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No baseball yesterday. After back-to-back-to-back-to-back just the day before, we get none. None at all. Why? Because the forecast for later in the day was rain, and lots of it. And this was known hours and hours ahead. So far ahead that MLB knew well enough to advance the start time. They advanced it to a 4:30 start (local time). So they could have advanced it to 4, or 3:30, or even 1:30. At 1:30 they would know for sure they would get the game played.
But they chose 4:30. MLB did that, not TV. And when 4:30 came, even though no rain was present, they delayed anyway. No sense starting something they couldn’t finish. So they delayed. And they waited. A long, long time. Until the rain finally did come. And then they called it off. And here we are.
Day Nine of Playoff-Links:
A Little Bit of Angels News
It’s because chicks dig the long ball. Chicks don’t love the long throw from shallow left field to nail the batter trying to reach first base. So the only thing that will come of Andrelton Simmons’ great season at the time of MVP voting, will be the fumbling and bumbling of voters who don’t know how to value him...........
This will come as a huge surprise to all of you, I realize, but it appears as though the off-season emphasis for Billy Eppler will be to improve the offense............
Yesterday we had an anniversary. Victor’s dad was released 40 years earlier, ending his MLB playing career. (11 years later he would be named Angels skipper, and last almost one full season.)..........
Arizona Instructional League Box Score!..........
October Baseball
Ok, so this is a wild one that will lead all over the place. By now you know that the Nats/Cubs game set for yesterday was rained out. It is set to be played today instead. ...........
Now this is kind of amazing. The rain did not sneak up on anybody. Even non-weather experts could see that...here...here...here...the list is endless. The game COULD have been played yesterday. They would just have to choose to play it at a different time, BEFORE the rain was to arrive. Nah. This was never even discussed. It would have pissed off too many advertising sponsors. Not the broadcasting station, but I wouuld guess more the MLB corporate ad sponsors. Besides, we’re talking the Cubs. And the Nationals...........But, anyway, this should have been the best news possible for the Nats, giving them one more day and putting Stephen Strasburg in line to take over the start instead of Tanner Roarke. They could be closing Games 4/5 with Strasburg/Scherzer. Holy shit! What luck!! Nope. Dusty is sticking with Roarke and not taking advantage. Because, Dusty?..........At first Baker just owns the decision, insisting on pitchers being “creatures of habit” and all that kind of stuff...........This left the MSM all confused...........The reason that Dusty is using to not start his best available, is “mold”. Shitty, damp, Chicago mold, forcing the entire team to move out of their hotel. That’s not the kind of thing that a participant overlooks..........But the truth might be even more curioser: that the Nats asked Strasburg to make the start after the game was moved, but Strasburg said “no thanks”..........And then, at the very end of our little tale, the Cubs will send out Jake Arrieta and the Nats will roll with Tanner Roarke. Can you tell the better of the two?...........And now we wonder, will a Strasburg be Ok for Game 5 tomorrow, if necessary?..........Did you follow all of that? I hope so. It took about an hour to sort it all out and re-order it and link it together...........
Actually, it used to be that the Red Sox only won enough games in an October to piss off somebody, not to actually win anything. We know..........
The Dodgers already promised not to pee in the D’Back’s pool after erasing them, again. No matter. The Phoenix Police Department have horses and, dammit, they are going to guard that pool!...........
As Jeff Sullivan does best, the worst called pitch of the 2017 playoffs. (So far.)............
Trevor Bauer, rather unclear on the concept of “fail”............
Everywhere In Baseball
Some MLB teams did very well on local TV viewership, and some teams did not. The two LA teams did not. The Dodgers have an excuse. The Angels have a reason, and it ain’t a good one...........But hidden in the data is a comparison between baseball and market rankings, and it’s clear that Baseball is rising............
TheRinger just stole my schtick. They want to tag Cody Bellinger as Baeball’s Velociraptor...........
The UtHAtB disease is spreading. (That would be Unable to Hold Attention to Baseball). More and more people think that live sports needs to mimic a sports highlight show...........
All I have to say about this Backyard Baseball phenomenon is that when I was a punk we had so many kids to play baseball in our neighborhood that they wouldn’t fit into anybody’s backyard on my street. Hell, we usually took an entire street and over three houses long. Of course, that’s when we had baseball fun for reals, and not via a video screen..........
The Duffle Bag
Beautiful. But these are the pros, which is why they are granted access...........This is the kind of stuff that pops up far too often, only to scare the shit out of us Angels fans who know what a Mike Scioscia will do with it..........Here is a gift to you that you shall need to bookmark, to return to often whenever you might be feeling a little down. Because nothing should lift your spirits as well as the sight of a Red Sox fan suffering defeat..........You vote. I like GRich............The Angels are hiring. You might want to think about spending most of your waking your time on something that actually pays real money, however..........Benji has a kid who is old enough to get drafted??????????
2017 IBWAA Awards Voting
As one who is privileged to lose astronomical amounts of time in the loving labor of providing your morning entertainment, I (as are others here on the masthead) am a member of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America. Not as formal as that fancy name, and nowhere near as recognized as that other baseball writers thingy. But, nonetheless, it gives me the chance to pretend to be serious. So, as serious as I have time to be, here are my 2017 awards ballot results and reasoning...........
My vote for National League Cy Young Award Winner is Max Scherzer.
See how easy all this has become? Hasn’t this, for the most part, just been a series of “Duh.” moments? Scherzer lead all National League starters in fWAR, Complete Games, Strikeouuts, WHIP (second year in a row), H/9 (second year in a row). He’d probably lead in BAPIP too had Lance Lynn of the Cards thrown as many innings. In fact, of all the main FanGraphs pitching categories, Scherzer is in the Top 10 - if not the Top 5 - in every category.
Clayton Kershaw had the better ERA, but lost 6 whole weeks worth of innings to injury. He’s the Mike Trout story, but without the September slump. Stephen Strasburg was injured for a strong, too. Zack Greinke had a great rebound season, but not as strong as Scherzer.
Runners up to Scherzer were, in order, Zack Greinke, Stephen Strasburg, Clayton Kershaw and Jimmy Nelson.