Frayed Knot

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Will there be another one? Doesn't look like it seeing as how 'Big FOX' isn't even touching most of the remaining NLCS games leaving FS1 as the location for the game itself. So unless they're throwing the round table discussion to FS2 (which I don't think half the country even gets) there's no room for the overflow.

Short memories in the booth. Both Reynolds & Verducci are talking about what a great CF Jon Jay is ("you have to see him every day to appreciate him" says Harold). Yeah, we saw him everyday during last year's post-season ... he was awful defensively. OK, maybe 'awful' is a bit harsh, but he was not anything resembling good. HIs play out there is why the Cards traded two guys to get Peter Bourjos and Jay's only still in CF because it turned out that Bourjos couldn't hit.

This game seems like it should be a lot more than 3-0 SF Seems like I felt that way in a lot of NYM games this season also -- dominating the play but not the score.

Just tuned into the alternate FOXS1 telecast for the first time tonight. They, Gabe Kapler specifically, was talking about how Jon Jay turns into pitches to get HBPs. As he's demonstrating it in their studio Jon Jay gets hit by a pitch while turning into the pitch. Nice timing.

Royals are now 6-0 in this post-season ... that's stunning enough. But the really wild part is that in five of those games they scored their winning run(s) in the 12th, 11th, 11th, 10th & 9th innings - 4 of those 5 while on the road. Only in game 3 vs Anaheim did they go ahead early to stay.

That Kelvin Herrera was an absolute zero in covering 1st base an inning or so back, wasn't he? I tell you I crack me up sometimes

d'Kong76 wrote: Ron's pretty good on these, hope he keeps mixing it in and doesn't get swept up by a sweet network deal with no time for us. Nah, there's no network job in baseball that'll take more than a day or two a week. Local TV is really where the bread & butter is in baseball.

Starts by a 40+ y/o? No, that's not it, because then the words 'probably' and 'chance' wouldn't be in there.

One caution about SS prospects is to choose which ones you expect to remain a SS - cuz those who don't often won't have to bat to be all that valuable once they're off of SS

Most post-season extra-inning HRs in franchise history: Yanx = 11 Red Sox = 7 Braves = 6 Post-season, extra-inning HRs [u:3kab3nbe]this year[/u:3kab3nbe] for Royals = 4

Wallace to Britton: All you do to me is walk, walk

I generally find the practice of writing real media folks into the plot so that they can comment on the non-real or quasi-real characters makes for a weak plot device. That this one does that by shoe-horning Kurkjian & Stark into the flick only further explains the fuss made over the premier that was made on BB2N. On the same topic, if there weren't enough reasons to bypass the just released for home disc movie DRAFT DAY, a cast which includes Chris Berman, Mel Kiper Jr., Jon Gruden, and Deion Sanders (among others) gives you plenty of new ones.

I suspect 'Randy' isn't really named Randy I also suspect, assuming elements of this story are true in the first place, that the OB/GYN is more likely a former minor league player and she either doesn't know the difference or is purposely slanting the facts so as to punch up the story. I also wonder why people might possibly be interested in reading about Lena Dunham's gynecologist. But seeing as Dunham has become the spokeswoman for an entire generation of American women (or so I've heard) I suppose there's no shortage of people who want to know and that, if this guy's real name ever gets out, he's going to have more business than he could ever possible hope to handle to the point where Fred will have to [crossout:kw9mrbu5]lend[/crossout:kw9mrbu5] sell him one or two of the old turnstiles from Shea just to regulate crowd control in his office.

Edgy MD wrote: Not definitive, but indicative of a minor victory --- if a pyrrhic one --- for Sandy's restraint ... As was the non-sgning of Stephen Drew Sandy made a reference last off-season to expecting somewhat of a regression to the norm for both Drew & Tejada and that the difference you'd get from each would hardly be worth $20 million (he was assuming a 2x$10 -ish deal which was what was being rumored at the time) Drew WAR 2013 = 3.1; 2014 = -0.3 for what turned out to be $10 million and about 2/3 of the season Tejada WAR 2013 = -1.1; 2014 = +1.4 for $1.1 mil Now maybe things turn out differently if SD signs during the winter (IOW, if a Boras client acts NOT like a Boras client) and plays all year, but again, probably not to the tune of close to $20 million worth. This makes it the 2nd year in a row where shunning the fashionable "get" (the MUST get in the minds of some) turned out to be the better move. 2013 = Michael Bourn

Lefty Specialist wrote: I really hate the 'Big Game' moniker. He hasn't exactly been lights-out in 'big games' this year. But it seems to have been surgically attached to his name, like 'all-important' has been attached to 'loss column' and 'iconic' has been attached to 'wooden cap'. Apparently that moniker got hung on him back in the minors by some teammates which in turn got picked up on by ML announcers and now has become the required form of address. I remember muttering 'Big game my ass' at my television on more than a few occasions over the past five years or so while watching him struggle against the Yanx.

