The 2008 MLB Season Thread (Update: Phillies Won)

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[quote name='Monsta Mack']Oh, burn. Now you'll never win a world series. We are gonna throw 100 goats at you.[/quote]

Funny thing is just a few short years ago Boston fans were just like Cubs fans. It was all about the curse of the Bambino. I remember back in 2003 rooting so hard for a Boston/Chicago Series that way one of the two teams would break their curse. I always said if we couldn't win then I hope Boston does because we were in the same boat.

As soon as Boston won their first Series the fans started acting like their crap didn't stink and that the baseball world revolved around them. I used to feel sorry for them because they were always getting owned by the "Evil Empire" but now that's pretty much what they've become.
 
[quote name='Chitown021']Funny thing is just a few short years ago Boston fans were just like Cubs fans. It was all about the curse of the Bambino. I remember back in 2003 rooting so hard for a Boston/Chicago Series that way one of the two teams would break their curse. I always said if we couldn't win then I hope Boston does because we were in the same boat. [/QUOTE]
You know what happened to the Sox? New owners came in who were committed to winning, and built one of the best organizations in baseball from the ground up. The Tribune doesn't give two shits about the Cubs, maybe that'll change once they're sold.

Baseball in Boston has always revolved around the Sox, nobody here cares about the 10,000 anonymous small and mid market teams. Nationally it does revolve around the Sox and Yankees to a certain extent, the Cubs too, not many other teams have that kind of appeal nationwide and there is always going to be attention given to the most successful teams.
 
What makes Cubs any more deserving than other teams?

I love how you Cubs fans always run to the attendance record to justify yourselves.
 
[quote name='dafoomie']You know what happened to the Sox? New owners came in who were committed to winning, and built one of the best organizations in baseball from the ground up. The Tribune doesn't give two shits about the Cubs, maybe that'll change once they're sold.

Baseball in Boston has always revolved around the Sox, nobody here cares about the 10,000 anonymous small and mid market teams. Nationally it does revolve around the Sox and Yankees to a certain extent, the Cubs too, not many other teams have that kind of appeal nationwide and there is always going to be attention given to the most successful teams.[/quote]

No argument there. The big market teams, Cubs, Sox, Yankees, etc... get the lions share of the attention. That's a no-brainer. I've seen the results of that first hand here in KC as the only way the Royals get a mention is if they're the punchline of some running joke on ESPN. That's the natural order of things.

My point was to vent my disgust at what I have seen coming from the so-called "Red Sox Nation". Before the Red Sox won the fans seemed to be passionate and very humble just begging to get just one win. Since then most think they are the cocks of the walk talking shit and they wouldn't piss on you if you were on fire.
 
[quote name='yukine']What makes Cubs any more deserving than other teams?

I love how you Cubs fans always run to the attendance record to justify yourselves.[/quote]


It's not attendance alone. It's the lifelong passion and commitment we have for our team. No matter how shitty we've had it we come back every year rooting, hoping, and praying for a winner just once.
 
Yes I admire Cubs' fan loyalty, but I don't think teams that are more popular should deserve to win more so than the teams with a smaller fan base.

Although I'm biased since I'm a Diamondbacks fan and they would be considered a small fan base team.
 
[quote name='Chitown021']My point was to vent my disgust at what I have seen coming from the so-called "Red Sox Nation". Before the Red Sox won the fans seemed to be passionate and very humble just begging to get just one win. Since then most think they are the cocks of the walk talking shit and they wouldn't piss on you if you were on fire.[/QUOTE]
We were always like that. We just weren't in such a good mood before.
 
[quote name='Ski Hawk']Cubs snapped their 6 game losing streak, thank God.[/quote]

LOL, yeah but it looks like we tried to give the win away and keep the streak going. Cubs gave up 4 runs in the 8th and a grand slam in the 9th but hung on 14-9.

I wonder if part of the problem is the Cubs are a little gassed from playing all of those summertime afternoon games? That's got to take a toll on them over a 162 game season. I know it's sort of a tradition but the Cubs should play more reg season games under the lights.
 
[quote name='yukine']Yes I admire Cubs' fan loyalty, but I don't think teams that are more popular should deserve to win more so than the teams with a smaller fan base.

Although I'm biased since I'm a Diamondbacks fan and they would be considered a small fan base team.[/quote]

Whenever I think of the D-Backs I always think of the 2001 series. I was rooting for them to win for two reasons:

#1: I didn't want to the Yankee's to win yet again
#2: I wanted Mark Grace to get a ring. He put in his dues playing on a lot of bad Cubs teams.
 
[quote name='Chitown021']Nice, I flipped the channel from football just in time to see the Cubs blow a 3-1 lead in the 9th...[/quote] As good as the Cubs/Brewers have been for most of the year, right now they are that bad. It's not fun to watch this bad baseball.
 
