2023 MLB Thread

[dparrott]

I don't care who wins, I'm just happy for some new blood in there finally.

[Glasser]

I don't care who wins, I'm just happy for some new blood in there finally.

You said it perfect! Would be cool to see Texas get their first but the Dbacks beat what appeared to be an invincible Phillies team so good for them.

[pg1067]

I would typically root against a division rival - especially one that beat the Dodgers to get there - but the D-backs and their fans are relatively inoffensive.  As a result, I don't really have a rooting interest.

In such a situation, I default to the team that has never won or, if there is no such team, the team with the longest drought.  Therefore, go Rangers (I also like Corey Seager and came to like Adolis Garcia in the last series)!  But a competitive, well-played series will be more important, regardless of who wins.

Interesting factoid, teams who beat the Brewers in the playoffs seem to do well….

1981 - Yankees over Brewers in ALDS. Yankees lose WS to LA.
1982 - Cardinals over Brewers in WS.
2008 - Phillies over Brewers in NLDS. Phillies win WS against Tampa Bay.
2011 - Cardinals over Brewers in NLCS. Cardinals win WS against Texas.
2018 - Dodgers over Brewers in NLCS. Dodgers lose WS to Boston.
2019 - Nationals over Brewers in NLWC. Nationals win WS against Houston.
2020 - Dodgers over Brewers in NLWC series. Dodgers win WS against Tampa Bay.
2021 - Braves beat Brewers in NLDS series. Braves win WS against Houston.

The streak continues with Arizona.

I went out at lunch and heard about 10 minutes of local sports talk radio, and one of the guys mentioned this!  It's really pretty impressive - every time (9/9) the Brewers made the playoffs, the team that beat them made the WS (and, in 6/8 prior seasons, won it)!


By the way, in the last two games of the NLCS, Philly's big names put up these numbers:

Schwarber:  1-5, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 3K
Turner:  0-8, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 1K
Harper:  0-7, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 3K
Realmuto:  2-8, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 3K
Castellanos:  0-8, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 4K

That's a combined 3-36 (.083) with 14K (and ZERO production from more than half the lineup).

In fact, for the entire series, Turner and Castellanos were a combined 6-49 (.122), 2 HR, 4 RBI, 15K (with one of the RBI coming on a bases loaded walk)

Makes me feel a LITTLE better about Betts and Freeman.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

My problem with Adolis Garcia is he needs to stop admiring his doubles that fall short of home runs. A lot of these "star" players have little to no hustle or respect for the game.

I always think back to players like Hunter Pence, who gave 110% no matter what. Even those supposed easy groundouts he would run out as fast as possible. Sometimes good things happen when you force the defense to speed up a little bit. They make more mistakes or you have the potential to beat out close plays. Besides which, it's just the right way to play the game.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Well, that was a hell of a way to start the World Series.

[Dream Team]

Well, that was a hell of a way to start the World Series.

Yes indeed! Go Rangers.

Regarding pg1067’s post, you can’t keep it going forever. Very rarely does the same hitter stay super-hot through 3 or 4 playoff series of good pitching although it has happened. Regression to the mean.

[pg1067]

My problem with Adolis Garcia is he needs to stop admiring his doubles that fall short of home runs. A lot of these "star" players have little to no hustle or respect for the game.

I always think back to players like Hunter Pence, who gave 110% no matter what. Even those supposed easy groundouts he would run out as fast as possible. Sometimes good things happen when you force the defense to speed up a little bit. They make more mistakes or you have the potential to beat out close plays. Besides which, it's just the right way to play the game.

Yeah...I don't disagree with any of that, although I'm hesitant to say anything positive about Hunter Pence.

Great game last night.  I'll be at a tribute band show tonight, so I won't see game 2, but I hope it's equally as exciting.

[pg1067]

This World Series has been really hit and miss.

Game 1 was really fun, and game 3 was an excellent pitchers' duel.  However, games 2 and 4 were total messes.  Last night's game was a total blowout until some sloppy pitching decisions by Bruce Bochy allowed the Diamondbacks to creep back within grand-slam distance.

