Frayed Knot

Tonight it's Bochy playing mix & match with his pen and not getting the results he wants.

Did he get credit for the save?

Zvon wrote: And those replays of his tags during the season? I don't think I've ever seen anyone get that tag down so fast, no matter where the ball is thrown. I have. His name was Rey Ordonez. 22 minute inning. FK, what say you?! Long innings by themselves aren't a problem, it's when you have six or seven of them in a row and when much of that time is spent NOT playing baseball (mound conferences, slow pitchers, batters stepping out, etc.)

Brian Snitiker gets the full-time gig in Atlanta. Ron Washington to come aboard as bench coach TEAMMANAGERSigned ThruSTATUSBEGANMETSTerry Collins2017Nov '10PHILLIESPete MacKanin2017 + 2018 optionJune '15NATIONALSDusty Baker2017Nov '15MARLINSDon Mattingly2019Nov '15BRAVESBrian Snitker2017 w/option for '18Removed from interim status - Oct '16May ‘16CARDINALSMike Matheny2017Nov '13PIRATESClint Hurdle2017 + 2018 optionNov '10CUBSJoe Maddon2019Oct '14REDSBryan Price2016Oct '13BREWERSCraig Counsel2017May '15DODGERSDave Roberts2018 + 2019 OptionNov ’15GIANTSBruce Bochy2019Oct ‘16PADRESAndy Green2016Nov '15DBACKS[crossout]Chip Hale[/crossout]2016 + ’17 OptionFired Oct '16Oct '14ROCKIES[crossout]Walt Weiss[/crossout]2016Resigned Oct '16Oct '13RED SOXJohn Farrell2017 + 2018 optionOct '12YANKEESJoe Girardi2017Oct '07ORIOLESBuck Showalter2018July ‘10BLUE JAYSJohn Gibbons2017Nov '12RAYSKevin Cash2019Dec ‘14TIGERSBrad Ausmus2016 + 2017 OptionNov '13INDIANSTerry Francona2018 + Options for ’19 & ‘20Oct '12ROYALSNed Yost2018May '10TWINSPaul Molitor2017Nov '14WHITE SOX[crossout]Robin Ventura[/crossout]2016Rick Renteria hired - Oct ‘16Oct '16ANGELSMike Scioscia2018Nov '99RANGERSJeff Banister2018 + 2019 OptionOct '14MARINERSScott Servais"Multi-Year" ContractOct '15ASTROSAJ Hinch2018Sep ‘14ATHLETICSBob Melvin2018June ‘11

http://www.leaptoad.com/mets/gamedetail.php?gameno=4012&tabno=D Game 3 of the NLCS, first one at Shea A [u:3tdqwfpg]12:20 start[/u:3tdqwfpg] on Saturday afternoon (remember those kiddies?!?) Darling gets into early trouble and the Mets are down 4-0 until 2 singles, an error, and a Strawberry 3R HR ties it up in the 6th Astros go back in front by a run until a bunt single by Backman to leadoff the 9th was followed one out later by a Dykstra fly to RF that kept carrying ... and carrying ...

When in doubt, root for a Game 5

Centerfield wrote: 1. Oftentimes the "replacement-by-aggregate" approach is overly optimistic. Any approach can be overly optimistic if your estimates for the player(s) are based on hope rather than something a little more grounded, or are moves done for pr effect more than solid baseball reasons. But that can be (and is) done with star players just as easily as with non-stars. Also, replacing a lost player 'in aggregate' doesn't only mean with part-timers and scrap-heap hopefuls. Importing and/or promoting regular, full-time players so as to make smaller or medium upgrades at two or three spots is a way to counter-balance a larger loss at one spot if there's not a viable star-for-star replacement handy.

Gsellman sure has nice legible handwriting. Certainly more readable than Cecchini's autograph.

Centerfield wrote: Look, I get the draw of wanting to root for a team of scrappy overachievers who outperform expectations. That team is the micro-brewery of baseball. This has nothing to do with trying to build a particular type of team. Don't care about that, never did. Look, ideally Cespedes resigns and/or doesn't opt out of the in-place deal to begin with (yeah right!). But in the event that he leaves -- either because he wants to or because negotiations get to the point where Sandy et al make a judgement call that it doesn't make long-term sense to meet his demands -- then you move on and make other plans. My point is that there are lots of ways to move forward at that point not all of which follow in the simple 'must sign X to replace Y' format and if X < Y then we'll suck. If Cespedes leaves you lose not his total production but the difference between what he produce and what whoever gets the LF ABs next season puts out, whether it's someone already here, someone imported, or some combo of the two. And if whoever it/they wind up being looks likely to produce less then the team will need to make up that gap elsewhere; at 1B?, at catcher?, at 3rd?, CF?, or in several of the above slots. But you can't look at each move like it's unconnected to the whole. I know that's not what you mean to be saying but, when you limit the choices to saying that a team can't afford to lose an 'A' player unless he's replaced by a different 'A' because the sum total of the other options are replacing him with a 'B' or with two 'C-' guys and that means the whole season will be worse, then you kind of are.

