****OFFICAL ALCS THREAD****

[TheAudit]

1:22 on the East Coast.
That means tonight's ALCS game should be over in about twelve hours.

 

[ThePresence]

Originally posted by: blakeatwork

Originally posted by: isekii

Originally posted by: blakeatwork
After watching the bits and pieces of Game 3 Saturday... i honestly didn't think Boston would have the cajones to come out and win 2 straight... Been a Boston and NY hater (TO fan), but hats off to both teams for some gutsy performances... who knew Loaiza would actually pitch, VS lobbing the ball in? Wakefield pitched lights out.. that knuckler was absolutely insane last night..

This series makes it great to be a baseball fan, no matter who you might be cheering for (For the record, I'm hoping Boston wins... cheer for the underdog.. 😀)

Yanks were the underdogs going in.

Even with Boston blowing the cover off the ball against Anaheim (no big feat really), I considered the Yankees a favorite in the ALCS... Yankees, in the last 8-10 years, have been lights out in the playoffs... and with having near the same core of players year in and year out (this year being the exception), I didn't see any reason not to choose the Yanks to win... (that, and the Beantown Curse...😛)

Again, I hope Boston wins, though I'm sure they'd blow the World Series somehow...

😀

It IS a big feat to beat up on the Angels. They have the best bullpen in baseball.
This years core is different and not as good as recent Yankee teams. That's enough of a reason why people picked Boston.

 

[geecee]

Originally posted by: SP33Demon
If all you can say is "shut up" like a 2nd grader, then that's fine. You have your opinion, and I have mine. Rivera blew 2 saves in a row, that's huge for allegedly the greatest reliever of all time. There's a reason he gets paid a huge chunk of change, and that's to shut down Boston. He failed miserably, so yes Punk'd is the appropriate response.

If I'm giving Red Sox fans a bad name by calling Torre out, then so be it. He should have walked the .301/MVP Candidate/Clutch Yankee/Angel Killer to get to the .238 defensive substitute. Loaiza was sharp last night, and the odds of him getting Mientkavicz out were a helluva lot greater than Ortiz at that point. Thanks Torre, I hope you pitch to PAPI again and give us the game. 🙂

All I can say is "Shut up" (like a second grader), because I feel like I'm talking to a second grader. You want to make intelligent baseball conversation like some of the other Sox fans here, please do so. If you're just gooing to be rah rah Boston's the best, Yankees suck (i.e. Rivera got punk'd, Torre is clueless), then I will treat you as such.

Originally posted by: SP33Demon
1:22 on the East Coast.
That means tonight's ALCS game should be over in about twelve hours.

Sounds about right. 🙂

 

[TheAudit]

Originally posted by: geecee
1:22 on the East Coast.
That means tonight's ALCS game should be over in about twelve hours.

Sounds about right. 🙂[/quote]

And, of course, a late finish won't keep a lot of us from watching!

 

[lordtyranus]

Originally posted by: ThePresence

Originally posted by: blakeatwork

Originally posted by: isekii

Originally posted by: blakeatwork
After watching the bits and pieces of Game 3 Saturday... i honestly didn't think Boston would have the cajones to come out and win 2 straight... Been a Boston and NY hater (TO fan), but hats off to both teams for some gutsy performances... who knew Loaiza would actually pitch, VS lobbing the ball in? Wakefield pitched lights out.. that knuckler was absolutely insane last night..

This series makes it great to be a baseball fan, no matter who you might be cheering for (For the record, I'm hoping Boston wins... cheer for the underdog.. 😀)

Yanks were the underdogs going in.

Even with Boston blowing the cover off the ball against Anaheim (no big feat really), I considered the Yankees a favorite in the ALCS... Yankees, in the last 8-10 years, have been lights out in the playoffs... and with having near the same core of players year in and year out (this year being the exception), I didn't see any reason not to choose the Yanks to win... (that, and the Beantown Curse...😛)

Again, I hope Boston wins, though I'm sure they'd blow the World Series somehow...

😀

It IS a big feat to beat up on the Angels. They have the best bullpen in baseball.
This years core is different and not as good as recent Yankee teams. That's enough of a reason why people picked Boston.

I agree. I think this year's Yankee team has gone away from the fundamentals, clutch hitting, and small things that won them those WS rings and gone for a mass of all stars and flashiness.

