MLB Wednesday October 1, 2008- LET'S DANCE!

[huh?]

<table width="700" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1"><tr class="stathead"><td colspan="6">Tuesday, September 30, 2008</td></tr><tr class="colhead"><td>RESULT</td><td>WIN</td><td>LOSS</td><td>SAVE</td><td colspan="2">ATT.</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td ><a href="/mlb/boxscore?gameId=280930104">at Chicago Sox 1, Minnesota 0</a></td><td><a href="/mlb/players/profile?playerId=28508">Danks</a> (12-9) </td><td><a href="/mlb/players/profile?playerId=28889">Blackburn</a> (11-11) </td><td><a href="/mlb/players/profile?playerId=5910">Jenks</a> (30) </td><td colspan="2">40,354</td></tr></table>
<table class="tablehead" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr class="stathead"><td colspan="6">Wednesday, October 1, 2008</td></tr><tr class="colhead"><td>TEAMS</td><td align="right">TIME (ET)</td><td>NAT TV</td><td>RESOURCES</td><td>PITCHERS</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td><a href="/mlb/preview?gameId=281001122">Milwaukee at Philadelphia</a></td><td align="right">3:00 PM</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td><a href="http://www.stubhub.com/philadelphia-phillies-tickets/" onclick="this.href=this.href+'?gcid=C12289x450&gtkw=Philadelphia+Phillies'" title="Philadelphia Phillies Tickets">Tickets</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;92999071;16443180;q?http://sports.espn.go.com/travel/cities/index?city=philadelphia&startDate=20081001">Travel</a></td><td><a href="/mlb/players/profile?playerId=28650">Gallardo</a> vs <a href="/mlb/players/profile?playerId=6216">Hamels</a></td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td><a href="/mlb/preview?gameId=281001116">LA Dodgers at Chicago Cubs</a></td><td align="right">6:30 PM</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td><a href="http://www.stubhub.com/chicago-cubs-tickets/" onclick="this.href=this.href+'?gcid=C12289x450&gtkw=Chicago+Cubs'" title="Chicago Cubs Tickets">Tickets</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;92999071;16443180;q?http://sports.espn.go.com/travel/cities/index?city=chicago&startDate=20081001">Travel</a></td><td><a href="/mlb/players/profile?playerId=3640">Lowe</a> vs <a href="/mlb/players/profile?playerId=3845">Dempster</a></td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td><a href="/mlb/preview?gameId=281001103">Boston at LA Angels</a></td><td align="right">10:00 PM</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td><a href="http://www.stubhub.com/los-angeles-angels-tickets/" onclick="this.href=this.href+'?gcid=C12289x450&gtkw=Los+Angeles+Angels'" title="Los Angeles Angels Tickets">Tickets</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;92999071;16443180;q?http://sports.espn.go.com/travel/cities/index?city=los-angeles&startDate=20081001">Travel</a></td><td><a href="/mlb/players/profile?playerId=28487">Lester</a> vs <a href="/mlb/players/profile?playerId=5203">Lackey</a></td></tr></table>

[huh?]

ALDS

Red Sox vs. Angles Series Tied 0-0
Rays vs. White Sox Series Tied 0-0

NLDS

Phillies vs. Brewers Series Tied 0-0
Dodgers vs. Cubs Series Tied 0-0

[Goat3001]

Ah, playoff baseball. It's a beautiful thing... even if the Yankees aren't involved.

Can this be our prediction thread?

ALDS:
LAAAAA in 4
TB in 5

NLDS:
Cubs in 4
Phillies in 4

ALCS:
LAAAAA in 6
Cubs in 5

WS:
Cubs in 5

Although personally, I'm rooting for a Brewers/TB World Series, just to see the rating at an all time low.

[starman9000]

Go Phillies!

[Quack]

Get Game 1 done Cubs!

[Tommy_Harn]

I know they are playing against each other, but isn't there a way for both the Phillies and the Brewers to be swept in the first round of the playoffs?

