2011 MLB Postseason

[Quillz]

I saw an idiot on another message board (Phillies fan) say that now the World Series is guaranteed to have the lowest ratings ever. This is why I can't stand most Boston,New York, and Philadelphia fans. They think that if their team isn't in it, nobody watches. We don't have a ton of 'bad' fans of these teams on this message board. But they are all over the place elsewhere and comments like that just make them look worse. Let it go, your team lost.

What do you think the over/under is that the Cardinals have a rally squirrel image up on the big screen by the time game 3 comes to town?

It's incredibly ironic for a Phillies fan to say that, because the 2008 World Series had one of the lowest ratings ever. Granted, the fact Tampa Bay won the AL probably had a lot to do with it. But last year's World Series had respectable ratings, and while some may consider S.F. and Dallas small markets, they really aren't. (Both are larger than Boston, often considered a major market.)

Granted, I don't know what the actual definition of "small market" would be, but I certainly feel your pain. It's what annoys me about networks like ESPN... If it doesn't involve the Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies, etc, it's treated like a second-class series that doesn't matter.

Do Phillies fans forget that prior to 2008, the Phillies were best known for collapses, decades of futility and a sole championship?

[CS85]

The Rally Squirrel thing. Just...*sigh*

Stop hating on Rally Squirrel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*see sig

1. I don't show sigs, I'd like to scroll through responses inside of an hour

2. I'll hate the rally squirrel all day long. It's my duty as a butthurt Cubs fan, all we have is our Failure Goat

[Quillz]

While I'm a NL fan, I still hate that they're getting HFA based on the result of a completely arbitrary game. I mean, the NLCS is Cards vs. Brewers. How many of them even actively played in the ASG? Maybe 4-5 at the most? Meanwhile, I'm sure the Phillies, Mets, Dodgers, etc. probably dominated the NL roster, by the very virtue of them being in large markets that have larger fan bases.

The way I see it, the league champion with the better record should get HFA in the WS. That means St. Louis won't get it no matter what, while Texas and the Brewers each won 96, correct? In that case, give it to the league champion that had the better division win percentage.

I know this has nothing to do with the topic at hand, sorry.

[pmoehrin]

I could really care less about what the ratings are or aren't.

There is no big market small market discussion in the NFL. The Colts/Saints Super Bowl got the highest ratings ever for a Super Bowl. Both of those cities are considered to be too small market to host an MLB team, otherwise they would have teams.

The whole big market/small market discussion is something that is the MLB's fault. They created that problem. If they spent time talking about teams outside of the Yankees, Red Sox and Phillies maybe they would get higher ratings for the World Series, because historically its more often then not that the "big market" teams are out of it then in it.

I'm a baseball fan first and foremost. I like seeing different teams in the playoffs and World Series. And I know the MLB will be making bank regardless of who's in the playoffs, so I don't care about what that want and don't really understand why so many people do to be honest. Its not your problem so stop worrying about it.

[rmackman]

After all the trash talking I've had to put up with all season by my friends (Phillies' fans), this is a glorious evening. I'm really glad that words can be spelled with 'F' again around here.

Also, I'm enjoying the Rally Squirrel. It reminds me of 2002, just not as fun for me.

Yeah, talk about omens. The Cardinals are now undefeated when squirrels show up in the postseason. The Angels won in 2002 with the Rally Monkey, maybe the Cards can take the Rally Squirrels all the way to the crown?

If the Phillies end up in some sort of downward spiral, could this be the start of a "Curse of the Squirrel?"

[rmackman]

I saw an idiot on another message board (Phillies fan) say that now the World Series is guaranteed to have the lowest ratings ever. This is why I can't stand most Boston,New York, and Philadelphia fans. They think that if their team isn't in it, nobody watches. We don't have a ton of 'bad' fans of these teams on this message board. But they are all over the place elsewhere and comments like that just make them look worse. Let it go, your team lost.

