MLB Playoffs 2022

14Red said:
Couldn't help watching the Phillies/ Padres series and just noticing that very few of the "regular" players in that series are rooted in these two teams. Really shows the state of baseball today. These two teams in particular have a combined payroll of over $490 million dollars. So these are "bought" teams. Now obviously free agency is and has been in baseball for decades so player movement isn't out of the ordinary. But we've never seen a time when some franchises are buying players left and right, forgoing the basic rebuild model. To help this, baseball has expanded the playoffs more than ever before and that helped both the Phillies and Padres as of the 6 teams that made the playoffs in the NL, they had the two worst records. Many seasons in the past, they would not have even qualified.
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Seems like you are finally admitting that teams need to spend money in order to win? Finally, it sinks in! :ROFLMAO:
 
wolves82 said:
Seems like you are finally admitting that teams need to spend money in order to win? Finally, it sinks in! :ROFLMAO:
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No admission at all. To me it's very sad that an organization can just go out and overpay for talent. Now, although they underperformed most of the season, the Phillies have caught lighting in a bottle here late and are in the series.
 
So...the World Series. What's your interest level? Will you watch the games if possible, are you not interested in watching at all?

I for one, will watch as much as possible, and I'll be rooting for the Astros. They are more home grown than most of the other playoff teams. In fact, the Phillies are the definition of attempting to buy a title. Many rip the Dodgers for their enormous payroll, the Phillies are much worse. They only have a couple of day to day players who are origiinal to the organization.
To me the whole Astros cheating thing is and was way overblown. Partly because it affected the Yankees and Red Sox, who of course runt he media in the east. The Pena kid has shown why Carlos Correa was expendable. Altuve, Tucker, Gurriel, Bregman, McComormick, are all home grown Astros.
 
I'll probably catch parts of the WS games this year, but probably won't sit and watch an entire game at all. Don't have a particular rooting interest. I suppose if I was pressed to pick one, I'd say I would probably be pulling for the Phillies, just because they haven't been this far in a long time.
 
Will I watch the World Series?

Game 1 Friday: Only if it’s on TV wherever I go out that night.

Game 2 Saturday: No chance. Will be watching football and going to a concert.

Game 3 Monday: On a side TV, with MNF on TV1 with sound.

Game 4 Tuesday: Yes.

Game 5 Wednesday: Yes, but on mute during the two-hour AEW Dynamite show.

Game 6 Friday: See Game 1.

Game 7 Saturday: No, will be attending Clemson-Notre Dame plus there are huge CFB games that day.

It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …
 
AEW Champion said:
Will I watch the World Series?

Game 1 Friday: Only if it’s on TV wherever I go out that night.

Game 2 Saturday: No chance. Will be watching football and going to a concert.

Game 3 Monday: On a side TV, with MNF on TV1 with sound.

Game 4 Tuesday: Yes.

Game 5 Wednesday: Yes, but on mute during the two-hour AEW Dynamite show.

Game 6 Friday: See Game 1.

Game 7 Saturday: No, will be attending Clemson-Notre Dame plus there are huge CFB games that day.

It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …
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For those conspiracy theorists out there, obviously the networks are not happy. While Houston and Philly are big markets overall, they are not necessarily national baseball markets. I'm sure a Yankee/ Dodger series would had been much better viewed.
The Phillies come in as pretty big underdogs, they've ridden the wave of a hot few weeks of postseason, which is exactly what baseball wanted with the wild card.
Unless my football team is on, I'll likely watch as many innings as possible. The World Series is just that the cream of the baseball season. I like football as much as anyone, but a regular season college / pro football game isn't as compelling.

What a AEW Dynamite show?
 
AEW Champion said:
Will I watch the World Series?

Game 1 Friday: Only if it’s on TV wherever I go out that night.

Game 2 Saturday: No chance. Will be watching football and going to a concert.

Game 3 Monday: On a side TV, with MNF on TV1 with sound.

Game 4 Tuesday: Yes.