If anything is to be learned from this year, it is that you can't buy a title, no matter how much you spend. They picked up a small army of stellar performers last year (Brown, Sheffield, Arod, Vazquez) only to see them all fall short this year.

If I was the Yankees, I'd be worried. The sox are back into this with miserable performances from their best pitcher and hitter.

 

[SP33Demon]

Originally posted by: lordtyranus
For all of you who think Pedro is bad, what do you think of Rivera and the Sox pushing him around like a little leaguer?

I don't think an intentional walk was in order for Ortiz. He's not a high average hitter, and his power is irrelevant at that stage of the game.


On a more serious note, how are the bullpens going to cope? I think the Yankees have Lieber and Brown available, the sox only have Schilling on normal rest.

Not high average? He batted .301 in 2004 which is better than every single Yankee hitter! Oh wait, you thought Mientkavicz (.238) was more dangerous as a defensive substitute :roll:

 

[ThePresence]

Originally posted by: lordtyranus

Originally posted by: ThePresence

Originally posted by: blakeatwork

Originally posted by: isekii

Originally posted by: blakeatwork
After watching the bits and pieces of Game 3 Saturday... i honestly didn't think Boston would have the cajones to come out and win 2 straight... Been a Boston and NY hater (TO fan), but hats off to both teams for some gutsy performances... who knew Loaiza would actually pitch, VS lobbing the ball in? Wakefield pitched lights out.. that knuckler was absolutely insane last night..

This series makes it great to be a baseball fan, no matter who you might be cheering for (For the record, I'm hoping Boston wins... cheer for the underdog.. 😀)

Yanks were the underdogs going in.

Even with Boston blowing the cover off the ball against Anaheim (no big feat really), I considered the Yankees a favorite in the ALCS... Yankees, in the last 8-10 years, have been lights out in the playoffs... and with having near the same core of players year in and year out (this year being the exception), I didn't see any reason not to choose the Yanks to win... (that, and the Beantown Curse...😛)

Again, I hope Boston wins, though I'm sure they'd blow the World Series somehow...

😀

It IS a big feat to beat up on the Angels. They have the best bullpen in baseball.
This years core is different and not as good as recent Yankee teams. That's enough of a reason why people picked Boston.

I disagree. I think this year's Yankee team has gone away from the fundamentals, clutch hitting, and small things that won them those WS rings and gone for a mass of all stars and flashiness.

If anything is to be learned from this year, it is that you can't buy a title, no matter how much you spend. They picked up a small army of stellar performers last year (Brown, Sheffield, Arod, Vazquez) only to see them all fall short this year.

You are not disagreeing with me. I agree with your points. I also know that the Yankees don't have Pettite, Clemens and Wells this year like they had in previous years.
Agreed, you cannot buy a championship. So if the Yankees win it all this year, let's not hear payroll cries again. 🙂

 

[SP33Demon]

Originally posted by: lordtyranus

I disagree. I think this year's Yankee team has gone away from the fundamentals, clutch hitting, and small things that won them those WS rings and gone for a mass of all stars and flashiness.

If anything is to be learned from this year, it is that you can't buy a title, no matter how much you spend. They picked up a small army of stellar performers last year (Brown, Sheffield, Arod, Vazquez) only to see them all fall short this year.

If I was the Yankees, I'd be worried. The sox are back into this with miserable performances from their best pitcher and hitter.

Are you serious? You don't think NY can clutch hit, where have you been? They have over 60 come from behind wins this year, a MLB record. And how the hell did Sheffield and Arod fall short this year?? Have you seen their stats, and heard talk of Sheffield as MVP because of his clutch HR's?

 

[gigapet]

Originally posted by: SP33Demon

Originally posted by: lordtyranus

I disagree. I think this year's Yankee team has gone away from the fundamentals, clutch hitting, and small things that won them those WS rings and gone for a mass of all stars and flashiness.

If anything is to be learned from this year, it is that you can't buy a title, no matter how much you spend. They picked up a small army of stellar performers last year (Brown, Sheffield, Arod, Vazquez) only to see them all fall short this year.

If I was the Yankees, I'd be worried. The sox are back into this with miserable performances from their best pitcher and hitter.

Are you serious? You don't think NY can clutch hit, where have you been? They have over 60 come from behind wins this year, a MLB record. And how the hell did Sheffield and Arod fall short this year?? Have you seen their stats, and heard talk of Sheffield as MVP because of his clutch HR's?

dude....boston fans are not logical. dont even bother....you must remember that these are the same ppl that thing its possible fore them to still win this playoff series.

