The Official Articulated Thoughts Baseball Thread

[fac]

Disappointing, and frustrating - but soon I am sure I will be happy with this season, happy with the core of the team, happy with the players from the minors who might come up for support, happy with the effort from the team all year - and happy about the prospects for the future.

27 other teams didn't get this far, and only one fan base gets to go home happy at the end.

This will just make winning it all in the 50th year of the franchise all the better.

 

[TheSameIdiot]

Disappointing, and frustrating - but soon I am sure I will be happy with this season, happy with the core of the team, happy with the players from the minors who might come up for support, happy with the effort from the team all year - and happy about the prospects for the future.

27 other teams didn't get this far, and only one fan base gets to go home happy at the end.

This will just make winning it all in the 50th year of the franchise all the better.

I admire your optimism.

They could definitely run it back. If they improve the bullpen and the bottom of the order (good fucking god), they could absolutely win it all. This year felt like the best shot to me, but I'm happy to be proven wrong. I thought the Padres were the scariest team in baseball for the last two years and they haven't even made the NLCS. The Mariners will always have a chance with Raleigh in the lineup.

I'm halfway between blaming Dan Wilson and the bottom of the order. I just don't think you should be losing a game you lead by two runs in the 7th, even against a team of great hitters. At that point, you have to let Munoz win the game. The only thing that kills you is a three-run homer or a grand slam. Welp.

I'm a sore loser, so I should wrap this post up before I say something I regret. I don't think the Jays have much of a shot against the Dodgers. Their pitchers are going to get shelled. Ordinarily I'd be rooting for Toronto, but again, sore loser.

It had to be fucking George Springer, the cheating cunt.

I'm a lot angrier than I thought I'd be. I wish they lost 4-0 instead.

 

[fac]

I've been meaning to write a fan post about how, with 30 teams in MLB, the average per franchise will be 30 years between World Series victories - put another way, a franchise will average about 5,000 games for every game they play that clinches a WS title.

On one hand, it makes being close and not getting there more frustrating, on the other hand (and the hand I focus on) is that you have to enjoy all aspects of baseball without thinking a year without a WS is a failure - because if that's the only positive outcome, then you'd have to be nuts to watch 5,000 games and wait 30 years for a good outcome, suffer through an average of 18 seasons not in the playoffs, be heartbroken 11 other seasons when losing in the playoffs...you get the idea. A typical fan will only see 2 or 3 WS winning seasons in their lifetime. In reality some will see more and some will see none.

My Dad was a Phillies fan and was born in 1922 (he was middle-aged when I was born). He was 58 when he saw the Phillies finally win a WS in 1980. The Cubs went 108 years between WS titles. The Red Sox went 86 years.

So it isn't so much I am optimistic as I am not willing to be pessimistic, or feel bad to be a Mariners fan, or think the franchise is cursed, or blame a player or manager or owner because 29 other teams are trying to win as well...but view this for what it is - an ongoing story covering decades with ups and downs where the future is unknown.

 

[canprime]

Well as a lifelong Jays fan (born and raised in Toronto and lived there until 2017) I am glad to see them back to the World Series.

I feel for you guys in Seattle. It is terrible getting so close and just missing out. Moreso when it is basically one at bat (or pitch) that causes the loss. I mean the Jays really didn't have any business winning that game watching it last night.

I mean we all have teams that keep us waiting and wanting. The Toronto Maple Leafs haven't won a Stanley Cup since 1967 (7 years before I was born) so I am still waiting on them to even make a finals in my lifetime while wondering will they ever win in my lifetime. Then of course there are the Buffalo Bills. I have been a fan since just before their 4 straight Super Bowl appearances. However that is another franchise making me wait with the question of will they ever win one?

Now on to the Dodgers and an easy win for Toronto..................................................Yeah right I just hope Toronto can make it a series because I don't see them beating the Dodgers. Hope I'm wrong though.

 

[Justice]

On one hand, it makes being close and not getting there more frustrating, on the other hand (and the hand I focus on) is that you have to enjoy all aspects of baseball without thinking a year without a WS is a failure - because if that's the only positive outcome, then you'd have to be nuts to watch 5,000 games and wait 30 years for a good outcome, suffer through an average of 18 seasons not in the playoffs, be heartbroken 11 other seasons when losing in the playoffs...you get the idea. A typical fan will only see 2 or 3 WS winning seasons in their lifetime. In reality some will see more and some will see none.

I'm very "Sports-Petty" so even with the trash season the Braves had this year, I took about as much enjoyment seeing the Phillies get put out and the Mets missing the playoffs by a hair as I would have a Braves world series win. You have to get your enjoyment somehow when your team isn't producing.

