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I am pulling for the Sox,,, But mostly pulling for it to go seven. The play offs have been a great way to avoid watching, listening or thinking about the news. Baseball is certainly more American than what passes for our government in Washington.
These are my 1st and 2nd favorite teams. I spent years in CA and my son is still there. I sorta kinda have to pull against "my" own team, either way. What a conundrum. Here I am in southern New England, so I gotta go for the Sox. But I think the DODGERS will win. Why? Since the end of the Regular Season, the Sox pitching has fallen down on the job. The Manager has to constantly piece-together each game with pitching in mind. Starters going 2 innings. The "Closer" (Kimbrel) hasn't had a clean, 3-up, 3-down inning since I don't know when. Price did well the other night, but that was a helluva surprise. And Sale? Getting his belly-Button ring treated for an infection????? Jesus Christ..... I long for the days when normal was normal. When thought and conversation included logic. When a pitcher might be hung-over, but would never dream of piercing his frikkin' stomach.
For what it's worth, it turns out Sale wasn't actually hospitalized due to an infection from a belly button ring and he was just joking with the media when he made the comment.
Sox over the Brooklyn/LA Dodgers in four...World Series Belly Button rings all around!
Like most kids growing up in the sixties I breathed baseball. Not old enough for acid, free love and Woodstock I got "high" on "fungo flies" and the smell of bubble gum on cardboard (baseball cards).
I had notebooks and notebooks of hand made box scores that I filled in as I followed a Sox game on a cheap AM radio. Never thought of it as analytic, but it probably was my first experience that combined the enjoyment of a game that blended skills and numbers. Investments in companies strangely has similar dynamics.
Does anyone remembers the Strat-o-matic Baseball Game? It was better than Monoply...where Fantasy baseball probably got its start:
I like the Red Sox style a lot: fundamentals, two-strike make-contact hitting, running the bases aggressively, etc., vs. the new strikeout-or-homerun offense model that's way too prevalent in the game now. There's a reason Boston had the best record this year, and dispatched the next-best team in 5 for the AL championship. (Like Crash says, LA's best chance is the Sox pitching.)
All that said, MLB is all but unwatchable now. Four hours for a nine-inning game? Crazy.
Have to agree with @AndyJ about the length of games. I have been taping playoff games and then fast-forwarding between pitches, pitching changes, and between innings. At one point I had David Price taking 30-40 seconds between pitches. I thought MLB had a new rule; if so, it's not enforced.
@AndyJ. Agree 100% with your first paragraph. Not at all with the second. I have a notoriously short attention span and enjoyed the playoffs very much. I would not mind a pitch clock. And although I rarely agree with Ted,,,,the batting gloves are an obsessive complusion that slows the game down too.
Have to agree with @AndyJ about the length of games. I have been taping playoff games and then fast-forwarding between pitches, pitching changes, and between innings. At one point I had David Price taking 30-40 seconds between pitches. I thought MLB had a new rule; if so, it's not enforced.
Here's a page showing several "pace of play" rule changes this year and earlier. Guess a pitch clock was considered but not added this year. I didn't know there was a rule instituted in 2015 that requires a batter to keep at least one foot in the batter's box between pitches; the article adds "though enforcement in recent seasons has not exactly been strict."
It was different back in the Pleistocene, of course; I played in a 17-inning game in college (we lost) that didn't quite make four hours.
Ya, and digital commercials via popups on your tv screen BETWEEN PITCHES. That's just fucking shameless. So, the game is not the thing. Instead, the game is just a vehicle for the goddam ads. BETWEEN PITCHES really makes me see red. That's just outrageously excessive.
I won't go to my hometown AHL games anymore. The same principle is at work: it's a noise even at which there is also a hockey game happening, coincidentally.
Not baseball but football. Ads appearing on jumbo tron !!! Show me replays of the game,stats, etc. I guess if the ads came down the ticket price rises. Derf
Not baseball but football. Ads appearing on jumbo tron !!! Show me replays of the game,stats, etc. I guess if the ads came down the ticket price rises. Derf
Vicious circle. And even at that, the best seats for any major sport are already bought and committed to companies, not individual fans. Season tickets. All bought-up before we even get a look at the seating chart.
Given that the Dodgers are currently down 2 games, the odds are long against them.
Since both teams are champions, when each team takes the field the odds of winning are roughly even. Given that assumption, the chances of the Dodgers winning the Series is roughly equal to 0.188. Since the Boston club won more games than the Dodgers did during the regular year, I suspect they are a slightly stronger ball team. Therefore, I speculate that the Dodgers have a 15% probability of winning the Series this year. Not good but not impossible either.
Since I live in Southern California I root for my locals. Go Dodgers. By the way, I don't invest against the odds.
By winning the third game marathon the Dodgers have increased their low probability of winning the World Series to 0.375 assuming a 50/50 chance in every game. Since I believe the Boston club is slightly superior to the Dodgers, I'll adjust that likelihood to 1/3 in rough numbers.. Not bad but still an uphill challenge. Go Dodgers!
