That's what you get when you give big bucks to someone who is 112 years old.

Glavine's an easy scape goat, but if your bully hadn't blown the 2-0 lead after he pitched 7 scoreless against the Phillies a few weeks back, you wouldn't be in this position.

It's tough to pin this epic collapse on one guy who gave you a pretty good season on the whole.

All I can say is.... Jimmy Rollins .... MVP!!!!!

I'm trying to get a context of the Mets collapse - anyone know far up they were and when?

7 up with 17 to play...

I don't have a dog in this fight, but this is just downright silly. Okay, let's go over every Mets loss, and I am sure there will be at least one notable scapegoat in each one. Then let's blame the whole season on that one scapegoat in that one game.

If digamma meant this as sarcasm, then okay. If not... :rolleyes:

This seems to be quite the team effort. I will say that Glavine should rightfully get tagged for not showing up today, as should the Mets' offense. But neither by itself should be blamed for a lost season, at least not based on this game alone.

I never said the collapse was Glavines fault, but you CAN NOT get shelled in the first inning of the biggest game of the year

Meanwhile, the Brewers are up 6-4 on the Padres, and the Rockies are still scoreless with the D'backs.

So barring any miracles in the Phillies & Mets games, it'll be D'backs v. Cubs, and Phillies v. either Padres or Rockies.

That's exactly my point.

Astros beat the Braves 3-0 in Houston, bringing a couple of eras to a close as
Craig Biggio plays his final game and the Braves play their final game on TBS.

Well, then, there you go. :)

C'mon and meet the Mets, greet the Mets, be like every team they played in September and beat the Mets!

Phillies clinch!

god I wanna puke

Brewers now up 5 runs on the Padres.

The door is open for the Rockies to force a playoff tomorrow - they're still currently scoreless in the 6th.

Well, I see that the Julio Franco forces weren't strong enough to bring the Braves into the playoffs. But I guess they were strong enough to prevent the team that cut him (and didn't re-sign him) from making the playoffs. ;)

werd. (ATL hex officially in effect, since they sent Franco down to AAA.)

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hmm. I didn't know he was in AAA.

Looks like if anyone in the division cuts Franco, they won't make it. Thanks for helping with the theory. I hope Franco comes back next year.

Actually, he was a player/coach at Class A Rome (about 45-60 mins from Atlanta) for about a month before the rosters expanded & they called him back up.

Damn Mets. Unreal.

They need to hit the off-season and rebuild this team. Open the checkbook and make some deals.

Open the checkbook?

Beltran? Delgado? Martinez? Glavine? Wagner? Who am I missing? Along with the young talent like Wright and Reyes and Maine and Milledge. Honestly, spending alone isn't the answer for the Mets. Spending wisely is the better answer.

No way a team with this much talent in a sad sack league like the NL should not be in the playoffs.

I'm impressed with Rockies fans and their support of the team. Bandwagon or not, it's better than an empty ballpark.

Brewers played most of their regulars while the Backs didn't start some of theirs. Not fair.

There's an obvious difference between what the D'backs and Brewers players will be doing next week.

If you're out of it, I think you have to put forth your regular team in a game that matters, but if you clinched - you deserve the time off to rest for the playoffs.

I know that, it's still not fair.

Fair? If you're a manager, you're not worried about what some other team is doing when your team has already clinched. The DBacks have no dog in this hunt at all. I mean, they're not going to roll over, but at the same time...they're not trying to turn this into a tight game, when it's not a big game for them.

The playoffs are long, you want to get all of the rest you can get, while you still can.

And for the Brewers, they've already blown it and so, they're playing for respect at this point. There is no post-season for them, so this is a playoff game for them and so, it makes plenty of sense that they played everybody. Tomorrow, they're playing golf.

Go Peavy.

We're down to one game that matters - Rockies/D'Backs, 1-1, bottom of the 8th, Rockies have runners on the on the corners with none out. If they win, playoff tomorrow with the Padres.

It sucks that it's not on TV.

Needless to say, the Rockies won't be sending the Brewers any bubbly next year.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2847416

I guess for once, my stupid location actually counts.

