Baseball

[smc]

Originally Posted by dauls

At the start of the season I wonder how many baseball fans picked Texas as their 2010 AL Champs?

Now for Roy Oswalt in Game 6. Has Manuel's odd midweek decision to use Oswalt from the bullpen taken too much out of him?

Actually, dauls, three of five Boston Globe baseball writers picked Texas to win the division. It's pretty odd for anyone to go so far as to predict post-season outcomes before the start of the season.

Manuel's "odd midweek decision to use Oswalt" is only one of several highly questionable calls by Manuel. For instance, why didn't he have Jimmy Rollins bunt the runner over from second to third, with no outs late in that game?

Of course, since I'm rooting for the Giants, I would like his streak of dumbness to continue.

[shadows]

Well, it's over. The Philly offense was garbage again and good ol' Howard struck out to end the game(that guy strikes out waaaaaay too much).

San Francisco won the game 3-2 and took the series 4-2 and will now host Texas in the 2010 World Series.

I am rooting for Texas to win it all.

[ila]

Originally Posted by shadows

Well, it's over. The Philly offense was garbage again and good ol' Howard struck out to end the game(that guy strikes out waaaaaay too much).

San Francisco won the game 3-2 and took the series 4-2 and will now host Texas in the 2010 World Series.

I am rooting for Texas to win it all.

I'm also going for Texas. The series has the potential to be quite exciting.

[shadows]

Originally Posted by ila

I'm also going for Texas. The series has the potential to be quite exciting.

It will be interesting to see if Texas can acclimate to the National League rule of no DH and whether or not it will hurt the offense that was so good against the Yankees.

[dauls]

Originally Posted by shadows

Well, it's over. The Philly offense was garbage again and good ol' Howard struck out to end the game(that guy strikes out waaaaaay too much).

San Francisco won the game 3-2 and took the series 4-2 and will now host Texas in the 2010 World Series.

I am rooting for Texas to win it all.

But seriously, the best team won the series.

Where was the Phillies offense in the postseason?


Ryan Howard has always struck out too often, in 2007 he set a new single season record of 199 (played only 144 games).

It was obviously a feat he enjoyed so much because in 2008 he bagged another 199 strikeouts (162 games).

But in the same season his blushes were spared by Arizona's Mark Reynolds, who totaled 204 strikeouts.

Mark Reynolds has since made this record his own with 223 (in 155 games in 2009) and 211 (2010).

Ryan Howard's 13 strikeouts in the 2009 World Series is another all-time record.

Until checking, I always thought Ryan Howard was "Mr. Goes Down Swinging", he averages 192 strikouts per 162 games, but Mark Reynolds is on another planet and averages 221 per 162 games.


The Arizona Swing-'n'-Misses
The season Mark Reynolds helped Arizona D'backs set a new single season team strikout record of 1,529 - breaking the previous record of 1,399 by the 2001 Brewers. How the hell can the D'backs break the record by 130 strikeouts? Do they have a batting coach?

[smc]

It will be a good series. I'm rooting for the Giants. I usually root for any American League team other than the Yankees, but I have a soft spot for the Giants. They were my grandpa's team from their New York days, and I have some strong connections to the Bay Area.

[dauls]

Originally Posted by smc

It will be a good series. I'm rooting for the Giants. I usually root for any American League team other than the Yankees, but I have a soft spot for the Giants. They were my grandpa's team from their New York days, and I have some strong connections to the Bay Area.

I can't side with either team, but a close series decided in Game 7 would be ideal.

[smc]

Nick Cafardo, one of the outstanding baseball writers for The Boston Globe, writes this morning that baseball owners will be discussing adding teams to the playoffs -- something that would have to be negotiated with the players union -- as early as 2012.

According to Cafardo, the thinking is to add an additional wild card in each league, have them play one game or a 3-game series to determine which one advances, and then commence with the division, league, and World Series as they exist now.

There are implications for the regular season. The head of the players union, Michael Weiner, told the Globe a few months ago and just reiterated to Cafardo that "some of the players have said that either we could shorten the regular season because the regular season's too long, or we should shorten the regular season to accommodate an expanded post-season."

There are serious revenue issues for owners if the regular season is shortened, so that's probably a non-starter. So, the likely outcome is baseball well into November, if this idea is adopted.

Commissioner Bud Selig has long stated his pride in the fact that baseball has the fewest number of playoff teams, making it the toughest sport in which to make the post-season.

In my opinion, this is a terrible idea.

[shadows]

I disagree. I would like to see more teams in the post-season. Being in the AL East(the hardest division in baseball in my opinion), I would like the Jays to have more of a chance to make it to the post-season.

smc, what do you think of the following?

1. John Farrell as the new Manager of the Toronto Blue Jays.

2. The rumours of Manny Ramirez stating that the Blue Jays could be a good fit for him(due to the aforementioned signing of Farrell no doubt).