Octoberquest 2006

[MrRain422]

Yes, Major League Baseball is actually calling it Octoberquest.

 

[MrRain422]

[mountain bed]

While watching Octoberquest,may I suggest keeping a large stockpile of Sammy Adams Octoberfest?

Should be here by now...still waiting

[explodo]

I have a twelve pack of that stuff and, um, it's not very good. Ain't got no flava'!

 

Also, yay baseball. Octoberquest will hopefully feature the Cardinals after they snapped that losing streak this evening. How many games can Pujols win for that team?

 

....Hopefully enough to win a World Series because, well, they have nobody else that does anything and their pitching is awful.

[bjorn_skurj]

1. Pete's Wicked Octoberfest used to be really good, like 7 percent alcohol or something, but it's been watered down in recent years.

2. The Mets peaked at the wrong time.

[MrRain422]

The Mets should still cruise through the playoffs though. No other team in the National League comes close. Anything can happen, but they've got to be a huge favorite to come out of the N.L.

 

That being said, I think all 4 of the A.L. playoff teams are probably as good or better than the Mets, so once they're in the World Series, who knows.

[bjorn_skurj]

The Mets should still cruise through the playoffs though. No other team in the National League comes close. Anything can happen, but they've got to be a huge favorite to come out of the N.L.

 

That being said, I think all 4 of the A.L. playoff teams are probably as good or better than the Mets, so once they're in the World Series, who knows.

I'm sorry. What it comes down to in the postseason is starting pitching, and the Mets' starters are a rather large question mark. Pedro may not even pitch in the first round, they're saying tonight. Glavine and Hernandez look good, not great; Trachsel is the exact opposite of the kind of "power pitcher" one likes to have in these short series. And the offense had been producing like the '62 Mets the last few weeks. You just can't turn it on at will, you know.

[bobbob1313]

I'm sorry. What it comes down to in the postseason is starting pitching, and the Mets' starters are a rather large question mark. Pedro may not even pitch in the first round, they're saying tonight. Glavine and Hernandez look good, not great; Trachsel is the exact opposite of the kind of "power pitcher" one likes to have in these short series. And the offense had been producing like the '62 Mets the last few weeks. You just can't turn it on at will, you know.

 

I have to ask if there are still doubts about whether Miguel Cabrera or David Wright is the better player?

[MrRain422]

Starting pitching is, without a doubt, huge in the playoffs, but it's not the be-all and end-all, and the Mets do have a good offense. Also, the other NL playoff teams aren't much better when it comes to pitching. The Pads have Peavy, who is having by far his worst year thus far in his short career, and no one else. The Cardinals pitching is absolutely horrible. Still not sure who's going to win the wild card, but neither the Dodgers or Phillies are exactly dominant when it comes to the starting pitching.

 

Edit: I just looked at the stats. The Padres have much better pitching than I'd thought. However, the Mets are third in the NL in both ERA and WHIP (the Padres lead in both). The Cardinals, Dodgers and Phillies (especially the Phillies) are much worse than both the Mets and the Padres.

 

I have to ask if there are still doubts about whether Miguel Cabrera or David Wright is the better player?

 

It's still very early in both of their careers. Yes, there are still doubts.

Edited September 28, 2006 by MrRain422

[bobbob1313]

It's still very early in both of their careers. Yes, there are still doubts.

 

Yeah, I know. But still, it's hard to argue with the fact that Cabrera has been better each of the last 2 seasons, but for the most part, everyone seems to agree Wright is the better player. I can't understand it.

 

And congrats to Anibal Sanchez for picking up his 10th win in 16 starts. In a normal season, with a no-hitter under his belt, he'd be a lock for the ROTY, but as it is, he'll probably not even finish in the top 5. Thats crazy.

[parisisstale]

I'm sorry. What it comes down to in the postseason is starting pitching, and the Mets' starters are a rather large question mark. Pedro may not even pitch in the first round, they're saying tonight. Glavine and Hernandez look good, not great; Trachsel is the exact opposite of the kind of "power pitcher" one likes to have in these short series. And the offense had been producing like the '62 Mets the last few weeks. You just can't turn it on at will, you know.

