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MLB Playoffs 2016 | Only thing worse than a Trump win is another Giants win

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orochi91

Member
Buck Showalter is one of those people who has like forty elixirs at the end of a Final Fantasy game
raining-gif.gif
 
I got home around 1 am and didn't fall asleep due to adrenaline until 2 am. I had to get up for work at 6 am. Need more sleep.

That was incredibly fun.
 
I was at the game. Holy this that was fucking amazing. I've never experienced anything like that. Strangers were hugging & high-fiving each other. The crowd was deafening. What an amazing experience.

And I'm a mess this morning lol
 
I was at the game. Holy this that was fucking amazing. I've never experienced anything like that. Strangers were hugging & high-fiving each other. The crowd was deafening. What an amazing experience.

And I'm a mess this morning lol

I got hugged by a man and never even got his name. It was beautiful.
 
I got hugged by a man and never even got his name. It was beautiful.

I'm not sure if it was the same for you, but I was in the 500 level & on the ramps down EVERYBODY was chanting 'WE WANT TEXAS! WE WANT TEXAS!' Fucking amazing. I'll remember last night for the rest of my life, the energy was all positive, all hyped. A walk-off three run homer then EVERYBODY, TO THE STREETS!! What an amazing experience.
 
I'm not sure if it was the same for you, but I was in the 500 level & on the ramps down EVERYBODY was chanting 'WE WANT TEXAS! WE WANT TEXAS!' Fucking amazing. I'll remember last night for the rest of my life, the energy was all positive, all hyped. A walk-off three run homer then EVERYBODY, TO THE STREETS!! What an amazing experience.

Yeah, we had the WE WANT TEXAS chants in the 500 level as well.
 
I got home around 1 am and didn't fall asleep due to adrenaline until 2 am. I had to get up for work at 6 am. Need more sleep.

That was incredibly fun.

I know how that is. What is this sleep people get?

I'm always tired, and can pass out on the couch at random. But I can't sleep for longer than a couple of hours most of the time.

At night, I try to sleep and am up until 5am, or I fall asleep for 2-3 hours and then I'm up and unable to sleep. Or I just wake up every couple of hours.

I've been tested for apnea and have it, but only in my neck, where it only affects me if I sleep on the back. They declined to treat it.
 

Sanjuro

Member
It's what makes the September races more interesting, Brah.

Stakes are higher when it comes down to one. There's no disgrace here, you're just being not smaat aboutit, y'see?

Yeah, what zulux21 said.

I think it's absolutely silly and forced when we have celebrations for every milestone. I mean...I get why, but to a non-casual viewer it feels stupid.
 
Grab bag of news, AL WC edition:

https://twitter.com/BNightengale/status/783516518793547776

There were also racial slurs hurled towards Kim and Jones,
Adam Jones said

No surprise there, Adam corroborates story intially reported last night. I would also not be surprised if Kim took the brunt of the abuse. I wish the MLB wasn't chickenshit and cracked down on this like UEFA did, making the Jays play in an empty stadium.

http://www.thescore.com/mlb/news/1119335-5-takeaways-from-manfred-s-playoff-press-conference

Summary of Manfred's playoff press conference. Stuff mentioned include modification of September call up rules, some pretty terrible spin on the Save America's Past Time Act, and the announcement of no spring game in Cuba while the WBC is going on next year.

Finally, some rather big news coming out of Wrigley:

Cubs moving bullpens from sidelines to underneath bleachers

While the signature feature has always been a way to put fans closer to the action, the Cubs are planning to move the bullpens before next season. The plan will call for the bullpens to be placed under the bleachers, with the Cubs setting up in left field and the visitors in right field.

By moving the bullpens, the Cubs will be able to add several rows worth of seating down both foul lines. The team is intends to stick with this proposal, even though it is not universally popular among the players. More from DNAInfo Chicago:

It’s also not entirely endorsed by the players. The Cubs’ Jake Arrieta told the Tribune’s Paul Sullivan earlier this year that warming up on the field “simulates the game feel,” adding, “There really is no comparison to being outside to replicate the way you’re going to be pitching in the game situation. I’m OK with it. I like it.”

Arrieta even suggested a delay in moving the bullpens, and there’s precedent for that. Manager Joe Maddon said the Cubs didn’t enjoy playing 3 p.m. starts, and the team largely abandoned the practice this season, even though it was a hard-won perk with the City Council.

Despite a recent report saying the bullpen changes could be put off a year, team spokesman Julian Green confirmed Monday that the plan is still on, with no thought of any delay.

The Cubs cited, among other factors, the reduced risk of injury to outfielders, who will no longer have to work around the bullpen mounds while chasing down fly balls.

It makes sense considering many teams are making moves to protect their fielders and relief guys.
 

bebop242

Member
Yea the bullpen change has been known for awhile now. Not a 100% fan of it, but i understand the concern for player safety.
 
No surprise there, Adam corroborates story intially reported last night. I would also not be surprised if Kim took the brunt of the abuse. I wish the MLB wasn't chickenshit and cracked down on this like UEFA did, making the Jays play in an empty stadium.

Big diff between the racism UEFA has to fight against and the maybe handful of deplorables from last night's game.
 
Big diff between the racism UEFA has to fight against and the maybe handful of deplorables from last night's game.

Doesn't matter. There should be precedent set. Show that there are consequences for a bunch of drunk dumbasses slinging Red Bull cans and hurling racist remarks at a Korean and black player.

Racism should be stamped out from the game.
 

