Shockingly, MLB managed to make it to the end of the season without things falling all the way apart, though it looked like a close one for a while. As a reminder, this first round of the playoffs is a three-game series at the home park of the higher seeded team, before things move to a neutral site/bubble for the rest of the tournament. For the NL, this will mean that advancing teams head to Texas. Since the Cubs won the division, they thankfully are on the opposite side of the bracket as the Los Angeles Juggernaught Dodgers.
The Cubs draw the surprising Marlins in the first round, who went from 100+ losses last year to the playoffs. Luckily andcounting did my research for me on their season this year, which I will lazily quote below:
Pythagorean standings are pretty much likewise rendered useless by the absence of divisional overlap, but the basic results show that the Marlins were the luckiest team in baseball. They were 5 games above what you’d expect by their run differential. So that’s mildly encouraging as much as it pertains to a 3-game crapshoot.
Here’s the usual breakdown:
Team Leaders
Marlins
- OBP: Miguel Rojas (.392)
- ISO: Garrett Cooper (.217)
- HR: Brian Anderson (11)
- R+RBI: Anderson / Jesus Aguilar (65)
- wRC+: Rojas (142)
- BSR: Jon Berti (2.3)
- Defense: Rojas (5.3)
- SP K/9: Trevor Rogers (12.54)
- SP BB/9: Elieser Hernandes (1.75)
- SP ERA: Sandy Alcantara (3.00)
- RP K/9: James Hoyt (12.27)
- RP BB/9: Nick Neidert (2.16)
- RP ERA: Yimi Garcia (0.60)
- WAR: Rojas (1.6)
Cubs
- OBP: Heyward (.392)
- ISO: Happ (.247)
- HR: Happ (12)
- R+RBI: Contreras (63)
- wRC+: Happ (131)
- BSR: Heyward (1.9)
- Defense: Contreras (4.6)
- SP K/9: Darvish (11.01)
- SP BB/9: Cyle (0.89)
- SP ERA: Darvish (2.01)
- RP K/9: Kimbrel (16.43)
- RP BB/9: Rea (0.00)
- RP ERA: Jeffress (1.53)
- WAR: Darvish (3.0)
Injuries, etc.
The Marlins have a couple of guys in the hospital wing. Cubs punching bag Jose Urena broke his arm on Sunday and is out for the playoffs. Cubs nemesis Francisco Cervelli is also done for the year. SP Elieser Hernandez is out for the rest of the year with a lat injury, and CF Starling Marte is day to day after taking a pitch to the head a few days back.
We all know more or less where things are on the Cubs side. The only thing I missed was Ildemaro Vargas (who?) hitting the IL with a hamstring injury last week. The bigger question marks are how Quintana and and Chafin are going to look coming back from their recent IL stints – so far they’ve looked good. Happ has also been dealing with a nagging ankle injury, so hopefully these days off have helped him get back to 100%.
Pitching Matchups
2020 K/9, BB/9, ERA, projected ERA listed for all starters
Wednesday: Sandy Alcantara, RHP (8.36, 3.21, 3.00, 4.50) vs Cyle Hendricks, RHP (7.08, 0.89, 2.88, 3.71), 1:08 PM CT
Alcantara is a ground ball machine, which might make things tough on the Cubs already-struggling right handers like Bryant and Baez. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a few lineup changes in this one, including possible a Billy Hamilton appearance? Somehow though I think that Ross is going to go with the guys who (were supposed to have) got them here.
He also throws really hard – a 97 MPH fastball and an absurd 96 MPH sinker according to Fangraphs pitch type info. He also throws an occasional slider or change but they aren’t his best pitches by a long shot. The Cubs are great fastball hitters, but are also great GIDP hitters, so we could be in for a long night.
I don’t think any of us need any info on Cyle (dying laughing). You may have heard that he’s had a few pretty good starts in the playoffs. His peripherals look as good or better than the past few seasons.
Thursday: Sixto Sanchez, RHP (7.62, 2.54, 3.46, 4.38) vs Yu Darvish, RHP (11.01, 1.66, 2.01, 3.63), 1:08 PM CT
Darvish has a legit shot at winning the Cy Young this year, and is probably my favorite player on the team right now. He’s certainly done enough and then some to erase the rocky introduction that he had with the team following his signing, and I look forward to many more years with this character.
Sanchez is a rookie, and what do you know, he’s another hard throwing, worm killing machine. His best pitch is a change up, so I wouldn’t expect big games from Javy or Bryant. It’s too bad that he’s not matched up with Hendricks – Sanchez’s change up is the same speed as Cyle’s fastball (dying laughing). Let’s hope that the long Cubs tradition of being baffled by rookies that they haven’t seen before doesn’t hold up in this one. At least they’ll have Darvish on the other side.