The bases are loaded, with no one out in the bottom of the 8th. Helton just walked to load up the bases.

Garrett Atkins hit an RBI single. 2-1 Rockies.

Dark Cloud, you're funny some times.

2-run double for Brad Hawpe, 4-1 Rockies.

Sometimes? I'm probably funny most of the time. But why now?

I'm not a fan of the Rockies by any stretch. But it's on.

The DBacks are going to walk Ian Baker to load up the bases with no one out and two on in the bottom of the 8th.

Double play, end of the 8th. Rockies need 3 outs to force a playoff.

Few hours ago, the Mets season ended.

No outs, DBacks have two runners in scoring position in the top of the 9th.

Sac fly to center, 4-2 Rockies.

Two outs, runner advances to third.

Single over the head of Matsui's head. 4-3 ballgame. Wow...if they're gonna get it, they sure are gonna make a game of it at the end here.

Nice play to get 'em out at first. Rockies win.

He hit this cue shot just off the plate and it was fair, but Fuentes flew over to it and made a nice throw to get 'em at first, to seal the victory. They've played great baseball no matter what happens tomorrow.

I'd like to thank the Mets for their fantastic choke job which has really made the last few days of the baseball season worth following even after my team's elimination.

Plus reading the comments of Mets fans on here and knowing similar or worse is being posted on Met boards across the nation, great stuff.

Tom Glavine is such a hero, I hope he comes back to Atlanta this offseason.

I think the difference between baseball and the rush to the playoffs of other sports is that baseball is that there really is a sense of urgency. I mean, good teams get left out. In other sports, the Mets finish off poorly but get a chance to make up for it in the playoffs.

The Phillies getting back the playoffs for the first time since '93 (with Pat Gillick as GM, no less) shows me how far the Blue Jays have fallen. ::sigh::

Have they said what time the SD - COL playoff game will be tomorrow? It has to be on national TV somewhere right?

7:37 Eastern tomorrow. The game will be on TBS.

Nothing close to a clear favorite in either league, should be a fun playoffs.

I see a Yanks/Sox ALCS, and as much as most of the country would be annoyed/indifferent, it will be great baseball .

*tear* :(



So the Pads and Rox have a playoff for the wildcard, is that right? If so, GO ROX!!!

Glad to see the phillies make it. gotta root for Shane Victorino .

The best part about today is this:

Opening game of the season and the Phillies blow the game and lose and I get an immediate email from a Mets fan that I used to work with claiming "Another Phillies choke".

This is a guy who gets super defensive if you even say something that could be remotely negative against a New York team yet he shoots his mouth off at will. As mucah as I wanted to respond immediately I waited.

I just got to fire off this email:


After the opening day of the season you sent me an email about the Phillies choking in their opener. I hadn’t replied yet as there were still 161 games left in the season. I just wanted to get a clarification on the definition of choking. I believe there is now a new definition…..



It looks like Rollins was right…. “The team to beat”


Ain't Karma a bitch? :D

Woo Hoo. I have duckets to tomorrow's game. Should be a blast.

So disappointing. We coulda had a Joe Pesci moment.

What, pray tell, have the Braves done to deserve such a fate? I mean, we're already suffering with having only 2 halfway decent starters & a whole collection of guys that can pitch 5 decent innings or alternately get blown out after less than 2. What on God's green earth would the Braves need with another of the latter.

I'd just as soon see Nomo on the mound for Atlanta as Glavine.

I know. I'm just pissed at how poorly a team this talented collasped. The young talent provides a great core to build upon. The players just need to continue to develop. Hopefully they have quality young talent down on the farm to fill spots by Glavine, De Luca; as well as bringing some better arms to the bullpen.

Yeah, I can understand that. I was bitter last year when the Angels let their season go to waste, and I still remember '95 very clearly (a comparable collapse to the Mets' own). You have young talent that few teams in baseball wouldn't trade their own young talent for, and that's something to bank on, although right now, I am sure that doesn't help much.

So he struggled a bit at the end of the season, overall he was slightly better than league average, even if he continues to decline some he'd still probably be better than what the Braves have for a fourth or fifth starter.