What do you think the over/under is that the Cardinals have a rally squirrel image up on the big screen by the time game 3 comes to town?

What message board? I wanna see this....

[CS85]

So yeah when can we do away with 5 game series?

[pcgd]

This year's Cardinals are a completely different team then they've been since I've been following closely. Usually they are uptight extensions of LaRussa but this year they are just having fun and you can see it. (Even LaRussa is showing emotion, maybe he knows he's retiring at the end of the year.) They've turned into the Brewers! Its fun to watch.

Just keep the jersey's tucked in.

Seriously though, how many Meme's does one team need? Torty Craig, Rally Squirel, Happy Flight. I used to make fun of teams that had all that stuff...

[pmoehrin]

So yeah when can we do away with 5 game series?

I like shorter rounds for earlier series and wasn't a fan of the NBA's move to make their first round series seven games and would still like to see them go back to five.

Honestly if they made the LDS series a best of three, the LCS a best of five, and the World Series a best of seven you wouldn't see me complaining. I want to get these series' over with and out of the way. I've never heard anyone talk about a non deciding LDS game because nobody cares about these first round series once they are over with.

[DCDuck]

On the topic of Big market vs. Small market:

The Yankees are the Yankees and will always be the Yankees. Until there is revenue sharing or a hard salary cap (neither of which will ever happen), teams like the Yankees, Phillies and Red Sawks will have more money to spend on high-priced free agents and thus will have a higher talent level relative to other teams. Therefore they'll be able to rise to the top because of the 162-game marathon season that rewards consistency.

Teams like the Royals, Orioles and Padres will have a much, much lower margin of error. If they make one wrong move in terms of signing a player, it could haunt the organization for decades afterwards. Yanks, Phils and Sawks? It's no worry, they can just throw more money at players, even if they miss on a couple. MLB creates the environment with its salary structure that rewards teams that play in larger markets.

On the topic of 5-game series:

I am all in favor of them. 3-game series are fine too. Part of the reason I love the NCAA Tournament is because of the unpredictability. Part of the reason I personally dislike the NBA playoffs is because 90% of the time, everyone already knows who is going to win.

On the topic of obnoxious Phillies fans:

As a Nats fan it warms my heart to know the Phils got bounced in the first round of the playoffs, and thus their fans will see this season as a failure. It also amuses me that many Phils fans are bandwagon hoppers who are blissfully ignorant of what the team's attendance numbers looked like prior to 2006. The Phils' window is closing. Their starters are aging and the heart of their order is aging (Howard, Utley and Rollins aren't getting any younger). We'll see how many Phils fans show up to games when the expectations for the team are more along the lines of the expectations for the 76ers.

[Quillz]

I know it's a bad example given the situation, but what prevents cities like L.A., S.F., Chicago, etc. from having the same spending power as the other three mentioned? These are all big cities with old teams with lots of history. Does it really come down purely to good ownership, or something else? It seems that in perfect theory, the Dodgers are in the largest city outside of NYC, and thus should more or less be "the Yankees of the West." S.F. is larger than Boston, so why can't the Giants be "the Red Sox of the West?"

[TheOldRoman]

I know it's a bad example given the situation, but what prevents cities like L.A., S.F., Chicago, etc. from having the same spending power as the other three mentioned? These are all big cities with old teams with lots of history. Does it really come down purely to good ownership, or something else? It seems that in perfect theory, the Dodgers are in the largest city outside of NYC, and thus should more or less be "the Yankees of the West." S.F. is larger than Boston, so why can't the Giants be "the Red Sox of the West?"

