2015 MLB Season Thread with Postseason Discussion

[infrared41]

As for being "happy" that both Texan teams got knocked out? It's not political. It's not social. I try not to let that stuff cloud how I enjoy sports. I'm happy both Texan teams are out because I prefer the teams they were playing.

My thoughts exactly. I give zero about the Rangers one way or the other. I like the Astros, I just don't like them more than I like the Royals. With regard to the state of Texas? This sums up pretty much every thought I've ever had about the place - I've been there, it's really, really hot in the summer, and the trees seem to be shorter than they are in other places.

[The_Admiral]

Funny how no one seems to mind when football players "show some emotion", but if a baseball player does it, it's a really big deal.

Stranger still, pitchers have free rein to scream and pump their fists after timely strikeouts, but to show commensurate emotion at the plate is to sign your own death warrant.

[BBTV]

Pitchers are gutless cowards who are somehow legally allowed to intentionally throw hard balls 100MPH at people when they get mad. It's not like a batter can retaliate against a pitcher that does a "classless" fist pump or whatever.

Quit being so white, people. Have fun. Sports are fun- if you don't want to have fun with sports, then what the hell is the point? Go to work if you want to be serious. Don't come to my work though, because I fist pump and flip pens all the time - and award a Big Gold belt to my team's "monthly champion".

[The_Admiral]

I do like the idea of Respecting The Game as an institution that is bigger than and will outlast anyone who plays it, but I take that more to mean, like, "don't do steroids" or "don't get piss-drunk and destroy your car and everyone in it" more than "don't be happy that you did something difficult."

[CS85]

As for me: ANYONE. BUT. THE. CUBS. Seriously... the Cubbies. their fan base and that stupid ass Back to the Future II crap. If anything, I want to see the Cubs lose 100+ games for next decade to make up for this.

Other than all the things I've probably unknowingly done to you, what have I ever done to you?

You haven't done anything to me... What I want is for reality to come back and give the Cubs the bitch slap they deserve for attempting to screw the order of the universe.

Why am I acting this way?

1.) There are a few things that are certain... death, taxes and the Cubs not winning it all. Keep it that way.

2.) I'm a sore ass Mariners fan having to watch the postseason with no horse in the race once again. The last time Seattle made the playoffs, I was in high school! For once, I would love to see the M's win it all and not have to sit and suffer while everyone else gets to have some postseason action since 2001.

"This team that has been infinitely futile for far longer than I will likely live doesn't deserve to have success because my currently futile team hasn't gotten theirs yet."

[Sport]

He's really committing to this weird, unfunny bit about the Cubs breaking the universe if they win it all.

[TheOldRoman]

But once the Cubs win it all they better not turn into Red Sox fans!

Uh... you may not have been paying attention, but it's too late. And if they ever do win it all, they'll be entirely insufferable to the point of making the New Englanders seem like polite Minnesotans. They've already built an unprecedented smugness around being a historical failure and perennial punch-line. I can't imagine the kind of entitlement that would come with the team being a champion. These are the people that are currently boasting of the high price of NLCS tickets, which presumably assures their self-worth, and also preening that their potential World Series would be the most watched ever. Nothing good would come from this. If you want to see Chicago fans get a championship from a hapless franchise, root for the Bears.

As for the controversial call yesterday, the call on the field was correct. Odor was running home the second the ball bounced away, and he would have scored without a throw had Donaldson went to field it. The ump messed up originally, but it didn't impact the outcome. Also, according to the rulebook, they got the call right. I guess it's good we won't have to hear whining about the winning run scoring in such a manner, but there was nothing wrong with it scoring there.

[CS85]

But once the Cubs win it all they better not turn into Red Sox fans!

Uh... you may not have been paying attention, but it's too late. And if they ever do win it all, they'll be entirely insufferable to the point of making the New Englanders seem like polite Minnesotans. They've already built an unprecedented smugness around being a historical failure and perennial punch-line. I can't imagine the kind of entitlement that would come with the team being a champion. These are the people that are currently boasting of the high price of NLCS tickets, which presumably assures their self-worth, and also preening that their potential World Series would be the most watched ever. Nothing good would come from this. If you want to see Chicago fans get a championship from a hapless franchise, root for the Bears.a

This is one of the most White Soxy posts to ever White Sox.

[TheOldRoman]

He's really committing to this weird, unfunny bit about the Cubs breaking the universe if they win it all.

Yeah, it's like a really prolonged joke that doesn't have a punchline.