Gun to my head, I guess I'd rather see the Brewers win. After attending a game in Philadelphia this spring, I still can't get a firm grasp on the reality that there are people on this earth as disgusting and worthless as the garbage I saw in the right-field seats that day.

[B.A.]

Go Phils, Dodgers and Angels.

:beer:

[Setzer]

Angels haven't beaten the Red Sox in a Playoff game since game 4 of the 1986 ALCS. Hopefully that streak ends tonight. Go Angels!!!!!

Also...

Go Rays!!!
Go Cubs!!!
Go Brewers!!!

[starman9000]

Go Phils, Dodgers and Angels.

:beer:

Those are my choices. I don't want the Rays because I want the Twins to be the pesky little team. :mad:

I want the Angels, so Torii can say "see MN, make a move and you can win." Same with the Dodgers.

I want the Phillies, just because I like Coste.

I formally apologize for screwing those teams over with my terrible fan karma.

[bunkaroo]

I really don't know what to expect from the Dodgers/Cubs series. I think if Zambrano has a bad outing tomorrow the Dodgers may take the series.

Haven't seen the Phillies too much this year but given what I've seen of the Brewers, I'll say Phillies in 5.

Based on the White Sox now being in, I'd rather see them face the Angels for better or worse. Red Sox pitching has owned us pretty good this year.

As far as our chances with TB, if we can get a win down there I'll go out on a limb and say Sox in 4. :) Of course, with Vazquez the choke artist starting game 1, who knows what will happen.

[The Cow]

It's good to see Ken Griffy Jr in the post-season :up:

[rocketsauce]

Just rooting for the Cubs to win. Every ever time I've rooted for another team for us to potentially play in later rounds, those teams have eliminated us.

So I'm rooting for good sportsmanship and high pitch counts.

[B.A.]

I formally apologize for screwing those teams over with my terrible fan karma.
Same here.


Maybe I should root for the Cubs.

[rabbit77]

Red Sox in 4
White Sox in 4
Cubs in 4
Brewers in 5

White Sox in 6
Cubs in 5

Then the White Sox will humiliate the Cubs in 4. :p

[rocketsauce]

Red Sox in 4
White Sox in 4
Cubs in 4
Brewers in 5

White Sox in 6
Cubs in 5

Then the White Sox will be humble after losing to the Cubs in 4. :p

Fixed. :)

[fumanstan]

6:30 PM EST start time :down:

[DaveWadding]

6:30 PM EST start time :down:

Afternoon baseball. <3

EAMUS CATULI!

[rocketsauce]

This sucks in a selfish way for me. I don't get out of work until 5 near the West Loop. I live three blocks north of Wrigley and it's going to be a BEAR driving back in any time to not miss the beginning of the game.

Thank God I have my own parking spot....

[rabbit77]

This sucks in a selfish way for me. I don't get out of work until 5 near the West Loop. I live three blocks north of Wrigley and it's going to be a BEAR driving back in any time to not miss the beginning of the game.

Thank God I have my own parking spot....

I wish you the best in getting back but everyone and their mom's going to be trying to get home.

[GuessWho]

Afternoon baseball. <3

EAMUS CATULI!Except today's Cubs game isn't an afternoon nor a night game to us in Chicago.

It's a friggen rush hour game when most of us are logging out of work and then sitting in our cars.

[nevermind]

lets go Cubbies!



I am already home from work, ready for 9-10 hours of playoff baseball :banana:

[kenbuzz]

ALDS

Red Sox vs. Angles [sic] Series Tied 0-0
Rays vs. White Sox Series Tied 0-0

NLDS

Phillies vs. Brewers Series Tied 0-0
Dodgers vs. Cubs Series Tied 0-0This is easy for me:

ALDS-1: Root for the Angles [sic]. I'm have permanent Red Sox/Yankee fatigue, and since I don't have the luxury of rooting against them both (yaay!), I'll start by rooting against Boston. I despise Los Angeles in general as well, so I'm hoping for a very short series to cut into ticket revenue for both teams. 3-0 sweep for the Orange County Los Angeles Disneyland Southern California Angels of Anaheim.

http://images.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/_photos/2005-02-24-la-inside.jpg
Frank McCort (right): "'Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim', that's five words, right Arte?"
Arte Moreno (left): No no, you idiot, it's "Orange County Los Angeles Disneyland Southern California Angels of Anaheim", ten words, not five!

