2012 Baseball Thread

Rangers still have the best record in the AL and are holding off the sizzling a's. Ranger pitching, especially long relief, is dicey imo. they may go to the ws but winning it will be a long shot. don't want to see them become the buffalo bills of baseball. Go Rangers!
 
If the Yankees make it I don't fancy their chances in beating tough pitching and scoring in tight games. The situational hitting all season has been bad, as soon as runners get in scoring position the bats go cold (apart from Jeter).

Honestly this off-season I think Cashman should make some moves in order to sort that part of the game out, far too much of the lineup is swinging for the fences. I start by letting someone else pay Swisher the big money and I dangle Granderson in the trade market, we already have Cano to pay soon and a declining Rodriguez to fit in so I could do without 200K's a year from my centre fielder.
 
Unbelievable game, honestly when sweaty Freddy gave up the lead I was just about ready to turn it off but I knew Ichiro was leading off so gave it a chance. Glad I did.
 
Adam Dunn with a huge 3-run homer in the bottom of the 8th, White Sox win 5-4 and stay 1 game ahead of the Tigers.
 
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And that they did. Still four games up on Oakland and the Angels are 1.5 games behind Baltimore and Oakland; Angels are currently losing today (so probably 2 GB soon).

Detroit is putting some breathing room between them and Chicago with the latter facing a four-game series against the Rays which could eliminate them. Rays are chasing a wild card berth (2.5 GB Baltimore and Oakland, also 1.0 or 0.5 behind the Angels); White Sox are too far behind in the wild card race to get in so it's division title or bust for them (and Detroit).
 
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Playoff races:

AL East:
Baltimore and New York have clinched a playoff spot
Baltimore at Tampa Bay - Orioles tied with Yanks for division lead; Rays could sneak wild card if A's are swept, Rays sweep, and Angels do not win more than once or twice (if my math is correct; but not sure how tie-breaker works)
Boston at New York - Yankees tied with Orioles for division lead

AL Central:
Detroit at Kansas City: Tigers need only one win or a White Sox loss to clinch division
Chicago at Cleveland: White Sox must win out and Tigers get swept to force a one-game winner-take-all playoff for division title (loser would miss playoffs) [unless there is a new stupid rule that would not permit a division playoff and knowing Selig...]

AL West:
Texas has clinched a playoff spot
Texas at Oakland - Rangers need just one win to take the division, A's have to sweep.
Los Angeles at Seattle - Angels must sweep and hope Rangers sweep (currently 3 GB Oakland for final wild card sport; unsure of tie-breaker)

NL East:
Washington has clinched division; Atlanta has clinched wild card spot

NL Central:
Cincinnati has clinched division
Cincinnati at St Louis: Cardinals need a combination of wins by Cards/losses by Dodgers to clinch final wild card spot

NL West:
San Franciscon has clinched division
San Francisco at Los Angeles: Dodgers basically need to sweep/win twice and Cards cannot win more than one game (though I'm not sure if there is a tie-breaker rule or a one-game playoff)
 
Good effort this season by the White Sox with a team that wasn't expected to contend, bit of a September collapse though it has to be said. If they can't win the division this year with Detroit struggling as they did, not looking too bright for a year where Detroit actually has their shit together.
 
As I typed that up Detroit are six outs from winning the AL Central, Yanks have retaken the AL East lead, Rays put pressure on A's and Angels, and Cardinals are winning late.
 
Have a friend offering a free ticket to the NL Wild Card one game playoff but can't go for work. :(
 
Wittmann45 said:
feck yeah! When is the last time the Tigers made the playoffs twice in a row? Its probably been a while...
Click to expand...

ESPN said 1934-35... back when only one club could win a pennant and would represent the league in the World Series. A true achievement back then to win consecutive titles.


Looks like the Rangers are doing their collective best to feck up in Oakland. Cruz with another fielding blunder when it matters most. I get sick of hearing how great a fielder this guy is. He's not. He's got a rocket arm but no range. The guy should be a DH.
 
Well played, Texas, choking again when it matters most. Ron Washington is a terrible manager regardless of the past two seasons and this. He's often out-managed, makes terrible in-game decisions, and if not for the collection of hitters he'd be shown up for the average manager he is.
 
And the Yankees clinch the AL East.

Gotta hand it to them, they went up a gear when they needed to in order to fend off the incredible Orioles run.
 
Something I hadn't noticed, because I've been through this in the RF bleachers, but at yesterday's A's game, they actually showed Balfour Rage (what happens in Oakland when Balfour comes on to pitch the ninth)

 
Oakland has dedicated fans. They had 36k on Wednesday afternoon, a full sellout. The night before, Tuesday, about 30.6k, 87% capacity. And Monday night, the start of the most important series for the hometown club this season, a whopping 21k, 60% capacity.

October baseball cracks me up. Most stadiums are half-full during the season and then suddenly everyone is a die-hard fan, a lifelong supporter, got their team gear on, etc. The best show of this phenomena are the Marlins of 1997 and 2003.
 
Yep. In their defense, they have a horrible park and for the last half dozen years a mediocre team.


It's not the same as a comparison to the NFL or football in Europe because of the huge amount of games in baseball. Speaking of which, no games today :(
 
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