[quote name='klwillis45']As good as the Cubs/Brewers have been for most of the year, right now they are that bad. It's not fun to watch this bad baseball.[/quote]


I agree. It's like last year where the Cubs won the division more or less by default because everyone kept losing down the stretch.
 
[quote name='Chitown021']I agree. It's like last year where the Cubs won the division more or less by default because everyone kept losing down the stretch.[/quote]

Its almost the same this year, except it seems like the East is still playing to make it.
 
[quote name='craven_fiend']Its almost the same this year, except it seems like the East is still playing to make it.[/QUOTE]

Yeah which gives me a heartache every time i watch a game in september. I dont want flashes of 07 to reappear. I dont want that nightmare to return.
 
[quote name='integralsmatic']Yeah which gives me a heartache every time i watch a game in september. I dont want flashes of 07 to reappear. I dont want that nightmare to return.[/quote]

Yeah I don't want a repeat of 07 either. Us winning the division by default then getting manhandled by the Diamondbacks.
 
[quote name='Chitown021']Yeah I don't want a repeat of 07 either. Us winning the division by default then getting manhandled by the Diamondbacks.[/quote]

If the Diamondbacks keep playing the way they are, it may be the Dodgers. But if its the Dodgers, just hope they haven't lost 8 in a row and are on win 4 in a row heading into the post season.
 
big 3 game series for the redsox/rays...add that to the fact they have 6 games in 9 days...the redsox are lined up for their staff in this series. Lester, dice k and beckett.
 
[quote name='ryanbph']big 3 game series for the redsox/rays...add that to the fact they have 6 games in 9 days...the redsox are lined up for their staff in this series. Lester, dice k and beckett.[/quote]

Definitely a huge series, hopefully the home team sweeping continues in this one. The next 2 weeks are huge, with TAM 6 times and TOR 7. I'd like to see 13-0, but that would just be nuts. I think something like 8-5 or 9-4 is extremely possible, just depending on how the pitching matches.
 
we have sucked vs Toronto for a couple of seasons now. The good new us Tampa has 4games vs the twins after we are done with them and yanks in between our 2 series.
 
Yeah the last 10 games or so have been pretty rough, Webb and Haren are pitching horribly. Lincecum is most likely at the top of the Cy Young list right now.
 
[quote name='ryanbph']we have sucked vs Toronto for a couple of seasons now. The good new us Tampa has 4games vs the twins after we are done with them and yanks in between our 2 series.[/quote]

I think a split is likely with Toronto. Halladay pitches Wednesday and Marcum Thursday, so we might see Halladay Sunday.
 
[quote name='yukine']Yeah the last 10 games or so have been pretty rough, Webb and Haren are pitching horribly. Lincecum is most likely at the top of the Cy Young list right now.[/QUOTE]
Yup. Webb's bird got cooked by the Dodgers.
 
Not necessarily, he had a rough outing with the Padres as well.

Another rough outing for a Diamondback starting pitcher, Giants leading it 5 - 0.
 
[quote name='yukine']Not necessarily, he had a rough outing with the Padres as well.[/quote]
I can't imagine the Cy Young voters not being influenced by Webb getting smoked in two straight starts by a division rival in the heat of a race.

Another rough outing for a Diamondback starting pitcher, Giants leading it 5 - 0.
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I just can't get over how badly the Dodgers and D-bags don't want this title. What the hell is up with us?

I still wouldn't want either of us in the playoffs though. Hell, I think I'd rather have the Cubs (without Zambrano) than Arizona or LA.

The AL East is fun to watch right now, but I don't see anyone getting through the Angels. Their coaching staff is like having an extra blue chip player on the field.
 
IMO, if the redsox are going full steam, they could beat the angels. Yes they have played horrible vs them this year, but 2 of the series they had vs them the team was in turmoil. I believe the redsox top 4 pitchers are as good as the angels. The sox still have power in the lineup, and they have a shitload of speed. Besides the last start, the redsox have destroyed lackey.

It is going to be an interesting offseason for the free agent market. We know the yanks are going to go hard at sabbathia and texeria (i don't know why, they have a 1b signed for a couple more seasons in posasda). The mariners recently stated that they planed aggressively go after those 2 players. Detroit needs a closer, and now the mets do as well.
 
We'll see. I like the Angels top 4 pitchers more than I do the Sox. I'll take Lackey, Santana, Saunders and Garland over Beckett, Lester, Wakefield and Dice-K but it's pretty close. The key will be HFA...if the Sox and Angels play a 5 game series then whoever has HFA will win but in a 7 game series for the ALCS I don't think HFA is as important. It's nice to have but not as important in the ALDS, imo.
 
