Toughts On MLB Expanding Playoffs

It seems like a foregone conclusion that there will be 10 teams in the 2012 MLB playoffs. There are kinks to work out, like should the season start earlier, and how long the Wild Card series will be (1 game, or best of 3). Still, I used to be very much against this, but I have come around to the idea, and now I am a big fan.

Lets be honest for a lot of teams the season is over before the All-Star break, and with MLB rating plummeting this is a good way to keep more cities involved and interested. Will it "fix" the sport? No, but it's a good start.

Plus, in every other sport there are more teams that make the playoffs, so I really don't see why this would be that big of a deal. I mean there are 30 teams, and you are only expanding to a total of 10 teams in the playoffs. Compare that to the NBA/NHL which as 16, this really doesn't seem to be that big of a deal. You are still going to have to have a pretty damn good record to make the playoffs. Not to mention it could make the race for the division title even more intense, so that you can avoid the short series (if not just a one game playoff) in the first round.

The only I would have is if the season ends up being longer. There is no reason to be playing baseball in November in New York, Boston, Chicago, ect. They need to either start the season earlier, or find away to jam more game into the season (or make the season shorter). Still, these seem like simple problems to fix, and I look forward to their being more teams involved.

Expanding The MLB Playoffs

There has been a lot of talk over the last couple of weeks about the MLB expanding it's MLB playoffs. Selig talked about this last night before Game 2 of the World Series. He wants to expand the playoffs from 8 teams to 10, and the Players Union seems to agree and wants to expand the division series to 7 games.

So what do I think?

At first I thought this is really stupid. The season is already too long, and I like that it is really tough to make the playoffs. If somehow they are able to push this through there is 1 thing that HAVE TO DO...

Make the MLB season shorter....by a lot.

If the MLB cut their season to 120 games instead of the 162 they have now then I would be far less against it. There are only 2 reason not to make the MLB season shorter. Teams not wanting to lose the ticket sales, and all stats would go out the window.

The MLB owners losing money is the best argument. Although if they expand the playoffs at least those teams would probably be OK, but overall this would be the biggest hurdle.

As for the "stats", I really don't think that matters anymore. After all the steroid stuff, and people wanting numbers in and out of the record books, I just think they should say fuck it and move on. There is no easy answer to all those "steroid era" stats, and maybe just moving on would be the best.

In the end, I hope nothing happens, but if they want to expand the playoffs I think they HAVE TO make the season considerably shorter.

Phillies Force Game 6

The legend of Roy Halladay seems to grow with each passing game. Already throwing a no-hitter in the playoffs, now he out dueled Tim Lincecum, who beat him last time and he did it on only one good leg.

Halladay pulled his groin, and had to ride a bike in between inning to keep lose. Yet, he was still able to pitch 6 inning allowing only 1 run. Tim Lincecum also had a great game going 7 innings allowing 3 runs (2 ER) with 7 Ks. Even with these two Aces having solid games, the game ball has to go to the Phillies bullpen up pitched 3 scoreless innings, especially Ryan Madson who struck out the Giants' 4-5-6 hitters in the 8th, and Brad Lidge finished with a perfect 9th for his 2nd save this postseason.

A Huff error in the 4th ended up leading to the winning run for the Phillies, but Werth also put the game away in the 9th with a solo HR. Still, like has been all season the story was the pitching.

Now the series heads back to Philadelphia. Roy Oswalt will face Jonathan Sanchez in Game 6.

Yankees Lose Teixeira

The New York Yankees are on their last leg in the American League Championship Series, and if they mount a comeback, it will be without first baseman Mark Teixeira. Teixeira suffered a strained right hamstring Tuesday and will be removed from the roster Wednesday, making him ineligible for the rest of the postseason. Yankees manager Joe Girardi said the team plans on adding infielder Eduardo Nunez to the roster for Game Five.

This news seems bad, but to be honest he has been playing like shit for most of the playoffs, so they might be better off with Lance Berkman at first base. For someone who is supposed to be the best 1st baseman in AL Teixeira is very streaky, and that's not good when you go cold for the playoffs.

DP and I were talking about our 5 most hated players in all of sports (currently playing). It took me awhile, but I think there are 3 Yankees on my list.

1. Lebron
2. A-Rod
3. Joba
4. Teixeira
5. Favre

Come on Texas 1 more!!!

