2015 MLB Season Thread with Postseason Discussion

[JTernup]

Also, Hosmer's run home was a really, really dumb play. The only thing you can say in defense of it is "Well, if he's thrown out, they Royals still get two more shots at home to win it." A decent throw there gets him. Duda did his best Chuck Knoblauch, so it worked out for the Royals, but it was a bad risk to take at that point.

In theory this is correct, but in the context of the Kansas City Royals it is 100% false. That IS Royals Baseball, the Mets (and many other teams) aren't that bad defensively it's that the Royals pressure teams into errors that most other teams don't. They are aggressive to a fault but ultimately it pays off time after time. Hosmer surprised Duda into that error, the speed of Dyson manufactured the winning run and the runs that followed. This team doesn't let their opponents have a minute to breath, and more often than not, even in MLB when you force the opponent to make a play they can't.

[Sport]

I think that's definitely a play you only make when you have a 3-1 lead with the last two games scheduled in your home park.

Not to get all Tank here, but it was annoying to me how Buck, Reynolds, and Verducci were praising Hosmer's run home, while critiquing Wright's play at third base, but made very little mention of Duda's terrible throw. If Duda makes a competent throw Hosmer is a goat and we're talking about Cueto in Game 6 right now.

[TrueYankee26]

The Royals hardly hit a homer this series. Killed the Mets by way of small ball, smart baserunning, and Mets miscues. The Scioscia-era Angels on steriods.

[FiddySicks]

I picked the Mets at the beginning of the playoffs because of their pitching, but I honestly don't know if anyone could beat the Royals at this point. Rather than looking star struck and surprised that they're actually there, they seem like they're out for blood this time around. After the heartbreaking loss last year, they just look so damn determined to not let that happen again. Watching Ventura walk off the mound last night after ending the inning several times with his head down and showing little to no emotion makes me feel that this team not only has the talent to win it all, but also the mentality to win it all as well. This team damn sure ain't the 2011 Rangers. I can only see the Mets winning in a very close 7 game series because of that rotation. If it's a sweep or 4-1, it's going to be the Royals.

I'll take the Royals in 5.

And there you have it. Royals in 5.

And holy . Joba just got another ring

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on-baseball/25360931/world-series-these-guys-get-royals-championship-rings-too

[infrared41]

I think that's definitely a play you only make when you have a 3-1 lead with the last two games scheduled in your home park.

Not to get all Tank here, but it was annoying to me how Buck, Reynolds, and Verducci were praising Hosmer's run home, while critiquing Wright's play at third base, but made very little mention of Duda's terrible throw. If Duda makes a competent throw Hosmer is a goat and we're talking about Cueto in Game 6 right now.

Duda did seem to go unnoticed in all of that. The throw was there in time, had it been on target, Hosmer is out. Simple as that. My first thought after seeing the play was the Mets now have their own version of Bill Buckner. Today, I'm seeing headlines like "Duda threw away the World Series", etc., but last night it was like he was an innocent bystander.

[NJTank]

1 HR for the Royals that left the park.

[infrared41]

Looks like Hosmer may have known what he was doing.

[NJTank]

exactly McCarthy and if a Met did something good no praise. Heck I thought he was going to drop an F Bomb when Granderson hit a homer in Game 3

[Kramerica Industries]

I don't think Hosmer's decision was stupid at all. Familia was one of the best closers in baseball this season, and he only got better as the season went along. The Game 1 blown save was his first blown save since July 24. He added a splitter late in the season and it's an unhittable pitch. There were going to be two outs after the putout at first. Which seems more likely - getting a base hit against Familia, or catching the first baseman off-guard and forcing a throw to the plate? How many 5-3-2 DP's have you guys ever seen? No doubt an accurate throw gets him - he had basically no chance of scoring cleanly given, obviously, but the whole idea of what Hosmer was doing there, and in a larger scope, the way the Royals play, is forcing the defense to make plays to beat them. I don't think it's any more likely they tie the game after going down to two outs against a lights out closer.

[Sport]

I picked the Mets at the beginning of the playoffs because of their pitching, but I honestly don't know if anyone could beat the Royals at this point. Rather than looking star struck and surprised that they're actually there, they seem like they're out for blood this time around. After the heartbreaking loss last year, they just look so damn determined to not let that happen again. Watching Ventura walk off the mound last night after ending the inning several times with his head down and showing little to no emotion makes me feel that this team not only has the talent to win it all, but also the mentality to win it all as well. This team damn sure ain't the 2011 Rangers. I can only see the Mets winning in a very close 7 game series because of that rotation. If it's a sweep or 4-1, it's going to be the Royals.

