10/18 ALCS game 5

[Yaz Fan Since 67]

Mainly, who?

 

HRam>> JDM?

 

Farrell>> Cora?

 

(Note: I'm not disagreeing.)

 

 

 

Holy Crap I literally forgot all about HRam. Haven't given him a thought since early summer.

[moonslav59]

Thanks for adding that you aren't disagreeing. i'm reluctant to actual name names because of the crap storm that it creates but hey.

I think that Cora has proven that he is the guy for the job but I don't dislike John Farrell at all. I think that he is a quality guy. With respect to the others - Sandoval and Ramirez both. I do not like players like that . But also the only reason I liked Manny was because he could hit. I tend not to like players who need to have and require constant attention - look at me kind of guys. I'm one of those guys who just doesn't like to have fun all that much. Not really but fun to me is watching a very close knit group of guys who don't crave attention either by the way they look or the way they act. When Martinez was brought in not only did they get a hitter but a true professional as well. For the most part these guys have shut their mouths and gotten the job done. I think that there absolutely no chance that a player like Manny Machado will be in Boston no matter how good he is. They don't need people like him.

 

I agree totally, except for Manny. I didn't think he was an attention seeker. I think he was just an immature kid (into his 30's) having fun playing baseball. Some of his antics did garner attention, but I do not think that was his intent.

 

He was a bit of a clown and had his bad judgemtn moments, but he took hitting very seriously. He hardly ever argues with umps or slammed his bat down in disgust after a K. He also was the first to the park more times than not.

[moonslav59]

Holy Crap I literally forgot all about HRam. Haven't given him a thought since early summer.

 

Neither did any MLB GMs.

[cp176]

I agree totally, except for Manny. I didn't think he was an attention seeker. I think he was just an immature kid (into his 30's) having fun playing baseball. Some of his antics did garner attention, but I do not think that was his intent.

 

He was a bit of a clown and had his bad judgemtn moments, but he took hitting very seriously. He hardly ever argues with umps or slammed his bat down in disgust after a K. He also was the first to the park more times than not.

 

We do disagree with Manny a little I guess but I have to say he was one of the all time great right handed hitters. I just saw him as being someone who required too much work. I respect how you feel about him and thanks for not going all pyscho on me for expressing a very unpopular opinion on here. It is the way people should communicate I think.

[S5Dewey]

You done good. Though I have to tell you I am one of the most naive older people that you could meet.

 

I'm in the running for that "honor" too, cp. You'd think I'd know better, too, given the number of times my naivete has bitten me on the ass.

[Maxbialystock]

Agree with cp176 that Farrell wasn't as awful as many claim, but I sure have to take my hat off to DD for letting him go and going after Cora, who all season long has been a big factor in this season's success. In the postseason, if anything, he got better, which was hard to do.

 

Last night to me was the throwaway game, the one the Astros were sure to win because they had to win and because Verlander was on the mound. With Sale out and Price on short rest, I would have gone with ERod, but out Price came and it really was a different Price. He did not begin with blazing fastballs near the center of the zone. He did keep the ball low. He did throw a lot of changeups (but nary a slider). And he mostly kept that stupid cut fastball out of the zone. I don't think Cora told him to do all that, but credit him with giving Price another shot. The simple fact that he gave Price the ball had to make Price feel pretty good.

 

Very few of us thought dumping HanRam was a bad idea.

 

Also, a shout out to iortiz, who had tons of confidence when many of us did not. I personally believed the hype about the Yankees, who earlier in the season I likened to an oncoming freight train, and then about the Astros, the flawless reigning champions. Well the freight train ran off the tracks and the flawless aren't quite so perfect.

 

An added note about the Astros and Astro fans. Boy, talk about a sense of entitlement. The entire Astros world seems to believe that the interference call was a gross injustice, almost as if Betts had claimed into the stands, taken the ball out of a fan's hands, and then claimed he caught it. To me there was no question the fan hit Betts glove when he was about to catch the ball. I don't mind admitting that where his glove was at that moment was very much a judgment call which the cameras could not help with. However, I also think it's a stupid rule to draw the line at the wall/fence because I think fielders should have more leeway than that. In this case, Betts himself never came close to leaving the field of play, so everything he did should have been protected/allowed. I also found it laughable that the Astros manager claimed Betts was one or two rows into the stands. And they said all those things after the game had ended, which means they truly believe the Sox scoring 8 runs had nothing whatsoever to do with the outcome. Talk about blinders.