ALDS-2: Big market against small market? Easy - Go Rays (and thank you for knocking the Yankees out of the post-season). Rays 3-1

NLDS-1: Big market against small market again - Go Brewers. Milwaukee 3-2, and it dosen't get any better than this.

NLDS-2: Hatred of LA against fawning Cubbie fans? Ugh, I wish they both could lose, but LA wins (err, loses) the tiebreak: Cubs 3-0.

Perfect scenario: Rays vs Brewers, 6 or 7 games, with the NL team prevailing.

[DaveWadding]

Except today's Cubs game isn't an afternoon nor a night game to us in Chicago.

It's a friggen rush hour game when most of us are logging out of work and then sitting in our cars.

True enough.

Living on the West Coast 4TW :banana:

[sundog]

I like the 5:30 Central start. That means my train shouldn't be packed with damned Cub fans as it is for 7:00 pm games.

Go White Sox.

[wildcatlh]

phew. 1 down, 2 to go. Beautiful game from Hamels.

[Quake1028]

Rays in 4
LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA of A in 5

Phils in 4
Cubs in 4

LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA of A in 7
Cubs in 7

Cubs in 6

[brainee]

phew. 1 down, 2 to go. Beautiful game from Hamels.

I'm getting Mitch Williams (circa 1993) vibes from Lidge :hairpull:

[huh?]

I am rooting for Boston (obviously) but I have a bad feeling Lowell, J.D, and Beckett won't be contributing and it will hurt us.

[fumanstan]

True enough.

Living on the West Coast 4TW :banana:

Not if your the average joe and working at the time. At least most Cubs fans will be home in time to see the game. At least tomorrow is a better time :)

[rocketsauce]

DEROSA!!!!! 2 run bomb!!!

[nevermind]

ugh. Dempster is lookign very shaky and has thrown 60 pitches already


*edit* just got out of a BIG jam :up:

[fumanstan]

Crap nuggets to that. :(

[pedagogue]

I'm rooting for the Rays. Young guys, fun to watch, less homer fans.

[Deftones]

lolz

woops. probably should've took dempster out there.

[fumanstan]

Loney :banana:

[chrisih8u]

Boston Globe:

During the season, Francona was particularly adamant about saying that he would not hit for Varitek.
He made no such promises tonight.


I love playoff Tito.

And Manny :up:

[huh?]

Dodgers looking good tonight.

[huh?]

And Manny :up:


Go Manny Go.

[db27]

Impressive win for LA

[CRM114]

phew. 1 down, 2 to go. Beautiful game from Hamels.

I sat in the drizzling rain in astonishment at the game Hamels threw. Then came the ninth and Lidge. I hope he snaps out of it soon.

[CRM114]

I'm getting Mitch Williams (circa 1993) vibes from Lidge :hairpull:

Mitch Williams threw out the first pitch today. Well, he threw it past the catcher. :) The demons of Mitch Williams were exorcized.

[tofferman]

Bay!

[nickdawgy]

The guy that takes Manny's place ends up hurting the Angels. If they'd stop leaving men on base, they might still be in front.

[nickdawgy]

Angels offense non existent. Not to take away a great start from Lester, but still. Geez, a loss here would be 8 straight to Boston, and give them HFA. Enough already.

[chrisih8u]

Lester came up big. :up:

[El Scorcho]

this shit's just not the same without dane cook telling me how many octobers there are

[tofferman]

this shit's just not the same without dane cook telling me how many octobers there are

:lol:

[tofferman]

Great assist by Youkilis

[nickdawgy]

Vlad is retarded.

A bloop single by Hunter with one out, and Vlad decides to go from 1st to 3rd and gets nailed. It wasn't even close. Now two outs, man on 1st instead of oneout and men at 1st and 2nd.

Disgusting way to lose this game.

