NFL Week 6/2011 NLCS Game 6 Live Blog

Game 6: Cardinals vs. Brewers 8:00 (TBS - Brian Anderson, Ron Darling, and John Smoltz, SR: Craig Sager)

2011 NLCS Game 5 Live Blog

Series tied at 2.  If Milwaukee can win tonight.....oh boy.

Game 5: Brewers vs. Cardinals 8:00 (TBS - Brian Anderson, Ron Darling, and John Smoltz, SR: Craig Sager)

2011 ALCS Game 5/NLCS Game 4 Live Blog

Game 5: Rangers vs. Tigers 4:00 (Fox - Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, SR: Ken Rosenthal)

Game 4: Brewers vs. Cardinals 8:00 (TBS - Brian Anderson, Ron Darling, and John Smoltz, SR: Craig Sager)

2011 ALCS Game 4/NLCS Game 3 Live Blog

Game 4: Rangers vs. Tigers 4:00 (Fox - Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, SR: Ken Rosenthal)

Game 3: Brewers vs. Cardinals 8:00 (TBS - Brian Anderson, Ron Darling, and John Smoltz, SR: Craig Sager)

NFL Week 5/NLCS Game 1/ALCS Game 2 Live Blog

Game 1: Cardinals vs. Brewers 4:00 (TBS - Brian Anderson, Ron Darling, and John Smoltz, SR: Craig Sager)

Game 2: Tigers vs. Rangers 7:00 (Fox - Joe Buck and Terry Francona, SR: Ken Rosenthal)

2011 League Championship Series Schedule

This hurts a lot.

National League Championship Series

Milwaukee Brewers vs. St. Louis Cardinals

Game 1:  October 9:  Cardinals vs. Brewers  4:00 (TBS - Brian Anderson, Ron Darling, and John Smoltz, SR: Craig Sager)
Game 2:  October 10:  Cardinals vs. Brewers  8:00 (TBS - Brian Anderson, Ron Darling, and John Smoltz, SR: Craig Sager)
Game 3:  October 12:  Brewers vs. Cardinals  8:00 (TBS - Brian Anderson, Ron Darling, and John Smoltz, SR: Craig Sager)
Game 4:  October 13:  Brewers vs. Cardinals  8:00 (TBS - Brian Anderson, Ron Darling, and John Smoltz, SR: Craig Sager)
Game 5:  October 14:  Brewers vs. Cardinals  8:00 (TBS - Brian Anderson, Ron Darling, and John Smoltz, SR: Craig Sager)
Game 6:  October 16:  Cardinals vs. Brewers  4:00 (TBS - Brian Anderson, Ron Darling, and John Smoltz, SR: Craig Sager)
Game 7:  October 17:  Cardinals vs. Brewers  8:00 (TBS - Brian Anderson, Ron Darling, and John Smoltz, SR: Craig Sager)

American League Championship Series

Texas Rangers vs. Detroit Tigers

Game 1:  October 8:  Tigers vs. Rangers  7:30 (Fox - Joe Buck and Terry Francona, SR: Ken Rosenthal)
Game 2:  October 9:  Tigers vs. Rangers  7:00 (Fox - Joe Buck and Terry Francona, SR: Ken Rosenthal)
Game 3:  October 11:  Rangers vs. Tigers  7:30 (Fox - Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, SR: Ken Rosenthal)
Game 4:  October 12:  Rangers vs. Tigers  4:00 (Fox - Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, SR: Ken Rosenthal)
Game 5:  October 13:  Rangers vs. Tigers  4:00 (Fox - Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, SR: Ken Rosenthal)
Game 6:  October 15:  Tigers vs. Rangers  7:30 (Fox - Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, SR: Ken Rosenthal)
Game 7:  October 16:  Tigers vs. Rangers  8:00 (Fox - Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, SR: Ken Rosenthal)

A Slightly More Rational Post-Game Recap

Phillies 20, Giants 19.

Giants 4, Phillies 2.

That's baseball in a nutshell. It is why the game can be both beautiful and maddingly frustrating at the same time. In a NLCS where the San Francisco Giants won 4 games to 2, the Philadelphia Phillies scored 20 runs while the San Francisco Giants plated only 19. Does it mean that the Phillies were the better team? Given the numerous mistakes they made, no, I can't say that the Phillies should be going to the World Series. But are the Giants that flukey team that have no business being there? I can't say that either.