 

After last night's game, Verlander did his share of whining too--Devers home run in his judgment was a cheap shot, a lucky dinger, a 330 pop fly that ended up in the stands. Hey, Justin--no crying in baseball. And did he have a good word about the opposing starter, who threw 6 shutout innings? Of course not. Sore loser.

[Thunder]

I missed the last out. Sitting in bed with the TV on and the lights off is not a good idea. Fell asleep after the 1st out in the 9th, and when I woke up, Lauren Shehadi was interviewing somebody. So mad at myself, and my roommate, who went to bed in the 7th and made me turn the volume down

[S5Dewey]

Agree with cp176 that Farrell wasn't as awful as many claim, but I sure have to take my hat off to DD for letting him go and going after Cora, who all season long has been a big factor in this season's success. In the postseason, if anything, he got better, which was hard to do.

 

Last night to me was the throwaway game, the one the Astros were sure to win because they had to win and because Verlander was on the mound. With Sale out and Price on short rest, I would have gone with ERod, but out Price came and it really was a different Price. He did not begin with blazing fastballs near the center of the zone. He did keep the ball low. He did throw a lot of changeups (but nary a slider). And he mostly kept that stupid cut fastball out of the zone. I don't think Cora told him to do all that, but credit him with giving Price another shot. The simple fact that he gave Price the ball had to make Price feel pretty good.

 

Very few of us thought dumping HanRam was a bad idea.

 

Also, a shout out to iortiz, who had tons of confidence when many of us did not. I personally believed the hype about the Yankees, who earlier in the season I likened to an oncoming freight train, and then about the Astros, the flawless reigning champions. Well the freight train ran off the tracks and the flawless aren't quite so perfect.

 

An added note about the Astros and Astro fans. Boy, talk about a sense of entitlement. The entire Astros world seems to believe that the interference call was a gross injustice, almost as if Betts had claimed into the stands, taken the ball out of a fan's hands, and then claimed he caught it. To me there was no question the fan hit Betts glove when he was about to catch the ball. I don't mind admitting that where his glove was at that moment was very much a judgment call which the cameras could not help with. However, I also think it's a stupid rule to draw the line at the wall/fence because I think fielders should have more leeway than that. In this case, Betts himself never came close to leaving the field of play, so everything he did should have been protected/allowed. I also found it laughable that the Astros manager claimed Betts was one or two rows into the stands. And they said all those things after the game had ended, which means they truly believe the Sox scoring 8 runs had nothing whatsoever to do with the outcome. Talk about blinders.

 

After last night's game, Verlander did his share of whining too--Devers home run in his judgment was a cheap shot, a lucky dinger, a 330 pop fly that ended up in the stands. Hey, Justin--no crying in baseball. And did he have a good word about the opposing starter, who threw 6 shutout innings? Of course not. Sore loser.

 

That's too bad Verlander had so much to say. I always thought of him as a classy guy, but apparently that's only when he's winning.

What he said about Devers HR might have had a little credence if it had happened in Fenway ('...a 315' fly ball that would be an out anyplace else') but he trashed his own stadium! I have to wonder how many times he got the benefit of the Crawford Boxes during games he won.

And BTW, why are they called the Crawford Boxes? Did Carl Crawford hit a HR there once? :confused:b:)

[Thunder]

That's too bad Verlander had so much to say. I always thought of him as a classy guy, but apparently that's only when he's winning.

What he said about Devers HR might have had a little credence if it had happened in Fenway ('...a 315' fly ball that would be an out anyplace else') but he trashed his own stadium! I have to wonder how many times he got the benefit of the Crawford Boxes during games he won.

And BTW, why are they called the Crawford Boxes? Did Carl Crawford hit a HR there once? :confused:b:)

 

No they run parallel to Crawford Street in downtown H-Town

[S5Dewey]

No they run parallel to Crawford Street in downtown H-Town

 

Ahhh.. thank you!

 

You friggin' kids know everything!!

[Slasher9]

That's too bad Verlander had so much to say. I always thought of him as a classy guy, but apparently that's only when he's winning.

