2012 MLB Thread

[STDiva]

Ohhhh I'm loving this. Let's keep it going, SF!! Shut these fans up.

Ya I'm a hater.

I need Detroit to win one though. Hopefully you'll see me behind the visitors dugout on Monday!!

 

[Marlo Manson]

Damn I am not even mad, I surely ain't happy but I'm not mad, @ this point I don't even care anymore, cuz I am convinced that the giants are on :flame: and the Tigers having 5 days off put them in a DEEP FREEZE!! 5 days is just too fucking long not too be playing games, no matter how much you practice, its not like a real bonafide MLB game with competition & crowds etc..

I guess the giants having NO time to get rusty real did have the advantage and are the better team right now. at-least offensively, I'd say Detroit's pitching has matched SF's pitching except for game 1, Verlander was to pumped up but didn't have his NATURAL good stuff, he was trying to hard to be perfect.. The giants are just better right now, had they played @ the same-time they were playing the Yankee's it would have been a better showing, Detroit was hot and SF was hot. 5 days off is the real culprit in all of this. I am now just waiting for the inevitable 4th loss the tigers will suffer. If they are able to comeback from trailing a series 3 nill it would be the most miraculous comeback in WS history, and as the odds dictate it won't happen, I seriously doubt it either, so CONGRATS too the giants.

I think the Tigers should lose 2 games in the ALCS next time they get there on purpose just so they minimize the layoff in between the series. I don't if I am even serious about that or just know its so relevant in how a team performs in the WS. :hairpull:

 

[BCT]

I have to agree about the time off, that was an advantage against the Tigers that could not be overcome.

 

[rodfarva]

I have to agree about the time off, that was an advantage against the Tigers that could not be overcome.

I also agree. I think it's pretty clear that time off is not only not an advantage, but is actually a disadvantage in baseball (unlike most other sports, where I would say the opposite).

 

[rodfarva]

And the Giants win the World Series!!! I think I would've named Sergio Romo (sick sliders and then a sick two-seamer to freeze Miguel Cabrera) the World Series MVP, but it's pretty hard not to pick a guy who hit three home runs in one game and hit .500 for the series, so I get it. Awesome year! I only wish that it could keep on going. No hockey is gonna be even more difficult to deal with now.

 

[Marlo Manson]

The San Francisco Giants SWEEP the 2012 World Series!! the giants were by far the better, fresher team, so I say CONGRATS TO THE SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS on their winning the 2012 World Series 4 - 0. :hatsoff: Congrats to the Tigers on an excellent season you guys caught fire @ the right time the start of the playoffs, to bad you had 5 days off to lose all that :flame: cuz it cost you big-time in the World Seris.

Lesson # 1 don't party in the clubhouse after you win every round, what were you celebrating for, you didn't win shit!!! I mean you did, but not the whole enchilada!! Which would be winning the World Series!!!

Lesson # 2 Lose @least 2 games in the ALCS!! Don't ever SWEEP the ALCS again whats your prize / the outcome of that? YOU show up in the World Series ICE (FUCKIN) COLD & looking slow and flat. :horse::hairpull:

I know there are gonna be some dramatic changes to the 2013 Roster, bye bye, Delmon Young, unless you become a gold glove left fielder over the summer there's no room for ya' Bye bye Brennan Boesch you didn't hit like you were supposed too, Porcello maybe gone, Valverde maybe gone, I know the Tigers are planning something HUGE for this winter, even with addition of Fielder and V. Martinez coming back in 13, The Tigers had long slumps in the offensive department in the 2012 season that made there making the Playoffs allot harder then it should have been, I think they are gonna bring in another OMG type player!! and if they don't re-sign Anibal Sanchez they will look to bolster there starting rotation even more, along with solidifying the back end / Closer position, whether its gonna be a 100% Valverde or maybe somebody new. oh BTW, I am fine, I am not even mad, I know the 5 day layoff did the Tigers in there is NO way too over come such a long break between series it KILLS your momentum. its happened both times the Tigers have made it to World Series in the past 6 years!!! I can't get mad @ something that happens naturally. the BIG question looming is does Jim Leyland comeback as the Tigers Skipper in 2013? aferall he made it too the World Series again, but he / we also lost it again. :dunno:

 

[John_8581]

I also agree. I think it's pretty clear that time off is not only not an advantage, but is actually a disadvantage in baseball (unlike most other sports, where I would say the opposite).

