2006 MLB Thread

[LloydLungs]

There's a big Hawk-gasm going on right now over Francisco Prior's arm troubles.

[Buccaneer]

Today was one of the those perfect days: Padres win, Trevor gets a save (only 4 to tie!!!), pushed a wild card contender further and and Dodgers lose. Got a huge, huge series with blue boys this weekend, haven't had one of those since 1998. Feel better that it's the Dodgers the Pads are chasing and not the G-men.

[k0ruptr]

I cant believe im actually saying this... but go indians!!? weird...

[Bad-example]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

Today was one of the those perfect days: Padres win, Trevor gets a save (only 4 to tie!!!), pushed a wild card contender further and and Dodgers lose. Got a huge, huge series with blue boys this weekend, haven't had one of those since 1998. Feel better that it's the Dodgers the Pads are chasing and not the G-men.

You had me at "Dodgers lose".

[JS19]

Originally Posted by k0ruptr

I cant believe im actually saying this... but go indians!!? weird...

I can't believe I picked the Indians to be in the World Series this year.

[Fouts]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

Today was one of the those perfect days: Padres win, Trevor gets a save (only 4 to tie!!!), pushed a wild card contender further and and Dodgers lose. Got a huge, huge series with blue boys this weekend, haven't had one of those since 1998. Feel better that it's the Dodgers the Pads are chasing and not the G-men.

I'm loving the NL West pennant race. Amazing how the Giants keep getting back into it. I don't know how all those old guys keep doing it. They don't play the Padres again this year (outside of playoffs?), but end the season with 3 against the Dodgers.

[Crapshoot]

Matt Cain is god. They showed the ML ERA leaders for the last month - someone is second place at 0.89, and Cain was... 0.26, going into today. In his last 48 innings, he has given up exactly 2 runs. That's bordering on frigging genius.

[Crapshoot]

Dola,
with the Dodgers/Padres series coming up, I'm torn between my rule against ever rooting for the Dodgers, and the best interests of the Giants. 4 Dodger wins would be great when it comes to the wild card (albeit division killers) - 4 Padres wins wouldn't do quite as much (but would open up at least one race). I guess one is left hoping for 2-2, with all the games going to 17 innings.

[Buccaneer]

A near perfect day in baseball. The Pads beat the Dodgers again, Trevor gets a great save and the Giants lost again. It would have been better if the Phils hadn't won their third in a row.

[Bad-example]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

A near perfect day in baseball. The Pads beat the Dodgers again, Trevor gets a great save and the Giants lost again. It would have been better if the Phils hadn't won their third in a row.

Glad to see the Dodgers lose. Giants didn't lose though. They were rained out.

[Buccaneer]

Getting too nervous. Man, it's going to be close.

Go Trevor.

[Young Drachma]

Ok Chris Young. Let's get the no-hitter.

[Young Drachma]

Joe Randa. What a girl.

[yacovfb]

Not the best timing there

[Buccaneer]

Pads need to give up some runs so Trevor can get a save chance.

Young had nothing left for the 9th.

[SackAttack]

Bucc, as soon as I turned the game on, he walked a batter and gave up the HR to Randa.

I'm trying to decide whether my bad-news mojo gets credit for the break-up or not here.

[yacovfb]

I thought the same thing during the Dodgers game. Sweet, homer...Trevor Time! That didn't end well

[Buccaneer]

Wins all that matter now (plus Trevor getting two more saves).

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

Wins all that matter now (plus Trevor getting two more saves).

That'd be cool to see- Hoffman ending his career with San Diego in the playoffs, the career saves record, and well on his way to Cooperstown.

SI

[Buccaneer]

Amazingly, Pads have the 2nd best record in the NL. The scary thing is that all it takes is a Pads loss, Dodgers win and a Phils win and they would be out of the playoffs.

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

That'd be cool to see- Hoffman ending his career with San Diego in the playoffs, the career saves record, and well on his way to Cooperstown.

SI

Do you think Trevor could get a Cy Young this year?

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

Do you think Trevor could get a Cy Young this year?

