Get on the BEAST MODE bandwagon, coming soon to a city near you

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!

That stadium of yours is giving TBS fits. Their camera work is deplorable. My kids asked if they had lights in their stadium because it looked like they were playing in the dark. One of the replays of the fair ball called foul, had the ball hitting the wall below the crawl at the bottom of the screen.

Baseball needs to rethink giving the Division Series to a company that shows one game a week. They obviously do not have the talent, on the air and behind the scenes, to handle 4 simultaneous series.

Totally agree. The Tigers-Yankees series has been dreadful to listen to so far. I'd rather have John Sterling doing the play-by-play than Brian Anderson.

The shadows are weird at these different game times with the roof closed. The sun yesterday was hitting left field and really no where else. TBS does suck and they should not be doing playoff games. There was a ball that was called foul (can't remember which d-back hit it) that even in my somewhat impaired state we could tell was fair. Went to the bathroom and ueker was saying it was fair by a mile. Totally blown by the umps.

It all counts. If you can look it up it counts. I like the NBA. I personally rank them 1. MLB, 2. NBA, 3. NFL, 4. NHL (although I did have the Cleveland Barons for a couple years!) 20 years?? all the Cleveland teams have stunk for the better part of the last 50 years (well 45). 8 good years of the Indians late 90s early 00s, 5 good years of the Browns...Schottenheimer, 5 good years of the Cavs...LeBron. That's the last 50 years. That's it.

Who's televising the LCS and World Series?? Fox?

ALCS = FOX
NLCS = TBS
WS = FOX

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/schedule/ps.jsp

Fox sucks in its own right though with Joe Buck and McCarver. Still, Joe Buck >>>>>>>> Brian Anderson.

TBS has been brutal, between the bad announcing, bad production (just missing plays while at commercial or showing the dugout while the ball is in play) and that stupid strike zone which doesn't even remotely close to accurate.

In conclusion that means Cliff Lee's pitches were actually strikes and Carpenter's were balls.

;)

I can't think of an announcer that I would rather listen to less than Sterling.

I can. It's the play-by-play guy in the Tigers-Yankees series.

Keeping up their fine work, TBS had Price's pitch count at 4 after the first pitch of the game.

Jim Leyland can't be a very smart guy. There's no other explanation for continuing to bat Jackson leadoff when he strikes out a ton and hardly ever gets on base. I get that they need him in there because he's quickly becoming the best defensive center fielder in baseball, but until he learns a modicum of plate discipline, batting him first is suicide. I'd much rather a guy who actually gets on base (say, Avila) than a guy who strikes out a ton but can run a little. Leyland is seriously stuck in like 1988 in terms of baseball strategy.

5 pitchers on the Phillies making over $10 million a year?? and another at $9.5 million?
:wf:wf

Valverde made it interesting, but what a great MLB game. Verlander basically made two mistakes and was otherwise unhittable. Sabathia controlled his damages as well.

Setting up great for tomorrow. Who sucks less, Porcello or AJ Burnett?

Porcello, but he can certainly be lit up, but so could Scherzer and he wasn't. It's post season, total crap shoot. I thought all your starters 1 through 4 were better than theirs which is why I picked the Tigers. Gardner has hurt you.

Isn't that crazy? Gardner has been the Tiger-killer so far in this series. Of all the people in that lineup, the Tigers have had the biggest issue getting Gardner and Posada out, which is pretty unbelievable. That being said, I'm sure Texeira will go 3-5 with two dingers tonight against Rick the kid (a Seton Hall Prep product for you North Jerseyans on here).

Those two or three innings mid-game where Verlander was throwing pitch after pitch that you just knew nobody could hit were pretty awesome.

Look at what the Red Sox and Yankees are paying their pitchers. At least the Phillies are getting some value.

Rays total payroll is $42 million.

I know. The irony was a Red Sox fan complaining about other people's free agent signings. I read yesterday that since 2005 the Red Sox have spent 591 million dollars in free agents and transfer fees. The person who provided the most value was Scudera. I looked but can't find the article. My point was the Phillies have spent money on pitching and at least have gotten some value on their $$$$.

