MLB 2019 Playoffs

[Robert 21]

Classic Playoff Ending....Game 6 NY @ HOU
HOU Up 3 Games to 2

Go to the 5:58 Mark on the Video

https://youtu.be/77jKOQVIH3Y

12:17 a.m. Bot 9th NY 4 HOU 4 Man on 1st 2 Outs
Altuve Up 2-2 Count
Blasts Walk Off HR to CF
Final NY 4 HOU 6
HOU Wins Series 4-2
Altuve Voted ALCS MVP
Will face WSH Tue 10/22 @ HOU


Let’s Go NATs (former Expos)


***DO YOUR JOB***

 

[No_Church_InThe_Wild]

Casual baseball fan here , but I thoroughly enjoyed watching the last 3 innings of yesterday’s game between the Yankees and Astro’s. Dramatic ending in the bottom of the 9th with the NYY tying it and then Altuve blasting a walk off home run on a 2-2 count when all the momentum had seemingly shifted to the visiting team .
I thought we where surely going to get extra innings but it was not to be , the smiling face of Aroldis Chapman said it all as he looked stunned .

 

[GaryH]

As baseball looks for different ways to make the game more interesting for all viewers, these two young ladies at last night's World Series game brought some late inning lightning to a blowout game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HjKW0VfUzM

And now the rest of the story:

https://nypost.com/2019/10/28/julia...y-after-flashing-gerrit-cole-at-world-series/

Oh for the days of the kissing bandit!

 

[EagerBeaver]

Cole wasn’t really distracted. Another dominant performance by Gerrit.

 

[hungry101]

Has there ever been a 7 game series in any sport where the visiting team went 7-0? I would pay to see JuliaRose!

 

[GaryH]

Great World Series. Always like to see underdogs come up big in the clutch. I saw the Ryan Zimmerman interview after the game and he was introduced as the Nationals 1st draft selection. He replied - "Almost an Expo." Oh what might have been!

Strasburg voted MVP. Mmmm. I think the series turned on Julia Rose's dramatic emergence in game 5. She inspired the team to win game 6 and game 7. Kind of like the black cat at the September 9, 1969 Mets - Cubs game that spooked the Cubs and inspired the Mets onto the World Series. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAtniVkVQHQ

Others agree - “One can make the argument that @JuliaRose_33’s perfect boobs willed a team to a World Series title. How can you not be romantic about baseball?” sports commentator Kayve Smith tweeted. Can't understand why Gerrit Cole blocked her on twitter. I bet that never happened to Julia before.

Fox ought to capitalize on this and make this into a regular part of their MLB games. Combine it with the Masked Singer and have a Masked Flasher and have people text in their guess as to what celebrity the flasher is. LOL.

 

[jalimon]

Congratulations to the Montreal / Washington Expos / Nationals on the World Series.

Haha Patron even myself I had forgot that the Nationals used to be the Expos!

Seemed like a great game. Only watch part of it as I was watching Toronto beat Atlanta in the MLS East final In the past 4 years Toronto and Seatle will face each other for the 3rd time in the final game!

 

[EagerBeaver]

Although Julia Rose is hot and has great tits, she was appropriately banned by MLB as a hazard to the safety of the batter. Had she succeeded in distracting Cole and he hurled a distracted 99 mph fastball at the batter’s head, it could have killed or seriously injured him.

If she had flashed the tits at some other point when time was called or during a stoppage in play it would have been better.

 

[GaryH]

Are the Houston Astros the MLB version of the New England Patriots?

"The Athletic reported Tuesday that the Astros stole signs during home games in real time in 2017. According to the report, Houston set up a camera in center field to zero in on catcher's signs, which were then relayed to batters by having team employees bang on a trash can in the tunnel near the team's dugout.

The report cited four people who were with the Astros during 2017, including former pitcher Mike Fiers."

Sounds pretty blatant - https://twitter.com/Jomboy_/status/1194348775965437952?s=20

I saw an interview with the Washington Nationals pitching coach prior to the 2019 WS, and he said they were making adjustments to prevent sign stealing by the Astros. And to think that the Astros were presented as the ideal team very recently. They need a stiff penalty like losing their next 5 #1 draft picks.

 

[EagerBeaver]

They probably will be required to forfeit draft picks but the media is playing this into being more of an advantage than it really is. Sign stealing has been going on in baseball for 100 plus years. Teams know when other teams are doing it or can figure it out and enact countermeasures. Beyond this at the MLB level, even if you know a fastball is coming, you still have to hit it and if it’s a late moving fastball up in the strike zone, a guy can know it’s coming and still get gassed. Same thing with wicked curveballs.

 

[GaryH]

It's not just the media. Listen to what other baseball players are saying. And if it didn't help them, why chance doing it? (Then again the Washington Nationals figured out the 2019 version.) Sign stealing has been going on for years and is O.K. Except when you use technology and cameras to aid the sign stealing. From my limited years of playing in high school, knowing if it was a fastball or slow breaking stuff would surely help timing the pitch.

