pennant races - Page 2

cherandbuster · 06-06-2006, 06:32 AM

Boy did my Red Sox get their tails kicked last night. Can't even watch the game wrap-up this morning because it'll depress me.

And tonight we've got that newbie from AA that gave up 6 runs last week.

How do you think he feels going up against the Big Bad Yankees? I hope his head is in the right place when he walks out to that mound tonight.

Griff · 06-06-2006, 06:39 AM

The Yanks are notoriously bad against guys they have not seen... but AA is a long way from the bigs. I've been driving home from a night class 1hr 45min with a Sox fan, she was not pleased last night.

cherandbuster · 06-06-2006, 06:51 AM

Oh Griff, it was embarrassing to watch. The game was lost by the 2nd inning.

That's two bad outings in a row for Beckett.

And tonight I'll have to pray to the mighty Baseball Gods for some extra help.

Are you a nice Yankee fan or a mean Yankee fan??!

Griff · 06-06-2006, 06:54 AM

I'm the nice sort. The others make me uncomfortable.

cherandbuster · 06-06-2006, 06:59 AM

Then . . .

it's a pleasure meeting you Griff!

Until tonight . . .

W.HI.P · 06-24-2006, 03:07 PM

watching the red sox-phillies game...after 6 its 3-3. it's a real good one in boston, schilling was pulled in the bottom of the 6th with the bases loaded and no outs.....in any other division, the red sox would be heavy favorites, but i'm afraid that the yankees are too good for them, not to mention the blue jays which are one step behind waiting to pounce

Rock Steady · 06-24-2006, 03:34 PM

It is June and the A's have risen from the ashes. Last week's sweep of the Yankees was priceless. Ra!

Griff · 06-24-2006, 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by W.HI.P

but i'm afraid that the yankees are too good for them,

ARod has been taking a lot of heat for his lack of clutch hitting but the bottom line is Yankee pitching isn't getting it done. The starters are putting too much pressure on what should be a decent pen. Papi won another one today even though he's in a bit of a rough patch. The Red Sox are very good.

W.HI.P · 06-24-2006, 07:56 PM

well....randy's woken up ...and rivera's back/good and healthy, and what can anyone say about that lineup, a-rod is not even needed in this,from top to bottom its red hot....i don't think any pitcher in mlb fear any lineup more than the yankees, not even super texas's.

regarding oakland,yes, they made a run, but the lineup is still sub-par, no pitching staff can make up for a lineup like that...it's an angels-texas race...and hey, i knew seattle would wake up when sexson snapped out of it, look at them, i still think they can steal 3rd from oakland[no attack on you in any way intended] its just the way i see it

WabUfvot5 · 06-24-2006, 11:24 PM

Yankees have a good lineup no doubt (they better for just a bit under $200 million) but the pitching is going to be their problem. Maybe they will be able to buy somebody from a non-contender but I wouldn't count on it since pitching is pretty thin.

The Oakland lineup isn't going to equal that of the Rangers, Red Sox or Yankees. They simply don't have the $ for it. What they do have is a decent lineup with lots of injuries. Yet they are still on fire. Fancy that. Rå!

By the by, during one of the SF / Oakland games the announcers mentioned the A's and their trip to Colorado. The pitchers said the balls seemed cold and Macha remarked they felt soft. Anybody else hear anything about Colorado after their team played there? It's very weird that the Rockies are scoring more runs on the road than at home. It's probably just the power of Jesus or something

WabUfvot5 · 06-25-2006, 12:29 AM

Ok W.HI.P, I've run through the AL West in my head again and I just don't see how you're pegging Oakland for last place. Let's look at the teams:

Texas - Great bats, decent pitching. I don't see it lasting though. Padilla and Millwood are solid but rest of the starting pitching doesn't instill confidence. The relief has been shaky too. The heat and ballpark will take a toll on the whole team as the year goes on. In fact all those hitters aren't such an advantage when most teams can rack up runs so easily. Frankly I just don't see them keeping it together at their current level for a whole year yet alone improving.

Seattle - Good starting staff. If Felix picks up they will be a force. But the bullpen is dicey. Guardado is out of his prime and Putz may not be a long-term solution at closer. Hitting is good. The team has improved no doubt.

Anaheim - They got legitimate talent. If they can start playing like a real team and avoid injury they will be the A's main competition.

Oakland - Traditional slow starters and been plagued with injuries (more DL trips this year than all of last year). Currently burning up as is June tradition. Even with Harden out they got a good starting rotation. Now that Duchscherer is back the middle relief is looking good again. Street closing, can't argue that even if he does blow a few. Batting is the weak spot but if this is a beat up A's team imagine when the 6 players on DL come back.