Time off ?? ... give me a break ... The Giants outplayed, outhit, played better defense and outpitched the Tigers ... quit complaining. The Giants have been playing good ball as a team since Melky Cabrera was suspended. They overcame alot throughout this season. This Giants team knows how to win, down 0-2 to the Reds, down 3-1 to the Cardinals. They never gave up. The Tigers just lost to the better team. This 2012 World Series Giants team is a team of destiny.

 

[Marlo Manson]

Time off ?? ... give me a break ... The Giants outplayed, outhit, played better defense and outpitched the Tigers ... quit complaining. The Giants have been playing good ball as a team since Melky Cabrera was suspended. They overcame alot throughout this season. This Giants team knows how to win, down 0-2 to the Reds, down 3-1 to the Cardinals. They never gave up. The Tigers just lost to the better team. This 2012 World Series Giants team is a team of destiny.

Yes the giants were all of that and a bag of chips!! but you gotta be kidding me if you can't admit that the same team that finally cooled off the A's in the ALDS and swept the Yankee's in the ALCS showed up to play in the 2012 World Series, the Tigers were flat, there timing was off, they were ICE COLD and it was quite obvious the way they played that entire series!! and it wasn't cuz the giants were far better than any team they've faced this year after what they did to the A's & the Yankee's your gonna tell me that the (5 days time off didn't ruin them?)

Any professional baseball expert or renown baseball analyst will tell you that the layoff in between series directly affected the Tigers in how they played the World Series, not just the Tigers this year, but any team that has that long of a layoff in between games when its unheard of during the regular season (isn't) gonna be the same team that is playing BALL everyday or gets 1 or maybe 2 days off @most in between games during the regular season, that (5) days off they had to wait until the World Series finally started absolutely killed them and I don't care what anybody says it was so plain as day, it was butally, painfully obvious that it killed this teams momentum once again!! :2 cents:

 

[John_8581]

The only reason why the Tigers had such an easy time in the the ALCS winning 4-0 was because half the Yankee lineup never showed up... Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano, Nick Swisher, and Curtis Granderson and CC Sabathia all sucked at times, and their key player Derek Jeter got injured in the first game. The Yankees were ice cold. They deserved to lose. I'm not making excuses for them. The New York Yankees sucked big time. Kudos to the Tigers about winning it there.

However, on that same note, dont't make excuses for the Tigers losing to the Giants in the Series because of them being cold...

 

[Marlo Manson]

The only reason why the Tigers had such an easy time in the the ALCS winning 4-0 was because half the Yankee lineup never showed up... Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano, Nick Swisher, and Curtis Granderson and CC Sabathia all sucked at times, and their key player Derek Jeter got injured in the first game. The Yankees were ice cold. They deserved to lose. I'm not making excuses for them. The New York Yankees sucked big time. Kudos to the Tigers about winning it there.

However, on that same note, dont't make excuses for the Tigers losing to the Giants in the Series because of them being cold...

Ok tomatoes and tomato's, you know what point I am making, if the Tigers were playing the giants @ the same time they were playing the A's or the Yankee's I think that series would have been allot different, SF may have still won, but I think the Tigers were undoubtedly playing the best ball they had been all year long, then, all of the sudden they just stop playing that great cuz they were playing against the giants??? whatvea you want to believe my friend, did you watch any of the analyst shows after, during or before the WS? they were all talking about how the layoff would affect a team that's playing its best ball, oh and on the Yankee's not showing up??? they were all playing on all cylinders before the playoffs and some of them were playing hot against the orioles so your argument doesn't hold much water either, the only one who was truly slumping was A-Rod. CC was pitching great, Grandy, Canoe, and Jeter were all smashing the ball, the Yanks were the Hottest team in BB along with the A's when the Playoffs started.

 

[BCT]

Congrats to the Giants, they deserve it. Well done by a classy organization.

 

[rodfarva]

Time off ?? ... give me a break ... The Giants outplayed, outhit, played better defense and outpitched the Tigers ... quit complaining. The Giants have been playing good ball as a team since Melky Cabrera was suspended. They overcame alot throughout this season. This Giants team knows how to win, down 0-2 to the Reds, down 3-1 to the Cardinals. They never gave up. The Tigers just lost to the better team. This 2012 World Series Giants team is a team of destiny.

Who's complaining? I was rooting for the Giants, so why would I be complaining? I never said that the Giants weren't the better team. I just made the point that a layoff in between series is a bad thing in baseball as opposed to other sports (I didn't even mention the Tigers or Giants in that statement, LOL). Holy mackerel, don't jump to such conclusions about what a person is saying.

