The MLB Thread

[Trumo]

It's really quite unbelievable, the number of parallels between the Red Sox and FSG's other great sporting concern. The weird thing is, FSG with the Red Sox have made very similar financial blunders to those made by the Hicks & Gillette regime over here. At the moment it just looks as though neither organisation has the correct people in all the important positions just yet.

[Guest ShoePiss]

Back to back (consecutive pitches) home runs for the Braves, don't see that too often. Series ends tied at 2-2.

[Allan]

Back to back (consecutive pitches) home runs for the Braves' date=' don't see that too often. Series ends tied at 2-2.[/quote']

 

Got the game recorded from last night. Had a feeling we'd get the better of The Freak, despite his recent upturn in form.

 

JHey is seeing the ball well at the moment and is really becoming the main man for this Bravos side.

 

3 game series in San Diego next up for the Braves.

[RedKnight]

Chris off here got himself Bryce Harper's second home run ball at Marlins Park last night. Harper had crushed it into the upper tier. Can't beat swagging a home run ball.

[Trumo]

31st August is definitely a day FSG will want to forget. A horrendous end to the transfer window in the f******l, and the Red Sox got bummed 20-2 by Oakland A's. That's TWENTY runs to two!

[RedKnight]

I'm not saying they're deliberately tanking but at this stage it's no real issue losing. It's all about the draft pick.

[Guest ShoePiss]

A's divison champs, it's a brilliant achievement for them. Bay area rivals or not I preferred them over the Rangers any day, good for them.

[RedKnight]

Haven't been in first in the division until the last day. Rangers spent 178 days in first and didn't win the division, first time that's ever happened in MLB. Like the A's and Josh Reddick is ace, Sox should never have traded him for Bailey.

[Guest ShoePiss]

Ha, didn't know that about that little snippet.

 

Really looking forward to these one off wild card games on Friday. Should be interesting no matter who ends up there. The Giants start their play off game on Saturday (also my wife's birthday so it's going to be hard watching ffs) but I can't wait for these games

[RedKnight]

Really like the Giants and their park is an outstanding place.

 

If the Red Sox can pull their fingers out of their collective asses and beat the Yankees tonight, and the Orioles beat the Rays, we'll have an AL East playoff before the wildcard playoff. All sorts of exciting.

[Guest ShoePiss]

Just watching Boston now, so that AL East play off game would have to be tomorrow. The whole season is crazy.

[RedKnight]

Yeah, and the one game playoff on Friday. So in theory, if the Yankees lost, they'd have to negotiate two elimination games to make it into the ALDS. Who doesn't want to see that? Unfortunately DiceK is pitching for Boston.

[Trumo]

Red Sox ended the season by getting drubbed 14-2 by the Yankees, to finish bottom of the AL East. Over the 162-game season, they won only 69 and lost 93 (.426 win percentage) - their worst season in almost 50 years.

 

I can't see Bobby Valentine being retained for next year, and I don't know enough about other coaches to suggest who might be considered as a replacement. What is certain is that change is needed. I'm sure I've mentioned it in this thread before, but FSG getting rid of Terry Francona and hiring Valentine has remarkable parallels with what happened at our f******l club back in summer 2010. The desperation to get rid of somebody because of supposed aggro behind the scenes was so great that any replacement would be deemed to be better simply because he wasn't 'that guy'. It didn't work then and it hasn't worked now.

[RobbieOR]

They've just got rid there.

[RedKnight]

Load of shit. No one outside of Lucchino's office thought Valentine was better than Tito. The September collapse was just so unprecedented that unprecedented behaviour followed. Tito would've stayed but with Epstein going and the front office wanting to blame someone they figured it easier to fire the manager than get rid of a load of players, in the end they did both. They won't be listening to Lucchino this time, it'll be Cherington's decision and he'll live or die by it. The players still like and respect Tito, all of this mess with Valentine is on Lucchino throwing his weight around.

[Trumo]

Needed to be done. I've read that Tito is talking to the Cleveland Indians about taking over there, and in any case it's unlikely that he'd accept any overtures from FSG to return to the Red Sox given how he was treated towards the end of 2011. Be that as it may, who are the candidates likely to be up for consideration, and are they any good? Would FSG go down the same route as they have here by selecting a younger, hungry up-and-comer?

[Guest ShoePiss]

I really like Tito and hope he doesn't take an MLB job, he's great on the TV.

[RedKnight]

He really wants that Indians job and they'd be mad not to give him it. He is great on ESPN though.

[Allan]

Playoffs are underway. Braves vs. Cards at Turner Field for the NL Wild Card.

[Guest ShoePiss]

Think I'd like the Braves to win this, I don't have anything against the Cards but I do have a mate that is a Braves fan. Crowd sounds really loud there too.

 

As for the second wild card, fuck the Rangers.

[Allan]

David Ross put the Braves 2-0 up in the bottom of the 2nd with a 2 run shot.

 

I'm going with the Braves to ride the red hot Medlen and pick up the win tonight. Although I'd pick the Braves regardless, so I'm a little bias...

[Allan]

Cards take a 3-2 lead in the top of the fourth, taking advantage of a Chipper Jones throwing error.

[Allan]

Matt Holliday jumps on a bad pitch and puts the Cardinals 4-2 up in the top of the 6th.

[Allan]

2 more throwing errors by the Braves in the top of the 7th has now handed the Cardinals a 5-2 lead. Best defensive team in the NL this season have given up 3 errors tonight, and it looks like it'll cost the Braves.

 

The game is in the hands of the bullpens now.

[Allan]

6-2 Cardinals now, and I'd say that the game is gone for the Braves now.

 

Not the way I, and many others, would have liked to have seen Chipper's career end.