MLB Recaps: Be-Lee-ve It

5 Rangers, 1 Tampa Bay

Well when it comes down to it, the Rangers deal for Lee was worth it, even if he's in pinstripes next year.

Cliff Lee pitched masterfully as he went 9 let up 1 run and struck out 11. He pitched 16 innings, let up 2 runs and struck out 21 in the series. He's unbelievable but the only thing that could possibly hurt the Rangers is that he will be pitching game 3 verse the Yankees and possibly only once in the series. Anyways back to the game.

David Price pitched alright 6 innings, 3 runs (2 of which were on boneheaded plays) and struck out 6, which wasn't good enough. The first run came of a Josh Hamilton ground out to first in which Elvis Andrus took off from 2nd and kept running all the way home. And a similar play happened in the 6th which Vlad did the same thing as Andrus.

And then Ian Kinsler topped it off with a 2 run shot in the ninth. and that's all she wrote.

We won't be hearing from the Rays in the next 3 years as they are poised to lose Carl Crawford, Rafeal Soriano and Carlos Pena.

It was good Rays.

Scoring Summary
TEX TB
1st J Hamilton grounded out to first, E Andrus scored. 1 0
3rd B Zobrist singled to center, S Rodriguez scored, J Bartlett to third, B Zobrist to second on throwing error by center fielder J Hamilton. 1 1
4th N Cruz stole third, N Cruz scored on throwing error by catcher K Shoppach. 2 1
6th I Kinsler grounded into fielder's choice to first, V Guerrero scored, N Cruz out at second. 3 1
9th I Kinsler homered to left (392 feet), N Cruz scored. 5 1

Mark Cuban Is Awesome

Mark Cuban made a run at buying the Texas Rangers earlier this year, but his failed bid has not dimmed his interest in the team's success. The outspoken owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks has only one issue with the Rangers' 2-0 lead in the ALDS.

"Obviously, I'm like everybody else -- I hate the day-game starts," Cuban told the Dallas Morning News. "It's hard to get drunk, then watch the Rangers game, then go back to work. Not impossible. And not as hard for me because I have a driver. Or I can get one if I need one. Taxis, people. Taxis."

The first four games of the Rangers' series with the Rays are afternoon starts (ESPN).

Hahaha, he is awesome, and he is also correct. It is tough for a lot fo people to watch these games, and it sucks for the Rangers that they got handed 4 day game. That's not really fan, and I bet you would never see that happen (as much) if it was the Red Sox or Yankees.

Still, I love that he is fan, and his comments are hilarious. The guy just seems to have more fun then any other owner is sports. I just hope one day he gets his hands on an MLB team, because it is exactly that the league needs.

MLB Playoff Recaps: Tim Lincecum Is Alright At Baseball

1 San Fransisco, 0 Atlanta Braves

Tim Lincecum pitched a two-hitter and struck out 14 in a dominating postseason debut, and the Giants scored their only run after a questionable umpiring call to beat the Atlanta Braves 1-0 in Game 1 of their NL division series Thursday night.

Cody Ross singled in the only run Lincecum needed in the fourth after Buster Posey was called safe by umpire Paul Emmel on a steal of second. Which was a questionable call at best.

6 Texas, 0 Rays
Big Game James was anything but on Thursday as he let up 4 runs in 4 innings pitched as the Rangers coasted for the 2nd win in this series. CJ Wilson pitched a heck of a game for the Rangers going 6.2 letting up 2 hits, 0 runs and striking out 7. The Rays are not going to be able to recover and if Matt Garza has one of those inconsistent games, they will be in huge trouble.

5 Yankees, 2 Twins
The Yankees won again. Carl Pavano lost.

BMack's MLB Playoff Prediction

Not getting a lot of press up here with the Sox out, but the playoffs do start today. Here is how I see them playing out.

AL:

Twins vs. Yankees: Yankees in 4
Rangers vs. Rays: Rays in 5

Rays vs. Yankees: Rays in 7

NL:

Braves vs. Giants: Giants in 5
Reds vs. Phillies: Phillies in 3

Phillies vs. Giants: Phillies in 6

World Series:

Phillies vs. Rays: Phillies in 6

A.J. Burnett Out Of Yankees Rotation For Playoffs

New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi will announce his American League Division Series rotation on Tuesday and $82 million man A.J. Burnett is out. If you have been following the Yankees at all this season it isn't all that surprising. Burnett is 10-15 with a 5.26 ERA, and has overall be terrible for most of the season.

