Wild Card Friday open thread

Atlanta hosts St. Louis then it's Texas and Baltimore in the one-off Wild Card round. Those who follow Beerleaguer on Twitter and Facebook know my non-Phillies allegiance lies with Baltimore. Discuss the games here.

Comments

[SLO Phan]

Feels like a loss. Oops, sorry. It's a habit.

[Kendrick Appreciation Society]

Post season = over

[donc]

Feels like a void.

[GBrettFan]

I hate the damn Tomahawk chop (I also hate the Rangers' heifer horns, reminds me of a fraternity thing), but the Cardinals just won the WS last year. So, go Braves!

[Fatalotti]

Kyle Lohse always looks angry when he gets done pitching.

[GTown_Dave]

Fatalotti: Lohse's career Postseason numbers are liable to make past & current teammates look angry.

[Fatalotti]

Wow, what a catch by J-Hey!

[MG]

Cards and Braves so one must lose. Upside.

[GTown_Dave]

I'll bet the Braves wish they had a surefire star like Dom out there ...

http://pic.twitter.com/URIcpNJq

Or not.

[Iceman]

What a freaking catch. The sun was in his eyes!

[MG]

http://www.charitybuzz.com/categories/15/catalog_items/318208

This was funny. Closed yesterday after Bobby V got canned.

[Iceman]

I can't tell anyone who to root for after the Phils, but I don't understand some of the secondary allegiances here. BAP and GTown hate the O's? Why? What did they do to anyone? And I guess I understand being tired of the Rangers but why are they hateable? Because of Hamilton? They have several players that are very easy to root for. I don't get that one.

And I guess it's past time that BAP comes out of the closet on the Giants, which is questionable enough because of their thuggery last year against the Phils. But BAP has claimed to loathe the Giants before. What happened BAP? Is your boy Pence swaying you? I can't think of a single reason outside of him to root for them. Several vile players on that team.

[donc]

I know Larry is from Georgia but it seems a shame to have that great of a career in front of such piss poor fans.

[Willard Preacher]

Stuck at work, so no video.

Did Atlanta actually fill more than 1/2 their stadium, or do they just have the crowd mic feed turned way up?

[Fatalotti]

MG, in that link appears the following:

"The ultimate Boston Red Sox experience for the 2013-2014 season! "

What the hell is the 2013-2014 season?

[Fatalotti]

Not to take anything away from these pitchers, but it's pretty clear to me that these hitters can't see the ball very well due to the shadows. Every hitter looks way late on their swing.

[donc]

I think it's about time BAP gets a restraining order against Iceman.

[Mick O]

..and that one of the Braves or Cards will lose in one game, for me, validates the new 2nd wild card. I am against any wild cards and would prefer straight up pennant winners. But if you are going to have wild cards, I like it this way where if you make it as a wild card, you could get whacked as suddenly as a mob hit. Winning the division is more important this year than it has been in any of the preceding wild card year, and I like that.

And, while the 2nd wild card may make it easier for the Phillies to make the postseason with the Nats looking like possible champs for a few years, it will mean it's harder for them to go to the World Series.

Better get good again.

[GTown_Dave]

I need one, too. And when the hell did I express hatred for the Orioles?

[Fatalotti]

That's on the home plate umpire for issuing that late timeout. I HATE when umpires do that.

[GTown_Dave]

"The ultimate Boston Red Sox experience for the 2013-2014 season!"

What the hell is the 2013-2014 season?

Probably another wonderful Bud Selig invention.

[MG]

Simmons had in his column that the Red Sox paid $2.5 million to Bobby V take a non-disparagement clause. That's crazy.

Boston is going to have money to spend this offseason but they are almost getting to the point where it is going to be tough to attract premier FAs there again even with the cash.

It took the huge Manny signing (which was regarded as a massive mistake and overpay at the time) to change that.

[Iceman]

GTown- my bad. I misread your post in the last thread. I retract my statement.

donc- I bet he could draw one up and present it himself. He likes the harassment though, don't let him fool you.