Friday: Pablo Lopez, RHP (9.26, 2.83, 3.61) vs Jon Lester?, LHP (6.20, 2.51, 5.16, 4.34), 1:08 PM CT
What do you know, the Marlins are throwing yet another sinkerballer against the Cubs. It’s like there’s a book on this team. Lopez doesn’t throw quite as hard as the other guys but might have the best sinker of the three. Hopefully this game won’t be necessary.
The Cubs haven’t announced a starter for Game 3, but I’m guessing that it’s going to be Lester once through the order combined with Alzolay and Quintana, depending on how much they are used in game 1 and 2. I was about to say that Lester pitched a little better in the final year of his contract than I might have predicted when it was signed, but woof his numbers are worse than I thought. He isn’t walking anyone at least, just getting hit super hard. He’ll probably get the nod for sentimental reasons, but I also don’t think that there’s that big of a gap between starting him and, say, Alzolay or Mills. No-hitter notwithstanding (dying laughing)
Random parting shots
This series is going to come down to whether the Cubs hot and cold offense gets hot. I’m not too worried about the pitching, beyond the possibility of Lester being left in for too many batters. Even the bullpen is….kinda ok? Kimbrel’s been good for a solid month, and I heard somewhere that the Cubs had the best bullpen in the month of September, though that was before the mess in garbage time in the finale.
Comments
Ross said Lester goes in game three.
dmick89Quote Reply
Cubs in 2. Hendricks and Yu deliver.
dmick89Quote Reply
Wow, the Brewers are being forced to throw Brent Suter, who I don’t think has even started a game this year, against the Dodgers in game 1.
berseliusQuote Reply
To-day’s base ball squadron
CF Happ
1B Rizzo
3B Bryant
LF War Bear
C Contreras
RF Heyward
SS Baez
DH Caratini
2B Kipnis
P Cyle
berseliusQuote Reply
berselius,
I like the lineup. This series better be a breeze.
andcountingQuote Reply
I think we all know the real outcome will be Dodgers in five.
PerkinsQuote Reply
(dying laughing)
berseliusQuote Reply
Let’s get this bullshit started.
andcountingQuote Reply
Go Cubs.
berseliusQuote Reply
(dying laughing) at national announcers. “The wind is blowing” is missing a key qualifier.
berseliusQuote Reply
If it’s blowing left to right that should help the lefties in the Cubs lineup
berseliusQuote Reply
(dying laughing), Kipnis
berseliusQuote Reply
At least the Cubs are working some deep counts.
berseliusQuote Reply
berselius,
Aside from the power, that’s what I’ve liked most about Bryant since coming back. A lot of deep counts.
andcountingQuote Reply
Is the runner-on-second rule in effect for extra-inning games in the playoffs?
andcountingQuote Reply
Seems like a pretty tight zone today.
berseliusQuote Reply
andcounting,
I think so.
berseliusQuote Reply
Oh wow, reliever Devin Williams is also out with shoulder soreness now.
berseliusQuote Reply
berselius,
Huh, looks like the didn’t do the new runner rule in the Braves-Reds game.
berseliusQuote Reply
The Cubs offense is about like a AA offense.
dmick89Quote Reply
Nice job by Cyle/the defense getting out of that jam.
berseliusQuote Reply
Happ!!!
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Happ!!!
PerkinsQuote Reply
HAPP!!!!!
andcountingQuote Reply
Happppppppppppppp!
berseliusQuote Reply
Fortunately they’ve got a AAA-quality leadoff hitter!
andcountingQuote Reply
(dying laughing)
berseliusQuote Reply
Damn, they should have had Marte at second.
berseliusQuote Reply
Man, the Marlins are doing a great job laying off of pitches just out of the strike zone.
berseliusQuote Reply
(dying laughing) Cyle Houdini.
andcountingQuote Reply
Hamilton in – the Cubs really wanna win 1-0 (dying laughing).
berseliusQuote Reply
fack
berseliusQuote Reply
There was just no way that wasn’t happening.
andcountingQuote Reply
You have got to be kidding me.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Jesus fucking Christ.
andcountingQuote Reply
/facepalm
berseliusQuote Reply
2021 will be the year.
dmick89Quote Reply
The good news is the Cubs are only about 8, 9 good players away from being a good team.
