MLB 2008

[papsrus]

Paps, Congrats, enjoy!!!!

As a Lifetime Red Sox fan i CONGRATULATE the RAYS . GREAT WIN they deserve to represent the

American League in the World Series !!!!

Yes indeed! What a story.

It is kind of ... unbelievable. :eye:

All props to the Red Sox. It was a battle. Hopefully, the first of many classic battles these two teams will have come fall.

Couple of observations on the ALCS, best I could tell:

* A young Rays staff, untested in the post-season, out-pitched a really good Red Sox starting rotation, no doubt a superior rotation when fully healthy. Beating Lester twice? No way that figures to happen.

* The long ball -- Rays bats caught lightning in a bottle just long enough to blow up a couple of games and carry them to a 3-1 series lead. The way the Sox battled back was unreal. That Game 5 will go down as a classic lesson on why you never leave the ballpark early in the playoffs. Or any time, for that matter!

* The Boston bats -- Ortiz hitting something like .150 for the ALCS killed the Sox. It's a different series if he's hitting anything like he's capable. Youkilis and Pedroia were mostly solid, downright scary at times. But after that it tailed off pretty quickly.

I'm sure Dan and others can break it all down better than I can, but overall the whole series (the whole season, really) just had the feel of right time, right place, and the Rays grasping the idea of "playing in the moment," as Maddon likes to say. One pitch at a time. That's baseball!! And in this one, every pitch cranked the tension up another notch. Ain't nothing like playoff baseball (I'm finding out).

Phillies should be solidly favored. I'm just hoping for a good series where both teams play the way they're capable. Another Game 7 would be a real treat!

Again, all props to the BoSox. They're still the beasts of the East and sure aren't going away anytime soon. Same time next year, if we're lucky.

Edited October 20, 2008 by papsrus

[tkeith]

First and foremost, congrats to the Rays; I can say now that I believe the better team won. If Lowell & Ortiz are healthy and Youk is playing first, I might feel otherwise. But this M*A*S*H unit acquitted themselves well and have nothing to be ashamed of. Lester threw a helluva game, AS DID GARZA. I was thrilled to get him out of the game, but there's no scapegoat here -- that was great baseball. Coco came the closest to a mistake when he was caught up in the mindset of breaking up the DP, but that's very forgivable. Jimmy Young was on NECN this morning and said he expects the Sox will give the Captain a 2-year offer, which I think is the right deal if you make it clear that he's coming back to help the transition to a new direction. JV may have other ideas, though. After the game he was very emotional when asked if this was his last game as a member of the team. He's had a bitch of a year, on and off the field, and may just be ready.

Tampa is an exciting, deep team (I mean Hinske is not even on the ROSTER! - a mistake if they don't change that for next series). Garza stepped up big time last night, and my hat is off to him -- he really pitched a helluva game. I was not in love with the home plate ump (wish McLelland had stayed behind for this one, too), but I don't think he can be blamed for the game's results, either. He made gaffs that hurt both teams, but nothing of game-changing proportions. I'm still not convinced Drew swung at the ball, but Bay definitely did, and frankly, I'm not sure Drew was going to catch up to that nasty shit Price was throwing.

I'll be rooting for Tampa Bay in the series (a big change because, Sox notwithstanding, I route NL), but I think Philly is going to roast them. Either way, it's going to be an exciting matchup (and I'll probably miss half of it because I won't have the guilt of going to bed on the home team!).

[tkeith]

Gotta disagree there. That Red Sox comeback in game five (which apprently was watched by everyone EXCEPT Red Sox fans) was unbelievable, game six was even more exciting, and this was one could've gone either way. All it could've taken was one swing of the bat. Series like this, IMHO, are what make baseball so wonderful.

I've agreed with 95% of what you've said post game 7, Al, but I have to cry foul here. The reason at least half of RSN missed the ending of game 5 is the asinine TV schedule. Just to be fair, Sox fans typically stay to the end of every game and don't miss a pitch (live). But when your game starts an hour later than usual, particularly during the school year, that really screws east coast fans, and frankly, I'm a little sick of it.

[BERIGAN]

I'm shocked to hear all the Philly being the favorite team talk here! All the folks on the post game panel seemed to be for the Rays. I think their biggest problem will be thinking they have already won the WS....Phillies may win it if the Rays are too agressive against Hamels and Moyer. If they pretend they are still playing the Red Sox, they will likely win it. I just hope whatever happens, it's not over in 4 or 5 games...

[zen archer]

Interesting talk on the post game with Jerry Remy last night. Remy said this series was lost in the first two games at

Fenway he called the whole team flat and the atmosphere was also quite flat ( too many championships? sox,pats, celts)

He also said there would be some major shake up with the team .....like who or what? The team seems pretty set if Lowell

can come back from todays surgery.

