MLB Playoffs

HipE · Post by **HipE** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 6:47 pm

I can't complain about a double helping of Erin Andrews. Actually, I can- they need to show less of the game, and more of her.

DivotMaker · Post by **DivotMaker** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 7:02 pm

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!

Way to go Chris Burke!!!!!

Woohoo...what a game and hats off to the classy Bravces organization![/b]

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 7:10 pm

Ouch...congrats Astro fans...you keep getting postseason redemption at the hands of the Braves.

Inuyasha · Post by **Inuyasha** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 7:10 pm

I thought atlanta could get to the series this year but the first round bug bit them again. Will Bobby Cox still be around next year?

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 7:11 pm

I would have cared less if DB hadnt been such a c***....

Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DivotMaker · Post by **DivotMaker** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 7:19 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:Ouch...congrats Astro fans...you keep getting postseason redemption at the hands of the Braves.

Considering the fact that the Astros were the Braves' b*tch in the postseason until last year.....man, what a game by two classy organizations who play the game right and act like professionals while doing it...

AJColossal · Post by **AJColossal** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 7:24 pm

Yeah, tough loss for Braves fans. As a long suffering Cub fan, that grand slam that Farnsworth gave up looked all too familiar. Yeesh.

14 straight titles has got o be awesome, but it must get awfully frustrating that they haven't had much to show for it.

Hey, db, can you please give us Furcal?

Atxj · Post by **Atxj** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 8:12 pm

A ton of heart from the Stros the afternoon.

The Cardinals are gonna be tough.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 9:05 pm

It was fun watching the playoffs from Japan as fans here are very savvy about their game and with the Championship won by the Tigers here, the focus is on the MLB playoffs. The 2 GS in HOU-ATL I think were 1st in post season history, tough luck for ATL but when you have men in scoring position 18 times and you score only once, it' tough to win any game.
What can you say about R. Clemens? Sayonara yet again to ATL.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 10:09 pm

Inuyasha wrote:I thought atlanta could get to the series this year but the first round bug bit them again. Will Bobby Cox still be around next year?

Are you kidding? ATL wasn't going anywhere with that bullpen and that's what ended up killing them. And yeah, Bobby Cox is going to get fired after bringing up 17 different rookies this year. Uhuh.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 10:11 pm

DivotMaker wrote:
dbdynsty25 wrote:Ouch...congrats Astro fans...you keep getting postseason redemption at the hands of the Braves.
Considering the fact that the Astros were the Braves' b*tch in the postseason until last year.....man, what a game by two classy organizations who play the game right and act like professionals while doing it...

Yeah, that's what I was talking about...all those years the Braves took it to the Astros is coming back to haunt them now. The Astros just have a better bullpen. That's what won them the series. Starting pitching wasn't as big of a deal as I thought it would be.

MizzouRah · Post by **MizzouRah** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 11:04 am

I HATE THAT F'ING STADIUM, if Minute Maid can be called a baseball stadium.

You could hit a whiffle ball out of that stadium, sheeesh. I know both teams have to play there, but still that damn HR by Ausmus was weak as well as the winner by whatever his name is. Dammit!!

Should be another good series vs the Stros though. I'm glad Beltran moved on..

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 11:39 am

The Ausmus HR was not weak by any means. He crushed it...however, if there were another 5 feet out there, and he hit it another 5 feet, Andruw would have made that catch...he just ran out of room faster than he thought.

Now, the Berkman and the Burke homers were both weak and both would have been sharply hit line drives to the left fielders, but they wouldn't have went out in any other stadium in the league. But then again both teams get to play there so it all evens out.

But you are right, that place is a ridiculous baseball park. The dimensions in the outfield, the corners, the stupid f*cking hill in centerfield with a flagpole in the middle of it....who the hell designed that place. It is definitely a great place to watch a game as I have seen a few, but it certainly sucks ass to play a game there.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 12:10 pm

What is Bagwell's status for the series against the Cards? Is he only limited to pinch hitting duty?

It's going to be a difficult series. The Cards lineup is stronger in my opinion, especially without a healthy Bagwell and a 100% Berkman. Ensberg looks like he's playing extremely well, something he didn't do last season in the playoffs.

I would give the slight edge in starting pitching to Houston just because they have a more solid 1-2-3 starting staff. While Morris pitched well against Padres in game 3, I'd still like to see Suppan pitch in the not so friendly confines of Houston.

