Running 2015 MLB Postseason thread, aka: Will Mark Buehrle make an appearance?

I remember when the White Sox won the World Series, people kept crediting "small ball." I think they led the league in home runs.

 

Fourth (by a good margin).

They were third in steals and eighth in OPS.

 

I knew I was probably off. Oh, well. That was a team where a slew of guys in the Hall of Very Good all peaked at the same time.

 

Speaking of which ... because we haven't had NERDS!!!!1!1! in a while ... Dick, I thought of you while reading this David Ross story, in which the central anecdote is Ross and Rizzo's shared credit for a game-clinching home run Rizzo hit after Ross told him to get his ass in gear.

"It's hard to put into words," Rizzo said. "It's something that the guys that sit behind computers and make up all these new stats can't make a stat for."

The Cubs take an unsung hero into Wednesday's wild-card game: their backup catcher, the .176-hitting David Ross

 

Made it back around 5 am. Our usual time for Kauffman playoff games. Yawn.

Not really many opportunities for KC to play small ball yesterday. They hit the ball hard but right at people. I figured if KC only had 2 strikeouts and Houston had 14 whiffs, the Astros wouldn't win.

The atmosphere is a bit different, as if Royals fans are waiting for the ALCS or WS to spend their money for tickets. Today may very well be it.

I saw a team last night get in trouble early but without any substainable rallies. KC played with the intensity I saw the Angels and Orioles last year in Game 1 when the Royals came in with guts, duct tape and late home runs.

If Houston wins today, the obituary for 2015 can be written, saved as a draft and released on Sunday:

"This team, pieced together with the goal to win it all, simply ran into better opponents in the 2015 playoffs and couldn't quite flip the switch back to the 'on' position after Labor Day."

 

This is funny coming from a team run by Theo Epstein.

It makes for a neat story.

 

Today is the day we find out if the Cueto trade was a good one or not.

 

Kind of like when Jonny Gomes said after the 2013 World Series, that "having guys you could go to war with" was more important than WAR.

Because the Red Sox didn't start winning World Series the year after they hired Bill James.

 

Four MLB playoff games = my favorite day in sports.

 

We might get it again Monday if both AL series go four.

 

I know. And that's even more distracting at work because they're deciding games.

 

Trading Lee for Podsednik was huge. They had some mashers, but Pods added the 'small ball' dimension that made them so dangerous.

The key (offensively) for what is going to go down as one of the most unlikely dominant champions ever was their timing. They were 13th in team batting avg., but they got hits when they needed them. Man, that team was fun to watch.