[Fatalotti]

Now, to be fair, it was incredibly dumb of Molina/Lohse to throw another changeup, and leave it up in the zone.

[GBrettFan]

I just saw the video of Heyward's catch. Terrific catch!

I like that winning the division is more important, too, Mick.

I like that you can watch both the games, but I think it's a shame that teams have to play in the late afternoon sun. Or the freezing rain, circa 2008 TB v. PHI. But that's the breaks. Conditions are the same for both teams.

[Iceman]

Speaking of BAP, he once said he would want Prado on the Phils. He's definitely a nice player, but if I could pick a position player from the Braves to be on the Phils, it would be Freddie Freeman.

He is barely of legal drinking age and he's put up two seasons near 120 OPS+. Great patience at the plate, like a Dom Brown that actually hits the ball hard.

[Fatalotti]

I get that the 2nd WC makes winning the division more important (to an extent), but I will always dislike any move that cheapens the importance of the regular season, and the more team you let into the postseason, the cheaper the regular season becomes.

[Willard Preacher]

Before the game, I was thinking it will be nice to just listen to a game, without any real rooting interest. Surely, I can put my personal preferences aside and just enjoy some good postseason baseball.

Then the game started and I'm reminded how I'd rather root for Al Qaeda than the Atlanta Braves...

[Fatalotti]

Sniper Jones and The Al Quaeda Braves.

[Willard Preacher]

Fat, but couldn't you argue that by virtue of the 2nd WC team and the creation of the "play in" game, you actually put MORE importance on the regular season? Both of these teams now have to play a do-or-die game, using their best pitching (well, except for the Orioles...) and over-strategizing every pitch, just to get to turn around and immediately play a team with additional rest who got to better set their rotation.

Last year was much more fair to the WC winner. This year, they have to earn it. I actually like that better.

[SLO Phan]

I'm beginning to wonder if any team that has a "Ross" on its roster for the postseason has a better chance of winning.

[Iceman]

WP- I'm with you. As soon as I turned the TV on, I was done. Can't stand Atlanta.

And I was still relatively young when they actually were better than the Phils and tormented us on a yearly basis. That must have really inflicted some psychological damage on me, because Atlanta has done nothing at all to deter this team during its recent run of success- if anything their choking has helped us. And St. Louis obviously punked us last year, beating us and then winning the WS with an inferior team than we had in 2009, -10 or -11. Yet here I am, rooting for them.

[Willard Preacher]

Osama bin Medlen

[DH Phils]

One change I would like to see is to really make it harder for the wild card winner by not having any off days, and maybe have a 3-game series. If you're a wild card, you finish the regular season Wednesday, play a 3-game series Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and then the winning team travels to the division winner for Game 1 on Sunday.

Having to travel twice for 1 game in 3 days is less of a disadvantage than having to travel 4 times for 3 games in 3 days before the NLDS.

[DH Phils]

WP, Iceman: I was thinking the same thing: indifference to the winner of a game in which I like neither team. It was the chop after the Ross HR that snapped me back to reality.

[GBrettFan]

I don't remember David Ross. I had to look him up.

[GBrettFan]

Why no McCann in the lineup?

[Willard Preacher]

I hate that the winner of this game gets the first two games at home in the next round.

That's just this year, though, right?

[GBrettFan]

WP - Yes, next year the plan is to return to the 2-2-1 format.

[SLO Phan]

WP: Yes. It is that way since the schedules were already made when Selig decided to add the second WC.

[Iceman]

WP- I think it is just for this yead.

GBrett- McCann struggled badly in September (and the whole year, really). I haven't looked if Ross has great numbers against Lohse, or anything, but I think it's really just the poor performance of McCann. Surprising how far he's fallen this year.

Hard to believe this could be Chipper's last game.

[Fatalotti]

WP, it makes it more annoying for the Braves, for sure, but the Cardinals would be sitting at home right now if this were still last year's format. That they still have a chance to win the WS means that winning in the regular season was less important for them this year as opposed to the year before.

