The American League "drive to the Pennant" thread. Tribe punches Ticket!!!
keets
Posts: 25,351 ✭✭✭✭✭
With the last week of the MLB season upon us and the playoffs upon us next week I thought we could give our predictions and have a thread to discuss all the games. I'll start.
I think the World Series will be the Chicago Cubs vs. the Boston Red Sox, the other AL Teams being the Texas Rangers, the Cleveland Indians, the Toronto Blue Jays and the Detroit Tigers. Absent any major hiccoughs I would expect the Blue Jays to come out of the Wild Card game to face Boston and the Rangers to face Cleveland. Then the Red Sox should handle the Rangers and go on to lose to the Cubbies.
Tell me what you think and why I'm crazy.
Al H.
I think the World Series will be the Chicago Cubs vs. the Boston Red Sox, the other AL Teams being the Texas Rangers, the Cleveland Indians, the Toronto Blue Jays and the Detroit Tigers. Absent any major hiccoughs I would expect the Blue Jays to come out of the Wild Card game to face Boston and the Rangers to face Cleveland. Then the Red Sox should handle the Rangers and go on to lose to the Cubbies.
Tell me what you think and why I'm crazy.
Al H.
0
Comments
mark
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
I'm a Cubs fan and I refuse to discuss the National League. Let's just say there's no reason not to watch the playoffs this year.
as for the Indians, as much as I am a fan and would like them to be there, I doubt they can make it out of the ALDS, too many injuries to their pitching this year..
PSA HOF Baseball Postwar Rookies Set Registry- (Currently 80.51% Complete)
PSA Pro Football HOF Rookie Players Set Registry- (Currently 19.80% Complete)
PSA Basketball HOF Players Rookies Set Registry- (Currently 6.02% Complete)
and the playoffs are a toss up anyway, any team can get hot and sweep a series.
Rangers- Dodgers looks like the world series contestants to me.
If they don't, I do hope the other team in the World Series is the Cubs so their long suffering fans can be rewarded if I'm ultimately let down by TEX.
red sox and blue jays for 2nd round with the red sox going against cubs in world series
Red sox as ws champs.
pitboss, you understand that two Wild Card Teams can't advance, right??? also, the outcome of the Cleveland/Boston matchup may well depend upon who has home-field advantage. as of this minute the two are tied at 93-67, one of the two will be up by one-half game going into Sunday's 3pm start.
as for Detroit and Toronto, their games are drawing to a close as I type, and along with those two, Baltimore is up against the wall. however, all the Orioles need to do is win on Sunday and they are in. if I was a betting man I would bet that the Tigers will be the odd man out. to be honest, there are just too many possibilities right now with quite a bit hanging on tomorrows games and the situation looking like Cleveland and Detroit may have to play on Monday.
and as far as "we shall see" I think you need to gain a grip on reality. it is an impossibility for two Wild Card Teams to meet in the ALDS. I suppose I could say it would be nice to see the Twins and A's play in the World Series, but it cannot happen.
as we get close the Indians are up and the Tigers are down, Baltimore is up and the Blue Jays/Red Sox are scoreless. what a great end to the season, you couldn't script it better.
the Teams are set, is anyone going to any of the games??? we'll try to get to one of the Indians games if we can get decent seats that don't cost us the farm!!!
I'll be going to games 1, 2, and 5 (if necessary) for the Rangers ALDS. Have tickets to the ALCS (Rangers) as well if they make it that far BUT I will be at Notre Dame/Stanford that weekend instead and will miss games 1 and 2.
Will wait and see about World Series. People pay obscene prices for World Series tickets so will probably sell games 1 and 2 and go to games they have a chance to clinch if they make it that far whether its on the road or in Texas.
Have been waiting my entire life for them to win a World Series, so probably won't pass up a chance to see that in person.
Jays take it in 7. (I can dream, can't I?)
"“Those who sacrifice liberty for security/safety deserve neither.“(Benjamin Franklin)
"I only golf on days that end in 'Y'" (DE59)
this might be the first time at the Sports Talk forum that someone has quoted themselves to be critical of what they said!!
Wow, if this is what the whole ALCS is going to be like I think I'll need some valium!!!!
Talk about a pitchers duel and validation of the adage that "Good pitching will beat good hitting" in fine form, this was it. During the top of the fifth inning I told my GF that I figured it would end 1-0 with one mistake ending in a solo-shot that would win the game. For me, my stress level went up every time that Donaldson/Encarnacion/Bautista came around and they were free swinging, lots of two-strike hits. It's hard to realize that Estrada LOST the game after the way he pitched, just a fine performance. The combination of Miller and Allen worked well and the "hook" worked for all the Cleveland pitchers this evening.
Kluber has yet to give up a run in the post season, amazing when you think about the hitters he's faced so far. The best news for me today --- I found out the Indians game will be at 4 o'clock, which means no switching between them and the Buckeyes,
I'm making this post in the middle of the 8th inning.
Andrew Miller at the moment seems unhittable. past that, he has gotten into the heads of the Toronto batters. last night Jose Bautista was still talking in the dugout two batters after he fanned. my thought is that the Blue Jays had better start to focus on how to approach Miller instead of complaining to the Umpires about the strike calls.
no telling what Francona will do but I wouldn't be surprised to see Miller come out to face Encarnacion in the 9th and then the switch would be made to Cody Allen. we shall see.