 

[Doggiedog]

Originally posted by: SP33Demon

Originally posted by: lordtyranus

I disagree. I think this year's Yankee team has gone away from the fundamentals, clutch hitting, and small things that won them those WS rings and gone for a mass of all stars and flashiness.

If anything is to be learned from this year, it is that you can't buy a title, no matter how much you spend. They picked up a small army of stellar performers last year (Brown, Sheffield, Arod, Vazquez) only to see them all fall short this year.

If I was the Yankees, I'd be worried. The sox are back into this with miserable performances from their best pitcher and hitter.

Are you serious? You don't think NY can clutch hit, where have you been? They have over 60 come from behind wins this year, a MLB record. And how the hell did Sheffield and Arod fall short this year?? Have you seen their stats, and heard talk of Sheffield as MVP because of his clutch HR's?

Is this the first time I've seen SP33Demon say something complimentary about the Yankees? Hmm..I think you are trying to butter up the Yankees reputation in the event Boston wins the series. 😉

 

[lordtyranus]

Originally posted by: SP33Demon

Originally posted by: lordtyranus
For all of you who think Pedro is bad, what do you think of Rivera and the Sox pushing him around like a little leaguer?

I don't think an intentional walk was in order for Ortiz. He's not a high average hitter, and his power is irrelevant at that stage of the game.

On a more serious note, how are the bullpens going to cope? I think the Yankees have Lieber and Brown available, the sox only have Schilling on normal rest.

Not high average? He batted .301 in 2004 which is better than every single Yankee hitter! Oh wait, you thought Mientkavicz (.238) was more dangerous as a defensive substitute :roll:

*sighs*

I don't know why I'm still explaining this to you. With a guy who walks 30 guys in 45 innings (135 outs), he walks a guy for every 4 outs he makes. In a sense, there's a 25% chance of losing the game right there, regardless of batting averages. Min's career average is also .006 behind Oriz's (.272 to .278), and he's a year removed from a .300 season.

Are you serious? You don't think NY can clutch hit, where have you been? They have over 60 come from behind wins this year, a MLB record. And how the hell did Sheffield and Arod fall short this year?? Have you seen their stats, and heard talk of Sheffield as MVP because of his clutch HR's?

Where was the clutch hitting yesterday? Regular season is completely different, and the Yankees do have a naturally superior lineup top to bottom than most.

BTW, Sheff is down in EVERY category (runs, hits, 2b, HR, RBI, K, SB, avg, OBP, SLG, OPS) besides walks compared to last year. He was twice the MVP candidate last year (without the yankees lineup around him). But of course he was in the NL. The same is true for Rodriguez, who hit 57 homers 2 years ago.


If these 4 players had played at 2003 levels, the Yankees won 130 games this year.

dude....yankees fans are not logical. dont even bother....you must remember that these are the same ppl that think this series was going to be a sweep.

Fixed.

 

[SP33Demon]

Originally posted by: gigapet

Originally posted by: SP33Demon

Originally posted by: lordtyranus

I disagree. I think this year's Yankee team has gone away from the fundamentals, clutch hitting, and small things that won them those WS rings and gone for a mass of all stars and flashiness.

If anything is to be learned from this year, it is that you can't buy a title, no matter how much you spend. They picked up a small army of stellar performers last year (Brown, Sheffield, Arod, Vazquez) only to see them all fall short this year.

If I was the Yankees, I'd be worried. The sox are back into this with miserable performances from their best pitcher and hitter.

Are you serious? You don't think NY can clutch hit, where have you been? They have over 60 come from behind wins this year, a MLB record. And how the hell did Sheffield and Arod fall short this year?? Have you seen their stats, and heard talk of Sheffield as MVP because of his clutch HR's?

dude....boston fans are not logical. dont even bother....you must remember that these are the same ppl that thing its possible fore them to still win this playoff series.

I'm a Boston fan and I'm highly logical. I just don't understand how anyone could say that the Yankees are not clutch this year, they have been nothing but clutch with 62 come from behind wins. Or say that Sheffield or ARod fell short this year? Or that NY doesn't do the fundamentals right, Jeter/Matsui are the posterchildren for fundamentals. Maybe he missed the back issue of The Sporting News that had Matsui on the cover where it said "The Little Big Things", and explained how Matsui gets the little, fundamental things in baseball right which is missing from today's game. And how the Japanese teach their Little Leaguers how important defense is, and make them practice drills hundreds of times a day until they are fundamentally sound defensively (and our kids lack these skills). Just too funny.