[quote name='TheRock88']Huge blow to the Mets, Wagner out for the rest of the season + 2009 season.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_y...b4RvLYF?slug=ap-mets-wagner&prov=ap&type=lgns

Guess they might be the hardest to push for K-Rod this offseason.[/QUOTE]


I hope....but i would like more bullpen guys than just one closer. Ayala hasnt been that bad in his role and if they could shift their spending to more depenable guys in the bullpen. whoever that may be..i dont know. But hey if K-Rod does come to the Mets. I will be more than happy to welcome him with open arms....but i feel its going to be a 100mill+ price tag for him. Isnt he one of Boras' clients also?
 
The Dodgers have $50mil in payroll opening up this offseason, and that doesn't include Andruw Jones and Jason Schmidt (>30mil/year). LA media is reporting that the Dodgers are going to chase C.C. like he's got the cure.
 
[quote name='integralsmatic']I hope....but i would like more bullpen guys than just one closer. Ayala hasnt been that bad in his role and if they could shift their spending to more depenable guys in the bullpen. whoever that may be..i dont know. But hey if K-Rod does come to the Mets. I will be more than happy to welcome him with open arms....but i feel its going to be a 100mill+ price tag for him. Isnt he one of Boras' clients also?[/QUOTE]

I hope the Mets do not go after him. Like you said I rather them build a better bullpen as a whole, than go after a closer who is going to cost as much as K-Rod.
 
[quote name='speedracer']The Dodgers have $50mil in payroll opening up this offseason, and that doesn't include Andruw Jones and Jason Schmidt (>30mil/year). LA media is reporting that the Dodgers are going to chase C.C. like he's got the cure.[/quote]

He has more cowbell?

Also, Jorge Cantu is one homer away from 25 for the season, which would make the Marlins the first team ever to have all their infielders hit 25 HR or more in the same season.
 
And Paps blows a save and the game. Tonight's game is huge, its the difference between being .5 and 2.5, come on Beckett.

And as much as I hate to say this, I will be cheering for a Yankees sweep this weekend, assuming the Sox can take atleast 3/4 against the Blue Jays, I'll be happy with a split, but want more.
 
last night was a horrible loss...besides preventing the sox from retaking first place, it also gave tampa the confidence/swagger they have lacked on there current road trip. Beckett better be sharp tonight.

Paps this year has stuggled a lot. His numbers don't show it, but he isn't getting the swings and misses he had last year. Currently his splitter/slider aren't sharp nor are they coming close to the strike zone requiring him to solely rely on a currently flat 96mph fastball.
 
[quote name='DomLando']I hope the Mets do not go after him. Like you said I rather them build a better bullpen as a whole, than go after a closer who is going to cost as much as K-Rod.[/QUOTE]

Yep....im kinda sick of that feeling where the bullpen has a 50/50 shot of fucking things up every night. Like that Philly game where we were ahead 5-1 and then blew it 8-7 in the 11th.

Its why i wished Minaya pushed to keep guys like Oliver and Bradford...and didnt trade Bell.

Those three were great in our pen in 06. I just want more guys like them or anyone who is dependable.
 
The biggest issue with middle relief, is how inconsistent the pitchers are. There are very few people that year in and year out are solid middle relief people. The 04 sox, had embree and timlin as setup guys. In august of that year they looked like a disaster. Come the playoffs, they along with foulke carried the team. The following year embree was so horrible we let him go. Timlin had a solid numerical season, but his inherited runners allowed to score was well over 55%. Not good #'s to have when you are usually brought in with someone on base. Embree has since moved on and he has put up alternating years of solid performance, mixed in with horrible play. Bradford had been solid with the A's, the sox brought him in and he was mediocre and they let him walk.

Okijima was one of the best last, and this years his numbers are up across the board, and his inherited runners allowed to score are horrible.

Tampa's bullpen has been solid this year. They are relying on a closer who took a season or 2 off due to contant injuries and having a horrible ERA his last year with the cardinals. There setup guy in wheeler, era is cut in half was it was the previous couple of seasons. Grant Belfour is a great setup/7th inn guy who the rays claimed off of waivers. His numbers prior to this season were horrible.



Rafeal Bettencourt was one of the best 8th inn pitchers last year. He was a stud, and he was being groomed to replace borrowoski. Last year his stat line read 1.47 era, .76 whip, and a batting avg against of .183. This year it is 4.86 era, 1.33 whip and a baa of .264. Borrowski is gone as the closer and bettencourt couldn't hold down the job.
 
[quote name='ryanbph']The biggest issue with middle relief, is how inconsistent the pitchers are. There are very few people that year in and year out are solid middle relief people. The 04 sox, had embree and timlin as setup guys. In august of that year they looked like a disaster. Come the playoffs, they along with foulke carried the team. The following year embree was so horrible we let him go. Timlin had a solid numerical season, but his inherited runners allowed to score was well over 55%. Not good #'s to have when you are usually brought in with someone on base. Embree has since moved on and he has put up alternating years of solid performance, mixed in with horrible play. Bradford had been solid with the A's, the sox brought him in and he was mediocre and they let him walk.