The salary demands could make it not worth it of course, but part of what I said came out of the sheer joy from seeing the Mets collapse. If the Braves have some promising starters in the farm system that could be ready for 2008 or could find a bargain free agent or two I would prefer those options to Glavine.

Reyes hasn't been loved by Mets fan the last few weeks. I'm hopefully that he has quality off-season working on his game. A talented player with speed to burn.

With the new stadium coming in 2009, the revenues and profits they will gain should give the Mets more spending power. It will be interesting how they use it, starting this off-season.

top 10 player of the last 50 years my friend.

I'm still saying he isn't better then Hanley or JRoll. Third best SS in the East.

I should note that I was making fun of a Tim McFucktwit comment, and those views expressed were not necessarily those of stevew.

Yes, damn them and their 5th highest payroll in the league at over $100M. Time to open up that checkbook! :rolleyes:

SI

*groan* (but I liked it)

SI

Ok, so here's how it played out unless my maths deceive me:

1. Tampa Bay
2. Pittsburgh
3. Kansas City
4. Baltimore
5. Florida
6. San Francisco
7. Cincinnati
8. Chicago (AL)
9. Washington
10. Houston

SI

As I noted in a previous post, I was just venting off frustration.

Still riding a natural high from this afternoon. I don't even care that the Eagles look like crap tonight. I'll worry about them after the Phillies season is done (which I hope isn't for a few weeks).

Did I hear that the game tomorrow night it around 7:35?

God Damn Mets :(.

Minaya needs to spend on the pitching part of the equation. Peterson got great seasons from El Duque and Perez, but now some better talent is needed on that side of things... ESPECIALLY in the bullpen, which was the strength last season.

Playoffs or not, I an very proud of MY Tigers.

Next year.

How can you just blame the pitching? The Phillies certainly don't have pitching other than Hamels. The bullpen can blow up at any given moment, other than Romero (but his control worries me as he is not givine up hits but gets wild). Am I the only one who thinks that depth in pitching would go to the Mets if you compare the two teams?

......




Back to the better topic at hand... :D

Moyer gives everything that he has each time out and uses his experience well but since he is a nibbler he is prone to getting shelled if he is just slightly off when pitching at CBP. He is one class act though, that is for certain. I went to a game earlier this year and he starts near the dugout and signs autographs all the way along the railing before the game and really seems to enjoy it and get along with the fans. Seeing him getting choked up talking about how he was at the parade in Philly after the 80 world series and now being there celebrating the division championship while holding his kid was great.

Seeing Pat Burrell looking like a kid on Christmas morning as he anxiously awaited the last out, watching the team come out and celebrate with the fans, seeing Myers go into the crowd for a bit, Victorino being the eternal youth that he seems to be, Rollins grabbing a Mic to talk to the fans....


This natural high that I am on looks like it will last for a while. :D:D:D:D


Sorry, being a Philadelphia sports fan has not given me much to cheer about so I have to savour these moments.

I was pulling for them to knock the Yankees out of the playoffs. They have a good young core so they should be fun to watch for a while.

The question becomes, who is the NL MVP? The AL MVP, I'd hope everyone agrees, is obvious (A-Rod). NL MVP is harder.

On Win Shares (at least the more complicated Hardball Times version), David Wright of the Mets leads the pack with 32 WS. However, they didn't make the playoffs. Neither did Pujols' Cards, as Pujols second with 29 WS. Third place is a bit of a surprise and a NO WAY vote, Eric Byrnes for Arizona, even though his team made the playoffs (and finished with the best record), with 28 WS. After that, you get a 3 way tie with 27 WS for Carlos Beltran, Hanley Ramirez, and Miguel Cabrera, none of whose teams made the playoffs. Then a three way tie with 26 WS by Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, and Matt Holiday, all of whose teams made the playoffs, and Prince Fielder, whose team didn't.

If we look at adjusted OPS+ (according to baseball-reference.com), Chipper Jones finishes first with 167, but his team missed the playoffs and he missed too many games. After that is Pujols with 160, Fielder with 157, Wright with 153, and Cabrera with 152. After that, at 6th in OPS+ is Holliday with 150.