I agree that the Giants are the better team and would've won the series regardless (I picked them before the series started), but to opine that the layoff didn't affect the Tigers is unwise. They went from on-fire, sweeping the Yankees, never even trailing in that series, to a clearly cold team against the Giants. Do you really think that the Tigers would've been swept had they gone into the series against the Giants with the same kind of momentum they had against the Yankees? I'm not saying they would've won (again, I picked the Giants all along), but it would've been a much closer series.

And a layoff being a bad thing is simply a fact in baseball. Every baseball analyst (many of whom are former players and have been in that situation before) knows so and says so on a regular basis.

 

[C.K. Lawrence]

A happy 37th birthday to Marco Scutaro of the world champion San Fransisco Giants!! What a magnificent post season run by the man!! Congratulations to Giants fans and San Fransisco residents as well!!

arty: :bowdown: arty: :bowdown: arty:

 

[Marlo Manson]

A happy 37th birthday to Marco Scutaro of the world champion San Fransisco Giants!! What a magnificent post season run by the man!! Congratulations to Giants fans and San Fransisco residents as well!!

arty: :bowdown: arty: :bowdown: arty:

Happy Birthday Marco!!! what a hell of a B-Day gift, of course it was a couple of day early, but you know Marco had to have a great B-Day!!

*Breaking News* The Detroit Tigers have acknowledged that skipper Jim Leyland will return for his 8th season as Tigers Skipper, The Tigers announced they've picked up the options for reliever Octavio Dotel, & SS Jhonny Peralta, they said they will also try very hard to re-sign Anibal Sanchez, Gerald Laird, and as I predicted the Tigers have NO interest in re-signing Delmon Young, or Jose Valverde. although Delmon Young has potential to be a really good hitter his fielding is than to be desired and with Victor Martinez assuming the DH role in 2013, Young has no spot on the Tigers roster, Valverde has lost his velocity is in doubt whether it will ever be what was in the past when he had so much success. And for those that put stock in the odds makers, they have picked the Tigers as 6 - 1 favorites to win the 2013 World Series, IMO they will be pretty damn good, but I am skeptical of making such a pick so early before I see who the Tigers add this winter. :2 cents:

 

[John_8581]

A happy 37th birthday to Marco Scutaro of the world champion San Francisco Giants!! What a magnificent post season run by the man!! Congratulations to Giants fans and San Francisco residents as well!!

arty: :bowdown: arty: :bowdown: arty:

Happy birthday "Blockbuster" yes, Marco Scutaro!!

He's "Blockbuster" because the Giants made two moves (securing Scutaro, and Pence) while the Dodgers made several deals... Like buying the Boston Red Sox ....

I wonder what the Los Angeles Dodgers are at... to make the post season and to win the 2013 World Series? :2 cents:

Just like "Bo Knows".... Erwin 'Magic' Johnson and his officers and advisors, Stan Kasten, Gerry Hunsicker, and Ned Colletti, etc. certainly don't know baseball.

If they end up reverting to having to eat those huge salaries... Ethier, Kemp, Kershaw, Beckett, Gonzalez, Ramirez, Victorino, and then they don't make the playoffs....

The Dodger fans, they'll burn down Dodger Stadium! :elaugh:

 

[Sam Fisher]

Enjoy it, John. Congratulations!

 

[John_8581]

Thank you very much Sam.

Happy birthday "Blockbuster" yes, Marco Scutaro!!

He's "Blockbuster" because the Giants made two moves (securing Scutaro, and Pence) while the Dodgers made several deals... Like buying the Boston Red Sox ....

I wonder where the Los Angeles Dodgers are at... to make the post season and to win the 2013 World Series? :2 cents:

Just like "Bo Knows".... Erwin 'Magic' Johnson and his officers and advisors, Stan Kasten, Gerry Hunsicker, and Ned Colletti, etc. certainly don't know baseball.

If they end up reverting to having to eat those huge salaries... Ethier, Kemp, Kershaw, Beckett, Gonzalez, Ramirez, Victorino, and then they don't make the playoffs....

The Dodger fans, they'll burn down Dodger Stadium! :elaugh:

Ooops, I forgot to add Billingsley and Crawford ... :rofl2:

 

[STDiva]

I think the Dodgers deal was all about next year. They'll be in the playoffs.

