Random MLB News And Discussion 2012

[owbc]

It's called a wild card for a reason. Neither of these teams won their division and really don't deserve to be in the playoffs anyway. So I don't get all the hate about a coin flip game between two teams that shouldn't be there anyway.

 

What if the Cardinals go on to win the World Series as the 10th best team in baseball?

 

And the garbage spewing from the color guy was just nauseating..."classy" Yadier Molina again...Braves fans "embarassing themselves"... etc. etc. That might be the first time in Atlanta sports history that the fans actually cared enough to get angry.

[Funketown]

It's called a wild card for a reason. Neither of these teams won their division and really don't deserve to be in the playoffs anyway. So I don't get all the hate about a coin flip game between two teams that shouldn't be there anyway.

 

Part of me would like the league to go back to the AL champ vs. NL champ 9-game series. It would really hurt the chances of the Brewers winning a WS in my lifetime and probably cost MLB a disgusting amount of revenue, but teams that only win 83 games don't deserve a chance to win a WS.

[fondybrewfan]

Atleast the Packers lived another day after a horrible call. Atlanta not so much; nice way for Chipper to go out.

 

I don't understand why they can't just do a 3 game series. Baseball should not be single elimination

[fondybrewfan]

Every sport has wild card entrants; that isn't a big deal to me.

[owbc]

Even with this result, I still support the 1-game playoff. It glues me into the TV which is exactly what MLB wants. The Braves usually have trouble selling out playoff games, but an overflowing crowd of 52,000 was packed in for this one. I don't have time to watch a 5 or 7 game series but for 1 game on a Friday night, it was enough to mark my calendar. Poor umpiring can ruin any series, MLB had 20 minutes to reverse the call and they didn't do anything. The umpiring can easily be solved with instant replay, which hopefully will come faster if these mistakes keep happening.

 

The worst part of this going forward is that St. Louis now hosts games 1-2 of the NLDS vs. Washington thanks to the stupid home field rules put in this year to satisfy the TV people.

[trwi7]

The biggest problem I have with the 2nd wildcard is they rushed into it to have it happen this year so now you have teams like the Reds and Nationals having to open on the road against inferior opponents, so there's really no advantage to division winners unless you're the worst division winner in your league.

 

Screw you, Bud.

[valpocrewsader]

Imagine the Brewers going 94-68 and losing a coin flip game to an 88-74 team, missing out on the actual playoffs. Oh, and throw in the most atrocious call to incorrectly burn one of your outs and one of your base runners in the middle of a rally -- a call so puzzling you've never seen a call like it in your decades-upon-decades of watching baseball.

 

I can't imagine how ticked a Braves fan would be right now. It would be worse for a Brewers fan since we're much more starved for post-season. There would be no words.

[Spidey]

Imagine the Brewers going 94-68 and losing a coin flip game to an 88-74 team, missing out on the actual playoffs. Oh, and throw in the most atrocious call to incorrectly burn one of your outs and one of your base runners in the middle of a rally -- a call so puzzling you've never seen a call like it in your decades-upon-decades of watching baseball.

 

I can't imagine how ticked a Braves fan would be right now. It would be worse for a Brewers fan since we're much more starved for post-season. There would be no words.

 

 

And to pile on, Cardinals fans chime in on how "classless" your fans are for throwing things onto the field. I hate the Cardinals.

[jjkoestler]

Cards fans would throw debris on the field and claim it wasn't intentional. They would then write a book about it 2 months later.

[craigharmann]

What if the Cardinals go on to win the World Series as the 10th best team in baseball?

 

They won't. Every other team still in the playoffs is infinitely better than them.

[pebadger]

Cards fans would throw debris on the field and claim it wasn't intentional. They would then write a book about it 2 months later.

 

Where's the "Like" button on this website?

[TooLiveBrew]

The Braves didn't even manage to score one run after the game restarted, so it's not like the call cost them the game. It was called waaaaaaay too late, but I was reminded of the 'Bartman game' where the real reason the losing team lost is that they played awful defense.

[trwi7]

Well if they don't call it the batters afterwards went walk (6-4), strikeout (2 outs) and then Prado gets a chance with the bases loaded and two outs. It may not have went exactly that way and who knows, maybe McCann grounds into a double play but the point is it was a bad call that may have cost the Braves an oppurtunity to get back into the game.

[DuWayne Steurer]

The Braves didn't even manage to score one run after the game restarted, so it's not like the call cost them the game. It was called waaaaaaay too late, but I was reminded of the 'Bartman game' where the real reason the losing team lost is that they played awful defense.

 

 

Yeah, but you're assuming the at bats that happened after the stoppage happen in the vacuum of being exactly the same despite being bases loaded instead of 2 on 2 outs. The complexion changes, and we can't assume that anything that happened after that point is simply going to occur the same on a one for one basis.

 

Terrible call, and that it happened during Bud's one game folly of a 'playoff' only magnifies what a terrible idea this is.

[hawing]

What if the Cardinals go on to win the World Series as the 10th best team in baseball?

 

They won't. Every other team still in the playoffs is infinitely better than them.

Based on whatever deal that franchise has with Satan, I'm not as confident as you, craigharmann. Surely karma will catch up with STL someday, hawing said hopefully.

[pebadger]

I do have to say that I think MLB is gutless for scheduling Monday's STL/WAS game (the ONLY game on Monday) to begin at 3:30 Central Time.

 

Here's a hint MLB: Be as afraid of Monday Night Football as you want. You're STILL going to get more viewers on Monday night than you are on Monday afternoon.

