October 19, 2006
TWO FACTOIDS FOR TONIGHT'S TILT:
Cheer the players? Nah. Just crunch their numbers. (Peter Grier, 10/20/06, The Christian Science Monitor)
Old standbys like batting averages and RBIs (Runs Batted In) have been outmoded for years. Now, general managers and serious fans talk about QERA (an acronym for "QuikERA"), VORP (Value Over Replacement Player), and other measurements that sound like unheard-of species from "Lord of the Rings." [...]And when it comes to predicting the winner of the World Series, you can't [could?] do worse than go with the ex-Cub factor, invented by the late Chicago columnist Mike Ryoko.
(1) The last 11 home teams to win Game 6 and force a Game 7 have won it too.
(2) If Jeff Suppan were to win tonight he'd be only the second player in MLB history to win two Game 7s.
We'll send a book to whoever names the other.
MORE:
* Okay, we all know Tony LaRussa is a genius, but could he really not find room for So Taguchi?
* A major league hitter who knows fastball is coming and can't hit it (particularly when he's right-handed, the pitcher is left-handed, and the pitch is a strike in the low 90s) shouldn't be in the game.
* Does LaRussa really think it's going to be a 2-1 game? That squeeze seems odd, no matter how bad a hitter the pitcher is and Suppan isn't bad.
* Shouldn't it be Oliver's New Model Army?
* Anyone have any idea why Luis Gonzalez thinks you pitch to Pujols with the runner on 3b but not 2b?
* Toy poodles? That's no way to win Denzel.
* Imagine trying to get Gil Hodges to do an on-air interview in the middle of the game?
* Isn't Eric Gregg dead?
* They'll certainly hit for Perez leading off next inning, so he just needs to get 3 outs before Pujols comes up.
* How can Willie not have a right-hander ready to face Pujols?
* There's only one rule for facing a Cards team that's this bad--don't give Albert Pujols a chance to beat you. Just because Willie got away with it that time doesn't make it a sensible decision, especially when you're just going to hit for him.
* Someone wanna tell Preston he's not in CF tonight?
* So why don't they just brew regular Bud longer?
* Rolen can't hit a high fastball and you've got a submariner ready to face him?
* Holy Crap!
* How do you let the guy most likely to K on your roster hit here?
* Okay, maybe he is a genius and it is going to be a 2-1 game....
* or 3-1...
* of course, Adam Wainwright is hardly a sure thing.
* ...but that's a big league curve...
* Who's the last closer to rely on his curve as an out pitch, Gregg Olson?
* Gotta be thinkin' Tigers in three.
Posted by Orrin Judd at October 19, 2006 8:11 PMBob Gibson 1964 v. NY Yankees, 1967 v. Boston Red Sox
Bob Gibson. I'm not surprised. I saw him pitch a no-hitter in Pittsburgh in 1970 or 71.
Posted by: Mike Morley at October 19, 2006 9:54 PMEdmonds bomb leading off the 9th to win it, and send the Mets faithful to the 7 train in tears?
Posted by: Jim in Chicago at October 19, 2006 11:17 PMEdmonds bomb...
I read that posting about 30sec before Molina's real one.
Holy Molina!
Unless Mookie's in the building it looks like a repeat of '68.
Gotta admit, it'll look classier out there in the Series, uniformwise, without the hideous blue and orange of the Metropolitans.
Posted by: Jim in Chicago at October 19, 2006 11:27 PMBlasted Wainwright. Get a friggin out ya bum.
Posted by: Jim in Chicago at October 19, 2006 11:36 PMI've gone fetal.
Posted by: Pepys at October 19, 2006 11:43 PMMy brother's mewling in the corner....
Posted by: Pepys at October 19, 2006 11:46 PMRedbirds!!!
Posted by: Pepys at October 19, 2006 11:48 PMHeck of a pitch to Beltran.
Posted by: Jim in Chicago at October 19, 2006 11:49 PMThe A's were using Duch-whathisname as a closer in the 2nd 1/2, no?, and his curve is his out pitch.
I'm hoping for a Tigers sweep. Not just b/c I dislike smarty-pants Larussa, but because it won't be nearly as embarrassing for the Yanks if they were the only team to take a game off the Tigers.
Posted by: Jim in Chicago at October 19, 2006 11:54 PMWhile I don't expect us to win the series against the Tigers you'll forgive me if I want to see us win a game or two before we fall on our bats, won't you Jim?
I've already seen the Cards go down in 4 straight to the Red Sox, I don't really fancy seeing them go down in 4 to the Tigers, even though it's likely. Still, here's hoping Suppan keeps pitching like he has, if the bats don't fall silent that should be at least one win for us.
Posted by: Robert Modean at October 20, 2006 12:33 AMGotta be thinkin' Tigers in three.
Already got my grandfather's phone number on speed-dial so I can congratulate him.
Posted by: Matt Murphy at October 20, 2006 4:58 PM