What's the deal with the Dodgers?

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by 1952boyntoncollector

It wont be anyone from the Indians or Twins or Red Sox.

Not only is your grammar impeccable and your logic unassailable, you have now demonstrated your true brilliance.

I refuse to accept any argument on Net54 as an example of sound logical principles, including my own which are often laced with a tinge of sarcasm that is often not appreciated or understood.

If one questions the view of a Yankee or Dodger fan for that matter, the likelihood of a rational response based on facts is rare. It is almost as if they are members of the team and the rest of the world is their foe. The questioner becomes instantly identified as a "hater". You can love their enthusiasm, but nary a question of doubt should be raised regarding their idols, whether proven or unproven.

I am not a Kershaw hater and I am not a Judge hater. I wish them both well now and in the future. The psychology of being a rabid fan however I find at times overbearing. Dealing with them (rabid fans) is my problem, whether it is mindless lemmings still doing the tomahawk chop at Atlanta Braves games or the enlightened minions who find solace in some ridiculous hand gesture at a USC football games after the Trojans score their 8th touchdown against Tijuana Tech.

On a message board I try to stay above (or below) the fray. I consider the vast majority of members here friends. A few are not. If you think I'm an idiot for my views, I might think the same of you.

Anything I have said about the current baseball playoffs or players can be taken with a grain of salt including this post.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Badgers down the field.

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Badgers down the field.

Peter,

I used to work for the Cubs and do understand why folks deride Cubs fans, but you have to respect them and cut them some slack. After all, they waited 108 years between championships.

Excuse me, I have to resume playing "On Wisconsin" on my tenor sax now.

[1952boyntoncollector]

Originally Posted by frankbmd

Not only is your grammar impeccable and your logic unassailable, you have now demonstrated your true brilliance.

I refuse to accept any argument on Net54 as an example of sound logical principles, including my own which are often laced with a tinge of sarcasm that is often not appreciated or understood.

If one questions the view of a Yankee or Dodger fan for that matter, the likelihood of a rational response based on facts is rare. It is almost as if they are members of the team and the rest of the world is their foe. The questioner becomes instantly identified as a "hater". You can love their enthusiasm, but nary a question of doubt should be raised regarding their idols, whether proven or unproven.

I am not a Kershaw hater and I am not a Judge hater. I wish them both well now and in the future. The psychology of being a rabid fan however I find at times overbearing. Dealing with them (rabid fans) is my problem, whether it is mindless lemmings still doing the tomahawk chop at Atlanta Braves games or the enlightened minions who find solace in some ridiculous hand gesture at a USC football games after the Trojans score their 8th touchdown against Tijuana Tech.

On a message board I try to stay above (or below) the fray. I consider the vast majority of members here friends. A few are not. If you think I'm an idiot for my views, I might think the same of you.

Anything I have said about the current baseball playoffs or players can be taken with a grain of salt including this post.

Its just your negative views on the Dodgers chances and views of Judge so far are completely wrong so people are having fun at your expense..

[1952boyntoncollector]

Originally Posted by frankbmd

Not only is your grammar impeccable and your logic unassailable, you have now demonstrated your true brilliance.

I refuse to accept any argument on Net54 as an example of sound logical principles, including my own which are often laced with a tinge of sarcasm that is often not appreciated or understood.

If one questions the view of a Yankee or Dodger fan for that matter, the likelihood of a rational response based on facts is rare. It is almost as if they are members of the team and the rest of the world is their foe. The questioner becomes instantly identified as a "hater". You can love their enthusiasm, but nary a question of doubt should be raised regarding their idols, whether proven or unproven.

I am not a Kershaw hater and I am not a Judge hater. I wish them both well now and in the future. The psychology of being a rabid fan however I find at times overbearing. Dealing with them (rabid fans) is my problem, whether it is mindless lemmings still doing the tomahawk chop at Atlanta Braves games or the enlightened minions who find solace in some ridiculous hand gesture at a USC football games after the Trojans score their 8th touchdown against Tijuana Tech.

