grilledcheese

I think maybe we hold off on bestowing that honor upon him until he has played more than one postseason series, huh?

Yeah, those Metropolitans have really shown up and proved that if that that goon Wilpon ever gets out of the ownership game there and they had someone at the top to spend a little money, they could do some series damage in that division. Are they still down in the lower third for overall payroll? I know they were like 21st or 22nd at the beginning of the year. Obviously, the management in WAS isn't going to fumblefuck its way through every season, so they should remain pretty good, and I don't think MIA will ever get anywhere with that piece of shit Loria running the show, so for the next handful of years, that division should belong to the Mets or the Nats. I would put my money on the Mets, with all of those stud arms they have collected over the past few years.

Yes indeed, in his words after the deal was announced, "God willing, if I am still here, I'll do one more year." I will miss him dearly when he hangs it up. Every time I am at Dodger Stadium, I always wander around up near the booth in the hopes that I might run into him and tell him how much he has meant to me for the last 30 years. Thankfully, my son has gotten to listen to him as well and loves his stories as much as I do. It's crazy to think that the guy my Dad grew up listening to in Brooklyn is still with the club.

Vin had some sort of surgical procedure, he won't get any work in the booth. If they go all the way, he might show up to say hello, but he won't be working. He's at home recuperating from whatever it was he had done.

I'm a Dodger fan and their lineup doesn't excite me too terribly most of the time, but when they are on, they are fucking fun as hell to watch. They have been streaky all year, so if they get the sticks going, they could make a pretty good shootout series with CHC. Either way, the super mediocre LAD bullpen is going to be a big question mark in any series, should they advance. Can be entertaining? I would say that is a pretty big understatement. Greinke has been fucking nails all year long, and Kershaw is the best pitcher on the planet over the last 5 years.

And we will see you Thursday in Los Angeles!! Fucking excellent. Greinke - deGrom? That is some game 7 shit, but I guess we will have to settle for a game 5.

Eck saved something like 19 of Welch's 27 wins in 1990, but Eckersley hadn't yet won the Cy Young, nor had Welch, as he won it that year. I'm sure he must have saved a game for Welch in either 93 or 94, one sec I will check BBREF and edit in the answer. Eckersley saved Welch's Opening Day win in 1993, so boom, there it is at least once. I'm an idiot, you said playoff game. I will check again. It didn't happen with Eck and Welch, and I would venture to say it never happened with anyone else. It would have happened in game 7 of the 1965 Series, as Alston had Drysdale ready to go if Koufax had faltered, and all Sandy did was throw a 3 H CG SO.

Man oh man, that one looked pretty good for my boys in Blue for all of about 8 minutes. Can't say enough about how well NYM hit tonight and Harvey working through his struggles with the hits and his inability to locate real well early on. I fucking hate that it all comes down to Kershaw again in a win or go home game, because if he goes out and slays the Mets, then I don't figure for him to get the praise he deserves, but if he gets beat, then all the talk will be about how he choked it away. Let's send this motherfucker back to LA and see what ZG does in game 5! And sweet jesus, Cespedes tomahawked that 3 R shot, eh?

Then where was the talk of the rule change three weeks ago when Kang's leg got broken in a similar situation? I'm not trying to justify Utley's slide, but Coughlan's had the same result. The big difference is that Coughlan's slide was well out in front of the bag, but he went in legs apart, wrapped Kang's leg right at the knee and bang, broken leg. I know there were a few mentions of it leading to a rule change, but I don't recall Torre making his opinion known. That's my issue with the way it is being handled.

I don't like the Posey rule because of the outrage it caused in a situation where bad technique by a catcher led to a horrible injury. Not that there didn't need to be a rule change, but it should have been done well before a guy got blasted and hurt, superstar or no. It took Alex Avila, son of an executive and godson to Tommy Lasorda getting trucked 2 years later before the rule was put into effect. That is bullshit. Anyway, on to Utley's suspension. Warranted? Yeah, most likely but I find it strange that Torre didn't give a fuck about any takeout slide at all during his tenure in the Commissioner's office until it happened on national TV. I love this game, but the fact of the matter is that the league doesn't have any concern about the issues within it until it threatens to impact people's perception of the game, which in turn effects MLB's bottom line. I hope that changes soon.

