OT: World Series Talk
Folks! I know Hate Week is upon us, but the World Series was set last night, with the Phillies facing the Astros. I don't see a universe in which the Astros don't win this, but I'm curious as to what everyone else thinks.
The Phillies seem really hot right now, but also probably got a bit lucky, whereas the Astros feel like the team that should win based on talent, etc.
October 24th, 2022 at 11:06 AM ^
I'm just glad the Yankees got swept.
October 24th, 2022 at 11:39 AM ^
Ditto. MLB lost all their big market teams prior to the end of the CLE/NYY series so they did EVERYTHING, and I mean EVERYTHING to help the beloved Yankees win so fuck those guys.
Not one but two very questionable rainouts, strike zones tight for CLE pitchers and expanded for the Yankees and a bunch of missed calls all “helped” the Yankees win. But without that help they got exposed big-time by the Astros.
Like most I’m rooting for the Phillies cause I’m no fan of the Houston cheaters but I am glad the cheaters beat the Yankees.
October 24th, 2022 at 11:10 AM ^
I find both teams unlikable -- one team cheated, the other has the most obnoxious fans in pro sports --and I suspect a lot of people feel likewise. TV ratings will be god-awful.
October 24th, 2022 at 11:24 AM ^
the other has the most obnoxious fans in pro sports
the phillies aren't from Pittsburgh!
October 24th, 2022 at 11:35 AM ^
You misspelled St. Louis.
October 24th, 2022 at 11:39 AM ^
*East Lansing. You guys forget what week it is?
October 24th, 2022 at 11:44 AM ^
I think that’s spelled B-o-s-t-o-n
October 24th, 2022 at 11:48 AM ^
Logged in to say exactly this.
October 24th, 2022 at 11:38 AM ^
Michigan wishes their fans could show half of the passion of Philly sports fans. We come on this site. We talk about Maize Outs, Blue Outs, late arriving students, etc. It goes on and on and on. The lazy media regurgitates that same Philly fan nonsense year after year - Santa Claus, batteries, Michael Irvin, blah, blah, blah.
Philly fans CARE!!!!! Maybe it's unhealthy, but they care like it's the most important thing in life. Michigan fans could learn many things from Philly fans.
October 24th, 2022 at 11:45 AM ^
I went to a Phillies game as a kid. The fans booed Mike Schmidt, arguably the greatest third baseman of all time. Philly fans are delusional.
October 24th, 2022 at 12:12 PM ^
That wasn't the fans saying "boooo", they were saying "we caaaaaaare".
Philly fans are obnoxious.
October 24th, 2022 at 1:09 PM ^
How about fans booing a player in general? Does a player just brush it off?
Schmidt: Unless you have ear-plugs, then you can't hear it. You just have to absorb it and react to it in the simplest form that you can and realize that the people care. It's sort of an old tradition in Philly, if you will. Maybe "tradition" is the best way to describe it. Disappointment in a performance or disappointment in an outcome of a ball game -- basketball, football, baseball, hockey -- in Philly will lead to a chorus of that sort of sound in the stadium. In most cases, it's not directed directly at a person for any personality issue. It's just general fan disappointment in Philadelphia. I think it'd be taken with a grain of salt by the player, knowing that the next time he goes out and throws a good ball game there will be a standing ovation. There won't be any boos.
October 24th, 2022 at 12:04 PM ^
Yea I was less than impressed at the "maize out" against PSU from what I saw on TV. I kept thinking "how did so many people not get the memo". I guess if we want a maize out the university needs to put a maize shirt on every seat before fans enter!
October 24th, 2022 at 12:31 PM ^
So you want us to be a-hole fanatics like Philly/Buckeye fans? No thanks...
October 24th, 2022 at 1:06 PM ^
Assholes, no. Violent, no. Drunk, no. I don't want us to be like any of these things.