dmick89Quote Reply
andcountingQuote Reply
I fully expect the Cubs to win tomorrow and then lose in some darkly hilarious way in game 3.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Just had a chilling thought; what if the World Series comes down to the Astros and the Cardinals? Ugh.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
The Astros having a losing record and winning the World Series would be so 2020.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
To-day’s base ball squadron
CF Happ
1B Rizzo
DH Contreras
LF War Bear
3B Bryant
RF Heyward
SS Baez
2B Bote
C Caratini
P Darvish
berseliusQuote Reply
I’m pretty stubborn in my attachment to players’ former glory, so it’s really difficult to comprehend how this lineup could be less than formidable.
andcountingQuote Reply
Looks like the game is being pushed back to tomorrow due to weather
berseliusQuote Reply
The last postseason rain delay worked out for the Cubs, maybe Jason Heyward can give another rallying speech (dying laughing).
berseliusQuote Reply
berselius,
This is really confusing. The weather doesn’t seem that bad.
andcountingQuote Reply
andcounting,
I guess it’s a good forecast and there are more off days to play with before the next round, so they don’t really see a reason not to be cautious. They’ll also probably get better tv ratings since more teams will be eliminated (dying laughing).
berseliusQuote Reply
Braves putting an 8th inning beating on the Reds.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Work is pissing me off today, so I decided to go back and read all the comments on OV since I last commented, which was about comment 79/219 on the last thread.
The last 10 minutes will probably orove to be the most productive part of my day, aside from driving kid to swim practice .
BVSQuote Reply
At least we scored more runs than the Reds
berseliusQuote Reply
berselius,
I’d say I can’t imagine watching my favorite team play 22 postseason innings without scoring a single run, but…I don’t know, I can imagine quite a bit.
andcountingQuote Reply
andcounting,
I gotta admit, every time I turn the Cubs on it feels like they’ve gone a couple hundred innings without scoring a run. The offense is ridiculously bad. I’ve talked about a lot of bad Cubs teams over the years, but this offense is a fucking joke. The worst thing is that the offense should at least be competitive. It’s not. It’s horrible. Kris Bryant is banged up every other day and has warning track power these days. Javy swings at every single pitch as hard as he possibly can. Happ and Heyward have been the best this team has and that’s scary. If they score a run I feel like they’ve accomplished the impossible.
dmick89Quote Reply
Padres!
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
The Padres are good at baseball.
dmick89Quote Reply
You’re allowed to score more than one run in a playoff game? What sorcery is this?
berseliusQuote Reply
I did not know Larry Rothschild is the pitching coach for SD.
PerkinsQuote Reply
berseliusQuote Reply
dmick89,
I feel the same way mostly, though I find myself making excuses for them all the time. Like I am sure offense is down leaguewide but I really don’t want to look it up to see if it’s true. (dying laughing)
andcountingQuote Reply
I don’t like the Cubs’ chances beyond this (probably 2-game) series, but I hope there’s at least a Saturday game. I’m not ready for baseball I sort of like to watch to end at 62 games. Ugh.
andcountingQuote Reply
Also to-day’s squadron
berseliusQuote Reply
berselius,
I suppose the rules of sanity dictate that we should expect the same results.
andcountingQuote Reply
andcounting,
another rain delay?
berseliusQuote Reply
berselius,
Just the same amount of offense (dying laughing).
andcountingQuote Reply
This offense has no shot today. Cubs lose.
dmick89Quote Reply
The Cubs should just have everyone bunt. Some of them are bound to get through.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Javy is useless.
dmick89Quote Reply
I need to find a new favorite team. I kinda hate the Cubs at this point. That’s not a good thing.
dmick89Quote Reply
The Padres might be the team. Maybe the A’s.
dmick89Quote Reply
Ok….
andcountingQuote Reply
Stupid fucking base running.
dmick89Quote Reply
Contreras should have jumped over the catcher.
PerkinsQuote Reply
andcountingQuote Reply
Out
dmick89Quote Reply
Bad slide by Rojas.
dmick89Quote Reply
Out
berseliusQuote Reply
Pretty good outfield play this inning.
andcountingQuote Reply
No problems with War Bear’s arm (dying laughing)
berseliusQuote Reply
andcounting,
Defense has looked great in the bits I’ve seen during telecons
berseliusQuote Reply
I love day games during the season, but these workday playoff games suck (dying laughing)
berseliusQuote Reply
Score some fucking runs!