I dunno. You know how hard it is to get a Cy if you're a reliever- have to have an insane ERA and tons of saves by RP standards to go along with a pedestrian year for all other candidates. Sure, he's got the latter but the former- ~40 saves and an ERA over 2 really don't cut it.

At first blush, it looks like a down year for SPs in the NL when compared with their AL counterparts. Only 2 of the top 13 in wins (Penny, Webb) are in the NL. However, 5 of the top 10 in ERA, 5 of the top 10 in win shares, and 7 of the top 10 in VORP are actually in the NL but they haven't been able to convert those into wins which are sexy to Cy Young voters.

So, ultimately, I just think Carpenter will win it, barring something crazy in the last week, because voters are looking for the easy answer. However, Webb should be the one who gets the love.

SI

[Crapshoot]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

Do you think Trevor could get a Cy Young this year?

He shouldn't - he's not even the best reliever in the Padres pen this year (That would be Merdith). Its a shame to give the award to a reliever who's pitched 60 innings when the likes of Brandon Webb/Carpenter/Oswalt have pitched the way they have.

[Buccaneer]

But it has happened before and only thought of this because of the decline of Arizona (and thus, Webb). Mark Davis won the Cy for the Pads in an off-year for SP but that was in the late 80s. With all of the superb pitching performances over the past 15 years, it seems to be a shame to have an NL SP win it by process of elimination.

[Buccaneer]

TREVOR DID IT!!! What a glorious weekend in SD to sweep the Pirates.

[Buccaneer]

Too bad it's only going to get a footnote on Football Sunday.

[bosshogg23]

Detroit clinched a playoff spot with their win today. They also now have the top record in the AL(1/2 game up on NY) in the race for homefield throughout the playoffs.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

Too bad it's only going to get a footnote on Football Sunday.

Or because no one cares about the biggest bullshit statistic in all of sports.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by bosshogg23

Detroit clinched a playoff spot with their win today. They also now have the top record in the AL(1/2 game up on NY) in the race for homefield throughout the playoffs.

Yeah, those were a delightful pair of games to attend.

Went last night to a chilly, windy Kaufman to watch the Tigers put a 243.00 ERA on Redman (10 ER in 0.1 IP) and end the game about half an hour in. So, the friend and I who went said "we'll go tomorrow, it couldn't be any worse". Of course, the Tigers then proceed to hang 9 on Runelvys (well, 1 was on Wellemeyer) in the 2nd and effectively end the game. Ugh. At least the weather was really nice today, tho.

SI

[Buccaneer]

SAN DIEGO -- As Trevor Hoffman will be the first to tell you -- aw, hells bells, he was the first to tell everybody immediately after San Diego's historical 2-1 win over Pittsburgh here Sunday -- there is no becoming baseball's all-time saves leader without a whole lot of help.

"Individual success comes from team play," Hoffman told the sellout crowd of 41,932 and a live television audience in a simple yet eloquent statement delivered during the post-game ceremony following record save No. 479.

Closer Trevor Hoffman credits his teammates for his saves, all 479 of them. (AP)

The true testament to the depth of both those words and the man, though comes not from sitting and listening to him sermonize.

It comes from moments like these: Teammates, who can be jealous and petty when it comes to the success of others, instead fondly relate one story after another about Hoffman's work ethic and generosity. His manager speaks of him as if he were an extended family member.

Opposing players brighten at the mention of his name as though you were handing out gift certificates.

And the victimized Pittsburgh Pirates remained in their dugout Sunday, eyes locked on the celebration, in as classy a display of sportsmanship as you will see.

That doesn't all just happen when record-setting performers awkwardly pause from growing their egos to utter a couple of sentences they think might be politically correct.

As he was mobbed by teammates and family on the infield after inducing Freddy Sanchez to ground to shortstop to end the game, Hoffman went out of his way to step onto the mound, pause for a moment and wave his cap in acknowledgement toward the Pirates' dugout.

"It was a humbling experience," Hoffman said. "Anytime you feel you do something right, it becomes solid with something like that act of kindness. Seeing the manager, Jim Tracy, standing on the top step ... I don't think you can explain what it feels like when your teammates run out and also when the visiting team pays you its respect."