Bullpen edge clearly goes to Houston. If anything, we're a bit weaker in our bullpen from last year. Tavarez and King are not as effective, and Thompson is prone to give up the long all too often. And Izzy...what can I say about him. He's either on or off. He lacks consistency as a closer. Houston's bullpen is just more durable as can be seen yesterday against Atlanta. Lidge though looks as though he's lost a little velocity and pin point location.

Can't wait to get this one started!

catskinsox · Post by **catskinsox** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 1:06 pm

MizzouRah wrote:I HATE THAT F'ING STADIUM, if Minute Maid can be called a baseball stadium.

You could hit a whiffle ball out of that stadium, sheeesh. I know both teams have to play there, but still that damn HR by Ausmus was weak as well as the winner by whatever his name is. Dammit!!

Should be another good series vs the Stros though. I'm glad Beltran moved on..

Weak HR from Ausmus? what game were you watching? And I guess the monster shot to CF by Ensberg was a whiffle ball shot, huh? That's out in almost any other park.

Well, should be a good series with the Cards.

catskinsox · Post by **catskinsox** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 1:09 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:The Ausmus HR was not weak by any means. He crushed it...however, if there were another 5 feet out there, and he hit it another 5 feet, Andruw would have made that catch...he just ran out of room faster than he thought.

Now, the Berkman and the Burke homers were both weak and both would have been sharply hit line drives to the left fielders, but they wouldn't have went out in any other stadium in the league. But then again both teams get to play there so it all evens out.

But you are right, that place is a ridiculous baseball park. The dimensions in the outfield, the corners, the stupid f*cking hill in centerfield with a flagpole in the middle of it....who the hell designed that place. It is definitely a great place to watch a game as I have seen a few, but it certainly sucks ass to play a game there.

Have a lot of experience playing there?

catskinsox · Post by **catskinsox** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 1:16 pm

sportdan30 wrote:What is Bagwell's status for the series against the Cards? Is he only limited to pinch hitting duty?

It's going to be a difficult series. The Cards lineup is stronger in my opinion, especially without a healthy Bagwell and a 100% Berkman. Ensberg looks like he's playing extremely well, something he didn't do last season in the playoffs.

I would give the slight edge in starting pitching to Houston just because they have a more solid 1-2-3 starting staff. While Morris pitched well against Padres in game 3, I'd still like to see Suppan pitch in the not so friendly confines of Houston.

Bullpen edge clearly goes to Houston. If anything, we're a bit weaker in our bullpen from last year. Tavarez and King are not as effective, and Thompson is prone to give up the long all too often. And Izzy...what can I say about him. He's either on or off. He lacks consistency as a closer. Houston's bullpen is just more durable as can be seen yesterday against Atlanta. Lidge though looks as though he's lost a little velocity and pin point location.

Can't wait to get this one started!

Line up for Cards is definitely better. Houston's offense will have to click perfectly to win the series. They'll need to get to the starters and work into the bullpen.

And yeah, I think Bagwell is only available for pinch hitting duty, nothing more. And he still doesn't have a good power swing yet. Look for singles only. I mean, how often does somebody intentionally walk a batter to get to Bagwell, as happened in Game 4. That should tell you something. But it's more of a morale thing and respect for Bagwell that he's on the roster right now.

I hope Taverez blows a fuse again like last year. That was fun to watch.

I agree about Lidge, though. He's not been his usual dominant self of late (though overall results are still there), but I'll still take him over anyone.

Wheeler and Qualls have also been great in relief.

Should be fun!

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 1:17 pm

catskinsox wrote:Have a lot of experience playing there?

Ha...not exactly. But I have watched a lot of games on tv and in person there and I still think it's a ridiculous baseball stadium. Dont' get me wrong, it's a great place to go to a game...I just don't see the point of all of the angles, short porches, hills and flag poles. You'd think we were talking about a golf course, not a baseball stadium.

catskinsox · Post by **catskinsox** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 1:22 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:
catskinsox wrote:Have a lot of experience playing there?

Ha...not exactly. But I have watched a lot of games on tv and in person there and I still think it's a ridiculous baseball stadium. Dont' get me wrong, it's a great place to go to a game...I just don't see the point of all of the angles, short porches, hills and flag poles. You'd think we were talking about a golf course, not a baseball stadium.

