2023 Division Series

[Tryptamine]

8 hours ago, UMFan83 said:

Despite winning 101 games or whatever, Baltimore still felt like an underdog.  I'm sad they were eliminated.  Hopefully they get 2-3 more years together before Angelos decides their arb years are getting too costly and breaks apart the team

I'm not sad at all. The owner completely penny pinched in FA when they had virtually no payroll. Then at the deadline they acquired a reclamation project reliever and a starter who was last good years ago. I can't stand the teams who are on the verge of a World Series and do absolutely nothing but sit on their hands. Maybe next year go out and make some moves instead of wasting a year of cheap elite talent. 

Edited October 11, 2023 by Tryptamine

[Sammy Sofa]

I hope the Orioles are back in it next season; I was in Baltimore this past weekend (not for the game), and the whole city vibe with the 0's finally back in the playoffs was a horsefeathers blast.

Edited October 11, 2023 by Sammy Sofa

[soccer10k]

It’s a little funny that Baltimore didn’t get swept all year, and hasn’t been swept since May 2022, but just got swept out of the playoffs.

[Tim]

1 hour ago, Sammy Sofa said:

I hope the Orioles are back in it next season; I was in Baltimore this past weekend (not for the game), and the whole city vibe with the 0's finally back in the playoffs was a horsefeathers blast.

Funny - I was there at a game in mid-September and I thought they were kind of flat for being in a pennant chase. Attendance wasn't great, either:

 

[Y2J]

39 minutes ago, soccer10k said:

It’s a little funny that Baltimore didn’t get swept all year, and hasn’t been swept since May 2022, but just got swept out of the playoffs.

With the new format, I'd almost rather play the Wild Card series than sit and wait in the Divisional round. Baltimore swept, Dodgers down 2-0, Braves looked flat in Game 1.  

[Sammy Sofa]

10 minutes ago, Tim said:

Funny - I was there at a game in mid-September and I thought they were kind of flat for being in a pennant chase. Attendance wasn't great, either:

 

That's not very funny.

[soccer10k]

9 minutes ago, Y2J said:

With the new format, I'd almost rather play the Wild Card series than sit and wait in the Divisional round. Baltimore swept, Dodgers down 2-0, Braves looked flat in Game 1.  

The bye is still clearly better. Having the bye didn’t bother the Astros or Yankees last year. Houston was fine this year.

Baseball playoffs are still a crapshoot and having a 100% chance of making the Division Series is better than a roughly 50-50 chance.

[Y2J]

15 minutes ago, Tim said:

Funny - I was there at a game in mid-September and I thought they were kind of flat for being in a pennant chase. Attendance wasn't great, either:

 

There was a thread on PSD where members were listing their favorite ballparks. Fans of all teams were chiming in. I was shocked at the number of people who listed Camden #1. I had been there at sometime in the 90s and, different time in my life when I wasn't the most observant in my youth, but I don't recall anything that particularly stood out that I would've ranked it the best park in baseball. 

[Y2J]

3 minutes ago, soccer10k said:

The bye is still clearly better. Having the bye didn’t bother the Astros or Yankees last year. Houston was fine this year.

Baseball playoffs are still a crapshoot and having a 100% chance of making the Division Series is better than a roughly 50-50 chance.

Perhaps you're right. I just gave myself flashbacks of that awful Rockies WC game. Ugh. 

[We Got The Whole 9]

I had not noticed before but Mookie has just a 93 wRC+ across 260 postseason PA. 4 HR and an ISO of .128. Hope he stays in his funk because I want the Dodgers to lose again. 

[Tim]

1 hour ago, Sammy Sofa said:

That's not very funny.

That wasn't a joke. I don't know what you're going for there.

[Tim]

52 minutes ago, Y2J said:

There was a thread on PSD where members were listing their favorite ballparks. Fans of all teams were chiming in. I was shocked at the number of people who listed Camden #1. I had been there at sometime in the 90s and, different time in my life when I wasn't the most observant in my youth, but I don't recall anything that particularly stood out that I would've ranked it the best park in baseball. 

My buddy and I did 7 parks in 8 days last month: Fenway, Yankees, Citi, Citizens, Camden, PNC and Progressive. Out of all those, our favorite was Camden. The one that we thought was the nicest experience was Citi, but that's partially because we nearly had it to ourselves.