The average length of the first four games has been 3:17 (a number that drops to 3:07 per 9 innings when you adjust for the extra inning game 1).  By contrast:

2022 - 3:36 (3:32 adjusted) average game length
2021 - 3:38
2020 - 3:34
2019 - 3:45
2018 - 4:16 (3:34 adjusted)
2017 - 3:42 (3:32 adjusted)

2018 featured an 18-inning game 3, and 2017 featured a 2:28 game 1, which is the shortest World Series game by time since game 4 of the 1992 Series).  2023 is the first year since 2010 to feature two sub-3:00 games.


Given what the Diamondbacks did in Philadelphia in the NLCS, I think the Rangers need to have some urgency to close things out tonight with Nate Eovaldi on the mound.

[hunnus2000]

Go Rangers! 

What they did was nothing sort of amazing. Boche was brilliant in this series in taking one of the worst teams in baseball World Champs in a dominating fashion. 

[Dream Team]

Yeah he's an amazing manager. Lost Garcia and Scherzer and it just didn't matter. Congrats to this long-suffering fan base.

[pg1067]

The average length of the first four games has been 3:17 (a number that drops to 3:07 per 9 innings when you adjust for the extra inning game 1).  By contrast:

2022 - 3:36 (3:32 adjusted) average game length
2021 - 3:38
2020 - 3:34
2019 - 3:45
2018 - 4:16 (3:34 adjusted)
2017 - 3:42 (3:32 adjusted)

2018 featured an 18-inning game 3, and 2017 featured a 2:28 game 1, which is the shortest World Series game by time since game 4 of the 1992 Series).  2023 is the first year since 2010 to feature two sub-3:00 games.

Just to tie this up...last night's game was 2:54, which means the average game length was 3:13 (3:05 per 9 innings - adjusted for the one extra inning game).  It's the first World Series since 2006 to feature three sub-3:00 games (the average game length in 2006 was 3:05 (with no extra inning games).


I didn't watch yesterday's game carefully because I did pub trivia with a friend and only caught the game, with no sound, on one of the TVs.  However, it looked like one helluva pitching duel for the first 8 innings.  Gallen pitched his ass off, and it's a shame that he had to take the loss in that game.

Congrats to the Rangers and their fans, and big congrats to Corey ("not Pete and not Bob") for becoming only the second player ever to win World Series MVP with two different teams.

[KevShmev]

I don't watch or follow baseball anymore, but as a longtime Cardinals fan who remembers 2011, I am glad the Rangers fans finally got their World Series victory.  Losing the way they did in 2011 was beyond brutal.

[pg1067]

I don't watch or follow baseball anymore, but as a longtime Cardinals fan who remembers 2011, I am glad the Rangers fans finally got their World Series victory.  Losing the way they did in 2011 was beyond brutal.

Man...I don't know what the actual stats are, but I gotta believe that 8 out of 10 rightfielders catch that Freese triple and end the series (or, at the very least, if he didn't misplay it, the tying run likely doesn't score).  Then they get another 2-run lead right away and give it right back.  It's kind of a meaningless statement, but it really seemed like the Cards just WANTED it more.

[HOF]

Kind of wild that Nelson Cruz just now retired in the same year the Rangers finally won the WS. And that he crammed what would be a near hall of fame career (if not for PEDs) in between those dates (358 HRs).

[pg1067]

I just found a good trivia question.

Josh Jung (Rangers 3B) became only the third rookie to start the All-Star Game and win the World Series in the same year.  Who were the other two?

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

I just found a good trivia question.

Josh Jung (Rangers 3B) became only the third rookie to start the All-Star Game and win the World Series in the same year.  Who were the other two?

I can't remember if Buster Posey started the Allstar game in 2010...

[HOF]

Maybe Andruw Jones?

[pg1067]

Nope and nope.  One of them happened in one of the earliest ASGs.  The other was from the '80s.