Game 5 Wednesday: Yes, but on mute during the two-hour AEW Dynamite show.

Game 6 Friday: See Game 1.

Game 7 Saturday: No, will be attending Clemson-Notre Dame plus there are huge CFB games that day.

It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …
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It was smart for the MLB to skip Sundays in the schedule. I'll likely catch a couple innings in most games, but not going to sit there for 3-4 hours per game.
 
wolves82 said:
It was smart for the MLB to skip Sundays in the schedule. I'll likely catch a couple innings in most games, but not going to sit there for 3-4 hours per game.
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Chuckled at ESPN last night, promoting 27 straight days of football. That's like ABC or NBC promoting 27 straight days of news, or the weather channel promoting 27 straight days of weather.
 
Oh Dusty... so Dusty Baker, the manager lamented on the fact that there are no American born blacks on either active roster for the Phillies or Astros, the first time in the world series since 1950.
First of all...how / why do people think this way? I grew up in the 70's / 80's, predominantly white neighborhood and schools. I never even looked at the color of athletes? My favorite team was the Reds and it didn't matter if it was Rose or Bench, Foster or Morgan, they were all Reds, players on the Reds and their job was to help the team win.
Fact is, baseball is a surburban game and many whites live in the suburbs and espouse values that lend itself to baseball travel teams. I mean let's be real. We know that in America, the most recent statistics are that 80% of black babies born in this country are without a dad in the home. That's a gigantic number. Now what does that have to do with this? Well, again, you are putting most black boys in homes with a single parent. Travel sports costs $$$.
Also, the percentages of latin born players continue to rise. Conversely, latin players from other countries do EVERYTHING to make themselves better at baseball. Weather obvioulsy has alot to do with it as they can play year around. Most MLB teams have baseball schools in the latin countries and the first sign a kid has ability, he's put into the system.
 
The latin players are also significantly cheaper for the MLB teams. They can lure a kid into one of their Dominican training centers, sign him as a teen and have control over him for the significant future for very little money. The American kid on the other hand has to go through the draft and costs them significantly more in signing bonuses, etc and they're getting him later in his development. Couple that with the proliferation of these expensive traveling programs and you've knocked the urban kid out of the game. It's a damn shame.
 
clarkgriswold said:
The latin players are also significantly cheaper for the MLB teams. They can lure a kid into one of their Dominican training centers, sign him as a teen and have control over him for the significant future for very little money. The American kid on the other hand has to go through the draft and costs them significantly more in signing bonuses, etc and they're getting him later in his development. Couple that with the proliferation of these expensive traveling programs and you've knocked the urban kid out of the game. It's a damn shame.
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100% agree.

You both make some good points, but beyond the $$ to play travel baseball, there is also just having the real estate for a proper ball diamond in the city. Even in Columbus, which has plenty of land, the Columbus City schools have mostly trash diamonds that are wedged into small spaces. When my son was playing, the City League schools always preferred travelling to our suburban schools, but when we did play at their place, it was sad. A couple of the home plate areas had essentially a chain link batting cage around the home plate area to keep foul balls from going anywhere into the street or neighborhood. The suburban schools in Dublin, Olentangy, Hilliard, etc. have huge complexes with multiple diamonds in immaculate condition. Its like two different worlds.

And it takes a big group who wants to play - at least 12 kids to play a little 6 on 6 like we did when I was a kid. The sad reality is that a lot of kids (of all races) just aren't as interested in baseball. Couple that with the financial challenge and lack of diamonds, the urban kids just are not playing enough to get to the top level.
 
I may catch a dozen or so pitches and then realize....man these games are too damned slow.

Flipped between hockey, football and the baseball the other night and it didnt take long until baseball lost me with how slow it is.
 
Yeah I flipped last night too. Turned it on the 4th with Astros up 5-0 and Verlander cruising. Then we watched a movie, then I noticed it was 5-5 late and caught the end. Great game, but even a lifelong baseball fan like me it is hard to watch that long. Game was 4 and half hours long! With too much dead time and too many pitching changes (13 pitchers total). Too darn slow. Sorry MLB.
 