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
Some regular runs also acceptable
berseliusQuote Reply
Someone give Rizzo an emergency shipment of Matt Szczur’s bats.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
I guess Bryzzo Souvenir Co didn’t get one of those small business loans and had to close up shop.
berseliusQuote Reply
berselius,
(dying laughing)
dmick89Quote Reply
Dammit, that was the inning they needed. Sanchez running out of gas.
berseliusQuote Reply
The cubs need to drop the DH for this game so Darvish can win it by himself (dying laughing).
berseliusQuote Reply
Cubs deserve to lose this game.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Oh fuck off espn
berseliusQuote Reply
I think Baez should swing harder.
dmick89Quote Reply
He’s trying to hit an 8 run HR.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Such a joke.
andcountingQuote Reply
Well shit
berseliusQuote Reply
And there’s the killing blow to the Cubs’ 2020 season.
PerkinsQuote Reply
The wind from those Javy swings were what pushed it out of the park
berseliusQuote Reply
The degree of perfection required to allow this offense to continue to get at bats is just ridiculous.
andcountingQuote Reply
Why was the infield in on that play?
andcountingQuote Reply
FFS Maybin must be slow
berseliusQuote Reply
Repaying the Marlins with the whole 5 outs to go comeback wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.
dmick89Quote Reply
Wait, they scrapped the DH?
berseliusQuote Reply
Oh come the fuck on blue
berseliusQuote Reply
Three straight strikeouts looking to end the season?
berseliusQuote Reply
ABC preempting this piece of shit offense with a health update on a piece of shit.
andcountingQuote Reply
Well at least Trump got Covid, so the day’s not all bad.
PerkinsQuote Reply
But this will still go down as an October on par with ‘16 if that fucker dies.
andcountingQuote Reply
Could only have been more emblematic if the cubs struck out three times with a runner on third.
berseliusQuote Reply
andcounting,
Don’t worry, there are “presidential offices” at Walter Reed (dying laughing)
berseliusQuote Reply
berselius,
(dying laughing), can’t wait until they transfer him to the presidential offices at Arlington.
andcountingQuote Reply
andcounting,
(dying laughing) (dying laughing) (dying laughing)
dmick89Quote Reply
berselius,
I figured they’d get the first two batters on 2nd and 3rd and then fail to score.
dmick89Quote Reply
The NL Central is an impressive 1-7 in the playoffs so far.
dmick89Quote Reply
Happy Trump Positivity Day
ceruleanQuote Reply
RIP NL Central
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Here’s hoping the Padres make it past LAD.
PerkinsQuote Reply
The Cubs, Reds and Brewers scored a combined 3 runs in 6 games.
dmick89Quote Reply
My main rooting interest now is for whoever is playing against the Astros.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
RIP Bob Gibson.
PerkinsQuote Reply
can’t believe they had to cancel the whole 2020 mlb season because of the coronavirus
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
dmick89,
This certainly helps me arrive at a conclusion about which divisions are good. The 7 teams in the central divisions went 2-14 and were shutout 5 times. They scored more than 2 runs 6 times.
The teams the Cubs played this year were all bad. The Cubs were bad. It’s going to be a long time before the Cubs are good again.
I may just watch the 2015 and 2016 seasons for the next few years.
andcountingQuote Reply
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Yeah and I have much less patience than I did last time the Cubs sucked. I don’t know if it’s because the Cubs were good for a stretch or I’m just older and don’t feel like wasting my time watching shit. I think it’s probably a combination of both. I know I give up on tv shows a lot sooner than I used to. I also think I’ve been pretty frustrated with this team since 2017 and they were really good that season. So it’s been awhile since I’ve been fully invested in this team.
Making it more difficult to root for this team is the owners. I’m struggling with supporting a team that’s owned by people who support fascism. I had planned to shop around for a new favorite team during spring training, but never bothered because I knew coronavirus was going to shut everything down. There’s a good chance this was my last year rooting for the Cubs. Not too surprised they were a shitty team. I am surprised they got lucky enough to reach the postseason and then went out in about the only way this franchise knows how.
dmick89Quote Reply
Ugh.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
dmick89,
When I first started hearing OAN commercials on the radio broadcast I thought it might be the end right there, but they stopped. Even if the baseball team really were good, it tempers the allegiance to have the Ricketts family baggage. But I’m really not a principled enough person to dump the team if they’re good (dying laughing).
It’s a moot point, though. They’re not. And I know what kills my enthusiasm more than anything is having seen how good they were day in and day out for 2015–2016. I’ve never watched a team that good that consistently. Honestly, I didn’t know what it was like to be an everyday fan of a really great team. I mean, I was a fan in ‘84, and that team was great, but I was 9. What did I know?
For the past few years I could imagine the team was better than it looked because so many of the parts were the same. But Rizzo’s older, Bryant is broken, and there don’t appear to be any future peaks to which the rest of the players have yet to ascend.