3:41 a.m. I was in for the duration. Seven and a half hours. Eovaldi was due for a mistake. He had been pitching so well. 18 innings. Game 3. And game 4 is supposed to start in 15 hours. Notice that Cora did not use Pomerantz in a tight situation. No confidence in him. But who will be the starter on Saturday? POMERANTZ??? That would be all that's necessary for the Dodgers to win game 4. Giant piles of dooky.
I HOPE it will be Sale. Lemme check... From MLB.com: "All manager Alex Cora would say was that the Red Sox would start a lefty, with Eduardo Rodriguez and Chris Sale on short rest the logical candidates, as the only other left-hander, Drew Pomeranz, hasn't pitched in nearly a month."
No problem. In a short World Series, conventional player usage rules don't apply. The operative rule here is "all hands on deck".
That rule was extensively applied in yesterday's 18 inning marathon. Boston ended the game with a catcher playing first base and a cripple covering third base. Earlier the Dodgers used Clayton Kershaw as a pinch hitter. He's not a bad hitter. Whatever it takes to stay in the game rules. True yesterday and even more true today.
I suspect the Dodgers will throw Kershaw today while Boston is planning to pitch most of their staff, anticipating two innings work from 4 or 5 hard throwers.
No problem. In a short World Series, conventional player usage rules don't apply. The operative rule here is "all hands on deck".
That rule was extensively applied in yesterday's 18 inning marathon. Boston ended the game with a catcher playing first base and a cripple covering third base. Earlier the Dodgers used Clayton Kershaw as a pinch hitter. He's not a bad hitter. Whatever it takes to stay in the game rules. True yesterday and even more true today.
I suspect the Dodgers will throw Kershaw today while Boston is planning to pitch most of their staff, anticipating two innings work from 4 or 5 hard throwers.
Best Wishes
Thanks for the recap MJG. I haven’t followed BB at all this year. That game yesterday sounds like a wild one! Worth the price of admission for sure. (Actually watching the game this evening however).
Comments
Regards,
Ted
alex-cora-smirks-while-addressing-chris-sales-belly-button Sox over the Brooklyn/LA Dodgers in four...World Series Belly Button rings all around!
I had notebooks and notebooks of hand made box scores that I filled in as I followed a Sox game on a cheap AM radio. Never thought of it as analytic, but it probably was my first experience that combined the enjoyment of a game that blended skills and numbers. Investments in companies strangely has similar dynamics.
Does anyone remembers the Strat-o-matic Baseball Game? It was better than Monoply...where Fantasy baseball probably got its start:
https://strat-o-matic.com/products/baseball-current-edition-game
Regards,
Ted
1950 Red Sox:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/BOS/1950.shtml
1950 American League Standings:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/1950.shtml
Derf
All that said, MLB is all but unwatchable now. Four hours for a nine-inning game? Crazy.
Regards,
Ted
Derf
It was different back in the Pleistocene, of course; I played in a 17-inning game in college (we lost) that didn't quite make four hours.
I won't go to my hometown AHL games anymore. The same principle is at work: it's a noise even at which there is also a hockey game happening, coincidentally.
Derf
Given that the Dodgers are currently down 2 games, the odds are long against them.
Since both teams are champions, when each team takes the field the odds of winning are roughly even. Given that assumption, the chances of the Dodgers winning the Series is roughly equal to 0.188. Since the Boston club won more games than the Dodgers did during the regular year, I suspect they are a slightly stronger ball team. Therefore, I speculate that the Dodgers have a 15% probability of winning the Series this year. Not good but not impossible either.
Since I live in Southern California I root for my locals. Go Dodgers. By the way, I don't invest against the odds.
Best Wishes
By winning the third game marathon the Dodgers have increased their low probability of winning the World Series to 0.375 assuming a 50/50 chance in every game. Since I believe the Boston club is slightly superior to the Dodgers, I'll adjust that likelihood to 1/3 in rough numbers.. Not bad but still an uphill challenge. Go Dodgers!
Best Regards
"All manager Alex Cora would say was that the Red Sox would start a lefty, with Eduardo Rodriguez and Chris Sale on short rest the logical candidates, as the only other left-hander, Drew Pomeranz, hasn't pitched in nearly a month."
No problem. In a short World Series, conventional player usage rules don't apply. The operative rule here is "all hands on deck".
That rule was extensively applied in yesterday's 18 inning marathon. Boston ended the game with a catcher playing first base and a cripple covering third base. Earlier the Dodgers used Clayton Kershaw as a pinch hitter. He's not a bad hitter. Whatever it takes to stay in the game rules. True yesterday and even more true today.
I suspect the Dodgers will throw Kershaw today while Boston is planning to pitch most of their staff, anticipating two innings work from 4 or 5 hard throwers.
Best Wishes
Thanks for the recap MJG. I haven’t followed BB at all this year. That game yesterday sounds like a wild one! Worth the price of admission for sure. (Actually watching the game this evening however).
Enjoy the game, Derf