Kolek planning to go pro
The Kershaw playoff speedbump continues....and yes, I still agree with you that every team would take him in a heartbeat, but for whatever reason he has struggled in the playoffs. Like many great players, hitters included. Saw an interesting stat the other day about hall of fame players and their playoff numbers, many are really poor.
I would say we were the best team in baseball through about 135 games. When Richards went down, Shoemaker went down, we were not nearly as good. Hamilton, as mediocre as he is, at least was a .270ish hitter until he missed the last month of the season. Those are big coggs. Even with them, it's hard to say best team simply because of best record. The best team in a 162 game season often takes advantage of those wins you get with the #4 and #5 starters, and those guys usually don't pitch in the playoffs. So if you're a top 10ish team but 3 stud starters and get to the playoffs, you might be better playoff team than one with 5 very good starters (but not studs) that get you more regular season wins over the longhaul, but not in short series. IMO
And your MVP hit a whopping .083. If you want to throw the bum under the bus every team will take him too.
Apparently you didn't read my whole post.....not surprised
Underdogs who have won:4 - KC, KC, Baltimore, SFUnderdogs who lead:1- SFFavorites who have won:0Favorites who lead:0Series that are tied:1- STL vs LAWow. Talk about your crap shoots.
Update: Underdogs who have won: 6Favorites who have won: 0Series underdogs win 14 games, favorites 2.
I take exception with your considering Baltimore the dog in that series.
Exception noted. However, the Vegas line was Detroit -150, Baltimore +130. So Detroit was the favorite.Yours is not an uncommon error. Sportswriters/sportscasters routinely and lazily report games as "upsets" that are nothing of the kind. When the #4 ranked team is a 3 point favorite at home vs the #2 ranked team it's not an "upset" when #4 wins.
It may be more that the Cardinals have his number. He has the higher ERA against the Cards than any other NL team, and a higher WHIP than against any other NL team. Also hard to fault him for yesterday. He threw 6 innings masterfully on 3 days rest. The 7th got him. But that was still a useful outing in most cases.
I think you're probably right, but they went 16-11 over those last 27 games, which was their expected record to keep pace with the first 135 games. They kept gaining ground on stumbling Seattle and Oakland over that time and never relinquished the best record in the Al mantle, so unless you were paying very close attention you probably didn't notice that the chinks in the armor were starting to show. I sure tended to just think of them as the best team in the AL, even knowing that Richards went down.At least for me, the bottom line is that while KC's bullpen is tremendous for innings 7-9, its starters and middle relief are merely good and the Angels didn't make hay against them like I thought they would.
I was happy....another year for the Doyers and another 1988 clap clap.
http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/just-a-bit-outside/story/matt-williams-nationals-manager-nlds-game4-bullpen-100814Excellent article about Matt Williams' terrible managing in a game with the season on the line.I think the same could be written about Mattingly. Letting Uribe and A.J.Ellis bat in the 9th inning of the most important game of the year with the game on the line? Leaving Puig on the bench? With the season on the line? And knowing that Ellis is the unquestioned worst hitting starting catcher in either league?He benched Puig while leaving Gordon, Gonzalez and Uribe in the lineup despite the fact they were all hitting around 100 points less than Puig.
Ryan Braun has been cleared to swing a baseball bat less than a week after having surgery. So let me get this straight, the recovery time is what, absolute worst case a month? He couldn't have had this surgery at the All Star Break after completely sucking for the previous 2 months? Talk about a phony.
Wow, I'm very concerned for Benny. Being able to mimic Myron Medcalf's writing so closely implies an oncoming case of dementia.
Out of curiosity... is there a distinction between "cleared to swing a bat" and "cleared to hit a ball" or are both synonymous?
Yeah that's why I gave a rough timeline of a month that he might've been out of game play, because obviously just swinging a bat is much different than hitting a 95 mph pitch. But if he's cleared to swing a bat less than a month after the surgery then I'm assuming the total recovery time couldn't be overly long. Maybe I'm wrong there.
I was happy....another year for the Doyers and another 1988 clap clap. Yes, I would take him in a second, he's a stud. He pitched well yesterday, but whether it's the Cardinals or the pressure or something, he's had a tough go in the playoffs as have many greats as I alluded to earlier. Some amazing numbers for some of the greats in the playoffs. Some also started out very slow (i.e. Manny Ramirez), but then in the back half of their career went insane...so they figure it out. Baseball is a cruel game, but also what makes it so great. It gives you Jim Leyritz moments from an otherwise obscure player. David Eckstein, one of my favorite players of all time...MVP of the WS. Rick Dempsey. Etc.
Yeaaaa, the only problem with it is that the lady friend has been none to happy...
Kershaw in the playoffs last year:vs. ATL7 IP, 3H, 3 BB, 12K, 1 ER6 IP, 3H, 1 BB, 6K, 0 ERvs STL6 IP, 2H, 1 BB, 5K, 0 ERThen he had the clunker4 IP, 10H, 2 BB, 5K, 7 ERThat is one tough game. Hard to say a tough go in the playoffs. And for this year it was so odd. I can't recall seeing a guy go from so dominant, as he was through 6 IP in both starts, to unable to get an out in the 7th both times. Maybe it is pressure, who knows. But he was unreal those first 6 IP both times, very odd lines for those games. For the playoffs, before this year, his line goes like this:4.21 ERA, 38Ks, 14BB, 36.1 IP, 32 H, .237 BAAThat isn't great, and certainly not Kershaw-like; but it isn't terrible either. Not sure what to make of it, it is just, odd.
Move your money to KC.