 

I'd be worried too, but you gotta believe!!! Look how the ChiSox limped in last year. Granted, their starting pitching was better than the Mets, but you're far and away better than anyone else in the NL.

 

Not that they're gonna make, but the team I wouldn't want to face in the NLCS are the Phillies. But not being a Met fan, I'd love to see that series.

[parisisstale]

Yeah, I know. But still, it's hard to argue with the fact that Cabrera has been better each of the last 2 seasons, but for the most part, everyone seems to agree Wright is the better player. I can't understand it.

 

I haven't seen anyone say that Wright's a better player......right now. But he has a chance to be really special. Cabrera's already a special player, but I think people believe Wright has more upside.

 

I personally think Cabrera might eat himself out of the league in a few years.

[bobbob1313]

Despite the fact that we crumbled there at the end, I'd say this was one of the best seasons to be a Marlins fan. This was such a fun team to watch as they broke record after record and made an improbable run at the postseason. This will be such a fun team to follow for a long time, as they are going to be very competitive for a long time. They look very similar to the Braves of the early 90's. I'll take that.

 

Oh, and no major league player has ever stolen 50 bases, gotten 50 doubles, 10 triples and 15 homeruns in a single season. Hanley Ramirez is just 5 doubles away from doing it.

[MrRain422]

Yeah, I know. But still, it's hard to argue with the fact that Cabrera has been better each of the last 2 seasons, but for the most part, everyone seems to agree Wright is the better player. I can't understand it.

 

And congrats to Anibal Sanchez for picking up his 10th win in 16 starts. In a normal season, with a no-hitter under his belt, he'd be a lock for the ROTY, but as it is, he'll probably not even finish in the top 5. Thats crazy.

 

Wright plays in New York and Cabrera plays in Florida. The extra attention for Wright is pretty obvious.

 

Sanchez's ROTY chances are hurt by the fact that he wasn't in the Majors for the first couple months. That being said, the Marlins still have a great shot at getting the award via Dan Uggla, although apparently Ryan Zimmerman is getting a lot of voters on his side in the last few weeks.

 

Despite the fact that we crumbled there at the end, I'd say this was one of the best seasons to be a Marlins fan. This was such a fun team to watch as they broke record after record and made an improbable run at the postseason. This will be such a fun team to follow for a long time, as they are going to be very competitive for a long time. They look very similar to the Braves of the early 90's. I'll take that.

 

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it was probably more exciting to be a Marlins fan in the two years in which they won the World Series. That being said, they exceeded expectations this year by an awful lot, so yeah, it must have been very exciting.

 

Oh, and no major league player has ever stolen 50 bases, gotten 50 doubles, 10 triples and 15 homeruns in a single season. Hanley Ramirez is just 5 doubles away from doing it.

 

That's an awfully arbitrary set of numbers.

Edited September 28, 2006 by MrRain422

[bobbob1313]

Wright plays in New York and Cabrera plays in Florida. The extra attention for Wright is pretty obvious.

 

Sanchez's ROTY chances are hurt by the fact that he wasn't in the Majors for the first couple months. That being said, the Marlins still have a great shot at getting the award via Dan Uggla, although apparently Ryan Zimmerman is getting a lot of fans at this point.

 

Zimmerman is pretty special, and he should probably win the gold glove (if it goes to David Wright, I'll lose all faith in the voters), but I'd probably think with Uggla's story (coming out of nowhere to have arguably the best rookie season of any 2b in NL history) he's got the upperhand.

 

Although I hope the voters may look at Anibal in the same way they looked at Howard last year and give him at least some due. I mean, Howard won based on what his projections to a full season are, but if you project Anibal to a full season, that's Cy Young quality right there.

 

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it was probably more exciting to be a Marlins fan in the two years in which they won the World Series. That being said, they exceeded expectations this year by an awful lot, so yeah, it must have been very exciting.

That's an awfully arbitrary set of numbers.

