moonslav59

Or, the arms have to shut the Stros down.

If Sale gets lit up, that won't be a "key?"

Like one uniform zone? That would be a big disadvantage to Altuve and benefit to Judge. Altuve might have to swing at pitches at eye level.

Just minutes to game time. I'll see you all after the game! Hopefully, it will be more cheery.

Max, that's just not true. Had we been down 3-2, a lot could have and likely would have gone differently in the bottom of the 9th. The Astros might have used a different pitcher, for one. It's not fact.

Understood. Sale's 2018 playoffs were not all that bad. 2017 kinda blew up his numbers. 2021 added to the horror show.

Some tidbits from MLB.com... How incredible was Kike's 34 total bases in a five-game span? Well, it’s the most any Red Sox hitter has collected across any five-game stretch in franchise history -- regular or postseason. The previous record was 32 by Kevin Millar from July 21-25, 2004. Rafael Devers is now riding an eight-game hitting streak dating back to Game 1 of the ALDS. During that span, he has collected seven runs, 11 hits, four homers and 11 RBIs. He is the fourth player in Boston’s postseason history to record at least 11 hits, four homers and 11 RBIs across an eight-game span within a single postseason, joining Manny Ramirez (2007), David Ortiz (2004) and John Valentin (1999). Devers, who has been swinging through a well-documented right forearm injury, has still been producing in big ways for Boston. The slam gave him 24 career RBIs in postseason play, tying him with Astros shortstop Carlos Correa for the most by any player in history before his 25th birthday. By the way, Devers’ 25th birthday is coming up on Oct. 24. Devers already ranks fourth on the Red Sox’s all-time postseason list with those 24 RBIs, followed closely by Martinez, who’s tied with Trot Nixon for fifth with 22. Saturday marked Devers and Martinez’s 22nd and 19th postseason games in a Red Sox uniform, respectively. Dustin Pedroia, who ranks third on Boston’s all-time list, needed 51 games to tally his 25 career postseason RBIs. Martinez now owns a sterling .329/.407/.575 postseason slash line in a Red Sox uniform dating back to 2018, for a .982 OPS that currently ranks fourth on the franchise’s all-time list (minimum 75 plate appearances) behind Yastrzemski (1.047), John Valentin (1.046) and Garciaparra (1.016). Martinez now has 28 total RBIs across his first 26 career postseason games with the Tigers, D-backs and Red Sox. Only Lou Gehrig (32) has tallied more RBIs across his first 26 October contests. As Martinez goes, so do the Red Sox. Since 2018, they’re now 5-0 when he homers in a postseason game, and 12-0 when he drives in at least one run. With another home run in Game 4, the Red Sox have clubbed 21 round-trippers across their first nine games of the 2021 postseason. That’s the second most across a team’s first nine games in MLB history, trailing only the 2004 Astros, who had 22. Boston’s 21 homers are already a new franchise record for a single postseason. Cora still has not lost back-to-back postseason games in his career, and he’s now 16-5 across his first 21 postseason games as a skipper. That .762 postseason win percentage is currently the highest for any manager with at least 20 games of October experience, and Cora’s 16 wins also tie Hall of Famer Earl Weaver for the most within a manager’s first 21 postseason contests.

There is a few minor quirks that may need to be worked out. Since the initial measurements will determine to a precise degree of accuracy what each player's K zone will be, a uniform measurement protocol will need to be established and followed. For instance, people are taller when they get out of bed than late at night, because they are laying down all night and gravity does not pull you down. So, the night before you are to be measured, players may decide not to lay down, so their K zone is shortened by a little bit. (Actually, it can be by more than just a little.) Some players, as they age, get shorter. How often do we measure? Are some younger players still growing taller? Will player have vertebras removed before measuring, then replaced afterwards? (Just kidding.) Some things to think about. Now, isn't this more fun than watching human umps act like dummies?

I really don't think how Sale did, many years ago on some October nights, matters much, tonight. I know many do, here, but I don't. I do think how he's been doing, lately, matters, and that has not been good. I am terrified about Sale, tonight. He could get rocked and be out in the first, but I also think there is a significant (not over 50%) chance he does well enough to keep us in the game. I'm hopeful Houck can rise to the occasion and give us 4-5 quality innings, if needed.

So, a 5-10 player with abnormal ground to knee height might gain or lose a few millimeters in K Zone over other 5-10 players? Is that something we should strive for? (I honestly don't know.) Also, what is the official top of the K zone? I've heard various things from "the letters" to "the arm pits"

There are 3 batter rules, now. A manager looks at all the factors and makes a call. On the surface, it looks like Brasier is the better choice, but the splits are real, and he had a good reason to go with Perez, as bad as that sounds. It didn't work. Let's move on.

Exactly, so it seems a little useless to go on and on with all these what ifs and second-guessing. Nobody will ever know, if the idea they wanted would have worked better, the same or worse. All we know is how the plan chosen worked.

I'm sure they'll come up with something, most likely based on a precise measurement of the height of every player. You'd think they'd try to get it as close to what the K zone should be, now, but most likely something will change, slightly. All we really need is consistency, and once everybody knows what a ball and stike are, it takes a lot of guesswork away from batters and pitchers. One issue that may be debated is that not all 5-10 players have the same distance between the ground and their knees and so on, but I doubt they go into that kind of precision. The K Zone will grow longer the taller you are, and you'll learn your K zone quickly enough.

I knew I shouldn't have gotten involved in the non-ending, second-guessing Cora campaign.

It's impossible to produce evidence based on a hypothetical situation. Can you prove we could not have scored had it been a 1 run game and a different pitcher or strategy was used?

After the two-run HR by Bogey, we had 6 BB, 2 singles, a double, a triple and a reach on error. That's 11 runners in 8 innings- no runs. It wasn't a total lack of offense. It was not getting a timely hit and not bunching our offense together, like the Astros did in the ninth. It's a pattern that reared its ugly head several times during the season. Lets hope this was just a one game manifestation of it. Tonight, we bunch our hits for several crooked numbers!

Does the Astros RF'er have better sunglasses than Renfroe?

Not the starters?

Actually, that bad call was one of just 23 in the game. Maybe the umps were part of the reason we didn't score after the first and before that one bad call you refuse to admit was even part of the reason we lost.

Their line-up stunk worse than ours after the first inning and up to the 8th. We missed some golden opportunities that the Astros didn't have until the 9th. The bad call was one reason we lost, and because it came at crunch time, it seems more important. I guess I'll never understand why you and other see a team that was getting XBhs and walking a lot, but not scoring for 6, 7 then 8 innings automatically means they are doomed to never score again the rest of the game. Did you see all our comeback wins, this year? Some in the playoffs?

I agree. Maybe there was a reason we don't know about. If so, I'd like someone to tell me.

That's a different argument than saying he wasn't used in high leverage situations, until the end of this year.

I've said all along, I think Whitlock is a better choice to start in 2022 over Houck. I also think Houck rates to be a very good closer. That being said, I think Whitlock would do very well in the pen, next year, too. It all depends on who we add to our roster.

Davis, but he's not on the roster. DHern walks the first guy, every time. I'd put in Brasier, but I don't have all the numbers. To me, the biggest debate on Cora, last night, was taking Pivetta out an inning too early. Without that, our pen has better late game options. (Even so, I'm not holding any of this against Cora. My guess is, if he explained to me why, I'd be okay with the choice made. It didn't work, so here we are again, talking what ifs.)

It would be nice, but we don't need to score early. We need to score more than the Astros- anyway and anytime we can.