[DragonAttack]

Fernando Valenzuela was one of them.

[KevShmev]

I don't watch or follow baseball anymore, but as a longtime Cardinals fan who remembers 2011, I am glad the Rangers fans finally got their World Series victory.  Losing the way they did in 2011 was beyond brutal.

Man...I don't know what the actual stats are, but I gotta believe that 8 out of 10 rightfielders catch that Freese triple and end the series (or, at the very least, if he didn't misplay it, the tying run likely doesn't score).  Then they get another 2-run lead right away and give it right back.  It's kind of a meaningless statement, but it really seemed like the Cards just WANTED it more.

I think the tying run scores easily even if Cruz doesn't missplay it (there were two out, so the runner was going on contact), but he still should have caught it.  I don't usually buy "team of destiny" narratives, but it sure seemed like the Cardinals were destiny's darlings that October.

[pg1067]

Fernando Valenzuela was one of them.

Ding ding ding.  The other was a Yankee (shocking, I know).

I don't watch or follow baseball anymore, but as a longtime Cardinals fan who remembers 2011, I am glad the Rangers fans finally got their World Series victory.  Losing the way they did in 2011 was beyond brutal.

Man...I don't know what the actual stats are, but I gotta believe that 8 out of 10 rightfielders catch that Freese triple and end the series (or, at the very least, if he didn't misplay it, the tying run likely doesn't score).  Then they get another 2-run lead right away and give it right back.  It's kind of a meaningless statement, but it really seemed like the Cards just WANTED it more.

I think the tying run scores easily even if Cruz doesn't missplay it (there were two out, so the runner was going on contact), but he still should have caught it.  I don't usually buy "team of destiny" narratives, but it sure seemed like the Cardinals were destiny's darlings that October.

Had he been playing appropriately deep, he should have caught the ball.  There's also an argument that, having played so shallow, he should have stopped short and played the ball off the wall.  Lance Berkman was hardly a speed burner, so he may have been held at third.  Who knows what happens after that?  But yeah, that was definitely a "team of destiny" situation.

[T-ski]

Craig Counsell says good bye to Milwaukee and hello to the Cubs. Brewers fans are aghast.

Money talks.

[pg1067]

Craig Counsell says good bye to Milwaukee and hello to the Cubs. Brewers fans are aghast.

Money talks.

Interesting...that seems like a lateral move, at best.  Or was it a mutual parting of the ways in Milwaukee?

[T-ski]

Craig Counsell says good bye to Milwaukee and hello to the Cubs. Brewers fans are aghast.

Money talks.

Interesting...that seems like a lateral move, at best.  Or was it a mutual parting of the ways in Milwaukee?

His contract was up at the end of the season and there was a lot of speculation he was either going to take a couple years off to watch his kids play baseball (one’s at Minnesota the other at Michigan) or follow former Brewers GM David Stearns to the Mets. Brewers offered him $5.5M/year to stay, which would have made him the highest paid manager in MLB, but the Cubs offered him $8M to come to Chicago.

Brewers ownership is pretty tight with money so it’s possible he felt like he didn’t want to keep dealing with the limitations in Milwaukee and wanted a chance elsewhere.  But to go to Chicago is quite a decision considering he basically grew up in Milwaukee.

[HOF]

As a Cubs fan, I both hate this and love it. Love it because I do think Counsell is on the short list of best managers in the game. Hate it because he’s been a thorn in the Cubs’ side since 2017 and because I genuinely like David Ross and hate to see him go. Going from a franchise hero to a villain. But it bodes well for the Cubs’ future I think.

[lordxizor]

How did the Brewers let him get to the end of his contract? Did Counsell not want to sign an extension? A "free agent" manager is a weird thing. They typically either get fired, or sign extensions.

[DragonAttack]

I just found a good trivia question.

Josh Jung (Rangers 3B) became only the third rookie to start the All-Star Game and win the World Series in the same year.  Who were the other two?

Fernando Valenzuela was one of them.

