2023 NLCS: Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Philadelphia Phillies

Okay, but do you just ignore the 162 games where they were outscored? The A's were unbeatable for a couple of weeks too--they just picked the wrong two weeks.

yup that's baseball in the "half the teams make it to the playoffs" era

I’ve made my arguments Clem. The difference is the A’s didn’t make it to the post season!

If you made it to the post season (through whatever means), and then you beat the other teams in that post season (through whatever means); you don’t necessarily deserve to be called one of the best teams, but I don’t think you can imply said team didn’t earn it/play better than the other team

I think that post was just a tautology lol, but I’ll stand by it!

I've accepted the reality of baseball playoffs. I just don't want to start recasting Arizona as this really good team that flew under the radar for eight months. (Basketball, I don't know, maybe there's a more credible argument there--I know that some teams really do treat the regular season as prelude to the playoffs, which I'm pretty sure wasn't the case with the D-Backs.)

I would love for the Phillies to render all of that moot.

I mean whether they're a "really good team" isn't exactly the debate here, the point is they were not particularly good in the regular season but are playing great now

hard to overstate how big it was for Ginkel to strike out the side there, not just putting up the zero but also potentially denying Philly's 3 best hitters a final chance

Fair, but you’re putting too much stock into run differential to back up your argument. I’m just going to point at the San Diego Padres to hopefully illustrate why I think using run differential as the major metric of whether a team is good or not doesn’t always work

(xposts) Framed that way, absolutely agree; it was the notion of "I didn't realize how good they really were till now" I was disagreeing with.

as a poker player idk how much I like 'run differential' as the most important metric - runs scored/allowed are really a big function of timing and it's definitely possible to run hot or cold over the course of 162 games

Geez, at least get one guy on and make it fun.

^

Sea World is doing it!

Is there an actual Arizona fan on this board? Someone who used to start seasonal threads? I can't remember anyone.

Last strike

Cave battling

What a series. Condolences dback haters ;)

This is all a pipe dream, the Phillies are going to take this. Good story, like so many that came before.

― Bee OK, Saturday, 21 October 2023 2:30 PM (four days ago) bookmarkflaglink

Sorry Bee, but I’m a man of my word

I like corbin carroll but i am not looking forward to Corbin Carroll Ultimate Winner discourse over the next 20 years*

*we all gonna die go AZ

I deserve it

Stunning. Texas was somewhat of a surprise, but not major; this is different.

remember when Phillies won 10-0 to take a 2-0 lead

Just want to say, late season call ups are a thing

~~Cinderella story~~

Congrats Dbacks!

happy for torey lovullo i guess

Anyway, I assume Marte is MVP? I didn't watch every game.

Tip my cap

I love chaos like this in baseball. It’s much more satisfying to me than reading into all the stats and predictions and narratives of what *should* happen.

Congrats AZ and TEX, sparing me from the absolute worst WS matchup I could imagine. (Rooting for Bochy.)

MLB odds 10/2/2023:

Texas Rangers +1700
Diamondbacks +3000

Anyway, I assume Marte is MVP? I didn't watch every game.

― clemenza, Tuesday, October 24, 2023 10:28 PM (seven minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Kimbrel IMO

(xposts) Putting aside whatever I've said about Arizona, I was rooting for the Phillies far more for the same reasons, I'm guessing, as most people who were rooting for them--they're an intense, combustible team, typified by Harper. (Or at least till these last two games.) The things everybody loved about them last year. Didn't have a lot to do with stats.

I’m with Michael. Team chaos!!

lol eephus

I hope Kimbrel doesn't get the Mitch Williams treatment around town.

Ketel Won!

i can finally say what i'd been hoping to say during the NLDS - suck it Philly!

The first publication/site that does a position-by-position rundown of the Rangers and Diamondbacks to determine who will win, I'm going to send them a dozen 1967 calendars.

that i cannot find photos of Billy Crystal and Rudy Guiliani during the D'Backs '01 run is driving me mad.

reconfirming my allegiance to team buzzkill. there are too many teams in the playoffs.

That i can’t find the willie randolph/joe torre IT’S A LOT OF MEAT commercial makes ME crazy

"Team Buzzkill"--I found a home.

Wow wow wow!!!

I’m so glad they finally let Carroll steal. And the child Pfaadt did well too. 5 hits from the Phillies is not getting it done.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F9Ql41UXAAEkMKP?format=jpg&name=large

I love chaos like this in baseball. It’s much more satisfying to me than reading into all the stats and predictions and narratives of what *should* happen.

Bulletin board material…When will teams learn?

Garrett Stubbs’ plans to celebrate in the pool “motivated” the Diamondbacks, Torey Lovullo said. “I’m glad we could defend the pool,” Zac Gallen said. https://t.co/MQ2zf3UkbP

— Matt Breen (@matt_breen) October 21, 2023

I would never forgive that backup catcher for talking about celebrating in the pool, or the Phillies fan who bought all those seats in AZ. That’s when everything went from great to bad to UGLY. That was Aaron Judge playing NY, NY esque. Cant do that stuff. Its already hard enough

— KFC (@KFCBarstool) October 25, 2023

Unbelievable to think that they lost 110 games just two years ago.

If you made it to the post season (through whatever means), and then you beat the other teams in that post season (through whatever means); you don’t necessarily deserve to be called one of the best teams, but I don’t think you can imply said team didn’t earn it/play better than the other team

I agree with this. It might also be a case like the 2021 Braves -- at the time most people were surprised that they were buyers at the trade deadline. With hindsight, seeing how good the Braves are now, I think it's clear that they were a great young team coming into their own by the end of the season, rather than a .500 team that went on a hot streak. If the Diamondbacks win their division next year then we'll have the answer.

Poll Results
Option Votes
D-Backs in 7 2
Phillies in 4 2
Phillies in 5 2
D-Backs in 5 1
Phillies in 6 1
D-Backs in 4 0
D-Backs in 6 0
Phillies in 7 0

ILBB polled this "correctly."

Who else had D-Backs in 7?