2014 World Series Game Five Live Blog

7:58	Mike Petriello: More baseball. Let’s baseball.

7:59	Comment From Guest Predictions for tonight’s game?

7:59	Mike Petriello: At least one manager will do something infuriating and have it work out perfectly against all reason.

8:00	Comment From Sgt. Pepper Did American Ringo Starr get the lyrics wrong?

8:00	Mike Petriello: I don’t know! FOX was showing football highlights until 10 seconds ago.

8:01	Comment From Guest Bumgarner O/U for runs allowed tonight?

8:02	Mike Petriello: 1.5? Assuming we’re trying to avoid a push.

8:02	Comment From Big Gay James Cooler panda: Kung Fu or Sexual Harassment

8:02	Mike Petriello: Sad.

8:02	Mike Petriello: Generally, I ignore the “player made/lost himself money during the postseason” trope, but man, does Shields need to show up tonight.

8:03	Comment From Ben I am in Australia and have the MLB International feed featuring Rick Sutcliffe. I would kill for football highlights.

8:03	Mike Petriello: I haven’t watched the int’l feed, but I’ve heard more than a few similar sentiments to yours re Sutcliffe.

8:04	Comment From Gila Monster I never realized that homefield advantage was so big? What is it in other sports like Football or Basketball? I doubt we have enough data for football, but we should for basketball.

8:04	Mike Petriello: Total guess on my part, without any idea of what the data is: it’s bigger in NFL than in the NBA. Maybe?

8:04	Comment From Guest I feel Bumgarner should have started on 3-days rest.

8:05	Mike Petriello: Seems like that argument is past now, no? If anything, Petit over Vogelsong was a better case.

8:05	David G Temple: Oh, hello.

8:06	Comment From Dom over under on $ of Shields next contract?

8:06	Mike Petriello: 4/80 with a tasty vesting option?

8:06	Comment From #BanknotesIndustries Yay David G Temple! NG’s savior!

8:06	Mike Petriello: HI DAVID

8:06	David G Temple: Waddup, Mikey P

8:07	Comment From Guest MadBum is an awful nickname. Can we really not do any better?

8:08	Mike Petriello: “we’ve seen great defensive play in this series, seemingly every game.” /focuses on Ishikawa

8:09	Comment From Dylan According to Scorecasting the book”in the last ten years the percentage of home games won in the MLB was 53.9%, in the NHL 55.7%, in the NBA 60.5%, and in the NFL 57.3%.” I feel like not being able to evaluate true talent level well in the NFL and NHL makes this wrong.

8:09	David G Temple: Friendly FOX reminder: The outfielder who is in the center is the center fielder.

8:10	Comment From Dom I worked for CT Defenders and When madbum was in short season A his family delivered him a life size bull replica for him to practice lassoing

8:10	Mike Petriello: I have no idea if that’s true, but I hope it is.

8:11	Mike Petriello: Joe Panik might help the Giants win a title, but this postseason is going to hilariously inflate expectations he’ll never meet.

8:12	Comment From Ben Is Lorenzo Cain a good hitter?

8:12	Mike Petriello: 111 wRC+ this year, 98 steamer projection. League-average with his defense, that’ll work.

8:12	Comment From Dom better next year: Panik or Rob Refsnyder?

8:12	David G Temple: Nice try. That second guy is made up.

8:12	Comment From drmorris Steamer’s sticking a 1.9 fWAR on Panik for 2015 — that’s not chopped liver.

8:13	Mike Petriello: No, but it is league average. That’s fine, not a star.

8:14	Comment From Dano Is Scutaro’s career over?

8:14	Mike Petriello: Giants owe him $6m next year, I believe. ($5m maybe?) I bet he’ll play a limited amount

8:15	Comment From Three Frame James 2nd Base has been a black hole for the Giants since Kent left. We’ll take league average.

8:15	Mike Petriello: Absolutely. There’s nothing wrong with Panik is doing. Just think he’s getting a little too much narrative headed his way.

8:16	David G Temple: JIg Bame Games.

8:17	Mike Petriello: I have no idea if this is true or not but WHAT: RT @LigaDomcom Brian Mejia Oscar Taveras’ agent has confirmed to various Dominican reporters that the player has been declared dead.