Now that I know what great baseball looks like, it’s just too hard to pretend I can expect to see it again.
andcountingQuote Reply
In retrospect, this whole thing started to go sideways when they replaced John Mallee with Chili Davis.
To me, the most disappointing thing is how exciting this team looked in 2015-16, and even in 17 they were very good and you could reasonably attribute much of their decline to the World Series hangover. The past three years have been like the post-1970s Rolling Stones, where you know the talent is still there, but it’s not nearly as fresh or impactful.
Some of that is the inability to keep key players like Bryant healthy, but the vaunted pipeline of talent dried up entirely after 2017. Ian Happ was the last impact player to graduate, and he’s obviously had some issues. The organization’s failure to develop a single pitching prospect in ten years (I’m not counting Hendricks, since he came from TEX) has been remarkable, and has limited their options. How Jason McLeod still has a job is a mystery to me.
The first few weeks of this season, it looked like the offense had succeeded in fixing the issues that had plagued it over the past few years. I’m not sure what caused basically all the players to revert to their bad habits, but at this point it seems like turning over part of the roster is the only solution. Shame that everyone’s trade value is nonexistent.
PerkinsQuote Reply
I also think there’s a decent chance the man is promoted to GM this offseason with Jed taking over Theo’s job and Theo going on his way.
dmick89Quote Reply
Remember when we were all surprised that some other team hadn’t poached him? I guess MLB teams get things right every once in a while (dying laughing).
berseliusQuote Reply
That’s certainly possible. I had interpreted his removal from the player development role as an acknowledgement that he had failed there, while still keeping the band together and not having him lose too much face.
PerkinsQuote Reply
I totally forgot there was baseball yesterday, and now I regret coming out from under my rock.
andcountingQuote Reply
someone has probably made this joke already but cubs hitting coahes are basically like spinal tap drummers at this point
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
EnricoPallazzo,
You can’t really dust for vomit.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Uh oh. La Stella is hurt.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Adam Wainwright confirms the Cardinals are dumb.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Rizzo the Rat,
YouTube is our new education system.
andcountingQuote Reply
Rizzo the Rat,
If only it were just the Cardinals. Donald Trump is the greatest president we have ever had.
(Obviously false — Taft outweighed him by a few pounds.)
ceruleanQuote Reply
RIP Whitey Ford
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Tough luck, Chapman. (dying laughing)
andcountingQuote Reply
Not gonna lie, I was hoping to see the Yankees avenge themselves against the Astros.
PerkinsQuote Reply
It’s really freaking difficult not to like Dusty Baker. Dude made some in-game mistakes and cost some pitchers their careers by being old school, but the guy knows how to manage a baseball team.
andcountingQuote Reply
Not sure if the NFL season is going to last two more weeks at this point (dying laughing). Against all odds they manage to make even MLB look responsible in its handling of Covid.
berseliusQuote Reply
berselius,
I’m honestly surprised the NFL is even reporting any positive COVID cases. It’s not like they give a shit about the health of their players.
dmick89Quote Reply
I am finding it increasingly likely that bryant will be granted free agency at the end of next season. He will sign with another team and the cubs will receive exactly nothing. This is such a disgusting proposition when you think about what he could have netted the team if traded in (e.g.) 2018. Could this have been avoided? Yes of course in hindsight. SHOULD it have been avoided? I really don’t know. I don’t want to excuse the FO but there were always some extenuating circumstances that made it seem logical to hang on to bryant for just a bit longer. In hindsight, those reasons were dumb as fuck but I can’t decide if I should really be faulting the FO. I probably should be.
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
EnricoPallazzo,
When do you suppose was the last time he could’ve passed a physical as part of a trade? I’m not confident of the answer.
andcountingQuote Reply
EnricoPallazzo,
I thought KB was a free agent after this season so I’m just mildly relieved the Cubs will have someone who has a semi-decent chance of putting together an average to above average season at 3rd base next year.
dmick89Quote Reply
RIP Joe Morgan
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
EnricoPallazzo,
Tbh, I have no problem with the Cubs keeping Bryant around. If nothing else Bryzzo is the thing I remember most from the WS season, and I’m a lot more sentimental than I was before the Cubs actually won anything.
berseliusQuote Reply
yeah great question and this is one of the “extenuating circumstances” that I mentioned. no idea but wasn’t he healthy-ish around the time the got kimbrel? I remember thinking at the time that it would make way more sense to trade kb instead of adding kimbrel but I don’t actually recall if kb was healthy enough to trade (and am too lazy to look it up).
no this is my point…I don’t necessarily have a problem with it either. in hindsight, it is easy to say that they could have done x, y, or z, but there were enough extenuating circumstances over the past few years where it was like “ok they should probably trade him, but they are contending. or he is hurt. or he is healthy but coming off an injury so he needs to prove his worth to inflate his trade value.” or any number of other reasons.
it just sucks that he will (likely) leave soon and net the cubs exactly jack shit at a time when their farm system is in desperate need of replenishing.
