[Huindekmi]

	97-65 (You can call me Ray, or you can call me Jay...) 103 OPS+ / 114 ERA+ / .708 DER Pre-season odds of winning WS: 150/1 Current odds of winning WS: 10/13
	vs
	92-70 (Just can't get my Phill(ies)...) 103 OPS+ / 115 ERA+ / .695 DER Pre-season odds of winning WS: 14/1 Current odds of winning WS: 11/10

Wed Oct 22, 5:35PM PDT - Tampa Bay Thu Oct 23, 5:29PM PDT - Tampa Bay Sat Oct 25, 5:35PM PDT - Philadelphia Sun Oct 26, 5:29PM PDT - Philadelphia Mon Oct 27, 5:29PM PDT - Philadelphia (if needed) Wed Oct 29, 5:35PM PDT - Tampa Bay (if needed) Thu Oct 30, 5:29PM PDT - Tampa Bay (if needed) TV: FOX Go M's! Learn a lesson from these guys! MC Gameday has been clinically proven to reduce cholesterol.

[kevin_ess]

Sniff. Last Furry Blue Game Thread of the season.


Thank you for your diligent and awesome work this year, Huinekmi.

I'd cPoint you if I had any left. I'll get you retroactively next month.

[MtGrizzly]

Huindekmi, on Oct 20 2008, 02:41 PM, said:

(You can call me Ray, or you can call me Jay...)

...but you doesn't hafta call me Johnson!

[Huindekmi]

Just for the fun of it, let's take a look at the 2008 odds of winning the WS.

		 PreSeason   All-Star
NL
Dodgers	 22/1	   17/1
Phillies	14/1	   14/1	   
Brewers	 18/1	   12/1
Cubs		10/1		7/2

AL
Rays	   150/1		5/1
Red Sox	  9/2		3/1
Angels	   8/1	   13/2
White Sox   55/1	   12/1

AAA
Mariners	28/1	  750/1
A's		 60/1	   40/1
Rangers	100/1	  150/1
Nationals  150/1	  500/1
Royals	 150/1	  300/1
Pirates	150/1	  500/1
Padres	  22/1	  150/1

I've shown the 8 playoff teams as well as a few control teams. A few interesting items from this list:

• At the start of the season, four teams were given the worst odds of winning the WS (150/1) - Tampa Bay, Kansas City, Pittsburgh and Washington.
  
• Of the three worst teams in the league, only one - the Washington Nationals - started the year with such low expectations.
  
• By the time the All Star Break rolled around, Seattle had the worst odds of any team. Worse even than the Nats.
  
• At the All Star Break, the Cubs were the only NL team with single digit odds. Only the Cubs, Mets, Brewers, Phillies and Dodgers were below 20/1.

Looking over those stats emphasizes just how under-estimated the Rays were. If they end up winning the WS, there will be a few VERY happy gamblers from Florida.

[Huindekmi]

kevin_ess, on Oct 21 2008, 12:42 PM, said:

Sniff. Last Furry Blue Game Thread of the season.


Thank you for your diligent and awesome work this year, Huinekmi.

I'd cPoint you if I had any left. I'll get you retroactively next month.

Thank you, guys! I appreciate the cpoints.

Looking forward to next year.

[Tom2000]

Huindekmi, on Oct 21 2008, 01:26 PM, said:

[*]By the time the All Star Break rolled around, Seattle had the worst odds of any team. Worse even than the Nats.

We're number one! We're number one!

Hui, I second Kevin's thoughts -- great work throughout the season, and great consistency, too, even when you were on the road and doing those threads was a real inconvenience for you. (Hey, those game threads on the road had to seriously eat into your bar time! )

Many thanks!

[lisa mariner]

Quote

By the time the All Star Break rolled around, Seattle had the worst odds of any team. Worse even than the Nats.

I placed two bets in February (the weekend of Super Bowl 2008) ...
~ Mariners to win the WS in 2008
~ Seahawks to win the SB in 2009

Believe it or not, they were both 12/1 at the time (seemed a tad high for the M's and a tad low for the Hawks)

Who'da thunk they both would have sunk so low?



Never thought I'd say this, but ...
thank goodness for politics right now as a distraction from the pathetic state of sports in this town.

This post has been edited by lisa mariner: 21 October 2008 - 03:30 PM

[Schuxu]

Although I'm for a Rays win I really like that Page2 cartoon:



These cowbells are annoying...

[Vidya]

lisa mariner, on Oct 21 2008, 03:09 PM, said:

I placed two bets in February (the weekend of Super Bowl 2008) ...
~ Mariners to win the WS in 2008
~ Seahawks to win the SB in 2009

Believe it or not, they were both 12/1 at the time (seemed a tad high for the M's and a tad low for the Hawks)

Who'da thunk they both would have sunk so low?