Say what you will about how they blooped and flared their way to runs in the past week, but they have some mighty fine starting pitching. Lincecum is up there with Halladay as one of the best in the game, Jonathan Sanchez is wildly effective for the most part (tonight was the exception, not the rule), and Matt Cain is vastly underrated with a ridiculous BABIP and ability to limit home runs throughout his entire career. Like seriously. When people talk about exceptions to SABR-pitching metrics and what they tell us about pitching, Matt Cain is that guy.

As far as my rooting interests go in the 2010 World Series, I'm gonna give it to you straight. I am Switzerland. Seriously. I could not be any more neutral. If the Giants win, I will be happy for most of the team and nauseous at the site of Cody Ross getting a World Series ring. If the Rangers win, I will be happy for most of the team and nauseous at the site of Jeff Francoeur with a World Series ring. My World Series bold prediction: Bengie Molina gets a World Series ring.

Enough of my take on the World Series and more on my take on the Phillies.

TO THOSE OF YOU WHO THINK RYAN HOWARD IS THE GOAT......

Don't let Joe Buck and his love of RBIs fool you. Phillies post-season triple slash line: .215/.309/.304. Ryan Howard's post-season triple slash line: .303/.395/.424. He did more for this team than most. He may not have gotten the RBIs, but next to Werth, he was the Phillies best hitter in the post-season.

TO THOSE OF YOU WHO THINK THE UMPIRING WAS ATROCIOUS......

I agree. But it is not the reason the series turned out the way it was. The umps fucked both teams in the ass more times than I would care to count.

TO THOSE OF YOU WHO THINK THE 2010 SEASON IS A FAILURE.......

Don't let your irrationally raised expectations deceive you. For 162 games in the regular season, the Phillies overcame injury after injury after injury after injury after injury after injury and finished the season with the best record in all baseball. And now because of some bad luck in October, this season is a complete failure? That notion is absolute horseshit that only Yankee fans can come up with. The winners in the playoffs are the teams that get the glory and the celebrations, but don't that deceive you. 162 > 9. The playoffs are a crapshoot where the best team rarely wins. It's the way it is. It's what makes sports, especially baseball, agonizing and amazing all at once. It's why teams like the San Francisco Giants and the Texas Rangers, 2 teams that while very good, were not the best in the regular season, are now in the World Series competing for immortality. Deal with it.

2010 MLB Playoffs Day 16 Live Blog

Game 6: Giants vs. Phillies 7:30 (Fox - Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, SR: Ken Rosenthal)

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE LIVE BLOG

Do San Francisco Schools Teach Math At All These Days?

Uh, sir with the broom, you were attending Game 5 of the NLCS. That means that both teams must have won at least 1 game in the series. Therefore, it is technically impossible for the game to be a sweep.

Now for what the guy was most likely going for, the arbitrary 3-game sweep of the games in San Francisco. It's still just as dumb. Seriously. Talk to any baseball fan. How many people were saying that the Giants fans should bring out the brooms because they have a chance to sweep their home part of the series? I reckon not many. And those that did, well, they are just as dumb as this guy apparently is.

Roy Halladay: Warrior

Roy Halladay, everyone. If the Phillies go on to win this NLCS, Halladay's performance tonight will become legendary. The series is now going back to Philadelphia with Roy Oswalt on the mound for the Phillies in Game 6. The Giants will counter with Jonathan Sanchez. In order to win the 2010 NLCS, all the Phillies need to do now is win 2 consecutive home games. It's not over yet, folks. And until it is, do not count the Fightin Phils out.

2010 MLB Playoffs Day 14 Live Blog

Game 5: Phillies vs. Giants 7:30 (Fox - Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, SR: Ken Rosenthal)

To All You Fuckers Giving Up On The Philadelphia Phillies....

6 teams have comeback from a 3-1 series deficit in the LCS to win the series: 1985 Royals, 1986 Red Sox, 1996 Braves, 2003 Marlins, 2004 Red Sox and 2007 Red Sox.

