{"id":758,"date":"2008-10-11T08:51:37","date_gmt":"2008-10-11T15:51:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2008\/10\/11\/playoff-musings\/"},"modified":"2009-03-18T20:24:28","modified_gmt":"2009-03-19T03:24:28","slug":"playoff-musings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2008\/10\/11\/playoff-musings\/","title":{"rendered":"Playoff Musings"},"content":{"rendered":"

A look at some of the storylines of the postseason.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Frank TV is attacking my brain.\u00c2\u00a0 Thanks to TBS\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s coverage of the playoffs, I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t go five minutes without thinking \u00e2\u20ac\u0153very funny.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s good TV on: Heroes is back, Mad Men continues to dominate, the Simpsons have returned, yet I feel compelled to watch a chubby non-funny comedian do borderline impressions for thirty minutes.\u00c2\u00a0 I guess advertising still works.\u00c2\u00a0 At least TBS still remembers to show baseball between the Frank TV commercials.\u00c2\u00a0 I think we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re about a month away from TBS just giving up and running those commercials all day long.\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll throw in a showing of Must Love Dogs for good measure.\u00c2\u00a0 Before my eyes melt and my head explodes, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s address some playoff musings.<\/p>\n

I owe Brad Lidge an apology\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

In late July, I wrote the following about the Phillies\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 closer: As the pressure mounts down the stretch, would you ever rely on Brad Lidge to get a big out?\u00c2\u00a0 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m giddy with anticipation over the prospect of Lidge facing David Wright with a one run lead and a man on second.\u00c2\u00a0 Will he experience a Ricky Bobby-like flashback of Albert Pujols?\u00c2\u00a0 Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be surprised to see him sprint off the mound in his tightie-whiteys, shrieking that his clothes are on fire.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/em>Brad, my bad.<\/p>\n

Since I wrote that, Lidge has returned to his roots as a dominant shut down closer.\u00c2\u00a0 Going into the postseason, he possessed a 1.95 ERA, a 1.23 WHIP, saved 41 games, and blew none.\u00c2\u00a0 To paraphrase Joe Biden, let me repeat that\u00e2\u20ac\u201dhe has blown zero saves this season.\u00c2\u00a0 That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s unheard of.<\/p>\n

For a closer, having an unshakable level of confidence is just as, if not more, important than the stuff he carries with him to the mound.\u00c2\u00a0 When Lidge gave up that homerun to Pujols in the 2005 NLCS, that confidence was shaken to its core.\u00c2\u00a0 Unlike the homerun Jim Leyritz hit off Mark Wohlers in the 1996 World Series, Pujols took Lidge\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s best offering out of the park.\u00c2\u00a0 Closers live by the mantra, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t give the hitter a chance to beat you on your third pitch.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 Well, Pujols didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t.<\/p>\n

Immediately, Lidge fell into a Maverick-from-Top-Gun-like tailspin.\u00c2\u00a0 Every time Lidge entered the game, Astros fans had no idea what to expect.\u00c2\u00a0 Would he shut the opposition down and close out the game, or would he freak out, hit the eject button, and kill Anthony Edwards?\u00c2\u00a0 It got so bad, that the Astros replaced Lidge\u00e2\u20ac\u201da pitcher dialing it up to the mid-90s with his fastball and with an exploding slider\u00e2\u20ac\u201das their closer and ultimately traded him away before the 2008 season.<\/p>\n

In the 2008 playoffs, Lidge has remained perfect.\u00c2\u00a0 He has recorded big out after big out, and is one of the main reasons Philadelphia stands two wins away from the World Series.\u00c2\u00a0 While Billy Wagner, closer of the divisional rival Mets, came down with a season-ending injury, leaving their bullpen in shambles, Lidge remained an unwavering constant.\u00c2\u00a0 On Friday night, Lidge walked Manny Ramirez and James Loney, bringing the tying run to the plate with one out.\u00c2\u00a0 Here was the moment Phillie fans had dreaded, the inevitable unraveling of Brad Lidge.\u00c2\u00a0 Either Matt Kemp or Nomar Garciaparra would shatter the dreams of Philadelphia one more time with a game tying homerun.\u00c2\u00a0 Not this year.\u00c2\u00a0 Lidge struck both batters out.\u00c2\u00a0 With every futile flailing hack from the Dodgers, Lidge gained swagger.\u00c2\u00a0 By the time he had thrown that last strike by Garciaparra, Lidge was ten feet tall, weighed 400 pounds, and wore a cape.\u00c2\u00a0 Lidge didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just close the door, he slammed it.\u00c2\u00a0 As the game ended, I heard Ryan\u00c2\u00a0Howard say to Lidge, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You can be my wingman anytime!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Tim McCarver has hit rock bottom and continues to dig\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many young baseball fans don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know this, but Tim McCarver used to be an excellent color commentator.\u00c2\u00a0 I came across a classic Yankee game, which McCarver happened to be working.\u00c2\u00a0 Consistently, he called pitches along with the catcher, illuminated the viewer as to the reasons for hitting and running in certain situations, and was not afraid to attack the umpiring crew for missed calls and the shrinking of the American League strike zone.\u00c2\u00a0 At that time, McCarver provided an insider\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s view of the tactics, strategies, and emotions of Major League baseball.\u00c2\u00a0 However, as he has gotten older and more comfortable as a member of the press and not as a member of the players, McCarver has fallen into the same trap as many broadcasters.\u00c2\u00a0 He relies on shtick to fill air time, regaling the viewer with stories about how Terry Francona orders his steak.\u00c2\u00a0 Similarly, the game has changed since McCarver played.\u00c2\u00a0 His signature move was that he used to correctly call an upcoming hit and run or sacrifice bunt, teams have moved away from small ball as a consistent approach.\u00c2\u00a0 For the most part, until the latter parts of a ballgame, teams sit back and wait for their bats, not their manager, to create a rally.\u00c2\u00a0 As a result, McCarver\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s game analysis often comes off as dated.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, I could live with that if he had an ounce of self awareness.\u00c2\u00a0 Since McCarver joined Joe Buck in the Fox booth, I consistently wonder how they fit the two of them, plus Buck\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s air of elitism and McCarver\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ego into such a tiny space.\u00c2\u00a0 In Friday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s game between the Dodgers and the Phillies, McCarver narrated the following sequence.\u00c2\u00a0 Jimmy Rollins hit a single into centerfield, which Matt Kemp bobbled.\u00c2\u00a0 Rollins took second on the error.\u00c2\u00a0 McCarver announced, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Watch Jimmy Rollins, he gave himself a chance to take the extra base because he was going 100% out of the box the whole time.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 Meanwhile, Fox cut to a replay of Rollins running down the line.\u00c2\u00a0 He stroked the single, cruised down the line, took a lackadaisical turn around first, then when he saw Kemp struggle to field the ball, turned on the after-burners.\u00c2\u00a0 McCarver didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t correct himself.\u00c2\u00a0 He didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t point out that Rollins is one of a handful of players in baseball that could run the bases like that and still slide safely into second base.\u00c2\u00a0 Instead, he sat quietly, waiting for the next pitch.\u00c2\u00a0 To paraphrase Paul Simon, where have you gone Tim McCarver?<\/p>\n

The Red Sox will win the World Series\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Writing that intro felt like raking my body over burning coals.\u00c2\u00a0 However, Boston has a good defense; the best 1-2-3 combination of starters in Daisuke, Beckett, and Lester; a lineup that balances speed and power while relying on timely hitting; and the best closer in Jonathan Papelbon.\u00c2\u00a0 Watching game one between Boston and Tampa, the difference in experience was striking. \u00c2\u00a0In the bottoms of the seventh and eighth innings, a time that has been Tampa\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bread and butter this season\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthey lead the AL in producing runs late in close games\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthe Rays put runners in scoring position with no outs.\u00c2\u00a0 Then the playoff jitters set in.\u00c2\u00a0 None of the Rays have played under this kind of intense pressure and it showed.\u00c2\u00a0 The Rays, a team that has played loose and fast the whole season, grew tense.\u00c2\u00a0 They paralyzed themselves trying to do something mammoth while a sacrifice fly would have done the job.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

In the seventh, when even a double play ball would have plated a run, Navarro popped into shallow left, Gross struck out swinging, and Bartlett grounded to short, quietly ending the threat.\u00c2\u00a0 The following inning, with runners at first and second, Carlos Pena swung at a 3-0 offering and flied to right.\u00c2\u00a0 Evan Longoria followed up by rapping into a 4-6-3 double play.<\/p>\n

As we saw in the late 90s with the Yankees, experience is key to winning in the postseason.\u00c2\u00a0 It provides a team that, on paper, might not be the most talented with an advantage.\u00c2\u00a0 The Red Sox have played in big games such as these for four years now; nobody else has.\u00c2\u00a0 They will find a way to win.\u00c2\u00a0 Now, if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll excuse me, I have to go chug some paint thinner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A look at some of the storylines of the postseason.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/758\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}