2006 MLB Thread

[Soulstation1]

METS WIN GAME # 7

4 - 2

[Quincy]

Can any of you Cards fans tell me if Pujols has always been this much of an asshole with the press? That's certainly not the impression I've had before.

Of course, LaRussa will never stop defending his stars. They're always completely blameless, whether its McGuire or Pujols.

No, he hasn't been like this in the past. I think the injury & the death of his uncle really might be bothering him. Maybe the additional press, especially from the NY outlets has made him crankier.

Thinking back to poor winning % pennant winners, the worst I can think of was the '73 Mets with a .509 (82-79.) They knocked off the 99-63 .611% Reds in the series that featured the famous Rose-Harrelson skirmish.

The Met's starting 4 from that year will cause your jaw to drop to the floor, especially compared to this year's staff.

Seaver 2.08 ERA, 290 IP, 251 K, 18 complete games out of 36 starts!

Koosman 2.84 ERA, 263 IP, 234 H

Matlack 3.20 ERA, 242 IP, 210 H

Stone 2.80 ERA (more hits than IP with 157 in 148)

Different era and all that as weight-lifting was discouraged, Busch & the Astrodome were big pitcher's parks, and Colorado was a minor league city, but imagine having a lefty that good as a #3!

[MartyJazz]

Thinking back to poor winning % pennant winners, the worst I can think of was the '73 Mets with a .509 (82-79.) They knocked off the 99-63 .611% Reds in the series that featured the famous Rose-Harrelson skirmish.

The Met's starting 4 from that year will cause your jaw to drop to the floor, especially compared to this year's staff.

Seaver 2.08 ERA, 290 IP, 251 K, 18 complete games out of 36 starts!

Koosman 2.84 ERA, 263 IP, 234 H

Matlack 3.20 ERA, 242 IP, 210 H

Stone 2.80 ERA (more hits than IP with 157 in 148)

Different era and all that as weight-lifting was discouraged, Busch & the Astrodome were big pitcher's parks, and Colorado was a minor league city, but imagine having a lefty that good as a #3!

With a starting pitching like that, you wonder why the team was barely above .500 that year unless they couldn't score much and relief was blowing games left and right.

[sheldonm]

Can any of you Cards fans tell me if Pujols has always been this much of an asshole with the press? That's certainly not the impression I've had before.

Of course, LaRussa will never stop defending his stars. They're always completely blameless, whether its McGuire or Pujols.

I've been a Cards fan my entire life and a Pujols fan since he came into the league...and probably go to 20-25 games per year....and have family that live in STL. I have never really know Pujols to be an asshole to the media but then again, I don't see the interviews with the media......like media do, the media is blowing it out of whack!

m~

[GregK]

Can any of you Cards fans tell me if Pujols has always been this much of an asshole with the press? That's certainly not the impression I've had before.

Of course, LaRussa will never stop defending his stars. They're always completely blameless, whether its McGuire or Pujols.

I have not been a fan of Pujols the personality since 2001, when my wife and I travelled to St Louis and saw two Cardinals games (they played the Giants). During BP of the Saturday evening game, we were down at the railing beside right field, along with at least 10-12 kids and some other adults, getting autographs from McGwire, LaRussa, and some of the relievers, when Albert walked by. All of the kids were screaming at him to come over and sign something for them, begging him to, and he just kept on strolling by, with a smirk on his face and not even a glance over at all of these kids. Just didnt seem like he gave a crap about these kids with that attitude. And this was when he was a rookie!!

[sheldonm]

Can any of you Cards fans tell me if Pujols has always been this much of an asshole with the press? That's certainly not the impression I've had before.

Of course, LaRussa will never stop defending his stars. They're always completely blameless, whether its McGuire or Pujols.

I have not been a fan of Pujols the personality since 2001, when my wife and I travelled to St Louis and saw two Cardinals games (they played the Giants). During BP of the Saturday evening game, we were down at the railing beside right field, along with at least 10-12 kids and some other adults, getting autographs from McGwire, LaRussa, and some of the relievers, when Albert walked by. All of the kids were screaming at him to come over and sign something for them, begging him to, and he just kept on strolling by, with a smirk on his face and not even a glance over at all of these kids. Just didnt seem like he gave a crap about these kids with that attitude. And this was when he was a rookie!!

There were dozens, maybe hundreds of players I tried to get autographs from as a kid that didn't sign them....I don't think it makes them assholes or even bad people.....hey, wait a minute, maybe it's me......

m~

[GregK]

I realize that this kind of thing happens all the time, but it was just the smug look he had, like he knew he shouldnt HAVE to do that

[Chalupa]

I don't know if history means anything but I saw some stat that teams who won the sixth game at home invariably win that particular series. Also, the last team to lose a seventh game at home were the Sox in 1975.