What about the Philadelphia Flyers? They were down 3-0 in a playoff hockey series. No hockey team since 1975 came back to win such a series when faced with that deficit. Yet the Flyers did it. Even after the Bruins defense drew circles around them in Game 3, they overcame adversity, and they won the series. Bigger comebacks have happened. The Phillies have won 3 in a row plenty of times this season. In fact, the Phillies won 3 in a row twice with Halladay, Hamels, and Oswalt starting consecutive games since the acquisition of Oswalt. If you don’t think the Phillies can comeback and win this thing then you just don't know anything about sports. Good night all.

MLB Playoffs Day 13 Live Blog

Game 5: Rangers vs. Yankees 4:00 (TBS - Ernie Johnson, Ron Darling, and John Smoltz, SR: Craig Sager)

Game 4: Phillies vs. Giants 7:30 (Fox - Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, SR: Ken Rosenthal)

MLB Playoffs Day 12 Live Blog

Game 3: Phillies vs. Giants 4:00 (Fox - Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, SR: Ken Rosenthal)

Game 4: Rangers vs. Yankees 8:00 (TBS - Ernie Johnson, Ron Darling, and John Smoltz, SR: Craig Sager)

A Lesson To Those Who Think They Can't Make An Impact On The Internet

May I present the power of having a few Twitter followers who have a bajillion more followers than I do.

In a fit of rage on Twitter, someone types the now deleted tweet: "Hey Philly, screw you and your homophobic, battery-throwing, smoke-bomb tossing, Santa Claus-booing fans," minutes after tweeting yet another now deleted tweet about how satisfied she would be: "If some sort of hilarious, season ending illness befell every Phillie," I respond to her with a "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA" and a snide "All Philly fans in a nutshell," and the next thing I know, practically ever Philly sports fan I follow is completely bashing her into smitherines. Read at your own risk. (FYI, this is the smoke-bomb incident she was referring to)

What had happened was after I tweeted it, someone with a lot of followers who follows me also retweeted it, which prompted more retweeting from people with followers and the next thing you know, some reasonably anonymous NoCal and USC fan is a trending topic in Philadelphia. While I obviously had no intention of it becoming a huge deal square in the middle of Game 2 of the NLCS, I can't say that I did not revel in the hilarity of it. If you are going to go on a place like Twitter and spew out the tired generalizations about Philly fans that everyone and their mother is sick and tired of (never mind that the Santa Claus booing was over 40 years ago) on top of calling us homophobes (never mind that Philadelphia is for the most part a politically liberal city), and I am going to re-tweet it to point out the patheticness of it, and if it gets picked up by people with more followers than I have, then be prepared to feel the wrath of your stupidity. To her credit, she did not fire back with thousands of insults, she did apologize, over and over again, and she did seem to take it in stride (although she did delete her controversial tweets), but suffice to say, I think the lesson has been learned.

Now for those wondering how on earth I got to be following said Giants fan, well, she is 49er16's friend and a year or so ago he told me to follow her.

/DUCKS

Think you can't make an impact on the internet? Think again.

2010 NFL Season Week 6 Live Blog/MLB Playoffs Day 10 Live Blog

Game 2: Giants vs. Phillies 8:00 (Fox - Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, SR: Ken Rosenthal)

2010 MLB Playoffs Day 9 Live Blog

Game 2: Yankees vs. Rangers 4:00 (TBS - Ernie Johnson, Ron Darling, and John Smoltz, SR: Craig Sager)

Game 1: Giants vs. Phillies 7:30 (Fox - Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, SR: Ken Rosenthal)

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE LIVE BLOG

2010 LCS Schedule

Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers, New York Yankees. In just over 3 weeks time, one of these teams will be calling themselves Champions. (all times ET)

National League Championship Series

NL East: Philadelphia Phillies vs. NL West: San Franisco Giants

Game 1: October 16: Giants vs. Phillies 7:30 (Fox - Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, SR: Ken Rosenthal)
Game 2: October 17: Giants vs. Phillies 8:00 (Fox - Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, SR: Ken Rosenthal)
Game 3: October 19: Phillies vs. Giants 4:00 (Fox - Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, SR: Ken Rosenthal)
Game 4: October 20: Phillies vs. Giants 7:30 (Fox - Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, SR: Ken Rosenthal)
Game 5: October 21: Phillies vs. Giants 7:30 (Fox - Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, SR: Ken Rosenthal)
Game 6: October 23: Giants vs. Phillies 3:30 (Fox - Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, SR: Ken Rosenthal)
Game 7: October 24: Giants vs. Phillies 7:30 (Fox - Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, SR: Ken Rosenthal)

