So that's a headshot for Zombie Team Boston, I would say.
They're eliminated from division title contention. There are all sorts of miracle scenarios that would enable them to pass 2 of the 3 clubs ahead of them in the Wild Card race, and the fact is that 12 of their final 18 games are against clubs with losing records.
But the magic number (against the Sox) for Tampa Bay is 9, while it's 11 for both Cleveland and Oakland. Which means that something good has to happen for Boston (a Sox win or another contender's loss) more than two out of three times. And that ain't likely.
Let us pause to consider for a moment what a long strange trip it's been for Boston this year. Incredibly, the Sox have a losing record at home. They are second in the AL in runs per game, fourth in homers, second in batting average and OBP, fourth in slugging and OPS.
(Most distressfully, Houston is first in all of these categories, save home runs. Ruh-roh.)
The Sox are 7th in ERA and Runs Allowed, but that wouldn't seem SO disastrous...Ah, well.
In any case, with the Sox having fired their GM, brought up the 21 ronin, and now being shunned by every fan in Bradyland, I believe that they are done, and the devil has gone back to hell for another year.
In fact, tickets to Fenway are probably so easy to get now that, if we had the time, I would suggest a IIHIIFIIC road trip to Boston next week. We could all buy lots of SF regalia, and pose as fun-loving Giants fans out on a lark to see the Green Monster, and annoy the locals with our faux naive questions:
"So, where'd you guys end up this year? Third place? Well, that's pretty good! Who won your division, anyway? And what was it like having Kung-Fu Panda play for you? Gosh, he gave us some good years! Hey, when is Sale pitching anyway? Who'd you say your closer is again..."
Tuesday, September 10, 2019
Zombie Down
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5 comments:
The Astros are an excellent team, no doubt about it.
But with the unbalanced schedule, look at who they play most of their games against. The Dodgers are similarly goosed in the W column by their division opponents.
You could say that we have the Orioles and Blue Jays, the ornithological equivalent of Seattle and the Angels, or the Rockies and Padres and Giants. Which is fair, I guess. But in their divisions, they have only one real competitive team besides themselves. We have two. And Toronto is dangerous these days, too.
While we're considering the juiced ball of 2019 (tickets for the Juiced Ball available at your local Jeep dealer), let's also consider the Yankee-hating idea of an unbalanced schedule. It's really unfair. How many individual performance stats have been warped because of it? Pitching and batting, both.
This can of worms eventually leads to the irregular playing fields players benefit from and sometimes hampered by. And teams stats, like Boston at home, where practically everyone hits much better. The Yankees have this, too, of course, with the short porch.
Here's the thing about baseball. Fans have always been obssessed with numbers, but in reality, all of those numbers are not cleanly derived. Over the years, a lot of them have been distorted to some degree, like DiMag's home run total when there really was a Death Valley.
There is no answer, really. But it makes you wonder about the incredible reliance on numbers we have today. Lies, damned lies, and statistics, as Disraeli said (and Twain helped popularize).
Interesitng, JM, I never knew that was Dizzy originally (not to be confused with Dizzy Dean).
I hear what you're saying. But overall, this sounds to me like whistling past the graveyard. Some mighty brave whistling it is, too. But...
Hoss,
To add to the SF scenario "We're really glad you didn't get Bumgarner. I guess you didn't have the prospects."
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