2007 MLB Thread

[willc7786 0]

Rivera just said that he strongly wants Joe back, that he can't understand why they wouldn't bring him back, and his decision is strongly tied to whether or not Torre comes back

great

[ponty 0]

What suck times and coverage of the Rockies for the rest of the country.

No one is watching a team that has won 20 of 21 games and is one win from a World Series. That and based on a team that is 99% players from there own system.

Nice story kinda sad the coverage sucks.

[Jason Harris 31]

Even though they might have the best team in the NL, it's effectively a Cinderella story. Think about it. They went 13-1 in their last 14 games. 10-4, 11-3 or 12-2 would have all been outstanding, but they needed every one of those 13 wins to force a playoff game against the Padres. All they've done since then is won 7 straight.

It's great to see the support the community has given them, even though it smacks a bit of bandwagon fans, However, the Rockies led the league in attendance their first seven years, and I believe the fans wouldn't have bailed so much if they felt ownership was more committed to winning in the early 00's. I wrote a blog about the Rockies last week on Gouche's website, in which I tried to capture the spirit of the Rockies' run, in case anyone would like a quick summary of the story. It's the one titled Playing With House Money.

On a different topic, I read in yesterday's Globe that in the 2006 draft, the Red Sox took Wichita State lefty Kristofer Johnson (9-7, 5.56 ERA at Lancaster) with the 40th pick. Big deal, right? The Yankees took Joba Chamberlain with the next pick, Ouch!

[joelnmich 0]

And a sweep in the NLCS...Salming is onto something with the cinderella story

[Jason Harris 31]

I often complain that Francona goes too long with his pitchers, but I think he made a mistake pulling Wakefield. Wakefield may have given up four hits in the fifth, but one of those batters should have either popped up foul to Youkilis or likely hit into an inning-ending double play. If it’s a popup, the Indians would be leading 2-0 going into the sixth. If Wakefield doesn’t get a glove on what would have been Cabrera’s one-hopper, Pedroia looked like he had been positioned perfectly for the DP and a 1-0 deficit.

The point being that only Blake’s homer was hit hard, while Victor Martinez’s single was moderately hard, and Wake could have already been out of the inning prior to Peralta’s AB. Coming into the game, Peralta was 1 in 6 against Wakefield. Even with his double the previous inning, he was only batting .250.

I think Francona should have stayed with Wakefield.

[willc7786 0]

I thought Wakefield deflecting that ball was a great play... note that I'm a Yankee fan :P

that would have 95% been a DP ball

[Lfntn10 0]

Excited to see the turn out of tonights game to see who the Rockies are going to kill.

As for off-season news, Torre is gone now :(, but as much of a Yankee fan I am, I'm glad he said no because taking a pay cut for what he's done with the organization is just bogus

[mack 44]

I love the F U move Torre pulled, I have to give him credit for that.

This whole Torre thing is like prom season. The Yankees are the popular jock fielding options and trying to decide whether to stay with the girl they're comfortable with or to just go ahead and cut ties and date away. Well the homely girl told them to piss off. I just hope their new manager knows you can't steal 2nd with a foot on 1st.

[LkptTiger 1]

Yeah, I have to say I'm rather amused. I was watching ESPN when the news broke, so I had the not-so-unpleasant duty of notifying my buddy, who is a huge Yankees fan.

It strikes me as more of a "non-offer" though. I'm interested to see how some of the players who have been more vocal during this whole progression will react.

[mack 44]

I think they'll suck it up and not let it affect their decisions of where to play. With Rivera, they can either try to keep him or maybe just let Chamberlain take over, completing their circle of life. Those stupid rules will have to go though.

[LkptTiger 1]

Does this mean that Sheff will quit bitching about his experience in NY?

I know what the answer is...I'm just hopeful.

[mack 44]

I just wonder why Lidle couldn't have been giving Sheff a lift home.

[LkptTiger 1]

Because bad things almost never happen to bad people...well, maybe not "bad" people; just people I don't like.

[D-MaN88 0]

How can they not call Manny's hit a home-run? Seriously, if you can't even tell from a blown up replay on TV, how the hell can that many umps miss a call like that and say that it hit that yellow strip? I don't care what the bounce looked like, the fact that it hit the top and bounced up should have proved something...

On the other hand, if Manny didn't freakin' walk out of the batters box after every hit, he could have had at least a double maybe even a triple.