Okijima was one of the best last, and this years his numbers are up across the board, and his inherited runners allowed to score are horrible.

Tampa's bullpen has been solid this year. They are relying on a closer who took a season or 2 off due to contant injuries and having a horrible ERA his last year with the cardinals. There setup guy in wheeler, era is cut in half was it was the previous couple of seasons. Grant Belfour is a great setup/7th inn guy who the rays claimed off of waivers. His numbers prior to this season were horrible.



Rafeal Bettencourt was one of the best 8th inn pitchers last year. He was a stud, and he was being groomed to replace borrowoski. Last year his stat line read 1.47 era, .76 whip, and a batting avg against of .183. This year it is 4.86 era, 1.33 whip and a baa of .264. Borrowski is gone as the closer and bettencourt couldn't hold down the job.[/QUOTE]

So basically finding MIddle relief is crap shoot every time they hit the mound. I firmly believe that in tonight's performance. 7-1 after the 3rd and the game ends 13-10.

Bradford isnt doing that bad with Tampa. When he came to the Mets he was On and even after he has been on ever since. I still think to this day he was a big loss for the mets bullpen. him and heath bell.
 
What a terrible way to end the series, with Timlin giving up a 3 run bomb. If only Youk had come up with atleast a Monster shot, Papi could've been at 3B and Youk at 2 with no outs and a 1 run defecit.

Oh well, this series over the weekend is even more important. Twins are 5 back and the Blue Jays are in the thick of the race as well. Hopefully this time next week, the playoff picture is much clearer, with the BoSox in it too.
 
[quote name='integralsmatic']So basically finding MIddle relief is crap shoot every time they hit the mound. I firmly believe that in tonight's performance. 7-1 after the 3rd and the game ends 13-10.

Bradford isnt doing that bad with Tampa. When he came to the Mets he was On and even after he has been on ever since. I still think to this day he was a big loss for the mets bullpen. him and heath bell.[/QUOTE]

I still hate Heilman. He should just be cut. It seems every time he is in he gives up a huge HR.
 
my other issue about last nights sox game is the use of cocco crisp...he is on a tear, his season avg is up about .030 in the past 3 or so weeks...he is batting roughly .500 in the past 10 games or so. He wasn't starting. I don't like it, but I know that is how tito works, I am fine with that. WTF was he doing pinch running for varitek. He has been on eof the hottest hitters in the league, and when you put him in a game on his offday, you have him pinch run...
 
This game was lost on a blown call, IMHO. Ellsbury was clearly safe and in the next inning Pedroia got on base, that would've won the game for the team in the 9th.

With that said, our bats didn't contribute last night.
 
yeah the umps/and the lucky breaks didn't go the sox way the past 2 games..shit happens i guess.

the 2nd game they loss....they had the infield in really early on in the game, and the batter hit a hard grounder down the 3b line. If lowell was playing even with the bag he might have had a chance, and if he was at normal depth it wouldn't have been a problem..instead, the as soon as the ball gets buy lowell, it slowly rolled into the corner and ended up being a triple with some runs scoring. In the 10th, varitek had squared to sac bunt and the ball looked like it was going to tag his nuts. It ended up hitting the bat, so instead of a hbp and runners at 1st and 2nd no out, they have 1 out with runner on 1st.
 
Just the way the ball drops. Paps blowing it then Timlin throwing it away really hurt. Hopefully they turn it back on against the Blue Jays or the Twins and Jays will be really close going into the last week plus.
 
i dunno about that ...the twins have 4 games vs the rays...whoever wins helps us...if the twins win, then we gain ground on the rays...if the rays win we separate ourselves from the twins
 
[quote name='ryanbph']i dunno about that ...the twins have 4 games vs the rays...whoever wins helps us...if the twins win, then we gain ground on the rays...if the rays win we separate ourselves from the twins[/quote]

I think the next 10 games will make or break the team. (7 against TOR(4vs, 3@) and 3 @ TAM). Its going to be rough to keep up. But the last 3 teams in the playoffs are fighting to avoid playing a well, rested and rotationally lined up Angels team. However, if they Angels don't lock up Homefield, they may be playing hard too.

With that said, I think 2-2 this weekend would be successful, assuming the Yankees can atleast lose on days we win. Rooting for the Yankees this weekend and whoever plays the Twins.
 
[quote name='DomLando']I still hate Heilman. He should just be cut. It seems every time he is in he gives up a huge HR.[/QUOTE]

Heilman never fails to amuse any Mets fan lol. I dont think he can take pressure well at all. Sometimes he is on and most times he is way off. well we have niese,parnell,rincon up, 1 of them has to be a good viable option in the pen.
 
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