Playoff Thread

[John]

Personally, I love the uncertainty. It's a perfect mirror of real life. How often do we see star players choke in the playoffs? As they say: "That's why they play the games."

[John]

Frank Helms... just... wow.

[Tyler]

Frank Helms... just... wow.

I almost traded for him once. I forget who I was going to give up. Cristian, can you jog my memory? What smart thing did I not do?

[Dinosaurs]

I almost traded for him once. I forget who I was going to give up. Cristian, can you jog my memory? What smart thing did I not do?

I think it was this deal:

Frank Helms and a 11th rounder.

for:

Jose Ramirez SS AAA and Luis Tirado SP AA

I'm going to be looking to move either him or Bentley this offseason to upgrade in another area because I'm going to have way too many pitchers going into next season when Lowell Tolbert comes back from his season long injury (will be recovered in a few weeks I believe), so you can check into him again if you are interested. He led my team in strikeouts this year despite pitching few innings than three of the four starters and despite his showing in the last playoff game has kept his walks to down to a very acceptable level.

Frank Helms... just... wow.

Yeah, didn't see that coming from him, I figured if he was going to hurt me it would have been through the long ball. Would have hoped the manager would have taken him out after the second walk though.

[John]

On the other hand, that was an extremely close series, with every game decided by one run and in the last inning. Things could easily have gone a different way. With the talent coming up through the Fargo system, I think we have the makings of a team that's going to be highly competitive for the long haul.

[klewis]

Just got done watching my replays for the Featherheads. Nice match up so far between the Featherheads and Jon's Statesmen. The series is tied 1-1. From watching the replay though, the Featherheahds almost made a comeback in game 2 of the series. With the bases load and 2 outs, Morimoto delievered a deep shot that ultimately landed on the warning track of centerfield.... only a couple feet away from stealing a game from Charleston! Overall, I was pleased with the outcome. I didn't expect to win both games considering it was Matos and O'Monahan pitching.

I'm not sure what to expect now that the series is headed to Charleston. Playing 3 straight games in a row in Charleston will be tough. I guess the storyline will be Charleston's proven pitchers against my minor league journeymen pitchers.

Let's hope Crystal Lake can regroup themselves at home. I did see Mark Richardson with the grand slam. I don't think the guy missed a step at all (from his injury) :)

[John]

Know what I noticed? Naoaki Kichida is 2 our of 7 in SB attempts. What gives? He was unstoppable during the regular season,

[klewis]

Know what I noticed? Naoaki Kichida is 2 our of 7 in SB attempts. What gives? He was unstoppable during the regular season,

I noticed his poor stealing percentage too. Unfortunately, he tends to be thrown out during the playoffs while trying to steal 3rd (I wish there was a way to differentiate between stealing 2nd and 3rd). The only reason I can come up with is that both Jeff Cline and Jeffery Graham are catchers with great arms.

[Matt]

that stealing third thing has always bugged me as well. I love the running game, but I just don't see a good reason for stealing third, especially with two outs (contrary to whatever Joe Morgan might say).

[James Bowman]

Just got done watching my replays for the Featherheads. Nice match up so far between the Featherheads and Jon's Statesmen. The series is tied 1-1. From watching the replay though, the Featherheahds almost made a comeback in game 2 of the series. With the bases load and 2 outs, Morimoto delievered a deep shot that ultimately landed on the warning track of centerfield.... only a couple feet away from stealing a game from Charleston! Overall, I was pleased with the outcome. I didn't expect to win both games considering it was Matos and O'Monahan pitching.

I'm not sure what to expect now that the series is headed to Charleston. Playing 3 straight games in a row in Charleston will be tough. I guess the storyline will be Charleston's proven pitchers against my minor league journeymen pitchers.

Let's hope Crystal Lake can regroup themselves at home. I did see Mark Richardson with the grand slam. I don't think the guy missed a step at all (from his injury) :)

Man, I was on the edge of my seat at the end of game 2! Morimoto gives me the jitters.

Nice start to the series Kevin. We had a lot of close games this year, so let's hope that exciting trend continues.

Know what I noticed? Naoaki Kichida is 2 our of 7 in SB attempts. What gives? He was unstoppable during the regular season,

I was very shocked to see Graham throw Kichida out in both games. Despite Graham's great arm, Kichida stole plenty of bases on him this season, so it was nice for him to exact some revenge.