Over the last 10 years or so, umpiring has gotten so fucking bad it's not even funny. At least now with the replay system, they have a shot at correcting the on-field side of things. I'm sure that they will go to electronic balls and strikes, since Pitch/FX apparently can do the adjustments for individual strike zones on the fly with minimal adjustment to the existing calibrations that they already do. I don't think it will happen anytime real soon, but it's coming. They used it to call a San Rafael Pacifics / Vallejo Admirals game back in July. There are some issues with the way it actually works, since it doesn't track the ball all the way into the catcher's mitt, it stops a little short and then predicts from trajectory where that pitch would have crossed the zone.

Yeah, point taken.

I won't defend the slide, as it was late as shit, and it's not the first time that Utley has taken Tejada out. I will however make the point that the slide didn't have any effect on the subsequent 2B's to bring in the next three runs. No way was Tejada going to get a throw off that got Kendrick at 1B, not with his back to the bag and just starting the pirouette when Utley hit him. I'm not sure how Utley isn't hurt, he got fucking CREAMED by the left knee. I figure Harvey drills him in game 3, and things get real fucking ugly. What was the outlook on the board when Holliday bulldozed Scutaro in the 2012 NLCS? Or when Kelly drilled Hanley in game 1 of the 13 CS? Both of those were just as egregious as Utley's slide tonight.

Mattingly manages a pitching staff really poorly. Even with the bases juiced, I think Kersh is your guy. Wright had nothing for him in the 2 ABs previous. I don't believe that there is anything wrong with Kershaw in October. He now has something like 6 quality starts out of 9, but only a 1-6 overall record in the playoffs. Granted, 2 of those L's have been absolute shellings at the hands of STL, but it's not like he became some new version of Shawn Estes. I don't know if it was too quick in the grand scheme of things, but I don't particularly like the idea of deciding that a guy he has K'd twice already is not a good matchup. Donnie I think is of the idea that he will need to go back to #22 in game 4, but if Kersh gets the out there, then if the pen can hold off NYM T8, Gonzalez then has a game tying 1B instead of a consolation run. I don't want to take anything away from deGrom, either, what a gem. Cuddyer in LF is probably not the best option, though.

Both of those balls were fucking HAMMERED. Strop looked like he tried to force a strike after the PB, and goddamn did it get mashed.

Short rest start might be the answer as to why. Didn't have a chance to get into his full routine between appearances.

Yeah, Tanaka was pretty solid, held them to 4 H and the 3 BB didn't hurt him. The offense failed to get anything cooking, and that will spell ddom for most any team.

And so HOU to KC. That should be one hell of a fun series.

Agreed, lots of articles out there already about the shadows in Dodger Stadium and how that could play into NYM getting absolutely boondoggled by those two having to hit in the late afternoon. There was an article on Hardball Times last year about ballpark orientation that I enjoyed quite a bit.

I'm going to go ahead and say that we will get a TOR-LAD WS. My choice to win it all obviously is Los Angeles. If I weren't being a total shithead and picking my own guys, I would love to see a PIT-TOR WS, I think it would be fucking excellent. I wouldn't complain about any of the NL teams going all the way, as much as I hate STL for their past triumphs over LA, they are a really good baseball team, and who am I to hate on talent? Although if Holliday is anywhere near the STL lineup, I hope someone takes it upon themselves to drill that dirty fucker before he can chop block a 2B or an SS on a DP ball.

And Dee Gordon had himself a day to win the batting title. Big year for him, SB crown, batting title, 200 H. I don't watch a ton of Marlins games, but I know he has been good in the field as well, anyone know if he'll have a shot at a GG or the Fielding Bible award?

Cespedes exits after HBP to left hand / wrist. That's a bummer, I hope he is ok. He's been such a big piece of why they clipped WAS, it would be a shame if he had to miss any part of the postseason.

Absolutely correct. Arrieta might have a better shot at it than people think, and I think he is having the perfect year to get both schools of thought on his side. Gaudy W-L record, ERA that is straight ridiculous, and FIP and xFIP numbers that are well below the threshold that Fangraphs holds as "excellent". K/9 and BB/9 are also pretty great, and he is holding opponents to a BABIP of .248. The fucking kid can go.

Holy shit. 1 H CG SO for Kershaw on 104 pitches, 13 Ks, 1 BB, game score of 97. Two straight years with Kershaw on the hill against SFG to clinch it in blowouts. What a stud. Bring on the Mets!

The craziest thing about Parker wearing the mask is that he only missed like 10 or 11 games! And Kent Tekulve is perhaps the best-looking baseball player ever. The glasses plus the submarine style delivery really did it for me. Topps made a bunch of weird merch last year celebrating WS winners, and this was my favorite piece of the bunch: