ALDS Game 3 - HOU @ CWS - 7:07pm CDT

[hi8is]

And fuck Tony too.

[Thad Bosley]

My six-month old, masked beauty, coming complete with the teething phase!

[maloney.adam]

 

[AJSOX]

Sorry to hear about Jocomo Rip

This is Hobbs who I watch the games with. He's Cuban (Havanese) and says we only need to win 11 more games with the next 3 in a row leaving only 8 after that. Piece a cake

[YourWhatHurts]

Rule #1: Grandal is behind the plate, not because he belongs there defensively, but because the other alternative is actually worse.  But we must all pray for him to catch the fucking baseball.

Rule #2:  Engel plays RF regardless.  No more Leury in RF, no matter what hand the SP throws with.

Rule #3: Kimbrel needs to be on a plane back to Chicago, and after he arrives, should be quarantined for the rest of the month of October.

[hi8is]

So LaRussa just had a presser and announced Cease.

[joejoesox]

2 minutes ago, hi8is said:

So LaRussa just had a presser and announced Cease.

? ?

[YourWhatHurts]

Cease belongs in this spot.  Best stuff in the rotation right now.  Even if he's nails, our shitty offense may do nothing, and Abreu may again come up empty and choke again when it really counts the most.  And the defense may still fail to make plays, and there may still be shitty baserunning blunders like Robert getting thrown trying to take 2B with 2 outs and a guy who can HR at the plate.  

As great as Rodon has been, it's real hard to say T92 Rodon is our best guy right now.

One other thing I will say is this: even if 2021 doesn't turn out to be our year, at least we're not the Asstros.  Dusty Baker is an even worse manager, their window is closing while ours is wide open, and more than anything, our WS title was both dominant and legitimate, and yet theirs is an asterisk as big as their logo - in fact their logo may as well be an H with a giant asterisk on it.  They're all dirty ballsuckers and losers, and cheaters and scum, and the Sox are always better.  And no matter what, the 2022 Sox team wipes their asses with the 2022 Asstros anyway.  So yeah.

[Southwest Sider]

5 minutes ago, YourWhatHurts said:

Cease belongs in this spot.  Best stuff in the rotation right now.  Even if he's nails, our shitty offense may do nothing, and Abreu may again come up empty and choke again when it really counts the most.  And the defense may still fail to make plays, and there may still be shitty baserunning blunders like Robert getting thrown trying to take 2B with 2 outs and a guy who can HR at the plate.  

As great as Rodon has been, it's real hard to say T92 Rodon is our best guy right now.

One other thing I will say is this: even if 2021 doesn't turn out to be our year, at least we're not the Asstros.  Dusty Baker is an even worse manager, their window is closing while ours is wide open, and more than anything, our WS title was both dominant and legitimate, and yet theirs is an asterisk as big as their logo - in fact their logo may as well be an H with a giant asterisk on it.  They're all dirty ballsuckers and losers, and cheaters and scum, and the Sox are always better.  And no matter what, the 2022 Sox team wipes their asses with the 2022 Asstros anyway.  So yeah.

Your what hurts?

I do echo your hatred of those cheating losers. Sox had a chance to be baseball darlings by winning this series, everyone except Astros fans want to see them bounced. Really too bad they dont seem up to the challenge.

[bmags]

I’m so bummed. Keep thinking like, did we just build a version of like those twins teams? Good enough to make playoffs but just a class below the rest?

As much as we talk about playoffs being a crapshoot, it feels like the teams like the As and Twins are the opposite of that.

I don’t really know what answer is, I think pitching wise the velocity focus hasn’t really paid off against good teams, but those good teams. But offensively, so we go for more power or better contact? And we can’t sacrifice defense for it.

OTOH, giants make me feel a bit better on possibilities. They didn’t do a tear down to the studs. They brought in good baseball players and used great tools and teaching to make them better.

Stuff like their batting practice heavy on only sliders and cb should be recreated here. 
 

This team is so talented, but it’s so tough to see our best lose against their best. And our role players not make in impact,  while like Jake Meyers can.