 

[lordtyranus]

Is this Matsui fundamentals guy the one on the Yankees? IE the one who dropped Ortiz's ball earlier in the series?

 

[Legendary]

Originally posted by: lordtyranus
Is this Matsui fundamentals guy the one on the Yankees? IE the one who dropped Ortiz's ball earlier in the series?

Wow I guess no one in the game knows fundamentals. Cause you know, one error = ZERO fundamentals.
Jeter is a fantastic bunter. But he made an error yesterday. So he doesn't know fundamentals.
:roll:

 

[lordtyranus]

An error that led to 2 runs and nearly cost the Yankees the game. The old yankee LF (paul oneil?) doesn't make that mistake in the playoffs.

 

[Legendary]

Originally posted by: lordtyranus
An error that led to 2 runs and nearly cost the Yankees the game. The old yankee RF (paul oneil?) doesn't make that mistake in the playoffs.

1. Matsui plays left.
2. I can't find any stats on ALCS fielding, and I can't remember Matsui actually making an error in the ALCS, so please remind me.
3. You may be talking about Sheffield's error in the ALDS against the twins, since you mentioned right field.

 

[lordtyranus]

No, it was left field. I screwed up.

Game 1, 8th ining. Ortiz hits a fly ball to the wall, bounces off Matsui's glove. 2 runs score. They tried to throw to home, failed, and allowed Ortiz (the tying runner) to reach 3rd.

 

[SP33Demon]

Originally posted by: Doggiedog

Originally posted by: SP33Demon

Originally posted by: lordtyranus

I disagree. I think this year's Yankee team has gone away from the fundamentals, clutch hitting, and small things that won them those WS rings and gone for a mass of all stars and flashiness.

If anything is to be learned from this year, it is that you can't buy a title, no matter how much you spend. They picked up a small army of stellar performers last year (Brown, Sheffield, Arod, Vazquez) only to see them all fall short this year.

If I was the Yankees, I'd be worried. The sox are back into this with miserable performances from their best pitcher and hitter.

Are you serious? You don't think NY can clutch hit, where have you been? They have over 60 come from behind wins this year, a MLB record. And how the hell did Sheffield and Arod fall short this year?? Have you seen their stats, and heard talk of Sheffield as MVP because of his clutch HR's?

Is this the first time I've seen SP33Demon say something complimentary about the Yankees? Hmm..I think you are trying to butter up the Yankees reputation in the event Boston wins the series. 😉

Well, not even steroids can solely be responsible for clutch hitting, they can only help 😉

 

[Legendary]

Originally posted by: lordtyranus
No, it was left field. I screwed up.

Game 1, 8th ining. Ortiz hits a fly ball to the wall, bounces off Matsui's glove. 2 runs score. They tried to throw to home, failed, and allowed Ortiz (the tying runner) to reach 3rd.

Oh, true that he should have caught that ball (on the old phrase "If it hits your glove, you should catch it") however, it wasn't the easiest catch to make, as the ball was annihilated (I was at the game, in the bleachers and I heard it leave the bat)
Time for the Yanks to learn that Gordon v. Ortiz = bad

 

[blakeatwork]

Originally posted by: lordtyranus
No, it was left field. I screwed up.

Game 1, 8th ining. Ortiz hits a fly ball to the wall, bounces off Matsui's glove. 2 runs score. They tried to throw to home, failed, and allowed Ortiz (the tying runner) to reach 3rd.

Did they call that one an error?? I thought they judged the miss a two-bagger, with an error on the throw allowing Ortiz to go to third... that was a fair run he had to try and snag that ball, and he almost made it...

Ahh well, Matsui plays decently (.978 fielding % in the reg. season, and 1.000 in the playoffs)... I wouldn't complain if he was on my team...

 

[SP33Demon]

Originally posted by: lordtyranus
*sighs*

I don't know why I'm still explaining this to you. With a guy who walks 30 guys in 45 innings (135 outs), he walks a guy for every 4 outs he makes. In a sense, there's a 25% chance of losing the game right there, regardless of batting averages. Min's career average is also .006 behind Oriz's (.272 to .278), and he's a year removed from a .300 season.