I ended up staying home and had it on TV the whole time, but was half watching and mostly playing on my phone. And then I fell asleep on the couch in the middle of the 10th after Realmuto had given the Phillies the lead.

That’s just too many hours to actively watch a slow-moving event.

It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …
 
clarkgriswold said:
The latin players are also significantly cheaper for the MLB teams. They can lure a kid into one of their Dominican training centers, sign him as a teen and have control over him for the significant future for very little money. The American kid on the other hand has to go through the draft and costs them significantly more in signing bonuses, etc and they're getting him later in his development. Couple that with the proliferation of these expensive traveling programs and you've knocked the urban kid out of the game. It's a damn shame.
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And the latin kid will appreciate the opportunity to come here and play, regardless of the money while the American kid is always looking for $$$'s. I think the teams like that they latin players seem to have more commitment and loyalty to the game. Some of the urban kids come from tough backgrounds or have other sports interests. At the end of the day it's not up to baseball to force feed certain races into the game.
 
Watched most of games 1 and 2. What a comeback by Philly in game one? Down 5-0 early, Verlander cruising and all the sudden the wheels fell off and it was 5-5. What job by the Philly bullpen.
I'll tell you what, I'm a Reds fan, I'd take Framber Valez over about any other pitcher in baseball. He's special. I think he had something like 25 straight quality starts this season, 17-6, 2.82 ERA.
Not a Browns/ Bengals fan so I'll likely be watching the baseball game mostly tonight. I'll flip back to the football game some but I'll stick with the baseball game mostly. The door is open for the Phillies. I thought the Astros would roll through the series, but the Phillies can score and score quickly.
 
With a rainout tonight — shocking that the Northeast could have bad weather on Oct. 31! — it seems like this World Series has lost all momentum.

It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …
 
AEW Champion said:
With a rainout tonight — shocking that the Northeast could have bad weather on Oct. 31! — it seems like this World Series has lost all momentum.

It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …
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Actually, a good thing for baseball. The audience will be bigger tonight with MNF out of the way.
 
14Red said:
Actually, a good thing for baseball. The audience will be bigger tonight with MNF out of the way.
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Yeah, but now Game 5 is Thursday night, head to head with an Eagles game. And now Friday, which would have been Game 6 clear of any important football, is a travel day. Game 6 moves to Saturday night against Clemson-Notre Dame and Alabama-LSU, and then Game 7 moves to Sunday night head to head with the Chiefs’ SNF game. That is overall a bad trade-off for MLB.

It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …
 
AEW Champion said:
Yeah, but now Game 5 is Thursday night, head to head with an Eagles game. And now Friday, which would have been Game 6 clear of any important football, is a travel day. Game 6 moves to Saturday night against Clemson-Notre Dame and Alabama-LSU, and then Game 7 moves to Sunday night head to head with the Chiefs’ SNF game. That is overall a bad trade-off for MLB.

It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …
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For me, Clemson / ND doesn't do it. I think it may be a wrap by Saturday anyway. I will be watching my Titans Sunday night vs. the Chiefs, no matter what else is on. Thursday is irrelevant to me because I don't do Amazon.
 
14Red said:
For me, Clemson / ND doesn't do it. I think it may be a wrap by Saturday anyway. I will be watching my Titans Sunday night vs. the Chiefs, no matter what else is on. Thursday is irrelevant to me because I don't do Amazon.
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Well, next Monday, check the TV ratings. ND has the second biggest viewing numbers in NCAA other than Ohio State. World Series will definitely take a hit.
 
wolves82 said:
Well, next Monday, check the TV ratings. ND has the second biggest viewing numbers in NCAA other than Ohio State. World Series will definitely take a hit.
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Oh believe me, I understand that, doesn't mean we have to watch them. I feel like the interest in ND is waning though. It's going to be difficult for them to ever be a the top of the heap again.
 
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