Make some major trade like with Drew or even Ellsbury ?, who really fell out of favor . I am thinking at this point that

Wakefield , Cora, Timlin , Kotsay, Casey maybe DelCarmen are all gone . Remy also thought that some team might give Varitek a 3 year deal with a one year option ????????....who would do that ?

I really think that here in Red Sox land we have really given Varitek a huge pass , i know he is really great at handling the pitchers . But last night those last three in the order were easy outs .

Remember when the Sox always had a Big Right hand bat off the bench .

[zen archer]

I'm shocked to hear all the Philly being the favorite team talk here! All the folks on the post game panel seemed to be for the Rays. I think their biggest problem will be thinking they have already won the WS....Phillies may win it if the Rays are too agressive against Hamels and Moyer. If they pretend they are still playing the Red Sox, they will likely win it. I just hope whatever happens, it's not over in 4 or 5 games...

There is something about the Rays it just looks like they are destined . And every time this year people have been waiting

for them to collapse and they DON'T .

[skeith]

This is why I will forever be fucking programmed to expect failure. And to lose this way, to a nothing pitcher who spent three innings throwing balls in the dirt and around people's heads, is fucking infuriating.

And as an aside, does that asshole Garza have a fucking salivary gland disorder? His compulsive spitting is disgusting and happens about every three seconds.

Dan

I know this is not much consolation, but your team put on a hell of a show being down 3-1 in the series and that comeback in the game the other night after being down 7-0 was truly amazing.

Hey, things could be worse - you could be an Indians fan.

That said, my congratulations to the Rays and their fans.

[WorldB3]

Paps,

Wanted to congratulate you on your team. Just because Dan thinks his team (the WS favorite with 10 X the payroll going in and that came off a WS title and won 95 games) are bunch of bums doesn't diminish what the Rays accomplished. Enjoy it.

[Big Al]

Gotta disagree there. That Red Sox comeback in game five (which apprently was watched by everyone EXCEPT Red Sox fans) was unbelievable, game six was even more exciting, and this was one could've gone either way. All it could've taken was one swing of the bat. Series like this, IMHO, are what make baseball so wonderful.

I've agreed with 95% of what you've said post game 7, Al, but I have to cry foul here. The reason at least half of RSN missed the ending of game 5 is the asinine TV schedule. Just to be fair, Sox fans typically stay to the end of every game and don't miss a pitch (live). But when your game starts an hour later than usual, particularly during the school year, that really screws east coast fans, and frankly, I'm a little sick of it.

Point well taken. I sometimes forget I'm in the Central time zone.

[Brad]

Interesting talk on the post game with Jerry Remy last night. Remy said this series was lost in the first two games at

Fenway he called the whole team flat and the atmosphere was also quite flat ( too many championships? sox,pats, celts)

There's only so many teams that you can spot a team a 3-1 edge and come back and win. Who knows but when you've won a title the year before one three years before that, maybe it takes the edge off a little bit. Still, they made it interesting.

[zen archer]

Interesting talk on the post game with Jerry Remy last night. Remy said this series was lost in the first two games at

Fenway he called the whole team flat and the atmosphere was also quite flat ( too many championships? sox,pats, celts)

There's only so many teams that you can spot a team a 3-1 edge and come back and win. Who knows but when you've won a title the year before one three years before that, maybe it takes the edge off a little bit. Still, they made it interesting.

I'll be honest i think it takes the edge OFF big time. In my opinion Red Sox nation has never been the same since these 2 championships. They might have saved us this year , give us something to moan and bitch about over the loooooooong winter.

Edited October 20, 2008 by zen archer

[Adam]

This is why I will forever be fucking programmed to expect failure. And to lose this way, to a nothing pitcher who spent three innings throwing balls in the dirt and around people's heads, is fucking infuriating.

i fail to understand, given that the Red Sox have won the World Series twice in the past 4 yours. Did you find reasons to complain about them even when they won the Series?

But, more generally, yes, all sports fans should be programmed to expect failure. After all, the vast majority of teams won't win the championship every year. Championships should be seen as a delightful surprise, and the true pleasure of sports should be found in the joy of watching or playing the games, not in winning championship. Yes, I know, un-American. But far healthier.

And this kinda feels like the year that the Florida Marlins came out of nowhere to win the Championship.

[Big Al]

This is why I will forever be fucking programmed to expect failure. And to lose this way, to a nothing pitcher who spent three innings throwing balls in the dirt and around people's heads, is fucking infuriating.

i fail to understand, given that the Red Sox have won the World Series twice in the past 4 yours. Did you find reasons to complain about them even when they won the Series?