Passionate to the highest degree imaginable, yes. That's how I unapologetically feel about Michigan sports, especially when I'm in the stands. I want all Michigan fans, players, coaches, administrators to care as much as me. I want us to have the country's greatest home-field-advantage in all sports.
Buckeyes fans are NOT(!) Philly fans. Buckeyes fans are entitled; specifically, they believe they are entitled to all of the 5-star recruits, every referee call, every Heisman vote, and every 1st-place-poll vote. Philly loves being the underdog. Buckeyes think being an underdog is a weakness or an embarrassment or a conspiracy.
Generally speaking, Philly fans feel entitled to nothing but the best effort of everyone that wears a uniform. There is no greater sin than losing and/or not caring. The media portrayal of Philly fan has historically highlighted the "drunk belligerent." There's no doubt Philly has too many of those types. That's not what defines 90+% of the Philly fanbase.
BTW, the more you disparage Philly fans, the more they swoon with pride.
October 24th, 2022 at 3:23 PM ^
How dare you besmirch the Phanatic?
October 24th, 2022 at 3:20 PM ^
User name checks out
btw have happened to be in Philly for a couple of the NLCS games, great vibe, all kinds of people are crowded into bars to watch
October 24th, 2022 at 11:11 AM ^
I do not have a favorite baseball team, but Im all in on the Phillies. They will most likely lose, but they are so much fun to watch.
Harper is awesome and that home crowd is wild.
Hoskins has been on fire and Wheeler and Nola is a damn good 1-2 punch atop that rotation and their bullpen has been much improved since the regular season.
Should be a fun matchup.
October 24th, 2022 at 11:17 AM ^
I have obnoxious family in Ohio, so I was rooting for the Guardians to lose and then pretty much anybody but the Yankees or Dodgers. But I would like to see Dusty Baker get his ring. Wouldn't mind seeing Verlander get another as well.
October 24th, 2022 at 11:22 AM ^
Go Astros. Moving to LA and being around Dodgers fans' and listening to their incessant whining about 2017 (while never acknowledging the Dodgers absolutely blowing Games 5 & 7 that year) has actually made me do a 180 and start rooting for the Astros this postseason.
Besides, as a Reds fan, I would like to see Dusty get one - unlike Dodgers fans, I'm over the Reds' postseason miss (2012).
October 24th, 2022 at 11:26 AM ^
wow, TIL that Dusty Baker has taken his teams to the playoffs 8 of the past 9 seasons.
October 24th, 2022 at 12:14 PM ^
...and no rings. He's so over rated. Astros best chance is keeping Dusty busy with his tooth pick and let others manage the team.
October 24th, 2022 at 11:51 AM ^
Plus run for rooting against the Dodgers. That fan base…wow
October 24th, 2022 at 11:23 AM ^
Like most folks I’ll be pulling for the Phillies.
Easy to root against the Astros (especially with a particular notable fan sitting behind home plate last night) but I could force myself to be happy for Dusty finally winning the big one. And I still love Justin so much that I’d be happy for him to win one without any asterisks.
October 24th, 2022 at 11:26 AM ^
"the most obnoxious fans in pro sports".... this is a tired narrative. They support the crap out of that team despite being second fiddle in terms of sports in their own town. No story has lasted the test of time like the whole "santa" thing but that was literally more than half a century ago.
October 24th, 2022 at 11:35 AM ^
The funny thing about that game --- Eagles fans at the time were in a bad mood because their team was on a 2-game winning streak (one of those wins was over the Detroit Lions, because of course it was).
Their record had "improved" to 2-11 and they were no longer front-runners for the 1st pick in the 1969 NFL Draft (which wound up being OJ).
Supposedly Santa Claus was visibly drunk too.
It's kind of a funny story ......... a lot of the Philly folk I know embrace it at this point.
October 24th, 2022 at 11:28 AM ^
Phils took out my team yesterday and I have a great friend who's a fan - Verlander has his ring so.... Go Philly! + They have one of the best mascots in all of sports second only to - the San Diego Chicken - who seems to have long retired.
