I'm not exactly sure how the same team that got swept 4 games at home by the Astros managed to sweep the team with the best record in the NL on the road, but I'm certainly not complaining about it. I just wonder if, when September rolls around, will they have what it takes to climb over the Braves in the division? This offense is embarrassing.
That pisses me off too. The Padres are my fantasy pitching, and single handedly cost me last week's matchup. Bitches. Actually, they pitched pretty well, just not as well as the Phils. Unfortunately my opponent had the Phillies pitching staff, so I got double whammied.
Not really surprising, the Reds have called him up to pitch out of the pen for their playoff push. I'll tell you what, if I'm in their division, I am scared shitless. Honestly though, they better tell him to cool it down a bit or else his arm is going to explode. The human body is not capable of taking that kind of a beating many times. Thankfully, he's a reliever so Dusty Baker won't be able to completely ruin his career.......yet.
Max St. Pierre gets the call to the Tigers after 977 minor league games and 13 years (12 with Tigers) in the minors. Heartwarming..
God damn that was some brawl the Marlins and Nats had tonight. Nyjer Morgan is quite the douche. His play yesterday running into the catcher was pretty unnecessary. To add insult to injury, after getting what he deserved, the jackass steals 2nd and 3rd clearly to taunt the other team some more. I wish he got hit by the pitch the second time too. Loved watching him get clotheslined. Even after the pummeling he took, he still didn't learn his lesson and taunted the crowd some more as if he had done something right. I hope he gets a big ass suspension.
Wasn't the first unnecessary hit he imposed on a catcher in the past month, either. Beyond that, he's already facing a 7 day suspension for throwing a ball into the stands and striking/hurting a fan. He's a grade A dip-shit, I don't think there's any way around that. The good news is that this is baseball, and he'll get his.
It was eventually decided that whoever was ahead in the AL East at the end of the season would win. In the event that neither team did so (Rays might or might not) the team that takes the Wild Card wins. I lowered the bet from 100 to 50. In past situations like this I would have gloated and gone completely overboard like a jackass. So all I'll say is it's been a very good season for me. I'm currently enjoying watching the Rays beating the Red Sox 12 to 2 and am looking forward to the post season.
Trevor Hoffmann got his 600th save last night, in a game in which the Brewers Manager, Cards pitching coach, Brewers center fielder, and a fan were all ejected. Craziness. And congrats to Trevor. After struggling mightily earlier this year it was great to watch him battle back and finally get to #600.
Phils absolutely own the NL East. You have to admire this squad considering the injury's they have had this year. The big three are poised to make a run this year I really can't see a NL team beating them. God I would love a shot at the Evil Empire again.
With that lineup healthy and with that rotation, the Phillies are a tough team. Especially with Oswalt pitching the way he is.
Who are your MVP's and ROY's? My choice is obvious and bias, but there's nobody who can say they aren't deserving. Miguel Cabrera and Austin Jackson of course.
I never really bought the whole "an MVP has to take his team to the playoffs" thing so my vote is for Miggy for MVP of the AL. Josh Hamilton is right up there if only he hadn't gotten hurt. I agree with Austin Jackson for AL ROY too. Numbers dominate all others. ROY for the NL is pretty fucking clear for Jason Heyward. No one even comes close. NL MVP is pretty tough but I think it has to go to Joey Votto. Numbers win it for him. By the way, how fucking amazing is it that A-rod is third in baseball for RBI's given the amount of time he has missed. He doesn't even have that many homers. Dude just drives in runs like it's his job(well I guess it is his job but fuck you).
I saw a bit of a prognostication that if the Phillies make the playoffs, Hamels, Halladay and Oswalt should be able to start 15 of 17 games in the playoffs on regular rest. That's insane. My guess is we see either a replay of the '08 or '09 World Series. Though the Phils lost last night, if they win three more games, they secure home field advantage through the entire playoff season, including World Series (due to NL winning All-Star game). GO PHILS!!!!!
Arguments can be made otherwise, and I think it should be closer. I don't disagree that Heyward is going to win it,,,,, but I think that has much to do with him being hyped so much. Hell, I can remember watching one of the first games of the year on ESPN, and those fucking idiots were preparing for the rapture because they thought the second coming of christ had just arrived. I like the guy too, and have been secretly hoping that he does well and the Braves get into the postseason.... But I personally think that Buster Posey had just as good of a year. Posey has had about a hundred less at bats, but only has 18 less hits, 6 less doubles, a couple less triples, two less homers, and a handful less ribbys. All this coupled with a shit-ton less strikeouts. About 70 or so. The hitches in my argument are that Heyward has speed, and that he has a 30 point better OBP than Posey even with an extra 70 SO's. Even though he strikes out a lot more,, he walks a bunch more. Given all that though, Posey's OPS is still 25 points higher than Heyward. Heyward also has a higher WAR, +WPA, and all those other catagory's statfags use which I chose to not mention because it shits on my point. And I don't know if this should be germane to the conversation.... But Posey does play the harder position. My screwball umbrage with all of this is........... It shouldn't be a runaway.
It would have been Posey if he had been up all year. But even still it's closer than people think, I agree.
Is anyone going to watch, The Tenth Inning by Ken Burns? I enjoyed the original that he did and I am looking forward to this.
Before the season started I put $25 each to win their divisions on: Yankees Twins Mariners Brewers. If the Yanks pull it out I'll be right around even. Go Yanks go? I want to roll this over into NHL futures. Thank god for the Twins.
God it was painful watching the Red Sox have their patchwork outfield this year. 90% of games it was 2+ rookies, maybe Drew if he was healthy. Like 2006 all over again with the injuries. Although I have no idea how they managed to make the wild-card a three-team race, considering how much nut the bullpen sucked. My pick is a Phils-Yanks series, with Phils taking the trophy. Their pitching is going to fucking smoke pretty much everyone in their path.