 

Yeah, but other than those 2 season, these have been the most exciting. It's certainly better than the last two years when they underperformed by a lot.

 

And yeah, it's arbitrary, but it's still pretty impressive, I suppose.

[MrRain422]

Eh, the Gold Glove award is always awarded for questionable reasons. It's usually more of a career achievement award than anything else--nearly every year there are at least 3 or 4 veteran stars who win the award over a new guy who clearly had a better year. As far as the major awards go, it's a pretty big joke.

 

If Sanchez won the Rookie of the Year, I certainly wouldn't argue with it, but I'm sure you understand how only playing part of the year would work against him. It's the same reason that Justin Verlander will probably win in the A.L. over Liriano (who, if he didn't get hurt, would probably win the award unanimously) and Jered Weaver.

Edited September 28, 2006 by MrRain422

[bobbob1313]

Eh, the Gold Glove award is always awarded for questionable reasons. It's usually more of a career achievement award than anything else--nearly every year there are at least 3 or 4 veteran stars who win the award over a new guy who clearly had a better year. As far as the major awards go, it's a pretty big joke.

 

If Sanchez won the Rookie of the Year, I certainly wouldn't argue with it, but I'm sure you understand how only playing part of the year would work against him. It's the same reason that Justin Verlander will probably win in the A.L. over Liriano (who, if he didn't get hurt, would probably win the award unanimously) and Jered Weaver.

 

Oh, I definetly understand why Sanchez won't win, and I'm completely resigned to the fact that he won't. It's just amazing how in a season like that, he may not even make it to the top 5. There are so many great rookies this year. The future is bright, for sure.

[MrRain422]

Just curious who the 5 that you're assuming will come in ahead of them are. I don't follow the NL nearly as closely as the AL, but the only NL players I can think of who will probably come in ahead of him are:

Dan Uggla

Ryan Zimmerman

Cole Hammels (I guess)

Prince Fielder (maybe? that's a stretch)

 

Who else? Another Marlins rookie?

Edited September 28, 2006 by MrRain422

[bobbob1313]

I actually completely forgot about Hanley Ramirez, who is having himself an amazing season, and may win the ROTY based on his 50+ steals and close to 20 homers. It'll probably be

 

Ramirez

Uggla

Zim

Fielder

Willingham

[bobbob1313]

For my personal postseason award choices I'll go with

 

AL

MVP Santana

Cy Young Santana

Manager Leyland

Rookie Liriano

Rolaids KRod

Comeback Frank Thomas

 

NL

MVP Howard

Cy Young Webb

Manager Girardi

Rookie Sanchez

Rolaids T-Hoff (yeah, thats right. I said it)

Comeback Nomah

[MattZ]

For what its worth, I dont think that Wright is better than Cabrera. But I do think that I would rather have Wright than Cabrera. I have seen games where Cabrera just checks out mentally. I understand the moneyball argument that stats are the only thing that matters, but I cant buy that here.

 

Cabrera falls asleep in the field way too often and jogs to first on groundouts. He is an absolutely sick talent though. And frankly, he and Ryan Howard are going to be the two best players in the NL for a long time.

[quarter23cd]

No opinion on the Wright/Cabrera thing--I'd love to have either of thsoe guys playing for my favortie team.

 

I'm not sure what to expect from the Mets in the postseason. Pitching, obviously, is a question mark but I think this team has the ability to win anyway. I've been following the Mets all season (since my favorite team was eliminated in late April or so) and they've been a fun team to watch and I am thoroughly on the bandwagon. But they've also been on cruise-control since the All-Star break, while sitting on a double-digit lead in their division all summer. I'm curious to see if they can turn the intensity back on for a playoff run.

[MrRain422]

I have seen games where Cabrera just checks out mentally. I understand the moneyball argument that stats are the only thing that matters, but I cant buy that here.

 

Moneyball never argued that.

[jenbobblehead]

how many days til pitchers and catchers report?

[bobbob1313]

he and Ryan Howard are going to be the two best players in the NL for a long time.

 

 

"'Scuse me?"