October 24th, 2022 at 11:39 AM ^
I'd be happy to see Verlander get another ring, but I don't care for the Astros. Not sure why Dusty Baker is getting so much love either, though I don't have a strong opinion about him either way (except that he ruined Mark Prior's career!) I'm pulling for the Phillies.
October 24th, 2022 at 11:40 AM ^
if detroit or the wolverines aren't playing in *insert sport of choice* I root for the underdogs and/or the team who hasn't won a title in a long time.
phillies last won in 2008 so ... go them i guess.
October 24th, 2022 at 11:44 AM ^
Reasons for me to root for the Phillies?
1. Fond memories of my 4 times living in Philly. 2. I sold beer in the old Vets Stadium.
Reasons for me to root for the Astros?
1. Dusty Baker. 2. Justin Verlander. 3. I worked once in the old Astrodome, source of the team's name and of Astroturf.
3 > 2, but just barely
October 24th, 2022 at 11:49 AM ^
Ha, I'm up to three times living in Philly, so I'm almost caught up to you
October 24th, 2022 at 11:59 AM ^
You're probably ahead of me. Two of the times "living in Philly" were two-month stays.
October 24th, 2022 at 11:49 AM ^
Still bummed about the Padres but hats off the Phillies, they stepped up each time an opportunity presented itself. Will be rooting for the Phillies.
damn- San Diego would have been an excellent venue/atmosphere to host the fall classic. Next year
October 24th, 2022 at 11:53 AM ^
There have been recessions every time Philadelphia has won a world series. 1929, 1980, 2008, 2022?
October 24th, 2022 at 11:56 AM ^
Baseball needs to fix its playoff format ASAP. A 162-game season being invalidated by a fluky best-of-three or best-of-five series is a disservice to teams and fans.
If this were Dodgers-Astros, I'd watch every game. As is, I have zero interest. The best teams should have a chance to show they're the best in a reasonably long series that evens out flukes.
October 24th, 2022 at 12:05 PM ^
There's no perfect length for a playoff series - football and college basketball are all single-game eliminations, while the 5- or 7-game series you see in hockey, basketball, or baseball run the risk of someone getting hot for a couple of games, especially in hockey where randomness and a great goalie can level the playing field immensely.
It sucks for the Dodgers they got beaten by the Padres 3-1 but if you give them 7 games that means the Dodgers would have had to come back from a 3-1 deficit against a good team, which isn't a given. The Astros won 106 games and rather convincingly beat everyone in the playoffs. Sports should probably make a bigger deal about celebrating the regular-season champions and not make it all about the playoff champion but that's an issue with US sports more than the playoff setup.
October 24th, 2022 at 12:20 PM ^
Baseball feels like the worst, though, probably because of the outsized role a single pitcher (or a couple pitchers) can make on the outcome of a short series. Or just the greater variability in hitting outcomes (i.e., a 30% success rate at hitting can easily result in three straight games with no hits with normal variation).
Every baseball series should be seven games, imo.
Sure a football team can come out and lay an egg in a big game like the 16-0 Patriots, but it feel like the better team wins more often than not. Certainly so for basketball over a seven-game series.
October 24th, 2022 at 12:23 PM ^
If baseball ever put in a financial structure which truly created parity so all teams truly had a chance to compete every 10 - 15 years, I would agree with you completely.
As long as baseball is fine having the Yankees & Dodgers significantly outspend every other team every year, I'm more than happy with a playoff structure which provides the opportunity for them to be ousted early.
Signed,
A Reds & Twins fan.
October 24th, 2022 at 12:55 PM ^
The numbers will vary somewhat depending on the specific point in time and factors, but this is generally correct. The top 5 are spending stupid money and 4x or more of the bottom feeders in terms of payroll. League average is $163 million (15 teams above, 15 below). Every NL team is above the league average, seattle and Cleveland are below.
Current payrolls per spotrac. Bolded indicates that they made the playoffs. For all the talk about the wildcard Phillies, they have the 4th highest payroll in all of baseball.