W.HI.P · 06-25-2006, 03:23 AM

jebediah..i have no idea about much in colorado, they're just a bad team.

al west
.......................................................................................................
angels
we agree here, they're obviously gonna be in contention at least, and the reality is that the angels are in a perfect position to totally run away with this...i say this because so far, the main reason was pitching problems, but honestly everyone has woken up, everyone's saying why did young jer.weaver get sent down to triple a when he seemed to be one of the greatest prospects in the game, but what they fail to recognize is that there is no one else thats worthy..colon's back, he's the best thing the angels got, but wait a second before you juge him, start watching in 2 weeks when he's back to 100 percent, then we can pick up on who this pitcher really is. lackey is as consistent as they get, he won't ever die out there. escobar just signed a nice juicy contract, santana is dynamite and everyone knows it, it'll take him a few years to reach his best game, but he's not going anywhere..now the only true argument one could pose on who should have gone down was the older j.weaver, but the fact is, he's a number 1 draft pick, he has seniority, ok so he's given up a few bad innings, but not lately, and until he does, or someone gets injured, super jered weaver willl be in triple a...so you see, the angels pitching staff is 'a' ok.
now lets get to the lineup...figgins=steals a base evertime he gets on 1st, now that would make them walk orlando cabrera, with vladimir guerero coming up, now even if figgins dosen't get on, orlando's batting around .320, and he also can steal a base, now vladimir is arguably the most valubale batter in the league, especially since pujols ability till the end of the season is questionable. those 3 are enough., but you see thats not all she wrote,i'm not saying yet, but watch who's coming to anaheim's lineup...it'll cost anaheim an sp, but they have one to spare obviously.
and to add to all that, shields is 1 of the 3 best in the majors for the setup role, and f.rodriguez is in the elite closers. if you ask me, their title contenders. more of a dark horse but the pennant looks silly when......

texas
excuse me a second here....decent pitching, i don't think so, the pitching sucks, but wait a minute ....this team have been batting the way they've been batting and winning games for worthless pitchers while they're 2 best at bat have been in a slump since day 1 ....young just woke up last month, and hello........texeira has risen from the dead, if texas was above .500 with these 2 a burden, what kinda record will texas have now that they've waken up.....lemme tell you, as impressive as the angels are in current reality, texas is more than a threat, and certainly not a comparrison to...

............oakland
now lets see, harden came back for one game and is straight back on the dl, even if he does return this season, do you really think he'll be 100 percent, it didn't look like it the first time, i cross him off the a's pitching staff and don't consider him at all.....now i'v watched haren pitch and i am not impressed, the only reason he has almost ok numbers is because he's pitched specific games against weaker opponents and pitchers.
ok so there is some other great prospects in the pitching staff, but hello, great pitching prospects mean that their gonna be great pitchers, not that they totally are yet. streets just fine, even though he had a terrible inning today, if he remains healthy, he'e more than worthy to be the closer till the end.
all is fine until here....what are we even talking about now, the lineup...it ain't ok, it ain't ok at all, and if you're talking about something not lasting, thats the little run we've seen over the past couple weeks by this team.
key-guy in the lineup is swisher, there's a lot of talk about what his numbers will actually look like at the end of the year, don't get me wrong, i think that in 2-3 years, he's gonna be amongst the leaders, but just like the pitching,
it's 2006, not 2008 or 2010...to think this full of prospect team will compete against this texan lineup which has just woken up, and these angels, who we all know what they're capapble of is just not real, its not gonna happen, to big of difference, a joke is what it is.
now ok, oaklnad can get third,sure ...........but

seattle
i must have looked pretty silly talking about seattle doing something good when i did, they looked terrible at the time, but sure enough, sexson got a few grand slams and a bunch of homeruns., the rest of the lineup are having up and downs, but they've been winning some games.
now the pitching here is sub-par, but since oakland is so not gonna be a .500 team, seattle ain't gonna be too far behind, and why not, why not compete with oakand for third, a littel run of wins here and there, and there they've got it, now yes guardado is finished, forget aboout it, but putz has been looking more than just impressive, he's done way more than expected of him, and what really proved it to me, was today, the way he got out of that trouble showed that he's not just a perfect inning guy, but can also wake up and remain calm at the same time under-pressure...he is seattle's closer, and i don't think thats gonna change

Rock Steady · 06-25-2006, 02:00 PM

you have no reason to say the a's run isn't going to last. It lasted quite a while last year, well into August they gave the Angels a run for it. and now the guys have another year under their belt.