You have to wonder if this has to do with Posada catching him. They have had problems in the past, and Molina eventually had to step and catch for him. Burnett is a tough guy to figure out. At times he looks like a Cy Young candidate, and at others he looks like someone who is just waiting for implode.

He kind of reminds me of another former Marlin...Josh Beckett (and Brad Penny for that matter).

Here is how the pitching matchups will look for this series:

Game 1: CC Sabathia vs. Francisco Liriano
Game 2: Andy Pettitte vs. Carl Pavano
Game 3: Phil Hughes vs. Brian Duensing
Game 4: CC Sabathia (short rest) vs. Nick Blackburn

Selig: Less Time Off During Playoffs

"There is too much standing around in the postseason. There were extra off days in the middle of series and too many days after the end of the regular season. The Yankees should not have been able to get away with using only three starters. No team should. The game should be the same one played during the season. Angels manager Mike Scioscia complained about it and it seems Bud Selig was listening.

“We’re going to change it,” Selig told reporters in Chicago today. “I don’t disagree with Mike Scioscia. I think he was right, so we’re going to try and tighten that up. When you plan the playoff schedule, you don’t know how many games the first round would go. So it’s difficult. There were clubs that sat around. Some were necessary, but some were not (Boston.com).”

I 100% agree. There is way too much time off. No team should be able to go with just 3 pitchers. In no way am I taking anything away from the Yankees, because if you can take advantage you should, but this is something that has to change. Good to see Selig at least seems to be on top of it.

Phillies Pick Pedro For Game 2

Well apparently the Phillies love to tempt fate, as they have picked Pedro to pitch in Game 2 of the World Series again the Yankees. I love Pedro, and I think what he has done with the Phillies is awesome, but this is asking a lot. I know Hamels has been less then stellar, but if I was a Phillies fan I would be shitting my pants about Pedro in Yankees Stadium against a team he used to refer to as "his daddy". Both ballparks are HR parks, but Yankees stadium is just crazy, and I just can't get the thought of many fly balls going out against Pedro. I really hope I am wrong, but I get a real bad feeling about that game...

Yankees Can't Sellout Playoff Game

Wow this is embarrassing...

"The Yankees are in the ALCS for the first time since — ahem — 2004. But Yankee Stadium may not be sold out tonight for Game 1 against the Angels. That would be embarrassing for the business side of the organization. Whether it's the economy or the outrageous ticket prices, there were still 6,000 seats available as of last night through the team. Just a few minutes ago, to see what was out there, I pulled up four tickets on Yankees.com for section 221. OK, so they were $431 each. But they were there. The Yankees trumpeted their postseason ticket prices a few weeks ago, proudly saying they had held the line on prices. But apparently they didn't go far enough (Boston.com)."

Sure the cold temperatures might have something to do with it, but maybe it is time to notice that building this deluxe stadium might have been a mistake. I have heard nothing but terrible things, and it is embarrassing when the seat near the field are almost all empty during the regular season. Now they can't even sell all of them during a playoff game? What a black eye to the Yankees organization...

Bloods 8, Crips 6

It may have not been Cole Hamels best start but he got the job done anyways. Cole went 5.1 in, with 4 er, and 4 ks, but he didn't need to pitch better when your offense puts up 6 runs against Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw and 3 off reliever George Sherrill. On offense the Phils Carlos Ruiz and Raul Ibanez hit three-run homers. And how big of a pick-up was Raul Ibanez? He is the most overlooked player in baseball constantly and is just flat out nasty. For the Dodgers Manny Ramirez homered, but grounded out weakly with two runners on against a struggling Madson to end the Dodgers' two-run rally in the eighth. Their 14 hits set a club record in a single LCS game, but they stranded 10 runners. Lidge tip toed around a single and a walk in the ninth, helped by a double play that made him for 3 for 3 in save chances this postseason.(he posted three saves against the Dodgers in last year's NLCS.)

Anyways the terrific matchup of Pedro Martinez vs Vicente "Floatilla" Padilla is set up for game 2.

My Half Assed Play-Off Predictions

Phillies vs Dodgers

Phillies is 6

Angels vs Yankees

Yankees in 5

Yankees vs Phillies

Yankees in 4

It pains me to pick the Yankees to win it all. But we gotta call a spade a spade here, the Yankees are the best team in baseball. God, I hate them.