 

[rodfarva]

The season just ended. My picks:

AL MVP - Miguel Cabrera (Detroit) - look, the guy won the Triple Crown and his team won the division. I'm sorry, but Mike Trout CANNOT win the MVP over Miggy. The Angels were the preseason favourite to win the World Series (and they were, see SI's preseason look) and then they didn't even make the playoffs.
AL Cy Young - David Price (Tampa Bay) - he led the AL in ERA and tied for the lead in wins
AL Rookie of the Year - Yu Darvish (Texas) - it's gotta be Darvish. 16-9, 3.90 ERA, 221 Ks.
AL Manager of the Year - Bob Melvin (Oakland) - this one is so tough. It should come down to Melvin and Buck Showalter (Baltimore). I think Melvin did a little bit more with a little bit less. However, Showalter had his team in the mix from the day the season started in that tough division they call the AL East. Ultimately, Melvin and the Athletics won their division (over the back-to-back AL Champion Texas Rangers), while Showalter and the Orioles won a wild card spot, and that will make the difference (as it should).
AL Silver Sluggers:
C - Joe Mauer (Minnesota) - .319 batting average, no-brainer.
1B - Prince Fielder (Detroit) - according to the old way of looking at batting prowess (batting average, home runs, and runs batted in), Billy Butler (Kansas City) looks at least as good as Fielder for this season. However, looking more deeply into some other important stats reveals that: Fielder drew 31 more walks and struck out 26 fewer times, his on-base percentage was 38 points higher, his slugging percentage was 17 points higher, and his on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) was therefore 55 points higher.
2B - Robinson Cano (New York) - no-brainer.
3B - Miguel Cabrera (Detroit) - won the AL Triple Crown, no brainer. (Too bad for Adrian Beltre though because he had a terrific season).
SS - Derek Jeter (New York) - .316 average, not too shabby for the old man.
OF - Mike Trout (Los Angeles) - really had a monster year.
OF - Josh Hamilton (Texas) - a .285 batting average isn't overwhelming by any means, but along with 43 home runs and 128 RBI, it is.
OF - Josh Willingham (Minnesota) - had the third-best OPS among AL outfielders (behind only the two OFs already picked).
DH - Edwin Encarnacion (Toronto) - should be a no-brainer.
AL Gold Gloves:
C - Matt Wieters (Baltimore) - his fielding percentage isn't as good as Russell Martin's (New York) or A.J. Pierzynski's (Chicago), but he had the strongest arm in the AL this season behind the plate, throwing out nearly 39% of his base-stealers.
1B - Mark Teixeria (New York) - made just one error all season.
2B - Robinson Cano (New York) - made only one more error than Dustin Pedroia (Boston), but did so in 100 more chances, and had a range factor .21 points higher than Pedroia's.
3B - Mike Moustakas (Kansas City) - I realize that he made seven more errors than Adrian Beltre (Texas), but he played nearly 200 more innings, turned 18 more double plays, and had a range factor .59 points higher.
SS - J.J. Hardy (Baltimore) - Listen to this: led AL shortstops in: innings played, total chances, putouts, assists, double plays, fielding percentage, range factor, AND committed the fewest errors!!! This is a no-brainer if ever there was one!
OF - Curtis Granderson (New York) - 1.000 fielding percentage (i.e. zero errors)!
OF - Ben Revere (Minnesota) - also a 1.000 fielding percentage. However, not an overwhelming range factor, but 8 outfield assists. Iffy.
OF - Alex Gordon (Kansas City) - pretty respectable range factor, committed just two errors, and a whopping 17 outfield assists!
P - Justin Masterson (Cleveland) - best range factor, most total chances, and committed just one error.

