It is interesting that each sport calls their semifinals something different. The Final Four. The Conference Championship Game. The Conference Finals. The League Championship Series.
On one side of the bracket we have two villains. The Houston Astros undoubtedly cheated to win their title in 2017. But let’s be real, the Roid Sux cheated to win all four of their titles between PEDs and Apple Watches. While featuring dastardly teams, the baseball should be great. In fact, it is the closest series ZIPS has ever predicted.
Imagine making the post season three years in a row. Sounds good, right? It wasn’t enough for Mike Shildt to save his job. The Cardinals job is now wide open.
This has been previously linked but the Angels signed a key piece of the Cardinals minor league development system. As we’ve stated for years, any chance at true contention will come from within and the Cardinals do about as good of a job as anyone at developing talent.
Currently the Cardinals rank a bit above the Angels in the farm system rankings. However, there has long been the Cardinal Way and while all of the minor leagues are in need of improvement, there hasn’t been any public knowledge of the dreadful conditions Angels prospects face.
The most pressing needs for the Angels are on the hill. While there’s a core of decent starters emerging, the bullpen is currently barren. But that could change fairly quickly thanks to the Angels all pitchers draft.
Take a look at how fourth round pick Luke Murphy became Vanderbilt’s bullpen ace in the post season. A kid with closing experience in the SEC who put up 61Ks in 41.1 innings should be here quickly.
Just one round later the Angels selected Brett Kerry from South Carolina. He both started and closed out games in the SEC, striking out 84 hitters in 54 innings.
Another round, another guy with both bullpen and starting experience in Jake Smith. He was Miami’s best pitcher whenever he was on the mound.
These picks were all after Sam Bachman and Kyle Bush, both of whom some scouts think could fit into MLB bullpens next year.
Look, some of these guys will work and others won’t. Some need to be developed as starters. But, with the number of college arms that are already dedicated bullpen arms or have experience out of the pen, do expect some quick promotions.
The big game last night was the Dodgers/Giants. It pitted two teams with 109 wins on the year in a winner take all. The betting odds as I type this are dead even. Big rivals, high stakes, hopefully the ratings are high.
You have to love longtime franchise icons having big moments. That was the case Tuesday as Freddie Freeman’s home run off Josh Hader punched Atlanta’s ticket to the NLCS.
I do love the story of Freddie Freeman’s kids. Two of them just weeks apart.
I did have a better week last week as I hit Vegas for the Fury vs. Wilder 3 mega fight. Fights in Vegas are just different and the action in the ring was insane. I can take or leave Screaming A Smith, but like him this might have been the best fight I ever attended.
A big Vegas bout with my best bud was truly some bucket list stuff, and I loved every minute of it until Southwest canceled my flight home. After some “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles” stuff we ended up renting a limo to get home. Oh well, adds to the story but did hurt the pocketbook.
One thing people outside of the sport might not realize is the sportsmanship the combatants generally show after the fight is over. Still, I think my favorite example of sportsmanship is the handshake line at the end of a hockey series. I’m not a big hockey fan, but that is all class.
I write this at mid point of Sunday afternoon after watching sports or sports related TV for over 6 hours. No not burned out, but with something stuck in my craw and like a bad tooth won’t go away. Why fired Jose Molina? Arte or Perry or Joe? Makes no sense at all. So is this a fair Question, is it me or is this organization just keep getting worse?
Part 2, Do you folks believe Arte is over staying his welcome owning the Halos?
Also, rainbows. WTF are rainbows all about? And Chevrolet. Have they overstayed their welcome? I know pigeons have. Is nostalgia over rated? Hell yes it is. I’m no scientist or single mother on Tik Tok, so my understanding of the way people’s minds work is limited, but Molina was probably fired because Joe Maddon would rather have a different catching coach. Sure, he’s an old Angel. Whooptie doo. He had some folks that liked him. Who cares? Was he an especially good coach? Is our catching corps the best ever? No? Then why is this so hard to wrap our heads around?