[YourWhatHurts]

27 minutes ago, bmags said:

I’m so bummed. Keep thinking like, did we just build a version of like those twins teams? Good enough to make playoffs but just a class below the rest?

As much as we talk about playoffs being a crapshoot, it feels like the teams like the As and Twins are the opposite of that.

I don’t really know what answer is, I think pitching wise the velocity focus hasn’t really paid off against good teams, but those good teams. But offensively, so we go for more power or better contact? And we can’t sacrifice defense for it.

OTOH, giants make me feel a bit better on possibilities. They didn’t do a tear down to the studs. They brought in good baseball players and used great tools and teaching to make them better.

Stuff like their batting practice heavy on only sliders and cb should be recreated here. 
 

This team is so talented, but it’s so tough to see our best lose against their best. And our role players not make in impact,  while like Jake Meyers can.

1) We certainly didn't build a version of the Twins that beat our asses in the early 2000's.  Maybe we built something like the high octane offense / limited pitching and defense Twins, but I'd much rather we be the pitching-and-defense Twins if we're going to emulate any kind of Twins model.

2) The playoffs are not a crapshoot.  Every year you have a pretty good idea of the teams most likely to win it.  It's not so cut and dry as in basketball, but it's pretty clear usually who the best teams are.  This year it's probably the Rays and Dodgers, but the Red Sox and especially the Giants have seriously overachieved. 

What we really need is SP talent + Bullpen talent + defense + dynamic offense capable of both scoring in bunches via the HR and XBH and also capable of scoring even it's only necessary to make outs in the appropriate manner, e.g. sacrifices and hitting behind the runner.  We're pretty close but we have sacrificed defense at premium positions (C with all of them, 2B with Madrgial early & all of Cesar's mis-plays later) and we've sacrificed offense in RF which is still at least a 50/50 Offense/Defense position.  And then our bullpen has drastically underachieved all season, and we really don't have that proven ace stopper at the front of our rotation.  We're close though.

3) The Giants are a total fluke.  Don't even worry about them.  Yes there are lots of 2005 Sox vibes but I would just ignore them.  Total fluke, still.  The best team to emulate in the NL is the Dodgers, and even though I hate the Dodgers and hate to say it, it's still the truth.

4) Pitching and Defense should be our focus in the offseason.  And as far as the bullpen goes, unfortunately all you can ever do is stack up talent and see what happens.  The Sox have probably the deepest and most talented RP core in baseball, and if not, if must be top-5 at worst.  You can go all the way down to Charlotte with guys like Burr, Fry, Foster, Lopez, etc. who are all in probably most MLB bullpens.  And then we had guys like Burdi who most other orgs probably wouldn't have let go, and we've got guys like Schryver and Dopico who have some ability and likely would have already been given a shot on lesser teams in rebuilding situations.  We're really deep in the pen, but year to year you just never know who's going to be good and who is going to suck.

[YourWhatHurts]

Not sure who put the laughing emoji on my post above or why, but I am guessing it relates to the Giants.  Yes they are a fluke.  I pity the fool who gives a zillion dollars and years to one of their flukey overachieving impending FAs in the offseason.  There are probaby more guys on that team than on any other who will very shortly become the recipients of bad contracts.

What they are doing is amazing but it's just for this year.  Look at how Zaidi approached the deadline.  Even he knows it's a fluke, he just won't come out and say it obviously.  He's still planning to reload/retool if not rebuild.

[chw42]

10 minutes ago, YourWhatHurts said:

Not sure who put the laughing emoji on my post above or why, but I am guessing it relates to the Giants.  Yes they are a fluke.  I pity the fool who gives a zillion dollars and years to one of their flukey overachieving impending FAs in the offseason.  There are probaby more guys on that team than on any other who will very shortly become the recipients of bad contracts.

What they are doing is amazing but it's just for this year.  Look at how Zaidi approached the deadline.  Even he knows it's a fluke, he just won't come out and say it obviously.  He's still planning to reload/retool if not rebuild.

lol even if they're a fluke, if they somehow win 2 more games against LA, they're probably going to the World Series. Lightning in a bottle situations happen all the time. 