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
Yeah, it’s one of those situations when we can’t be certain how healthy he’s ever been for the last few seasons. I don’t think the Cubs actually know, necessarily. The current scenario feels like the worst case, but I imagine the true nightmare scenario would have been to pull off a big trade and have it crumble after an MRI or something.
andcountingQuote Reply
I’m going to guess this was not the start to the NLCS that LADoLA had in mind.
PerkinsQuote Reply
When OV replaced you we thought we seen the last of ACB – congratulations to Another Cubs Blog on its SCOTUS nomination.
SKQuote Reply
It sounds like the White Sox are trying to hire TLR (dying laughing)
berseliusQuote Reply
berseliusQuote Reply
College football of course vaults to the top, as the Florida coach demanded a full capacity crowd for this weekend’s game only to see it canceled due to a covid outbreak on his team (dying laughing).
berseliusQuote Reply
Someone must’ve told the Dodgers that if you score enough runs, it counts as two wins.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
berselius,
Funny, I would never have suspected that college football coaches would somehow wind up looking like the biggest dildos in the world through all of this.
uncle daveQuote Reply
(Or is the proper spelling ‘dildoes’? They don’t teach you these things in school.)
uncle daveQuote Reply
I think it’s spelled “Yellons”
berseliusQuote Reply
i’d like to loop in my colleague johnny hildo to answer this question
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
The Rays are going to blow a 3-0 lead.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Wins are the best stat, actually.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Asstros
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Welp, Dodgers-Rays is a storyline.
andcountingQuote Reply
I just accidentally mistook Matt Nagy for Adam Gase in a conversation with one of my Bears fan coworkers (dying laughing).
berseliusQuote Reply
I just checked in to say that last night’s baseball contest was insane and I’m still trying to process all the baseball that baseball’d.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Has anyone done a side-to-side video comparison of Braun and Arozarena falling down between third and home?
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Rizzo the Rat,
At least Randy actually scored… 👍
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Seriously, though, how is Margot hitting cleanup on a World Series team?
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
I get the feeling the Dodgers are about to kill the “would you rather” thought experiment about an organization that wins one World Series but then falls apart or one that wins multiple pennants but can’t quite finish the job.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Eh. Doubt it. My feeling is as soon as things go back to normal (assuming they do), all 2020 accomplishments will be asterisked and forgotten. And with good reason.
Dodgers definitely deserve a World Series win—multiple ones, actually—but this really wasn’t baseball this year. One look at the NL Central standings tells me that.
Smokestack LightningQuote Reply
Yeah, this championship is severely compromised. /sour grapes
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Look at them. They aren’t social distancing at all.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Hopefully after winning the Dodgers collapse like the Cubs did – otherwise it will be rough in the NL for a while.
WaLiQuote Reply
Brad Hand and Kolten Wong have already been dropped. This offseason is going to be a bloodbath for the players.
PerkinsQuote Reply
(dying laughing), White Sox.
andcountingQuote Reply
Rizzo’s option——>picked up
PerkinsQuote Reply
Perkins,
It’s hard to be too happy about that when Daniel Descalso is taking his talents elsewhere.
andcountingQuote Reply
Happy fourth anniversary, Cubs championship! I didn’t get you anything.
berseliusQuote Reply
berselius,
It’s ok, I’m pretty sure they didn’t get us anything either.
uncle daveQuote Reply
Front row seats to the end of democracy without distraction isn’t nothing.
ceruleanQuote Reply
Vote jabronis.
Don’t tell me not to tell you what to do.
ceruleanQuote Reply
Already voted. The past four years have felt like two decades, and I’m not sure the republic survives another four that would presumably be even worse. The last time I felt this level of regular stress was when I was in Afghanistan, and that is just not sustainable.
PerkinsQuote Reply
(dying laughing)
berseliusQuote Reply
I’m really not looking forward to seeing the early poll results this evening. I know Trump is going to be well ahead in many states and it scares me what he might do because of that.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
He’s going to be humiliated. He’s going to melt down. He will cry actual tears on television. He will resign in the hopes that Pence will pardon him, and he will run away.
andcountingQuote Reply
I hope all of this is true, save that I’d replace “run away” with “pulls a Budd Dwyer on national television.”