One of my biggest problems with the NBA/NHL is that more than half the league gets into the playoffs. In the NBA, it's not a big deal, other than it wastes time for the top 3 seeds in each conference, but in hockey, where it's more of a crapshoot in the playoffs, I find myself completely disinterested in the regular season.

[GTown_Dave]

Preacher: My instinctively hostile reaction to the sight of the faces of Molina ... & Lohse ... & Freese ...

Point being, my bias is tilting in the other direction.

[GBrettFan]

Can't make errors in the postseason.

[GTown_Dave]

GBrettFan: I'll bet the 2012 Phillies could!

[GBrettFan]

Iceman, thanks for the McCann info.

Here come the Cards. There is something to be said for a potent offense.

[GBrettFan]

GTown, that is a given, much to my chagrin.

I was thinking earlier how painful it would be if the Phillies had clawed their way to the 2nd WC...and then we watched Roy Halladay give up 5 runs to the Braves while our 98-lb. lineup, featuring Wigginton and MiniMart, scored but 2. With Howard injured, at least we wouldn't be watching him K for the final AB, though.

[Willard Preacher]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that the consummate bittersweet season would wind up ending MUCH more bitter than sweet the moment Cholly had to pencil "Martinez" into the starting lineup of a playoff game...

[GTown_Dave]

GBrettFan: All things considered, it's probably a blessing Phillies fans were spared having to watch the '12 team in a single-game elimination.

[Iceman]

Whoever said the baseball Gods had it in for Medlen today, good call.

Can't count on anything with Lohse on the mound though. We all have seen what he does in the postseason. Plus, he is on the 'Can Fall Apart In The Time It Takes To Tie Your Shoes' All-Stars.

[GBrettFan]

Nice bunt single! By a catcher, no less. This David Ross is having a good game.

[Fatalotti]

All kinds of craziness going on here.

[GBrettFan]

Hm. Interesting.

[Fatalotti]

Bunting in front of the pitcher with 1 out...dumb.

[GBrettFan]

Simmons? Wow, I really don't know this Braves team at all. I must not have paid enough attention when the Phillies played ATL this year.

[donc]

Bunting there with the pitcher on deck was moronic and Ive never seen a hitter run that far inside the basepath.

[donc]

If I didn't know better I'd say that was a Fredi Gonzalez production.

[Willard Preacher]

Iceman, I figured that his performance, obviously, is not sustainable, and that what better time to come back to earth than the pressure of a "win-or-go-home" game.

Sadly, I figured this premonition was more my anti-Brave bias than anything, so I never put my money where my mouth was.

[GBrettFan]

My son just told me that his HS geography teacher, who is also the baseball coach, told them that one of the A's went to their HS! Sean Doolittle. That's pretty cool and will give me a bigger interest in the A's, although I don't know the family. (They live in a nearby town that now attends a different HS.)

[Fatalotti]

No surprise that the bunt was a Gonzalez decisions. Likely the worst manager in baseball.

[Willard Preacher]

I got a kick out of Murphy's tweet before the game:

High Cheese ‏@HighCheese

I'd never pick a baseball team to lose simply based on manager. But if I did, that team would be managed by Fredi Gonzalez

[GBrettFan]

I guess I should start attending the high school baseball games! Never know when a future MLB player is there. Apparently Doolittle broke the state record for most strikeouts in a game and hit well - led the team to a state championship. You can imagine how excited my son's teacher is, as his former coach.

[Fatalotti]

Nice play by Lohse to not panic and get Bourn.

[GBrettFan]

I agree, Fata. Nice play.

[donc]

WP: I was actually the one with the crack about the baseball gods and Medlen. Who knows how it ends but 23 wins in a row. You're just begging for trouble with a streak like that coming into the playoffs.

[donc]

Wow. What a poorly written post. Apologies. Swear I haven't touched a drop either.

[Mick O]

I was working in Rancho Bernardo (San Diego) when Cole was pitching there. I always said I'd get to a game but never did. I gather that high school was referred to as "the factory" for the pro prospects it generated. Coulda shoulda...