 

And no, I don't care that the teams have to play in Washington on Tuesday. These guys have played plenty of nights in one town followed by a night game in the next. Both teams are on the same footing in that regard, anyway, as they're both making the same trip.

 

Just a terrible decision in my view.

[owbc]

I do have to say that I think MLB is gutless for scheduling Monday's STL/WAS game (the ONLY game on Monday) to begin at 3:30 Central Time.

 

Here's a hint MLB: Be as afraid of Monday Night Football as you want. You're STILL going to get more viewers on Monday night than you are on Monday afternoon.

 

And no, I don't care that the teams have to play in Washington on Tuesday. These guys have played plenty of nights in one town followed by a night game in the next. Both teams are on the same footing in that regard, anyway, as they're both making the same trip.

 

Just a terrible decision in my view.

 

Completely agree. Did they even look at the matchup? Jets vs. Texans? High blowout potential there. Huge opportunity to get millions of people to flip over to baseball if the game is bad.

[RockCoCougars]

Nice win by the Orioles. I'll be pulling for them moving forward. Can't believe that the studs that the Rangers acquired from the Cubs at the deadline didn't put them over the top.

[valpocrewsader]

Ironic that the Angels and Rangers were fighting over Greinke for their major post-season push, and neither one made the playoffs. I'm pretty happy that I have both the As and Os to root for in the AL side. Even DET wouldn't be that bad. So of course, NYY will emerge victorious in ALCS.

[RockCoCougars]

Ironic that the Angels and Rangers were fighting over Greinke for their major post-season push, and neither one made the playoffs. I'm pretty happy that I have both the As and Os to root for in the AL side. Even DET wouldn't be that bad. So of course, NYY will emerge victorious in ALCS.

 

Exactly. I'm fully preparing for a Yankees vs. Cardinals or Giants W.S. I'm not sure who I would pull for in a Giants vs. Cardinals NLCS.

[jjfanec]

I like the Rangers and have never had an issue with their fan base, but raining down boos on (and yelling obscenities at) Josh Hamilton is ridiculous. He played extremely hard for that team and I understand they were disappointed in the lost but singling him out seems strange. It was never likely that he would be back in Texas but I would assume that would cement it. He isnt worth the money he is going to get but as a Ranger he put up great numbers.

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/josh-hamilton-s-likely-farewell-to-rangers-ends-with-trail-of-boos.html

[RockCoCougars]

I like the Rangers and have never had an issue with their fan base, but raining down boos on (and yelling obscenities at) Josh Hamilton is ridiculous. He played extremely hard for that team and I understand they were disappointed in the lost but singling him out seems strange. It was never likely that he would be back in Texas but I would assume that would cement it. He isnt worth the money he is going to get but as a Ranger he put up great numbers.

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/josh-hamilton-s-likely-farewell-to-rangers-ends-with-trail-of-boos.html

 

A bunch of fair weather fans blaming Hamilton (who admittedly was pretty bad after his big tear) instead of their GM for looking at that pitching staff and thinking that it would get them deep in the playoffs. Oh well, I guess they will have the ROY races to look forward to for the next few years.

[TooLiveBrew]

I like the Rangers and have never had an issue with their fan base, but raining down boos on (and yelling obscenities at) Josh Hamilton is ridiculous. He played extremely hard for that team and I understand they were disappointed in the lost but singling him out seems strange. It was never likely that he would be back in Texas but I would assume that would cement it. He isnt worth the money he is going to get but as a Ranger he put up great numbers.

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/josh-hamilton-s-likely-farewell-to-rangers-ends-with-trail-of-boos.html

 

A bunch of fair weather fans blaming Hamilton (who admittedly was pretty bad after his big tear) instead of their GM for looking at that pitching staff and thinking that it would get them deep in the playoffs. Oh well, I guess they will have the ROY races to look forward to for the next few years.

Can't bash Billy Beane anymore, so your new pet is Daniels? It's basically the same pitching staff that did take them deep in the playoffs the previous two seasons... Yu Darvish replacing CJ Wilson.

[brettac1]

Not to mention that Darvish is going to be a superstar next year provided the usual health caveats that go with pitching. He's a strikeout machine.

[RockCoCougars]

I like the Rangers and have never had an issue with their fan base, but raining down boos on (and yelling obscenities at) Josh Hamilton is ridiculous. He played extremely hard for that team and I understand they were disappointed in the lost but singling him out seems strange. It was never likely that he would be back in Texas but I would assume that would cement it. He isnt worth the money he is going to get but as a Ranger he put up great numbers.

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/josh-hamilton-s-likely-farewell-to-rangers-ends-with-trail-of-boos.html

 

A bunch of fair weather fans blaming Hamilton (who admittedly was pretty bad after his big tear) instead of their GM for looking at that pitching staff and thinking that it would get them deep in the playoffs. Oh well, I guess they will have the ROY races to look forward to for the next few years.

Can't bash Billy Beane anymore, so your new pet is Daniels? It's basically the same pitching staff that did take them deep in the playoffs the previous two seasons... Yu Darvish replacing CJ Wilson.

 

I certainly still can bash Beane, because he hasn't won anything despite the heaps of hype, but I have no reason to. If the A's actually make it out of the first round of the playoffs, I'll give credit where credit is due. As for Daniels, the Rangers starting staff was not great to begin with, and further weakened by injuries. He 'bolstered' the staff by adding Oswalt and Dempster, had they gone for Greinke instead they probably win that division.