 

[fac]

Well as a lifelong Jays fan (born and raised in Toronto and lived there until 2017) I am glad to see them back to the World Series.

Where is the ignore button again?

(As I noted, the Phillies are also dear to my heart, so I still have some lingering animosity towards the Blue Jays going back to 1993 and Joe Carter vs Mitch William in the WS. I also think since the M's and Jays came into the league the same time, comparing achievements is inevitable and you guys have had more post season success. It also doesn't help that Seattle fans are always little put off by the number of Jays fans who come to Seattle for games from western Canada.)

I feel for you guys in Seattle. It is terrible getting so close and just missing out. Moreso when it is basically one at bat (or pitch) that causes the loss. I mean the Jays really didn't have any business winning that game watching it last night.

The teams were evenly matched, if they played 162 times I suspect on team would "win that series" like 83-79.

I mean we all have teams that keep us waiting and wanting. The Toronto Maple Leafs haven't won a Stanley Cup since 1967 (7 years before I was born) so I am still waiting on them to even make a finals in my lifetime while wondering will they ever win in my lifetime. Then of course there are the Buffalo Bills. I have been a fan since just before their 4 straight Super Bowl appearances. However that is another franchise making me wait with the question of will they ever win one?

Yep - lots of teams have long droughts. I think the Bills losing 4 straight SBs was brutal, a good friend in from Buffalo and it still makes him shake his head...

 

[TheSameIdiot]

I think it's important to contextualize with other sports. Whenever the Kraken are eliminated (usually by March), I root for the Maple Leafs the rest of the way. I may as well have picked the Buffalo Bills (wait, I do that when my NFL team is eliminated, too). When you see that heartbreak elsewhere, you realize how hard it is to win. You wonder, "Will I even see one during my lifetime?"

If things were totally equitable, a fan would see two or three championships in their lifetime. Things aren't equitable. The Pirates aren't winning in my lifetime. Same for the Reds, Athletics, and a whole host of others. Historically good teams come along and hoover up all the titles. The Patriots, Chiefs, Red Sox, Yankees, etc. The fucking Marlins have two.

To me, you have to take your chances when you get them. I grew up a big Carolina Panthers fan. They've made two Super Bowls in my lifetime. The first, against the Patriots, they had no business in. They kept it close. The second, against the Broncos, they should've won. They lost by two scores. Both times, you could've reasonably thought they'd be back. The core of the 2003 team only made the playoffs two more times, and the 2015 team only made the playoffs one more time. Neither came close to the Super Bowl again.

I'm new to Mariners fandom, so I don't have the right to be all that upset. Still, I think yesterday will haunt me (and the team) for a long time to come. You never know when you'll be back, and leading a game 7 in the seventh inning, they should've won.

The sad thing is, I only wanted to see them win the pennant. I'm not naive enough to think they could beat the Dodgers.

 

[canprime]

I think it's important to contextualize with other sports. Whenever the Kraken are eliminated (usually by March), I root for the Maple Leafs the rest of the way. I may as well have picked the Buffalo Bills (wait, I do that when my NFL team is eliminated, too). When you see that heartbreak elsewhere, you realize how hard it is to win. You wonder, "Will I even see one during my lifetime?"

If things were totally equitable, a fan would see two or three championships in their lifetime. Things aren't equitable. The Pirates aren't winning in my lifetime. Same for the Reds, Athletics, and a whole host of others. Historically good teams come along and hoover up all the titles. The Patriots, Chiefs, Red Sox, Yankees, etc. The fucking Marlins have two.

To me, you have to take your chances when you get them. I grew up a big Carolina Panthers fan. They've made two Super Bowls in my lifetime. The first, against the Patriots, they had no business in. They kept it close. The second, against the Broncos, they should've won. They lost by two scores. Both times, you could've reasonably thought they'd be back. The core of the 2003 team only made the playoffs two more times, and the 2015 team only made the playoffs one more time. Neither came close to the Super Bowl again.

I'm new to Mariners fandom, so I don't have the right to be all that upset. Still, I think yesterday will haunt me (and the team) for a long time to come. You never know when you'll be back, and leading a game 7 in the seventh inning, they should've won.

The sad thing is, I only wanted to see them win the pennant. I'm not naive enough to think they could beat the Dodgers.

Yeah and baseball is that ridiculous animal where the big teams can buy their way into constant success. I mean not having a hard cap means NY and LA can basically buy their way into the playoffs year after year. Hell the Blue Jays did it this year. They were the fifth highest payroll in the league. And that is still no guarantee (look at the Mets). The Jays themselves probably shouldn't be here either except for that 9 game winning streak (4 of them over the Yankees) earlier in the year. That basically put them on top when they were kind of just in the hunt before that and they never looked back (until the final week of the season).