They have gotten results, the value is debatable. Free agency is such a gamble. There have been so many flops over the years that a team really needs to do their homework to have it pay off. The lure of the quick fix is too much for these big money teams not to dive in.

Are the Phillies getting value out of Oswalt right now? I'm not positive about that one.

Verlander had 15 pitches top 100 yesterday. Yikes.

best regular season team ERA since 1991. exceeded regular season expectations. of course none of that matters now, its a new and more important playoff season.

As for Oswalt, you can't plan for injuries.. his last couple starts have been outstanding. he's back hitting his top fastball speed.

"The Astros will pay $11 million of the approximately $23 million that the 32-year-old Oswalt is guaranteed through 2011, sources told ESPN.com's Jayson Stark."


so 12 million total for 1 1/2 years of Oswalt is a great deal.

Is there ever a criticism of a Philadelphia sports team that you would actually agree with? $12 million for an ERA+ of 105 cannot possibly be a good investment.

P.S. - and it was $12 million for one injury-riddled season and two months of last year. If money is no object, then sure, it's a great way to spend the Phillies payroll. But in the world of baseball teams that are actuall cost conscious, it would be like paying $12 million for RA Dickey or Kyle Lohse this year.

I'm not sure they really exceeded regular season expectations either. This was the staff that was annointed "best since..." before the season started. They had a very good year, but they more or less did what was expected.

And none of that means jack if they can't at least make it out of the divisional series.

there's no critism that comes from you slot that I'd agree with.

But there is plenty others I do agree with.

especially when its about that stupid football team.

they have one of the best regular seasons when it comes to starting pitching in the history of baseball... but you come up with "what about oswalt?" when the man was injured all year.

We'll see what he does on Wednesday.. thats all that matters now.

I think you are looking at it wrong. They went for it last year and if you're a fan of the team that's all you care about. Let's face it, all these guys are overpaid. Oswalt was arguably the best pitcher on the market and they went out and got him (for a discount). I feel like Oswalt was worth it, now Jake Peavy on the other hand.....................

The point someone was making is that the Phillies are at least spending their money well. Paying Oswalt $12 million for this season was not money well spent under any definition. Paying Raul Ibanez $12.17 million for a below average OPS+ is even worse. The Phillies paid Brad Lidge nearly $1 million for every inning he pitched this season.

Disagree with whatever you'd like, but if the point someone is making is that the Phillies have universarlly spent their money well, there's no arguing that they haven't.

I don't disagree that getting him last year was a wise move. That being said, the point made above is that "at least the Phillies have spent their money well," and $12 million for the performances of Oswalt and Ibanez this year is not money well spent, no matter how one cuts it.

ETA - the word used was "value," not "money well spent." Either way, the Phillies aren't getting much value out of at least a few high priced acquisitions. Cannot argue that.

well shi.t, you could say that about ever team in every sports league in America. Especially when you point out injured players. I mean look at the Cardinals. They paid Adam Wainwright 6.6 million and he didnt even make one start! :rolleyes:

$6.6 million for a guy who finished in the top three in Cy Young voting the previous two seasons isn't a ton. But yeah, there isn't much value in any contract where a guy misses the entire season.

I'll give you Ibanez all day long. His contract was one or two years too long. We'll have Mayberry in his spot next year.

But I'm not going to fault the Phillies for for Oswalt and Lidge, when they are two extremely talented pitchers (tho Lidge is scary sometimes) that were injured for the majority of the year. Any team in the league would have taken Oswalt before the year started for 8 or 9 million, whatever we paid him this year. Dude's a stud when healthy.

Baseball Free agency is so ridiculous that sometimes teams have to backload long contracts to sign guys. I remember when the Mets signed Pedro Martinez, the back end of the contract when he would be getting up in age was ludacris, but that's what helped getting him to NY. Sometimes trying to win now, leads you to having to bite the bullet at a later date.

and Blanton. Even though he was injured pretty much all year long, I still think his contract extension was a mistake.


nobody will ever compare to the Adam Eaton contract though.

Don't disagree that sometimes teams have to overpay to get free agents. The Tigers are paying Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Guillen combined roughly $23 million this year. $23 million for eight home runs and 120 games played. That's some seriously wasted money.

I thought this warranted a couple of chuckles:

http://jest.com/video/46873/too-much-moneyball