Fitting was the fact that Tracy was in the visitors' dugout for Hoffman's Lee Smith-tying save No. 478 on Saturday night and record-breaking No. 479 on Sunday -- though the manager undoubtedly would have taken Pittsburgh wins instead -- because Tracy was one of the men who managed Hoffman during the closer's conversion to pitcher from shortstop in the early 1990s in Cincinnati's organization.

Tracy was managing Double-A Chattanooga in 1991 when Hoffman, in his first season as a pitcher after two low-minor seasons as a good-field, no-stick shortstop, finished the season there after a promotion from Class A Cedar Rapids.

"Having managed this kid when he first converted from a position player to a pitcher and having had the pleasure to manage him, and I mean, it was 100 percent an absolute pleasure," Tracy was saying the other day. "I'm really proud of him, and when I'm not playing against him, I'm rooting like hell for him.

"He's a star in many ways. In many ways.

"He is, in my opinion, one of the highlights of major league baseball."

Commissioner Bud Selig phoned Hoffman in the aftermath of his feat Sunday. The Padres presented him with a bell trophy as the all-time saves leader, a piece of hardware tying in with his Hells Bells theme, the AC/DC rocker to which he has been entering games since 1998.

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"Overwhelming, to be honest with you," Hoffman said. "It comes as a very humbling experience. It's been fantastic to this point, talking about the experience of it.

"It's hard to put into words what it feels like, knowing it was the last game of the season at home and wanting to do it here for a number of reasons."

Between the back-to-back historical saves Saturday and Sunday and the do-or-die importance of each game now, Hoffman said on Sunday that "it's like we never went to bed." One day melts into the next, one game drains into the next.

Adding layers of intrigue to the day was the fact that the Padres are trying to hang onto their lead of 1½ games over Los Angeles in the NL West. As Hoffman was speaking at a postgame news conference, the Dodgers' Nomar Garciaparra belted his second walk-off homer in six days -- the first having come against these Padres on Monday -- in a win his team had to have.

"It's going to be a dogfight," Hoffman said of the season's upcoming final week. "That's the beauty of what we've talked about, individual moments will be pushed aside (as the team becomes the thing down the stretch)."

Meanwhile, as the Padres travel to St. Louis and Arizona to finish off their season -- if the playoffs started today, they would host Philadelphia in a division series -- they have to like their late-inning chances with Hoffman. Not only are his 43 saves tops in the NL, but what might be his most impressive number is this:

Hoffman's .895 percentage in converting save opportunities ranks No. 1 in the majors since the blown saves rules went into effect in 1988.

"When you become what he's become, the ninth inning becomes a theatre," Tracy said. "It's his arena. It doesn't just happen.

"When you talk about a Trevor Hoffman, or an Eric Gagne, believe me, the ninth inning becomes some kind of theatre."

For the Padres, it's become a Broadway production with a touch of community theatre thrown in.

"Trevor is like family to me," San Diego manager Bruce Bochy said. "He's been my closer since I've been here, since when I coached third base. My emotions were flying there, too. When he got that out, what this guy has meant to this franchise.

"We got to see history. This is a moment I'll never forget."

Being that it was the last home game of their season, the rest of the Padres, in that now-annual tradition, gave their fans "the shirts off of their backs" as Trevor Time merged nicely with Fan Appreciation Day.

There was one notable absence, however. They will be shipping their closer's shirt to Cooperstown -- along with the ball, Sanchez's bat and Hoffman's cleats from an afternoon of museum-like quality.

[dime]

when did they start giving out trophies for setting career records?

[dawgfan]

I'd hazard a guess that trophy was something commissioned by the Padres in recognition of Hoffman's achievement.

[Buccaneer]

Get'n there. Cards are in a bad end of season collapse. Glad the Phils lost.

[JeeberD]

Keep doin' your stuff, Padres. Keep doin' your stuff...

