BASE-BALL

[Flint1979]

The Bruins never really bothered me but they have Jack Edwards for an announcer so there's that.

[Alps]

I'd love to see the Red Sox fold the franchise and Boston fall into the sea.

FTFY

An entire major city shouldn't cease to exist due to not liking a sports team. Foxborough would be more appropriate for your comment (with a snowstorm, since it doesn't touch the ocean) – the town isn't known for anything else, and the Patriots have had scandals instead of it just being a personal dislike.

I don't think you fully appreciate sports hate

To expand on that thought: before ESPN, everybody hated the Yankees and Cowboys. Then ESPN came around and was staffed almost entirely by Boston sports fans. As the Red Sox and Patriots got good, that's all you ever heard about on ESPN. The rest of the country outside of New England quickly got sick and tired of hearing about those teams.

When you add in that David Ortiz failed a steroids test and the Patriots pretty much got away scot-free with cheating, and yeah, the rest of the country really hates Boston sports.

The only thing that never really changed is that Boston College is still the #1 destination for kids who got wait-listed at Notre Dame.

Oddly I'm a BC fan. They were good when I was up there and I didn't have a rival fandom.

[Henry]

The bad news: No Cubs in the postseason

The good news: The White Sox made it; I was happy for them when they won the 2005 Series

[gr8daynegb]

Now to wait for Giants and/or Dodger fans complaining they have to play a winner takes all game vs the Cards if the don't win the division.

And after that winner takes all Wild Card game cue the griping that the 100+ wins winner of the NL West for the NLDS either plays another 100+ wins team or the hottest team in baseball, and the Brewers gets to play NL East winner who will have worst NL record of any team in the NL playoffs at that point(Cards being the 2nd wildcard really have no right to gripe IMO in the NLDS in how this is all seeded......feeling the "Maybe next time win your division" will be used quite a bit soon

[NWI_Irish96]

Now to wait for Giants and/or Dodger fans complaining they have to play a winner takes all game vs the Cards if the don't win the division.

And after that winner takes all Wild Card game cue the griping that the 100+ wins winner of the NL West for the NLDS either plays another 100+ wins team or the hottest team in baseball, and the Brewers gets to play NL East winner who will have worst NL record of any team in the NL playoffs at that point(Cards being the 2nd wildcard really have no right to gripe IMO in the NLDS in how this is all seeded......feeling the "Maybe next time win your division" will be used quite a bit soon

The other side of that coin is that the NL West winner gets to play a team who had to burn their best starting pitcher to win the wild card game, where the Brewers will face a team who doesn't have to do that.

[Roadgeekteen]

Now to wait for Giants and/or Dodger fans complaining they have to play a winner takes all game vs the Cards if the don't win the division.

And after that winner takes all Wild Card game cue the griping that the 100+ wins winner of the NL West for the NLDS either plays another 100+ wins team or the hottest team in baseball, and the Brewers gets to play NL East winner who will have worst NL record of any team in the NL playoffs at that point(Cards being the 2nd wildcard really have no right to gripe IMO in the NLDS in how this is all seeded......feeling the "Maybe next time win your division" will be used quite a bit soon

In my opinion, the MLB should add a third wild card team and do a best of 3 wild card round with seeds 3-6 and then do a best of 7 DS CS and WS. Kind of like the old MLB playoff format. The easiest would be to go to 8 teams per conference but that's a lot of teams.

[triplemultiplex]

Yech, the expansion to 2 wild card teams was superfluous enough.
Under the old system, LA and SF would have best of 5 series in round one this year and that would have been entertaining.

Nice to see MKE finally wrap up the division.
But what is the deal with StL?  Seems like every season, no matter how shitty they are most of the year, somehow they're always sniffing around come September.  It's really annoying.
I guess it was just to show the Yankees what time of year to go on a streak.

[Roadgeekteen]

Yech, the expansion to 2 wild card teams was superfluous enough.
Under the old system, LA and SF would have best of 5 series in round one this year and that would have been entertaining.

Nice to see MKE finally wrap up the division.
But what is the deal with StL?  Seems like every season, no matter how shitty they are most of the year, somehow they're always sniffing around come September.  It's really annoying.
I guess it was just to show the Yankees what time of year to go on a streak.

Four teams per conference making the playoffs is neater I will admit, but it's way too little. Some teams with high 90s wins would miss out, like the 97 win 2015 Cubs. That shouldn't happen especially when the 83 win Cardinals won the world series in 2006.

[gr8daynegb]

Now to wait for Giants and/or Dodger fans complaining they have to play a winner takes all game vs the Cards if the don't win the division.