8:18	David G Temple: Say huh?

8:18	David G Temple: I will be incessantly Googling this for a while. More as this develops.

8:18	Mike Petriello: we’ve been burned by questionable sources before, so massive grain of salt here, but… WHAT.

8:19	David G Temple: Twitter says car crash.

8:20	Mike Petriello: well, look, until this news is proven true or not, let’s keep talking about this actual baseball game, heartless though that may be

8:20	Comment From Chris Here’s hoping the rumors aren’t true.

8:21

Comment From Matt
If you were a manager in a “must win” game 6, would you use an all bullpen strategy? Everyone is rested and I don’t trust either Peavy or Ventura. I mean maybe Ventura for 2 innings and tell him to act like a reliever and light up the radar gun. If you can sell it in anyway to players and fans, it would be in such a game

8:21	David G Temple: In an OOTP season, sure. Not when you have fans and media to answer to. Someday, someone will break the mold.

8:23	Mike Petriello: Shields looks like maybe he’ll be un-terrible tonight, maybe. Decent movement.

8:23	Comment From Guest ESPN deports is confirming OT death as true

8:23	Mike Petriello: Ugh. That is so, so, awful. Just terrible.

8:23	David G Temple: Jesus.

8:24	Comment From Ryan 🙁

8:24	David G Temple: Yes, Ryan. Very 🙁

8:24	Comment From Spencer00 Thoughts and prayers with the Taveras family. This is terrible.

8:28	Mike Petriello: It seems really, really unimportant to talk about baseball right now. And yet, here we are.

8:29	Comment From Zack I missed the bottom of the 1st inning

8:29	Mike Petriello: I think we were all distracted.

8:30	Comment From Chris My interest in tonight’s game has been severely rattled. Hard to enjoy the game after learning what happened.

8:30	Comment From hscer Surely the Fox booth has the news, have they mentioned it? I’ve had sound off but listening now.

8:30	Mike Petriello: They have not. Have to imagine Rosenthal is getting word now-ish.

8:31	Comment From #BanknotesIndustries Man, Shields-Bumgarner was going to be such an awesome matchup, but now I really don’t care

8:32	Comment From personae gratis still not seeing anything about this on google, nor on the espn deportes website….

8:33	Mike Petriello: Cards beat writers have tweeted confirmation right from Cards GM

8:33	Comment From Jordan If this was a clinching game do you think Fox would hold back the news so as not to buzzkill?

8:33	Mike Petriello: I think they probably wouldn’t interrupt a ninth inning, but it’s early in the game. They’ll mention it. Have to.

8:34	David G Temple: Call someone you love tonight.

8:36	Mike Petriello: Bumgarner looks like he always does, which is to say, this won’t be easy for KC.

8:37	Comment From Spencer00 Back to baseball, I guess?

8:38	Mike Petriello: We’ll do our best to not totally ignore this game, but, obviously tough to focus.

8:40	Mike Petriello: I know Escobar is a good SS, but he never looks like one.

8:41	Mike Petriello: Always bunt. Always. It always works.

8:41	David G Temple: Ooof. That looked close.

8:42	David G Temple: Out?

8:42	Mike Petriello: Safe!

8:42	David G Temple: Nope. I’m dumb

8:42	Comment From Ben Great play from Escobar to make it that close

8:42	Comment From Tim I hope this is the last post season series that we have to listen to HR/TV

8:43	Mike Petriello: Don’t hold your breath.

8:45	Comment From Ben Kapler is our best hope in this regard right?

8:45	Mike Petriello: For broadcasting? Maybe. Sounds like he might get consideration for TB manager’s job, too.

8:46	David G Temple: He also needs to focus on producing in my 2001 sim league.

8:46	Mike Petriello: Sure was good of Jarrod to restore the Dyson family name after his dad attempted to end the human race by inventing Skynet.

8:46	Comment From Danny How long can the broadcast go without mentioning Tavares? National writers like Passan and Nightendale are confirming the news.

8:47	Mike Petriello: Guessing someone is carefully crafting a statement. No one wants these guys going off the cuff.