Frayed Knot wrote: - and now word that the D'Backs have axed both former NYM bench coach Chip Hale and GM Dave Stewart. One would assume this decision was largely Tony LaRussa's although it was announced by 'managing general partner' Ken Kendrick LaRussa's position with Arizona apparently remains "undecided" which may be why two execs have already turned down invites to interview for the now vacant GM job including former Toronto GM Alex Anthropoulos. Reportedly the DBacks are after Washington GM/VP Mike Rizzo (so says ESPN's Jim Bowden) although that will have to wait until after his season is over. Rizzo started his scouting and front office career w/Arizona but I think he pretty much has free reign where he is now so whether he's interested in moving might have a lot to do with the future status of one Mr. LaRussa.

Fun game ... or at least it was while I was watching. Maybe if the first 9 innings didn't take 4 hours I would have been able to stay up for the final four. For all the praise thrown at Maddon, he gets a bit weird with his strategies now and then (I've mentioned before how I've seen him not only bunt in questionable bunting situations but then keep it on even with two strikes with hitters like Zobrist) and in this game I think a few of his mad scientist ways caught up to him as he virtually ran out of players by the 9th inning in a game where his team led almost the entire time. - At one point he double-switched Heyward in for defense and then removed him for a double switch one inning later. One inning after that came Gillaspie's triple which was just beyond the reach of Almora who had replaced the better fielding Heyward, and then the game-winning hit was also just beyond the reach of Almora. Now maybe Heyward doesn't make either catch but it's gotta suck for Cubs fans that he wasn't out there to try. Bad enough that you're paying the guy $162 million who can't hit through like some year during Chelsea Clinton's second term in the WH only to have him brought in as a defensive replacement then replaced himself after one inning, one AB, and one routine putout. - He played lefty/righty with his relievers at rates beyond where we would have been calling for Terry's head. As a result, he used his top non-closing relievers -- Strop, Wood, and Rondon -- for a total of five batters which led to going to Chapman for a six-out save attempt. Now I suppose one could claim that it's unreasonable to assume that Chapman would end up getting just one of those needed six outs and what are the odds that, after K'ing Pence, he'd serve up Triple - Single - Walk to consecutive LHBs? But the point is that once he did there were few options left to fix things so it ultimately got left to 28 y/o 2nd year reliever Mike Montgomery who they picked up from Seattle at the deadline to try and cover the next five innings ... which worked for four. And he was forced to let Montgomery hit in the top of the 12th (2-out/none on) after the likes of Soler, Zobrist, Heyward, and Miguel Montero had already been swapped out of the game. - Down to final bench player in the 13th, Maddon PH'd (backup C) David Ross for Chris Coghlan in a L/R move with one-out/one-on (Coghlan had replaced the SW-hitting Zobrist 3 innings earlier in a double-switch). The 67 y/o, .229 hitting, soon to-be retired Ross rolled into a DP. Coghlan can at least run. I never liked that wall in LF where the cartoon cars stick up giving the wall an odd pattern of varying heights. Last night might have been the first time I saw that come into play although I'm not sure if Bryant's game-tying HR would have been more or less catchable had the wall been a standard height straight across. It was a sky-high fly which had to be coming nearly straight down when it hit the high point on top of one of the goofy car cut-outs. Bochy's Giants now have won 10 straight potential post-season elimination games starting back in 2012 and now including two thus far this season. Game 4 tonight at 8:30 Had the Cubs won, the Dodger/Nats game (4:00 EDT) would have been moved to the late time-slot - and while you understand MLB and TV's need for prime-time audiences, moving the starting time of the game at what was right around midnight Pacific Time really suxxx for peeps who make plans around the game.

Holy Shit, the Cubs just got Gillaspie'd!!!! A 400+ foot, 2-run triple to put the Giants ahead 4-3 with one out in the 8th. It was off Chapman too (lefty on lefty!!) which gives Gillaspie 5 RBI on 2 swings off two of the better closers in the NL And now he's driven in for an insurance run.

We went the first two games without one, but better late than never. Arietta's stunning 2-out/2-strike 3R HR off of Bumgarner during a nearly 40-pitch 2nd inning got the Cubbies off and flying. But the Giants have since pecked away at Arietta for 2 runs and it's game-on halfway through. At least someone can hit Bumgarner in the post-season even if it's not us.

metirish wrote: Whatever became of Mair ... I don't know, but let's start a rumor that he's now a Trump staffer.

Tribe for me

Papi, as the tying run on 2nd, is removed for a pinch-runner in bottom 8th. If they fail to win this game it'll be his final appearance.

As Steve Rushin of Sports Illustrated pointed out in a recent column, if it wasn't for sports we wouldn't know anyone named Mookie.