Cough... Yankees 2004... cough.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap;_ylc=?gi...110&prov=ap

[Quincy]

Thinking back to poor winning % pennant winners, the worst I can think of was the '73 Mets with a .509 (82-79.) They knocked off the 99-63 .611% Reds in the series that featured the famous Rose-Harrelson skirmish.

The Met's starting 4 from that year will cause your jaw to drop to the floor, especially compared to this year's staff.

Seaver 2.08 ERA, 290 IP, 251 K, 18 complete games out of 36 starts!

Koosman 2.84 ERA, 263 IP, 234 H

Matlack 3.20 ERA, 242 IP, 210 H

Stone 2.80 ERA (more hits than IP with 157 in 148)

Different era and all that as weight-lifting was discouraged, Busch & the Astrodome were big pitcher's parks, and Colorado was a minor league city, but imagine having a lefty that good as a #3!

With a starting pitching like that, you wonder why the team was barely above .500 that year unless they couldn't score much and relief was blowing games left and right.

2nd best pitching giving up just 3.65 R a game. But the offense was the 2nd worst, scoring just 3.78. They had a pretty sad offense! '73 Mets link.

The Braves that year had the best offense (4.93) and the worst pitching (4.78 R/G) and finished 83-78 but were in the NL West back then. The Braves became the 1st team to have 3 40 HR guys with Darrell Evans (41), Davey Johnson (43) and 39 year old Hank Aaron getting 40 in just 120 games. A 24 year old Dusty Baker hit 21 for them too.

I ended up with a full set of baseball cards from this year (had to buy the dozen cards I didn't get later in the late '80s), so I remember it well!

Edited October 20, 2006 by Quincy

[Chalupa]

Mets down to their last out.....

[Chalupa]

Bases are loaded for Beltran....

[Chalupa]

STRUCK HIM OUT ON 3 PITCHES!!

[sheldonm]

Cards win it !!!! Beltran had no idea what to do with that last pitch.....I think he's still standing there!!! Go Cards!!!

[Quincy]

Well alright!

I think the Cards are better than their record. Pujols missed a month, Edmonds was hurt much of the year. Rolen was hurt too.

Suppan in the 2nd half (and tonight) has been terrific. They recovered from the loss of Isringhausen too.

The Cards seem to be set up nicely for the DH too. If we consider Rolen to be an automatic starter now, they now get 2 of the 3 in the lineup and have 1 to pinch hit between Spezio, Duncan (a heck of a power hittin' kid), Wilson. And they also have Taguchi to hit too. A very good bench of bats, better than some world series winners.

I still like the Tigers, but I think St. Louis could cause some problems. The NLCS is proof again while we play 'em!

[BERIGAN]

Thinking back to poor winning % pennant winners, the worst I can think of was the '73 Mets with a .509 (82-79.) They knocked off the 99-63 .611% Reds in the series that featured the famous Rose-Harrelson skirmish.

The Met's starting 4 from that year will cause your jaw to drop to the floor, especially compared to this year's staff.

Seaver 2.08 ERA, 290 IP, 251 K, 18 complete games out of 36 starts!

Koosman 2.84 ERA, 263 IP, 234 H

Matlack 3.20 ERA, 242 IP, 210 H

Stone 2.80 ERA (more hits than IP with 157 in 148)

Different era and all that as weight-lifting was discouraged, Busch & the Astrodome were big pitcher's parks, and Colorado was a minor league city, but imagine having a lefty that good as a #3!

With a starting pitching like that, you wonder why the team was barely above .500 that year unless they couldn't score much and relief was blowing games left and right.

2nd best pitching giving up just 3.65 R a game. But the offense was the 2nd worst, scoring just 3.78. They had a pretty sad offense! '73 Mets link.

The Braves that year had the best offense (4.93) and the worst pitching (4.78 R/G) and finished 83-78 but were in the NL West back then. The Braves became the 1st team to have 3 40 HR guys with Darrell Evans (41), Davey Johnson (43) and 39 year old Hank Aaron getting 40 in just 120 games. A 24 year old Dusty Baker hit 21 for them too.

I ended up with a full set of baseball cards from this year (had to buy the dozen cards I didn't get later in the late '80s), so I remember it well!

Quincy, thanks for bringing up the Mets of 73, and those 73 braves. Even though the 1988 Dodgers won 94 games, they had to have had the WORST offense ever put forth by a team going into the W.S.(at least in "modern" times) Look at all that suckiness! http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/LAD/1988.shtml

But we all know who won the series in 5 games that year. So don't count the Cards out this year,(Yeah, I know Dan, there pitching ain't what the Dodgers was, or what the Tigers is!)