Angels 7, Red Sox 6

This has not been a season without frustration for the Sox. They'd go on a stretch when they'd score 6 to 9 runs a game, but the pitching would allow 7 to 10 runs a game. Then they'd go on a stretch when the pitching would keep opponents to 1 to 3 runs. But the offense would score 0 to 2 runs. Occasionally, both would click, and the Sox would be unbeatable for a ten day stretch. But that didn't happen against the Angels.

Did Jonathan Papelbon have a good year? That's a question that will now be asked for at least a month. He had 38 saves, in 41 attempts. That's 92.7% conversion. That's an excellent rate. His WHIP was excellent, as was his ERA. But was he the dominant Papelbon we grew accustomed to? No.

This was an awful way to lose. It seemed as though Fenway Park and October had once again conspired for a storybook Red Sox come-from-behind series triumph. Or at least a chance to stave off elimination for another day.

But when you put yourself down 2-0, you run risks. Sometimes an error will cost you a game. Sometimes a missed call by an ump. Sometimes a lack of clutch hitting, or a bad managerial decision. This time it was a closer who brought nothing to the table.

You go down 2-0, you're on the edge, where even a slight breeze will knock you off. And Sunday that slight breeze was an ineffective closer.

And give credit to the Angels, who thoroughly outplayed the Sox these last 3 games. Their pitching was better. Their bullpen. Their offense. Their defense. Actually, the Sox may have run the bases slightly better than the Angels, which is ironic because people accredit Mike Scioscia with being some sort of baserunning guru.

There's work to be done. The Sox need more pitching. Who doesn't? They need to build a more consistent offense, instead of simply hoping that 4 guys within 6 lineup spots are all hitting hot at the same times.

And honestly, Red Sox Nation, you'd only be surprised by the way this series went if you had refused to see the truth: that this team can be as hot as Scarlett Johansson, and as cold as a dead penguin's ass. This was a bipolar club.

Pitchers and catchers report in... well, I don't know, but they will report. And that's what I love about baseball.

-The Commodore

Angels 4, Red Sox 1

I keep hearing people complain that the Red Sox "aren't showing any intensity." How the hell can a baseball player show intensity? Baseball requires a calm and relaxed attitude. In '04, the Sox were down 3-0 to the Yankees but won 4 straight because they were relaxed, not "intense." In '07, they were down 3-1 to Cleveland, but calmly and confidently came back in that series. And if they have any chance of producing another miracle, they'll need to remain cool and collected.

Sox fans who paid attention for the regular season have seen a familiar thing these past two nights: a Sox offense with everyone slumping. This lineup is capable of a relentless onslaught. It's also capable of what we've witnessed lately. Maybe 2 or 3 guys put up good at-bats, and nobody can string hits together.

The good news is that this is self-correctable. And returning to Fenway won't hurt. The Sox scored 90 more runs at home than on the road. They average 1.1 more runs per game in Fenway. So that's something to look forward to.

But the Sox have dug themselves a deep hole. They can come back from this 2-0 deficit, but the hitting has to improve ASAP, and the pitching also has to be lights out.

Game 3 Sunday afternoon at 12:07 PM. Apparently TBS wants all Sox fans to lose sleep at night, and Angels fans to lose sleep in the morning because that's 9:07 AM in Anaheim.

-The Commodore

Angels 5, Red Sox 0

Even in my gloomy "Angels in 4" prediction, I thought the Sox would prevail in Game 1. So how bad of shape are the Sox in right now? I won't sugar coat it. Things don't look good.

John Lackey was magnificent last night. And the Sox offense was dismal. In the 1st inning, they worked the counts a bit, but after that, Lackey was throwing too many strikes to take pitches, so at-bats grew shorter and shorter.

The Sox squandered some 2 out opportunities in the 4th and 6th, but other than that, they never mounted any kind of offense against Lackey.

Meanwhile, Lester had to pitch around CB Bucknor's missed calls at 1st base (how is HE a playoff umpire?), and Joe West's inconsistent low strike zone. Lackey got every knee-high pitch called a strike. Lester got every knee-high pitch called a ball. But unlike Mike "God's Gift to Managing" Scioscia, Francona won't blame the umps and neither will I.



Apart from the umpiring handicap, Lester did enough to screw himself. He walked 4, and one of those walks came back to bite him by scoring on Torii Hunter's homerun. What grinds my gears is that he was ahead of the count in the at-bat in which he walked that guy.