[bmags]

Calling the giants a fluke ?

[Cerbaho-WG]

I look forward to being very drunk and watching this. If anyone on the north side wants to swing by the map room tomorrow evening, I’ll buy you a beer.

[maloney.adam]

TLR runs to the pitching mound to check on Cease after every batter. Lol.

Edited October 9, 2021 by maloney.adam

[kitekrazy]

48 minutes ago, chw42 said:

lol even if they're a fluke, if they somehow win 2 more games against LA, they're probably going to the World Series. Lightning in a bottle situations happen all the time. 

 They don't take championships away based on flukes.  Dynasties are becoming rare in pro sports. 

Edited October 9, 2021 by kitekrazy

[wegner]

6 minutes ago, Cerbaho-WG said:

I look forward to being very drunk and watching this. If anyone on the north side wants to swing by the map room tomorrow evening, I’ll buy you a beer.

Haha an old stomping grounds of mine....I'll be there in spirit....enjoy!!

[wegner]

29 minutes ago, bmags said:

Calling the giants a fluke ?

I'd love it if the Sox were such a fluke.

[Cerbaho-WG]

10 minutes ago, wegner said:

Haha an old stomping grounds of mine....I'll be there in spirit....enjoy!!

I’ve been going there for over a decade, here’s to hoping it brings us some good luck!

[wegner]

2 minutes ago, Cerbaho-WG said:

I’ve been going there for over a decade, here’s to hoping it brings us some good luck!

?

[HOFHurt35]

20 hours ago, mmmmmbeeer said:

LaRussa has really ruined my enjoyment of this postseason.  Today was such a letdown.  That said, time to win in spite of that idiot.

So is the consensus, LaRussa lost this series for us? 

Not the ineptitude of the two Aces in Lynn and Giollito?   Or an entire pitching staff being scared to throw strikes?   Or an offense who has failed to slugg a single x-tra base hit?  Or that maybe the Astros are really damn good at baseball? 

 

[wegner]

2 minutes ago, HOFHurt35 said:

So is the consensus, LaRussa lost this series for us? 

Not the ineptitude of the two Aces in Lynn and Giollito?   Or an entire pitching staff being scared to throw strikes?   Or an offense who has failed to slugg a single x-tra base hit?  Or that maybe the Astros are really damn good at baseball? 

 

fish rots from the head

[black jack]

Team is great.  

A championship depends on and always depended on Kopech becoming a true ace and Cease taking the next step in his development.  

We will win the central again next year, but I think 2023 will be the year we win it all.  

Kopech

Cease

Gio

Lynn 

will be our 2023 championship rotation. 

[YourWhatHurts]

1 hour ago, chw42 said:

lol even if they're a fluke, if they somehow win 2 more games against LA, they're probably going to the World Series. Lightning in a bottle situations happen all the time. 

Those situations almost never happen.  That's why it's called ... wait for it ... "lightning in a bottle."

 

53 minutes ago, bmags said:

Calling the giants a fluke ?

Yes they are.

I'm not sure what your issue is.  You're talking about the Giants giving you hope.  WTF?  You're delusional.

The Sox spent the vast majority of the 2010's running out Giants-like teams, relying on wrong-side-of-30's former All-Star veterans, spot-patched with hopeful overachiever types on make-good deals and MiLB contracts.  This worked so well that they had to finally undergo a full scale rebuild.  

But sure let's pine for the days of bringing in the likes of Mat Latos, Ervin Santana, Jimmy Rollins, etc. or do our version of trading for Evan Longoria where we bring in a guy whose best years are behind him hoping that he can still be a quality player.

Reality is, the SF Giants are a team composed of a bunch of moves that the previous GM got fired for and the current GM largely didn't make or wouldn't have made.  And the spot patching is likely simply a result of a combination of a mandate from ownership to at least half-heartedly try plus an attempt to load up on veteran mid-season trade chips.