[sterlingice]

I was having a blast watching the Pads/Cards game last night on MLB Gamecast. Too bad it wasnt on tv

SI

[Ksyrup]

Damn Phillies. They're going to end up just short of the playoffs, thanks to the bullpen.

I hope the Astros can pull off the miracle comeback. That would be cool.

I like how Jim Leyland is managing these last few games - getting into playoff shape by bunting runners over, squeezing, testing relievers in key situations to see whether they should make the playoff roster (sorry, Andrew Miller, last night ended your chances...). I can't believe the Phillies passed on this guy a couple of years ago. Insane!

[Fouts]

What is up with the Cards? Larussa must be fuming.

[sterlingice]

Wow. Pujols may have just saved the Cards season. With the way these games were going tonight with the Phils and Astros in extra innings and Cards/Pads and Dodgers in close games, it seems like this is going to be a huge night.

SI

[JS19]

I sure hope it's the Cards and not the Stros in the playoffs. Although they may just be about a .500 club, I know i wouldnt want to face Oswalt, Clemens and Pettitte.

[JeeberD]

Good job, Brad!

[Ksyrup]

I know we'll likely see several firings beginning Monday, but am I right in thinking that there has not been a single in-season manager firing this year? That's got to be unusual.

I assume Girardi and Frank Robinson will be let go almost immediately after the season ends. Hargrove may be safe in Seattle. Perhaps Wedge gets blamed for the Indians' poor season. Showalter is supposed to be "evaluated" and it wouldn't shock me if he was let go. Anyone else on the hot seat?

[stevew]

Unfortunately this late season run has saved Manuel's job. I was happy that he started benching Burrell, and doing other things. But his management in close games sometimes frustrates me. I guess it's not his fault that his bullpen can't get it done.

The way I see it, the Phils will probably win 3 of 4, I doubt the dodgers will win only 2 of 4, so they will win the WC by a game. The Phillies may get lucky and force a playoff game on monday, but i'm not holding my breath.

[JeeberD]

Gotta love winning winning games despite only getting three hits...

[SackAttack]

Gotta love James Loney opening a can of whupass on the Rockies to give the Dodgers a 1.5 game lead in the wild card race for the moment (and a 0.5 game deficit in the division).

Eliminated Houston from the WC chase, though, so the central's only sending one playoff participant.

It's like a baseball Thunderdome over there now!

[SackAttack]

Just because I'm bored and have too much time on my hands, current "if the season ended today" playoff matchup outlook:

American League

Yankees (96-62) host Minnesota (94-64)
Tigers (95-64) host Athletics (92-66)

Tigers can eliminate the A's from contention for home field in the first round with any combination of two Tiger wins and two A's losses.

Minnesota has yet to play today, but they lead the A's by two games heading into play today. They can ensure that the #2 seed is the AL Central winner with any combination of three Twins wins/A's losses.

Basically, it's virtually certain that the Yankees and the AL Central champion will host in the first round. The question is where are the A's headed, barring a miracle, and whether either of the Central teams will wrest home field advantage throughout the playoffs from the Yankees, are the questions right now.

The Tigers trail the Yankees by 1.5 games.
The Twins trail the Yankees by 2 games.
The A's are eliminated from #1 seed contention.

The Yankees' magic # to clinch the #1 seed in the AL is 3. They have already ensured themselves no worse than the #2 seed in the AL.

National League coming up.

[SackAttack]

National League

Mets (93-65) host Dodgers (85-74)
San Diego (85-73) hosts St. Louis (81-76)

The Mets have clinched the #1 seed in the National League.
The Cardinals are on the verge of elimination from contention for the #2 seed.

The Padres' magic # to eliminate St. Louis from contention for home field advantage in the first round is 1, while the Dodgers have a magic # of 2 to do the same.

Scenarios under which St. Louis could win the #2 seed:

1) Padres finish the year 0-4, Cardinals finish the year 5-0 by winning their makeup game with San Francisco.

2) Padres finish the year 0-4, Dodgers finish the year 1-2, Cardinals finish 5-0. Dodgers win the West, Cardinals get the #2 seed and face either LA or Philadelphia (If the Padres or Astros were the wild card in this situation, they would face the Mets).