Game 1 - Friday, Oct 10, 8:07 EDT 'Big Game' James Shields (14-8, 3.21) vs Chris 'Tea for the' Tillman (13-6, 3.24) Rain expected

Buzz is saying 3/$40 for Hardy to stay in Bal'mer

A recently written scouting report from the 'Minor League Ball' site (also linked in the AFL thread) Matt Reynolds is a 2nd round pick from the 2012 draft, signing for $525,000 out of the University of Arkansas. He kicked the year off in AA Binghamton where he hit a stout 355/430/422 with an astronomical .433 BABIP. Bumped up to AAA Las Vegas, he continued to rake where he remarkably sustained a BABIP over .400 (.404 to be exact). No doubt part of that was due to the friendly offensive environs of the Pacific Coast League, notching 25 extra base hits there while only hitting nine in AA in roughly the same amount of at bats. Combined between the two upper levels of the minor leagues, Reynolds hit 343/405/454 with a 9.2% walk rate and 18.6% strike out rate, 34 extra base hits, and 20 stolen bases. Digging into his splits, he was a bit better against lefties (359/422/468) than righties (335/396/447) but both lines were excellent. He maintained an excellent line drive rate throughout the year, hitting liners 24.4% of the time in AA (8.9 points better than the Eastern League average) and 22.3% of the time in AAA (3.5 point better than the PCL average). He's not a burner, but Reynolds just doesn't have the same speed as most short stops despite the 20 stolen bases. The lack of speed hurts his range but he is pretty sure-handed with the ones he does get to with soft hands and a plus throwing arm. He made 16 errors at short stop with a .963 fielding percentage in 431 chances while also making one error at second base where he played 21 games, getting 92 chances. Reynolds is a baseball rat and understands how to play the game the right way, being dubbed "a grinder" by AAA manager Wally Backman. He looks to be similar to LJ Mazzilli in that he will squeeze every ounce of talent out of his average tools.

Neil Allen: 65th best Met of all time - but looks like he could be passed by Lucas Duda this year.

Just cuz I know you were all just sitting around wondering who Frayed was rooting for at this point in the playoff picture. And feel free to list your own if so inclined. My preferences, in this order: Orioles - they're an AL East team that's not the Yanx Royals - fun team on the rise that's been out of it for so long Giants - not quite sure how they do it sometimes, but they do Cards - they're annoying, things seem to go their way all the time, and they're just plain not that good Kind of weird that I'm going with both AL teams over the two NL, but it's time for some new blood.

btw, how prescient did Smoltz sound talking, just before the two wild pitches, about Barrett getting tight and spiking his breaking pitches? I like Smoltz on the mike and on the occasional local games he does for the Braves he's the same only less restrained being off the network and therefore a bit goofier.

Edgy MD wrote: I know we've been watching them all year, and I KNOW he actually exists, but it still totally feels like "Aaron Barrett" is a guy the Nats had CGIed just before the playoffs started. Yeah, that guy totally took me by surprise. I endured a lot of dis-spiriting Mets-Nats games this season and that guy didn't leave a mark on my psyche at all. And the bigger question, why Aaron Barrett while Tyler Clippard never even gets out of his chair? And that onto why Matt Williams pulls his 4th starter - but then only uses his 5th starter for 2/3 of an inning Brings in the LOOGY Thornton - but then leaves him in to face Posey with a runner on base (which set up the go-ahead run) And not only did Clippard not appear in the close-out game but neither did whoever of Strasburg or Zimmermann (apparently Strasburg) wasn't slated to start game 5 Not a good week for the Washington bats obviously (9 runs in 4 games - 5 really counting the extra innings) but not a great week for their rookie manager either. oe: cross-posted with bmfc1

Cards lefty-on-lefty HRs in 2014: 8 HRs in 555 ABs Cards lefty-on-lefty HRs in this series: 5, including 2 off Kershaw (Carpenter & Adams). Also Carpenter off Ryu, Carpenter off Howell, and Wong off Elbert. Carpenter had 8 HRs all year, 2 vs LHPs

Write-ups/scouting reports on some of the lesser-known NYM/Scorpions Here

To the extent that all teams are flawed, sure. It's just that in this case I think that most of the flaw-ers are more flawed than most of the flaw-ees. The best record teams went out in both leagues winning a total of one game between them, and on the NL side the best two teams are out. Moving on are: - the O's minus what most would have said were their three best offensive players coming into this season (Weiters, Machado, Davis) and a no-name pitching staff, - the WC-survivor Royals with their last-in-HRs/last-in-walks offense, a bunch of total unknowns to most fans, and their track record of the last three decades - the Cards and their barely positive run differential and an offense that doesn't score as well as the Mets - and the WC-survivor Giants whose past pitching prowess now boasts of Bumgarner and a bunch of maybes. Meanwhile, present, past, or expected MVPs, CYs, and RoY's losing out in this year's early round include the likes of: Trout, Pujols, Cabrera, Scherzer, Verlander, Price, Harper, Hamilton, Kershaw, Greinke