And after that winner takes all Wild Card game cue the griping that the 100+ wins winner of the NL West for the NLDS either plays another 100+ wins team or the hottest team in baseball, and the Brewers gets to play NL East winner who will have worst NL record of any team in the NL playoffs at that point(Cards being the 2nd wildcard really have no right to gripe IMO in the NLDS in how this is all seeded......feeling the "Maybe next time win your division" will be used quite a bit soon

In my opinion, the MLB should add a third wild card team and do a best of 3 wild card round with seeds 3-6 and then do a best of 7 DS CS and WS. Kind of like the old MLB playoff format. The easiest would be to go to 8 teams per conference but that's a lot of teams.

I think 10 teams making it the the playoff as setup right now is about as far as I'd go.

I'd be more for the 8 team playoff(3 division winners, 1 wildcard each league) before the expansion but so far the 10 team playoffs is getting the desired results of making winning the division as what your team strives to do.

This will be a playoffs the Giants and Dodgers will whine about as:
#1- Brewers(3rd best record) and Cardinals(2nd Wildcard most likely) will have plenty of time to alter rotations to what they want for the playoffs and Dodgers and Giants have to likely play their best for the rest of the season(and maybe a game 163.
#2- A 100+ win team could be done after one playoff game(Networks will push if LA gets eliminated.....no Scherzer, Kershaw etc etc)
#3- The winner of the NL West gets to play another 100+ wins team or Cardinals as hottest team in MLB and there is no reseeding based on records.


But many will say system works for lot of same reasons.  NL West keeps those teams playing instead of being on autopilot(the pressure of best of 5 vs best of 1).  Under old system Cardinals would not kept playing as hard. 

Could be worse for all teams if we went pre mid 1990's and was only East and West in the AL and NL and only the division winner went........I still remember Lasorda with his old school Dodger blue roots cheering a Dodgers win on game 162 vs the Giants keeping that years 100+ win team out of the playoffs

[Flint1979]

Yech, the expansion to 2 wild card teams was superfluous enough.
Under the old system, LA and SF would have best of 5 series in round one this year and that would have been entertaining.

Nice to see MKE finally wrap up the division.
But what is the deal with StL?  Seems like every season, no matter how shitty they are most of the year, somehow they're always sniffing around come September.  It's really annoying.
I guess it was just to show the Yankees what time of year to go on a streak.

Four teams per conference making the playoffs is neater I will admit, but it's way too little. Some teams with high 90s wins would miss out, like the 97 win 2015 Cubs. That shouldn't happen especially when the 83 win Cardinals won the world series in 2006.

Well I can remember the 1993 San Francisco Giants missing out because wild card didn't exist until the next season which didn't have a playoff due to a strike and they won 103 games, the Braves won 104 and won the NL West that year.

[Flint1979]

And we don't want to make it so that half the teams in the league make the playoffs. 5 is enough from each league. I wish that the best team from each league played in the World Series like before 1969 then we'd really see who the best team was. All it takes is a team getting hot at the right time really instead of the true best team winning. The team with the 10th best record in the playoffs could win the World Series but over the course of the regular season (a 162 game sample size) they weren't the best team not but they got hot in October and won the World Series. Go figure.

[tchafe1978]

I think 5 from each league is enough, but what I do think should be implemented from last year is to make the wild card round into a best of 3 series. The one and done of the current wild card goes against the idea that a baseball season is a marathon, not a sprint, and to suddenly have to play a one and done defeats that.

[Roadgeekteen]

And we don't want to make it so that half the teams in the league make the playoffs. 5 is enough from each league. I wish that the best team from each league played in the World Series like before 1969 then we'd really see who the best team was. All it takes is a team getting hot at the right time really instead of the true best team winning. The team with the 10th best record in the playoffs could win the World Series but over the course of the regular season (a 162 game sample size) they weren't the best team not but they got hot in October and won the World Series. Go figure.

So you want to eliminate the playoffs? That would make 95% of the teams stop caring by August and make the MLB a lot more boring. Not to mention the lost revenue. That would basically kill of baseball forever.

[Bruce]

So uhh...could the Mariners actually break the curse?

I wasn't old enough for playoff baseball the last time they were in, so this will be new to me.

[jp the roadgeek]

So uhh...could the Mariners actually break the curse?

I wasn't old enough for playoff baseball the last time they were in, so this will be new to me.

If the Red Sox keep partying like it's 1978 or 2011, it's a possibility.

[Henry]

And we don't want to make it so that half the teams in the league make the playoffs. 5 is enough from each league. I wish that the best team from each league played in the World Series like before 1969 then we'd really see who the best team was. All it takes is a team getting hot at the right time really instead of the true best team winning. The team with the 10th best record in the playoffs could win the World Series but over the course of the regular season (a 162 game sample size) they weren't the best team not but they got hot in October and won the World Series. Go figure.

So you want to eliminate the playoffs? That would make 95% of the teams stop caring by August and make the MLB a lot more boring. Not to mention the lost revenue. That would basically kill of baseball forever.