8:47	Comment From Ben There is zero reason to have Verducci in the box if he isn’t reporting on things like this.

8:47	Mike Petriello: It’ll be to start an inning. No reason to wedge it in during a rally .

8:48	Comment From Aussie Mariner Do you think they’d be pitching to Crawford if MadBum hadn’t had the year he had at the plate?

8:49	Mike Petriello: There’s only one out. You don’t want to load the bases for the leadoff man, assuming you guarantee the pitcher makes an out, which you can’t.

8:50	Comment From Ben Would you pitch around Bumgarner to get to Blanco? /half kidding

8:51	David G Temple: A for effort.

8:53	David G Temple: Jennifer Garner is a pretty person.

8:54	Mike Petriello: Well, @MLB just tweeted on it, so I’d call that pretty official.

8:54	Comment From Hank Horrible Bosses 2? Was the first one that successful?

8:54	Mike Petriello: I enjoyed the first one but had no idea there was a sequel coming until right now

8:54	Comment From Sgt. Pepper The lack of mention from the broadcast has now gone from understandable to puzzling

8:55	Mike Petriello: Cards haven’t even made an official statement yet. You certainly understand FOX wanting to treat this with delicacy.

8:56	Comment From Gary I’m fine with them taking there time to make sure the announcement is appropriate and correct. Twenty minutes doesn’t make a big difference, but saying something poorly would.

8:56	David G Temple: Truth. Most fans watching aren’t also on Twitter.

8:58	Comment From Hank The news also hasn’t hit the major websites yet(like MLB.com, ESPN, CBSsports etc). Twitter is one thing but they actually have to speak to it with some intelligence/delicacy for more than 140characters. They probably also want some details to pass along when they announce it.

8:59	Mike Petriello: On the game: Bumgarner looks just untouchable.

9:00	Comment From Aussie Mariner Could you see Bumgarner pitching in relief in game 6 if necessary? Assuming him pitching in game 7 if necessary is a no brainer…

9:00	Mike Petriello: On one day rest? Seems extremely unlikely.

9:01	Comment From Anonymous As a Giants fan, I cannot get a good read on the situation. Are Neutrals going to turn on Hunter Pence soon, or do you guys still like him?

9:02	Mike Petriello: I’m a Dodger fan, so I’m not even neutral, but I think he’s a weird-looking guy who is really good at baseball.

9:03	David G Temple: Hunter Pence is great. Just great. Good at baseball, and just a totally weird dude. I love him.

9:03	Comment From Ben People seem to hate guys that are different in baseball more than other sports for some reason.

9:04	Mike Petriello: Yasiel Puig on line one.

9:04	David G Temple: Just got an OT alert on my watch.

9:04	Mike Petriello: How is this “an era where there aren’t many aces left,” Joe? I’d say the lower offensive environment makes a ton of SP look like “aces.”

9:04	Comment From Evan ESPN, CBSsports and FoxSports all have headlines up now.

9:05	Mike Petriello: I have no problem with FOX wanting to do this right. Cards haven’t even put out a statement yet. But yeah, another inning or two and nothing mentioned, that’s going to get awkward.

9:05	Comment From Chris Maybe he means pitchers who go deep into games and just flat-out dominate the opposition, ala Bumgarner/Kershaw/Felix/et al. Not many pitchers last that long into games anymore.

9:06	Mike Petriello: That’s less about “can they” and more about “should they,” which, no.

9:06	Comment From Sgt. Pepper Canadian broadcast on Sportsnet just broke the news. Mentioned Tavares was a Canadian citizen. I didn’t know that.

9:06

Mike Petriello: According to Wikipedia: “Taveras’ father was an outfielder in the Milwaukee Brewers’ minor league system. Taveras lived in Montreal from ages 12 to 16, obtaining Canadian citizenship. Afterwards, he returned to the Dominican Republic; had he stayed in Canada, he would have entered the draft after high school.”

9:07	Comment From Tim I like the Giants but there’s a little too much love for a pitcher ranked 20th in WAR this year

9:07	Mike Petriello: well, here’s Rosenthal on it now.

9:08	David G Temple: Blergh.