[TheOldRoman]

Uh... you may not have been paying attention, but it's too late. And if they ever do win it all, they'll be entirely insufferable to the point of making the New Englanders seem like polite Minnesotans. They've already built an unprecedented smugness around being a historical failure and perennial punch-line. I can't imagine the kind of entitlement that would come with the team being a champion. These are the people that are currently boasting of the high price of NLCS tickets, which presumably assures their self-worth, and also preening that their potential World Series would be the most watched ever. Nothing good would come from this. If you want to see Chicago fans get a championship from a hapless franchise, root for the Bears.

This is one of the most White Soxy posts to ever White Sox.

Just doing my job. I don't like the Cubs and I wish them infinite misfortune. If they won a title, my life would go on, just as it did for Cubs fans having to watch the Sox celebrate ten years ago. It wouldn't impact me much. And despite their denial, Cubs fans (at least those in and around they city) care every bit about the White Sox' existence as the Sox fans do about theirs. The whole, "they obsess over the Cubs but we couldn't care less about them" crap isn't really supported by the number of "Sox Suck" and "World's Largest Ghetto" shirts sold outside Wrigley. It wasn't supported by the swell of people dismissing the 2005 championship as lucky or the worst champ ever, then sneering about the supposed low TV ratings of the World Series. And the general Cubs mantra is "I want both teams to do well" until they are losing in a game and have to bust out, "Yeah, well, the attendance here is like a week's worth at the Cell." It's okay to dislike the Sox, Cubs fans. Just admit to it.

But my current annoyance is the media-driven "You should root for the Cubs because Chicago" thing. No I shouldn't. It's sports. It's not life and death. It's a little bit of civic pride for part of the city, and of course, my rooting has no impact on their performance. Also, this "one city" crap didn't seem to apply ten years ago. I want the Cubs to lose and I'll expect the same from Cubs fans when the Sox are in that position again. That's fine. There's nothing wrong with rooting against them. Yankees fans aren't rooting for the Mets right now, and Angels fans aren't saying, "It would be really nice if the Dodgers finally ended their drought."

I'll just slink back into the shadows until April.

[DEAD!]

It would have been far more interesting if the Astros were still in the NL and they met the Rangers in the World Series.

[CS85]

But once the Cubs win it all they better not turn into Red Sox fans!

Uh... you may not have been paying attention, but it's too late. And if they ever do win it all, they'll be entirely insufferable to the point of making the New Englanders seem like polite Minnesotans. They've already built an unprecedented smugness around being a historical failure and perennial punch-line. I can't imagine the kind of entitlement that would come with the team being a champion. These are the people that are currently boasting of the high price of NLCS tickets, which presumably assures their self-worth, and also preening that their potential World Series would be the most watched ever. Nothing good would come from this. If you want to see Chicago fans get a championship from a hapless franchise, root for the Bears.

This is one of the most White Soxy posts to ever White Sox.

Just doing my job. I don't like the Cubs and I wish them infinite misfortune. If they won a title, my life would go on, just as it did for Cubs fans having to watch the Sox celebrate ten years ago. It wouldn't impact me much. But the current annoyance is the media-driven "You should root for the Cubs because Chicago" thing. No I shouldn't. It's sports. It's not life and death. It's a little bit of civic pride for part of the city, and of course, my rooting has no impact on their performance. Also, this "one city" crap didn't seem to apply ten years ago. I want the Cubs to lose and I'll expect the same from Cubs fans when the Sox are in that position again. That's fine. There's nothing wrong with rooting against them. Yankees fans aren't rooting for the Mets right now, and Angels fans aren't saying, "It would be really nice if the Dodgers finally ended their drought."

I'll just slink back into the shadows until April.

Hey, I don't blame you a bit. If I was a Sox fan I'd be cringing at all this going on.

I don't wish the Sox infinite misfortune at all, but I'm guessing I'm a drastic minority. The White Sox have never been fashionable to root for like the Cubs or Blackhawks have been lately, and I think those fans are fine with that. I think that Sox fans, not to be a dick, are incredibly jealous of the Cubs successful reconstruction. I imagine it's incredibly frustrating to be a White Sox fans for internal reasons but also because the Cubs, a team that plays its baseball in a tourist site flush with alcohol & faux nostalgia, managed to do in 5-ish years what the White Sox, a team with a convenient and pleasant ballpark in an unattractive-ish part of town, have failed to do while under the ever-enduring reign of Jerry Reinsdorf.

It bums me out.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

FWIW, I'm hoping for Mets/Blue Jays, in part because I'm from Western New York and those teams feel local, and also because I think they're fun to watch.

I dropped baseball from my care-about list way back in 2004 when Bud Selig nuked the Expos. Since then, it's been Red Sox, Cardinals and Giants, and while I don't begrudge the Giants their success, I definitely do St. Louis and Boston, the latter because it's the worst sports town in the history of the world.

