The thing about baseball is that there is just no such thing as "unbeatable" or anything even close to it when you're talking about a 7-game series. Even if you have the best division winner against the worst wild card team that just scraped in, it's shockingly close to just being a coin flip.
Adam Wainwright is absolutely wrecking my fantasy team. I can't count on him for guaranteed points; he's like a yo-yo this year. He's on the cannot-be-dropped list too.
"This culture doesn't sell modesty. It sells "I am more modest than you" modesty." -- Two Utes
Poor Houston. A 0.0 rating for Sunday's game.
http://houston.cbslocal.com/2013/09/...0-0-tv-rating/
Sometime in August, I finally quit saying to myself, "Man, the Astros are playing a lot of interleague games this season."
σοφῷ ἀνδρὶ Ἑλλὰς πάντα.
-- Flavius Philostratus, Life of Apollonius 1.35.2.
The Sox (how dare you Boo) figured out they needed good players who were better teammates.
Those guys love baseball. They all show up to the park early, talk about pitchers, watch film etc.
That's the immeasurable part. (Oh yeah, they have a 2 game lead with 3 to play for best record in the AL )
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
It isn't intangibles; the Red Sox record is supported by their runs scored and allowed, which are pretty well represented by their underlying stats. The reason the Red Sox outperformed their expectations so significantly is because so many players outperformed their projections, which is due largely to luck. Look at guys like Nava, Carp, Victorino, and Iglesias, who all performed well above what their track records suggest you should have expected. Even Ortiz would be expected to start declining much more than he has.
Pitching's the same way. There's no reason to have believed that Buchholz, Lackey and Lester would pitch as well as they have (although Dempster's probably been a little worse than you would expect).
Player performance is less predictable from year to year than in any sport. Boston has just had a bunch of guys playing above their ability this year (well, to be more accurate, they've probably been playing to their ability, but have had fortunate results). Boston's a good team, but the collection of talent on that team does not support the idea of them being the best team in baseball.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
Nope, at least not the way I understand it. I think an intangible is something that can't be measured but that can be expected to improve performance. Luck cannot be expected to improve performance; it could improve, depress, or have no impact on performance (it can also be kind of measured a little bit in baseball).
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
The St Louis Cardinals are kill-joys, murderers of fun, overdogs. I really wanted to see the Plucky Pirates continue their run, best feel-good team in baseball in years, but nooooo....
I can't really get behind cheering for the Dodgers either, but I guess I grudgingly admit that I want LA to lose less than I want StL to lose (die a slow, painful death is more like it).
I don't care for the Red Sox, or Yankees 2.0. I won't be rooting for them in the LCS.
I guess I am now all-in on the Oak-Det winner. I think I like Detroit a little better, but Oakland probably has a better chance to knock off Boston. Detroit has the better overall roster, but they aren't healthy right now and their defense is horrible. Oakland will put up a better fight in Boston but probably doesn't have the horses to win or even make it a long series.
Where is mpfunk? Shouldn't he be here saying things about the A's?
Papi ties game 2 at 5-5 with a grand slam in the bottom of the 8th. Holy cow.
"Don't apologize; it's not your fault. It's my fault for overestimating your competence."
I'll confess I stopped watching when the Tigers went to 5-0. Forgive me, Papi!
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
If I were a Tigers fan I'd be pretty mad right now. What a collapse. But I'm a Sox fan, so I'm a happy guy.
Last edited by LA Ute; 10-13-2013 at 09:46 PM.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
Just don't block the plate. It's almost never necessary in order to make the tag.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
As a Dodger fan I am enjoying seeing the Cards experience how it feels to fall apart and be humiliated. Sorry, just being honest.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
“It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress.”
Well, because he thought it was good sport. Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
After that weird obstruction call to end Saturday night's game, it seems fitting that tonight's game ends on a pick-off, the first World Series game ever to end that way. (Last night's game was the first to end on an obstruction call.). So we're watching baseball history. That's the World Series! A decent end to a terrible sports weekend.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell