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Post by Mr. Atari on Oct 7, 2009 9:39:37 GMT -5
So now that the teams are finally decided, what are your picks?
I think... The Angels will finally beat the Red Sox in the playoffs The Yankees will dominate the Twins The Cardinals will mow down the Dodgers (who peaked in May) The Rockies will eventually eke out three wins against the loaded-but-bullpen-challenged Phillies
Then... The Yankees will take out the Angels in 6 The Rockies will repeat what they just did to the Cardinals last week and shut down Holliday and Pujols to take the series
Finally... The two teams with the best records since June 1st will meet in the series and the Yankees (who are exceptional from top to bottom) will beat the Rockies (who are above average from top to bottom) in, oh let's say, 5 games or so.
Am I a homer? Yes. But I'm also a tremendous baseball nerd...who hates the Cardinals with the heat of a thousand suns. Plus I was here in 2007 when the Rockies rolled to the WS (sweeping the Phillies on their way). And this year's team is better. But since they don't play on the East Coast, ESPN has never heard of them.
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Post by mummifiedstalin on Oct 7, 2009 13:15:25 GMT -5
I'm with you on the AL. Not so sure about the NL, though. I still think the Phillies might have a pretty easy time with either either the Cardinals or the Dodgers if they can get past Colorado (which I think they will...barely).
Personally, I'd love to see the Dodgers do it all...just so Jim Thome could get a Series win.
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Post by mummifiedstalin on Oct 7, 2009 16:37:08 GMT -5
And I just watched the Phillies game. You won't have problems with the bullpen if you never go to it. Heh...
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Post by Dave Walker on Oct 8, 2009 18:45:24 GMT -5
Didn't get around to posting my DS predictions earlier but here they are:
Sox in five Yankees in three Rockies in five Cardinals in five
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Post by Mr. Atari on Oct 9, 2009 10:22:48 GMT -5
For a Cubs fan who loathes the Cardinals with every fiber of my being... For a Rockies fan who is still mad that Matt Holliday turned his back on the organization that drafted him and the fans who believed in him*... ...this is the greatest picture in the history of Western Civilization: *although I am glad that we got Carlos Gonzalez and Huston Street for him.
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Post by mummifiedstalin on Oct 9, 2009 13:33:09 GMT -5
My favorite was this quote from after the game:
"That ball got lost in 50,000 white towels shaking in front of Matt's face," Wainwright said. "It doesn't really seem fair that an opposing team should be able to allow their fans to shake white towels when there's a white baseball flying through the air. How about Dodger Blue towels?"
Talk about WHINING!!!!!!!!!!!
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Post by Mod City on Oct 9, 2009 14:29:55 GMT -5
That duff was painful to watch. I can't imagine what it must feel like to screw up that bad on that big a stage. Got him right in the junk, too.
One thought on TBS so far – their broadcast of the Twins versus Yankees Tuesday night was disgustingly biased toward the New York team. I know that's just how it goes, everyone from ESPN on down wants the Yankees in the series for those big ratings, but come on. Joe Mauer is up with the Twins still in the game and the announcers spend the entire at-bat talking about whether Joba Chamberlain should be a starter or not? Are you kidding me? Chamberlain wasn't even the game!
I hope the Twins take one game from them, at least. I hate losing to those guys.
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Post by Trumpy's Magic Snout on Oct 9, 2009 22:56:44 GMT -5
Should've taken one tonight. Gah Joe Nathan. And yes, the TBS coverage is dreadful. Amateurish and horrendously biased. It felt like watching the YES coverage of Yankee games. And it's good to see the umps are in on the Yankee lovin too. Got to get those WS ratings up!
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Post by callipygias on Oct 10, 2009 10:25:58 GMT -5
it's good to see the umps are in on the Yankee lovin too. Got to get those WS ratings up! Two umps right on the foul line, one of them fifteen feet away. Here's another link if youtube pulls that ^ one. mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=7034063&topic_id=7220402 And looking at the ball mark it wasn't even as (not) close as it looks in the video.
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Post by Mod City on Oct 10, 2009 18:04:00 GMT -5
^ It wasn't close, and the replays last night are painfully obvious. If they call that correctly, Mauer is on second, scores that inning, and the game is at least tied after the home run the following inning. Inexcusable for a post-season umpiring crew.
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Post by Bix Dugan on Oct 10, 2009 19:55:13 GMT -5
I was speechless when I saw that call...
I think the guy made a bad decision. I think that ball was actually fair. Not a foul ball at all.
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Post by GProopdog on Oct 11, 2009 13:17:49 GMT -5
My dad is a die hard Yankees fan, and even *he* was like "Wow, what the hell were those umps looking at?", that's how bad this blown call was.
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Post by Mod City on Oct 11, 2009 21:55:45 GMT -5
Well, the Twins are out. All umpire blunders and perceived sportscasting bias aside, I gotta say the Yankees are a darn good team. I was also glad to see Pavano have some success. He looked good out there. Looking forward to Angels and Yankees next. And of course, go Angels
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Post by mummifiedstalin on Oct 11, 2009 22:12:37 GMT -5
Well, the Twins are out. All umpire blunders and perceived sportscasting bias aside, I gotta say the Yankees are a darn good team. I was also glad to see Pavano have some success. He looked good out there. Looking forward to Angels and Yankees next. And of course, go Angels Yep. Too bad that awesomely fun Tigers/Twins tie-breaker was for the glory of being a Yankee stepping-stone this year.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Oct 12, 2009 9:51:47 GMT -5
More blown calls in last night's epic Rockies-Phillies game.
In the top of the 9th, Rollins struck out looking, except the home plate ump missed the call. Now it's a 3-2 count and Rollins singles. Two batters later, Utley fouls a ball off his leg. The home plate ump missed it. The ball rolls into fair territory, so Street throws out Utley. The first base ump missed it. Howard hits a fly ball out that is the 3rd (4th?) out in the inning. Instead, it's a sac fly and the Phillies win.
That being said, how evenly matched are these teams? This has been an incredible series. There were 7 lead changes last night. For the bulk of the longest (and coldest) NL playoff game in history, the two teams, tied 1-1 in the series, played tied. That's why it would have been better to have an actual hero win the game instead of the umpires giving it away like that.
Edited to add... It's now the 3rd inning of game 4, and the umps missed a call at first (Helton again keeping his foot on the bag), a call at second (Fowler was safe), and a call at third (Victorino was out). This is getting ridiculous. If I were into conspiracies, I'd think Bud Selig told these guys to make sure the league gets Philly-LA in the NLCS for the ratings. It's become a joke.
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