Never thought I'd say this, but ...
thank goodness for politics right now as a distraction from the pathetic state of sports in this town.

How true! When politics becomes more exciting than your local sports teams, you know something is wrong.

Now, in Eastern Pennsylvania and West Coast Florida, they have some exciting baseball to take their minds of all those annoying political ads and phone calls.

Bottom line: vote early and get it over with!

[Huindekmi]

Last night's blowout not withstanding, this has been a very competitive and entertaining series so far. I hope that the Rays can even this thing up and spread the joy over the full 7 games.

Might be tough, though. Philly could wrap up the victory tonight with Camels* on the mound.





* Some guys really shouldn't get an "ARod" like nickname. Cole Hamels is one of 'em.

[JOlderdude]

Huindekmi, on Oct 27 2008, 08:00 AM, said:

Last night's blowout not withstanding, this has been a very competitive and entertaining series so far. I hope that the Rays can even this thing up and spread the joy over the full 7 games.

Might be tough, though. Philly could wrap up the victory tonight with Camels* on the mound.

* Some guys really shouldn't get an "ARod" like nickname. Cole Hamels is one of 'em.

Umpiring has made too much of a difference in this series. Jamie got an umpire that fit his pitching style perfectly but penalized Garcia. Last night's plate umpire was the opposite of the one who called Moyer's game. It definitely affected Sonnanstine. There have been too many blatant missed calls on the base paths that affected the games when they were close.

It would be easy to say that the games would have turned out the same. I contend that any time the umpires obviously affect the game (and they have), it changes the possible outcome and is bad for the game and the series.

The first run of last night's game was scored after Logoria's glove nearly disappeared up Rollins butt on a tag that was clearly miscalled by the third base umpire. There is no way to play the game forward from that point as if the correct call was made so we live with the current outcome. But that one play significantly affected how the game was played from there on.

[lisa mariner]

NYT | World Series Delayed Another Day

Quote

Major League Baseball’s Commissioner Bud Selig had already grumbled in a news conference late Monday night that he felt let down by the weather experts. He claimed they originally told him that the weather would be acceptable enough to play Monday night. That didn’t pan out. And then came Tuesday morning, with a whole new set of forecasts for Major League Baseball to weigh.

The weather experts let him down?? Since when is weather forecasting an exact science?

Seems retractable roofs would solve the problem ...
It's definitely a convenience for fans, would save hassles of rescheduling and probably boost revenue in the long run.

[Huindekmi]

That's it. New rule. All World Series games are now to be played in Seattle. No home field advantage. May the best team win.

Note: This may be the only way we ever get a World Series game in Seattle.

[Vidya]

Huindekmi, on Oct 28 2008, 12:10 PM, said:

That's it. New rule. All World Series games are now to be played in Seattle. No home field advantage. May the best team win.

Note: This may be the only way we ever get a World Series game in Seattle.

That would be my vote.

[Schuxu]

Ouch I think I need to see a doctor. Falling of that Bandwagon really hurt.

Go Mariners!!!

[Tom2000]

Moyer gets his ring! Moyer gets his ring! MOYER GETS HIS RING !!!

[Pirata Morado]

Congratulations to Moyer, Dobbs and Gillick! Stand Pat just made his resumee even more impressive, say what you want about him but the guy is a winner, let's hope Z-man follows suit.

[Pirata Morado]

Final WS WPA stats:

Philadelphia:
Lidge, .365
Hamels, .360
Romero, .358
Werth, .301
Bruntlett, .270
...
Victorino, -.121
Madson, -.133
Myers, -.169
Rollins, -.250

Tampa Bay:
Baldelli, .238
Shields, .230
Crawford, .190
...
Peña, -.181
Upton, -.186
Balfour, -.238
Sonnanstine, -.275
Longoria, -.393

It's hard to establish one single MVP, so I would had given it to Lidge, Hamels and Romero, any of those deserves it.

As far as the goat, it's clear that Longoria deserves it!

[lisa mariner]

The Phanatic Magazine

Quote

This one is for Jamie Moyer. As we speak, I’m certain that Disney is in the process of buying the rights to his story. Jamie got to take part in both of the two World Series championships in this team’s 125 year history – one as a spectator, the other as a contributor. Never one with dominating stuff, he’s somehow lasted 22 years and well over 200 victories at the big league level. And at 45 – almost 46 – years old came one of his better seasons. “Invincible” and “Rocky” have nothing on him.

Congrats, to Jamie and the Phillies!!