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Pitching in this postseason has arrived, and in spades. For the most part, the losing side is hitting the ball, but just not scoring runs. 0, 3, 2 and 1 to be exact. The Cubs have mustered only 10 total hits across 18 full innings. the Blue Jays have 13 hits, but only 3 runs in their 18 innings. This is a mound-dominated blitz that desperately needs a change of scenery. That might help the Cubs, who are going home. But the Blue jays are moving from Missouri and boy, are the Royals fans gonna miss them......
Let's have more of them Playoff Links:
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Angels Baseball
Final Jeopardy: Arte Moreno changed the team name in a major effort to raise awareness of the team and increase advertising and television revenue. Some of that has happened. What has not happened, is an increase in awareness of the Angels among the general population as a whole. As evidence, consider Alec Trebek as he reads off the Final Jeopardy answer, only to stump the brainiac contestants. On the plus side, I suppose, would be that the ongoing dumbass joking by main stream media scribes has not reached the general population, either............
Jered Weaver: For the first time in his career, Weaver finds himself sitting in that outermost circle of hell where under-performing big leaguers go to spend their winters. Upcoming in 2016 is the final year of his contract, and his 2015 was the worst of his career. If he doesn't figure out a way to rebound, his days on the field are rapidly running out. The question here is which way is up? Does Weaver need to get even more wily, or does he need to bulk up even more, get stronger, and regain velocity? (And the whole world knows about Weaver's lack of velocity.) That latter option would seem to be a bad idea, since it just doesn't happen that an arm speeds up with age. So let's hear from our outgoing pitching coach, Mike Butcher: "I know he wants to get physically stronger and work through some things where he can. He battled through some things this year. If he gets some things figured out physically, he'll be fine." And now you know why he's "outgoing".............
Billy Eppler: Eppler is shit-canning Scioscia's staff, but this is apparently a good thing between the two men. I dunno, maybe it's still far too early for people to be making such assumptions. Or, maybe Sosh needed somebody to step in and does his dirty work for him............
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Elsewhere in Baseball
Arms Race: David Price would have been certain to be the cherry on top of this off-season's Free Agent cupcake until Zack Greinke chose to opt out of the back end of his LAD contract this weekend. Greinke is walking away from $25.6 million per year over the next 3 years in order to fetch himself a raise. It's safe to assume this is not about the yearly paycheck as much as it is about the desire for something more than 3 guaranteed years at superstar rates while he is still young enough to fetch those superstar rates...........This, along with playoff flopping, lops Price off the top of that cupcake. This postseason, Price is 1-2 with a 7.02 ERA over 16.1 innings pitched. Price, on the other hand, doesn't see his performance as any particular big deal.............
Bias: There's nothing sadder than an MSM-backed blogger whining about fans calling out MSM broadcaster Joe Buck for Buck's bias. It's not as if it is any secret that Buck favors the top dog flavor of the year. And he is happiest when that flavor is a Cardinals/Yankees/Red Sox. Just ask Giants fans...............
Just Criminal: Stealing is bad. Stealing from kids is wickedly bad. Stealing from underprivileged kids is an evil that earns formidable retribution from heaven AND hell. But stealing $90,000 from a Little League is so astounding as to distract me from the evil. Who are the other officers of this League such that one person can make off with $90 grand before somebody - anybody - starts to ask questions???..............
Jose Can You See?: Bautista Becomes Legend, gets his own stats trophy page...........
Souvenir Practice: If you want to improve your odds of snagging that foul ball, or better yet that home run, next season, get yourself to a batting cage and start practicing catching random balls. The physics says that you need to use the 50mph cage. or Jered Weaver. Whichever is most convenient............
Always Take the Out: Except for when it's only a quarter of an out. Andre Ethier should have let the foul ball drop. So says the math. "Ethier lets it drop, the count runs 0-2 to d’Arnaud, and runners are still on first and third with one out. In this situation, Murphy is no longer expected to score, because, in an 0-2 count, Greinke will likely retire d’Arnaud, and as long as d’Arnaud makes a non-advancing out, the Mets’ chances of scoring a run with runners on first-and-third plummets from 7-out-of-10 with one out, to 3-out-of-10 with two outs, due largely to the elimination of the potential sacrifice fly."..........
Un-Dead: Baseball is not dying, folks. Viewership of this year's playoffs is up 22% so far. "With a Cubs-Mets NLCS on tap for Turner, the Postseason as a whole will likely continue to rise – though Fox will likely be disappointed with the final numbers for their Blue Jays-Royals ALCS."..........
Yeonis Cespedes: When a New York franchise cannot be counted upon to retain a crucial upgrade they luckily got their hands on, and who has done little but demonstrate just how much of an upgrade he is, speaks volumes about the ownership of that particular franchise. How could the Mets even think about losing a Yeonis Cespedes to, say, an Atlanta or a Kansas City or Seattle or any number of lesser metropolitan revenue/media centers? It's hard enough to be able to afford big producers, but many times you don't even get the chance to find out..................
Star Wars: OT, but funworthy. The latest Star Wars trailer is set to be played during tonight's Monday Night Football game. Kinda like watching the Super Bowl for the commercials, huh? By the way, the theatrical poster art has been released, and it includes an updated Death Star in the background. And Princess Liea's got a new 'do, and looks particularly fetching for her 58 years of age..........
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