3) Padres finish the year 0-4, Dodgers finish the year 0-3, Cardinals play no worse than 4-1, Dodgers win the one-game playoff.

I'm uncertain of this one because I don't know how the one-game playoff between San Diego and Los Angeles would affect potential playoff seeding. A 4-1 record for the Padres would give the LA/SD winner a 0.5 game lead and the #2 seed if that game counts for purposes of seeding.

A 5-0 finish for the Cardinals under this scenario, if the playoff game counts, would give them primacy over the Dodgers, but the Padres would beat St. Louis on head-to-head for the #2 seed.

National League West

1. Padres
2. Dodgers (-0.5)

A Padres win tonight restores their 1 game lead in the division and gives them a magic number of 3 to win the West with 3 games remaining.

A Padres loss puts the Dodgers in a 1st-place tie with the Padres, giving each team a magic number of 4, and eliminating the possibility of a tie at season's end unless each team wins their final three games, or each team loses their final three games.

Wild Card race

1. Dodgers
2. Philadelphia (-1.5)

A Phillies win keeps them a game behind the Dodgers with three to play. The Dodgers' magic number would remain at 3 to clinch a playoff spot. A Phillies loss drops them to two games back with two to play and reduces the Dodgers' magic number for a playoff spot to 2.

The Dodgers' 19-11 victory over Colorado today eliminates the Astros from wild card contention.

It is virtually certain that the first-round hosts will be the Mets and the National League West winner. Potential first-round opponents for each team remaining in contention:

Mets
Cardinals (Phillies win the wild card, NL West wins the #2 seed)
Astros (Phillies win the wild card, Astros win the Central. Astros cannot finish as the #2 seed)
Dodgers (wild card)
Padres (wild card)

Phillies
Cardinals (see #2 seed discussion above. This is very unlikely.)
Dodgers (Dodgers win the West, #2 seed)
Padres (Padres win the West, #2 seed)

Cardinals
Mets (Phillies win the wild card, NL West wins #2 seed)
Phillies (Cardinals win #2 seed)
Padres (Astros/Dodgers win wild card)
Dodgers (Astros/Padres win wild card)

Astros
Mets (Phillies win the wild card)
Dodgers (Padres win the wild card)
Padres (Dodgers win the wild card)

Padres
Mets (Dodgers win NL West)
Phillies (Padres win #2 seed, Phillies win NL Wild Card)
Cardinals (Dodgers win NL Wild Card)
Astros (Dodgers win NL Wild Card)

Dodgers
Mets (Dodgers win wild card)
Phillies (Dodgers win NL West, #2 seed, Phillies win wild card)
Cardinals (Dodgers win West)
Astros (Dodgers win West)

I think I've got everything, and everything correct. Somebody let me know if I've screwed something up.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

Somebody let me know if I've screwed something up.

I'm just scared to death that you've just jinked LA by even contemplating the possibilities.

[SackAttack]

Ah. Missed one. The Reds can win the NL Central by running the table and having the Cards go 0-5 while the Astros go 0-3.

They can force a one-game playoff for the division if the Cards go 1-4 or the Astros go 1-2.

I have no idea what the hell happens if the Reds go 4-0, the Cards go 1-4 and the Astros go 1-2 to force a three-way division tie. Sure would be fun to watch, though.

I DO know that the Reds cannot finish better than the #3 seed, so they would travel to New York, San Diego, or Los Angeles for the first round.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I'm just scared to death that you've just jinked LA by even contemplating the possibilities.

I look at it this way. The Dodgers live to spoil the Giants' seasons, and vice versa. There is absolutely nothing I can do to spoil anything that the hatred between those two teams is incapable of accomplishing on its own.

So because the final opponent is the Giants, I'm not worried about me jinxing anything. They'll get there, or they won't, but given the history it's fitting that they have to get past the Giants to go anywhere in October.

[k0ruptr]

this st. louis game is amusing none the less 6-0 Brewers, and no outs with 2 on top 3rd LOL