4 hours 12 minutes is the official time, leaving it just shy of the record for longest post-season game ever, game 3 of the 2004 ALCS although that game requires several asterisks * it was Yanquis v Red Sox who, especially in that era, were in their own universe to the point where it seemed like they were playing separate rules from those of other teams * the final score of that one was 19-8 Yanx on a total of 37 hits and 9 walks Of course the best thing about that game was that, although it put the Yanx up three games to none, it would be the last one they'd win that season.

The game's in L.A. so we'll go with the gag that the picture is behind schedule and over budget. They're finally thru the 8th, just sliding it in under the four hour mark. So, assuming it doesn't get tied up, only one inning (and probably 45 minutes) to go.

[soapbox time again]It's 4-1 Nats after 4-1/2 and they're already more than two hours into a game that has a grand total of 7 hits and where the only pitching change was one made between innings so no extra time was taken up there. oe: OK, now it's 4-3 in bottom 5 on a 'Chooch' Ruiz 2R PH HR -- and here's comes the first in-inning pitching change as Dusty is yanking Gio Gonzalez And, as always, it's not just the time it's the dead time. To that end, Dodger reliever Pedro Baez needs to be banned from baseball. He's averaging over 30 seconds per pitch (and it's not just post-season pressure, he's the slowest in MLB normally. Then, after about an 8-pitch walk which took some 4-5 minutes to begin with, they then had a catcher visit to the mound followed by a pitching coach visit (separate meetings) and so it was 2-1/2 minutes between pitches to consecutive batters ... that's longer than the normal time between innings. Tow pitches later the inning ended and so we had the between inning break anyway (closer to 3 minutes because it's post-season). So basically the audience saw two pitches in nearly six minutes.

Cespedes was 60th this season in 'Runs Created'. He passes about half of those above him when you instead look at RC/G (RC is a cumulative stat so more ABs helps) but then he's lower on RC/G to some who had fewer ABs than him (Rockie rookie Dahl & MFY catcher Sanchez for ex.) Replacing a star in the aggregate rather than with one greater-than or equal-to star isn't guaranteed, but neither is the one-for-one replacement. Imagine had we allowed Yoenis and his 6.5 RC/G to walk last winter in favor of 'Elite Talent' like Upton (4.5 RC/G) or Hayward (3.4)? Nor did Seattle know, back in 2000, that Ichiro was going to turn into the HoF-caliber guy he became much less do so immediately. Going after one star to replace another is one way but it's not the only way and sometimes that sort of thinking leads to mis-steps like Coleman for Strawberry or Appier for Hampton, where you not only end up with a worse player but also a long-term contract where you have buyer's remorse practically during your drive out of the showroom.

Centerfield wrote: Am I crazy? I think elite teams are made up of elite players. One need only look at the rosters of these playoff teams to see that. And I don't think you can make up for the loss of an elite player by replacing him with 3 mediocre players. And yet the Cardinals survived and even thrived (certainly better than the Angels have) after allowing Pujols to walk, as did the Mariners who set a record by eking out 116 regular season victories the very year ARod took his bat and glove to Texas. Both teams, in fact, scored more runs the following season without those two guys who probably rate as the most productive hitters of last 30 years or more. And there are other examples of this throughout the game. The problem isn't in recognizing that Cespedes is certainly A key ingredient in building a team, particularly one seemingly on the brink. The problem is allowing yourself to get locked into the line of thinking that treats retaining him as the only way to do things.

I was beat last night and so bailed on this one after the 9th even though it wound up being a relatively quick 3:21 10-inning game. Saw the replay of the 10th this morning. - Moreland did the right thing by coming off the bag and blocking the low throw from Odor (and how much are Toronto fans liking the fact that it was his bad throw which handed them the series?) but that he's the prototype big, slow 1st sacker with no arm is, along with Donaldson's hustle, what allowed the winning run to score. Moreland was just so slow in finding and then getting rid of the ball and then seemingly threw a change-up from 100 feet. the Rangers are one of those teams that have never won a series, Never won THE Series although it seems at times like they never won any during all those years never could barely even win a game off the Yanquis. They did at least manage to get to the WS twice even though other than those two years they've racked up a whopping 3-16 record in the post-season. And of course their years as the second version of the Washington Senators does nothing to bolster their October legacy either. Weird season for them all around, going an entire season with a run differential that was barely in their favor (only +8) and yet winning 95 games when you'd think that would catch up to them eventually, then going down in three straight to a team with a worse record in the short run when you'd think the run differential thing wouldn't matter as much. And in a year where they finally had themselves some pitching that pitching let them down in the end: Hamels + Darvish + Lewis = 17 Runs in 10-1/3 Wasn't rooting for Texas to advance but wouldn't have minded then pushing the series a bit longer.

Not to mention how much he'll stretch it out.

Nats even it up 1-1 with a 5-2 win The two teams tried their very best to push it over the four hour mark but just fell short (3:55) despite it only being 8-1/2 innings, despite only 7 runs scored in total, and despite a right about average number of 76 total batters coming to the plate. Good thing they don't now have to fly across country for a DAY (1 PM local time) game tomorrow ... oh wait!!