[nickdawgy]

Scot Shields says we have to make this like last year, give Boston some insurance runs.

[tofferman]

Great game by Lester tonight...props to Jason Bay and Jacoby Ellsbury :up:

[chrisih8u]

Great win. This was the game I was most confident in winning. Matsuzaka and Beckett make me nervous.

[nickdawgy]

I am just pissed. I won't feel any better until the Angels win at least one game vs Boston.

[Qui Gon Jim]

this shit's just not the same without dane cook telling me how many octobers there are

I'd gladly take Dane Cook over that fucking unfunny overrated Frank Caliendo. He wasn't funny last year, and I thought they got them message when his show tanked. I'm so glad that on top of the insomnia effect of a 10PM start I have to have this idiot shoved down my throat.

Lester is the MAN. The Angels bats weren't silent as much as stifled. They missed thier chance in the first inning. Lackey looked good too. These two teams are really evenly matched. If they Sox can keep the LAAs 2-3-4 from being productive, they they could pull this out.

Also, who's on suicide watch for Vlad Guerrero? He looked seriously upset at himself last night. Could just as easily have been Jed Lowrey if the Sox had not pulled ahead.

[Qui Gon Jim]

Great win. This was the game I was most confident in winning. Matsuzaka and Beckett make me nervous.
Same here.

[Goat3001]

Great win. This was the game I was most confident in winning. Matsuzaka and Beckett make me nervous.

Really? I haven't followed the Sox as closely as you have but Dice-K has 18 wins and Beckett, despite injury, is one of the best postseason pitchers around. I would think Game 1, against Lackey, in Anaheim, would be the hardest to win. I think the Red Sox made a big leap forward by winning this game.

[chrisih8u]

Well, Im worried about Beckett's injury. And with Dice-K, he never goes deep into games. He'll give you 5 or 6 good innings, but you can't count on him for more than that. And with the Red Sox bullpen, it's a crapshoot. But Lester has pitched like an ace. I felt I could at least count on him for a quality start. Not so much with the other two.

[Jacoby Ellsbury]

I raked last night.
We absolutely own the Angels.
Vlad has had some horrible playoff games, but that was near the bottom last night. He had one of the best cannons in baseball too bad those knees are such a liability. He's got Mike Lowell speed.

[Setzer]

I am just pissed. I won't feel any better until the Angels win at least one game vs Boston.

Yep, same 'ol Angels team showing up in postseason....errr not showing up.

I'm trying to figure out why Scioscia decided to go with GMJ instead of Rivera. Defense? Nice play by Gary out there in RF, luckily it didn't cost us a run. Also, what a productive evening for Gary at the plate. :rolleyes:

And then there was the move to bring in Shields instead of Arredondo for the 9th? We're trailing 2-1 and Scot Shields has been absolutely owned by the Red Sox in his career....what did you think was going to happen? *sigh*

The Angels wasted a great start by Lackey....we left, what, 30 men on base last night? GG Angels offense!

Series is over.

[Jacoby Ellsbury]

I dont know why Lackey is the ace in this series anyways, he was good last time and was good last night but usually he has been killed by the sox. I think Santana has had some pretty good success against the sox.
Also having Garrett Anderson batting 2nd against a lefty goes against the scouting too, I always remember him getting killed by Lefties, especially Mike Myers in 04. That was the worst AB I had seen since Kruk vs Randy Johnson in the all-star game.
I dont know why everyone was picking the angels in this series. Vlad never shows up in the post season. Hunter and Tex will do well though

[Setzer]

I dont know why Lackey is the ace in this series anyways, he was good last time and was good last night but usually he has been killed by the sox. I think Santana has had some pretty good success against the sox.
Also having Garrett Anderson batting 2nd against a lefty goes against the scouting too, I always remember him getting killed by Lefties, especially Mike Myers in 04. That was the worst AB I had seen since Kruk vs Randy Johnson in the all-star game.
I dont know why everyone was picking the angels in this series. Vlad never shows up in the post season. Hunter and Tex will do well though

Lackey has owned the Red Sox this season and he pitched very well last night. That one bad pitch shouldn't have cost him the game. The Angels should have had at least 6 runs by that point.