No; in fact, Dan was very gracious during the WS last year.

And, amazingly, he damn-near pegged the NL Champion for this year:

When you get right down to it the Phils have some tremendous young players and if their pitching comes through I think they have as good a chance as any team to hoist a trophy in the next five years.

Link to last year's thread with Dan's spot-on prediction

[BERIGAN]

Interesting talk on the post game with Jerry Remy last night. Remy said this series was lost in the first two games at

Fenway he called the whole team flat and the atmosphere was also quite flat ( too many championships? sox,pats, celts)

There's only so many teams that you can spot a team a 3-1 edge and come back and win. Who knows but when you've won a title the year before one three years before that, maybe it takes the edge off a little bit. Still, they made it interesting.

I'll be honest i think it takes the edge OFF big time. In my opinion Red Sox nation has never been the same since these 2 championships. They might have saved us this year , give us something to moan and bitch about over the loooooooong winter.

Guess you guys will have to sign CC to keep him from the Yankees, get Lowe again(he really does want to play for the Sox again, think there will be any interest?) and re-sign Manny for 6 years, apologizing all over the place for not realizing that he is an iconic player!

[tkeith]

This is why I will forever be fucking programmed to expect failure. And to lose this way, to a nothing pitcher who spent three innings throwing balls in the dirt and around people's heads, is fucking infuriating.

i fail to understand, given that the Red Sox have won the World Series twice in the past 4 yours. Did you find reasons to complain about them even when they won the Series?

I'll go out on a limb here: Undoubtably, he did.

[tkeith]

Guess you guys will have to sign CC to keep him from the Yankees, get Lowe again(he really does want to play for the Sox again, think there will be any interest?) and re-sign Manny for 6 years, apologizing all over the place for not realizing that he is an iconic player!

This will ALL happen, just as soon as Theo rejects his contract offer and they rehire Dan Duquette.

[papsrus]

Game 7 of the ALCS sets viewership record

Nearly 13.4 million people watched the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Boston Red Sox 3-1 on Sunday night on TBS, the network said Monday. That broke the mark set by the 1998 Chicago Cubs-St. Louis Cardinals game on ESPN in which Mark McGwire hit his 61st home run to tie the single-season record.

Game 7 earned a 7.9 rating, with the series averaging a 4.6. That's up 64 percent from last year's NLCS on TBS, the Colorado Rockies' sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks in a series that lacked the large market and national appeal that the Red Sox bring.

[Quincy]

Anyone know the pre-season odds on the rays wining the world series?

You probably read it by now, but it was 200-1.

[Brad]

This was in today's New York Times:

Red Sox' Unusual Question: What Now

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Jason Varitek had to know the questions about his future were coming, but he still did not seem prepared for them. As soon as Varitek was asked if he had possibly played his final game with the Boston Red Sox on a tense Sunday night here, he ended the interview.

“I’d rather not go into that,” said Varitek, who was weepy before he could even finish the sentence.

After his response, Varitek covered his eyes with a towel, rose from a chair and walked away. He walked into an uncertain future after the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Red Sox, 3-1, in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series and rumbled into their first World Series. The Rays made the Red Sox look old because they basically make every team look old.

Varitek can be a free agent, so there is no guarantee he will be back with Boston in 2009. What to do about Varitek is one of several questions that the Red Sox will ponder as they ease into an off-season that they did not expect to begin so soon.

With Jon Lester starting the decisive game, the Red Sox were confident that they could win their third straight game and finish another comeback from a 3-1 deficit in an A.L.C.S. But they could not solve Matt Garza across seven innings and were introduced to David Price in a memorable eighth. The Rays were more resilient this time, preventing Boston from pursuing a second consecutive World Series title.

“A lot of the young guys, we don’t know this feeling,” Lester said. “We know winning. I think that’s what we’ll be thinking about in the off-season.”

If the Red Sox had lost the series in five games, which they were seven outs from doing, there would have been more angst about how their season ended. Although there is still immense angst anytime the Red Sox lose, they staged the second-greatest comeback in postseason history, rallying from seven runs down in Game 5, and kept their season alive until Game 7. As always, the Red Sox were tough to subdue.

“We gave ourselves a chance to win,” closer Jonathan Papelbon said. “We just fell a little bit short.”

What the Red Sox lacked against Garza was what they lacked for most of the postseason: offensive consistency. Garza and four relievers held the Red Sox to one run and three hits. Dustin Pedroia had a home run in the first inning to give the Red Sox hope, but it proved to be their final run of 2008.