American League Championship Series

Al West: Texas Rangers vs. AL Wildcard: New York Yankees

Game 1: October 15: Yankees vs. Rangers 8:00 (TBS - Ernie Johnson, Ron Darling, and John Smoltz, SR: Craig Sager)
Game 2: October 16: Yankees vs. Rangers 4:00 (TBS - Ernie Johnson, Ron Darling, and John Smoltz, SR: Craig Sager)
Game 3: October 18: Rangers vs. Yankees 8:00 (TBS - Ernie Johnson, Ron Darling, and John Smoltz, SR: Craig Sager)
Game 4: October 19: Rangers vs. Yankees 8:00 (TBS - Ernie Johnson, Ron Darling, and John Smoltz, SR: Craig Sager)
Game 5: October 20: Rangers vs. Yankees 4:00 (TBS - Ernie Johnson, Ron Darling, and John Smoltz, SR: Craig Sager)
Game 6: October 22: Yankees vs. Rangers 8:00 (TBS - Ernie Johnson, Ron Darling, and John Smoltz, SR: Craig Sager)
Game 7: October 23: Yankees vs. Rangers 8:00 (TBS - Ernie johnson, Ron Darling, and John Smoltz, SR: Craig Sager)

If the Yankees and Rangers series does not go 7 games, Game 6 of the NLCS will be pushed back to night time.

NLCS Q&A With A Giants Fan

With the 2010 NLCS looming between the Philadelphia Phillies and the San Francisco Giants, Phillies fan JFein and Giants fan 49er16 thought it would be a good idea to exchange questions about each other's team. Below are 49er16's answers to JFein's questions about the Giants. For JFein's answers to 49er16's about the Giants, click here

Q.  No secret:  The San Francisco Giants have not been known for great offense the past few years.  No secret:  The San Francisco Giants have one of the best line-up of pitchers, both starting and bullpen, in the NL.  But just how good are the Giants defensively?

On paper this team looks like they should be one of the worst defensive teams in the majors. Then you look at the numbers and they are actually one of the best defensive teams in the majors. They committed the fourth fewest errors on the year and this is with clunkers like Pat Burrell, Aubrey Huff, and Pablo Sandoval out in the field. Then you look at the advance stats and see they have one of the best UZR ratings, one of the best ErrR which compares how many errors a team makes compared to other teams, and one of the best RngR which surprisingly says the Giants do have range in the field.

Now do all these numbers rate so high because of the ballpark the Giants play in? Probably. Nonetheless though those are some pretty surprising numbers considering that Burrell and Huff played the majority of the year in corner outfield spots and Sandoval is at third base.

Q.  What’s the deal with Matt Cain?  The numbers say he is unlucky with run support, but his BABIP is below the league average and his HR/FB ratio is unusually low as well.  Everybody knows about how great Tim Lincecum is, but is Matt Cain someone the Phillies should fear?

Matt Cain might be the most unluckiest pitcher in the major leagues. It's been a running joke on McCovey Chronicles for at least two years that Matt Cain doesn't know how to win. I don't know what is it with the Giants offense when Cain is pitching. It's like they go into hibernation mode and forget how to provide him runs. And if the Giants do score runs for Cain, the bullpen blows the lead (See: Game 2 of the 2010 NLDS). 

As for Cain, yes the Phillies should fear him. He's actually more like Halladay than Lincecum. He won't strike people out at such a high rate like Lincecum, but he stays in the zone better and doesn't walk as many people. He'll also eat innings at a higher frequency than Lincecum. His best pitches are his changeup and slider and when he's locating both pitches, he can become unhittable. Cain as of now, is expected to start game 3 at home where he's a better pitcher.