What he said about Devers HR might have had a little credence if it had happened in Fenway ('...a 315' fly ball that would be an out anyplace else') but he trashed his own stadium! I have to wonder how many times he got the benefit of the Crawford Boxes during games he won.

And BTW, why are they called the Crawford Boxes? Did Carl Crawford hit a HR there once? :confused:b:)

 

perhaps he should see where the ball landed for the 1 run his team scored last night....

[Thunder]

Ahhh.. thank you!

 

You friggin' kids know everything!!

 

No, Google knows everything

[S5Dewey]

No, Google knows everything

 

That's the true generation gap. You immediately run to Google while I just sit around wondering.

[moonslav59]

We do disagree with Manny a little I guess but I have to say he was one of the all time great right handed hitters. I just saw him as being someone who required too much work. I respect how you feel about him and thanks for not going all pyscho on me for expressing a very unpopular opinion on here. It is the way people should communicate I think.

 

I totally can see why people have differing opinions on Manny.

 

I also agree with you on Farrell being a great guy. I just don't think he was that good of a manager.

[cp176]

That's the true generation gap. You immediately run to Google while I just sit around wondering.

 

I hate google. It has a way of messing up some of my greatest memories about all the things I misremember!

[dustcover]

With Kimbel coming on in the last of the ninth, the announcers kept repeating, "all the Sox need are three more outs".

 

Then "all the Sox need are two more outs". Followed by, all the Sox need is one more out".

 

And during the ninth for what seemed like an eternity my mind kept agonizingly flashing back 32 years to the ninth inning of Game 6 of the '86 World Series. My faith was strong but I needed proof.

 

Who said 'you can't live in the past'. Well Betts, Beni, JBJ, Bogi, Devers, and the rest of these rascals certainly put an exclamation point to that notion.

[OH FOY]

[a700hitter]

That's too bad Verlander had so much to say. I always thought of him as a classy guy, but apparently that's only when he's winning.

What he said about Devers HR might have had a little credence if it had happened in Fenway ('...a 315' fly ball that would be an out anyplace else') but he trashed his own stadium! I have to wonder how many times he got the benefit of the Crawford Boxes during games he won.

And BTW, why are they called the Crawford Boxes? Did Carl Crawford hit a HR there once? :confused:b:)

I just had a feeling that the Astros would be sore losers. They seemed a little full of themselves. Did Altuve say anything, because he seems to have an oversized ego.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

That's too bad Verlander had so much to say. I always thought of him as a classy guy, but apparently that's only when he's winning.

What he said about Devers HR might have had a little credence if it had happened in Fenway ('...a 315' fly ball that would be an out anyplace else') but he trashed his own stadium! I have to wonder how many times he got the benefit of the Crawford Boxes during games he won.

And BTW, why are they called the Crawford Boxes? Did Carl Crawford hit a HR there once? :confused:b:)

 

I never thought of Verlander as a 'classy' guy, so I'm not surprised he had a lot to say. I'm just surprised his trophy wife didn't blabber something.

[mvp 78]

Reminder that one missed strike call ruined their season somehow:

 

Two quick strikes to Martinez kept him in rhythm. Verlander spun an 0-2 slider to put him away. Statcast showed the pitch nestling into the low corner of Martinez's strike zone. Home plate umpire Chris Guccione deemed it a ball, bringing Verlander to a stop as he pranced the mound. The crowd booed, still salty over the Game 4 interference brouhaha.

 

Verlander readied for a pitch he did not think was necessary. He spun a wretched curveball. Martinez mauled it. The solo home run landed 396 feet away atop the train tracks. Boston boasted a lead it would not blow.

[mvp 78]

A year after Houston won the first title in the team's 56 seasons, Verlander had a rare off night in an elimination game and the Astros lost the AL Championship Series to the Boston Red Sox in five games.

 

"This year's team is better than last year's team," third baseman Alex Bregman said. "Everyone in here will have a little bit of an edge to play with, a chip on their shoulder knowing that we believe we should have been back-to-back champions."

 

BUT THOSE INJURIES!!!!!!

[mvp 78]

Verlander's comments weren't absolutely terrible, but don't blame the stadium dude:

 

“I struggled in the Crawford Boxes,” he said. “It’s funny. We’re playing the Red Sox, and the only two places those are hits are here and Fenway (Park).