[3r0ck]

Wow the sound on TBS is awful! Almost makes it unwatchable

[GTown_Dave]

Forgot to add Holliday to my Face Hate list. There's nothing good about St. Louis.

[Bake McBride Was Here]

"There's nothing good about St. Louis."

Except for the fact that they're not the Atlanta Ugglas.

Also, let's go Orioles. Let's go A's.

[Ceelo Green]

Hey Uggla, after the season, I want my arms back.

[Willard Preacher]

Why is it that the Anaheim fans knew when the Rally Monkey's days had passed, yet the Braves "fans" can't let go of this stupid Tomahawk Chop?

[Willard Preacher]

I fully expect that if the Cardinals advance to the World Series, that Tony LaRussa demands to manage it.

After his winning HFA and an undefeated 2012, it would make the AL MVP debate look like media child's play.

[donc]

Matheny over managing here?

[3r0ck]

Watching this game it's like the Cardinals are a machine - doing everything right.

[GBrettFan]

I repeat: You can't make errors in the postseason.

[GTown_Dave]

Especially when the Postseason is a whole one game in length.

[GBrettFan]

Durbin got the ground ball out, not his fault that Simmons flubbed it. Is he being removed for a matchup?

[Iceman]

Oh man. The Braves are going to forever hate the Cards if this holds up. Two years in a row.

[GBrettFan]

Right, GTown. Especially when it's only 1 game.

Cardinals are a strong team. I'd rather be the Reds and face the Giants, I think. Unless the Braves pull out a win. But the Nats are also strong.

[GTown_Dave]

Another obvious weakness of this format: the "drama" of a one game playoff disappears real fast when said game is a blowout. A series leaves room for ups & downs.

[Lynsk]

The Braves are doing their postseason thing.

[GBrettFan]

So the Braves have made 3 throwing errors and 1 baserunning error.

[Kutztown Fan]

Is anyone else having déjà vu?

[GBrettFan]

I don't care about that, GTown. I still like that the division winner doesn't have to play a single elimination game but the WC winner does.

[GBrettFan]

I'm definitely more relaxed than I would be if the Phillies were playing.

How do the Cards manage to so frequently contend? Props must go to that organization. They have a devoted fan base, too. Even though it can be miserably muggy in St. Louis in the summer.

[DH Phils]

Gotta love the bat flip out of the box on a triple in a 4-run game.

[GTown_Dave]

I will admit it's kind of fun how St. Louis decided to not break the bank for Pujols, yet they're still playing, & the Angels are not.

[Kutztown Fan]

I can't take that damn tomahawk chop. I'm watching Bull Durham on HBO when the Braves are at the plate.

[Iceman]

I hate the term 'battle-tested,' or anything of the like, but I think if ever such a term applied to a team, it would have to apply to the Cards. How many of these types of games have they played in the last 365 days? Like 20-25 borderline-to-absolute one-run games?

They have to be entirely confident in pulling these types of games out. At the very least, it is evident in the type of mistake-free, flawless execution they've shown in this game.

(Although they got completely shut down by Halladay in a do-or-die game and would have lost if the Philadelphia offense didn't choke on itself. Damn it all)

[clout]

Here come the Braves!

[Scott]

If Larry's career ends like that, I'm okay with it.

[Iceman]

Change one-run to 'must-win.' Thinking Orioles I guess.

[clout]

GTown: if Trout was truly MVP the Angels would still be playing.

[GBrettFan]

Errors have really hurt the Braves. And the Cardinals have capitalized on those opportunities.

[Fatalotti]

What hell happened? Did the great Medlen not take care of business?

[GTown_Dave]

clout: Clearly, MLB doesn't appreciate the tremendous fan excitement inherent in calculating & recalculating a player's WAR, or a special exemption would have been made for Trout's club. Cretins.

[DH Phils]

4 chances with a runner on 3rd and less than 2 outs for St. Louis. They scored all 4 of them (granted, one was on an error).

[Scott]

.

[Fatalotti]

Scott, please remove that post.

Chipper Jones is looking directly into my soul, and I don't like it!