Mags wrote:

artie_fufkin wrote:

b20-01---1,(0-0) XOSTLLuke VoitRobbie Ray-2%51%Lineout: P-3B

What the flock does that say?
 

Bottom of the second inning, one out, Luke Voit, with no count, hit a line drive, that struck Robbie Ray and was caught by the third baseman. The 51 is the percentage chance the Cardinals had of winning the game at the time of the at bat, and the minus-2 is something called "Winning Team Win Probability" that gave me a popsicle headache when I tried to read the explanation.

Last edited by artie_fufkin (9/12/2017 2:45 pm)

All it takes is a tally in the L column and im back to my normal pessimistic self.

Yep the best players on the team are the new guys.

I know it is this mythical line of crap commentators use but it seems as if these younger players are programmed to win because they have had minor league success where as the established major leaguers play like they expect for things to end badly.

don.rob11 wrote:

If you missed that "baseball game" on Friday , you missed an everything that can go wrong , did go go wrong treat .

Sounded like it. I was on my way to my daughter's softball game. I stopped to get gas and a soda and it was 2-1. By the time I finished and was back on my way it was 8-2. I stopped listening.

I went into the weekend thinking they would be OK as long as they didn't get swept.
My other impression was geez-us the Cubs are a cocky team. Don't get me wrong, they're good, but their record doesn't warrant the level of arrogance for a team that wouldn't be leading any other division.

APIAD wrote:

I know it is this mythical line of crap commentators use but it seems as if these younger players are programmed to win because they have had minor league success where as the established major leaguers play like they expect for things to end badly.

I've always been uncomfortable with that assertion,  perhaps because I've never had a strong drive to win myself.  And that may be because I grew up rooting for Cardinal teams that were mediocre (despite having Musial) or because I played on a high school football team that was awful. 
Maybe players who have a lot of experience at winning have a greater drive to do so.  Or maybe its that some players are of such a make-up that they help create winners wherever they go.  I have long thought that Lonnie Smith, Reggie Sanders, and, unfortunately, Phil Garner were that kind of players.

But the current Cardinals have veterans who have a history of winning and they haven't played like it this year.  By any measure, Molina should have taken a day off yesterday.  Instead, he had to be in the line-up and hit into two critical double plays.  That kind of attitude doesn't make for winners.

And in case you've missed, the Redbirds won the PCL yesterday:
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/birdland/memphis-redbirds-cap-historic-season-with-pcl-crown/article_a668e0ae-fd44-554d-8998-ca7e1f8bc933.html

 

Last edited by Mags (9/18/2017 2:38 pm)

Mags wrote:

artie_fufkin wrote:

I went into the weekend thinking they would be OK as long as they didn't get swept.
My other impression was geez-us the Cubs are a cocky team. Don't get me wrong, they're good, but their record doesn't warrant the level of arrogance for a team that wouldn't be leading any other division.

Somehow I don't dislike them as much as I did last year.  Maddon, Lackey, Contreras, and Lester are real assholes.  But Rizzo has a good guy side to him that I didn't recognize for a pretty good stretch.  And i really like Heywood.

So many of their guys, like that slob in left-field, were born to play in Wrigley.

Does anyone ever hear from Schlitzy?
 

Rizzo has developed a sneer that I loathe. And I hate the fact that he hangs out over the plate. The pitch that hit his sleeve yesterday probably would have been called a strike. I like Bryant, though.
I keep in contact with Schlctzie and some of the others - Brass, Windy, Web and KC - through Facebook. There are some others with whom I'm FB friends like Stan and Shew, but with whom I don't communicate as regularly.

artie_fufkin wrote:

They're going to do this again, aren't they? Make a run that makes it seem like they're close, even though it's hopeless, and fall one or two games short.

I doubt it.  I suspect the Cubs will finish them off (including the wild card) early next week.

Keep doing the waht if thing....what if they would have won a single game vs the cubs...theyd be 2.5 back of wild card...ect.  season are filled with those and i guess that the difference in a good and bad one for most teams.

don.rob11 wrote:

artie_fufkin wrote:

They're going to do this again, aren't they? Make a run that makes it seem like they're close, even though it's hopeless, and fall one or two games short.

 
Not enough sugar in the kool-aid .....

 
There is in the broadcast booth, apparently.

I could hit 20 homers a year in this ballpark.