Same Old Same Old Same Old: Threading the 2013 World Series

[Zvon]

Too bad the best fans in baseball are stuck watching some pretty pathetic play from their team.

[Frayed Knot]

Zvon wrote: Too bad the best fans in baseball are stuck watching some pretty pathetic play from their team.

I wonder if they'll blame it all on Matheny the way they used to blame it all on LaRussa.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

In all seriousness, guys, John Lackey is a pretty fucking terrible "feel-good story."

[Frayed Knot]

1st Otiz K in 10 post-season games ... Wow!!

[Zvon]

Frayed Knot wrote: 1st Otiz K in 10 post-season games ... Wow!!

That is somethin' else.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

"Lackey might be losing some steam here. Might want to consider taking him out, John."

-Grady Little

[Frayed Knot]

Even in the Game 7 2004/ALCS blowout in Yanqui Stadium, the Sox still managed to get themselves into a mini-dicey situation around the 7th inning (IIRC, it was when they brought Pedro in for an honorary inning of relief).

What saved them here is that Lackey got two quick outs to start the inning so that even the five consecutive hits & walk could only dent the lead so much ... but one more timely hit there and it was about to be nut-crunching time. The thing that sustained the Cardinals offense all year--ridonculous RiSP numbers--has deserted them in this series, but that's the nature of those sort of specialized stats especially in small samples.

[Zvon]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: In all seriousness, guys, John Lackey is a pretty fucking terrible "feel-good story."

Can they play that up any more? He did do great but SHAADDUPalready. Why do I get the sense that Buck has like zero sense of humor? He could even make a joke sound serious.

[Frayed Knot]

Dancin' in the streets of Hyannis

[Zvon]

YAY! Good series, good post season baseball. Gratz to Boston. Baseball's over again
*sob

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

And there was much rejubiliation.

[Zvon]

These series ending celebrations look so generic anymore. Same as in the vid games. If I was a player on the last out I'd leap into the stands and jump around with the fans. If they won't let the fans to go on the field they should allow the players into the stands. Right after the last out. They all scatter to different sections and celebrate.

[Guest Mets Guy in Michigan]

Looks like the fireworks might have been a mistake...

[Gwreck]

A quick aside, I thought it telling that the first thing Jimmy Rollins thinks of re: Phillies fans was vandalism and violence.

[Zvon]

What must it feel like to be a little kid like that and have 40,000 people roar at your every word?

[Zvon]

Ortiz acts surprised when he's handed the keys of the gigantic truck right next to him. lol.

[Zvon]

The MVP award is getting like receiving an oscar. That's nice.

[Edgy MD]

Gar-Batting Stance Guy wrote: Guaranteed you RedSox would win title within 2 years of Bobby Valentine's hiring. #boom

[G-Fafif]

Congrats to the Willets Family. Sorry about Beltran.

Now on to The Spot. Jerry G.'s ready to go...



Somebody get a pitcher over and let's get going. Opening Day's in five months!

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

[metirish]

Congrats , certainly worthy champions , Cherington had some big boots to fill and has done an amazing job. Seriously I look at that roster and go wow, they won the World Series. Players I knew nothing about before the Playoffs but now like a lot....Uehara and Xander Bogaerts.

[Frayed Knot]

metirish wrote: Cherington had some big boots to fill and has done an amazing job. Seriously I look at that roster and go wow, they won the World Series.

After last year's finish and the big trade-off of last summer, lots of folks were underwhelmed with their roster and picked them to finish at or near the bottom of the AL East. And while Cherrington et al have to get the credit for the results, anytime a team leads most of the season and winds up as the last one standing it means a helluva lot went right for them. You don't want to dismiss it as luck but good teams are usually good AND they're lucky.

Every one of the starting eight--starting ten really since they platooned in LF and at 3B--missed little or no time. Including:
- Napoli, whose 3-year deal was canceled when he failed his physical. They settled instead on a one-year deal for smaller bucks and he both played every day and adapted to 1B well. When injured deals like that don't work out (Moises Alou) the GM is derided as stupid.
- Peroia never missed a game.
- Drew at SS was another guy available because of past injuries. This year he got 500 PAs
- For 2008-2010 Papi (at age 32-34) averaged .257/.356/.498 -- So the Sox signed the 35 y/o to an extension and he goes .311/.401/.571 for 2011-2013 at ages 35, 36 & 37
It's easy to say deals like that are no-brainers after they work but supposing those years were the beginning of the end rather than a temporary lull?
- Ellsbury was on the field for twice as many ABs this season compared to last
- Iglesies was an all-glove SS hitting .202 in the minors when he was called up, he then hit .330/.376/.409 in Boston while filling in at two positions before getting dealt for Jake Peavy
- Four starters made 27 or more starts including Lackey who had missed all of 2012,
Only Buchholz among the regulars missed significant time (he made 16 starts)
- And the only place where they were really injured bit was in the pen where their 38 y/o fourth choice turned out to be the best closer in MLB once he got the job.

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

The flipside is that the 2012 team had a ridiculous numbers of injuries. With the solid core of the team healthy plus the new signings the "experts" should have been able to predict that the Red Sox would bounce back to having a winning record. I had predicted as much myself thinking they would be over .500 and possibly contend for the playoffs. I even won a bet with a friend when I said they'd have a better record than the Yankees. On the other hand I overestimated the improvements of the Blue Jays and Orioles.

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

Another great cover, from the St. Louis side of the story.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Shocked to see St. Louis media be so forthright with news that their club isn't the special-est.

I guess in the end they made a good run for a team with a crappy offense and heavy reliance on young pitching.

[metirish]

The whole 1918 angle got annoying , as noted by Wolf on FB......

Here is the old guy that FOX were interviewing as if he were a random old guy.....maybe they thought he was


http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2013/10/29/memories-red-sox-sports-memorabilia-merchandiser/ULDWbAIy6GNQ1Fx4NSd8vK/story.html

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Shocked to see St. Louis media be so forthright with news that their club isn't the special-est. I guess in the end they made a good run for a team with a crappy offense and heavy reliance on young pitching.

Crappy offense? #2 in NL in BA, #1 in NL in OBA, #3 in NL in SLG, #2 in NL in OPS.

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

Wacha plunking Gomes was his first HBP of his career both majors & minors.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Mets � Willets Point wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Shocked to see St. Louis media be so forthright with news that their club isn't the special-est. I guess in the end they made a good run for a team with a crappy offense and heavy reliance on young pitching. Crappy offense? #2 in NL in BA, #1 in NL in OBA, #3 in NL in SLG, #2 in NL in OPS.

Uh, yeah. Whoops. Well, they didn't hit with Boston in this series.

[G-Fafif]

Roger, sixth game.

The Red Sox have taken their third World Championship in ten years, and the first clinched at Fenway Park since 1918. No trace remains of the Curse of the Bambino and accompanying New England paranoias that filled up our paragraphs and night thoughts for so many years. Winning almost all the time has a lot to be said for it, but not quite winning, barely missing again and again, keeps you whining and breathing, and might even be more fun in the end.