MLB Playoffs 2012

[mr_pikachu]

NATIONAL LEAGUE WILD CARD ROUND




AMERICAN LEAGUE WILD CARD ROUND






NATIONAL LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES




AMERICAN LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES






NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES




AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES






WORLD SERIES

The tradition continues! Can St. Louis defend its title in the first year of the wild card round, or will this October Classic be another team's time to shine?

[MToolen]

Not having cable has dulled my love for baseball, but it's the one sport I can buck my trend of loving underdogs: my hometown Cardinals were never a question or a fad, they just were here in the Metro East. So I flipped the radio back on for today, and I can only hope they get far enough in playoff contention to see them on broadcast TV again.

[mr_pikachu]

Oh lord. The umpires made a really bad call in the bottom of the eight that cost the Braves a baserunner (a mistaken infield fly rule), but the fans are acting horribly in response, throwing cans and bottles all over the field. Mike Matheny pulled the Cardinals players off the field for their own safety, and now Braves workers are having to go all around the stadium and pick up the trash.

This is what we're seeing in what looks increasingly likely to be Chipper Jones' final game. Disgraceful.



EDIT: Several minutes have passed, and fans are still tossing things onto the field. Some fans in the lower sections have been hit by debris that has fallen short. I think the commentators said that some of the security personnel have been struck by the lobbed objects.

As it stands, there are runners on second and third with two outs, instead of the bases loaded and only one out. The ball in question landed in shallow-mid left field, incidentally, due to some apparent miscommunication between the Cardinal fielders. It was a very late call -- it appeared to be signaled after the ball had landed -- and none of the fielders was ever camped under the ball. There's some discussion now about whether the Braves will, or can, place the game under protest.

I really just feel bad for Jones. If the Braves go on to lose this game -- as they may have done anyway, given that they were down 6-3 prior to the play (and still are) -- then the great Chipper will end his career on a game that was delayed roughly 15 minutes while workers retrieved trash from the field. That's really kind of sad.



EDIT2: The delay has forced Mike Matheny to change pitchers. Debris is still raining onto the field. And the Braves have officially placed the game under protest. It will probably fail, since a protest can only succeed if there was an explicit rulebook violation where a rule was not applied properly. But this may have been more of a judgment call, even if it was a really weird judgment.

If the protest succeeds, the game would reset to the state immediately after the "corrected" call, with one out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, and a 6-3 St. Louis lead.

The Cardinals have taken the field again, and they were greeted with a fresh wave of debris thrown onto the field. This is getting dangerous. Some of the umpires are on the phone... I think they're arranging for the security guards to move so that they can better protect the umpires along the foul lines. One umpire has already been hit by a liquor bottle. (It bounced first, but the point remains.)



EDIT3: Play officially resumed a couple of minutes ago, but the new pitcher Jason Motte has yet to throw a pitch. Right fielder Carlos Beltran keeps having to call timeout because the fans keep throwing trash onto the field.

Okay, in the time it took me to type that, things finally got back underway. Regardless, though, this has been pretty shameful. You never want to see this sort of thing happen, and it's even worse to see it in such a huge game.

[Jeff]

Anyone who's been following my posts on Facebook should know how exited I am that the Orioles made it to the playoffs for the first time in 15 years. How far do I think they'll go? I dunno. Sure they're the underdog in this game, but heck, they've been defying the odds all season. A win tonight will guarantee a playoff game in Camden Yards, so I'm at least hoping for that.

[Roy Karrde]

Well the Rangers just do not seem to have it this year. Really the Rangers losing would be a mercy killing after the ending of this year

[Drago]

God-damned Orioles.

...That is all.

[Pokemaster Ash]

Well...damn. I really have to say the Braves got hosed after watching that mess myself. Chipper Jones deserved better for a final game, really (not to mention I had my own motivations for wanting the Braves to win the wild card round, see below).

Just a shame Chicago didn't get any rep this year, despite quite the year from the White Sox. I sure would have loved to see them make a run again. The Cubs (my true allegiance)..... @_@ Man, that was...just painful...... (Well, at least I still have the Bears... And if only this damn NHL lockout would end, I'll have the Blackhawks again...)

