Chef Jim Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 Thank you for your nice remarks on Nolan Ryan. If I saw one more shot of Nolan Ryan this series I was going to throw my beer through the TV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Darin Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 The intentional walk of Freese to load the bases in the 5th, when Feldman was having trouble finding the plate, that to me was when the game ended. What a stupid, cowardly move. Yadier Molina is no chump. Freese was the MVP of both the NLCS and World Series. His OPS was 1.2, set the postseason record with 21 RBIs and has big power. Molina's OPS was .7 and he doesn't have real home run power, not to mention the fact that he's probably the slowest player in MLB. That means if he hits the ball to any infielder, he probably can't leg out a hit. The last 3 times Freese was at the dish with a chance to make a difference, he hit a double, a triple, and a home run with 5 RBIs, 2 game tying RBIs, and a game winning RBI. You'd pitch to that guy with first base open? Washington made the right call, his pitcher let him down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SageAgainstTheMachine Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 Freese was the MVP of both the NLCS and World Series. His OPS was 1.2 and he has big power. Molina's was .7 and he doesn't have real home run power, not to mention the fact that he's probably the slowest player in MLB. That means if he hits the ball to any infielder, he probably can't leg out a hit. The last 3 times Freese was at the dish with a chance to make a difference, he hit a double, a triple, and a home run. You'd pitch to that guy with first base open? Washington made the right call, his pitcher let him down. Fair enough. I'm a big believer in OPS, but like most stats you need more than a small handful of games to determine anything. Freese's 2011 OPS was .791 and Molina's was .814. Molina has decent power and has done great things in the playoffs during his career. Again, he's no schlub. If someone like Punto or Schumacker was coming up, I'd be more likely to play those odds. So to answer your question, yes, I would have pitched to Freese. My opinion has always been that walking the bases loaded = asking for trouble because the margin of error sinks to nil. And trouble is exactly what the Rangers got. But you know what they say about opinions... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Darin Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 Fair enough. I'm a big believer in OPS, but like most stats you need more than a small handful of games to determine anything. Freese's 2011 OPS was .791 and Molina's was .814. Molina has decent power and has done great things in the playoffs during his career. Again, he's no schlub. If someone like Punto or Schumacker was coming up, I'd be more likely to play those odds. Molina has 55 home runs in 8 seasons. He's an inside out contact hitter who generally hits 7th or 8th. You can't use regular season OPS when Freese is having the post season he is. So to answer your question, yes, I would have pitched to Freese. I'm guessing the bases would have looked like a carousel. With the way that guy is hitting the ball in clutch situations, I think he'd have hit one out. I have nothing at all to base that on. My opinion has always been that walking the bases loaded = asking for trouble because the margin of error sinks to nil. And trouble is exactly what the Rangers got. B While true, there's no way you can pitch to the hottest hitter in the post season there either. Putting Freese on put the force at any base, which is another bailout for Texas' shaky defense. All they needed was for Feldman to pitch to contact, which he didn't do. He needed to make Molina beat him, but instead tried to be sneaky and the ump didn't bail him out. You know what they say about opinions... I think the bigger question marks for Washington had to do with his selection of pitchers for situations in both games 6 and 7. Leaving the struggling Feldman out there for Molina was clearly a mistake, as was having only Young up throwing. How many times has Young come into the game from the bullpen with the bases loaded? NONE. Probably not the best time to see how that's going to work out. The Rangers lost the series because they made more mental mistakes. Managerial, base running, and fielding. They constantly gave the Cardinals extra outs and it finally got them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SageAgainstTheMachine Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 (edited) I think the bigger question marks for Washington had to do with his selection of pitchers for situations in both games 6 and 7. Leaving the struggling Feldman out there for Molina was clearly a mistake, as was having only Young up throwing. How many times has Young come into the game from the bullpen with the bases loaded? NONE. Probably not the best time to see how that's going to work out. The Rangers lost the series because they made more mental mistakes. Managerial, base running, and fielding. They constantly gave the Cardinals extra outs and it finally got them. Not to even mention the baffling decision to pitch Matt Harrison in Game 7. The decision to start Derek Holland should have been made immediately after he left the mound in game 4. The kid looked pressure in the face and pissed all over it, not unlike Freese, and you don't put the ball back in his hand? C'mon Ron. Edited October 29, 2011 by SageAgainstTheMachine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted October 29, 2011 Author Share Posted October 29, 2011 If I saw one more shot of Nolan Ryan this series I was going to throw my beer through the TV. So when another poster obviously likes somebody, you feel compelled to tell them that you hate them so much that you want to smash your TV if you see one more picture of them? Well, at least you're not a miserable prick who gets off on raining on other people's parades. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SageAgainstTheMachine Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 So when another poster obviously likes somebody, you feel compelled to tell them that you hate them so much that you want to smash your TV if you see one more picture of them? Well, at least you're not a miserable prick who gets off on raining on other people's parades. My interpretation was that Chef was criticizing the Fox Network for their bizarre fascination with Nolan Ryan, not the man himself. But I could be wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Jim Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 (edited) My interpretation was that Chef was criticizing the Fox Network for their bizarre fascination with Nolan Ryan, not the man himself. But I could be wrong. No you're wrong and Simon is right. I hate people. I had a autographed bat from Nolan Ryan commemorating his 6th (I think) no hitter. My doctor I had in Orange county had one of his examination rooms decked out in baseball memorabilia. He had a rack with autographed bats on it. There was an open space. I gave him my Nolan Ryan bat. Why? I hate Nolan Ryan. Edited October 30, 2011 by Chef Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Darin Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 Not to even mention the baffling decision to pitch Matt Harrison in Game 7. The decision to start Derek Holland should have been made immediately after he left the mound in game 4. The kid looked pressure in the face and pissed all over it, not unlike Freese, and you don't put the ball back in his hand? C'mon Ron. Probably the worst decision he made. There's no way I would've used that guy in Game 6 instead of starting him in Game 7. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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