Good Luck Kevin. :)

[Sandgnats (Bill)]

Kevin Lewis is a genius!

Take a look at Naoaki Kichida'snumbers the last 2 years.

Kichida somehow stole 30 more bases in 2010 than 2009! You say, so what-he just probably hit a lot better with Florida.

WRONG!

Kichida had an OBP in 2010 that was not 10, not 20, not 30, not 40, but 44 points lower than 2009!! When you combine that with the fact that he hit 20 more 2B's in 2010 than 2009(and thus hurting his chances for SB's because it's harder to steal 3rd base than 2nd), it simply doesn't make sense.

I mean we're not talking a few more steals. I would be impressed if he stole the same number (59) of bases in 2010 as 2009, but he stole 30 more!!! That's an improvement of almost as much as the Manchester Maulers entire team stole in 2010 (37)!!!!!!!

Too bad Kichida didn't reach the improbable 100 SB mark, but Kevin, you are quite the magician my friend!

Speaking of magic, you will need everything you have tonight down 3-1 against the Statesmen. Rivera will have to pitch well in the first game and more importantly Chris Saunders will have to return to anything resembling a PEBA pitcher in game#6(if he gets a chance). Saunders has an ERA of almost 7.00 his last 5 starts. Is he hurt or is he just suffering stage fright in these immensely important games?

On the IL side of things, something breathed life into the bats of our CL team and after amassing 6 hits in the first 2 games, we collected 27 hits in the last 2! I think that has something to do with who pitched against us. If so, things don't look good for CL tonight as Roach and Thompson are due up.
I will predict this.... if CL can win one of these 2 tonight, we will win game#7. So, AUR better take care of business tonight, because if game#7 rolls around, CL is going to the PEC! In my humble opinion. Who said anything about eating crow?

Good luck to AUR, CST, and FLA tonight!

[John]

Looks like we're going to test your hypothesis, Bill.

[klewis]

Things are really heating up in the SL. Seems quite the battle between Aurora and Crystal Lake!

As for the IL, I won't spoil things in case Jon did not see the results yet. But I have enjoyed the series thus far with Charleston. They are really a tough scrappy bunch. I look forward to battling with the Statesmen for many seasons to come!

As for Bill's comments on Kichida and me being a genius... haha I wouldn't sure I would call myself a genius. I can't control anything. If I was a genius, I would have made Kichida hit for a .300 average and 100 stolen bases. But in reality, all I do is just export and watch the sim results. So everything is out of my control heh.

In regards to Saunders, I think it's a combination of slump and high expectations. I'm used to seeing him being a #1 type starter. But his recent injuries really has hurt him. I am hopeful that since he is still young, that he has some developing left to offset the injuries.

[Sandgnats (Bill)]

It was stellar offense (FLA) against stellar pitching (CST) and the Statesmen came out on top.
Congratulations both to Jon and Kevin on great years!

Victor Matos clinches the series in Game#5 with a truly dominating performance!
'Alibi' allowed only 3 base runners in 8 innings and striking out a superb 14!! What a clutch performance! I think that trade worked out pretty well for the Statesmen now didn't it? I know the cliche of good pitching beats good hitting, but I never thought CST would hold FLA to 17 runs in the series or win 4 straight games! All I can say is the SL winner better pull out all the stops to score against the Statesmen.

In the SL, it's put up or shut up time for me! I am ecstatic to be in game#7 against AUR, I truly am. All I wanted was a competitive series and I received just that. Aurora's offense just shreds everything you throw at them-it is scary! But, we are in game#7 and CL's big money man, Anderson has made $18.5 M this year, so it's time to show everyone why he makes that money. In 3 playoff starts so far, he has been bombed twice and was great in the other. I am counting on the fact that he will bounce back here in game#7 and pitch like he can!

SP Artie Tillmanon the other hand had a great start against Fargo and one bad start against us (CL). I'm hoping that he will have nerves of butter and wait at least 1 more day until he regains his top form!

One of these 'evil empires' is making their second trip for a chance at the Rodriguez Cup. Who's it going to be? You know my vote from my last post.

Buena Suerte Aurora!

[John]

One of these 'evil empires' is making their second trip for a chance at the Rodriguez Cup. Who's it going to be? You know my vote from my last post.

Somehow this picture seems apropos...

Good luck right back at you, Bill, and pass that on to Dean, too. May the best evil empire win!