Well, out of the remaining teams left, I'd have to say the teams I'd like to see win would be either the As, Orioles, or Nationals. All three are rare appearances in postseason (although last time the Nats made it, they were still the Montreal Expos), and it's nice to see one of the not-often-thought-of teams do well. Hell, if the Nationals take it all, it'd be the first time they've won in franchise history (including as the Expos).

Of course, there are the teams I'd love to see crash and burn too. First and foremost, as a Cubs fan, are those damned Cardinals. After that would be the Reds and Tigers, both as divisional rivals to the Cubs and White Sox, and then the Yankees because...well, they're the Yankees.

[mr_pikachu]

Yeah, I agree that the Cardinals-Braves game was worst for Chipper. The fact that he was always so good-natured throughout his career just made that spectacle even more painful to watch. As one columnist said,

What Braves fans should have realized on Friday was that they were essentially throwing trash on the game Jones loved and basically littering a field he called home.

Let me put it this way: When the time comes for you to be seen out of your workplace, would you like it if your coworkers started throwing garbage at you?

So in the NLDS, Cueto just got pulled from the first inning of Game 1 due to injury. There may be trouble brewing for the Reds....



EDIT: Well, never mind. Cinci wins Game 1, and they probably have Cueto to pitch Game 3 now, too.

[Jeff]

So two games into each LDS. Cincy takes two on the road, Detroit two at home, and the other two are split.

Exiting game tonight. Ichiro Suzuki's dance around home plate was pretty crazy. Johnson has redeemed himself after last night. Oh yeah, and the crowd hit 120 decibels.

So, to move on, Baltimore now needs to take 2 of 3 in the Bronx. Not bad, considering they've done just that three times this year.

[mr_pikachu]

Yeah, I saw that move by Suzuki. In one respect, yes, it was really impressive. In another -- and maybe this is just my anti-Yankees bias talking -- when did umpires decide to stop calling runners out for going outside the basepath? I mean, he was practically in the grass behind the batters' boxes at one point.

Well, at least the Orioles pushed it to a split, as did the Cards in the NLDS. So now we're about to see just how this new LDS home-and-away format pans out.

[Jeff]

Lol



Edit:

Found the video of the play in question:

[mr_pikachu]

Wow. So, I was already typing up the Orioles-Yankees result so that we would have an instant update. (Hey, there's a fair bit of code up there to wade through. Don't judge.) Then Raul Ibanez pinch-hits for A-Rod in the bottom of the ninth and hits a solo home run to tie it. He comes around again in the 12th and hits another solo shot for the walk-off win.

...Really?

[The_Missing_Link]

Like the Bruins in 2010, the Orioles are going to kill me. The stress sucks

[mr_pikachu]

Yeah, I hear you. Although you have to admit, it's pretty cool to have all four division series go five games. I think one of the commentators tonight said it was the first time in history... it doesn't particularly surprise me. I guess this just shows the parity across baseball.

[Roy Karrde]

Yeah, I hear you. Although you have to admit, it's pretty cool to have all four division series go five games. I think one of the commentators tonight said it was the first time in history... it doesn't particularly surprise me. I guess this just shows the parity across baseball.

Not to argue but I wonder how much it has to do with the terrible format set up this year. Having the first two games at the lower team's field, and then having the next three games at the better team's field. Like the Oakland As, they got the West Crown, and started off on the road, and down two games in a five game race before they even stepped onto their home field.

[Jeff]

Like the Bruins in 2010, the Orioles are going to kill me. The stress sucks

This, so much.

I didn't even watch the game on TV yesterday because I was still mad about what happened in Game 3.

[MToolen]

Holy cow, what a game to listen to. The Cards were down 0-6 in the 4th, trailed 5-7 in the 8th, and scored 4 in the 9th off little line drives. It would seem Mike Matheny is trying out Tony la Russa's formula for fighting for the championship.

[mr_pikachu]

Like the Bruins in 2010, the Orioles are going to kill me. The stress sucks

You think you have it bad? Did you see the last game of the NLDS?

Wainwright fell apart in his Game 5 start for the Cards, and he had to be pulled with one out in the third and a 6-0 deficit. St. Louis chipped away at Washington, coming within one run in the eighth, before Washington scored an insurance run to make it 7-5. We were down to our final strike twice against their closer (just like in Game 6 of the World Series last year) before they managed to string together a couple of hits. Cards win 9-7 and go to the NLCS.