WabUfvot5 · 06-25-2006, 09:28 PM

Anaheim - I more or less agree. They got a fine staff and good closers. Middle relief is more a question. You mention Figgins stealing and Cabrera stealing but they have to get on base. Figgins has a .320 OBP so far which isn't all that fantastic. Cabrera has 10 steals. Even if they come around steals aren't going to flat out win them games. The whole lineup needs to step up and preform at the level they were last year and then they will be a force to reckon with.

Texas - Sorry, but decent I meant Padilla and Millwood. My error. In past years Texas has had similar pitching and the result has been finishing in 3rd. The hitters can be streaky and you're making the assumption they are going to stay woken up... that's not happened in recent years. If anything they decline either from heat or high-scoring games or both.

Seattle - Sexson can be streaky but he's doing well right now. They've been playing opponents well with one exception: the A's. Oakland has beaten them 8 of the 9 times they've played so far this year. And that was when Oakland was in their traditional bad start.

Oakland - I just don't see how you can say Oakland is going to finish below .500. The last time they ended a season below .500 was 1998. Yes, 1998. I agree with Rock Steady. The run will go for quite some time and all those rookies last year (Crosby, Swisher, Street, Blanton, Johnson) all have a year behind them which will be a benefit.

Of course we disagree but in my view you're working on a few assumptions:
1. Texas will remain strong (one year over .500 the past five years).
2. Seattle will be able to handle Oakland in future matchups.
3. Oakland will somehow fall apart and finish below .500.
4. Anaheim will get their act together.

I have the easiest time believing 4 while 3 is far-fetched. 1 and 2 are possible but not likely from where I'm sitting.

Griff · 08-03-2006, 04:14 PM

The Angels really should have gone for Sorianno. They need more punch.

The Yankees really look smart getting Abreau and Lidle. Their lineup is brutal now. The Red Sox may be in trouble without their captain.

06-06-2006, 06:39 AM	#17
Griff still says videotape Join Date: Feb 2001 Posts: 26,813	The Yanks are notoriously bad against guys they have not seen... but AA is a long way from the bigs. I've been driving home from a night class 1hr 45min with a Sox fan, she was not pleased last night. __________________ If you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you. - Louis D. Brandeis

06-06-2006, 06:54 AM	#19
Griff still says videotape Join Date: Feb 2001 Posts: 26,813	I'm the nice sort. The others make me uncomfortable. __________________ If you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you. - Louis D. Brandeis

06-24-2006, 03:34 PM	#22
Rock Steady Day Tripper Join Date: May 2005 Location: Silicon Valley Posts: 784	It is June and the A's have risen from the ashes. Last week's sweep of the Yankees was priceless. Ra! __________________

06-25-2006, 02:00 PM	#28
Rock Steady Day Tripper Join Date: May 2005 Location: Silicon Valley Posts: 784	you have no reason to say the a's run isn't going to last. It lasted quite a while last year, well into August they gave the Angels a run for it. and now the guys have another year under their belt. __________________

08-03-2006, 04:14 PM	#30
Griff still says videotape Join Date: Feb 2001 Posts: 26,813	The Angels really should have gone for Sorianno. They need more punch. The Yankees really look smart getting Abreau and Lidle. Their lineup is brutal now. The Red Sox may be in trouble without their captain. __________________ If you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you. - Louis D. Brandeis

06-06-2006, 06:32 AM	#16
cherandbuster cherandbuster Join Date: May 2006 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 30	Boy did my Red Sox get their tails kicked last night. Can't even watch the game wrap-up this morning because it'll depress me. And tonight we've got that newbie from AA that gave up 6 runs last week. How do you think he feels going up against the Big Bad Yankees? I hope his head is in the right place when he walks out to that mound tonight.

06-06-2006, 06:51 AM	#18
cherandbuster cherandbuster Join Date: May 2006 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 30	Oh Griff, it was embarrassing to watch. The game was lost by the 2nd inning. That's two bad outings in a row for Beckett. And tonight I'll have to pray to the mighty Baseball Gods for some extra help. Are you a nice Yankee fan or a mean Yankee fan??!

06-06-2006, 06:59 AM	#20
cherandbuster cherandbuster Join Date: May 2006 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 30	Then . . . it's a pleasure meeting you Griff! Until tonight . . .