Did anyone else see this? I guess this is a victory for the Angels?
https://twitter.com/nathanfenno/status/1448811453285208066
Very interesting.
Why would the Judge do this if the truth is being sought to find out more about this case? Or is it a legal case at all?
Um, it’s a law suit. It’s about one side wanting as much money as they can get because their junky family member/meal ticket accidentally killed himself and his employer is rich. The rich employer does not want to pay the dead junky’s family any money. It’s not an investigation into “the truth” at all.
Ho hum, so what? Go, Braves!
oh, is there a game on?
Playoff baseball looks like a good time……is this an invitation only event?
Yes, invitation only to competent organizations with good ownership.
Another Redbird Raid:
https://twitter.com/dgoold/status/1449169303476056065
“Chris Carpenter, the last Cardinal to win a Cy Young Award, has joined the Los Angeles #Angels in a role that will allow him to work with young pitchers on their mental skills and advancement toward the majors”
This is a good hire. Maybe this is indicative of a movement towards an emphasis on develoIpment of young players. If you are going to nick players and coaches from any organization I think the Cardinals are a good one to choose.
So did Dipoto. Didn’t he like literally steal their binder or something? I swear I read that when he first started here. Eh, the Cards are alright, if rather have ex-Rays or As.
That was his BFF Servais who, as Director of Player Development pilfered and allegedly followed “The Cardinal Way” booklet in his 3-1/2 years here in charge of our minor leagues.
Unfortunately you can’t make chicken salad out of chicken shit and the poor drafts and international signings continued on from 2010 through all of the JeDi’s tenure.
Man, it seems like the Cardinals are washing out some guys from a successful era. If Perry wants to pick a bunch of them up I say more power to him.
Totally agree – have always admired that Org.
Aye Yai Yai Caballo Blanco.
Miss his intro video….was a classic.
Apparently so does he. But back by popular demand:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GffpCisehlc
He did good in 2019, bad in 2020, decent since he left us….bring him back next year. He can pitch, probably cheap and we can bring back the video!
I’ll email Perry in the morning.
Gretel is better.
But Hansel is so hot right now!
I was socially mediaing with a pal who is in a Southern California public defenders office. Little added fun if you go for duh Doyers, they play Houston in the WS, and you and your current baby momma plan to leave your six illegitimate children with their grandmas and go to La Latrine to smack sum foolz and show those Astros fans wuzup with your cousins….
LAPD plans to dress plain clothes officers as Astros fans at the games. So you can not only get your ass handed to you by a man trained to fight, you can also go to jail for a really long time after you flattened face heals.
So any of you guys thinking “If the AssTros end up playing the Dodgers maybe I’ll get a neck tattoo and go regulate…” resist the urge.
Also, I hung out with a bunch of Dodgers scuzz last night. If they beat the Braves I have had my desire for the AL team to beat them firmly crystalized within me. I’ll just rage and puke and shake my fist at the sky a little after I strain my kidneys with the delicious salt of the Blue Crew’s tears.
You have to do a lot of bad things to get arrested in LA anymore….
Prioritizing putting Doyers thugs in the slammer makes the world a safer better place……Operation “Doyer Blues”.
What is this? A PSA for Doyer fans?
Yes, you can get arrested. The DA will never prosecute.
They could be inconvenienced for 15 minutes or so before being released without bail.
Take that, criminals!
nice error by buzzer boy….went right through his tiny little hands and through his tiny little legs.
Oh smack, that was a good catch. Dang, wish we were in the playoffs. This is exciting.
Dear Lord, forgive me. I would rather see Houston win this series than Boston. Although I’d have to be forgiven if I preferred Boston, too.
My preferred scenario: Houston sweeps Boston. The NL team sweeps Houston.
I honestly don’t care who wins the ALCS. I’m all in on the winner of the NLDS.