And how the @#%! did Hank Aaron not get in 42 games that year? Does anyone recall if he was injured? 392 AB's?? I mean I sorta understand pulling him late, and in game they were being blown out in, but you have a guy hitting a home run every 9.8 A.B.s if I'm doing the math right, and you don't even use him as a pinch hitter??? Man, he had better have been hurt....

[BERIGAN]

Well alright!

I think the Cards are better than their record. Pujols missed a month, Edmonds was hurt much of the year. Rolen was hurt too.

Suppan in the 2nd half (and tonight) has been terrific. They recovered from the loss of Isringhausen too.

The Cards seem to be set up nicely for the DH too. If we consider Rolen to be an automatic starter now, they now get 2 of the 3 in the lineup and have 1 to pinch hit between Spezio, Duncan (a heck of a power hittin' kid), Wilson. And they also have Taguchi to hit too. A very good bench of bats, better than some world series winners.

I still like the Tigers, but I think St. Louis could cause some problems. The NLCS is proof again while we play 'em!

Yep! Don't forget, Eckstein missed a fair number of games as well. Don't get me wrong the Tigers should sweep the Cards, but IF Weaver and Suppan pitch anywhere near as well in the W.S., they might just give the Tigers a challenge.

I just hope so after reading Bill Simmons B.S. diary of game 7(Acting like it was going to be the worst game 7 ever) I hope that he talks some shit before the Series(Like how they should have a mercy rule in Baseball and end the series after 3 games) only to look like a fool. Don't get me wrong, he can be hysterically funny at times, but the AAAA thing is getting old. What's up with bitter Red Sox fans like him anyway? They won it all already! Don't have to get bitchy about every former Red Sox player on every team in the playoffs. They are as bad as Yankee fans these days(And White Sox fans would have become just as bad had they gotten in the playoffs this year) There are other teams in the league ya know!

Edited October 20, 2006 by BERIGAN

[BERIGAN]

Guess who's playoff history this is???

25 games, 89 AB's, 22 hits 5 doubles, 1 HR, 10 RBI's .247 B.A.

Now player #2

35 games, 132 AB's 37 hits, 9 doubles, 6 HR's 16 RBI's .280 B.A.

One is a hall of Famer, the other is still playing....

Give up?????

The guy with a .247 lifetime Playoff average and only 1 homer in 89 A.B.'s is Willie Mays.

They guy with a .280 Average playoff average and 6 homers, in 132 A.B's is that goat, the guy who isn't ever clutch, Alex Rodriguez. Why is it we aren't told on a daily basis what a choker Mays was in big games? How 660 homers meant nothing?

[Quincy]

Even though the 1988 Dodgers won 94 games, they had to have had the WORST offense ever put forth by a team going into the W.S.(at least in "modern" times) Look at all that suckiness! http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/LAD/1988.shtml

But we all know who won the series in 5 games that year. So don't count the Cards out this year,(Yeah, I know Dan, there pitching ain't what the Dodgers was, or what the Tigers is!)

Oh they were putrid weren't they! Good thing for them they had Mickey Hatcher. Yup, that '88 Dodger club is why I watch these series, even when it appears obvious that there no way _______ can win.

And how the @#%! did Hank Aaron not get in 42 games that year? Does anyone recall if he was injured? 392 AB's?? I mean I sorta understand pulling him late, and in game they were being blown out in, but you have a guy hitting a home run every 9.8 A.B.s if I'm doing the math right, and you don't even use him as a pinch hitter??? Man, he had better have been hurt....

I'm not sure what was going on. I checked my old Sports Encyclopedia of Baseball which is pretty good about giving injury information but nothing for Aaron in '73. He played 129 games the year before or 9 more than in '73, so perhaps it was a managerial decision to rest him. Still, you gotta wonder if he had a hamstring problem or something like that. He ended the '73 season with 713 HR.

[Quincy]

Guess who's playoff history this is???

The guy with a .247 lifetime Playoff average and only 1 homer in 89 A.B.'s is Willie Mays.

They guy with a .280 Average playoff average and 6 homers, in 132 A.B's is that goat, the guy who isn't ever clutch, Alex Rodriguez. Why is it we aren't told on a daily basis what a choker Mays was in big games? How 660 homers meant nothing?

As someone who has "gone native" and became a Mariner fan I know Alex lit up in ALCS vs. the Yankees in 2000. He was 9 for 22 (.409) with 2 2b, 2 HR and 5 RBI in the 6 game series. Nothing like Edgar in the '95 divisional series but then again few people have ever hit like that (probably my favorite playoff series ever.)

Yeah Alex looked helpless in this year's playoffs, but so did Barry Bonds in 4 playoff series until '02. Eddie Murray used to get ragged on for hitting .154 vs. the '79 Pirates, but he hit .417 with 5 RBI in 4 games in the ALCS of that year. Dave Winfield, Ted Williams...even Mickey Mantle had some miserable world series. Just think if the sports radio experts after the '55 series decided Mantle should be sent to the Cubs.