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New York Mets: $282,709,066
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Los Angeles Dodgers: $275,629,360
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New York Yankees: $264,934,200
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Philadelphia Phillies: $255,054,497
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San Diego Padres: $237,684,494
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Boston Red Sox: $223,176,946
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Chicago White Sox: $208,313,226
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Atlanta Braves: $200,067,952
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Houston Astros: $192,931,925
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Los Angeles Angels: $192,890,060
And the bottom five
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Miami Marlins: $96,342,822
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Pittsburgh Pirates: $85,145,332
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Cleveland Guardians: $82,057,492
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Baltimore Orioles: $64,771,388
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Oakland A’s: $61,017,600
October 24th, 2022 at 11:57 AM ^
I'd be happy if Philly won because I don't love the Astros organization and Verlander already has his ring but I'm just happy the Yankees didn't make it because I'm beyond done with the Aaron Judge talk.
Feels like the Astros should win but Phils are playing really well now and that's sometimes enough.
October 24th, 2022 at 12:02 PM ^
BronxBlue, I was wondering how you felt about the Yankees.
On one hand, BRONXBlue.
On the other hand, YANKEES and their we're-the-center-of-the-baseball-universe attitude.
October 24th, 2022 at 2:02 PM ^
I'm a Tigers fan who grew up in metro Detroit but wound up moving to the Bronx over a decade ago and then subsequently moved a couple years ago out of NY. So really my connection to the Yankees is that they were near-ish to my apartment, won a title while I was there, and generally had fans who thought their entire personality revolved around mis-pronouncing "DAREK JETAH" and getting irrationally excited when talking about all the models he slept with.
October 24th, 2022 at 12:26 PM ^
I rolled my eyes last night after the final out was made, how quickly the announcers had to mention what a great season the Yankees had and how amazing Judge is. The Yankees had just been swept, by the team that won more games during the regular season! And Judge didn't hit a single homerun during the series!
October 24th, 2022 at 2:04 PM ^
Yeah, I switched over near the end and was amazed how much a guy who hit below .200 for the playoffs was getting talked up in a series where he looked really bad and the entire Yankees team looked lost.
If I was NYY I'd let Judge walk; at his age there's a non-zero chance they'll be buying high on a guy who is absolutely not going to live up to that contract even 3-4 years from now in all likelihood.
October 24th, 2022 at 8:15 PM ^
But all the 62-homer publicity makes him the favorite for MVP despite Ohtani's great season.
October 24th, 2022 at 12:00 PM ^
I don't watch baseball anymore and I grew up a Yankee fan... with that said, I don't understand how anyone still has their job today, with the amount of money they spend every year. They should have cleaned house years ago.
October 24th, 2022 at 12:06 PM ^
Astros, because my HS crush likes them. Otherwise Tigers or nothing.
October 24th, 2022 at 12:08 PM ^
Dusty Baker will coach Philly to a win.
Philly is a lot like Atlanta last year: 1) at mid-season there was "no way they make the playoffs", 2) as a wild card, they got hot and beat good teams, and 3) they are facing a strong Astros team.
Playoffs can be weird.
October 24th, 2022 at 12:41 PM ^
Correction - Braves (88 wins) actually won the NL East last season, but were the underdogs and expected to lose to the NL Central champion Brewers (95 wins) in the first round.
That said, if the Phillies pull it off, they will have the 3rd lowest regular season win total (87 wins) of any World Series champion in history, beat out only by the 2006 Cards (83 wins) and 87 Twins (85 wins) and tied with the 2000 Yankees (87 wins).
2021 Braves with 88 wins has the 4th lowest regular season win total, tied with the 2014 Giants.
October 24th, 2022 at 12:11 PM ^
I cannot recall the last time I actually watched a baseball game on tv. Living in Chicago, I'll go to a Cubs or Sox game, maybe - once a year. There's just no interest on my part.