I think the Cubs could potentially do what the Phillies have done in such a short time, they just have to win. Most of the last 30 years had the Tribune Company putting out bare bones Cubs teams and collecting windfalls. However, since 2003 they started pumping up the payroll. Now, they were sold to a buffoon who overbid, got in way over his head and will be reducing salary. The White Sox were a top five payroll team this season, but they will be falling back after a horrendous season. The biggest thing is that the big three are all extremely well run franchises. The Cubs, Sox and Dodgers are not. The Giants aren't either, for the most part. If any of those teams went on a consistent run of winning divisions, they could easily turn into powerhouses and have payrolls around $150 mil.

[mania]

It's not like those cities don't spend money, just not to the absolutely obscene level of the three biggest teams. Angels were 4th in the league in payroll, Cubs and White Sox 5th and 6th, Giants had $118M of their own, and the Dodgers, even with their ownership issues, were also over 100M.

[FiddySicks]

I know it's a bad example given the situation, but what prevents cities like L.A., S.F., Chicago, etc. from having the same spending power as the other three mentioned? These are all big cities with old teams with lots of history. Does it really come down purely to good ownership, or something else? It seems that in perfect theory, the Dodgers are in the largest city outside of NYC, and thus should more or less be "the Yankees of the West." S.F. is larger than Boston, so why can't the Giants be "the Red Sox of the West?"

I think the Cubs could potentially do what the Phillies have done in such a short time, they just have to win. Most of the last 30 years had the Tribune Company putting out bare bones Cubs teams and collecting windfalls. However, since 2003 they started pumping up the payroll. Now, they were sold to a buffoon who overbid, got in way over his head and will be reducing salary. The White Sox were a top five payroll team this season, but they will be falling back after a horrendous season. The biggest thing is that the big three are all extremely well run franchises. The Cubs, Sox and Dodgers are not. The Giants aren't either, for the most part. If any of those teams went on a consistent run of winning divisions, they could easily turn into powerhouses and have payrolls around $150 mil.

I can't speak for the Chicago teams, agree with you about the Dodgers, but how are the Giants a poorly run team? They constantly are at the top of the league in attendance figures, Have great TV ratings, have built a solid minor league system, and JUST won a World Series and have won the pennant twice in the last decade. They also make more money per fan than just about any other team. Not sure what's so poorly run about that.

[CS85]

I know it's a bad example given the situation, but what prevents cities like L.A., S.F., Chicago, etc. from having the same spending power as the other three mentioned? These are all big cities with old teams with lots of history. Does it really come down purely to good ownership, or something else? It seems that in perfect theory, the Dodgers are in the largest city outside of NYC, and thus should more or less be "the Yankees of the West." S.F. is larger than Boston, so why can't the Giants be "the Red Sox of the West?"

I think the Cubs could potentially do what the Phillies have done in such a short time, they just have to win. Most of the last 30 years had the Tribune Company putting out bare bones Cubs teams and collecting windfalls. However, since 2003 they started pumping up the payroll. Now, they were sold to a buffoon who overbid, got in way over his head and will be reducing salary. The White Sox were a top five payroll team this season, but they will be falling back after a horrendous season. The biggest thing is that the big three are all extremely well run franchises. The Cubs, Sox and Dodgers are not. The Giants aren't either, for the most part. If any of those teams went on a consistent run of winning divisions, they could easily turn into powerhouses and have payrolls around $150 mil.

The Cubs require an incentive to succeed, with no end to profits in sight they'll field the same garbage for another decade or so. Hopefully by then the farm system will be worth a damn and they can even be considered in this discussion.

[IceCap]

And once again, a Philadelphia team chokes in the post-season. Once again the myriad excuses will be spewed by the phony fans. I love that the local yokel sports talk radio hosts were wrong again. I delight when they are wrong. 2 World Series championships since 1883, both against 10 year old expansion teams, the Royals in 1980, the Rays in 2008, the Rays...a team that had 1,000 losses in 10 seasons and were the worst team in baseball.

The Eagles, zero Lombardi trophies. Last Sunday, when they choked away a 23-3 lead at home to the 49ers, the "loyal" and "passionate" Eagle fans were heard chanting "Let's go Phillies." Tonight, as the "loyal" and "passionate" Phillies fans were leaving Citizens Bank Ballpark, they were heard chanting "Let's go Flyers". With "friends" like those, who needs enemies?

