The Official 2021 ALCS Thread

[Bellhorn04]

Arroyo, Verdugo and Whitlock as well...

 

Yes, a whole bunch...

[Bellhorn04]

Wondering about the Astros' pitching, now that their ALDS #1 starter, McCullers, may have arm problems. The start of June seems like forever ago when Boston lost 5 of 7 to Houston. The lasting memory from those pre-Sticky Stuff Ban days were the horizontal frisbees that broke five feet thrown by nearly every Astro starter.

 

In those head-to-heads, the Red Sox could only beat Greinke and Odorizzi but lost twice each to Framber Valdez and Luis Garcia (both were hit pretty hard by the White Sox this past week).

 

Make of this what you wish: The June Astros crushed Eovaldi (5 ER in 5.2 IP on 11 hits, 3 BBs) and ERod (6 ER in 4.2 IP on 6 hits, 3 BBs)... but were blanked by Martin Perez (0 runs in 7.2 shutout innings on 6 hits, 1 BB).

 

Randomness exemplified.

 

Or, to use a more old-schooly phrase, it ain't who you play, it's when you play 'em...

[mvp 78]

I am both. And I don't owe you or anybody else an explanation of how how that can work. People at work have been bothering me for weeks about it

 

I wear a Joe McKnight jersey every once in a while. It's his college one though.

[mvp 78]

I love day baseball.

 

If I was retired, I'd love it too.

[mvp 78]

Anthony Davis did his job in Boston, and Robles was good down the stretch. Iglesias was a great post-deadline pick-up that filled an obvious depth need and Schwarber was the best offensive pick up for 1/3 of the price as Rizzo and Cruz.

 

 

Haters be damned.

 

Austin

[Bellhorn04]

If I was retired, I'd love it too.

 

Good comeback LOL

[jad]

I wear a Joe McKnight jersey every once in a while. It's his college one though.

 

Now THAT'S old school! He was great at SC, his only disservice being that he made Matt Barkeley look like a good QB.

[mvp 78]

Kike, Schwarber and Sawamura were Bloom’s good acquisitions. The rest were bleh to yuk.

 

You were on the Arauz bandwagon after seeing him in Spring Training.

[mvp 78]

Good comeback LOL

 

I wish I was retired. I just don't think anyone after the boomer generation will be able to.

[mvp 78]

Now THAT'S old school! He was great at SC, his only disservice being that he made Matt Barkeley look like a good QB.

 

McKnight was a lot of fun to watch in open field. Barkley was better than Booty, the QB when I first had season tickets.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Randomness exemplified.

 

Or, to use a more old-schooly phrase, it ain't who you play, it's when you play 'em...

 

Well, maybe not so random, before umps were inspecting caps and gloves...

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Austin

 

 

The best city in Texas, imho.

[mvp 78]

The only good city in Texas, imho.

 

I've read that it's getting less "weird" and more corporate. My wife went for work, but I've never been. I'm probably more of a Hell Paso kinda guy anyway.

[Maxbialystock]

I wish I was retired. I just don't think anyone after the boomer generation will be able to.

 

I've been retired-retired for two years and love it, especially since moving to a one level house near our kids. But I also enjoyed working from age 21 to age 78.

[Maxbialystock]

The Astros dazzled me with how they manhandled the Chicago White Sox. They have a pretty good lineup and pitching.

 

That said, I do believe our current lineup is better. And, surprise, surprise, the ALDS box scores show that the Astros have exactly one good starter, McCullers, whom they used twice for 2 of their 3 wins. We have Eovaldi and three other guys who pitched 4 or more consecutive innings each--Houck, Pivetta, and ERod. So, frankly, I give us the edge in pitching.

 

That said, you gotta play the games, and, when you do, anything can happen.

[a700hitter]

You were on the Arauz bandwagon after seeing him in Spring Training.

Yes, I didn’t forget about him. I do like his bat. I was only talking about guys on the 25 man roster. He was on the occasional shuttle.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Yesterday, Hader, who I believe is the best reliever in MLB, faced Freeman, who is one of the best hitters in MLB. The best against the best. Freeman guessed fastball on the 1st pitch and the rest is history. Tough loss for the Brew Crew, but a great win for the Braves.

