou letting Dustin Hermason take the mound with a 3-0 lead and only 3 outs to go.  Walks two batters.  :cry:
He did say he felt the ump squeezed him.  I was watching but i didnt glue to every pitch.  

Cubs choke job. Yawn.

Positives:  How 'bout those Astros?  :up:
Mid season this Angel dork told me Carlos Beltran was not worth pursing.  You know what i was hoping for.  

[ziggy]

OH so glad the A's flamed out.  Drated Zito at the start of the season and he sucked bigtime.  Traded for Mulder mid-season when he was on his way to the Cy Young, and he was flat out horrible the rest of the way.  He was on the can't cut list so I was stuck with the POS for the rest of the year.

Oh yes, Beltran is incredible.  Anyone who says he isn't that good is a fool.  He is a 40-40 guy, and has the highest lifetime SB%.  I told you they should have swapped Jose Guillen for Beltran.

Ichiro and 262.  The guy is incredible.

Glad to see the Angels make it.  I love Vlad.

In the end I am pulling for the Twins.  Santana is just so good.

[westkoast]

Anyone who says baseball is boring obviously didnt watch the last week of baseball.  Dodgers drop 7 runs on the Giants in the final inning to secure their playoff spot while at the same time knocking their arch rivals far enough back to keep them out period.  Astros, Dodgers, Angels, A's, and Giants all went down to the wire the very last weekend of baseball.  

Ichiro was amazing this year.  People were complaning that he broke the record because he got 20 more games to play...I say FOOEY!  The guy is awesome on the offensive and defensive end.  Give him his props.

Angels/Red Sox is going to be a great series.  Dodgers/Cardinals is going to be a great series.  I can't wait.  Havent been this excited about baseball in a while.

[spursfan101]

BIG props to Ichiro. Congratulations to the Houston Chokestro's, who for once, made a fantastic rally and WON a spot in the playoffs rather than losing it.

[ziggy]

BIG props to Ichiro. Congratulations to the Houston Chokestro's, who for once, made a fantastic rally and WON a spot in the playoffs rather than losing it.

SF101, I too would like to congrats the Astros.  When all seemed lost they played like they had nothing to lose.  Hunsincker had the guts to trade for Beltran, and give the closers job to Lidge, and then get rid of Williams and bring in Garner.  Considering that they have not had 2 of their 4 best pitchers most of the season (Pettitte and Wade Miller), and Clemens is like 41, they really showed some gonads.  A whole lot more than Cubbies, who had teh best picthing and still flamed out big time.  Dusty Baker did a HORRIBLE JOB of managing all the way around.

At this point I don't see anyone as being a big favorite in either league.  The Yankees have the best record and the worst pitching staff.  The Bo Sox I think are the most likely champ, but they always find a way to flame out.  All 4 NL teams have strong and weak points.

I really believe the Twins have as good a shot as anyone. They have the best top 3 pitchers, and a great closer in Joe Nathan.  They have great defense, and Koskie looks like he is healthy.  I wouldn't be surprised to see them upset the Yankees.

[Wolverine]

I'm going to Game 1 of the Cards-Dodgers series tomorrow afternoon (12:00 PM Central).  Can't wait!  Playoff baseball has arrived!

[spursfan101]

really believe the Twins have as good a shot as anyone.

I hope they go. They were all but trade bait a few years ago, they had to overcome alot just to get to where their at.

[jn]

ziggy,

You really think they have the top 3 starters?  Personally they kind of remind of the 87 team with Santana as Frankie Viola and Radke as Blyleven.  You hope those two can get you to the good closer, with Nathan taking the part of Jeff Reardon.  And actually I don't think the current Twins set up men are as good as Juan Berenguer in 87,

The one thing I really love about the Twins is watching the defense in the outfield.  Torrii Hunter is simply amazing.  

[ziggy]

ziggy,

You really think they have the top 3 starters?  Personally they kind of remind of the 87 team with Santana as Frankie Viola and Radke as Blyleven.  You hope those two can get you to the good closer, with Nathan taking the part of Jeff Reardon.  And actually I don't think the current Twins set up men are as good as Juan Berenguer in 87,

The one thing I really love about the Twins is watching the defense in the outfield.  Torrii Hunter is simply amazing.