Choomp

Banned
What will it take for Campbell to be banish from this organization??

He's had some pretty clutch at bats recently, and with a lefty on the mound it makes sense. I would just rather Smoker over Edgin and Nimmo in there somewhere.
 

Joe

Member

Keeping track of overtime pay in minors is "impractical"
Manfred was asked about the minor-league pay dispute about the low wages players receive. When asked about why he's opposed to players getting paid minimum wage, he said that's not the issue, it's keeping tabs on the extra hours that doesn't prove useful:
We're not opposed to paying minor league players any particular wage. What we are opposed to is the imposition of administrative requirements in terms of keeping track of hours and overtime. They're simply impractical in minor league baseball. A young man decides that he wants to take extra batting practice, is that overtime, or is that his voluntary undertaking? A young minor league player decides that he wants to go to the gym. Are those working hours, or are they not? Most buses when we're on the road, time clocks, what do you do with the team that's on the road for ten days in terms of keeping track of hours?​
I really hate BS like this.

"It's too difficult! Too complicated! We can't do it!"

You oversee a $9 billion dollar organization, a $1 billion dollar multimedia company, negotiate over a billion dollars a year in TV contracts, negotiate labor union contracts, but you can't seem to figure out and develop a system to keep track of overtime?

Dirtbag.
 

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
http://deadspin.com/root-for-the-giants-in-the-playoffs-1787379583

Root for the Giants because you believe in fate or because you believe the postseason is not about crowning the best team, but the team with the most will to survive. Root for the Giants if you appreciate them knocking the Cardinals out of the postseason in 2012 and 2014, and blocking their entry to the postseason this year. Root for the Giants because Hunter Pence looks like he’s been electrocuted, and Johnny Cueto’s celebratory Instagrams will be legendary.

But mostly, root for the Giants because after a 67-year hiatus, Vin Scully can finally go back to being a Giants fan.

Very wise words.
 

wbsmcs

Member
They have Keith's and Stella.

I think those are all Labatt products. They serve Shocktop too, or at least used to (last game I went to was in 2015) which is also Labatt.

Disgusting beers. Waiting for the day they get an Ontario craft section
 

3N16MA

Banned
I was at the game. Holy this that was fucking amazing. I've never experienced anything like that. Strangers were hugging & high-fiving each other. The crowd was deafening. What an amazing experience.

And I'm a mess this morning lol

Leafs fans have a lot of pent up emotion to let out. They have had nothing to cheer about.
 
I think those are all Labatt products. They serve Shocktop too, or at least used to (last game I went to was in 2015) which is also Labatt.

Disgusting beers. Waiting for the day they get an Ontario craft section


Labatt and bud are owned by the same company
 

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
fangraphs.com/blogs/the-craziest-part-of-showalters-crazy-decision/

Encarnacion came up to the plate with runners at first and third, with only one out, so the season-ending run was 90 feet away. Any reasonably deep fly ball would score Devon Travis, giving the Blue Jays the win. At that point, the Orioles badly needed one of two outcomes: preferably a strikeout, but if not a strikeout, then definitely a ground ball.

Edwin Encarnacion is a fly-ball hitter, only putting the ball on the ground about 36% of the time he makes contact. Ubaldo Jimenez is a slight ground-ball pitcher, with a 47% ground-ball rate for his career. If Encarnacion made contact against Jimenez, the likely outcome was that the ball was going to be in the air. And given Encarnacion’s strength, it probably wasn’t going to be a short fly ball. Regardless of what you think about how Jimenez has pitched lately, or the platoon matchup advantage, or any other reason you might like having Jimenez on the mound, in that situation, Jimenez was unlikely to get a ground ball, which is what the Orioles badly wanted to happen — if they couldn’t strike Encarnacion out, anyway.

Now, here’s the crazy part: no team in baseball history* has ever had a better option for this specific situation than the 2016 Orioles. Here at FanGraphs, we have batted-ball data back to 2002. Here are the highest single-season ground-ball rates we have recorded since then.

Britton has three of the four highest ground-ball rates we have on record, and this season, he became the first player to ever generate a ground ball on 80% of his balls in play allowed.
Even putting aside that Britton was far more likely to strike Encarnacion out — the best outcome possible — the difference in expected ground-ball rate with Jimenez and Britton on the mound makes a change there such an easy call. This is the situation for which Zach Britton was created. Instead of being put to use in the scenario in which he was most uniquely suited to succeed, he was forced to watched Ubaldo Jimenez screw it up.

Now, of course, using Britton there is no guarantee of success. Maybe Encarnacion hits a weak ground ball that rolls slow enough to allow Travis to race home before they can throw home. Maybe Britton throws a sinker in the dirt that Matt Wieters can’t block, and the Blue Jays win on a walkoff wild pitch. Or maybe Britton gets Encarnacion out, but then Jose Bautista gets a hit. Or maybe Britton gets out of it, and then the Orioles still don’t score, and then when Britton is finally relieved in the 13th, the Jays score against Dylan Bundy or whoever else they had left. Putting Britton in wasn’t some magical way to make sure the Orioles won the game.

But you couldn’t design a situation in which Britton’s skills were more necessary. Season on the line, a fly ball beats you, and the ground-balling-est pitcher who ever ground-balled sitting in your bullpen unused? The only way to explain that is if you’re just vehemently opposed to using your closer on the road in a tie game, in any case, under any scenario. And unfortunately for Buck Showalter, that ardent adherence to a misguided philosophy kept him from making an obvious call.

*History according to the stats they have compiled anyway.
 
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