Baseball

[jimmy olsen]

Lester! NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jimmy olsen]

WTF, how are they stealing so many damned bases!

[Syt]

Pirates win after a six game losing streak. It took all of the Dodgers' help and three unearned runs to do so, though. 

[Syt]

Those whacky G20 protesters:

[Ed Anger]

Since Tim is around:

Fuck the Red Sox. Chokers.

[sbr]

Since Tim is around:

Fuck the Red Sox. Chokers.

Can't believe they got swept.

[jimmy olsen]

Since Tim is around:

Fuck the Red Sox. Chokers.

Can't believe they got swept.

[Syt]

Minnesota are out.

[Neil]

You don't get ESPN in Iowa?

ESPN sucks, they have already crowned Florida the 2009 College Football champion.

Well the local sports channel then, there are a hundred media options to follow sports before you get to NPR.

Alright, let me run this scenario by you: 

Now, let's say a person listens to NPR, but has (rightly) nothing but contempt for the 'sport' of baseball.  They mention some baseball information on NPR, and that's how the person finds out about it.

[Neil]

Minnesota are out.

Good.  That means that the Yankees advance, while the Fag Sox don't.  Justice.

[MadBurgerMaker]

Good.  That means that the Yankees advance, while the Fag Sox don't.  Justice.

[stjaba]

Anyone else watching the Yankees-Angels game Saturday night? It's been a good game, but semi-marred by the rain. I like to watch exciting, close games, but not necessarily because of errors from field conditions.

One of the major negatives of the expansion of the playoffs are these late October games. It's cold and wet in NYC, and if the Yanks make it to the World Series, it will only get worse. This year's game 4 will be on November 1st, which has to be the latest ever, except for 2001. Of course, if the Angels and the Dodgers both win their leagues, there shouldn't be any problems, except for Fox's Nielsen ratings.

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As a side note, I have to concede to Minsky that the Yankees are stacked. Cashman built a playoff winning machine. I don't know if they will be a dynasty, but they should definitely win the Series this year, barring a major upset.

[Syt]

Well, McCutchen is Baseball America's Rookie of the Year. We know what that means: at latest in 2011 he'll be traded away for young prospects to further rebuild the team.

[Syt]

P.S.: Can both Phillies AND yankees lose the World Series, please? Where's Al Qaeda when you REALLY need them?

[The Minsky Moment]

As a side note, I have to concede to Minsky that the Yankees are stacked. Cashman built a playoff winning machine. I don't know if they will be a dynasty, but they should definitely win the Series this year, barring a major upset.

Cashman was left relatively unmolested for a few years to allow prospects to develop on the farm.  As a result the Yankees got solid contributions from 4 young arms this year who all came up from the system - Chamberlain, Hughes, Coke, Robertson.  They also got useful bench play from 3 position prospects.  They are still not stacked with young talent like some but in combination with the veteran core and the 3 big free agent pickups, it was enough to fill in the missing pieces.  The decision to let Abreu and his fat contract go and replace him with Swisher on the (relative) cheap was also a good move.

That said, from a Runs Scored/Runs Allowed perspective, the Yankees were only slightly better than the Red Sox this year (but considerably luckier or "clutchier").  Both teams are similarly constructed.  The difference this year was that the Yankees aging core (Jeter, Posada, Damon, Matsui) held up better than the Sox equivalent (Ortiz, Lowell, Varitek, Drew).  That and the Sox had holes at 2 positions - SS and Catcher - with the latter not being filled from a defensive standpoint by Victor Martinez.