Major League baseball playoffs/world series

[MrBag]

HangING IN..................

[DudeAsInCool]

Chicago beat the Cleveland 4-3... The Yanks beat Boston 8-4 despite 2 hr's by Ramirez to take the AL East Rodriguez goes 4-4 with a Home Run to edge in on the MVP :good job:

[Kooperman]

Again, the Red Sox and Yankees get a break when the Indians fold against the White Sox. Because the Indians lost the first two games against the White Sox, it allows the Yankees to become Eastern division champions merely by splitting the first two games with the Red Sox...because they have 10 wins in 17 games against the Red Sox this year with only one game remaining. Now, the question is: how hard do the Yankees play tomorrow against the Red Sox? They've already clinched the division championship....BUT if the Red Sox win the game tomorrow and the Indians lose once again to the White Sox, the Red Sox win the wild card spot in the playoffs, and get another chance to knock the Yanks out of World Series contention as they did last year. I'm sure the Yankees would rather play the Indians, so do they play their regulars tomorrow, along with using their key relief pitchers?

[DudeAsInCool]

They will play to win - but not sure who they will start to pitch...

[DudeAsInCool]

Houston 3, Chi Cubs 1

HOUSTON (AP) -- Roger Clemens got a little run support and guaranteed theHouston Astros at least a tie in the NL wild-card race.

Clemens allowed one run in seven innings while pitching on a still sore left hamstring, leading the Astros over the Chicago Cubs 3-1 Saturday and putting Houston on the brink of a return to the playoffs.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap;_ylt=Ajg...1001118&prov=ap

[DudeAsInCool]

They will play to win - but not sure who they will start to pitch...

Bad prediction - Yanks were losing 10-1 when I turned the tv off

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/03/sports/b.../03yankees.html

So it looks like NY versus the Angels and the Boston versus the White Sox in the AL

[Guest .::BeatFactory::.]

Houston Astros have won the NL wildcard ;) ...

...now if I only had good news about the Texans ... well ... they're better this week with the new offensive coordinator

[Kooperman]

MSNBC's Keith Olbermann handicaps the 2005 baseball playoffs

SECAUCUS — "What," my friend the CBS Sports producer asked, as we stood there in the field-level runway between the two clubhouses, just as the bottom of the ninth inning of Game One of the 1988 World Series began, "are we going to ask Dennis Eckersley after this game?"

"We’re going to ask him," I replied, "how he feels about giving up that game-losing home run to Kirk Gibson."

She laughed. "No, seriously."

I laughed back. "I am serious. It’s too obvious! Can’t you see it coming down the hallway? The guy is too hurt to play, the Dodgers have no business being here without him, he’s a football player who learned to play baseball — it’s obvious."

Ten minutes later Gibson was hobbling around the bases with his game-winning homer off Eckersley and my colleague from CBS was looking at me real funny. "I also called the Bucky Dent home run in the Yankees-Red Sox playoff game in ’78," I said as we scrambled towards the Dodger clubhouse.

All this is mentioned: a) because it makes me look good, and more importantly, B) because it underscores that the best baseball forecasting is a combination of hunch work, history, and instinct. On this eve of the 2005 playoffs, I have tried to keep my research to a minimum and gone more with my considerable gut.

I saw a list of the predictions of fifteen baseball experts today — six of whom are friends and/or colleagues. Six of them think the Angels will win the World Series; five pick the Astros; two choose the Cardinals, one each the Red Sox and Yankees, and, significantly, none the Braves, White Sox, or Padres. This alone should almost guarantee that the Angels and Astros won’t even make it to the Series.

Yankees-Angels: An extraordinary Yankee team that has been teetering on the edge of extinction since the third day of the season and Mariano Rivera’s first blown save against the Red Sox. No other Yankee first-place finisher has ever spent such little time actually in first place. Yet the Yanks finished by winning 20 of their last 29, and the back-up rotation cobbled together by Joe Torre and Brian Cashman, Of Chien-Ming Wang, Shawn Chacon, and Aaron Small merely combined for a 25-8 season. Neither Torre nor Cashman has ever done a better job, and unless the Yankees are exhausted by their season-long travails, they should be razor-sharp, even against that well-built Angels’ club. Dismiss what you’ve heard about a slumping closer in Francisco Rodriguez - he was flawless down the stretch. The key to this series is the number of times you hear the "other" F. Rodriguez (Felix, of the Yankee arson squad), or the name Scott Proctor. If it’s less than five, the Yankees will win in five.

