UMFan83

Damn, I just had Heyward and Russell swapped.

Tonight's game will be the 4th latest into October we've played baseball. Saturday's will be tied for the 2nd longest. Latest October games in Cubs history: 1. 10/23/1910 - 10/23/2016* if necessary 2. 10/22/1910 3. 10/22/2016 4. 10/21/2015 5. 10/20/2016 Obviously if the Cubs make it to the World Series they will be playing the latest games in their history.

To deviate from this a bit.... I was out in Vegas in middle of July, in like the middle of June I was looking at WS odds and saw the Indians were around 16/1 (give or take 2) depending on where you went and I had them circled as a pretty good value bet at the time and I planned to put some decent money on them. Then about 2 weeks before I was scheduled to be out there they won like 14 in a row and like 20 of 25 or something crazy and had taken control of the division and maybe traded for Miller or whatever and they were down to 5/1 when I got out there so I laid off. Would've been nice to have the timing of my trip better to get them at that 16/1 or so as I could be locking in some serious profits starting around the 3rd game of the WS. I know, nobody cares about my gambling stories but this missed opportunity stings a bit. Is there a market for buying odds off someone? For example if somebody locked in the Indians 16 to 1, do they ever sell their ticket when odds have moved down 2 to 1 for the Indiand. The buyer would pay a premium that would reflect him getting the 16 to 1 odds but the premium would have to be some middle point where hes obviously not just paying a premium that puts him right back to 2 to 1 all in. Not sure, but I know at least in England books will sometimes offer chances to cash in tickets early for a reduced return. For example people that put a bet on Leicester City to win the Premier League before the season started were able to cash in early when it became apparent that they would actually win but it wasn't quite a lock yet.

The thing I've thought is "Man, I wish we had more than 1 lefty starter" against the Dodgers, but I'm assuming Montgomery is gonna get a good chance at starting for us next year so that would solve that I was secretly hoping for a Monty/Z-man/Wood bullpen day combo for Lackey's start, but there's a reason they are paying Maddon and not me. Plus it would hurt our bullpen for those spot lefty needs during the series. Maybe I'm just losing my mind but I almost wouldn't mind that combo starting game 7 if necessary. Heck throw Lester in there for an inning or two if needed. I sadly just do not trust Jake at this point with all those lefties in a game that might require 0 margin for error.

Guesses on lineup? my guess... Fowler, CF Bryant, 3B Rizzo, 1B Zobrist, LF Baez, 2B Russell, SS Heyward, RF Ross, C Lester, P

Kind of crazy to think that he was actually pretty close to a 3 HR game. Both of his outs in the game were hit to the track.

Hah. They actually have a decent plan with all the platoons. They lineup looks completely different facing a righty than a lefty. The issue is, their RH options kind of suck. The Cubs strived for similar versatility but instead of multiple players, they found 2 switch hitters and inserted them into a lineup with another lefty that hits lefties well, and a couple of quasi platoons (LF/Javy and sort of catcher) and then Bryant, Russell and Heyward

If it were like 3 years ago, Lackey probably pitches 6-7 innings in each of his starts, maybe he gives up 1-2 more against the Giants, maybe he gets out of his jam against the Dodgers. That was the old 'ride your horses until they cant give you anything more' way of playoff managing that seems to be going the way of the dodo bird last year and this year. 4 innings and 2 ER (both from inherited runners scoring) is acceptable going up against the other team's 4th starter. Certainly better than the crap Hammel gave us from the 4 spot last year.

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I guess I can kind of understand the angle despite the final score. If he's called safe, its 1-0 with runners on 1st and 3rd with 2 outs with Reddick up and a chance to put a crooked number on the board. The pressure on the Cubs gains, perhaps they don't break out in the 4th? I don't know just trying to understand if from their perspective.

Didn't I hear you say you were at the game last night or am I losing my mind? Definitely losing your mind. Stuck in central IL...nowhere near SoCal. D'oh. This series is killing me

Banedon did his job yesterday, now its up to you to get us within a win of the World Series. Are you up to the task? Wait what did I do? Didn't I hear you say you were at the game last night or am I losing my mind?

Good thing it isn't up to you. Ok, Hammel is by no means the ideal choice, but win or lose tonight, we're facing Kershaw and (if necessary, which bit likely will be,) Hill, and I like our chances with Lester and Hendricks against those 2 over Hendricks and Jake. And seeing as we don't have any other SP options, Hammel would be the quick fix for a few innings, then to Wood and/or Zaz. JFC you can't make roster changes in the middle of a series. Unless you remove Edwards from the roster for his injury, which by rule means he couldn't be on the World Series roster. So you are suggesting removing Edwards from the rest of the playoffs because of a cramp that he said is giving him less than mild pain so that you can start our 5th best starter instead of our 3rd best starter in one of the final 3 games of the series. Are you horsefeathering kidding me?

This is on you now. Banedon did his job yesterday, now its up to you to get us within a win of the World Series. Are you up to the task?

[tweet] [/tweet] It doesn't bother me seeing them complaining in the postgame or whatever, but for some reason going on twitter and continuing to complain rubs me the wrong way. Quit whining you lost 10-2.

So what? It bothers me. I realize its a minority opinion and makes me sounds weird.

Tying run is only 7 batters away

2 straight first pitch strikes called balls wtf. They were pretty obvious too

Oh well Heyward, we will always remember your epic RBI groundout and the time you managed to throw someone out despite a terrible throw and questionable replay reviews.

This was probably posted already but w/e

I'm open for suggestions if anyone has one. The Lackey one was just so natural. As long as it's not "Lester the molester"

I always hate the NBA and NHL playoffs for having so many days off between games but I must say right about now I wish I had a day off to enjoy this win instead of immediately going into "huge game to decide whether you can clinch on Saturday or have to beat Kershaw to stay alive" day

Rizzo is now hitting .250 during the NLCS

Who knew Angel Hernandez was actually a cool dude?

God we are so stupid. Even the people that make fun of people that worry we're worried