In any event, I'm excited about baseball for the first time in a long time. New teams will do that.

[The_Admiral]

And if they ever do win it all, they'll be entirely insufferable to the point of making the New Englanders seem like polite Minnesotans.

In your dreams. New England insufferability has been a moving target for the last ~15 years.

FWIW, I'm hoping for Mets/Blue Jays, in part because I'm from Western New York and those teams feel local, and also because I think they're fun to watch.

To what extent do the Blue Jays have a foothold in Western New York? I remember reading that the old Empire Sports Network carried some Jays games, but it seems like the whole state is pretty firmly behind the Yankees.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

When I was a kid, you liked the Yankees or the Mets (generally the Yankees), but you could also like the Orioles, due to the then Red Wings/Orioles connection.

Even though the Jays were about three hours away, they didn't register.

I don't know different it is in Syracuse with the Chiefs connection.

[The_Admiral]

One would also think there would have been Expos fans up around Plattsburgh and stuff, but there are hardly any people up around Plattsburgh and stuff.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

I went to school with a guy from Plattsburgh! He was indeed an Expos fan!

He also liked Dragon Ball Z and "Dude Where's My Car?"

[The_Admiral]

I liked Dude, Where's My Car?

[Unocal]

With all this TOR-KC IS GREAT or TEX-HOU WOULD HAVE SUCXKED STUFF, truthfully, the series I wanted was TOR-HOU. I was happy for the Jays, but so sad for the Astros.

(Looking back on that game 4 and KC tying the game before Houston gor an out... to put that in perspective, Osuna has yet to allow a baserunner in the postseason)

As for the Rangers... well, they had the 2nd most infield errors this season. That stat came back to bite them at a bad time.

Meanwhile, while this doesn't sting like 2011 (It was an LDS, beating KC would have been no guarantee, and getting beat by a 6-time All-Star is nowhere as a gutpunch as David Freaking Freese), it still hurts.

[TheOldRoman]

I think that Sox fans, not to be a dick, are incredibly jealous of the Cubs successful reconstruction. I imagine it's incredibly frustrating to be a White Sox fans for internal reasons but also because the Cubs, a team that plays its baseball in a tourist site flush with alcohol & faux nostalgia, managed to do in 5-ish years what the White Sox, a team with a convenient and pleasant ballpark in an unattractive-ish part of town, have failed to do while under the ever-enduring reign of Jerry Reinsdorf.

I don't get that sense from talking to people and reading message boards. At least, that they're specifically jealous of the rebuild. They're certainly jealous of being in the playoffs, for sure. As for the Cubs "reconstruction" in five years which the Sox have failed to do, no. The Sox won the World Series ten years ago, and the Cubs obviously haven't. I think any team's fans, outside of maybe the Yankees and Red Sox, would gladly trade one championship followed by ten years of middling-less for a five-year window in which the team could potentially win titles.

Our angst has been more that the franchise allowed things to slip away to the extent it did. The teams from 2000-2012 were really good in general. Three division titles and a World Series, but most years (2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2012) the team would have won the division if not for one particular flaw in team construction (most often total lack of a fifth starter). 2001 was destroyed by injuries and 2011 was destroyed by Adam Dunn and Alex Rios having statistically the two worst single-seasons in baseball history. Either way, they finally ran to the end of the line with the core, and it caught up to them that the franchise hadn't been producing any positional talent since around 2004.

But Sox fans are a strange bunch to begin with. I've talked about it before. There's a large part which dislikes the Cubs (some with realistic opinions of them and some thinking they'll fail at every turn just because they're the Cubs). But there's a nearly-as-large part which is seemingly in love with the Cubs - praising every move they make and calling their pending world championship which would make the White Sox franchise cease to exist. And I don't mean now. These people were saying this "the Cubs do things the right way" back in 2006, so it's more about their own self-loathing than the Cubs having figured it out at that point.

As for the rest, the Cell still gets a bad rep (as does the neighborhood), but pretty much the entire fanbase understands both the misfortunes the franchise has had and also the catastrophic mistakes it has made itself. Yeah, it sucked that they built Comiskey II a year early and missed out on doing a Camden Yards, but it's not like that would have drastically changed our fortune. The upper deck would still be every bit as steep as in the current park, and while there wouldn't be the embarrassment of the blue elephant compared to neoclassical parks, it still wouldn't be Wrigley. And since the Chicago media is pretty much made up entirely of people from Michigan who moved to the Lakeview after college and became Cubs fans while the Tigers were in purgatory, the inauthenticity of the proposed Armour Park and the steepness of modern upper decks would have been exploited anyway.

But the Sox aren't in the playoffs, so that's the last I'll say about them until it's time for me to vent in the offseason thread.