Q.  Who is the x-factor on this Giants team?

Buster Posey without question. The offense revolves around his hitting and his ability to get on base. If the table setters like Torres and Sanchez get on base, he needs to drive them in. Posey also needs to reach base for guys like Burrell and Uribe. His defense is also very important for the Giants. Lincecum isn't exactly the best at holding people at 1st base so Posey's ability to throw people out at 2nd. The Giants will only go as far on offense as far as Posey takes them.

Q.  Brian Wilson’s beard is fake, right?

A. Fake, no. Dyed, yes. Admit it. You have to love a guy who rocks a beard like that and pulls out a gimp mask on a ESPN talk show.

Q.  Timothy Leroy Lincecum or Harry Leroy Halladay III?  Okay, so your answer to that one is obvious.  Giants bullpen question:  Brian Wilson is a very good closer, but although solid through the end of the season, the Giants bullpen looked shaky in the NLDS against Atlanta.  Is this a concern for you or Giants fans?

I'm more concerned about Sergio Romo than Wilson. Brian Wilson should have never entered the game during the game 2 Giants implosion and last night was the norm for Wilson. He walks the tight wire, but normally gets out of those situations. Romo is the pitcher I'm worried about. If the Giants had the lead in the 8th inning the past month, the game was over with Romo setting up Wilson in the eighth inning. 

The rest of the Giants bullpen has been solid. Javier Lopez is their left-handed specialist who's been unhittable facing left-handed batters. Jairo Casilla impressed against the Braves in relief. Guillermo Mota and Jeremy Affeldt are both solid. If the Giants have a lead late in the game and they go to their bullpen, I'm usually pretty confident the Giants will win the game. 

Q.  Last year Pablo Sandoval was a stud rookie.  This year he is benched and not even the 1^st off the bench to pinch hit.  For goodness sakes, Aaron Rowand and Edgar Renteria got in Monday’s Game 5 against the Braves while Kung Fu Panda did not.  What happened to Sandoval this year?

Sandoval is a mystery to everyone. There has been a million excuses made for the guy. He's overweight, his divorce is weighing on him (no pun intended), he's worried about custody of his daughter. While I do think his weight is a problem in his declining defense at third base. (He was never spectacular at third, but serviceable.)

His plate discipline is what has worried me the most. He's always been a hacker, but this season has been over the top wildly swinging at pitches over his head. Last season Sandoval was a hacker, but he would at least work the count and occasionally draw a walk. I have a crazy conspiracy theory about his lack of plate discipline. He bought into his own hype. He bought into the hype last season that he could hit pitches over his head. Which clearly isn't the case. Pitchers this year don't even throw strikes at Sandoval because they know he swings at everything. Why throw Sandoval a strike when he will swing at everything?

Q.  Brooks Conrad has been ruled out of the NLCS with a broken spirit.  How will this impact the Giants?

A. The Giants will become lost and somehow end up in a swamp in Jersey.

Chip Caray Will Have To Take His Fisting Elsewhere

Very very very sad news coming out of Turner Broadcasting today. I'm not sure if there is any other way to tell you this so I will just have to break it to you and hoped you can bare what I have to tell you without breaking down. Chip Caray will no longer be working at TBS.

Wait? You're NOT upset about this??? Via the New York Times

Chip Caray’s tenure as TBS’s lead major league baseball announcer ended Monday when he and the cable network agreed to part ways.

Caray’s high-volume style was mixed with a penchant for bad play calls, embellishments and factual errors. His best known incident occurred during the American League Central Division tie breaker between the Twins and the Tigers in October. He called an obvious lineout this way: “Line drive. Base hit. Caught out there. The runner tags. Throw to the plate. On target. And in time! A double play!”

In a memo sent to company employees, David Levy, the president of Turner Sports, wrote on Monday: “Since the end of this year’s M.L.B. playoffs, we’ve had several discussions with Chip Caray regarding 2010 and beyond. Both sides have agreed that now is the right time for Turner Sports and Chip to move ahead on different paths.”

Caray had some time left on his contract with Turner, where he also called Braves games on the Peachtree TV cable network. Levy said the company was looking at a “number of candidates” to replace Caray at both positions.

One more time with passion.......FISTED!!!!!!!!!!!!

We'll miss you, Chip. And your horrible calls.

For whenever there is a line drive basehit that is caught out there resulting in a double play, we know that your spirit will be in the booth calling it.