PerkinsQuote Reply
Baez and Rizzo won Gold Gloves.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
I don’t have a high opinion of people in this country, but I am stunned at the results tonight.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
America’s a stupid fucking asshole, no matter what happens.
andcountingQuote Reply
Anyone who can look at the past four years (hell, the past four months) and be okay with more should not get to participate in self-governance.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Perkins,
I agree. I don’t know why, but I still find it hard to believe that Biden thought he could find the good Republicans out there who would support him. They do not fucking exist. It’s like looking for a good cop. They’re nonexistent.
dmick89Quote Reply
Trump’s strategy of “filling the channel with shit” has been remarkably effective. It’s sad to say, but his quick recovery from Covid both appeals to his perceived strength as a man and made the lie that the virus is not a big deal even more convincing to those ready to believe it. Couple that with his casting if Biden as part of the radical socialist left, and he scared even people with negative partisanship to make this close.
The worst part — fuck it, it’s all the worst part — is that McConnell will likely maintain control of the senate, fucking any plans to even be able to undo this madness.
ceruleanQuote Reply
I actually disagree with this. The vote should be mandatory. This idea of choosing who is “worthy of self-governance” — part of the foundation of our country that was used to justify the disenfranchisement of everyone not a rich white man — is one of our biggest problems.
ceruleanQuote Reply
Politics is meant to be boring, but the people want a show, even if a shitshow.
THE PEOPLE SHALL BE ENTERTAINED
(It keeps them busy so they can be bilked for profit)
ceruleanQuote Reply
I’d also be okay with mandatory inasmuch as ~30% of any group is apt to authoritarian messages, and that element needs to have its influence on the system minimized. That there’s higher participation in elections here among that group (e.g., white evangelicals) is a long term danger.
Also it’s remarkable to me that people like that could look at a career centrist politician like Biden and decry him as socialist without an ounce of critical thinking, but suddenly be experts at splitting hairs and looking for intent when you point out that Trump is a white nationalist and they implicitly are by association.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Perkins,
To be sure, the hypocrisy and blind faith of evangelicals boggles the mind.
ceruleanQuote Reply
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Why is it that voter suppression gets mentioned only before an election but not after? Do we assume because the turnout was high that voter suppression had no significant effect? Or could voter suppression be approximately as effective as the difference between polls and results?
andcountingQuote Reply
This should have been a FanShot
SKQuote Reply
All the networks are sure taking their time to call this election.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
CNN finally called it.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
As soon as it’s called, dumbass Republicans are saying the Democrats need to reach out to the Republicans and listen to them. Fuck them.
dmick89Quote Reply
SKQuote Reply
SK,
This too. This is going to be even more frustrating over the next few months.
dmick89Quote Reply
If I’m Joe Biden, I’m telling Mitch McConnell that I’ll Preston Brooks him if he obstructs anything.
PerkinsQuote Reply
berseliusQuote Reply
dmick89,
This. The Democrats ran their most Republican old white fart candidate and a law-and-order VP on a Republican-lite platform. A ton of right-leaning people voted against progressive policies that weren’t even in play while even more people voted for a ticket that represented no progressive ideas and a shit-ton of republican ones. Progressive, even liberal policies weren’t on the ticket. The Dems side-fucked the entire Republican Party and still barely beat the worst candidate in the history of elections. If reaching out to Republicans was a viable tactic, it would have been a landslide.
Not being Trump is the only thing that won. Keep doing that and get more serious about it.
andcountingQuote Reply
That and a virus that has officially killed a quarter million Americans. The real total is probably closer to 400,000 or more and will balloon to close to a million or more before this all over. Without that, even Donald Trump probably wins in a fucking landslide. You’d think the Democrats would try something different, but their quick attacking of progressives suggests otherwise.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
The virus actually helped Trump turn out his base. Like Trump, they are very intelligent.
Person, woman, man, camera…TV
ceruleanQuote Reply
There is a metaphor here somewhere (dying laughing)
ceruleanQuote Reply
cerulean,
(dying laughing)
andcountingQuote Reply
Tony LaRussa———>DUI (again)
PerkinsQuote Reply
La Russia was charged with a DUI the day before he was hired, stemming from an incident in February. Apparently the White Sox knew.
How bad did the Sox think Ricky Renteria was?
andcountingQuote Reply
andcounting,
Reinsdorf is gonna stick with his buddy no matter what I guess.
berseliusQuote Reply
berselius,
So weird when he could go to jail and will most definitely do it again.
andcountingQuote Reply
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
I am not necessarily surprised that bauer won the cy young, but I am surprised that the voting was so lopsided.