06-24-2006, 03:07 PM	#21
W.HI.P Free Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Canada Posts: 1,513	watching the red sox-phillies game...after 6 its 3-3. it's a real good one in boston, schilling was pulled in the bottom of the 6th with the bases loaded and no outs.....in any other division, the red sox would be heavy favorites, but i'm afraid that the yankees are too good for them, not to mention the blue jays which are one step behind waiting to pounce

06-24-2006, 07:56 PM	#24
W.HI.P Free Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Canada Posts: 1,513	well....randy's woken up ...and rivera's back/good and healthy, and what can anyone say about that lineup, a-rod is not even needed in this,from top to bottom its red hot....i don't think any pitcher in mlb fear any lineup more than the yankees, not even super texas's. regarding oakland,yes, they made a run, but the lineup is still sub-par, no pitching staff can make up for a lineup like that...it's an angels-texas race...and hey, i knew seattle would wake up when sexson snapped out of it, look at them, i still think they can steal 3rd from oakland[no attack on you in any way intended] its just the way i see it

06-24-2006, 11:24 PM	#25
WabUfvot5 Operations Operative Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 634	Yankees have a good lineup no doubt (they better for just a bit under $200 million) but the pitching is going to be their problem. Maybe they will be able to buy somebody from a non-contender but I wouldn't count on it since pitching is pretty thin. The Oakland lineup isn't going to equal that of the Rangers, Red Sox or Yankees. They simply don't have the $ for it. What they do have is a decent lineup with lots of injuries. Yet they are still on fire. Fancy that. Rå! By the by, during one of the SF / Oakland games the announcers mentioned the A's and their trip to Colorado. The pitchers said the balls seemed cold and Macha remarked they felt soft. Anybody else hear anything about Colorado after their team played there? It's very weird that the Rockies are scoring more runs on the road than at home. It's probably just the power of Jesus or something

06-25-2006, 12:29 AM	#26
WabUfvot5 Operations Operative Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 634	Ok W.HI.P, I've run through the AL West in my head again and I just don't see how you're pegging Oakland for last place. Let's look at the teams: Texas - Great bats, decent pitching. I don't see it lasting though. Padilla and Millwood are solid but rest of the starting pitching doesn't instill confidence. The relief has been shaky too. The heat and ballpark will take a toll on the whole team as the year goes on. In fact all those hitters aren't such an advantage when most teams can rack up runs so easily. Frankly I just don't see them keeping it together at their current level for a whole year yet alone improving. Seattle - Good starting staff. If Felix picks up they will be a force. But the bullpen is dicey. Guardado is out of his prime and Putz may not be a long-term solution at closer. Hitting is good. The team has improved no doubt. Anaheim - They got legitimate talent. If they can start playing like a real team and avoid injury they will be the A's main competition. Oakland - Traditional slow starters and been plagued with injuries (more DL trips this year than all of last year). Currently burning up as is June tradition. Even with Harden out they got a good starting rotation. Now that Duchscherer is back the middle relief is looking good again. Street closing, can't argue that even if he does blow a few. Batting is the weak spot but if this is a beat up A's team imagine when the 6 players on DL come back.

