MLB Wild Card talk

[theAlaskanBear]

Don't get me wrong -- I'm not blaming Girardi for what he did, jjust trying to put the Rays' comeback into context. I agree with you that his first priority was to have the Yankees ready for the playoffs and the best way to do that was to protect his key pitchers. Burnett and Hughes, two starters who will not start in postseason, each got a brief stint to give them a bit of a taste of relieving, but nobody in his playoff rotation -- either starter or reliever -- got off the bench.

On the other hand, he did start pretty close to his A lineup (he subbed for some as the game stretched out) and the Yankees did play well enough to build a 7-0 lead. The fact that they played 12 innings before losing is fair evidence that they didn't throw the game (despite my crack about Proctor -- Yankee fans feel about him the way Brave fans have come to feel about Lowe).

A couple of neat facts I learned while watching the coverage today:

-- The Red Sox established a new record for the worst collapse ever in September, blowing a 9-game lead in the month.
-- The Braves tied the 1964 Phillies for the SECOND WORST September collapse ever -- each blowing an 8 1/2 game lead in the month.

Amazing.

And it was those pesky StL Cardinals in the 1964. In fact, the Cardinals hold 3 of the top 6 all time comebacks now when you factor in the 1934 Gashouse Gang.

[jimsumner]

And it was those pesky StL Cardinals in the 1964. In fact, the Cardinals hold 3 of the top 6 all time comebacks now when you factor in the 1934 Gashouse Gang.

But at least the Yankees got Johnny Keane out of it.

[throatybeard]

And it was those pesky StL Cardinals in the 1964. In fact, the Cardinals hold 3 of the top 6 all time comebacks now when you factor in the 1934 Gashouse Gang.

The guys on 101 we having their 4:00 trivia face-off with the listener, and the intern didn't do the research completely, and then there was a dispute.

How far out were the 1964 Cardinals? Bob Ramsey insisted that the 1978 NYY were further out (fourteen games on 21 July) than the 1964 Cardinals, but they never got around to making clear how many games out the 1964 Cardinals actually were.

It think it was one of those "any any point during the season" versus "after date X" things.

[pfrduke]

The guys on 101 we having their 4:00 trivia face-off with the listener, and the intern didn't do the research completely, and then there was a dispute.

How far out were the 1964 Cardinals? Bob Ramsey insisted that the 1978 NYY were further out (fourteen games on 21 July) than the 1964 Cardinals, but they never got around to making clear how many games out the 1964 Cardinals actually were.

It think it was one of those "any any point during the season" versus "after date X" things.

Courtesy Baseball Reference, the furthest out the '64 Cards were was 11 games, and that happened twice - on July 9 and on August 23. From the latter date, they went 28-11 to finish the season, and ended up in 1st. They actually took a 1 game lead with 3 games to play, so made up an 11 game deficit in 36 games.

ETA: They were also 6.5 out with 13 games to play, and reeled off a 9-1 run to take that 1 game lead, making up a total of 7.5 games in just 10 games played. On the whole, it was a crazy finish in the NL. The Phillies lost 10 in a row at one point in late September in coughing up the lead. And the Reds were also involved in the fun, coming from 8.5 back with 18 games to play to take a 1 game lead with 6 to play (making up 9.5 games in 12 played) on the back of their own 11-1 run, then going 2-4 to finish the season a game out of first.

[sagegrouse]

Great Uncle Fred loved to tell the story of the Braves. In last place on July 4, the Braves won nearly 80 percent of their remaining games to finish 10.5 games ahead of the NY Giants. They proceeded to sweep the favored Philadelphia A's in the World Series, 4-0.

sagegrouse

[theAlaskanBear]

Not sure where it is appropriate to put this -- with two baseball threads up I didnt want to start another. I know there are a couple other StLouis fans here...

What a great game last night. Carpenter on short rest didn't exactly work out, but the Bullpen was near perfect. 6 innings, 1 hit, 1 hbp, 6ks, 0 walks...the Cardinals get a needed split in Philly, and they have that headed to St. Louis. The Cardinal bats were able to get to Cliff Lee, with big ups to the bottom of the order -- Ryan Theriot and Jon Jay especially

Garcia and Jackson will be pitching, and they have much better home ERAs than away, so you are looking at a couple of great pitching matchups...Garcia has a 2.55 home ERA so he should be a good matchup for Hamels. A tossup pitching wise.

Hopefully Pujols' bat will wake up a bit more -- he had a couple of uncharacteristic strike outs last night and just looked bad against Cliff Lee. Also hope Jimmy Rollins cools off. That guy scares me when he is hot.