Ramon Ramirez put the icing on the cake in the 7th by loading the bases with a walk, hit batter, and infield single. The Sox were fortunate to leave that inning only down 5-0. But that was more than enough for Lackey and then Darren Oliver. The Angels' pen can implode, but 5 run implosions will be rare.

The Angels simply played better, in every aspect of the game. Torii Hunter got the timely hit no Sox batter could come up with. Lackey was lights out, Lester was only solid (and only for 6 innings). And all those CB Bucknor missed calls were allowed to happen by missed throws from Alex Gonzalez and Mike Lowell.

And no, Mike Scioscia and all his running, and all his bunting, none of that had anything to do with the Angels' win.

Game 2 is close to a must-win for the Sox. Tonight at 9:37 again: Beckett vs. Jared Weaver. We need a vintage Josh Beckett October outing.

-The Commodore

My Pessmistic Prediction

Unfortunately, I think the Angels will win in 4. The Sox lose Game 2 as Beckett struggles a bit. Kazmir shuts the Sox down in Game 3, and either a short-rest Lester or Matsuzaka lays an egg in Game 4. I hope I'm wrong.

-The Commodore

Sox in 5

I’d like to start this Red Sox-Angels preview by looking back to almost a year ago. After the Sox were shut down by Matt Garza in game 7 of the ALCS, which shocked us all considering Garza’s historical temper/emotional issues. A lack of offense was evident as Garza was in control after Dustin Pedroia’s first-inning home run. The same issues (Jason’s Varitek and David Ortiz’s hitting woes) that were plaguing the Sox at that moment were just as troublesome in late July as the offense was as bad as it has looked since 2002.

Fast forward to now: You know all about the acquisition of Victor Martinez but his presence really has changed the culture of the Sox lineup. David Ortiz may be a mistake hitter at this point but that’s still a vast improvement over artist formerly known as David Ortiz that would look tentative and unsure of himself at the plate last year.

Mike Lowell can now walk in a straight line, unlike last year, and this offense has rounded into form to this point. How they’ll do against good pitching remains to be seen.
From the Angels perspective, they haven’t lost a beat since Mark Teixeira’s departure. The emergence of Kendry Morales gave this team a huge boost and he’s the go-to power hitter in the lineup now. Add Bobby Abreu in there and this is a different offense from last year as well.

KEY FACTORS:
Can Lacky/Weaver compete with Lester/Beckett? Clay Buchholz vs. Kazmir seems to be a wash so the first two games of this series are especially important.
Edge: Red Sox. Lackey hasn’t done a thing in the postseason since 2002. He pitched well against the Yankees in 2005 but in total he has lost 3 games without a win and can’t beat the Red Sox. A lot of it with him is mental. Example: Throwing Jason Bay an inside fastball after throwing breaking ball after breaking ball by him and Bay hitting it to the Moon in game 1 last year.

Offense: Will the Sox offense continue to look good or will it return to dormancy? The Angels offense has been balanced and well-rounded all year.
Edge: Angels. Until that question is answered, we have to give the benefit of the doubt Angels.

From the eighth inning on: Last year’s series provided a few tight games so we shouldn’t expect anything different in 2009. That’s why having Jonathan Papelbon and his playoff resume in addition to Billy Wagner at the end of games is so crucial to the Sox in this series. Sorry, Angels fans. Brian Fuentes (3.93 ERA) and Jason Bulger (3.68) will not be trustworthy in key situations.

Edge: Red Sox. I don’t need to tell you about Papelbon’s postseason stats. They speak for themselves. Billy Wagner will be the difference.

OUTCOME:
Red Sox in 5: Why? Simply put, the Red Sox have the better pitching, as they have the past few years. Me picking them has nothing to do with what happened in 2008, 2007 or 2004. The Red Sox weren’t great in the regular season by any means but this team is built for a long playoff run with Beckett and Lester.

Pavano To Start Game 3 For Twins

"Twins manager Ron Gardenhire announced Carl Pavano to pitch Game 3 in Minnesota on Sunday. Pavano, a former Yankee and Red Sox farmhand, was skipped here in New York. Whether that was done because of the bad experience Pavano had here in New York is unknown. Nick Blackburn gets the nod tomorrow night for the Twins, 7-2 losers to the Yankees last night in Game 1 (Boston.com)."

Thank God. We all know the Yankees are going to win this series, but I would love it if Pavano came back and won Game 3 for the Twins. What a torn in the Yankees side if that happened. Anyways, at least it will make me be interested in this series...