Orioles poured on 8 runs in the bottom 8 and beat the Tigers 12-3, the most runs ever score by an Orioles team in post-season play. One of the victims in the 8 run 8th was Joba Chamberlain. Remember him, George?
Hanging 8 runs on the Tiger bull pen is no big deal. Without the pen, the Tigers would have been hosting today's game.
:idea: Angels tied in the 9th with Kansas City. Tonight's Royals starting pitcher was local hero Jason Vargas, the pride of Apple Valley.
Sure do, Sid. The Yankees are notorious for mishandling their young pitchers and Joba was Exhibit A. Remember the "Joba Rules"? Those were set by management. He had a very low pitch count limit. They would literally take him out in the middle of an AB. They switched him from set up man to starter to long relief to set up man. His confidence left him and so did his 100mph fastball. He started breaking down physically. What you see now is what's left after the Yankees got done messing with him.
Joba actually was the most consistent pitcher out of the bull pen through July. Since then he's been hot and cold. It would probably help him if the stortstop could field a routine ground ball cleanly. Soria came from Tex. with really good stats. He's been pretty awful when he's not hurt.
How about my Cards!! They rocked the Dodgers tonight...homeboy Matt Carpender (graduated with my nephew) was big star tonight.
For years all I heard was that the Yankees were simply buying championships, that anyone could and should win with that kind of payroll. Well, well. 8)
Dodgers even the series on Kemp's HR in the 8th... The booby prize goes to the Washington Nationals. They believe in magic numbers. Today they pulled their pitcher (Zimmerman) with two out in the 9th when he was pitching a shutout. The reason? He had just made his 100th pitch. The Giants got to the relief pitcher to tie the game and eventually defeated the Nationals in the 18th inning... re: Yankees My criticism of the Yankees was NEVER about spending money. It was about buying free agents as the ONLY way to win a pennant. The Yankees farm system is so decimated, that they don't even have anything to trade. Meanwhile, the Dodgers have restocked their farm system along with their 40-man roster...
I'm going out on a limb and guessing that the Royals payroll is less than the A's or the Angels. oriels probably lower than the Tigers too.
So the low budget Royals make the ALCS since 1985 and that shows what???? That payroll has nothing to do with success in MLB? What a joke.
Of course not. But when the Yankees were winning all the time they err buying championships. Anybody could win with all that talent. Apparently not.
:shock: The Yankees have been buying championships since Babe Ruth was purchased to finance No-No Nannette... The Royals and Pirates are doing it the hard way...with young, low paid players who aren't eligible for arbitration yet. When they reach that point, they'll break up the team and start over. Owners from Connie Mack to Charlie Finley have been doing it since baseball began. The price the team pays is years or even decades of cellar dwelling before they reach another championship round...
So talent wins out every 29 years... the money wins out the rest of the time. that seems about right.
The Yankees have been buying championships. OK. So what are the Dodgers, Angels, Tigers, Red Sox and in the last few months the A's doing? Providing shelter to wayward superstars? Just what is the Dodger payroll this year?
I should have left the A's off the list above. Even with the three big pitching stars they signed mid season they have a small payroll. Here is the official list: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/mlb/salaries/2014/team/all/ You're right about the Yankees to a point. They can buy a lot of talent. But can you make them play together? Detroit may be the new "Yankees" asthey have collected a lot of high priced talent that may have already seen its best years and still have a lot of years on the payroll.
That's an interesting list. some surprises for me. George, the A's acquired Samardzija (JS) and Lester toward the end of their current contracts (JS making about $5 mil+ per year). Both are destined for big paydays in free agency, when the A's likely will let them go. JS turned down the Cubs' offer of $85 mil over 5, 6, or 7 years. He may regret that. Maybe not. The point is, that's how the A's operate. In this case it didn't work out. Some think that trading Cespedes for Lester took away the linchpin of their offense. There may be truth to that, based on how they struggled offensively late in the season.
I think the Yankees have their eye on Samardzija. They have a lot of payroll opening up with Jeter retiring. I don't see Ichiro back either and Kuroda is leaving.
The Tigers shipped Fielder and his high salary to Texas for lower priced Kinsler. They had to trade Fister to Wash. to lighten payroll. They're about to lose Scherzer to free agency. They have a wealthy owner who has one foot in the grave and they've been desperate to give him a ring to wear in the coffin. They've had money to spend because the Tigers make money from sellout after sellout not by having rich radio and TV contracts in a large population area.