Jesus, so many f'd up things about that one play.

And why don't they just keep hitting into more double plays. Jesus they have left so many runners on base.

[Chadd 916]

How can they not call Manny's hit a home-run? Seriously, if you can't even tell from a blown up replay on TV, how the hell can that many umps miss a call like that and say that it hit that yellow strip? I don't care what the bounce looked like, the fact that it hit the top and bounced up should have proved something...

On the other hand, if Manny didn't freakin' walk out of the batters box after every hit, he could have had at least a double maybe even a triple.

Jesus, so many f'd up things about that one play.

And why don't they just keep hitting into more double plays. Jesus they have left so many runners on base.

Looks like the ball hit the yellow part of the wall, compressed the padding and hit the wall/floor corner behind it. As much as I would have liked it to be a homer, I think it was actually the right call.

If Manny had hustled he would have watched Lowell strike out from a different angle, no harm done. I agree his candy-assing is annoying but it didn't hurt anything in this particular case.

[LegoDoom 0]

If Manny had hustled he would have watched Lowell strike out from a different angle, no harm done. I agree his candy-assing is annoying but it didn't hurt anything in this particular case.

Except that Lowell hit .356 with RISP this season and only .287 with men on with 2 outs. It changes the way you go about an at bat when runners are in scoring position.

[Chadd 916]

If Manny had hustled he would have watched Lowell strike out from a different angle, no harm done. I agree his candy-assing is annoying but it didn't hurt anything in this particular case.

Except that Lowell hit .356 with RISP this season and only .287 with men on with 2 outs. It changes the way you go about an at bat when runners are in scoring position.

Given the amount of time CC had to get focused while they were debating the homer/no-homer, I don't think it would have mattered.

[mack 44]

Hit a treadmill, CC.

[Jason Harris 31]

Looks like the ball hit the yellow part of the wall, compressed the padding and hit the wall/floor corner behind it. As much as I would have liked it to be a homer, I think it was actually the right call.

I agree with your guess of what happened, but it illustrates it's dumb to have yellow on the top of the padding. A number of parks have a yellow line painted horizontally across a wall. If a ball hits a wall above the line, it's a homer.

To be comparable, a ball hit at the Jake (or Coors Field, for that matter) should only have to clear the yellow line that is on the front of the padding. Instead, Cleveland's ground rules are it's okay to hit the yellow line (the one on top) as long as the ball continues to bounce into the stands. So, if we are correct that Manny's ball hit the corner of a solid wall behind the padding, then he was victimized by hitting the ball two inches too far.

If they were to take away the yellow on top, then any ball that hits the top of the padding is a homer. In a way, that is what is in effect right now, since I'd guess 98% of the balls that hit the top continue into the stands. Unfortunately, that yellow line on top allows them to say tough luck to the 2% that hit something solid and bounce back.

(Of course, as I was typing this, I realized none of us would have had a problem with the call if there was no padding. In other words, if Manny's ball hit the edge of a solid wall and bounced back in, we'd say it was an inch short. It's the fact it went over the top of what is effectively the wall that makes the ground ruling dumb.)

[willc7786 0]

One thing that has been bugging me was the previous game, when Pedroia actually did an A-rod-esque 'slap' sliding into first. And yet you haven't heard a thing about it.

Good for Torre. I think the money was fair in and of itself, but the fact you're cutting his pay, giving him one year, and giving him 'incentives' like he doesn't want to win anyway, was completely disrespectful.

[Jason Harris 31]

I missed the Sox' first at-bat in Game 4. Are you referring to Pedroia's grounder to third? I'm guessing so, because there was nothing quesionable in the other at-bats.

[ponty 0]

So Salming. Who in the hell do we cheer for in this one. Its almost a no lose / no win situation on my end

Grew up loving Yaz, Hobson, Evans, Scott, Lynn, Rice and on and on ...

On the other hand gotta love the Rocks. Its painful

[DCott 0]

I'll be at game 2, can't wait

[D-MaN88 0]

Wow, the Sox played GREAT ball. These past 3 games have been unreal.

I have to admit, this WS is going to be interesting.

[DCott 0]

It's crazy right now.

Everyone is outside, running around, screaming. It sucks though because the riot cops are out and wouldn't let us near Fenway. Yelling is contagious.

It was fun watching the game from my dorm because I could hear the crowd at the game before I saw what happened.