[Dan Gould]

I don't know if history means anything but I saw some stat that teams who won the sixth game at home invariably win that particular series. Also, the last team to lose a seventh game at home were the Sox in 1975.

Cough... Yankees 2004... cough.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap;_ylc=?gi...110&prov=ap

I was thinking that, too, until I remembered that the correct statistic is for a home team that won game 6, every team between the '75 Red Sox and (now) 2006 Mets won game 7.

Sympathies to all those Met fans who suffered through last night. We all know how painful that is. You can console yourself that there is an outstanding core of young every day players that will help this team win for a long time to come. Gotta do something about the starters though and get younger (and more likely to stay healthy).

Maybe its appropriate that the two teams who played the worst ball in September have now righted the ship and really come on in the playoffs. I don't see the Cards having a chance - it would be surprising if its not a sweep; if it goes 6 it will be a miracle - but I do think that if Suppan and Weaver pitch well, there's a chance.

I guess this postseason shows there's always a chance.

Edited October 20, 2006 by Dan Gould

[Brad]

As I wake up from last night, hand it to the pitching of the Cardinals, especially Suppan. They were very good. In the last part of the Mets series, they had a plan and attacked the Mets' hitters weaknesses. They adjusted and the Mets did not. To get no hits from the second until the ninth inning is just inexcusable. Also, I would have ph for Valentin in the sixth. That was the big shot.

However, in my mind, the series was probably lost in the second game when Spiezio got that triple and Wagner gave it up in the ninth. Win that game and the Cards are probably out in 4 or 5. Mets never lead in that series after that and I think that was the turning point.

Although not as bad as 1988, this one does pain and I'm in a bit of a fog right now.

However, the core is good and there is an article in today's NYT about the need to shore up second base and starting pitching as the principal weaknesses. I guess they're thinkinga about Zito although I'm not sure that I want to spend that kind of money. However, they will sign Glavine for one more year. However, no Pedro until after the All Star break and who knows what he'll be like. Also, Trachsel has seen his last game as a Met. However, I have a lot of confidence in Omar finding the right pieces. Left field is also a potential problem. Other than that, the future looks bright and Maine and Perez really stepped up in the last couple of games so that's a big plus for next year.

Edited October 20, 2006 by Brad

[sheldonm]

Well alright!

I think the Cards are better than their record. Pujols missed a month, Edmonds was hurt much of the year. Rolen was hurt too.

Suppan in the 2nd half (and tonight) has been terrific. They recovered from the loss of Isringhausen too.

The Cards seem to be set up nicely for the DH too. If we consider Rolen to be an automatic starter now, they now get 2 of the 3 in the lineup and have 1 to pinch hit between Spezio, Duncan (a heck of a power hittin' kid), Wilson. And they also have Taguchi to hit too. A very good bench of bats, better than some world series winners.

I still like the Tigers, but I think St. Louis could cause some problems. The NLCS is proof again while we play 'em!

Yep! Don't forget, Eckstein missed a fair number of games as well. Don't get me wrong the Tigers should sweep the Cards, but IF Weaver and Suppan pitch anywhere near as well in the W.S., they might just give the Tigers a challenge.

I just hope so after reading Bill Simmons B.S. diary of game 7(Acting like it was going to be the worst game 7 ever) I hope that he talks some shit before the Series(Like how they should have a mercy rule in Baseball and end the series after 3 games) only to look like a fool. Don't get me wrong, he can be hysterically funny at times, but the AAAA thing is getting old. What's up with bitter Red Sox fans like him anyway? They won it all already! Don't have to get bitchy about every former Red Sox player on every team in the playoffs. They are as bad as Yankee fans these days(And White Sox fans would have become just as bad had they gotten in the playoffs this year) There are other teams in the league ya know!

...finally some one notices!

[Soulstation1]

Cards win it !!!! Beltran had no idea what to do with that last pitch.....I think he's still standing there!!! Go Cards!!!

beltan is still standing there

[GA Russell]

Why is it we aren't told on a daily basis what a choker Mays was in big games? How 660 homers meant nothing?

Berrigan, Mays played years after he should have retired. The playoffs did not begin until 1969, when he was already at the end of the line.

In terms of the World Series, do not forget his catch of the Vic Wertz fly in 1954!

[Brad]

Cards win it !!!! Beltran had no idea what to do with that last pitch.....I think he's still standing there!!! Go Cards!!!

You don't appear to know what you're talking about. When he threw that pitch to Floyd for strike 3, he showed the Mets hitters he could get it over for strikes and so Beltran had to watch for it in the first two pitches of the AB. When he threw it, there was nothing he could do with it. It was just a perfect pitch.

Edited October 20, 2006 by Brad