Red Sox/MLB ASTROS WIN THE WORLD SERIES

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smithformeragent

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http://mlb.nbcsports.com/2017/10/17/major-league-baseball-considering-expansion-radical-realignment/

Tracy Ringolsby of Baseball America wrote yesterday about a “growing consensus” within baseball that expansion and realignment are inevitable. The likely expansion cities: Portland and Montreal. The 32-team league would then undergo a radical realignment that would also involve reducing the season from 162 to 156 games while expanding the playoffs to 12 teams.

The details of the plan:
  • The American and National Leagues would be disposed of, with MLB putting all 32 teams into four, eight-team, regionally-based divisions: East, North, Midwest, West. This is designed to (a) maintain regional and traditional rivalries while (b) cutting way back on cross-time zone travel. Both New York teams and Boston are in the “North,” both Chicago teams and St. Louis are in the “Midwest,” etc. Texas and Houston are in the “Midwest” too, but we’ll let the Texans get mad about that later.
  • The playoffs would feature a LOT of play-in games. Specifically, Ringolsby would have the four division winners go to the Division Series, where they would play the winner of four different Wild Card games, the participants in which would come from the eight non-division winners with the best records, regardless of which division they came from.
  • The schedule would go back to 156 games, giving every team an off-day every week. Between that and the more compact, almost all single-time-zone divisions, the travel schedules would be far less taxing, with shorter flights and more flights which could leave the day after a night game as opposed to directly after a night game, causing teams to arrive in the next city in the wee hours of the morning.
 
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Johnnyduke

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Lol at whatever time this game started. Not even 7 pm eastern and it's the 5th inning. Figured it would start at a normal time.
 

08SeaBass08

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http://mlb.nbcsports.com/2017/10/17/major-league-baseball-considering-expansion-radical-realignment/

Tracy Ringolsby of Baseball America wrote yesterday about a “growing consensus” within baseball that expansion and realignment are inevitable. The likely expansion cities: Portland and Montreal. The 32-team league would then undergo a radical realignment that would also involve reducing the season from 162 to 156 games while expanding the playoffs to 12 teams.

The details of the plan:



    • The American and National Leagues would be disposed of, with MLB putting all 32 teams into four, eight-team, regionally-based divisions: East, North, Midwest, West. This is designed to (a) maintain regional and traditional rivalries while (b) cutting way back on cross-time zone travel. Both New York teams and Boston are in the “North,” both Chicago teams and St. Louis are in the “Midwest,” etc. Texas and Houston are in the “Midwest” too, but we’ll let the Texans get mad about that later.
    • The playoffs would feature a LOT of play-in games. Specifically, Ringolsby would have the four division winners go to the Division Series, where they would play the winner of four different Wild Card games, the participants in which would come from the eight non-division winners with the best records, regardless of which division they came from.
    • The schedule would go back to 156 games, giving every team an off-day every week. Between that and the more compact, almost all single-time-zone divisions, the travel schedules would be far less taxing, with shorter flights and more flights which could leave the day after a night game as opposed to directly after a night game, causing teams to arrive in the next city in the wee hours of the morning.
As long as they ditch the DH, I'd be cool with lots of this.
 

HockeyMomx2

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You have to be pretty pumped after that game. I have some family and good friends here who are Yankees fans so I'm happy for you guys. Tough team to hate, but they are still the Yankees :)
I just can't even. Trying really hard to just enjoy the ride for as long as it lasts. Afraid to say a word for fear of jinxing 'em. But man oh man, those 'he ain't clutch' Judge doubters can kiss my a$$ :naughty:
 

JRull86

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http://mlb.nbcsports.com/2017/10/17/major-league-baseball-considering-expansion-radical-realignment/

Tracy Ringolsby of Baseball America wrote yesterday about a “growing consensus” within baseball that expansion and realignment are inevitable. The likely expansion cities: Portland and Montreal. The 32-team league would then undergo a radical realignment that would also involve reducing the season from 162 to 156 games while expanding the playoffs to 12 teams.

The details of the plan:



    • The American and National Leagues would be disposed of, with MLB putting all 32 teams into four, eight-team, regionally-based divisions: East, North, Midwest, West. This is designed to (a) maintain regional and traditional rivalries while (b) cutting way back on cross-time zone travel. Both New York teams and Boston are in the “North,” both Chicago teams and St. Louis are in the “Midwest,” etc. Texas and Houston are in the “Midwest” too, but we’ll let the Texans get mad about that later.
    • The playoffs would feature a LOT of play-in games. Specifically, Ringolsby would have the four division winners go to the Division Series, where they would play the winner of four different Wild Card games, the participants in which would come from the eight non-division winners with the best records, regardless of which division they came from.
    • The schedule would go back to 156 games, giving every team an off-day every week. Between that and the more compact, almost all single-time-zone divisions, the travel schedules would be far less taxing, with shorter flights and more flights which could leave the day after a night game as opposed to directly after a night game, causing teams to arrive in the next city in the wee hours of the morning.