 

“Other than that, they did a fantastic job of laying off my off-speed for the most part. They probably are one of the toughest battles top to bottom of any lineup I’ve faced all year.”

 

Of the strike that wasn’t, he said, “I thought Chris did a good job. That one, personally, I thought it was a strike. I’ve been known to be wrong from time to time. I thought it was really close, and I wanted it, but I thought Chris did a fantastic job. Those guys have been really good back there.”

 

“Devers put a decent swing on his,” Verlander said. “It was the Moreland one that was kind of debilitating. It was just over the left fielder to lead off an inning when we’re already down one. That was tough to deal with.”

 

Of the Moreland double, he said, “I saw Tony jump, and I was having flashbacks to the catch he made a couple of days ago and begging for that. But (Ian Kinsler) was able to punch one, and then there was a 330-foot popup for a three-run homer, and that’s all she wrote.”

[mvp 78]

"A lot of his home runs this year were those balls that creeped into the Crawford Boxes," Hinch said. "That's a little bit of bad luck in the ballpark."

 

BUT THAT'S THE PARK YOU PLAY 81 GAMES A YEAR IN?!?!?

[TylerD]

I just had a feeling that the Astros would be sore losers. They seemed a little full of themselves. Did Altuve say anything, because he seems to have an oversized ego.

 

That entire franchise and their fanbase is sore losers. I was browsing the Astros board after we won the series. Maybe 3 on the entire board gave the Red Sox credit. Anything else was just laughable. I saw everything from "Red Sox cheated, Replay booth helped them, Umps were on their side, Sox bought their team." Lmao.

 

They went from "We will sweep them, or at worst win in game 5." To giving every excuse under the sun as to why we kicked their ass 4 games to 1. Special breed of fans in Texas.

[TylerD]

Verlander's comments weren't absolutely terrible, but don't blame the stadium dude:

 

“I struggled in the Crawford Boxes,” he said. “It’s funny. We’re playing the Red Sox, and the only two places those are hits are here and Fenway (Park).

 

“Other than that, they did a fantastic job of laying off my off-speed for the most part. They probably are one of the toughest battles top to bottom of any lineup I’ve faced all year.”

 

Of the strike that wasn’t, he said, “I thought Chris did a good job. That one, personally, I thought it was a strike. I’ve been known to be wrong from time to time. I thought it was really close, and I wanted it, but I thought Chris did a fantastic job. Those guys have been really good back there.”

 

“Devers put a decent swing on his,” Verlander said. “It was the Moreland one that was kind of debilitating. It was just over the left fielder to lead off an inning when we’re already down one. That was tough to deal with.”

 

Of the Moreland double, he said, “I saw Tony jump, and I was having flashbacks to the catch he made a couple of days ago and begging for that. But (Ian Kinsler) was able to punch one, and then there was a 330-foot popup for a three-run homer, and that’s all she wrote.”

 

Won't lie, that's actualyy some pretty classy answers. He is giving the Sox and the umps their due. Even in defeat Verlander stayed classy. I have no problem with anything he said.

[dgalehouse]

Baseball is the only major sport that does not have a uniform playing field. You have all kinds of different dimensions. Sometimes you live with it , sometimes you die with it. We all hate it when the opponent hits a " cheapo."

[dgalehouse]

Verlander is a great pitcher and he seems like a pretty good guy. But I think the baseball Gods decided that he has had more than his fair share of good fortune in life.

[Bellhorn04]

And David Price did not allow any popups into the Crawford boxes.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Verlander is a great pitcher and he seems like a pretty good guy. But I think the baseball Gods decided that he has had more than his fair share of good fortune in life.

 

I'm thinking that Price left his demons on the mound and those demons attached themselves to Verlander.

[mvp 78]

That entire franchise and their fanbase is sore losers. I was browsing the Astros board after we won the series. Maybe 3 on the entire board gave the Red Sox credit. Anything else was just laughable. I saw everything from "Red Sox cheated, Replay booth helped them, Umps were on their side, Sox bought their team." Lmao.

 

They went from "We will sweep them, or at worst win in game 5." To giving every excuse under the sun as to why we kicked their ass 4 games to 1. Special breed of fans in Texas.

 

Bandwagon fans.