I know I’ll be thinking “f$#%$& you, Boston!” or “Houston!” as the case may be, all series long.
Ditto.
And there is no game thread to commiserate? 🙁
I’m checking in for the score but I’m not participating in the pitch by pitch “drama”
For me it’s inevitable, Dodgers beat the Braves…Rather have Asstros beat the Sux’s, deeply hate them both. But, watching Doyer fans hate on the Asstros could become wildly delightful.
For me, it’s just a lose-lose 😞
Lose-lose…..Know all about that being an Angels fam.
I think we add a 3rd instance … lose lose lose. 😢
I hope the Braves win all of their home games since they have the home field advantage.
Amen
YES!!!
You seen all the Doyerfans who commented on this on my FB page?
Yes.
Heyman reporting that Jose Molina will not return
Speaking of Molinas… For my birthday, Miss UCSD got me one of those “cameo” video messages from Bengie. Very cool.
Time for some new blood in that coaching staff.
This is kind of shocking to me. Of all of the coaches the Angels employ, he seemed the most engaged. In fact I think Jose was the one coach on the staff that caught the D Backs illegal pitching change in our Friday night game in Arizona.
So am I. Maybe it was his decision.
I’m good with blowing out the rest.
Definitely not his decision.
https://twitter.com/SamBlum3/status/1449126933921288193
Uggghhh, damn. Wonder what their thinking is? Jose is a great guy.
Arte is cutting the cord on anyone named “Jose”.
Mota next?
No way !!!!! …………..Jose?
I liked the idea of Jose on our staff, it honors our past. Besides, how much does it matter anyway? Remember when Manager Joe Madddon and his assistant Mike Scioscia seemed so smart back in 2002. That was a long time ago. How much coaching does Mike Trout need? Can any amount of coaching turn most of our current roster of pitchers into major league players? Of all the people to fire, Jose Molina? Do me a personal favor Minassian, fire yourself before you fire Jose.
Poor Maddon decision. The Molina’s are respected here and would seem important for culture sakes and there is another tweet from Taylor Ward that the Angel young catchers really liked him. Watch him give the job to Suzuki, hope not.
I like Hines, but what do with think about Mike Gallego, the 3 hitting coaches and a novice pitching coach?
I know Phil Nevin blew that call by not throwing Judge the stop sign but would like to see some tough no-nonsense veteran presence on the team like Phil. Joe is too soft. LaRussa responded about his players getting thrown at much, much better than sleepy Joe. Jose Abreu called out and thanked LaRussa for that and wants him back at the helm. Joe did nothing about Ohtani being thrown at.
“When will the Angels get around to firing a bunch of people?!?”
I have no idea if Jose was a great coach or not but he tossed a lot of balls to kids and took a lot of pictures/signed a lot of autographs in Tempe. I also respect that.
Yeah, he was always good about engaging with the fans, always a really nice guy.
He signed my cap once. Unfortunately, it faded with age several years ago.
Happens to all of us, Red.
Is this photo real? Wow …
PC AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn
Question is which at Bat is this photo from?
Good point
Also the angle is in question. When I saw the play, both my son and I thought he checked his swing, replay showed he did check his swing.
But … What’s the angle of the replay? Is it 100% perpendicular to where flores is standing? 😝
And more to that … Point me to the rulebook where it states the bat head must cross the plate.
From what I noticed is the closer the catchers face mask is to the batter’s butt, the more it looks like he swung more than halfway
We all know the catchers glove shouldn’t be at the batter’s knee which in the middle of his body during the swing
Morales had a good explanation. He said check swings are difficult to judge. From his angle he thought Flores went. There’s not much more to it than that.
I’m satisfied with that explanation.
IIRC, the rule states that the batter must “offer” for it to be a strike.
He clearly threw down a sawbuck
The rule book simply states it is the umpire’s discretion as to whether the batter made an attempt at the ball or not.