I'll take the Royals in 5.

And there you have it. Royals in 5.

And holy . Joba just got another ring

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on-baseball/25360931/world-series-these-guys-get-royals-championship-rings-too

Quoting myself here:

By the way, how does Jonny Gomes keep Forrest Gumping his way onto division/pennant/World Series winning teams every year?

Jonny Gomes is an average ballplayer. If you go by his WAR he's a bad ballplayer. Somehow, though, he's found his way onto 3 World Series teams (Rays, Red Sox, Royals), 2 World Series winners (Red Sox, Royals), some division winners (2010 Reds, 2012 A's), and a wildcard team (2014 A's). Meanwhile there are hall of famers who never played a postseason game in their entire careers.

I may need to revive that thread I made about 8 years ago about bad players who always found themselves on good teams.

[Sport]

exactly McCarthy and if a Met did something good no praise. Heck I thought he was going to drop an F Bomb when Granderson hit a homer in Game 3

Not what I was saying tank. I think he was very impartial throughout the series. Maybe what you're hearing is the result of the Royals making more plays than the Mets? I was saying they ineptly placed the blame on the wrong player.

The only time I've heard obvious bias in Joe Buck's calls is when he calls a Cardinals playoff game. But that also could be my own anti-cardinals bias hearing things that aren't really there.

[Crabcake]

1 HR for the Royals that left the park.

As opposed to the 2 homers they had that didn't leave the park.

[FGM13]

1 HR for the Royals that left the park.

As opposed to the 2 homers they had that didn't leave the park.

Yeah but they DID have one that didn't leave the park. That's what tNak is saying.

[JTernup]

When a series ends in 5 games it's because one team is obviously better. Enough with the excuses, the Mets weren't cheated they just can't close and weren't prepared for a team like the Royals.

[rams80]

When a series ends in 5 games it's because one team is obviously better. Enough with the excuses, the Mets weren't cheated they just can't close and weren't prepared for a team like the Royals.

Something something Cardinals won the 2006 Series in 5.

[BBTV]

When a series ends in 5 games it's because one team is obviously better. Enough with the excuses, the Mets weren't cheated they just can't close and weren't prepared for a team like the Royals.

From the little I watched, it was blatantly obvious which team had been there before and which team was overwhelmed. Sure there were a few great individual performances, but the mets simply weren't mentally tough enough. Plus, a team extends to the coaches, and obviously Terry Collins wasn't strong enough to listen to his instincts and pull his pitcher. Had he not backed down, it could be a different story right now.

Not saying I'd've pulled him - I've seen how that story ends too many times - but he had already made the decision and then backed down.

[Crabcake]

1 HR for the Royals that left the park.

As opposed to the 2 homers they had that didn't leave the park.

Yeah but they DID have one that didn't leave the park. That's what tNak is saying.

Ooooooooooooooh my bad

[Quillz]

The Royals hardly hit a homer this series. Killed the Mets by way of small ball, smart baserunning, and Mets miscues. The Scioscia-era Angels on steriods.

This is, I think, what I liked best about the series. With the exception of a couple homers (and that one that was inside-the-park), the Royals pretty much won every series just hitting timely singles, doubles, and I think a triple. I still think their finest moment was ALDS Game 4, when they managed something like eight consecutive hits without an out, and erased the 4-run deficit against the Astros in minutes.

[CubsFanBudMan]

Remember that the Royals are a couple of years behind "plan" (as opposed to the Cubs, for example, who everyone says is a year early).

The Royals were ridiculed for their 2012 marketing slogan: "Our Time."

Their time ended up being two years late for AL champs, three for World Series. But it was built. It was planned. It didn't come out of nowhere.

And now we've seen the Astros and Cubs destroy and rebuild from the ground up and arrive sooner rather than later. Will those teams pull it off? Who knows... but a Cubs fan can hope.

All that to say it doesn't matter when or how many times it happens as long as it does. Congrats to the Kansas City Royals.

[The Six]

The Six's Six World Series Fun Facts Part 3:

Last year the Royals lost only one game in the World Series that did not involve Madison Bumgarner. This year the Royals lost one game in the World Series that did not involve Madison Bumgarner.