I mean, how does that even happen? I love these guys, I swear, but they're going to give me a heart attack!


EDIT: Yeah, someone knows what I'm talking about. MToolen, you understand.

[Perfect Chaos]

So now the Yanks AND Card have gone to their respective LCSs...

I've lost all interest in the playoffs now...someone wake me when the World Series is over...

[Pokemaster Ash]

...You know, the playoffs just lost all the fun that could have been. How fun it would have been if the As or Orioles had a shot at the big prize, or perhaps for Chipper Jones to get one last ring, or the Rangers or Nationals to just finally get one

Instead of that, the teams playing for it all are the jerks who got into the playoffs only because the White Sox ran out of gas and then put Oakland down 0-2 before the As even set foot on their home field advantage (what the hell, Bud Selig!?), that damn team who beat two teams far more deserving of the prize than them (one on a REALLY bad call that really should have potentially sent them home a lot sooner) and really should have not only lost Game 5 but last year's World Series, the assholes who buy World Series championships, and the Giants who I really haven't forgiven from the days they harbored that pumped-up cheater Barry Bonds*. Is it really impossible for the smaller teams to win a pennant anymore? (And, of course, there's those accursed now-104 years of argh that just continue to hang over us...)

Something is just wrong with the playoffs this year. Maybe next year we can get some teams actually worth watching into the ALCS and NLCS...

[Perfect Chaos]

I'm sick of seeing the Yanks and Cards going year after year after year...

I am and will always be a lifelong Mets fan, but I certainly wouldn't have minded one bit if the Nats, Reds or Orioles had finally gotten a deep postseason run. Lord knows that they deserve it after having the awesome seasons that they've had. But no, the baseball gods show more favor to the repeats than the new kids on the block.

And yeah, the whole playoff system is complete BS now, dunno what the hell the Commish was thinking when he decided to instate this year. It has to go by next year, or else I won't even take the sport seriously anymore, and its my absolute favorite sport of all-time (though football has slowly been creeping up as the years go by)

[Jeff]

The O's and Nats both fell last night. Not only were they both underdog teams that everyone wanted to see go far, but the possibility of a Beltway World Series was the big talk around here. Sad that it's now over.

Looking on the bright side here. The Orioles are a good team now and they have the potential for another great season next year. Just hoping they don't melt down in the summer heat again.

[mr_pikachu]

I'm at least partially with you, Jeff. I have a few favorite teams, but beyond them -- and the teams I always hope go down in flames -- I tend to root for the underdogs. So I was hoping, for instance, that we'd have an O's-A's ALCS. (The Orioles loss in particular disappointed me, because the Yankees are one of the aforementioned "flames" teams.)

Still, there's a lot to love about this postseason. It continues Cabrera's postseason run in the same season that he won the first Triple Crown since 1967, it features an NLCS between the last two World Series winners, and it showed just how much the overpaid A-Rod sucks (since the Yankees had to bench Mr. April in order to advance). Not to mention my own personal interests, with the Cardinals trying for their first back-to-back titles in history while keeping the absurd 2011 run going despite losing their star player and having their pitching coach and manager retire over the offseason.

Then, of course, there are the Cubs fans who whine that baseball isn't fair when their team loses. So, every single year.

[mr_pikachu]

So the World Series this year will feature... *winces* ...San Francisco taking on Detroit.

Honestly, that NLCS was the Cardinals' to lose, and they lost it. They just gave away the last three games. So much for two straight miracle title runs from the Redbirds.

[Pokemaster Ash]

Personally, I think the Cardinals just got a taste of their own medicine. What happened in the NLCS I think was what they did to the Braves and Nationals this year and the Rangers last year coming back to haunt them. Can't hope for a Game 5/7 miracle every single time, you know?

Okay, so the World Series is Tigers and Giants... Well, this at least salvaged what little interest I had in the playoffs left. The Cubs fan in me is happy to see the Cardinals go down, and I think we can all agree it's a good thing the Yankees went away. *smirk* Now let's see if the White Sox fan in me will be satisfied with the final result...

[mr_pikachu]

THE SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS ARE THE 2012 WORLD CHAMPIONS!

[Drago]

Well, that was anticlimactic.