I agree about the flagpole and hill. The hill will cost a severe injury one day. But the rest of the park is fine, in my opinion. Baseball has a history of oddly shaped parks before the 70's ruined it with the so called cookie cutter parks. Now anytime a stadium tries to be slightly unique, it gets ridiculed. Usually by the losing team.

I mean, what's up with that friggin wall in fenway, or those damn weeds on the wall in Wrigley? But... to each his own.

And as far as the last series goes, while I hate the Braves (due to them b*tch slapping the 'stros for so long in post-season), I have to admire Mr. Smoltz. Just a real gamer.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 1:29 pm

The thing about Fenway is that they couldn't make the park any bigger...they had the option at MM, but they decided to have those box seats there anyway. As for the Ivy...I think that's pretty stupid too. I'm all for different dimensions as the cookie cutters are quite annoying, but they went to extremes in Houston.

As for complaining because the Braves lost...it was painfully obvious they weren't going to win, so I wasn't too heartbroken. That bullpen wouldn't have won the college world series, let alone a playoff series. I said that before they even started. The Astros were just too tough. What was surprising is that the starting pitching wasn't as dominant as usual. The Braves scored runs in each game...the bullpen just gave up too many. That's credit to the Astros hitters because they definitely weren't afraid of the softies the Braves threw out there. That was downright embarassing for the franchise. The Braves wouldn't have been able to compete if they had pushed it to a 5th game anyway. They would have thrown Horacia Ramirez out there and he's a disaster. Smoltz was likely done for the year according to the reports today...his shoulder is really jacked up.

The good news is that they should have plenty of money next year to spend on a bullpen. With all of the rookies making minimal salaries and Mike Hampton's salary being covered by insurance...they should have some decent arms in the bully. Hopefully...

And yes...I'm getting used to the Astros beating the Braves now...just as you were in the 90's. It's all cyclical I guess.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 1:37 pm

Db,

Think Furcal will be back? I some media types talking that the Cubs will pursue Furcal in the offseason. IMO, he needs to be resigned.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 1:41 pm

sportdan30 wrote:Db,

Think Furcal will be back? I some media types talking that the Cubs will pursue Furcal in the offseason. IMO, he needs to be resigned.

I'm not sure if I like Furcal or not. He goes through long stretches where he thinks he's a home run hitter. He did it in the entire Astros series. A guy like that should not be popping the ball up all the time. He's at his best when he slaps the ball around the ballpark. Stuff like that pisses me off...and even after 4 years in the league, he hasn't quite figured that out.

However, when he's on, he really is the catalyst to the Braves offense. He plays a fine SS and he's got a cannon for an arm so I guess I'd like to have him back. They say he'll get upwards of 8-10 mil a year. I don't think he's worth that personally. If they can get him for 6 or 7, then it's probably worth it. I assume the Braves will be able to get a slight hometown discount, so I think they will be able to resign him, but I'm not that confident. Hell, after the Suns offseason, I am not taking anything for granted when it comes to Free Agent signings. The Braves should have some room in payroll to pay him, it's just a matter of if they want to.

catskinsox · Post by **catskinsox** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 1:46 pm

Yeah, I was very confident if game 5 had happened, but it would have been interesting after the 18 inning game before, to see what they had left.

And the Astros will have plenty of money to spend as well. They don't have Beltran's contract looming over them. I loved that sign yesterday, "Carlo$, how do you like the view from the couch?" or something along those lines. priceless.

Saw something the other day about how Beltran leaving opened the door for Jason Lane to get into the line-up. Compare Lane's numbers to Beltran. not much difference except the salary.

Yes, I'm still bitter.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 1:55 pm

I don't know why you're bitter...Beltran was one of the biggest busts in the past 5 years in terms of big money signings. He was playing at a 2 million dollar level, but he made 12 million. Best thing the Astros did was not sign him...especially at 12 mil per.

catskinsox · Post by **catskinsox** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 2:02 pm

Agreed, but he hamstrung the Astros by using them to get the contract he wanted with the Mets. Once he signed with the Mets, there were no alternatives in the free agent market. That's why I'm bitter.

If he had just moved along to NY early (since it's obvious now he had NO intentions of signing with the Astros), the Astros could have found other options.