On a message board I try to stay above (or below) the fray. I consider the vast majority of members here friends. A few are not. If you think I'm an idiot for my views, I might think the same of you.

Anything I have said about the current baseball playoffs or players can be taken with a grain of salt including this post.

Judge doesnt get a hit every time but thus far you are 0-2 (with 2 ks) for your negative views on Judge and also your views on the Dodgers in our many posts. If you want to declare the cubs will be the winner of the dodgers/cubs series now and they come through you can be 1-3

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by 1952boyntoncollector

Judge doesnt get a hit every time but thus far you are 0-2 (with 2 ks) for your negative views on Judge and also your views on the Dodgers in our many posts. If you want to declare the cubs will be the winner of the dodgers/cubs series now and they come through you can be 1-3

Jake, as I said before, the games need to be played to determine the outcome. If the Cubs win the series, I will not be upset. If the Dodgers win, that's fine too. I have a friend who could get me tickets to see Kershaw pitch in the World Series.

Stating that Judge struck out over 200 times in the regular season is not a positive or negative view. It is simply a statistic. In the current nomenclature of analytic baseball, strikeouts are non-productive outs though. With the recent escalation of both strikeouts and home runs in the game, I suspect that someday an Aaron Judge Jr will hit 90 home runs and strike out 300 times. Will such an AJ Jr be considered favorably to Babe Ruth or Mickey Mantle? I haven't a clue.

Judge as a 25 year-old rookie, who appeared this year out of nowhere, remains unproven. Time will tell. I hope he knocks the train off the tracks in Houston and hits 10 home runs in the World Series. Hopefully for your sake, none of the 10 will be off Kershaw.

[1952boyntoncollector]

Originally Posted by frankbmd

Jake, as I said before, the games need to be played to determine the outcome. If the Cubs win the series, I will not be upset. If the Dodgers win, that's fine too. I have a friend who could get me tickets to see Kershaw pitch in the World Series.

Stating that Judge struck out over 200 times in the regular season is not a positive or negative view. It is simply a statistic. In the current nomenclature of analytic baseball, strikeouts are non-productive outs though. With the recent escalation of both strikeouts and home runs in the game, I suspect that someday an Aaron Judge Jr will hit 90 home runs and strike out 300 times. Will such an AJ Jr be considered favorably to Babe Ruth or Mickey Mantle? I haven't a clue.

Judge as a 25 year-old rookie, who appeared this year out of nowhere, remains unproven. Time will tell. I hope he knocks the train off the tracks in Houston and hits 10 home runs in the World Series. Hopefully for your sake, none of the 10 will be off Kershaw.

when hit 50+ home runs with a decent walk rate, we disagree that strikeouts are non-productive outs especially with nobody on base due to the opportunity to hit a a home run with the risk of the k versus ensuring no k but making a ground out/single etc. Its a least arguable that your statement is wrong. He's been proving it this whole year. So it does appear still you have a bias and not just stating facts.

Plus the walks dont hurt either. I am just focusing on this year and the playoffs. Next year is next year.

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by 1952boyntoncollector

when hit 50+ home runs with a decent walk rate, we disagree that strikeouts are non-productive outs especially with nobody on base due to the opportunity to hit a a home run with the risk of the k versus ensuring no k but making a ground out/single etc. Its a least arguable that your statement is wrong. He's been proving it this whole year. So it does appear still you have a bias and not just stating facts.

Plus the walks dont hurt either. I am just focusing on this year and the playoffs. Next year is next year.

2017
Judge 208 K with 52 HR and 114 RBI = 62 teammates batted in
Rizzo 90 K with 32 HR with 109 RBI = 77 teammates batted in
Just the facts, Ma'am

[rats60]

Originally Posted by 1952boyntoncollector

when hit 50+ home runs with a decent walk rate, we disagree that strikeouts are non-productive outs especially with nobody on base due to the opportunity to hit a a home run with the risk of the k versus ensuring no k but making a ground out/single etc. Its a least arguable that your statement is wrong. He's been proving it this whole year. So it does appear still you have a bias and not just stating facts.

