Frayed Knot

Doesn't it seem like one team is swinging with wooden objects while the other is using rolled-up magazines? Our (very few) hits go for singles, theirs are for extra bases. The outs the Nats are making are often hard, while most of our outs are soft. And while our best shots are dying on the warning track, theirs wind up 15 rows deep.

Reports are claiming that the vote was unanimous. Which isn't to say that the initial vote was unanimous. Advertising on unis? ... I think it's going to be a hot topic in all U.S. sports going forward. The NBA has essentially admitted that it's only a matter of time with them; the WNBA already does. I'm seeing some ads on exhibition football jerseys although I don't know if they're wearing those during games (cuz if you catch me watching pre-season football, please beat me with a blunt object) or if those are just for the film shots from training camp. I don't think expansion is on anyone's agenda in MLB right now.

Mets re-sign Abreu, assign him to Las Vegas. Presumably will be a Sept 1 call-up.

Curtis Granderson, rf Daniel Murphy, 2b David Wright, 3b Lucas Duda, 1b Travis d'Arnaud, c Matt den Dekker, lf Juan Lagares, cf Wilmer Flores, ss Dillon Gee, rhp Denard Span, cf Asdrubal Cabrera, 2b Anthony Rendon, 3b Adam LaRoche, 1b Ian Desmond, ss Bryce Harper, lf Jose Lobaton, c Michael Taylor, rf Stephen Strasburg, rhp

Eh, who knows how official any of these ratings really are.

And it wasn't my point to turn this into a baseball vs football discussion, especially as I find those arguments both tedious and pointless, akin to cat & dog owners arguing over which is smarter. All that winds up happening in those clashes is that each side cites the strong points of their breed which does nothing more than to prove that cats don't make very good dogs and that dogs would be really lousy at being cats. I'm just disagreeing with the notion that baseball's post-season 'randomness' is particularly unique, and when similar arguments for one is often used against the other. [Random Sportscaster]The reason I hate baseball and refuse to talk about it is that these number geeks have ruined the whole sport ... so let's get back to our discussion QB Ratings and RPI Indexes[/Random Sportscaster]

SteveJRogers wrote: Ceetar wrote: (Different rant here, but NBA really should force-feed the WNBA to it's fans. would be a great idea) They, and ESPN have tried over the years. The WNBA is essentially a wholly-owned (and money losing) arm of the NBA designed as an attempt to double the market for jersey sales (and therefore try to make up the lost revenue). The backing of the main league allowed it to put out of business the other women's pro league which was started a year earlier and that, at least initially, had better talent and the better paid talent. That outlets which carry the NBA (mainly ESPN but not limited to them) make it a point to give WNBA scores in their run-downs makes one wonder whether that practice is a courtesy or more of a quid pro quo.

Wheeler - 2.5 Edgin - 0.7 Granderson - 0.6 Wright - 0.7 d'Arnaud - 1.5 Duda - 1.5 Lagares - 1.5 den Dekker - 0.5

Gee - 4.0 Edgin - 0.5 Black - 0.5 Familia - 0.5 Eveland - 0.5 Duda - 1.5 Granderson - 1.0 Lagares - 1.0 Flores - 0.5

Colon - 4.2 Black - 0.5 d'Arnaud - 1.5 Wright - 0.4 den Dekker - 1.0 Duda - 0.4

Frayed Knot wrote: Lots of stuff can change in the interim. Like Tulowitski being done for the season ... AGAIN! He already hadn't played since July 18th. Now is to have labrum surgery on his hip. They say he Should be ready for spring training but, as always, his mileage may vary. This is the same problem that kept ARod out for much of a season. This will make it the 2nd season in the last three that he failed to play 100 games (254 games total over 3 years), and the 5th time in eight that he didn't reach 130. Then throw in the Coors factor, and the contract factor, and that the odometer will turn to 30 before he sees another pitch.

The reason that the elite teams generally win the NBA championship is because, as you say, they are considerably better than their other playoff rivals, but also, because the game is truer ... there's less luck involved ... and therefore, a seven game series between two NBA teams is a fairly reliable way to determine which of two competing teams is the better one. ... In baseball, there are also considerable gaps between playoff teams. But not nearly to the same extent. Even in your (larger than usual) example of a 100-win team vs an 85-win club, that's a team winning 62% of their games vs 53%. In the NBA the 1st and sometimes 2nd round contests (which are usually no contest at all) almost always feature clubs with .750+ winning pct against sub-.500 stragglers. THAT, as much as anything else, is why the better team wins. By rounds three & four in the NBA (for those still awake by that point) the outcomes get closer to random/tougher to predict. It's pointless to have this discussion within the context of the NFL. They play a sixteen game season and the playoffs is a one game elimination tournament. Small. Sample. Size. And it'll never get fixed because the game is too violent for players to play even slightly more than they already do. Not pointless when the best team not winning is cited as a reason why MLB's post-season set-up is flawed but cited as a product of the genius of the NFL when the same thing happens in that sport. The factors may be different but the results aren't.

Pineda came off the DL and was no-hitting the Orioles thru 4 and had a 2-0 lead. But he could only last 5, left up 2-1, and Girardi went to Bettances for 2.1 innings. But because he came in so early he couldn'tt finish the 8th inning and so the O's scored 4 times on 2 HRs 5-3 Baltimore is your final.

Weird game. Nats had runners on early and couldn't cash. Mets had several chances late and couldn't. Each side handed each other runs with errors. Both starters were good but both lost it quickly. Sloppy game overall. Plus I hate losing to these fuckers.

No way should that be blocking the plate. But this situation is no different than some we've seen overturned and if I'm the manager I'm challenging every single out at home until they get this thing straightened out.

Now THAT'S how you move a runner along!!

I REALLY hated that call.

About 10% of 2-run saves are blown btw. And this one is already no longer two runs.

Fman99 wrote: GEAUX The man with the French name obviously heard you.

Nats are trying very hard to hand us runs and we're trying very hard not to take them.

Does Lagares have a ball magnet implanted near his left shoulder blade? That's like the 3rd one in the last week or so.

Edgy MD wrote: Well, it's nearly unthinkable, but Duan was unabashed about suggesting that the way to crown the truly best team is to bag the post-season altogether. The team with the best record is your champ. Not all that unthinkable considering that things ran that way for nearly 70 years with the NL & AL being very separate entities back then. Of course it would be totally unthinkable NOW, but that's because we've been increasingly conditioned that way.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Speaking of famous, aging quartets-- tonight's trivia: 4 oldest to throw perfection... go! (Bunning has to be one of them, no?) Large unit.

'Blocking' rule gets even more absurd. See: Giants/White Sox reversal from Wednesday afternoon's game. Ventura got himself ejected over this and I don't blame him.

I remember the incident, and Millan pretty much asked for it.