David Ortiz batted .186 in the postseason and acknowledged that the Red Sox missed Manny Ramírez. Mike Lowell, who formed a powerful 3-4-5 combination with Ortiz and Ramírez last year, hobbled through two postseason games before having hip surgery Monday. The Red Sox cannot reasonably expect Ortiz and Lowell to produce the same way that they did in the last few years, which could lead them to add another power hitter.

Still, when General Manager Theo Epstein addressed reporters in Boston on Monday, he emphasized that the team would be selective in pursuing free agents. Mark Teixeira, a first baseman, is the most attractive hitter on the market. If the Colorado Rockies try to trade outfielder Matt Holliday, the Red Sox could use some of their prospects to make a deal.

“I can’t give you one theme, ‘This is what we need to improve,’ ” Epstein said. “I think we’re pretty solid. But we need to get better, too.”

The Red Sox and the Yankees have always kept an eye on what the other is doing, but both teams will have to pay just as much attention to the Rays now. Epstein was surely referring to the Rays when he said the competition reinforced the idea that the Red Sox must keep “getting younger and more dynamic.”

In a season that was clouded by the Ramírez trade and by injuries to Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett, Ortiz, Lowell and Julio Lugo, the Red Sox received contributions from young players like pitcher Justin Masterson, shortstop Jed Lowrie and outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, although Ellsbury and Lowrie fizzled in the postseason. The 24-year-old Clay Buchholz, who has already thrown a no-hitter, is a pitcher the Red Sox need to blossom in 2009.

Garza said he fell asleep with his cellphone in his hand at 4 a.m. Monday, but he was not so woozy later in the day to think that the Rays had forever vanquished Boston. The Rays asserted themselves as the little brother who is now the toughest kid on the A.L. block. But Garza noted how the Red Sox have a strong rotation with Lester, Beckett and Daisuke Matsuzaka and that should make them formidable again.

“They’re still going to be good,” Garza said. “They’re still going to be back next year. You can’t forget about the Yankees. The Yankees will be in the mix, too.”

Outside the Red Sox clubhouse Sunday night, some forlorn family members wore blue and red shirts with the message, “Respect Beantown” on the front. The Rays respected the Red Sox, but they did not fear a team that was chasing a dynasty. There is a big difference

[Soulstation1]

Anyone see that Jose Canseco special on A&E last night?

25 years of 'roids

[papsrus]

Anyone see that Jose Canseco special on A&E last night?

25 years of 'roids

Mike & Mike mentioned it this morning. Apparently the guy is a total wreck -- he's broke, the bank's foreclosed on his house, he's completely impotent and now saying he's sorry he ever wrote a book about roids in baseball in the first place. Hard to know what to believe with this guy, I guess.

[WorldB3]

Anyone see that Jose Canseco special on A&E last night?

25 years of 'roids

Mike & Mike mentioned it this morning. Apparently the guy is a total wreck -- he's broke, the bank's foreclosed on his house, he's completely impotent and now saying he's sorry he ever wrote a book about roids in baseball in the first place. Hard to know what to believe with this guy, I guess.

Canseco is a disgrace. Part of it though is the money and the way stats equals more money for players and agents. Canseco and Sosa were both five tool players that could hit for power, average, steal bases, good arms in the outfield but they both chose to be one dimensional and focus on power only. Even without roids agents are telling players to go for the stats and not play the game the right way.

In addition to the long ball its time for owners and fans to love being able to take an extra base, field your position, move a runner over once in a while, take the ball the other way for a single with a runner in scoring position instead of going for the fences every time.

[Chalupa]

Guess who's singing the Star-Spangled Banner for game 1???

[paul secor]

Guess who's singing the Star-Spangled Banner for game 1???

Good reason to tune in late.

[WorldB3]

Good reason to tune in late.

I haven't listened to the sound of a FOX broadcast with Buck and McCarver in years. I don't care if the radio is 3 plays ahead I would rather have a root canal with Whitney Houston's Greatest Hits plying then listen to Tim "F-ing Captain Obvious" McCarver.

"since the AL won the All Star game that means the Rays have the home field advantage and get to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning, unless they already have the lead after the top of the ninth then they won't have to bat in the bottom of the ninth because they would have already would have won the game and that is why home field advantage is an advantage.."...

Updated with some actual quotes from McCarver.

Well, David Eckstein, like most of us, has 20 digits. Ten fingers. Ten toes.

Pitching is such a vital part of the game, as far as winning is concerned

Roy Oswalt is a drop and drive pitcher. What is a drop and drive pitcher? He is a guy who drops and drives. Very simple.

If you leadoff and you play every day, you're guaranteed to bat with the bases empty at least 162 times

Edited October 22, 2008 by WorldB3