 

[EagerBeaver]

GaryH,

There may be some merit to what you are posting on the advantage but there is also a backstory here that isn’t being widely discussed. Jeffrey Luhnow and the Astros front office have been widely despised by those in the baseball industry for some time. The Cardinals were so suspicious of him that when he left there one of the Cardinals front office execs went to jail for trying to hack info from the Astros computer databases. Some of that is jealousy and some of it is that there is a certain arrogance in how the Astros have conducted business, as recently illustrated by the Brandon Taubman debacle which is the subject of a separate investigation by MLB into both Taubman and the Astros front office crafting of the statement that went out after the Taubman incident. Because there is no shortage of love lost with the Astros, others in baseball are refueling these allegations. I believe Mike Fiers motivation in going to the media was he genuinely believed it’s a dishonest practice, but there have been recurrent cycles of allegations against the Astros and it’s being fueled by a lot of animosity within the industry. Where there is smoke there may be some fires, and now that there are 2 separate MLB investigations we will find out how much fire. They will probably lose a couple of draft picks, not 5 #1 picks.

 

[No_Church_InThe_Wild]

I’m a casual baseball fan but even I know that stealing signs is practiced in MLB by almost every team . Using technology though is probably much more frowned upon as it does give any team a bigger advantage I suppose . Also like EB said the Houston organization in recent years is not liked in the baseball industry so that didn’t help much .
The funny thing is that if this spying technology of stealing signs was so advantageous why weren’t the Astros able to win a single game when it mattered the most ? After having the best home record in the league they ended up losing all 4 of their games at Minute Maid Park . Not much of an advantage after all or was it just bad karma

 

[EagerBeaver]

I was surprised the Astros lost the World Series, as I felt going into the MLB playoffs that they had the best team in either league. Their bullpen was a little inconsistent and Will Smith giving up crucial 2 run HRs in back to back games is what ultimately did them in, that and they came up against a team that pitched as well as they did. The Nats were believed to have the weakest bullpen of any team in the playoffs, but that was their only weakness and in the playoffs they managed to not get killed by it. It is basically a 2 man bullpen with Doolittle and Hudson but in the playoffs bullpen depth is not important if your starting pitchers do not get bombed and give you 6 every game.

Sign stealing probably did not play a role in the outcome and the fact that the Astros lost all 4 home games, which was unprecedented, kind of cemented that conclusion.

 

[GaryH]

NCITW - The sign stealing accusation is for 2017, the year the Astros won the World Series. There has been no formal complaint for 2019, although there were some who questioned it. Prior to the start of the 2019 WS, the Washington Nats pitching coach was asked about the stories of the Astros stealing signs and he said they were aware of it and they were planning on dealing with it. I didn't think much of it at that time, but as you said the Nats had no problem playing in that park.

EB- I also thought the Astros would cruise to a WS championship. And I don't believe there will be a significant penalty to the Astros if found to be true. And cheating will continue in baseball as it has for years because the penalties for getting caught don't match the riches for not getting caught. Such as PEDS.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Actually, this morning’s headline is that the 2019 Astros are being investigated as well as the 2017 Astros, and that fired assistant GM Brandon Taubman is on the witness list MLB will interview, as well as Astros manager Hinch and Red Sox and Mets managers Cora and Beltran, who were also part of the 2017 Astros team.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Rob Manfred Breathing Fire at Astros!

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id...says-punishments-severe-sign-stealing-scandal

 

[GaryH]

Wow! Manager and GM for Astros suspended for 1 year and then fired by the Owner for sign stealing. "Houston also forfeits its first- and second-round picks in the 2020 and 2021 MLB Drafts as part of the penalties. In addition, the Astros were fined $5 million, which is the highest allowable fine under the Major League Constitution."

I guess MLB means business when they say no more cheating.

https://www.mlb.com/news/astros-sign-stealing-penalty

 

[EagerBeaver]

Cora is going to get 2 years or more and also be fired. He was a ringleader and brought the scheme over to the Red Sox who implemented in 2018.

 

[GaryH]

Double wow! Just saw the Cora comment from Manfred:

Commissioner Rob Manfred said he was not commenting on Cora’s punishment as the Red Sox are still being investigated for using electronics to steal signs in 2018.

“Cora participated in both schemes, and through his active participation, implicitly condoned the players’ conduct,” Manfred wrote in his nine-page statement, which outed a lengthy list of wrongdoers. “I will withhold determining the appropriate level of discipline for Cora until after the DOI completes its investigation of the allegations that the Red Sox engaged in impermissible electronic sign stealing in 2018 while Cora was the manager.”

EB - You are right. Cora should get at least 2 years. Hinch was fired. Will Cora be fired?

This is disgusting. The teams in 2018 and 2019 that won the World Series will be found to have cheated to win. Major scandal.