JN,
I think they have the best group of 3 pitchers in the AL.  Santana is the best pitcher in baseball by a very wide margin.  Since early June he is 18-2.  In the 2 LOSSES he went 16 innings with 5 hits, 4 walks and 23 k's.  He gave up 5 hits and 4 walks in 2 games and lost them both!!!!!  In that stretch he had 2 no decisions where he pitched 12 innings and gave 6 hits, 3 walks, and 15 k's.  The reality is he could have, with just a little luck, gone 22-0.  That would have been the greatest streak in baseball history, and the only reason he didn't get 22 wins was because of lack of run support.
Brad Radke only had 11 wins, but he walked only 26 batters in 220 innings, with an ERA of 3.43.  In August and September he had 5 no decisions and his ERA in those games was 2.38, and allowed less than 1 base runner per inning pitched.  With a little run support he could have easily won 17 to 18 games.

With Silva, Lohse, or Mulholland they can get decent numbers from #3.  Compare that to the other playoff teams

Red Sox  the only team even close
Schilling  (Santana is better)
Martinez  (Pedro is better, but not by a lot)
Lowe  (Lowe sucks, and has been battered around all year, Silva is better)

Yankees
Mussina (He is pitching better but he is not as good as Pedro or Radke, let alone Santana or Schilling)
Kevin Brown  (If he can pitch)
Vazquez  (He has been terrible the last 6 weeks)

Angels
Colon  (he had a horrible year, Santana is so much better it is scary)
Escobar (had a good year, but not as good as Radke)
Lackey  (OK, maybe better than Silva)
Sele  (OK maybe better than Silva)
Washburn (Was hurt, just got back)

As far as a bullpen Minnesota has an excellent one
Nathan is a top 5 closer
Rincon is a stud.  82 IP, 52 hits, 106 k's, and a .181 BA against
Romero was sent to minors early on, but upon his return he went from June 28 to September 11 without allowing an earned run.  That is almost 3 months.
Even Balfour had an ERA under 4, after his first 3 games.  That is a great bullpen, and if Mulholland comes out of the pen, you have 2 solid lefties with him and Romero.

BTW, my horrible decision to drop Santana cost me my 3rd straight fantasy title.  The finals standings were
John  111
Caleb 110.5
Carl 110
Me 106

The guy that picked Santana up won the league, and if I had kept him, and not made the trade for Mulder, by my calculations I figure that the standings would have been

Me 130
Caleb 108
Carl 108
John  98

Oh how that hurts.

[jn]

Interesting.  Like I said, I don't follow baseball closely anymore and lately there had been a lot of highlights of the bullpen losing leads.  Of course a lot of that was September call up types.  

[ziggy]

Interesting.  Like I said, I don't follow baseball closely anymore and lately there had been a lot of highlights of the bullpen losing leads.  Of course a lot of that was September call up types.

JN,
I did misstate on the Yankees.  They are going to go with Mussina, Lieber, and Orlando Hernandez, or maybe Kevin Brown.  Vazquez has been sent to the pen.

Lieber is solid, very much like Radke, very few walks.  Radke though in my opinion is better.  Hernandez though as a 3rd starter has been money down the stretch.  It is a 5 game series, and Santana will pitch twice, as will Radke.  If they get 2 wins from Santana then they only need 1 of the other 3, and that is very doable.  Can Santana get 2 wins?  Well every game is a new game, so what he has done doesn't mean he will win in the playoffs, but considering he is on a streak where he could have easily gone 22-0 I will take my chances that 2 wins from him is almost a lock.

Santana should win the MVP and the Cy Young this year in the AL.  He was that good.

The Twins offense is not one that looks all that good, but I like a lot of what they have.  Torii Hunter was hurt a lot last year, but he is back to all-star level.  Lew Ford has been a big surprise, but he is a good player.  Justin Morneau is for real, he is a bopper plain and simple.  Jacque Jones and Shannon Stewart are solid outfielders, giving them tremendous outfield depth.  Koskie is a good 3B, though he has struggled with injuries.  When healthy he is a better than average 3B, with some pop.  I think the keys for Minnesota though are Guzman and Rivas.  Both have struggled at times this year, but both are very capable of making big plays.

[Guest_Randy]

I've watched Ichiro play for a couple of years now and I'm simply amazed at the guy.  No, he's not a power hitter but I don't know ANYONE who can place the ball better or hit the ball from anywhere.  I never will forget one game two years ago that I was at -- the ball came in barely over the plate and he hit it much like a golf swing and popped it right over the shortstops head for a base hit (and scored the guy on 3rd).  I'm also amazed at his arm and placement of the ball from the outfield -- I've seen him throw out a guy from almost against the wall with a one hopper that was EXACTLY where it needed to be for the catcher to tag the guy at home.  He's not a powerhitter -- which gets all the press in MLB (kinda like dunking in the NBA) but this guy is phenomenally solid -- just wish they could build this team back (and it doesn't look like that is going to happen).