So it's a muddle. We may have to turn to pitching, where Jake Peavy stands head and shoulders above everyone else with a 176 ERA+. Second is Brandon Webb with a 156 ERA+. Pitchers normally don't win, because they have a Cy Young award, but this year it may have to go to the pitcher, especially if San Diego wins the Wild Card. For the record, Peavy has 22 Win Shares, because pitchers only pitch every 5 days instead of hitting basically every day.

I'm thinking the closeness of the NL race means that Wright or Fielder, even though their teams lost will get plenty of play for the MVP award. I think Fielder is a sexier pick because he plays for the Brewers and hit a TON of homers. Even though Wright is the better fielder and has better hitting Win Shares. The Mets collapse will hurt Wright. If the Mets walked in, Wright may have won it easily.

So I'm thinking it's between Prince Fielder and Jake Peavy at the moment with Matt Holiday being a spoiler if Colorado makes it in as the Wild Card.

Because if the Mets had any bullpen pitching, they would have won the NL East in a walk. The bullpen ERA for the Mets was the 4th worst in the NL in September.

The Mets arms ran out of steam in the final month. That is probably a result of lack of depth in the bullpen. Really, outside of Wagner, Heilman, Feliciano, and Smith there is nothing. Hell if Burgos could have stayed healthy, that may have been enough to clinch.

As the Phillies have better hitting than the Mets (look at the OPS+ of both teams), the pitching of the Mets needs to be that much better.

Jimmy Rollins = MVP

No. Chase Utley was the best player on that team.

I personally like to think that the mets pitching staff is the MVP, i mean come on without them, the phils wouldnt even be in the playoffs!

Which is another reason that a Phillie won't get close. Utley and Rollins cancel each other out (and not like I'd consider Rollins to be a good choice for MVP anyway).

Rollins will get 2/3rds of the Phillie votes (although I'd go with Utley myself), diluting his total and opening the door for the MVP to be Holliday if the Rockies win today, or for Wright if they don't.

I've never quite understood how to build a bullpen. Quite a few teams have tried to throw money at the problem and the only time I really remember it working was for the Yankees in the late 90s and that was before they were grossly overspending for it, just overspending.

For about 2 months of the season, the Royals cobbled together a great bullpen that bailed out some bad starting pitching and was the strength of the team. That with Dotel, rescued off the arm surgery scrap heap for $5M at closer. Rule V Joakim Soria ($380K) setting things up after previously being closer and moving back to that role after Dotel left. David Riske, a $2M setup man with an ERA below 2.50. And I suppose the key was Zack Greinke as whatever the heck they wanted on a daily basis as he could go up to 3 innings, pitched frequently, and was lights out. Then there was an assortment of other fluff like LOOGY Jimmy Gobble, Joel Peralta for the 5th/6th-ish, and some conglomeration of failed starters at long relief.

But the problem with bullpens seems to be a complete lack of consistency from year to year. You can lean on a guy one year and the next year, he's garbage and has to be shifted to a less valuable position, thus ruining any bullpen continuity.

SI

Well, as a casual Cardinals and Pirates fan, I'm glad the season is over. The Cardinals tried to make a run for the division title a few weeks ago, and then they had to go and shit the bed when they got close. They had no business being in playoff contention, and I'm glad they didn't tease me. The Pirates were terrible once again, but I think they're about to turn the corner. Changes in the front office could do wonders in Pittsburgh, and I hope that the Bucs are good enough to maybe win 75-80 games next year.

Sadly, I'm one of those fans who completely ignores baseball once my favorite teams are done. I just can't get into playoff baseball without the Cardinals being there. To the rest of you, I hope the postseason is an exciting one. I'll glance at the scores between periods of the hockey games, and I'll think of all you guys. :)

IMO Holliday deserves it, he carried that team the second half

Kerry Wood will be the story of the playoffs.

Rockies want it, I guess. Already 3-0 in the 2nd.

Hide the sharp objects in the Buccaneer household...

I'm actually going through my Civ4 game that I left off, making more notes. I do catch a little on GameCenter now and then.

Hell of a game so far...

Did I mention this has been a hell of a game so far yet?

Very nice play by Tulow... er... the SS.