Baseball

[San Antone]

NLCS sure was a rollercoaster. Must have been painful to be a Phillies fan, seeing the team fluctuating between incredible success (especially the blowout of game 2) and mediocrity. Now we have two wild card teams (the two lowest seeds, no?) in the WS. Playoff baseball continues to make no sense. I guess I'll be rooting for Texas who need their first title.

Yep - I don't have any feeling for Arizona.  But I was rooting for Texas no matter who they would be playing.  At least the weather will be warmer in Arizona than Philadelphia.

[Brian]

NLCS sure was a rollercoaster. Must have been painful to be a Phillies fan, seeing the team fluctuating between incredible success (especially the blowout of game 2) and mediocrity. Now we have two wild card teams (the two lowest seeds, no?) in the WS. Playoff baseball continues to make no sense. I guess I'll be rooting for Texas who need their first title.

Texas wasn't the AL's lowest seed (Toronto was), and they could have been higher but for that late collapse in Aug/Sept (including a devastating sweep at home by the Astros!). They've been looking good most of the year. Arizona is a wild story, but Corbin Carroll's speed is irresistible to watch. He really models the excitement of the "new rules" baseball.

Anyway, being in Dallas I am rooting for Texas. Pity that the tickets are so expensive (starting at about $400 for standing room only!).

[ando]

Props!



Can't say I'm a fan of either WS team. But I admire Arizona. Tbh, the new NBA season has been more intriguing though it doesn't seem like the crowd for it here. Go Snakes!

[Brian]

Game 1 was a classic!

I especially appreciated Corbin Carroll hitting a triple 10 seconds after I'd told my girlfriend that he is the most fun guy to watch on either team. Oh, and the two late home runs, of course. 

[Mapman]

This is an embarrassing game for Arizona. At least I can support former Phillie Travis Jankwoski.

[ando]

Looking like Texas might take it tonight but the Snakes seem to do well with their backs up. Come on Gallen!

[vers la flamme]

Looking like Texas might take it tonight but the Snakes seem to do well with their backs up. Come on Gallen!

They rallied last night, but too little too late. Funny, there was a game kind of like this in the ALDS, where the Orioles' late game rally fell flat against the Rangers, ending up somewhere like 11-8. If you want to beat the Rangers, I guess the key is not to let them score so early in the game.

Edit: Great game 5 so far from a defense perspective. Gallen is cooking and hasn't allowed a Texas baserunner yet. Eovaldi has managed to keep Diamondbacks to 0 for 7 with RISP. Would love to see the Snakes come back from a 3-1 deficit and win it in 7, but I'm happy either way. Both teams have been playing great postseason baseball and it would be well deserved in either case.

[ando]

Congrats Rangers fans!

[Brian]

Edit: Great game 5 so far from a defense perspective.

This was mostly a great defensive series but that horrible mistake by Alek Thomas in center field tonight will be remembered more vividly than all the great throws by Perdomo and Jung and the long snags at first by Walker.

Two really good games this series (1 and 5) and three that were honestly unpleasant to watch. Glad the Rangers finally won their first title!

[vers la flamme]

This was mostly a great defensive series but that horrible mistake by Alek Thomas in center field tonight will be remembered more vividly than all the great throws by Perdomo and Jung and the long snags at first by Walker.

Two really good games this series (1 and 5) and three that were honestly unpleasant to watch. Glad the Rangers finally won their first title!

That fielding error was especially painful to watch being that it came right on the heels of Zac Gallen's perfect first 6 innings. But that gave the Rangers all the momentum they needed to take it home. Congrats Rangers fans! A very well-deserved WS win for the team who, to me, played the most consistently well of all postseason teams this year. The fact that they brought it home in games 4 and 5 without their best slugger is testament to that, I think. The Dbacks are a very young team and will have another chance soon, I think.

[San Antone]

That fielding error was especially painful to watch being that it came right on the heels of Zac Gallen's perfect first 6 innings. But that gave the Rangers all the momentum they needed to take it home. Congrats Rangers fans! A very well-deserved WS win for the team who, to me, played the most consistently well of all postseason teams this year. The fact that they brought it home in games 4 and 5 without their best slugger is testament to that, I think. The Dbacks are a very young team and will have another chance soon, I think.

Thomas should have let the ball drop, but he didn't want to allow a hit.  Instead he allowed much more than that. Similar to Walkers running through the third base coach sign and getting thrown out at home.  Yes, the D-Backs are a good team.  But because of their youth they made some mental errors which ultimately cost them the series.

I'm sure they'll have other chances.

Yea - Texas!  Bring on Winter.

[Brian]

Thomas should have let the ball drop, but he didn't want to allow a hit. 

It was a ground ball!

[San Antone]

It was a ground ball!

Oh - yep, I forgot.   

[vers la flamme]

Shohei Ohtani signed a massive deal to the Dodgers, and is deferring >97% of it until 2034. I can only imagine it's going to hurt the Dodgers of the 2030s to be paying 68 million a year to a player who is no longer on the roster, and I wouldn't be surprised if they try and find a way out of it, but I don't know anything about the finances of pro sports.

[ando]

Shohei Ohtani signed a massive deal to the Dodgers, and is deferring >97% of it until 2034. I can only imagine it's going to hurt the Dodgers of the 2030s to be paying 68 million a year to a player who is no longer on the roster, and I wouldn't be surprised if they try and find a way out of it, but I don't know anything about the finances of pro sports.

hurt the Dodgers...

ok.

[vers la flamme]

hurt the Dodgers...

ok.

"Hurt" was maybe not the right word. I didn't mean that this deal would worsen them in any way. Just that it's going to be painful writing checks to a player who is no longer there.

[San Antone]

I am cautiously optimistic about the Yankees acquiring Juan Soto.  So often in the past these big trades, or free agent signings, don't live up to their potential.  But on paper this will give the Yankees and All Star outfield.

[ando]

"Hurt" was maybe not the right word. I didn't mean that this deal would worsen them in any way. Just that it's going to be painful writing checks to a player who is no longer there.

It's why the dude is playing in the States, right? I can't feel sorry for machine.

[vers la flamme]

I am cautiously optimistic about the Yankees acquiring Juan Soto.  So often in the past these big trades, or free agent signings, don't live up to their potential.  But on paper this will give the Yankees and All Star outfield.

Juan Soto and Aaron Judge on the same team is nuts. Hoping to catch some Yankee games next year as I live in New York now. It'd be great to see those two play.

[Szykneij]

I'm still waiting for new Red Sox Chief Officer Craig Breslow to make some significant moves. I've been a Red Sox fan for nearly 60 years, but they might lose me if they don't make some pretty big signings this off-season (if it's not already too late.)  Thank goodness for the Celtics and Bruins, because the Patriots and Red Sox have been gigantic disappointments lately.