THERE'S ONLY ONE POSTSEASON (thread for 2019)

i love watching the Rays win with their bizarro pitching antics.

Tampa Bay is kind of like that 1985 Toronto team, which had a bunch of cast-offs from other teams like Rance Mulliniks, Ernie Whitt and Bill Caudill. Cleanup hitter was a Rule 5 guy (George Bell.)

— Bill James Online (@billjamesonline) October 9, 2019

Most of the core guys on the Jays weren't castoffs, they were drafted and developed in their system (Stieb, Barfield, Moseby ...). These Rays were built more through trades.

I don't know anything about the Rays...are acquired-through-trades and cast-offs mutually exclusive? Stieb, Barfield, Moseby, and Fernandez were all homegrown, for sure. The key cast-offs were Bell, Doyle Alexander, Dennis Lamp (11-0 in middle relief, even got an MVP vote or two...a lot of luck), the catching platoon, and--I don't why James mentioned Caudill, who lost his job mid-season--Henke.

Doesn't every successful team have a few key cast-offs, though? I basically agree with you--the '85 Jays don't seem all that noteworthy as a patchwork team.

Bell and Whitt were Rule 5 players, but they were part of the same core of guys who were with the team for years before they finally won the division in '85. Nobody at the time would have said that the Jays were a team of castoffs.

The Rays are more of a constantly evolving rotation of players (they fielded over 70 players this year) and roles for those players. Most of them have been with the team for a short time.

Every successful team has castoffs and reclamation projects, but I don't really get James' comparison.

Pham hit a changeup that didn't change in the first

a couple of those hits were bounced thru the infield

not the Wendle double tho

Ex-Pirate vs. Ex-Pirate

So the home team has led the scoring 23-7 in HOU-TB. I wonder what the greatest margin is in 5- (and 7-)game series that went the limit. I'd look at series where the home team won every game first (1960 and 1991 WS?).

ok my bad, the home team did not win every game in '60

and '91 had mostly close games -- runs margin was 35-18 cuz of one blowout

5 seconds.

It took 5 seconds for Altuve to get home after Kiermaier got the ball... and 4.8 seconds for the Rays to make two perfect throws.

On the coolest relay you maybe have ever seen:https://t.co/B5Y30PGa1Y pic.twitter.com/I0lxlb6Vde

— Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) October 9, 2019

does altuve kinda stutterstep going toward the tag @ 3B or am i imagining things

#OTD 1972 Billy Martin at His Fiery Best.#Oakland #Athletics #tigers #Detroit #1970s #mlbpostseason pic.twitter.com/eSR2aQomg3

— Tom's Old Days (@sigg20) October 9, 2019

I was watching--will never forget it.

The #Braves have lost nine consecutive playoff series.

An L today would tie the Cubs (from 1910-1998) for the longest streak of postseason series Ls in MLB history pic.twitter.com/18sDCGIrTu

— Baseball Reference (@baseball_ref) October 9, 2019

Card first blood

action in the bullpen

ed man

ugh

jesus

wow

biggest first inning in postseason history; still only one out

that was kinda sad

Plenty of ballgame left.

I’d feel sorta bad, but then I remember a sold out crowd tomahawking chopping at Ryan Helsley just a few games ago

imagine if they hadn't given away an out on a sacrifice bunt

jeeeeeeeeeesus what the fuuuuuuuuuck

This is just the fifth time in the past decade that a team has fallen behind by 9+ runs before batting. Considering it's a winner-take-all game, has to qualify as one of the worst half innings in history. Unless the Braves scores 10 themselves.

— David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield) October 9, 2019

btw, even if the racist braves weren't getting their asses kicked at the moment, there would be slightly less tomahawk chopping during this game, due to Helsley speaking out:

https://fox2now.com/2019/10/09/atlanta-braves-make-changes-after-criticism-from-cardinal-pitcher-ryan-helsley/

ATLANTA, GA- Just days after Ryan Helsley, a Cardinals reliever and a member of the Cherokee Nation, criticized the use of the “Tomahawk Chop”, a fan cheer by Braves fans, Atlanta officials are taking action.

“I think it’s a misrepresentation of the Cherokee people or Native Americans in general,” Helsley told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Friday “Just depicts them in this kind of caveman-type people way who aren’t intellectual. They are a lot more than that. It’s not me being offended by the whole mascot thing. It’s not. It’s about the misconception of us, the Native Americans, and it devalues us and how we’re perceived in that way, or used as mascots.”

Wednesday afternoon, just prior to the pivotal Game 5 of the National League Division Series between the Cardinals and Braves, Atlanta issued a statement promising changes.

“Out of respect for the concerns expressed by Mr. Helsley, we will take several efforts to reduce the Tomahawk Chop during our in-ballpark presentation today. Among other things, these steps include not distributing foam tomahawks to each seat and not playing the accompanying music or using Chop-related graphics when Mr. Helsley is in the game.”

The statement says the team looks forward to a “continued dialogue with those in the Native American community after the postseason concludes.”

fuck off, braves, if you only implement the ban when a particular player or a native american in general is on the field, that's probably a good indicator that what you're promoting is indefensible.

Galaxy brain: what if the Cardinals don't bother sending out Jack Flaherty today

— Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) October 9, 2019

what the fuck

don't worry Atlanta it's possible to overcome huge deficits in playoff games

why is flaherty still out there

srsly wtf are they doing

especially when newcomb probably should have plunked him

Didn't see any of the Braves-Cards game, but I imagine I'm thinking the same thing people in Italy, Zimbabwe, and the Ukraine are thinking: how on earth, in a deciding game, do you leave a starting pitcher in long enough to give up seven runs? That's mind-boggling.

as a lifelong braves fan i knew they were going to fucking choke in the divisional round like they always do this is just a comical new low.

Here comes Yadi.

*throws bat*

You can move the Braves to Cobb County, but they are still the Braves in the playoffs.

three of the runs charged to folty scored after he left, plus one of them was an IBB, plus there was a key freddie error that might have gotten them out of it altogether. he wasn’t locating the slider well, but i don’t think leaving him in as long as they did was super egregious

Man I gave up on braves baseball 20 years ago for this exact reason. Ok off to watch a Hawks preseason game

why is flaherty still out there

I haven't even seen Joe Sheehan's tweets yet; I'm sure he was wailing by the 4th

btw Heeez, completely different players over 20 years don't have ANYTHING to do with it, just like the Twins, but sports fans gonna sportsfan.

cardinals will get home field if the nationals come back (just learned that)

a division champ always does over a WC team

as far as the Braves pulling Folty goes, once they're down 4-0 in the first -- their odds of winning are what, 20%? Should've had the hook ready.

Brian McCann retires btw

never really liked him, but good career

why didn't they let mccann bat one last time in the 9th? seemed like an odd time to get tyler flowers one more at bat for the year

So long, trot sheriff.

weighted Driveline ball appearance w/ Kershaw