No mention of wrists, plate, etc.
The angle that settled it for me was straight above the batter, catcher, umpire, and plate.
this is a crop of the photo. You can’t see from this crop that the photographer is behind the action…off to the side but behind. So what looks to be a bat through the plate is actually an illusion, due to the angle. Let’s see if this works. A slightly different picture (as you’ll see by the relative positioning of the glove and the leg.
How about from this Crap?
https://twitter.com/RA_Parker/status/1448871244267413510
Does anybody know what San Francisco’s winning percentage was right before Max Scherzer threw his game-winning 0-2 pitch against Wilmer Flores?
Somewhere near the mark of the beast.
According to ESPN, when the guy before Flores struck out, the Dodgers had a win probability of 91.9%. With two strikes on him, even higher.
Ah I thought WINNING percentage on the season; you meant “win probability” for the game
It’s an unfortunate way to end what was a great game. The check swing has to be one of the toughest calls for an umpire to make. It’s not a call they can use replay on, and the bat movement is very quick.
As long as humans are involved in the game, mistakes will happen. This one is a bit more forgivable than some of the others that frequently occur.
For example, when some ump rang up AJ Perzinski, yet somehow he ends up on first base.
That would be the same asshole that was behind the plate in this game.
Pierzynski is an asshole and deserved to be thrown out of every game before the first pitch. I was delighted when Micheal Barrett (Cubs) punched him in the face. Put that on a loop and buy a big bag of popcorn. It’s epic enjoyment for kids of all ages.
Ozzie Guillen put it perfectly when he said, “If you play against him, you hate him. If you play with him, you hate him a little less.”
Could not agree more. When the Giants made the unfortunate trade sending Rob Nenn to the Twins to land AJ, it really pissed off the team. He only lasted 1-year in San Francisco, the collective pitching staff was going to drag his ass to the airport.
Why he has a job broadcasting baseball games or a studio contributor is a travesty.
And I leave you with this famous story involving the douche:
One of those now-it-can-be-told stories the White Sox, A.J. Pierzynski’s new
employer, surely haven’t heard: During a Giants exhibition game last spring,
Pierzynski took a shot to his, shall we say, private parts. Trainer Stan Conte
rushed to the scene, placed his hands on Pierzynski’s shoulders in a reassuring
way, and asked how it felt. “Like this,” said Pierzynski, viciously delivering
a knee to Conte’s groin. It was a real test of professionalism for the enraged
Conte, who vowed to ignore Pierzynski for the rest of the season until Conte
realized how that would look. The incident went unreported because all of the
beat writers happened to be doing in-game interviews in the clubhouse, but it
was corroborated by a half-dozen eyewitnesses who could hardly believe their
eyes. Said one source, as reliable as they come: “There is absolutely no doubt
that it happened.”
To your point … When I saw that play live … I cant recall the angle they were showing but I swore he went. The replay proved otherwise and it wasn’t even close.
Umpires are usually pretty lenient when it comes to letting batters get away with check swings that cross the plate, which makes this call all the more odd.
Dude if that was me, I am leaning to say he didn’t swing every time, if he obviously did it then ok, but I don’t want to be the reason someone struck out. You take a LOT of heat for that.
Agree that check swings are much easier for viewers on tv to judge after they have seen the play in slow motion etc. However, the many ball/strike calls that are not only missed but missed badly are just unforgivable.
Question for those in the know:
How does that umpiring crew get assigned such an important series?
That crew was made up of some of the worst rated umpires in the game. I thought umpire rating affected playoff assignments – ie the best rated umpires are used in the playoffs
Anyone have info on this?
The fact we’ve seen Joe West behind the dish in the wild card game and this group of jackasses was doing game 5 shows that, like always with unions, seniority trumps performance.
MLB can’t tell me they view performance and roll West, Eddings, and Hernandez out there.
Yep that is what I figured. It removes all credibility.
