ogc thoughts
These are based on historical animosity between the Giants and other teams, especially if they beat the Giants in the playoffs. Not too many of those this year. And other factors.
- Indians: The Giants beat them in the 1954 World Series and they haven't won a World Series since 1948. Rooting hard for them.
- Braves: We exorcised 1993 by beating them in 2010. They haven't won a World Series since 1995. They have a young team, new park, probably a year earlier than they were expected to compete. Plus my work buddy is a huge Braves fan, so there's that too, at least for me.
- Brewers: They became the Brewers in 1970, and lost in their only World Series appearance in 1982. They have made the playoffs only 4 years in the prior 49 seasons, and first since 2011. I normally would put them above the Braves, but Bud.
- Rockies: Their franchise started in 1993 (stealing Kuiper from us for a season, which may or may not have jinxed them) and they have made the playoffs 5 times in the 25 seasons since, lost in their only World Series in 2007. Plus, NL West competitor automatically knocks them down for me, I usually avoid rooting for division competitors.
- Athletics: I keep on telling their fans that Beane has still not learned from Baseball Prospectus' playoffs study: get studly pitchers, both starters and relievers, and build a strong defense. He finally got the defense, and relievers, but not the starting pitchers. And that cost them in the Wild Card (I guess they don't remember Bumgarner's two Wild Card games). Better luck next time. Though, of course, there were the years of mental abuse the team heaped on Giants fans with their offensive billboard ad (mocking us fans for not having a championship, that's just inhumane on so many levels, maybe this long dry stretch is karma for all those billboards) and a fan did on Barry Zito's players page where he made fun of the Giants for not winning, until, of course, they won once, twice, and three times, and he had to change his tune radically. I wonder how long A's fans will put up with Beane's incompetence at winning a championship. Of course, if they were like Giants fans right now, they would blame Beane for not getting enough SP depth to avoid having to go bullpenning...
- Cubs: I don't hate the Cubs, but I hate the owners, and that earns them this spot. And I don't want them claiming any title on the decade either. Seeing them lose in the Wild Card was great to see.
- Red Sox: Only reason the Red Sox is here is because I don't care for the below teams more.
- Astros: They won last season, and that would normally get them lower on the list, but I don't really care for the following teams. Plus, I don't want to see them succeed in winning two in a row when the Giants couldn't pull it off.
- Yankees: I hate the Yankees, I hate Steinbrenner and the rules that fatten their pockets to the detriment of the rest of the majors, and normally they would be lower. They could go 100 years without winning another World Series, and it still won't be long enough for me.
- Dodgers: Beat da bums! It would be a very cold day for me to root for the Dodgers, ever.
Given the above, I'm rooting for the Braves over Dodgers, Brewers over Rockies, Indians over Astros, and Red Sox over Yankees. Then Braves over Brewers, Indians over Red Sox, then finally Indians over Braves (though if that matchup happened, I would have to be neutral, out of courtesy for my friend).
Well, that's my list: Beat LA!
Brewers & Indians. I think both have gone far longer than the Braves.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I know, just my buddy is a big Braves fan.
DeletePoint is moot now: Go Brewers!
As of the 10th, has to be the Brewers, although never a fan of Bud Selig, but the Brewers because they are in the N.L. and are not the dodgers.
ReplyDeleteAs, the others have been noting: Go Brewers!
ReplyDeleteAs far as the other series, I want it to go 7 and for both teams to beat each other up, so that the Brewers will have an easier time, but I want the Red Sox to win, they last won in 2013, Astros, of course, just last season.
And, of course, I am rooting for the Brewers to win the World Series!
DeleteMaybe the Dodgers got another Kershaw in Buehler? Given how poorly he pitched, it might be another case of be careful what you wish for. Admittedly, just two starts, but, wow, while his peripherals says that he was great, he just gave up too many runs, which the peripherals would say is just bad luck.
ReplyDeleteAnd I know a lot of people think it's just bad luck with Kershaw, but maybe it's time they just acknowledge that some players deal with the pressures of the playoffs better than others.
And that's what I call being "clutch". Most discussions I see in baseball saber circles on clutch is about players raising their performances up a notch when the game is under pressure, but I think that's being too limiting, I think a better definition would be players who are able to replicate their regular season performances when under pressure.
Because I have experience with that in the opposite sense, being unclutch. I was playing ball with some school buddies and I was great fielding 3B, so the team manager made me the 3B for our lunch league. Well, under the pressure of playing in front of that crowd (small as it was), I was throwing balls that Yao Ming wouldn't be able to jump and catch, and soon was moved to Left Out and/or the pitchers mound (where I stood behind the actual pitcher, from the other team).
And from looking at performances in the playoffs for some pitchers, I think that being clutch is being able to be your normal self when the pressure is on, because there are people who are unable to be that. Peavy was a great example of that, he would pitch well in the season, but once he was in the playoffs, he wasn't even league average, let alone his normally pretty good self.
I think some justify that by stating that he was facing better hitters from playoff teams, and that's true to an extent. But then how does one explain why that's not a universal thing, there are pitchers who excel (Lincuecm, Cain, Bumgarner), and then there are those who
underperform (Kershaw, Peavy, and now maybe Buehler).
And that's one area where sabers really underperform. For all the talk about analyzing the numbers, it is forgotten all too often that these are humans playing the games, not the back of the baseball card, and that's one area that the Giants do focus on, based on the reports I've seen in Baseball America on what the Giants said about their own prospects, they look for leaders and strong baseball IQ.