06-25-2006, 03:23 AM	#27
W.HI.P Free Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Canada Posts: 1,513	jebediah..i have no idea about much in colorado, they're just a bad team. al west ....................................................................................................... angels we agree here, they're obviously gonna be in contention at least, and the reality is that the angels are in a perfect position to totally run away with this...i say this because so far, the main reason was pitching problems, but honestly everyone has woken up, everyone's saying why did young jer.weaver get sent down to triple a when he seemed to be one of the greatest prospects in the game, but what they fail to recognize is that there is no one else thats worthy..colon's back, he's the best thing the angels got, but wait a second before you juge him, start watching in 2 weeks when he's back to 100 percent, then we can pick up on who this pitcher really is. lackey is as consistent as they get, he won't ever die out there. escobar just signed a nice juicy contract, santana is dynamite and everyone knows it, it'll take him a few years to reach his best game, but he's not going anywhere..now the only true argument one could pose on who should have gone down was the older j.weaver, but the fact is, he's a number 1 draft pick, he has seniority, ok so he's given up a few bad innings, but not lately, and until he does, or someone gets injured, super jered weaver willl be in triple a...so you see, the angels pitching staff is 'a' ok. now lets get to the lineup...figgins=steals a base evertime he gets on 1st, now that would make them walk orlando cabrera, with vladimir guerero coming up, now even if figgins dosen't get on, orlando's batting around .320, and he also can steal a base, now vladimir is arguably the most valubale batter in the league, especially since pujols ability till the end of the season is questionable. those 3 are enough., but you see thats not all she wrote,i'm not saying yet, but watch who's coming to anaheim's lineup...it'll cost anaheim an sp, but they have one to spare obviously. and to add to all that, shields is 1 of the 3 best in the majors for the setup role, and f.rodriguez is in the elite closers. if you ask me, their title contenders. more of a dark horse but the pennant looks silly when...... texas excuse me a second here....decent pitching, i don't think so, the pitching sucks, but wait a minute ....this team have been batting the way they've been batting and winning games for worthless pitchers while they're 2 best at bat have been in a slump since day 1 ....young just woke up last month, and hello........texeira has risen from the dead, if texas was above .500 with these 2 a burden, what kinda record will texas have now that they've waken up.....lemme tell you, as impressive as the angels are in current reality, texas is more than a threat, and certainly not a comparrison to... ............oakland now lets see, harden came back for one game and is straight back on the dl, even if he does return this season, do you really think he'll be 100 percent, it didn't look like it the first time, i cross him off the a's pitching staff and don't consider him at all.....now i'v watched haren pitch and i am not impressed, the only reason he has almost ok numbers is because he's pitched specific games against weaker opponents and pitchers. ok so there is some other great prospects in the pitching staff, but hello, great pitching prospects mean that their gonna be great pitchers, not that they totally are yet. streets just fine, even though he had a terrible inning today, if he remains healthy, he'e more than worthy to be the closer till the end. all is fine until here....what are we even talking about now, the lineup...it ain't ok, it ain't ok at all, and if you're talking about something not lasting, thats the little run we've seen over the past couple weeks by this team. key-guy in the lineup is swisher, there's a lot of talk about what his numbers will actually look like at the end of the year, don't get me wrong, i think that in 2-3 years, he's gonna be amongst the leaders, but just like the pitching, it's 2006, not 2008 or 2010...to think this full of prospect team will compete against this texan lineup which has just woken up, and these angels, who we all know what they're capapble of is just not real, its not gonna happen, to big of difference, a joke is what it is. now ok, oaklnad can get third,sure ...........but seattle i must have looked pretty silly talking about seattle doing something good when i did, they looked terrible at the time, but sure enough, sexson got a few grand slams and a bunch of homeruns., the rest of the lineup are having up and downs, but they've been winning some games. now the pitching here is sub-par, but since oakland is so not gonna be a .500 team, seattle ain't gonna be too far behind, and why not, why not compete with oakand for third, a littel run of wins here and there, and there they've got it, now yes guardado is finished, forget aboout it, but putz has been looking more than just impressive, he's done way more than expected of him, and what really proved it to me, was today, the way he got out of that trouble showed that he's not just a perfect inning guy, but can also wake up and remain calm at the same time under-pressure...he is seattle's closer, and i don't think thats gonna change

06-25-2006, 09:28 PM	#29
WabUfvot5 Operations Operative Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 634	Anaheim - I more or less agree. They got a fine staff and good closers. Middle relief is more a question. You mention Figgins stealing and Cabrera stealing but they have to get on base. Figgins has a .320 OBP so far which isn't all that fantastic. Cabrera has 10 steals. Even if they come around steals aren't going to flat out win them games. The whole lineup needs to step up and preform at the level they were last year and then they will be a force to reckon with. Texas - Sorry, but decent I meant Padilla and Millwood. My error. In past years Texas has had similar pitching and the result has been finishing in 3rd. The hitters can be streaky and you're making the assumption they are going to stay woken up... that's not happened in recent years. If anything they decline either from heat or high-scoring games or both. Seattle - Sexson can be streaky but he's doing well right now. They've been playing opponents well with one exception: the A's. Oakland has beaten them 8 of the 9 times they've played so far this year. And that was when Oakland was in their traditional bad start. Oakland - I just don't see how you can say Oakland is going to finish below .500. The last time they ended a season below .500 was 1998. Yes, 1998. I agree with Rock Steady. The run will go for quite some time and all those rookies last year (Crosby, Swisher, Street, Blanton, Johnson) all have a year behind them which will be a benefit. Of course we disagree but in my view you're working on a few assumptions: 1. Texas will remain strong (one year over .500 the past five years). 2. Seattle will be able to handle Oakland in future matchups. 3. Oakland will somehow fall apart and finish below .500. 4. Anaheim will get their act together. I have the easiest time believing 4 while 3 is far-fetched. 1 and 2 are possible but not likely from where I'm sitting.

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