White Sox-Red Sox: A season of vomiting managers, vomiting fans, and a nearly vomited 15-game lead. What a lovely image! The White Sox are the poster boys for underachievement, but a funny thing happened on their annual way to oblivion: they not only halted their own skid, but also knocked the upstart Indians out of the post-season. In the season’s last thirty games, Chicago managed the second-best pitching in the league, and if the Yankees’ turbulent staff could stave off David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, there’s no reason the more reliable White Sox pitchers can’t. Terry Francona did nearly as much of a smoke-and-mirrors job in Boston as Torre did in New York, but when the smoke clears, Torre has Mariano Rivera and four behemoths in the middle of his line-up, while Francona barely has a back end of his bullpen. The White Sox in five.

Astros-Braves: Talk about fickle. Six weeks ago Bobby Cox was a genius again and the Braves’ New World was a triumph of regional scouting, focused player development, and the flawless swing of Jeff Francoeur. Now, the Astros come within a loss of coughing up the Wild Card to the Phillies — the Phillies! — and because the Braves went 13-13 down the stretch, the Astros are the hip pick to win it all. I don’t believe a word of it. I love Phil Garner as a manager, but the Braves are a mix of guys who have grown old waiting for a second World’s Championship, and a bunch of kids who have grown up waiting for it. Waves of talent and decades of frustration take this one for the Braves, also in five.

Cardinals-Padres: Ah, poor Padres. In the playoffs only because you have to have a National League West team in there - like the obligatory Tampa Bay Devil Ray at the All-Star Game. No one seems to recall the three-over-.500 1973 New York Mets, who not only surged out of a sagging East to beat the Reds in the playoffs, but should’ve gone on to win the World Series. And no one seems to have noticed that in the last month, the Padres and Cards have fashioned almost virtually identical pitching stats (in the last week, the Padres were 5-2, 1.94; the Cardinals 3-2, 4.60). St. Louis barely has a player - pitcher or fielder - without a ding or a slump. Do not dismiss the prospects for a major shocker here: the Padres, perhaps quicker than five.

By the way, if you're at either of the far ends of the spectrum — fanatics and people who don't care at all about the sport — the just-concluded season was probably summed up for you in one word: "Steroids."

For everybody else, it was a stunningly successful year. Total attendance went up again; the New York Yankees became the first team in twelve years to draw 4,000,000 spectators; the Los Angeles Dodgers had their biggest audiences in 23 years; and the new team in Washington drew 2,700,000 fans — more than the old team in Washington drew in its last three seasons combined.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8514671/#051003a

[MrBag]

Now that the Astro's killed the PHILL's hopes for a wildcard,, all i can say is.."Com on" BO SOX

[DudeAsInCool]

Now that the Astro's killed the PHILL's hopes for a wildcard,, all i can say is.."Com on" BO SOX

Who?

Here are the results of the first games - Im assuming the Yanks will hold on...

Chi White Sox 14

Boston 2

White Sox lead series 1-0

St. Louis 8

San Diego5

Cardinals lead series 1-0

NY Yankees 4

LA Angels 2

 

[DudeAsInCool]

Houston 10

Atlanta 5

Final

Astros lead series 1-0

Chi White Sox 5

Boston 4

Final

White Sox lead series 2-0

LA Angels 5

NY Yankees 3

Series tied at 1-1

[DudeAsInCool]

Today's Games

Chi White Sox at

Boston

Top

3rd

White Sox lead series 2-0

 

LA Angels at

NY Yankees

8:05pm

Preview

Series tied 1-1

[Kooperman]

goodbye Boston Red Sox, beaten in 3 straight games by the Chicago White Sox...who now lean back and relax, waiting to play the winner of the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Angels series. Considering the Yankees best pitcher, Randy Johnson, got hammered tonight by the Angels, I'd say in about 24 hours the Yankees will be crying in their beer right next to the Red Sox.

[DudeAsInCool]

Considering the Yankees best pitcher, Randy Johnson, got hammered tonight by the Angels, I'd say in about 24 hours the Yankees will be crying in their beer right next to the Red Sox.

Care to make a bet on that

[Kooperman]

Care to make a bet on that 

Same response you gave me last year when I predicted the Red Sox would come back from their 0-3 start in the LCS and, with some luck, do something nobody had ever done before.

I've commented before that the middle inning relief pitching of the Yankees will kill them...it's doing so, along with Randy Johnson's start.

Betting is something I despise...it reduces sports games to commodities and takes away all perspective from the competition itself...the spread is all that matters. Gamblers have no respect for the game as sport...they're only a means to an end, usually money in a bookie's pocket.

When I comment on these games, it's because I enjoy sports. I try to analyze and spot trends or momentum shifts... I'm wrong just as often as I'm right, but it's all for fun here.

UPDATE In looking back over last year's thread, Dude DIDN't respond directly to me with "Care to make a bet on that ", although there was some gambling yadda yadda going on. But I distinctly remember that response to some of my "insight" elsewhere...and I did predict (on Oct. 7th) the Red Sox to beat the Cardinals in the World Series...before either team had even played a League Championship series game. The blind hog found an acorn....