NL MVP - Buster Posey (San Francisco) - pretty amazing season for the division winners.
NL Cy Young - R.A. Dickey (New York) - Gio Gonzalez (Washington) is a very close second, but he only won one more game than Dickey, lost two more, and did it with a better team. Dickey had more strikeouts and a better winning percentage. And he's the better story, doing this as a knuckleballer at his age.
NL Rookie of the Year - Wade Miley (Arizona) - 16-11 with a 3.33 ERA, that's pretty good.
NL Manager of the Year - Mike Matheny (St. Louis) - Tony La Russa gone, Albert Pujols gone, and another wild card spot.
NL Silver Sluggers:
C - Buster Posey - .336. Enough said.
1B - Joey Votto (Cincinnati) - he didn't have all that many at-bats, but he has no competition. And he did hit .337. I'm not sure he even qualifies, but he should win it anyway.
2B - Aaron Hill (Arizona) - .302, 26 HRs, 85 RBI.
3B - Aramis Ramirez (Milwaukee) - it really should be Ramirez. He led NL third basemen in OPS with a stellar .901, and he only struck out 86 times. The award will probably go to David Wright (New York), David Freese (St. Louis), or Chase Headley (San Diego), but that's nonsense.
SS - Ian Desmond (Washington) - .292, 25 HR, 73 RBI, best OPS among NL shortstops.
OF - Ryan Braun (Milwaukee) - no-brainer.
OF - Andrew McCutchen (Pittsburgh) - no-brainer.
OF - Matt Holliday (St. Louis) - not a no-brainer, but my pick.
P - Mike Leake (Cincinnati) - hit .295. That's a good enough batting average to win a silver slugger even if you're not a pitcher. Wow!
NL Gold Gloves:
C - Yadier Molina (St. Louis) - quite simply, he's the best catcher in the game today. He threw out nearly 48% of his base-stealers! That is astounding!
1B - Carlos Lee (Houston/Miami) - he may not look like he can do it, but the numbers don't lie.
2B - Darwin Barney (Chicago) - just two errors in over 700 total chances.
3B - Chase Headley (San Diego) - a pretty nice season for him.
SS - Jimmy Rollins (Philadelphia) - I guess, not a particularly stellar season for him defensively, but not a lot of competition either.
OF - Jon Jay (St. Louis) - a 1.000 fielding percentage and a great range factor.
OF - Andrew McCutchen (Pittsburgh) - just one error and a great range factor.
OF - Alfonso Soriano (Chicago) - maybe I'm going a little overboard with this one, but I feel like he deserves it this season (and what a season he has had on both offence and defence). He made just one error, he recorded twelve outfield assists, and he turned six double plays!
P - Mark Buehrle (Miami) - is there a better defensive pitcher in the game today?

And prediction time:

AL Wild Card - Texas beats Baltimore
NL Wild Card - Atlanta beats St. Louis (I just like Kris Medlen starting right now, he's been absolutely on fire for the last while)

ALDS:
Oakland beats Detroit (it'll come down to game management)
Texas beats New York (tough call, but I do think that the Rangers have the better team)

NLDS:
Cincinnati beats San Francisco (this may be the best series of the whole playoffs)
Washington beats Atlanta (pitching)

ALCS:
Texas beats Oakland (just too much for the Athletics to handle, I think)

NLCS:
Cincinnati beats Washington (the Reds just have a little bit more experience)

World Series:

Cincinnati beats Texas (heartbreaking for the Rangers yet again, but I think that the Reds have the right roster right now)

What I would like to see is the Oakland Athletics beat the Washington Nationals (in what would undoubtedly be one of the least viewed World Series in a long time). Happy playoffs!

Gold Glovers were announced today:

AL:
C - Matt Wieters (BAL) check
1B - Mark Teixeira (NYY) check
2B - Robinson Cano (NYY) check
3B - Adrian Beltre (TEX) wrong (I think this was the wrong choice. A perfect example of a name beating a player who deserved it more (see my previous and following comments on Moustakas))
SS - J.J. Hardy (BAL) check
LF - Alex Gordon (KC) check
CF - Adam Jones (BAL) wrong
RF - Josh Reddick (OAK) wrong
P - Jeremy Hellickson (TB)/Jake Peavy (CWS) wrong

5/9. Not bad, gold gloves are tough to pick because they're rarely based purely on statistics. I do think that the winners were all deserving, but I really think that Beltre won over Moustakas because of his name and his reputation as a great fielding third baseman rather than because of the season that he had defensively.

NL:
C - Yadier Molina (STL) check
1B - Adam LaRoche (WAS) wrong
2B - Darwin Barney (CHC) check (there was some debate on the board over Barney or Brandon Phillips, and I'm glad to say that Barney did win and I think he deserved to)
3B - Chase Headley (SD) check
SS - Jimmy Rollins (PHI) check
LF - Carlos Gonzalez (COL) wrong
CF - Andrew McCutchen (PIT) check
RF - Jason Heyward (ATL) wrong
P - Mark Buehrle (MIA) check

6/9. Pretty good.

I was unaware that gold gloves were awarded to left, centre, and right fielders, specifically; I was under the false impression that there were three outfielders. Does anyone know if this works the same way for silver slugger awards?

 

[John_8581]

I was unaware that gold gloves were awarded to left, center, and right fielders, specifically; I was under the false impression that there were three outfielders. Does anyone know if this works the same way for silver slugger awards?

The Silver Slugger Award is determined for each position.

When Barry Bonds of the Giants won his last Silver Slugger Award in 2004 as the NL left fielder. Jim Edmonds of the Cardinals won it as the NL center fielder and Bobby Abreu of the Phillies won it as NL right fielder.