The Phillies have NEVER beaten an established team for a World championship. The Phillies, around since 1883. 2 World Series championships. As many as the expansion New York Mets, Toronto Blue Jays & Florida Marlins. When will the local fans and the national media learn and understand that Philadelphia teams ALWAYS CHOKE in the playoffs? The hitters were silent tonight, and were in Game 4 and even game 3. Lee, the "great" Cliff Lee up 4-0 at HOME, blows it. Lee is not all that. He was pedestrian last year with the Rangers too. All the local yokel Philly sports fans and tv and radio hosts kept thumping their chests about the "great pitching" they had.

How many of those Braves' teams had "great pitching"? How many World Series titles did they win? 1, and that was in 1995, a 144 game shortened season. The Braves always ran out of gas when the season had to go 162.

The 1969 Orioles had a stellar pitching staff. They lost to the Mets.

The more everybody kept up-playing the "Great pitching" staff of the Phillies, the more those people who were singing their praises were driving those nails into the Phillies coffin.

1983 the Phillies LOST to the Orioles, even with having the "Gods" of baseball Schmidt, Rose & Morgan on their team.

1993 the Phillies LOST to the Blue Jays. Joe Carter, with a 3 run homer!!!

2011 the Phillies LOST to the Cardinals, a stinking WILD CARD team!!!

Phillies can NOT beat bird teams. They can NOT beat established teams in the post-season. They did beat the Dodgers 3 times in the LCS in 1983, 2008 & 2009, but in 83 and 09 they lost to ESTABLISHED teams, and in '08, they beat the 10 year old frickin Rays....unworthy of having a parade for that "win"....please.

Eagles lose NFC title games at home, or on the road, ironically their last NFC title game loss was to the Cardinals. They choked in Super Bowl XV, also to a WILD CARD team. The Flyers last won a Stanley Cup in 1975, when the NHL only had what, 12 friggin teams? The Sixers won in 1983 after losing in 1982 and in 1980 to the same team, the Lakers.

Smarty Jones, a Philly horse even choked in trying to win the triple-crown. Heck, even the USFL's Philadelphia Stars LOST in the first championship game in 1983 to the Michigan Panthers.

Philadelphia teams always choke, they always blow it....ALWAYS........and I don't ever want to hear about how "passionate" their fans are, not when they chant "Let's go Flyers" 2 minutes after they watch the Phillies blow it at home....AGAIN.....not when the Eagles fans chant "Let's go Phillies" while still at Lincoln Financial Field. If that's loyalty, I'd rather do without loyalists....

Another TYPICAL Philadelphia Choke, when will these fans and these "experts" EVER learn?

So....you're upset that the Phillies lost.

[mania]

I can't speak for the Chicago teams, agree with you about the Dodgers, but how are the Giants a poorly run team? They constantly are at the top of the league in attendance figures, Have great TV ratings, have built a solid minor league system, and JUST won a World Series and have won the pennant twice in the last decade. They also make more money per fan than just about any other team. Not sure what's so poorly run about that.

Kind of funny since the Up and In Podcast breaks down the Giants system on their most recent show. The phrase "bottom of the barrel" gets used by Jason Parks. It's basically Gary Brown and... a wasteland.

[AnythingChicago]

I was so close with the T-Clutch headline prediction.

But now I'm in a doozy as a Cubs can; do I root for the Brewers or the Cardinals (well, now that I think of it, it's not that bad of a doozy. This Brewers team has great character, and it's in my Cubs fandom clause never to root for St. Louis).

