In World Series Thread - 2024

[Frayed Knot]

The twelfth WS matchup between these two teams, but the first since 1981

Games 1 & 2 in L.A.



8:08 first pitch on FOX

Gerritt Cole vs Yoshinobu Yamamoto

[batmagadanleadoff]

... wherein the best players will hit Home Runs every other at bat and the best pitchers will hurl three hitters, striking out 12 batters every start. Because ... oooooh! ..... it's the World Series! It's the playoffs! The stakes are higher. And when the stakes are higher, the best players will turn on their magic buttons and play to the very best of their abilities. Because the best players can play their very best whenever they fucking feel like it but would rather wait until they're lucky enough to get to play in the ... ooooooooh! World Series to play their best.

[Centerfield]

I'd love to see Juan Soto have an awful series, with multiple errors, and have him booed off the field as the Yanks get swept.

[MFS62]

In case you were wondering which team top root ... against.

Old, but classic:



[media=youtube]-3J3_-czh6A[/media]



Later

[Gwreck]

This is the least appealing or interesting World Series matchup since Satan's Series of 2009. No thanks.

[Frayed Knot]

btw, it's not Yamamoto, it's Jack Flaherty

I blame my research staff.

[The Hot Corner]

Well, I'm not overly interested in this series. I do however, hope that the Dogers win in 4 (or 5) games so they can celebrate their vitory in Yankee Stadium III in front of the Yankees and their misguided fans.

[Frayed Knot]

=Gwreck post_id=177511 time=1729897294 user_id=56]
This is the least appealing or interesting World Series matchup since Satan's Series of 2009. No thanks.

[Gwreck]

Frayed Knot wrote: =Gwreck post_id=177511 time=1729897294 user_id=56] This is the least appealing or interesting World Series matchup since Satan's Series of 2009. No thanks.

Not liking either team is understandable. I just don't think that makes it uninteresting.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Whoa what a finish to game 1. Freddy grand slam in the 10th

[Centerfield]

Wow.

[Frayed Knot]

Never been happier to see a Freddie HR!!

[Centerfield]

Hey. Let's take an injured pitcher and throw him into the fire against the Dodgers in game 1. What could go wrong.

[Frayed Knot]

Yanx added Nestor Cortes to the roster for this round in exchange for IF Jon Berti.

This gave them a 13th pitcher but also left rookie Oswaldo Cabrera as their only backup IF, which may have come into play as he wasn't able to smother that inning starting single.

[Centerfield]

I'm sure Yankee fans will be very understanding of Boone's decision to use Nestor.



Hey. Sometimes moves don't work out. It happens.

[Fman99]

I will take my cues from this thread as to whether or not I should even look at the results. Otherwise the blinders are on. I do like the idea of the MFYs losing it at home in front of fans that got soaked at $2k per ticket.

[metirish]

What a nice surprise to wake up to

[Frayed Knot]

=Gwreck post_id=177525 time=1729910995 user_id=56]
This series is uninteresting because there's no juice to the matchup. No underdogs, no surprises, no teams that have engineered a turnaround.

This is an uncompelling and uninteresting series regardless of how one feels about the teams.

[metirish]

=Centerfield post_id=177535 time=1729914941 user_id=65]
I'm sure Yankee fans will be very understanding of Boone's decision to use Nestor.



Hey. Sometimes moves don't work out. It happens.

[metirish]

[Edgy MD]

And here is his head.



Gotta say, extra innings can be fun without that stupid free runner.

[The Hot Corner]

After the Dodgers eliminated the Mets to advance to the World Series, I texted my childhood friend, life-long southern California resident and ardent Dodgers fan to congratulate him. Then I told him, that now they had to defeat the Yankees. His reply was, "The Yankees season must end in tears!"



Freddie Freeman's historic home run to crush the Yankees hopes last night was a wonderful start toward that mission.

[stevejrogers]

Frayed Knot wrote: =Gwreck post_id=177525 time=1729910995 user_id=56] This series is uninteresting because there's no juice to the matchup. No underdogs, no surprises, no teams that have engineered a turnaround. This is an uncompelling and uninteresting series regardless of how one feels about the teams.