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
EnricoPallazzo,
almost makes me wonder if there are a bunch* of really shitty voters in the US
*at least 70 million
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/13/sports/baseball/kim-ng-miami-marlins.html
berseliusQuote Reply
Georgia just blue itself.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Theo——> elsewhere
andcountingQuote Reply
andcounting,
this is exactly the type of in-depth reporting that keeps me coming back to OV
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
andcounting,
I think it’s about time. I look forward to seeing what Hoyer can do with the job.
dmick89Quote Reply
andcountingQuote Reply
andcounting,
I know it was a different era, but that’s kind of insane.
andcountingQuote Reply
Ugh.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
happy thanksgiving, jabronis
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
Schwarber, Almora, Martinez, Tepera——->non-tendered
PerkinsQuote Reply
Thanks for the memories, War Bear.
berseliusQuote Reply
Len Kasper ————> White Sox radio
dmick89Quote Reply
The Kasper departure is the first truly shocking part of this offseason for me. I wonder if he isn’t a fan of Marquee.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Perkins,
Word is he wanted to switch media for a shot at calling the World Series. I don’t buy it, but whatever.
andcountingQuote Reply
The main thing I’m hearing about Len is not that he’s leaving over a conflict with Marquee, but that he wants a chance to call a World Series.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Agreed, definitely the first of these moves that got a WTF out of me.
berseliusQuote Reply
The “call a World Series” thing sounds like a line to me. On its face, I can’t imagine leaving a job with higher exposure, better pay, and greater prestige for a job that’s objectively a step down in all of those (except for the very long shot of calling a World Series game) absent some as yet unreported conflict. I suppose people go to tech startups from more stable careers all the time and this is analogous to that.
One thing that stuck in my mind from a broadcast this season was that Len mentioned during a broadcast on a particularly hot day that he and JD were still in coat and tie at Marquee’s directive. Not saying he’d quit over that, but it makes me wonder if it’s symptomatic of other parts of the culture that chafed him. Given Sinclair (and the Ricketts family) are kind of garbage, it wouldn’t surprise me.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Perkins,
Yeah, none of it would surprise me, but there is zero chance Len would ever say it. Hell, he might not even let himself think it he’s so nice. He’s never going to say the Cubs or Marquee were at fault, but there’s also no overlap whatsoever between Len’s worldview and Sinclair. That’s a world-class shitty employer to have if you’re anything other than a rabid conservative money whore. It’s definitely why he left, he just had other reasons he could give, even to himself.
andcountingQuote Reply
andcounting,
The Sinclair partnership was high on the list of reasons I gave up my season tickets. It seems that since 2016 the Ricketts family has been content to squander all that goodwill they’d built and remind the world who they really are. This team has not been very fun to follow for a few years, and losing Len Kasper is going to exacerbate that.
PerkinsQuote Reply
I mean, fuck Sinclair in the tooth, but I think we might be reading too much into that. They didn’t seem to have too big of an effect on the Marquee broadcasts from what I could tell. It was 670 The Score that was running fucking Newsmax ads during the season after all. Maybe that’s changing next year, I dunno, but I’d worry too much about projecting my own preferences onto this decision.
berseliusQuote Reply
berselius,
If Len wanted another job in TV he could have had his pick of the gigs, or probably just go to one of the other networks and have an easier schedule.
berseliusQuote Reply
Maybe this is just my subconscious defending itself for also working for a somewhat problematic employer (dying laughing).
berseliusQuote Reply
I have no doubt Len could have gotten another TV gig without much trouble, but it’s also possible he wanted to remain in Chicago after having been there for 16 years. There are a lot of jobs I wouldn’t consider if I had to leave New York.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Perkins,
I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up picking up a lot of the non-Joe Buck FOX Saturday broadcasts in addition to radio, now that Thom Brennaman’s career is likely thankfully over.
berseliusQuote Reply
berselius,
I have more reason to believe he didn’t want to work for Marquee as to doubt it. The bottom line is he left to do radio with the White Sox. There’s an argument to be made that he didn’t hate Marquee, but it’s quite obvious he didn’t fall in love with them. He was there for half a season.
andcountingQuote Reply
How crazy that a second and a half of open mic riffing put an end to Thom’s career? Of the years upon years of bullshit that father-son duo has spewed over the airwaves, it stopped after one phrase.
andcountingQuote Reply
New shit.
http://www.obstructedview.net/who-owns-the-cubs/
andcountingQuote Reply