[JayJaxon]

I saw an idiot on another message board (Phillies fan) say that now the World Series is guaranteed to have the lowest ratings ever. This is why I can't stand most Boston,New York, and Philadelphia fans. They think that if their team isn't in it, nobody watches. We don't have a ton of 'bad' fans of these teams on this message board. But they are all over the place elsewhere and comments like that just make them look worse. Let it go, your team lost.

What do you think the over/under is that the Cardinals have a rally squirrel image up on the big screen by the time game 3 comes to town?

What message board? I wanna see this....

It was the ESPN review of the game.

[BigBubba]

And once again, a Philadelphia team chokes in the post-season. Once again the myriad excuses will be spewed by the phony fans. I love that the local yokel sports talk radio hosts were wrong again. I delight when they are wrong. 2 World Series championships since 1883, both against 10 year old expansion teams, the Royals in 1980, the Rays in 2008, the Rays...a team that had 1,000 losses in 10 seasons and were the worst team in baseball.

The Eagles, zero Lombardi trophies. Last Sunday, when they choked away a 23-3 lead at home to the 49ers, the "loyal" and "passionate" Eagle fans were heard chanting "Let's go Phillies." Tonight, as the "loyal" and "passionate" Phillies fans were leaving Citizens Bank Ballpark, they were heard chanting "Let's go Flyers". With "friends" like those, who needs enemies?

The Phillies have NEVER beaten an established team for a World championship. The Phillies, around since 1883. 2 World Series championships. As many as the expansion New York Mets, Toronto Blue Jays & Florida Marlins. When will the local fans and the national media learn and understand that Philadelphia teams ALWAYS CHOKE in the playoffs? The hitters were silent tonight, and were in Game 4 and even game 3. Lee, the "great" Cliff Lee up 4-0 at HOME, blows it. Lee is not all that. He was pedestrian last year with the Rangers too. All the local yokel Philly sports fans and tv and radio hosts kept thumping their chests about the "great pitching" they had.

How many of those Braves' teams had "great pitching"? How many World Series titles did they win? 1, and that was in 1995, a 144 game shortened season. The Braves always ran out of gas when the season had to go 162.

The 1969 Orioles had a stellar pitching staff. They lost to the Mets.

The more everybody kept up-playing the "Great pitching" staff of the Phillies, the more those people who were singing their praises were driving those nails into the Phillies coffin.

1983 the Phillies LOST to the Orioles, even with having the "Gods" of baseball Schmidt, Rose & Morgan on their team.

1993 the Phillies LOST to the Blue Jays. Joe Carter, with a 3 run homer!!!

2011 the Phillies LOST to the Cardinals, a stinking WILD CARD team!!!

Phillies can NOT beat bird teams. They can NOT beat established teams in the post-season. They did beat the Dodgers 3 times in the LCS in 1983, 2008 & 2009, but in 83 and 09 they lost to ESTABLISHED teams, and in '08, they beat the 10 year old frickin Rays....unworthy of having a parade for that "win"....please.

Eagles lose NFC title games at home, or on the road, ironically their last NFC title game loss was to the Cardinals. They choked in Super Bowl XV, also to a WILD CARD team. The Flyers last won a Stanley Cup in 1975, when the NHL only had what, 12 friggin teams? The Sixers won in 1983 after losing in 1982 and in 1980 to the same team, the Lakers.

Smarty Jones, a Philly horse even choked in trying to win the triple-crown. Heck, even the USFL's Philadelphia Stars LOST in the first championship game in 1983 to the Michigan Panthers.

Philadelphia teams always choke, they always blow it....ALWAYS........and I don't ever want to hear about how "passionate" their fans are, not when they chant "Let's go Flyers" 2 minutes after they watch the Phillies blow it at home....AGAIN.....not when the Eagles fans chant "Let's go Phillies" while still at Lincoln Financial Field. If that's loyalty, I'd rather do without loyalists....

Another TYPICAL Philadelphia Choke, when will these fans and these "experts" EVER learn?

So....you're upset that the Phillies lost.

Let's not jump to wild conclusions.