Although Gabe Morales, only has 6 yrs of seniority. West 43, Eddings 22, and our site favorite, Angel Hernandez 28.
https://www.businessinsider.com/chart-how-long-it-takes-a-draft-pick-to-reach-major-league-baseball-2013-6
Look! A bunny with a pancake on its head!
And this is relevant to the discussion of the (lack of) umpiring quality how?
Hey 2002, did you just get your meds adjusted? WTF are you posting baseball articles that are 8 years old? You know its 2021 right?
Definitely but this isn’t most guys or most drafts.
Most relievers begin their pro careers as starters. It is only after a few years in the minors that teams realize the guy doesn’t have a third pitch, stamina, or something that will prevent him from being a starter. So they move him to the bullpen and give him a couple of years to figure that out.
The four guys I mentioned above were drafted to be relievers. So we will immediately trim that 2-3 year starter experiment timeline down. Perry drafted those guys to be bullpen help in the very near future.
You’re such a champ.
You’re talking about how to cook a hamburger.
Guy walks up and says “Yeah, that Napoleon was real afraid of clowns!”
And you just switch right to “And Pumpernickel bread is named for his horse…”
We should probably send you out to talk to the homeless about not pooping on the sidewalk.
I fell off the damn chair laughing so hard dude. Give me a warning or something. Dang
The Giants and their hater fans got the greatest gift of all, yet another reason to hate the Doyers till the day they die.
Unfortunately there was a winner and it’s one we down here have to deal with daily.
Thank the FSM and His Noodly Appendage that I had dinner with my sister on Wednesday, and not tonight.
From my perspective, this was the greater evil. Only one of them can lose at a time. Hopefully, the Doyers will go in the next series.
Princess Leia agreed with you above
San Diego had an overall winning manager, so did the Cardinals, Aaron Boone could hit the brick and all of these guys are or did have problems reportedly in the clubhouse. When the GM’s look bad they blame the Manager for not having control, not the fact that they as a GM have assembled the wrong group. Throw in the Mets and right now there are at least 3 teams needing mangers for sure. Padres, Cards and Mets are not positions that have a history of managers who hang around long, more renters than buyers.
Yeah, The Giants got jobbed by the 1st base umpire, and the thing is, there is nothing you can do, or will be done about it. Once you become an MLB umpire, a union member, you can not, and will not be punished or reprimanded for such an egregious call, in an important moment of a playoff game. They are given free reign and ultimate immunity, which leads to things like this and Angel Hernandez still being an umpire. The complete lack of accountability for umpires has always been something that irks me about the game.
Am I the only person to think that even given one more pitch Flores strikes out anyway. Scherzer was getting ready to drop a hammer.
The fact that he struck him out on a setup pitch was simply gravy for ole crazy eyes
He may have struck out, but he also may have drawn a walk.
A guy who gives up 1.1BB/9. A 1-2 count – all momentum on Scherzer’s side – Flores looked feeble up there. A walk was not possible in my 100% correct foresight. Hell – I even predicted Bellinger would drive in at least 1 run before he stepped into the box in the top of the 9th.
Better Bellinger than Pujols.
Don’t use your measured reasoning and logic to kill my justified rage at the cheating Doyers and the cheating Umpires! Don’t kill the conspiracy!
But, I agree…the Giants could have loaded the bases, had a 3-2 count and the Doyers would have won it…..just like the Braves have 0% chance in beating them.
Dodgers should win rather easily. It will probably only go 5 games.
Flores had just Fouled off a 94mph fastball for strike 2. Timing was there. Maybe he Hits pitch 4 out? Maybe a single or double?
Of course this is the correct view.
But that’s why they play the game. The odds were all against Flores, but he should have had the chance to see that next pitch.
It just sucks when a bad call negates the opportunity for the players to decide the game rather than the umpires.
The lesson from last night’s game for all the catchers out there — ask the base ump for a call after every check swing.