If Hader can give up a game-winning homer, then all relievers in MLB are vulnerable.

Edited October 13, 2021 by SPLENDIDSPLINTER

[Maxbialystock]

Anthony Davis did his job in Boston, and Robles was good down the stretch. Iglesias was a great post-deadline pick-up that filled an obvious depth need and Schwarber was the best offensive pick up for 1/3 of the price as Rizzo and Cruz.

 

 

Haters be damned.

 

No haters on talksox that I've seen/read--but plenty of opinions.

 

I agree Bloom has done an excellent job and that Schwarber and Iglesias were stunningly good acquisitions. Robles too. I hope all 3 will be on next year's Sox.

[a700hitter]

I wish I was retired. I just don't think anyone after the boomer generation will be able to.

It will be very hard to retire without a defined benefit pension plan. Those have become to expensive and over regulated and they have all but disappeared. 401k’s weren’t designed for adequate income replacement in retirement. They were designed to supplement DB plans. Also, gone is the concept of career employment at a company or firm. I don’t envy people of your age.

[Maxbialystock]

Last night Hader, who I believe is the best reliever in MLB, faced Freeman, who is one of the best hitters in MLB. The best against the best. Freeman guessed fastball on the 1st pitch and the rest is history. Tough loss for the Brew Crew, but a great win for the Braves.

If Hader can give up a game-winning homer, than all relievers in MLB are vulnerable.

 

Good for you, paying real attention in that game. I only glanced at it. Your "all relievers in MLB are vulnerable" is undoubtedly true. Whitlock is our best and gave up a dinger to Rizzo in the wild card game.

[a700hitter]

Renfroe?

Forgot him. My bad.

[a700hitter]

Anthony Davis did his job in Boston, and Robles was good down the stretch. Iglesias was a great post-deadline pick-up that filled an obvious depth need and Schwarber was the best offensive pick up for 1/3 of the price as Rizzo and Cruz.

 

 

Haters be damned.

Calling people haters for expressing an opinion about player(s) is obnoxious stupidity.

[moonslav59]

Calling people haters for expressing an opinion about player(s) is obnoxious stupidity.

 

Nice job! You actually called the opinion stupid- not the person.

 

First steps are always the hardest.

 

There is hope, yet.

[moonslav59]

Forgot him. My bad.

 

And Whitlock

[a700hitter]

Nice job! You actually called the opinion stupid- not the person.

 

First steps are always the hardest.

 

There is hope, yet.

You knee jerk reactions are annoyingly stupid. There, I did it again. I can do this all day long if that is your standard.

[a700hitter]

And Whitlock

yes him too!

[Bellhorn04]

Yesterday, Hader, who I believe is the best reliever in MLB, faced Freeman, who is one of the best hitters in MLB. The best against the best. Freeman guessed fastball on the 1st pitch and the rest is history. Tough loss for the Brew Crew, but a great win for the Braves.

If Hader can give up a game-winning homer, then all relievers in MLB are vulnerable.

 

Well, some of the biggest blown saves in postseason history were by Rivera (2001 and 2004) and Eck (1988 and 1992).

[a700hitter]

Revised list: a work still in progress:

 

Kike, Schwarber, Renfroe, Whitlock and Sawamura were Bloom’s good acquisitions. The rest were bleh to yuk.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Good for you, paying real attention in that game. I only glanced at it. Your "all relievers in MLB are vulnerable" is undoubtedly true. Whitlock is our best and gave up a dinger to Rizzo in the wild card game.

 

I very seldom watch Braves' games so I'm not familiar with Freeman's approach at the plate. We SOX fans all know that Bogey has a tendency to hardly ever swing at the 1st pitch. I'm wondering if Freeman also has that reputation causing Hader to groove a fastball down the middle?

Edited October 13, 2021 by SPLENDIDSPLINTER

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Well, some of the biggest blown saves in postseason history were by Rivera (2001 and 2004) and Eck (1988 and 1992).

 

Very true.