BTW, Sheff is down in EVERY category (runs, hits, 2b, HR, RBI, K, SB, avg, OBP, SLG, OPS) besides walks compared to last year. He was twice the MVP candidate last year (without the yankees lineup around him). But of course he was in the NL. The same is true for Rodriguez, who hit 57 homers 2 years ago.

If these 4 players had played at 2003 levels, the Yankees won 130 games this year.

Ortiz batted .301 in the regular season, so he had a 30.1% chance to get a hit and win the game vs 25% of Loaiza, you have your answer right there. Or you could even up that to 40% since Ortiz is batting .400 in the last two games (now .500 after the hit).

Sheff still spearheaded an offense that had over 60 come from behind wins, so what if his career numbers are down? Noone on NY batted over .300 in the regular season nor set a career high, but they still won over 100 games. The combination of Shef's late game heroics and Rivera's insane amount of saves is what won them the division, neither had career highs and they didn't have to, they were still greater than their peers.

You bring up ONE error by Matsui, so what? It's well known that he is fundamentally sound, rarely anyone goes the entire season without making an error. NY is fundamentally sound, I don't recall any mental mistakes they have made in the playoffs nor frequent, sloppy fielding by their starters.

EDIT: How about the play Matsui made at Fenway, where he waited until the last second to turn around to play the ball hit off the Green Monster, thereby tricking the runner on 2nd who initially thought a routine fly ball had been hit and ran back to 2nd, and only got 3rd on a hit he should have scored on? Fundamentals son.

 

[raildogg]

Originally posted by: blakeatwork
After watching the bits and pieces of Game 3 Saturday... i honestly didn't think Boston would have the cajones to come out and win 2 straight... Been a Boston and NY hater (TO fan), but hats off to both teams for some gutsy performances... who knew Loaiza would actually pitch, VS lobbing the ball in? Wakefield pitched lights out.. that knuckler was absolutely insane last night..

This series makes it great to be a baseball fan, no matter who you might be cheering for (For the record, I'm hoping Boston wins... cheer for the underdog.. 😀)

eh, Yanks are the underdogs for the series ... officially anyway

 

[raildogg]

what saved the red sox was the ground rule double by Sierra. if the ball had stayed inside the field, the runner would have scored and given the yanks an additional run

 

[raildogg]

Originally posted by: TheAudit

Originally posted by: geecee
1:22 on the East Coast.
That means tonight's ALCS game should be over in about twelve hours.

Sounds about right. 🙂

And, of course, a late finish won't keep a lot of us from watching!

[/quote]

oohh yeahh

 

[raildogg]

Originally posted by: lordtyranus

Originally posted by: ThePresence

Originally posted by: blakeatwork

Originally posted by: isekii

Originally posted by: blakeatwork
After watching the bits and pieces of Game 3 Saturday... i honestly didn't think Boston would have the cajones to come out and win 2 straight... Been a Boston and NY hater (TO fan), but hats off to both teams for some gutsy performances... who knew Loaiza would actually pitch, VS lobbing the ball in? Wakefield pitched lights out.. that knuckler was absolutely insane last night..

This series makes it great to be a baseball fan, no matter who you might be cheering for (For the record, I'm hoping Boston wins... cheer for the underdog.. 😀)

Yanks were the underdogs going in.

Even with Boston blowing the cover off the ball against Anaheim (no big feat really), I considered the Yankees a favorite in the ALCS... Yankees, in the last 8-10 years, have been lights out in the playoffs... and with having near the same core of players year in and year out (this year being the exception), I didn't see any reason not to choose the Yanks to win... (that, and the Beantown Curse...😛)

Again, I hope Boston wins, though I'm sure they'd blow the World Series somehow...

😀

It IS a big feat to beat up on the Angels. They have the best bullpen in baseball.
This years core is different and not as good as recent Yankee teams. That's enough of a reason why people picked Boston.

I agree. I think this year's Yankee team has gone away from the fundamentals, clutch hitting, and small things that won them those WS rings and gone for a mass of all stars and flashiness.

If anything is to be learned from this year, it is that you can't buy a title, no matter how much you spend. They picked up a small army of stellar performers last year (Brown, Sheffield, Arod, Vazquez) only to see them all fall short this year.

If I was the Yankees, I'd be worried. The sox are back into this with miserable performances from their best pitcher and hitter.

Arod and Sheffield have fallen short??? how so? in what way?!!

Both these guys are MVP candidates