Major League Baseball Thread

Disagree mate. THe phillies need to be stopped! the man city in baseball.

 

Well, from my perspective, as a Boston fan, I hate the Wankees, and as a neutral, I much prefer watching NL ball to AL... Really don't like the DH rule.

Don't get me wrong, I'll cheer when Big Papi knocks one out, lol, but as a principle I think no DH makes the game so much more strategic and therefore interesting. Hence, if I can't support the Sox, I always support NL teams... and that includes the Phillies. :icon_mrgreen:

 

Agree with you to a point.I know and like Charlie Manuel, he is a * good guy,where as the clown in Man City not so much.

 

If Tito doesn't come back as manager, I will be wicked *

 

I totally agree that the Red Sox have to take a long hard look at themselves for the way they played in September. It wasn't good enough.

That doesn't change the fact though that if the Yankees had put Rivera on the mound against the Rays, which they would have done on any other night in that situation, they probably would have won the game thereby guaranteeing the Red Sox a 163rd game at least.

It's like Celtic and Rangers going for the league on the last day of the season and Rangers opponents not playing their best players. How would you feel then?

The integrity of the game was tarnished by the Yankees refusal to use Rivera. In my mind there is no doubt about that. But yes I fully admit the Red Sox have to take the lion's share of the blame for their failure to make it to the post-season.

 

First of all, there's no reason to like the Red Sox right now. Most Bostonians I know don't even like them right now. And they loved that team even when they hadn't won a championship in 100 years. My dad's from Boston and my grandpa lived there when most people didn't like the Irish.

That community is born from people who had to work hard to make it, and their teams reflected that. They just got done watching the Bruins scrape and fight their way to a Stanley Cup. When the Sox won in '04 it was a bunch of guys who were having fun playing baseball and knew nothing was owed to them.

If the Boston Red Sox had lost out on the last day of the season, there would be no reason to hate them, they would be like any other team before '04. Something was just bound to go wrong. It was a curse.

They didn't lose it on the last day of the season. They lost throughout the last month and a half. This team, compared to the '04 team, was a bunch of overpaid players who felt like they didn't have to work to win. Like it was all wrapped up. That didn't connect with a community that now doesn't like them, and I'm not sure most of them like the community.

That's my take, and the only thing you'll ever see me write about the over-hyped Red Sox / Yankees league. Oh sorry I meant the American League.

Go Cards.

 

Well I guess we will just have to agree to disagree. O and by the way last season when we needed help from Kilmarnock on the last day and instead they rolled over I wasn't blaming them or Motherwell or anyone else but ourselves for not winning the league. We simply didn't take care of our own business just like the Red Sox this past month.

 

markey mate no one but you ever thought they would us rivera, everyone knew the yankees were going into that series with the idea of resting their top players, every team in the yankees position did the same, the integrity of the game would have been violated if the yankees had insisted on playing all their best players and not giving their youngsters or fringe players a chance

 

ALDS G1 about to get underay between the Rays & Texas... F*ck R*ngers! :bbpd:

 

I just find it hard to believe that had the Yankees been 7-6 up against the Red Sox, with the chance to eliminate them from making the play-offs, that they wouldn't have sent Rivera out there. I might be wrong but I have a hard time believing that.

Anyway, the damage is done. We went 6-18 in our last 24 games so we need to figure out a way to keep our players healthier and stop the same thing happening next year.

How does everyone see the play-offs going?

I know this isn't exactly going out on a limb but I fancy the Phillies to go all the way.

 

if the cardinals can't win it, then i'd want the yankees to so no one else creeps up on our second most world series' record

 

I was going to say I hope the Cardinals win the World Series. But after reading that I'm not so sure now

Nah, I do hope the Cardinals win it. Even if it does mean they'll move one more World Series win ahead of the Red Sox.

 

I think if anyone can knock out the Phillies it will be us since we seem to have their number this season. 6-3 against them overall, beat them 3 out of 4 in Deebo. And a lot of games were big bang games.

May 16 @ STL Cardinals 3-1 Phillies
May 17 @ STL Cardinals 2-1 Phillies
Jun 21 @ STL Cardinals 2-10 Phillies
Jun 22 @ STL Cardinals 0-4 Phillies
Jun 23 @ STL Cardinals 12-2 Phillies
Sep 16 @ PHI Phillies 2-4 Cardinals
Sep 17 @ PHI Phillies 9-2 Cardinals
Sep 18 @ PHI Phillies 0-5 Cardinals
Sep 19 @ PHI Phillies 3-4 Cardinals

But no one seems to have us winning in the playoffs

Nice avatar btw

 

I cant see the cardinals winning it to be honest, if any NL team can take down the phils its the brewers, Gallardo, Grienke, Marcum, Narvesson, Wolf... That rotation is not to far off from the phillies rotation, marcum and narvesson are better 3 and 4 starters than the phillies have, the brewers also have a much better lineup

 

I am surprised that the red sox got rid of francona, he was a great manager for them and if anyone deserves the blame for what happened it is the players or even Theo epstein, not francona

 

I think the Brewers match up worse against the Phillies. Their basically a worse version of that team. They have a little better lineup and a little worse pitching, and it's pitching that always wins.

However, the Phillies' offense is not very good. They went on an 8-game losing streak in September (started by the Cardinals). We've won what? 16 of our last 21? We're getting hot at just the right time.

Not to mention Albert is playing to up that free agent contract.

If there's any lineup that can knock around the Phillies starters it's going to include Pujols, Holliday, and the 2011 Berkman. Molina batted .310 this year too lets not forget.

What worries me is what has been our Achilles heel all year, our defense.

 

the brewers lineup is alot better than the phillies, possibly the best lineup in the major leagues, and the difference between pitching staffs is not that great, Gallardo, narvesson, Greinke and marcum are all on fire, while for the phillies only holladay and lee are pitching well, the brewers also have a better bullpen and defense

 

If there is one thing I have learnt in my years of watching baseball it is that momentum is VERY important heading into the play-offs. The team that is hottest at the end of the regular season usually makes a good run at getting to the World Series. I think it would be fair to say the Cardinals were pretty hot at the end of the regular season. So it wouldn't be a huge surprise if they beat the Phillies. The Phillies have taken their foot off the gas for the last couple of weeks and it's hard to just switch your A game back on again.

For the same reason I think the Rays might be the team to look out for in the American League.

 

Blame their * start to the season.Sox have one team to blame.....the sox.Managers are hired to be fired they all know that,that being said I would have kept Francona.

 

Did not expect to see Francona get the bullet, but I guess that if there are to be a few changes in personnel, that he may be the first, but not the last. On another note, I was checking on a Red Sox forum & perhaps there was a touch of hubris in some of the posts... something Celtic fans should be wll wary of.