Ding ding ding.  The other was a Yankee (shocking, I know).

Your hint of the 80s gave it away. 

Since it's been a few days, DiMaggio was the other.  I would have guessed him or Mantle, but Mickey didn't make the AS game until his second season.

[DragonAttack]

From yesterday’s ‘The Athletic’
"How Canadian rock star Geddy Lee of Rush became an unlikely archivist of America’s pastime"

https://theathletic.com/5022106/2023/11/06/geddy-lee-rush-baseball-collection/

The article and picture are in the Rush v. Dirk, Pratt, & Lerxst thread  https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=33827.6825

During the Orioles first trip to Toronto this year, someone posted a pic from a Sunday game with Geddy in the first row behind home plate.

[pg1067]

Craig Counsell says good bye to Milwaukee and hello to the Cubs. Brewers fans are aghast.

Money talks.

Interesting...that seems like a lateral move, at best.  Or was it a mutual parting of the ways in Milwaukee?

His contract was up at the end of the season and there was a lot of speculation he was either going to take a couple years off to watch his kids play baseball (one’s at Minnesota the other at Michigan) or follow former Brewers GM David Stearns to the Mets. Brewers offered him $5.5M/year to stay, which would have made him the highest paid manager in MLB, but the Cubs offered him $8M to come to Chicago.

Brewers ownership is pretty tight with money so it’s possible he felt like he didn’t want to keep dealing with the limitations in Milwaukee and wanted a chance elsewhere.  But to go to Chicago is quite a decision considering he basically grew up in Milwaukee.

I thought it might be that he was feeling like he had done all he could do in Milly-wah-kay-uh.

If the Dodgers ever cut Dave Roberts loose, I wouldn't mind seeing David Ross on the bench.

Your hint of the 80s gave it away. 

Since it's been a few days, DiMaggio was the other.  I would have guessed him or Mantle, but Mickey didn't make the AS game until his second season.

It's a good trivia question in the sense that it's really difficult unless one has a good sense of the entirety of baseball history.  I didn't want to let it drag too long here, and obviously dropping a decade makes it easy to think through who won those Series.

From yesterday’s ‘The Athletic’
"How Canadian rock star Geddy Lee of Rush became an unlikely archivist of America’s pastime"

If I ever got a chance to sit down and talk with Geddy, I'm not sure whether we'd spend more time talking about bass playing or baseball.  I love the story about how, when he'd wake up while on tour, the only things on TV were soap operas and the Cubs/Braves on WGN/TBS.  If anyone hasn't seen his "Big Interview with Dan Rather," I highly recommend it.

[HOF]

How did the Brewers let him get to the end of his contract? Did Counsell not want to sign an extension? A "free agent" manager is a weird thing. They typically either get fired, or sign extensions.

He wanted a chance to be a free agent and set the market for manager contracts. So once his contract was up, he wasn’t going to stay in Milwaukee unless they outbid the field. But he also apparently wanted to stay close by which is why he chose the Cubs over the Mets.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

The Winter Meetings are here and it sure seems like the Giants will sort of try and ultimately fail at signing any star free agents.

[pg1067]

The Winter Meetings are here and it sure seems like the Giants will sort of try and ultimately fail at signing any star free agents.

A colleague walked into my office about 30 minutes ago and said he's "hearing" Ohtani to the Dodgers and Yamamoto to the Giants (for what that's worth).

[Samsara]

And I just heard Ohtani to the Blue Jays and Yamamoto to the Yankees. So who knows? 

[Glasser]

Yeah, Ohtani's camp doesn't want any info leaked, good luck with that. Cashman is a fucking moron with a big mouth, so as a Yankee fan I'm not happy with him, Randy Levine or Hal.... When George died, so did the Yankees. Clueless idiots.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

I think the Giants are making a mistake by sitting on their hands waiting to see where Ohtani will sign. If they want a better chance of signing him, they need to go out and get 1 or 2 other bigger name free agents to show they mean business.