So, I like the initial idea. But when I break it down, I'm not sure how they would do some of it to make it make total sense.

The "Mid West" would seem to have like 10 teams. The problem is I don't see how you could break up states that have multiple teams. Having a division rivalry that's also a state rivalry should be a goal here. So teams Philly/Pitt, Clev/Cincy should stay. Obviously NY/NY and Chi/Chi are a given.

As you can see below, that East division is weird with KC being in there.



North:
Boston
Detroit
Montreal
New York Mets
New York Yankees
Philly
Pittsburgh
Toronto


East
Atlanta
Baltimore
Cleveland
Cincy
Florida
Kansas City (?????)
Tampa Bay
Washington

Mid-West
Chicago Cubs
Chicago White Sox
Colorado
Houston
Milwaukee
Minnesota
St Louis
Texas

West
Arizona
LA Dodgers
LA Angels
Oakland
Portland
San Francisco
San Diego
Seattle
 

Aeroforce

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Several pages back, before the playoffs began, I wondered if the Astros could win a game not started by Verlander or Keuchel. The only one so far was Game 4 against the Sox, and Verlander did pitch in relief. Their disastrous bullpen is a big reason AJ Hinch left Verlander in for 124 pitches and the complete game in Game One.

This becomes more of an issue should they survive the Yankees, as it ties the manager's hands in a national league park, when the pitcher is due up with runners in scoring position in a tight game.

I'd love to see them win a World Series (before I die ;)) but the pitching depth of this year's squad is lacking.
 

BiggioRainesHOF

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So, I like the initial idea. But when I break it down, I'm not sure how they would do some of it to make it make total sense.

The "Mid West" would seem to have like 10 teams. The problem is I don't see how you could break up states that have multiple teams. Having a division rivalry that's also a state rivalry should be a goal here. So teams Philly/Pitt, Clev/Cincy should stay. Obviously NY/NY and Chi/Chi are a given.

As you can see below, that East division is weird with KC being in there.



North:
Boston
Detroit
Montreal
New York Mets
New York Yankees
Philly
Pittsburgh
Toronto


East
Atlanta
Baltimore
Cleveland
Cincy
Florida
Kansas City (?????)
Tampa Bay
Washington

Mid-West
Chicago Cubs
Chicago White Sox
Colorado
Houston
Milwaukee
Minnesota
St Louis
Texas

West
Arizona
LA Dodgers
LA Angels
Oakland
Portland
San Francisco
San Diego
Seattle

Probably works better if MLB went with Charlotte over Portland. Colorado replaces Portland in the West, Kansas City replaces Colorado in the Midwest (joining St. Louis) and Charlotte slots in with other Southern-ish teams like Florida, Tampa, Washington, and Atlanta (similar to how they do in the NFC South). I'd probably also wonder if the Ohio teams are better aligned in the North (with Detroit and Toronto around the lates) and Philly and Pittsburgh in the East (with Baltimore and Washington). Or even Austin.

https://www.fangraphs.com/tht/examining-potential-mlb-expansion-cities-part-2/

I remember reading this article a while back and thought it was funny that purely from a demographics standpoint, Providence was fairly high up on the list.
 

HockeyMomx2

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Probably works better if MLB went with Charlotte over Portland. Colorado replaces Portland in the West, Kansas City replaces Colorado in the Midwest (joining St. Louis) and Charlotte slots in with other Southern-ish teams like Florida, Tampa, Washington, and Atlanta (similar to how they do in the NFC South). I'd probably also wonder if the Ohio teams are better aligned in the North (with Detroit and Toronto around the lates) and Philly and Pittsburgh in the East (with Baltimore and Washington). Or even Austin.

https://www.fangraphs.com/tht/examining-potential-mlb-expansion-cities-part-2/

I remember reading this article a while back and thought it was funny that purely from a demographics standpoint, Providence was fairly high up on the list.

I think MLB would probably work here. They currently have the Single A Hillsboro Hops, a Diamondbacks organization, as well as the Portland Pickles, part of the West Coasts version of the Cape League, both of which sell out pretty much every game and have waiting lists for season tickets (as do the Winterhawks). The only professional sports teams they have are the Trailblazers and their two soccer teams. That's it. The hipsters are covered for their sports. The rest of us normal people who prefer the more violent, physical and fast sports get nothing LOL. Personally I was holding out hope for an NHL team or even an AHL team when that was in discussions. Clearly we lost out on that one already. But, we do already have the Moda Center for ice and required amount of seating (if it's big enough for the NBA it's gotta be big enough for the NHL or AHL), they could easily share with the Trailblazers and Winterhawks. Oh well, I don't care enough about baseball to get into the nitty gritty on this.
 

