TWiB 9/4 - 9/10

[Guest NYankees]

Sal Fasano with a 3 run bomb.

[Bored]

Not that I think he should win the MVP, or even be in contention, but Frank Thomas is going to make a late run at the A.L. MVP here as he's now homered in five straight games. And I don't want him to get in contention because his price is just going to go up as the A's have been in talks to sign him to a new deal.

[Bruiser Chong]

Henry Blanco of all people tripled to lead off the inning of a 2-1 game. Guess what the score is now?

[Bruiser Chong]

Fifteen strikeouts. To the BRAVES. Cubs will try and do the impossibly by dropping all seven games to one team for the second time this season. You can only blame rookie pitching so long before you look at this idiotic "walks clog up the bases" ideology and realize it's made your team pathetic. How about "hits for the sake of clogging up the bases?" Cubs had nine hits today and one run, which came off a homer. I'd say there's a problem when you regularly rack up close to 10 hits a game, but can't scratch up more than two or three runs. But whatever. Only three more weeks.

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

To elaborate, here were the standings on September 20, 1964.

 

Phillies 90-60

Cardinals 83-66 (6.5 back)

Reds 83-66 (6.5 back)

Giants 83-67 (7 back)

 

And the standings on September 30.

 

Cardinals 92-67

Reds 91-68 (1 back)

Phillies 90-70 (2.5 back)

 

Note that while the Phillies went 0-10, the Cardinals went 9-1 and the Reds went 8-2. There are a few things I would like to note about collapses/comebacks in general.

 

1. Teams with abnormally great or poor records usually regress to the mean. The Tigers were on pace for 109 wins, but we all know they are not THAT great a team. The same goes for a poor team like the Royals. A team on "pace" for 120 losses is probably not going to reach that mark.

 

2. Teams go through poor stretches all the time. Those Cardinals above had a stretch where they went 4-12. You just don't notice them because they happen early in the year or they're otherwise buried somehow within the season.

 

3. A collapse is almost ALWAYS accompanied by an amazing stretch run from the opposing team. The 1978 Red Sox won 99 games. You wouldn't have thought anything was bad about their season if the Yankees hasn't won 29 of their last 38 games.

[Mik]

D-Train gets a 3 hit shutout of the Phils to salvage a split.

[naiwf]

Thanks again Florida.

[CanadianChris]

Thanks again Florida.

Please tell me you weren't actually worried about the Mets' chances of winning the East.

[naiwf]

Thanks again Florida.

Please tell me you weren't actually worried about the Mets' chances of winning the East.

 

No, I just don't like the Phillies and was afraid the Marlins would get swept after they lost the first two in the series.

[Bruiser Chong]

Twins are gonna be two back after today. Victor Martinez just homered in the ninth in Chicago to put the Tribe up 3-2. It came on a 3-0 count right after the third pitch had been called a ball that Hawk and company insisted was a strike. Ah, the pissing and moaning that ensued.

 

P.S. Ozzie's using half of his bullpen to get three outs in this inning, even though there's only been three hits. Stupid micro-managing.

[naiwf]

Since no one else wants it, I'd say Santana for AL MVP

[Bored]

Fuck the Angels. You're aren't going to let me sleep the final week are you assholes?

 

And really fuck the Giants if the pull within a half game of they Wild Card lead tonight.

[Bruiser Chong]

Frank Thomas is playing like a man possessed. I recall saying he was going to be the sleeper of 2006. What a bargain for the A's.

 

On a lighter note, the dress Jose Lima's wife was wearing in the somewhat legendary photo, is currently up for grabs on eBay.

[Bruiser Chong]

Oh and I try to avoid MLB boards like the plague, but you guys should check out the White Sox board. Every other thread is about how the team sucks or how Ozzie should be fired. According to one intelligent individual, Ozzie managed them "right out of the playoffs today."

[mike546]

Thankfully Brian Bruney started pitching for the Yanks in August. Villione's arm is totally cooked but Bruney's been very effective and he has enough arm strength to make it to October.