Gotta say, this is the first time I've heard the argument that having the top teams and several of the games top stars in the WS makes it a less interesting matchup.

Also didn't know that this one was unique in using the universal DH.

Personally I prefer seeing two first place teams playing for the championship over last year's AL's 4th best vs NL's 6th

[Edgy MD]

While Freeman's numbers in that situation are undeniable, it's hard to say that there's a right way to pitch through Ohtani, Betts, and Freeman with the game on the line and the winning run in scoring position.



That said, intentionally walking Mookie to load the bases for Freeman probably isn't the way you should do it. You can at least try to be cute and perfect to Betts and if you lose him on a walk or a hit-batsman, you do.



But just surrendering to him means you don't have that option with Freeman. You have to come right after him, and he knows it. And that's what Cortes did.



I think part of the appeal of walking Betts there is psychological. You're one batter closer to running through the three-MVP gauntlet, so you fool yourself that you're that much safer.



His limping through the Mets series aside, he probably scares me more now than he ever did as a Brave. I think part of that is that the Mets can't easily put in a lefthanded specialist to go after him with the game on the line.

[Gwreck]

Frayed Knot wrote: Gotta say, this is the first time I've heard the argument that having the top teams and several of the games top stars in the WS makes it a less interesting matchup. Personally I prefer seeing two first place teams playing for the championship over last year's AL's 4th best vs NL's 6th

No one said it's a generally a bad thing having first place teams advance. These particular teams make it a “meh” matchup.

Also didn't know that this one was unique in using the universal DH.

This is a lazy argument and you know better than this. The point clearly was that the universal DH particularly hinders strategy in this matchup of these two teams.

[MFS62]

I've temporally suspended calling him Freddie F'n Freeman.

The sportscaster on WABC-NY this morning mentioned how he has hit the Mets in the past and then led into last night's grand slam.

Later

[batmagadanleadoff]

Frayed Knot wrote: =Gwreck post_id=177525 time=1729910995 user_id=56] This series is uninteresting because there's no juice to the matchup. No underdogs, no surprises, no teams that have engineered a turnaround. This is an uncompelling and uninteresting series regardless of how one feels about the teams.

Gotta say, this is the first time I've heard the argument that having the top teams and several of the games top stars in the WS makes it a less interesting matchup.

Also didn't know that this one was unique in using the universal DH.

Personally I prefer seeing two first place teams playing for the championship over last year's AL's 4th best vs NL's 6th

[Lefty Specialist]

I want the Dodgers to beat the Yankees in 5 games or less, just so I can say to my Yankee friends, "At least we took them to 6".

[Frayed Knot]

I don't think I would have called for the IW to Betts, but it's a defendable call in a situation where you're gong to be pitching to an MVP-level player either way.

Pro: left on left (and those super-selective stats above aren't relevant); MUCH slower runner, force at any base, tying and winning runs already in scoring position

Con: Cortes hadn't pitched in a while (so maybe using him AT ALL is your issue, not the IW); now a BB ties the game/less room for error

The cool part was that Cortes threw just two pitches to three hitters: Ohtani popped out on his 1st pitch, the no-pitch IW to Mookie, 1st pitch GS by FF

so we didn't have to wait long for the judgement.



Yanqui fans are just pissed that when Cleveland IW'd Soto to load the bases w/one out and face Judge in the previous round they merely got a Sac Fly out of it.





As far as the other topic, I guess I'm going to have to research the difference between those top teams who are interesting vs those who are 'Meh' because the distinction isn't clear to me.

What is clear to me is that these are two of the best teams all season with some of the top stars/MVPs in the game and it's a matchup in which I have a very passionate rooting interest. So I'm going to be watching until there's no more baseball to watch. Oh, and Game 1 was a terrific watch (even if not always a great listen).

[Frayed Knot]

Lefty Specialist wrote: I want the Dodgers to beat the Yankees in 5 games or less, just so I can say to my Yankee friends, "At least we took them to 6".

As always, my hope is that the Yanx lose in three, meaning they get so humiliated going down 3-0 that they simply never show for game 4