[DudeAsInCool]

Your predictions were on the button...last year. This years another story - you've written off the Yanks twice and they're still kicking

[Kooperman]

Your predictions were on the button...last year. This years another story - you've written off the Yanks twice and they're still kicking

I speculated that the Red Sox would win at least 2 of 3 from the Yankees in the season-finale series...they did. What I didn't anticipate was the Indians completly folding against the White Sox, allowing both the Yankees and Red Sox to coast into the playoffs.

I call them as I see them. I've been a Yankee fan since 1961 when my mother bought me a cellophane pack of baseball cards....the top card was Roger Maris, who I had never heard of. I was intrigued by all the cards and started following baseball for the first time, with particular interest in the Yankees. That was the year Maris hit 61 home runs, breaking Babe Ruth's record of 60 which had stood since 1927.

I've stuck with the Yankees through the good years and the bad, from the Mickey Mantle teams to the lean Horace Clarke years, then on to the Graig Nettles teams and up to the present. But I don't delude myself when they're flawed, as they are now. As I said here last year, they need to concentrate on building up their farm system. Robinson Cano is a start, although he's shaky defensively...but they need to groom young pitchers. Signing near washed up old pitchers isn't taking them all the way to the top.

[DudeAsInCool]

Agreed...

Houston 7, Atlanta 6, 18 innings

HOUSTON (AP) -- Roger Clemens and the Houston Astros gave a whole new meaning to word ``longevity.''

The 43-year-old Rocket came out of the bullpen to rescue the Astros andChris Burke ended the longest postseason game in baseball history with a home run in the 18th inning, lifting Houston over the Atlanta Braves 7-6 Sunday and into the NL championship series.

The Braves took a five-run lead into the eighth, and were poised to send this first-round series back to Atlanta for a decisive Game 5 Monday night. Instead, Lance Berkman hit a grand slam in the eighth and Brad Ausmus tied it with a two-out homer in the ninth barely beyond center field Andruw Jones' outstretched glove.

Then, at 6-all, the Braves and Astros began the real endurance test that wound up lasting five hours, 50 minutes.

With Clemens pitching three innings in his first relief appearance since 1984 -- and this time atoning for a poor start in Game 2 -- the Astros advanced to play the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS starting Wednesday night at Busch Stadium.

It will be the first NLCS rematch since Pittsburgh and Atlanta played in 1991-92. Last October, the Cardinals beat Clemens in Game 7, denying the Astros their first World Series appearance.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap?gid=251009118

[DudeAsInCool]

The NY Yankees lead the LA Angels 3-2 in third game of the playoffs. 8th inning with Mariano Rivera pitching... Yanks win and we move to a fifth game back in Anaheim, tomorrow

All in all a banner weekend for DAIC - my two college teams and the Yanks win big!

[Kooperman]

A banner day for me too.....the Yanks (my A.L. team since 1961) pull out a game they could have easily lost, and the Astros (my N.L. team since 1964, when they were called the Colt .45's) win a stunning 18 inning game in which they came back from a 6-1 deficit thanks to an 8th inning grand slam and a 9th inning home run to tie....then Roger Clemens makes his first major league relief appearance in 21 YEARS to get the win....on a home run by a kid from the town I live in, Louisville, Ky......I'm worn out from the tension.

[DudeAsInCool]

Yankees up 2-0 in the top of the second with Mussina pitching against the Angels... Garret Anderson hits a home run, Molina hits a single...so they are fighting back... 5-2 Angeles--the Yanks are getting killed by dink ball... Randy Johnson in for the Yanks

[Kooperman]

It would be a nice thing to see Alex Rodriguez get a clutch hit in postseason....he's killing the Yankees. They have a lot of talent but don't play Hardball like the Angels or White Sox.

[Kooperman]

Yankee season is over, Angels win 5 to 3. Alex Rodrigeuz goes hitless, leaving three men on base. Hidecki Matsui, usually their best clutch hitter goes 0 for 5 and leaves EIGHT men on base. The best team definitely won, and the Angels/White Sox series should be a good one.

[Guest .::BeatFactory::.]

Let's go 'Stros!

[DudeAsInCool]

Chi White Sox 1, Houston 0

HOUSTON (AP) -- The Chicago White Sox are World Series champions again at last, and yet another epic streak of futility is not just wiped away but swept away.

It was the third title for the White Sox, following wins in 1906 and 1917. And it was the first since ``Shoeless'' Joe Jackson and the ``Black Sox'' threw the 1919 Series against Cincinnati.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap;_ylt=ApA...1026118&prov=ap

Oh, well...I guess the Yanks will have to wait ANOTHER year :reallymad: Congrats

to the Sox!!!