Besides, it's not 1932. Back then, there were only 16 teams, and the top team in each league automatically advanced to the World Series. But now there are 30 teams, and the postseason is a necessity. It gives more variety, and opens the Fall Classic to endless possibilities. While I agree that there can be too much of a good thing (as an expanded playoff field would show), we can't go back to the way it was a century ago either. What worked then will not work now.

[Stephane Dumas]

And we don't want to make it so that half the teams in the league make the playoffs. 5 is enough from each league. I wish that the best team from each league played in the World Series like before 1969 then we'd really see who the best team was. All it takes is a team getting hot at the right time really instead of the true best team winning. The team with the 10th best record in the playoffs could win the World Series but over the course of the regular season (a 162 game sample size) they weren't the best team not but they got hot in October and won the World Series. Go figure.

So you want to eliminate the playoffs? That would make 95% of the teams stop caring by August and make the MLB a lot more boring. Not to mention the lost revenue. That would basically kill of baseball forever.

Besides, it's not 1932. Back then, there were only 16 teams, and the top team in each league automatically advanced to the World Series. But now there are 30 teams, and the postseason is a necessity. It gives more variety, and opens the Fall Classic to endless possibilities. While I agree that there can be too much of a good thing (as an expanded playoff field would show), we can't go back to the way it was a century ago either. What worked then will not work now.

How about a shorter season but longer playoffs like in hockey?

[gr8daynegb]

162 game regular season and the playoffs as is are fine.

[I-39]

162 game regular season and the playoffs as is are fine.

No, the regular season is too long. Cut out the month of April, start the regular season in May, end the season on September 30th.

Playoffs are fine and do not need expansion. Expanding the playoffs draws things out and reduces the incentive to get better (see the NBA).

[Roadgeekteen]

I do agree with shortening the regular season. Who has time to watch 162 games? 150 is enough IMO.

[NWI_Irish96]

With the TV money involved, shortening the season is only going to happen if the playoffs are expanded. The current collective bargaining agreement expires at the end of this season, so we'll see what they come up with. My guess is you end up with what we had in 2020, with 8 playoff teams in each league with the higher seed hosting all 3 games of a best of 3. That still incentivizes winning your division quite a bit.

[Flint1979]

So uhh...could the Mariners actually break the curse?

I wasn't old enough for playoff baseball the last time they were in, so this will be new to me.

If the Red Sox keep partying like it's 1978 or 2011, it's a possibility.

They were doing alright until they got swept by the Yankees which I don't mind seeing at all.

[gr8daynegb]

Big issue with shortening the season is players salaries are based on the regular season, not the playoffs as playoffs handled by a separate playoffs pool. So if the regular season is to be shortened either then either lost revenue will then be pushed to fans via price increases, or players have to be willing to take a pay cut based on percentage of games not played.

Players don't give back money unless backed into such a PR corner that they have to just to save face(think back to how the original PED suspensions were a joke and once in front of congress the players union and the owners once that was brought to them then all of a sudden the 50/100/150+ game suspensions came into play.

[NWI_Irish96]

Big issue with shortening the season is players salaries are based on the regular season, not the playoffs as playoffs handled by a separate playoffs pool. So if the regular season is to be shortened either then either lost revenue will then be pushed to fans via price increases, or players have to be willing to take a pay cut based on percentage of games not played.

Players don't give back money unless backed into such a PR corner that they have to just to save face(think back to how the original PED suspensions were a joke and once in front of congress the players union and the owners once that was brought to them then all of a sudden the 50/100/150+ game suspensions came into play.

Playoff TV money is shared among all teams, not just playoff teams, and the added TV revenue from additional playoff games would make up for lost revenue of a dozen or so regular season games.

[gr8daynegb]

Dumb injuries in baseball!!!..........baseball


https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/brewers-pitcher-devin-williams-likely-to-miss-playoffs-after-breaking-his-hand-punching-a-wall/ar-AAOYeDq?ocid=msedgntphdr

earlier part of story:

ST. LOUIS – The Milwaukee Brewers' postseason chances took a huge hit Wednesday, when it was learned that setup man Devin Williams will have to undergo surgery on his fractured right throwing hand.

President of baseball operations David Stearns said Williams likely will require surgery to place a plate in his hand to help repair the fracture, and that the injury "is likely to keep him out for the remainder of the season."

Williams told reporters before Wednesday's game that the injury was self-inflicted — he punched a wall out of anger after having "a few drinks" following Sunday's celebration of the team clinching the National League Central.

"After our celebration, I went out to have a few drinks and on my way home I was a little frustrated, upset, and I punched a wall," Williams said. "That's how it happened.

"I'm pretty upset with myself. There's no one to blame but me. I feel like I've let the team down, the coaching staff, the fans, everyone. I know how big a role that I play on this team and there's a lot of people counting on me.




Now us Brewers fans will want to wrap Hader in Bubble wrap to prevent same thing......or Brewers will need non-alcoholic champagne celebrations from here on out