BiggioRainesHOF

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I think MLB would probably work here. They currently have the Single A Hillsboro Hops, a Diamondbacks organization, as well as the Portland Pickles, part of the West Coasts version of the Cape League, both of which sell out pretty much every game and have waiting lists for season tickets (as do the Winterhawks). The only professional sports teams they have are the Trailblazers and their two soccer teams. That's it. The hipsters are covered for their sports. The rest of us normal people who prefer the more violent, physical and fast sports get nothing LOL. Personally I was holding out hope for an NHL team or even an AHL team when that was in discussions. Clearly we lost out on that one already. But, we do already have the Moda Center for ice and required amount of seating (if it's big enough for the NBA it's gotta be big enough for the NHL or AHL), they could easily share with the Trailblazers and Winterhawks. Oh well, I don't care enough about baseball to get into the nitty gritty on this.

Oh the comment was more regarding the divisional alignment. I think Portland would be a perfectly suitable destination for an MLB team. I actually have a Hillsboro Hops hat, they have an awesome logo.
 

GloryDaze4877

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Several pages back, before the playoffs began, I wondered if the Astros could win a game not started by Verlander or Keuchel. The only one so far was Game 4 against the Sox, and Verlander did pitch in relief. Their disastrous bullpen is a big reason AJ Hinch left Verlander in for 124 pitches and the complete game in Game One.

This becomes more of an issue should they survive the Yankees, as it ties the manager's hands in a national league park, when the pitcher is due up with runners in scoring position in a tight game.

I'd love to see them win a World Series (before I die ;)) but the pitching depth of this year's squad is lacking.

So, if the remaining series are best of seven and Verlander and Keuchel each pitch two games per series...do the Astros need to win any games not started by that pair?
 

HockeyMomx2

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Oh the comment was more regarding the divisional alignment. I think Portland would be a perfectly suitable destination for an MLB team. I actually have a Hillsboro Hops hat, they have an awesome logo.
We do love our beer and take every opportunity to consume & brag about it as possible :) (I also actually go past their stadium daily, it's about a mile from my house).

Gotcha on the alignment thing. If it happened, me personally, I would be ok with any alignment that kept their divisional games at least within this time zone. Travelling 4+ hours around here is like a daily occurrence and is not looked at the same way it is out there, my guess is that the fans would travel well between here, Seattle, California, Colorado, Arizona, Texas. If they'll do 3+ hour drives for WHL hockey to see away games, they'll travel for MLB games. I still wish it was NHL instead.
 
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HockeyMomx2

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So, if the remaining series are best of seven and Verlander and Keuchel each pitch two games per series...do the Astros need to win any games not started by that pair?

That question will be better answered in a few hours. Tonight is going to be insane. I already have agida. I need a Xanax. Or a beer. Or some good Scotch. Yah, Scotch will work. :)
 

LouJersey

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Probably works better if MLB went with Charlotte over Portland. Colorado replaces Portland in the West, Kansas City replaces Colorado in the Midwest (joining St. Louis) and Charlotte slots in with other Southern-ish teams like Florida, Tampa, Washington, and Atlanta (similar to how they do in the NFC South). I'd probably also wonder if the Ohio teams are better aligned in the North (with Detroit and Toronto around the lates) and Philly and Pittsburgh in the East (with Baltimore and Washington). Or even Austin.

https://www.fangraphs.com/tht/examining-potential-mlb-expansion-cities-part-2/

I remember reading this article a while back and thought it was funny that purely from a demographics standpoint, Providence was fairly high up on the list.

That question will be better answered in a few hours. Tonight is going to be insane. I already have agida. I need a Xanax. Or a beer. Or some good Scotch. Yah, Scotch will work. :)

All three together works pretty good as well.... :)

I kid, I kid. Good luck tonight. The Yankees have made me a fortune in fake Sportsbook money.
 

Aeroforce

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So, if the remaining series are best of seven and Verlander and Keuchel each pitch two games per series...do the Astros need to win any games not started by that pair?
Obviously not, but that's asking a lot of your two best pitchers. Let's face it, cleaner Yankee defense in Game 2 and Altuve is out at the plate, and the bullpen has to take over. If that were the case, I doubt it's 2-2 now. Even the previous game, their closer Giles gave up a tape measure home run. Just like hockey playoffs, glaring weaknesses in key areas eventually catch up.

Not trying to be pessimistic, just realistic. I've watched this bullpen all year and it's far from championship caliber.
 
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HockeyMomx2

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Obviously not, but that's asking a lot of your two best pitchers. Let's face it, cleaner Yankee defense in Game 2 and Altuve is out at the plate, and the bullpen has to take over. If that were the case, I doubt it's 2-2 now. Even the previous game, their closer Giles gave up a tape measure home run. Just like hockey playoffs, glaring weaknesses in key areas eventually catch up.

Not trying to be pessimistic, just realistic. I've watched this bullpen all year and it's far from championship caliber.

I haven't paid attention to them but do agree that the consensus on the Astro's pitching was pretty much this. Beyond Verlander and Kuechel, their starters are questionable at best and their bull pen is a disaster. So far that has proven accurate, except they may have finally figured out Kuechel too. Woo hoo.
 
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