[Sammy Sofa]

1 hour ago, Y2J said:

There was a thread on PSD where members were listing their favorite ballparks. Fans of all teams were chiming in. I was shocked at the number of people who listed Camden #1. I had been there at sometime in the 90s and, different time in my life when I wasn't the most observant in my youth, but I don't recall anything that particularly stood out that I would've ranked it the best park in baseball. 

Camden was the first of the "retro" ball parks after the decades of similar cement, brutalist monstrosities that sprung up, and it was a pretty big deal because of that when it opened, and it attracted a lot of people to come check it out.

Personally, I love it. Well designed and constructed, great location in the city, fantastic sightlines, minimal signage/screens, well maintained, etc., etc.. Hugely superior to the hodgepodge mess that Wrigley is, IMO.

Edited October 11, 2023 by Sammy Sofa

[Sammy Sofa]

10 minutes ago, Tim said:

That wasn't a joke. I don't know what you're going for there.

OK, NOW it's funny.

[Tim]

2 minutes ago, Sammy Sofa said:

OK, NOW it's funny.

Do you mind letting me in on the joke? I'm having a serious woosh moment here.

[Sammy Sofa]

Just now, Tim said:

Do you mind letting me in on the joke? I'm having a serious woosh moment here.

You lead off your sad story saying "funny." It's just a dumb bit.

[UMFan83]

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that you take the bye 100 times out of 100 obviously.  But I do wonder if there is some benefit to playing a very short do or die series before playing the LDS or if really is just the 'baseball is a crapshoot' component of it.  Looking at other sports with byes, I believe there have been an unexpected number of upsets from teams that win the play-in round of the NCAA tournament as well but I haven't looked at the math to see if their rate of upset is higher other 11 or 12 seeds that don't have to get through the play-in.  In the NFL the bye teams overwhelmingly win their games over wild card teams so nothing unexpected there.

[Y2J]

11 minutes ago, Tim said:

My buddy and I did 7 parks in 8 days last month: Fenway, Yankees, Citi, Citizens, Camden, PNC and Progressive. Out of all those, our favorite was Camden. The one that we thought was the nicest experience was Citi, but that's partially because we nearly had it to ourselves.

Camden is on my list to revisit. Like I said, different time in my life. I wasn’t there to really appreciate and soak in the experience. Of the parks I visited in my youth, the one that I have little desire to go back to is Minute Maid. I’m pretty sure it was still Enron at the time I saw it. It was mid-July, roof was shut, and that place was a giant greenhouse. Also during the time of the Killer B’s, so they’d constantly play that obnoxious buzzing over the PA. Worst baseball experience I’ve ever had. 

My brother is a Braves fan and we’re planning a trip to see Truist when the Cubs are there in May. There’s even a section there that serves Old Style according to their MLB food and beverage page. 😄  

[Y2J]

11 minutes ago, Sammy Sofa said:

Camden was the first of the "retro" ball parks after the decades of similar cement, brutalist monstrosities that sprung up, and it was a pretty big deal because of that when it opened, and it attracted a lot of people to come check it out.

Personally, I love it. Well designed and constructed, great location in the city, fantastic sightlines, minimal signage/screens, well maintained, etc., etc.. Hugely superior to the hodgepodge mess that Wrigley is, IMO.

Thank goodness we‘ve gone back to the “retro” style parks with some of the new constructions. I visited several of the old cookie cutters. Busch, Riverfront, Fulton County. 

I’d like to revisit Camden. My memory of it is so shoddy. I did see Cal play in that game, however. That’s the one memory that has stuck with me from the experience.

[squally1313]

24 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that you take the bye 100 times out of 100 obviously.  But I do wonder if there is some benefit to playing a very short do or die series before playing the LDS or if really is just the 'baseball is a crapshoot' component of it.  Looking at other sports with byes, I believe there have been an unexpected number of upsets from teams that win the play-in round of the NCAA tournament as well but I haven't looked at the math to see if their rate of upset is higher other 11 or 12 seeds that don't have to get through the play-in.  In the NFL the bye teams overwhelmingly win their games over wild card teams so nothing unexpected there.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/layoffs-havent-hindered-playoff-teams-historically/

 

[Bertz]

 

[CubinNY]

17 minutes ago, Bertz said:

 

That is not a heavy lift for most Philadelphia sports fans. 

[17 Seconds]

everyone knew Harper was going yard there

[We Got The Whole 9]

I really didn't expect the Phillies to bounce back like this

[Tryptamine]

Remember when Harper was basically begging to play in Chicago and the Cubs more or less said no thanks? Good times.