Baseball discussion thread

[Wulf Ratbane]

The season is over with as far as I'm concerned. I doubt I'll watch the World Series because I could frankly care less about either of the teams in it!

Guaranteed, the World Series will have dismal ratings compared to last night's game. Who cares, now?

The Red Sox motto: "Why lose today, when losing tomorrow will hurt so much more?"

They gave us a great Game 6 and a classic Game 7. As far as I am concerned, I just watched the only game worth caring about.

For what it's worth, I'd say the game turned with that play at 1st base. Pedro was there in plenty of time to make the out if he'd just flipped him the ball. And of course, Pedro was left in juuuuuust a couple pitches too long...

just wanted to chime in with an "i told you so" after letting it sink in.
pedro pitched just good enough to lose.again.
doesnt get the L hung on him, but he let his team down.
i never want to hear him referred to as an elite pitcher again.

That's the stupidest thing I've heard in a long time; the stats don't lie.

YANKEES SUCK, by the way, and you're one of the reasons why.


Wulf

 

[John Crichton]

pedro pitched just good enough to lose.again.
doesnt get the L hung on him, but he let his team down.
i never want to hear him referred to as an elite pitcher again.

C'mon, man. He will retire with better numbers than Sandy Koufax. He's a first-ballot Hall of Fame lock.

Little left him in too long. Pedro tried to take the blame but in some situations it is the manager's job to remove a tired pitcher. I can't put this one on Pedro. He pitched his guts out. I'm just happy Little left him in so my team could win. I was SO happy when Little left him in the game. That Boston bullpen has been nasty, especially Embre and Timlin (feels weird typing it).

 

[Zerakon]

When did the Yankees add Grady Little to the payroll?

Pedro, an elite pitcher btw, pitched a great game. He shouldn't be responsible for making the decision to remove himself from the game. No pitcher should. That is the manager's job.

I was actually surprised that he came in to start the 8th, since it was apparent he was starting to tire in the 7th.

After Jeter's double, I thought for sure, alrighty then, let's go to the bullpen. Nope.

Bernie Williams singles. Crap. OK, well now with Matsui coming up, it's Embree time... Um... nope?! What the?!!?

I was enraged at this. This was probably The Dumbest Decision By A Manager that I've ever seen. I was screaming at the TV set... well, not really, because my wife was already in bed. But I WANTED to scream.

Guess what? Double.

And he still left Pedro in.

This was right up there (but not quite as bad) with the Buckner play for me. A game getting away that shouldn't have.

*sigh*

 

[John Crichton]

I wouldn't be too worried about Little being on any payroll next season as he'll probably be looking for a job soon.

 

[jaerdaph]

I had to check this board again this morning to make sure I wasn't dreaming.

And I'm not! The Yankees Win! THE-E-E-E-E YANKEES win!

Zimmer: The guy was hit in the head with a pitch an knocked unconscious for two weeks and got a metal plate in his head to boot. I don't blame him for getting emotional, even if he did act inappropriately. At least he had the class to appologize. We're still waiting, Pedro.

Pedro: One of the best pitchers of all time. Just not last night. I suppose the same can be said for Clemmens though...

Nobody watching the World Series: Who cares? We will be in New York! And if Fox-Jazeera loses a ratings war, who cares? Double Bonus!

Game 7: That was one of the best post-season games ever played. My hat's off to the Red Sox for playing one hell of a great game to the bitter end. And here's to both teams for playing such an important and emotional game with the class and dignity that were missing last Saturday.

How 'bout those Mets?: You can take your October Boston caps off now guys. You know. The ones you put on after the Mets cap goes away in September?

 

[drothgery]

Dorthgery, if you have the time could you tell me what the KC Royals record should have been? Just really curious to see how many games Pena stole from the competition.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/neyer/index

The Royals, at least according to Neyer's math, should've been 78-84, but finished five games ahead of that (83-79); only the Giants and Reds were better relative to expected W-L this year, though the Twins were just as good at 'stealing' wins. The Astros were the worst team relative to expected record (-8) -- they should have had no trouble winning the NL Central, followed by the Mariners (-6) and the Phillies (-5).

But the luck factor probably overwhelms quality of relief pitching and management skill in 1-run games, and that's where most of the difference between expected W-L and actual W-L happens.

 

[schporto]

Unlike my first post in this thread I'll keep it civil.
Little blew it. Badly. Pedro wasn't tired. His pitches were still in the mid 90s. If anything I'd say he was groovin. The Yankees bats (wince shudder) were figuring him out though. They knew what and when to swing. It was obvious in the 7th. Leaving Pedro in in the 8th was dumb.
But it was expected. My wife wasn't sleeping. I probably woke my neighbors up at that point. I screamed. I yelled. Little didn't hear me. And all the while that little voice in the back of my head was whispering "This. This is how they're gonna blow it. Not the bullpen, not the bats, not the pitching, but a stupid manager decision."
So, does this mean 20(ish) years from now Grady Little is gonna charge out of the Yankees dugout and get tossed to the ground by some young Red Sox pitcher?

My fervent wish - keep that Sox team together. Please. You guys were good. Maybe hunt for another starter. But keep those bats. They have the chemistry. They play well togther.
Damnit. Thanks for the season Sox.
-cpd

 

[AlphaOmega]

C'mon, man. He will retire with better numbers than Sandy Koufax. He's a first-ballot Hall of Fame lock.

when someone utters the name of the Master I have to chime in. I know they showed the career numbers of Pedro and Sandy and they appear to be really close. But there is a noteable difference. In order to retire with "better numbers" than Koufax, Pedro needs some no-hitters like Sandy's 4. And he needs some WS rings. I believe Sandy has Pedro beat 3-0 in that department too.

for the record, I believe Pedro will make the Hall of Fame maybe even on the first ballot but he is not in the same level of mystique pitchers like Koufax. Yeah, he (Pedro) will have more wins and probably more K's but he still will be missing the postseason success. And I say all this even though I'm a true Red Sox fan.

 

[Tom Cashel]

Ah, poor poor Pedro. Should have stuck with 115 pitches; those last 8 were unwise.

Look on the bright side--at least he got a chance to throw a 73-year-old man face first into the grass before the series was over.

And now the goons play golf. Karma, baby.

Go YANKEES!

 

[BOZ]

have we learned our lesson yet? there's a reason the cubs haven't won a world series in 95 years and the red sox haven't won in 85 years...