2012 MLB Thread

[CTWarrior]

I think thats what he meant by righting a wrong - ie making it harder for a wild card team to make a deep run. I'm on board with this train of thought (unless I'm misreading every one). In addition to having to win the one game playoff, there's no overstating how important it is to take the WC winner's rotation out of schedule.  Most teams are in the WC because they don't have a ton of pitching depth, and you basically force that team to use 4 SPs in the first two rounds.

I disagree.  Why should the Orioles and Rangers be at a disadvantage to the Tigers, when they both had better records in tougher divisions?.  The Tigers would have finished 4th in the AL East or AL West.  The best wild card will usually have a better record than at least one division winner.  Further, the AL would have been MORE exciting with only one wild card as the four teams would have been worried about total exclusion.  Last year was one of the greatest last days ever and it would not have been if there were 2 wild cards.  The second wild card will reduce excitement as often as it creates it, and all for the sake of punishing a team that usually isn't the worst of the 4 playoff teams in the league.

[tower912]

Anyone care to make predictions about the playoffs.   I won't.    Having watched >140 Tiger games this year, I can honestly say they have an equal chance of getting swept by the A's as they have winning it all. 

[Otule's Glass Eye]

Anyone care to make predictions about the playoffs.   I won't.    Having watched >140 Tiger games this year, I can honestly say they have an equal chance of getting swept by the A's as they have winning it all. 

AL:

Wild Card: Orioles beat Rangers

ALDS: A's beat Tigers
ALDS: Yankees beat Orioles

ALCS: Yankees beat A's

NL:

Wild Card: Braves beat Cards

NLDS: Giants beat Reds
NLDS: Braves beat Nats

NLCS: Braves beat Giants

World Series: Braves beat Yankees

[buckchuckler]

The Braves are just killing themselves

[Benny B]

The Braves are just killing themselves

Maybe we should blame the replacement umps?

[Otule's Glass Eye]

looks like my prediction 3 posts up has already been destroyed, guess I'll say I like the Nats now. Stinkin Cards.

[BM1090]

Cards will win it all again. And I'll cry myself to sleep again.

[WI inferiority Complexes]

AL:

ALDS: Tigers over A's (with the Tigers winning every game not started by Verlander)
ALDS: Orioles over Yankees (with the Yankees losing at least two at The Stadium)

ALCS: Tigers over Orioles (w/ Prince having a big series and the O's closer Johnson blowing a game)

NL:

NLDS: Giants over Reds (w/ the headlines focusing on how Baker screwed it up)
NLDS: Cards over Nats (w/ St. Louis getting unexpected power from some middle infielder or back-up catcher)

NLCS: Gaints over Cards (with Matt Cain as the MVP of the series that goes seven games)

World Series: Giants over Tigers (w/ Detroit's poor defense finally catching up with them)

[🏀]

AL:

ALDS: Tigers over A's (with the Tigers winning every game not started by Verlander)
ALDS: Orioles over Yankees (with the Yankees losing at least two at The Stadium)

ALCS: Tigers over Orioles (w/ Prince having a big series and the O's closer Johnson blowing a game)

NL:

NLDS: Giants over Reds (w/ the headlines focusing on how Baker screwed it up)
NLDS: Cards over Nats (w/ St. Louis getting unexpected power from some middle infielder or back-up catcher)

NLCS: Gaints over Cards (with Matt Cain as the MVP of the series that goes seven games)

World Series: Giants over Tigers (w/ Detroit's poor defense finally catching up with them)

I like this prediction. Add in Jim Johnson shutting down the Yankees in Mariano fashion.

[jmayer1]

I like this prediction. Add in Jim Johnson shutting down the Yankees in Mariano fashion.

Ouch, not so much on this one PTM...can't win em all.

Awesome game last night. Amazing comeback by the Cards (admittedly bias as a Stl fan)!!

[Otule's Glass Eye]

Ouch, not so much on this one PTM...can't win em all.

Awesome game last night. Amazing comeback by the Cards (admittedly bias as a Stl fan)!!

I am so frustrated that the Cards cant lose a series. They seem to be under God's watch or something.

[tower912]

Jeter with a fractured ankle.   I am clearly a Tiger fan, but I would infinitely prefer having Jeter out there.   

[Otule's Glass Eye]

Jeter with a fractured ankle.   I am clearly a Tiger fan, but I would infinitely prefer having Jeter out there.   

It really didnt look that bad when I watched it in real time but in slow-mo zoomed in he really rolled it bad.

[WI inferiority Complexes]

I am so frustrated that the Cards cant lose a series. They seem to be under God's watch or something.

I also root against the Cardinals, but think that the "Cardinals Luck" discussion is becoming overblown.

The fact is that St. Louis makes the playoffs very, very often, and has bad and good luck once in the postseason. Just in the last 10 years, they've had their fair share of both good and bad postseasons:

In '02 they lost in the NLCS to the Wild Card Giants
In '04 they won 105 games but lost to the luckiest-team-of-all-time Boston Red Sox
In '05 they lost a heart-breaking NLCS to the Wild Card Houston Astros
In '06 they won the World Series by defeating a (probably superior) Detroit team
In '09 they got swept by the Dodgers despite winning 91 games in the regular season, including losing a game because Matt Holliday botched a routine fly ball
In '11 they won the World Series in exceptional fashion.