I don't know about anyone else, but I've been watching two Teams that are pretty close to each other. Tribe up two zip and off we go to Canada for two games.
un-freakin' believable!!!!!
unconventional to say the least, but Terry Francona continues to make all the right moves and use whatever pitcher is available at the right time. I would have to say thus far that if the Tribe continues and wins the pennant that Andrew miller is hands down the MVP. the guy is insane and almost unhittable.
timely hitting by some guys that were quiet with Kipnis, Napoli, Ramirez and Naquin breaking through. now, if I can only figure out how to get the game tomorrow at work.
mark
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
I would take his 1-2 innings every couple days over 5-9 every five days, it seems like a better approach.
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
so much for the sweep but I figure it was unrealistic to expect it would happen, even with Kluber on the mound. he seemed a little off which was probably due to the shorter rest. I think that once the game started to get away from the Tribe that Francona switched his thinking to games 5-7, rested some guys and got the 'pen lined up. I would never second guess the manager, but I did wonder why he didn't pitch Merritt yesterday and save Kluber for today if needed.
I think Tito is more of a "forward" thinker which is why he pitched who he pitched.
the trick today will be to get the bats going, take the crowd out of it and slow down the middle of the Blue Jay lineup. a tough task for a rookie. the task, as always, is to get past the fifth inning.
I'm curious to see if the Bauer injury has a more lasting effect than just being removed from Game 3. He likely couldn't be available until the WS, if at all. A Toronto victory gives them something to fight for, no matter where. After all the pitching woes the Indians have overcome, if might come down to a pinky.
A negative omen?
against all odds, confounding all the pundits, with what is essentially 40% of their starting rotation the Cleveland Indians have made it to the World Series!!!
I missed almost all of the game and was forced to track the first six innings online while I was at work. during the drive home I managed to listen on the radio from the bottom of the 6th to the middle of the ninth, getting in front of the TV as they were coming out of break. it was enough.
me and my girlfriend are still sort of in a state of shock, it doesn't yet register when we say "The Indians are in the World series!!" and while I haven't seen them yet, most of my Football loving friends don't understand why Baseball is so special.
Francona and the whole Indians team made all the right moves during these playoffs. Hard work, a true team mindset worked nearly perfectly! Cleveland in the World Series! Go Tribe!
two things that stuck out during the post-game:
---Toronto was shutout five times all year, the Indians shut them out twice in the five game series. that's amazing.
---one of the announcers remarked that instead of having power hitters who get good contact hits the Indians have good contact hitters who have power. it sounds strange, but after thinking about how he said it I agree.
Miller has been amazing -when is the last time a late season trade made such a difference in the playoffs?
If Miller was still an Oriole, could Baltimore be here instead? Assuming Buck would have pitched him of course...
"Look up, old boy, and see what you get." -William Bonney.
Congrats to the Tribe and thanks to them for making me look smart.
The NLCS is the center of my universe until the last out gets recorded at Wrigley. Tonight gives us a world of hope. On to Game 5.
the NLCS is really a chess match right now as it seems that with every game the advantage changes from Team-to-Team. now that it's knotted at two apiece the Cubs would seem to have the best shot and suddenly LA has their back against the wall. they'll need to win tonight to avoid returning to Chicago and needing to win two games, one of them against Kershaw. not an impossible task but I suppose in the Dodger perfect world Game 7 would be what they want.
as for the Cleveland Indians, they now have five days off to get rested and get in some good bullpen sessions so the starters are all lined up. if I had to guess I would expect them to pitch Kluber and Tomlin at home in 1-2 with Bauer up in Game 3, that would give his pinky about five more days to heal before he has to throw in preparation for Game 3 a week from tomorrow.
the fly in the ointment will be if Salazar is healthy enough to play. I think what the Team will do if they think he can pitch effectively is add him to the roster with the odd man out probably being Chris Giminez. the surprise was Merritt, his success last night allows Francona to make some decisions that he didn't have the chance to make before.
Terry Francona is the Bobby Fischer of baseball!!!
He is also the middle finger.
Trevor Bauer appears to have healed. according to reports there is one small area that needs to grow together a little more, but he's on track to be able to pitch next Friday or Saturday. Danny Salazar is close and will probably be on the roster, also probable for a start next weekend. right now it looks like Cory Kluber, Josh Tomlin and Ryan Merritt to start the series.
Terry Francona is pretty smart, I wouldn't be surprised if he pitched Merritt in Game 2 at home while using Tomlin on the road in Game 3.
Cubs vs Indians.........go Cubs!!!
I bet my grandpa up in heaven is quite pleased
I think I already told the story about how he became an Indians fan by winning a $10 on who would win the 1948 AL Championship (his other chums bet on the Red Sox, Tigers, Yankees). They would of course go on to win the World Series that year...but sadly for my grandpa, he passed away four years ago and didn't ever get to see the Tribe win another championship...1997 they came close though.
And in an interesting stroke of prophecy, the 1948 Indians had to beat both Boston teams to win that championship (Red Sox in one game playoff, Braves in World Series), and in that World Series, it was won in six games and each team scored seventeen runs in the series. And my wife happens to be from Boston and our anniversary is 6/17!
D's: 54S,53P,50P,49S,45D+S,44S,43D,41S,40D+S,39D+S,38D+S,37D+S,36S,35D+S,all 16-34's
Q's: 52S,47S,46S,40S,39S,38S,37D+S,36D+S,35D,34D,32D+S
74T: 37,38,47,151,193,241,435,570,610,654,655 97 Finest silver: 115,135,139,145,310
73T:31,55,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,80,152,165,189,213,235,237,257,341,344,377,379,390,422,433,453,480,497,545,554,563,580,606,613,630
95 Ultra GM Sets: Golden Prospects,HR Kings,On-Base Leaders,Power Plus,RBI Kings,Rising Stars