Vlad went 2-4 last night which is encouraging....much better than Chone Figgins 0-5 with 3 K's.

Everyone is picking the Angels because on paper they are the better team.....but that's on paper. We all know the Angels don't show up for play-off games against Boston.

[Jacoby Ellsbury]

I dont know, the angels are pretty weak at the bottom of the order.
Id take Coco Crisp, Casey and Kotsay over the angels bench players.
I'll take Lester, Dice and Beckett over any 3 starters the angels have. Lester is better than any starter on the Angels and Beckett is better than Lester.
The closer is a wash both are lights out.
Is the angels bullpen really any better than having Paul Byrd, Wakefield, Masterson, Okijima, Lopez, pitching in the 7th and 8th? Defensively the sox are better, Angels do have a good defense but the redsox have one of the best in the league. Lowrie at this point in his career is probably the weakest IF at this point and he made his first error of the year last night. There is alot of speed in the OF and Drew has a plus arm. Varitek calls a great game and is above average defensively.
The angels had a great record the but AL west is so weak this year.
The only advantage the Angels had was homefield, but you heard the lets go redsox chants in the 8th and the sox have won many playoff games out there, most of it was damage by Manny, but Bay filled those shoes last night.

[El Scorcho]

Jacoby, you're a fast motherfucker.

[Setzer]

I dont know, the angels are pretty weak at the bottom of the order.
So are the Red Sox.

Id take Coco Crisp, Casey and Kotsay over the angels bench players.
Of course you would. I'll take Morales, Rivera and Quinlan over the Sox bench players. :rolleyes:

I'll take Lester, Dice and Beckett over any 3 starters the angels have.
I'll agree with you here, the Red Sox rotation is slightly better than the Angels and I do mean slightly. I'll take a healthy Escobar with Lackey, Santana and Saunders over Beckett, Lester, Dice and Wakefield, though.


The closer is a wash both are lights out.
Yep, pretty close. K-Rod has more blown saves though.

Is the angels bullpen really any better than having Paul Byrd, Wakefield, Masterson, Okijima, Lopez, pitching in the 7th and 8th?
I think the Red Sox bullpen is better because they don't have Shields.

Defensively the sox are better, Angels do have a good defense but the redsox have one of the best in the league.
Angels .985 FPCT, Boston .986 FPCT. Boston isn't that much better than the Angels...I'd say even.

The angels had a great record the but AL west is so weak this year.
True but the Angels were 30-16 vs. the East and 36-21 vs. the West. So, you're saying the reason the Angels had a great record was for the fact they play in the AL West? :rolleyes:

The only advantage the Angels had was homefield, but you heard the lets go redsox chants in the 8th and the sox have won many playoff games out there, most of it was damage by Manny, but Bay filled those shoes last night.
Angels fucked themselves last night by leaving 13 men on base, only scoring 1 unearned run on 9 hits, and making stupid base running decisions. That's not going to get it done and if they continue to play like this then the series will be over in 3 games. Also, while there were quite a few Sox fans there, it was still an Angels dominant crowd.

[Mad Dawg]

Great win. This was the game I was most confident in winning. Matsuzaka and Beckett make me nervous.

This is true. I've got an ulcer already from this one because it was close for so long, but DiceK and his nibbling is going to be the death of me in Game 2.

The Angels are a really amazing team, so it's going to be an adventure. And it's nice to know the Sox leave Anaheim with one win.

But one thing...it sucks that such a quality baseball team has an organization that wishes to pass out "annoyance devices" to their fans. These clapper things, on an irritation scale, rank just above "thunder sticks" and just below prolonged testicular torture. There are only two places where these toys make any sense: a) Japan, and b) a nursery. Wanna support your team? Clap and cheer. Saves money, and you aren't taking part in mass douchebaggery.

[Qui Gon Jim]

At least they aren't fucking towels. I agree that gimmicks like this are lame, and LA is too good to resort to this sideshow bullshit.