World Series 2020

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danfrank
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Re: World Series 2020

Post by danfrank »

Snell was on fire and had a low pitch count, so I thought it was dumb to take him out, even before what happened immediately afterward. Cash will be questioning himself for the rest of his life, no doubt. The Dodgers were solid so hard to begrudge them the win except for my general antipathy toward the franchise. I think Mookie was the secret ingredient that put them over the top this year. That and Kershaw not imploding like he usually does. Let’s hope for a real season next year.
Mister Tee
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Re: World Series 2020

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Dodgers Win Series That Doesn't Quite Count in 6 Games
-- reusable headline from 1981

Not much to say about this one. The unquenchable Arozarena put Tampa on top with ANOTHER home run. Blake Snell was squelching, repeatedly striking out the heart of the Dodger order, but Cash was itching to get to his vaunted bullpen, and withdrew Snell in the 6th after he yielded only his second hit. Reliever Anderson served up a double, and watched two runs come across on a wild pitch and infield out. That's more or less the story, until Mookie Betts added an 8th inning homer. Oh, and Dave Roberts showed he wouldn't be burnt twice: avoiding Jansen in favor of Urias, who closed out the game on a strikeout.

The Dodgers, like their '81 match, finally win a Series after two losses. They'll be proud of it. Let's see them do it in a real year.

And goodbye to baseball, such as it was, 2020.
Last edited by Mister Tee on Wed Oct 28, 2020 12:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
danfrank
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Re: World Series 2020

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The attempted steal of home was indeed the most exciting part of the game, and I wish Margot had pulled it off. It was close! There was a double steal by the Angels against my Giants in 2002, resulting in a run, but the double steal is a completely different animal from the straight steal. The other point of interest in this game was the decision by Roberts to pull Kershaw as early as he did. Kershaw was solid last night but not at his stellar best. Given his propensity for blowing it in these big games I think it was a smart move to pull him. It gave us a chance to see the young and wild-haired Dustin May, who has very little major league experience (let alone postseason experience) perform very well in a crucial spot. I’m also hoping for a game 7.
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Re: World Series 2020

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A thoroughly more pedestrian, though close game followed, putting the Dodgers into a 3-2 Series lead. The highlight was an attempted steal of home, the first I can recall in a Series game since my fandom began. (Jackie Robinson famously had a successful attempt in one of the Yankee/Dodger Series, though Yogi always claimed the umpire got the call wrong.) The out at the plate ended Kershaw's toughest inning, where he survived a tying-run-at-third/no-outs situation via popup, strikeout, and the failed scoring attempt. The Dodgers, perhaps finally wary of Jansen, let Treinen pocket the save.

The Dodgers would appear to be favorites at this point -- even if Snell outpitches whoever tomorrow night, they have the stellar Buehler ready for Wednesday; plus, as the "home team", they get last-ups for the next two games. (Tampa has had a ton of their success this year via walk-offs.) But I don't think anyone feels comfortable calling it either way. Why not root for it to go 7? Having both LCS's plus the Series going 7 is at least entertaining, even if the season will never be perceived as real by many of us.
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Re: World Series 2020

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Funny, Tee, I was wondering last night if you regretted not having a postseason thread, as that ending was one for the ages. Brett Phillips becomes an instant hero and Jansen apparently got multiple death threats and racist remarks on his Twitter feed. Quite unfortunate. I was hoping that such a pitiful ending for the Dodgers would swing momentum toward the Rays, but the Dodgers now have the early lead in game 5. Kershaw may blow it yet, or he may pitch his first pristine World Series, moving Dodgers toward the title that comes with an asterisk.
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World Series 2020

Post by Mister Tee »

I said I couldn't take this baseball season seriously, so, true to my word, I dispensed with the post-season thread, despite my own team being around for part of it. I'll never take the designation "2020 World Champion" very seriously, just as I've never taken the Dodgers' 1981 flag seriously, given the strike-reduced schedule that year. This is especially easy for me now, since I've never liked the Dodgers, and, though many people probably like the Rays as Scrappy Underdogs (TM), close interaction with them has left me thinking of them as arrogant assholes.

However...a good game is a good game, and last night's was a doozy. I was on the phone with a friend through part of it, and, every time the Dodgers added to their lead, she'd say "Game over". But it was a night was more in line with Chairman Yogi's "It ain't over till it's over" -- a game that went Dodgers 2-0, Dodgers 2-1, Dodgers 3-1, Dodgers 3-2, Dodgers 4-2, Rays 5-4, Dodgers 6-5, tied 6-6, Dodgers 7-6, Rays 8-7 is a definitional seesaw match.

Which is only the half of it, as the Dodgers carried their 7-6 into the 9th -- two outs into the 9th, in fact -- and saw that lead dwindle on...well, first a little background.

The Dodgers' closer, Kenley Jansen, has, to be honest, not impressed me these last couple of seasons I've watched him in post-season. I don't have full stats, but it feels to me like he's failed to protect 1-run leads on multiple occasions -- part of me feels the Dodgers would already have a championship if Mariano Rivera had been their closer instead.

On this occasion, Jansen got the first out, and came ohsoclose to getting a second -- Kiermaier broke a bat and the ensuing looper evaded the second baseman's glove by an inch or two. Jansen then got the second out, bringing up the rookie Arozarena, who'd been crushing the ball the whole post-season. Jansen, perhaps picking his poison, walked him in a careful at-bat, leaving it up to the light-hitting, barely-a-major-leaguer Phillips. Jansen got two strikes on him, whereupon Phillips stroked a single to center. Which was bad enough -- it tied the game -- but center-fielder Taylor had the ball deflect off his glove. Even this wasn't enough to lose the game, as Taylor recovered and threw the ball homeward, while Arozaraena stumbled and fell between third and home. He should have been dead to rights -- only Muncy cut the ball off, and his throw to catcher Will Smith was enough off-line that Smith, anticipating a swipe-tag, missed the ball entirely, enabling Arozarena to practically crawl home. Rays win. A double-error deciding the game. First World Series game to end on an error since Bill Buckner's immortal whiff -- a day I recall quite vividly, since it was my wedding day, 34 years ago today.

The immediate impulse is to say, the Dodgers can never recover from a blow like that. But one remembers the Rays blowing a 7-0 lead to the Red Sox in the 2008 ALCS, and still going on to top the Sox in 7 games. Anything can happen.

Still not taking it seriously, but maybe watching a little more attentively.
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