Plus the walks dont hurt either. I am just focusing on this year and the playoffs. Next year is next year.

With bases empty Judge struck out 43% of the time. With RISP, he still struck out 36% of the time. With a runner on 3rd, 41%. His strike outs were still a big problem in key situations. Not being able to put the ball in play cost his team runs.

[1952boyntoncollector]

Originally Posted by rats60

With bases empty Judge struck out 43% of the time. With RISP, he still struck out 36% of the time. With a runner on 3rd, 41%. His strike outs were still a big problem in key situations. Not being able to put the ball in play cost his team runs.

What are the numbers in the playoffs? He may have the best numbers on his team.

[frankbmd]

Barry's (Hi Barry) initial post in this thread sought an explanation for the fact that a team that goes 55-11 and then suddenly falls into a horrible slump going 1-17 for no easily apparent reason. Baseball, as we all know, is a measurable sport rife with statistics. We all recognize in any given year there are a few teams that seem destined for success and then there are a few teams that are god-awful. But on any given day a god-awful team can beat a team of destiny. It happens every year, sometimes for a day, sometimes for a series and this year sometimes for several weeks. The allure of baseball is the interplay between its randomness and its predictability (as determined the flood of statistics it generates). How many times have you watched a game and seen a play occur that you have never seen (or perhaps can't remember) before? After 60+ years of watching the game, it still happens.

The Dodgers winning ways in July and August were perhaps too good. Their announcers in late August speculated daily about how many games they would win and on what day they would top the record of 116. Not doing so was a possibility they never considered before the slump. Their losing ways in September were perhaps too bad. To shift overnight from being the team of ultimate destiny to a god-awful nine seemed unprecedented, but it happened.

Meanwhile the Indians streak emerged with only 4 losses (I think) in the last 5 weeks of the season. Did Francona suddenly become that good and Roberts suddenly become that bad as managers? Of course not.

But September certainly set the table for a lot of speculation about the post-season.

The "stats" or numbers were the attraction of the game for me at a young age. I'm a math guy, just born 10 years to soon and in the wrong place to become Bill Gates. In statistics, randomness can be measured to a certain degree by calculating standard deviations from the mean. The streaks of the Dodgers and the streak of the Indians this season both represent a greater standard deviation from expected results than in years past and perhaps in any past year. Because of the lengthy season, the final record of both the Dodgers and Indians approached their "mean" or expected result. Both teams ended up winning their divisions but neither was as good as their streaks might suggest.

The odds of winning in the post-season are speculation, determined by some on the basis of statistics and determined in Vegas by the money bet on each team. As in baseball, on any given day some gamblers win and some lose. I suppose in some sense the appeal of baseball (or any other game) is analogous to the appeal of gambling (with the obvious difference being the bookies cut in the latter).

Remember though on any given day the god-awful team can beat the team of destiny. Could a team win 162 games or lose 162 games in a single season? Sure, remotely possible but highly unlikely. But when you shift the framework to a single wild card game and short series of 5 or 7 games, the remote chance of an upset becomes a real possibility. I think the Dodgers won 21 or 22 consecutive series during their hot streak and then lost 6 in a row. In probability the result of an event is independent of the previous or subsequent event. If you flip a coin 28 times, one result would be 22 heads followed by 6 tails. Because the probability of heads or tails is 50%, the prior sequence is just as likely as the following sequential result:

H-T-H-T-H-T-H-T-H-T-H-T-H-T-H-T-H-T-H-T-H-T-H-T-H-T-H-T

But if you flip the coin 162 times or 162,000 times the preponderance of aggregate results will cluster around the 50-50 line.

So, without introducing any vitriol regarding the merits or liabilities of individual players, as we have seen in the past, any team that makes it into the post-season has more than a minuscule chance of winning any individual game or short series or the whole enchilada. The randomness of baseball will prevail. That is precisely why the games have to be played to determine the winner and loser, and also why we watch them. Play ball!!!