If you make the playoffs in 6/10 years, anything can, and probably will, happen.  (Unless you're the Braves).

[wadesworld]

I also root against the Cardinals, but think that the "Cardinals Luck" discussion is becoming overblown.

The fact is that St. Louis makes the playoffs very, very often, and has bad and good luck once in the postseason. Just in the last 10 years, they've had their fair share of both good and bad postseasons:

In '02 they lost in the NLCS to the Wild Card Giants
In '04 they won 105 games but lost to the luckiest-team-of-all-time Boston Red Sox
In '05 they lost a heart-breaking NLCS to the Wild Card Houston Astros
In '06 they won the World Series by defeating a (probably superior) Detroit team
In '09 they got swept by the Dodgers despite winning 91 games in the regular season, including losing a game because Matt Holliday botched a routine fly ball
In '11 they won the World Series in exceptional fashion.

If you make the playoffs in 6/10 years, anything can, and probably will, happen.  (Unless you're the Braves).

There was nothing unlucky about the Cardinals loss to the Red Sox in '04.  They got swept, and completely embarrassed in the World Series.  Whoever won the Yankees vs. Red Sox series was going to sweep the World Series.

[WI inferiority Complexes]

Whoever won the Yankees vs. Red Sox series was going to sweep the World Series.

The exact same thing was said in '03, when the Yankees lost to the Wild Card Marlins.

[Bocephys]

The exact same thing was said in '03, when the Yankees lost to the Wild Card Marlins.

Still, a sweep can hardly be called lucky or unlucky. 

[CTWarrior]

Still, a sweep can hardly be called lucky or unlucky. 

That was total domination by the Red Sox.  Not only did the Cardinals never have a lead, they were only even tied after 1 inning out of 36.  The Red Sox took the lead in the first inning of every game and never looked back.

[jmayer1]

There was nothing unlucky about the Cardinals loss to the Red Sox in '04.  They got swept, and completely embarrassed in the World Series.  Whoever won the Yankees vs. Red Sox series was going to sweep the World Series.

Nope, and there was nothing lucky about the 2 World Series they've in the last 6 years. They have good squads year-in and year-out for the most part.

[Otule's Glass Eye]

No World Series talk? Giants up 2 games to zero over Detroit.

[🏀]

No World Series talk? Giants up 2 games to zero over Detroit.

I predicted Giants in 6 to start the series.

Detroit has gone cold, but it's still been very entertaining to watch.

[tower912]

Where it stands doesn't surprise me.   Detroit offense has been spotty throughout the playoffs (and throughout the year, for that matter).    The only real surprise was Verlander getting rocked.   

[CTWarrior]

Where it stands doesn't surprise me.   Detroit offense has been spotty throughout the playoffs (and throughout the year, for that matter).    The only real surprise was Verlander getting rocked.   

Prior to this season, Verlander's postseason record was very poor, and while he was dominant against the A's and Yanks, the A's are a free-swinging strikeout machine tailor-made for Verlander, and the Yankees couldn't hit anybody not named Valverde in the playoffs.

Tigers had the 7th best record in AL, and had exactly a .500 record when not playing against the wretched AL Central during the season.  They were rewarded for this by getting two homes games to start the postseason against a better team that had to fight their way into the postseason right up until the last day of the season.  They won the first series because Coco Crisp (usually an exceptional defender) dropped a fly ball in game 2 and then were fortunate to play the aging and beat up Yankees (who were spent before they got to the ALCS.)  They have an excellent rotation, a weak bullpen, weaker defense and an offense centered around two truly outstanding hitters.  If those two guys don't hit, they are going to have lots of trouble scoring runs.

It's the nature of the beast in baseball that the best teams usually don't advance to the World Series, and no outcome in a MLB postseason series should be that surprising.

[tower912]

I think we are saying the same thing, only from different perspectives.    I have now watched over 160 Tiger games this year.    3.5 hitters have been consistent this year;  Cabrera, Fielder, Jackson, and Dirks (.5 of the year)     Look at the averages of EVERY OTHER HITTER, particularly RISP, and you can understand (A) why the Tigers regular season record was poor and (B) how they can be behind 2-0  against the Giants.    Offensively, Detroit does not extend at bats, does not take the extra base, does not consistently do situational hitting.   Every borderline call that Lamont has made at third this year has been the wrong one.  
   Teams that do what the Giants do offensively, extend at-bats, don't strike out, run up pitch counts, thrive against Detroit pitching.    Every reliever for Detroit has been a weak link at some point this year.    Valverde just happens to have lost it at the worst possible time.   I said a month ago that Detroit was done, and then they went and got just hot enough while the White Sox imploded.  
   Detroit can still win, but I don't think they do.   I agree that it will probably be Giants in 6.

Late edit:    One other thing missing from Detroit is that refuse-to-lose, run-through-a-brickwall dirtbag, a la Scutaro, Pence, Pagan.   There is nobody in that clubhouse screaming to rally the troops.    And it has been missing all year.   No one to consistently start a late-inning rally, make that diving stop etc. 

[tower912]

Painful.   Interesting stat brought up last night.   Through last night's game, all time record in the WS of a team that swept the LCS vs a team that went 7 to win the LCS:     1-15     Still looking for that dirtbag that refuses to lose.