9:09	Mike Petriello: Thought FOX handled that as well as possible.

9:10	Comment From Guest Do we know what’s wrong with Cain?

9:11	Mike Petriello: I wish Matt was still around to face Lorenzo.

9:12	Comment From 🙁 What the hell was that pitch from Bumgarner? 65 mph, way off the plate? It’s funny how even the best make terrible pitches sometimes.

9:12	Mike Petriello: Brooks labels it as “slow curve.”

9:13	David G Temple: Hachi Machi.

9:13	David G Temple: That was something.

9:13	Comment From Tim nice play by Panda, love the glove work

9:14	David G Temple: Hate this kid.

9:15	David G Temple: If he’s such a child genius, how about securing the lid on your stupid iguana cage?

9:15	David G Temple: Also, iguanas aren’t real pets.

9:15	Mike Petriello: He’s not smart enough to know his parents clearly paid some woman to bring a different iguana.

9:15	David G Temple: Also, I hate that kid.

9:16	Comment From #BanknotesIndustries If the Royals don’t have the lead later in the game, what are the chances Ned doesn’t go to his Big 3 again?

9:16	Mike Petriello: If they’re getting blown out, then it doesn’t matter. Otherwise, they have a day off tomorrow, they’ll pitch if it’s close.

9:17	Comment From Jacob If you’re whining about FOX’s announcement, what is wrong with you?

9:17	Comment From senpaisanto weird how that kid’s lizard just got up and started jabbering in a cockney accent – weird…

9:17	David G Temple: A good joke, this.

9:18	David G Temple: Giants

9:19	Comment From GB Off topic but how does Starlin get traded before the season starts?

9:19	Mike Petriello: With an exchange for goods or services. (he doesn’t, probably.)

9:21	Comment From Guest Chances Sandoval transfers to 1st for any team that signs him in a yr or 2?

9:21	Mike Petriello: Why? He’s a very good defensive 3B.

9:21	Comment From JKB Do a Maddon survey

9:22	Comment From JKB Yes.

9:22	Comment From The Big Dipper Now he is, but once he hits the other side of 30 his defensive skills are bound to decline

9:22	Mike Petriello: Then 3-5 years, maybe. Not 1-2.

9:22	Mike Petriello: Erin Andrews: “Several Giants players have come over to my TV in dugout when heard news abt Taveras..Juan Perez in tears in dugout..”

9:24	Comment From Chris High BABIP aside, is James Shields pitching all that badly tonight? A lot of focus seems to be on how well Bumgarner is doing, but Shields hasn’t done too poorly, has he?

9:24	Mike Petriello: A few hard-hit balls, and Escobar isn’t helping, but yeah, he’s been mostly fine. That’s just probably not good enough tonight.

9:25	Comment From Tim I was really surprised when I saw from ACTA sports that Escobar was 0 runs saved this years, but now I buy it

9:25	Mike Petriello: -4 DRS

9:26	Comment From Ben Shields has been much, much better than Game 1 though. That’s for sure.

9:27	Mike Petriello: That ball was like an inch off the ground, and then Cain kicks it around. What can you do if you’re Shields? Tough.

9:27	Mike Petriello: Er, Dyson. Used to Cain in CF.

9:27	Comment From Tommy So, what are we looking at for a Shields FA contract these days?

9:28	Mike Petriello: Earlier this evening I said 4/80 with a vesting option

9:28	Mike Petriello: This is how we watch baseball in the Temple household.

9:29	Comment From yostball earned run for Shields. earned runs are silly

9:29	Mike Petriello: I’m going to publish two comments in a row here, see why:

9:29

Comment From Zack
Do teams feel a little better about paying Sandoval after seeing him be so much more selective and actually produce from the right side during the postseason, thinking that they can get him to have that type of approach for them in the regular season? Or do they just discount it as a SSS?

9:29	Comment From WC You really can’t use postseason play in evaluating players for FA can you? (i.e. Shields)

9:30	Mike Petriello: No, teams don’t focus only on a few games as being more important than hundreds of games.

9:31	Comment From Guest Couldn’t you argue that Sandoval’s change is a conscious choice and could be something he could continue going forward? Would that mean more?

9:31	Mike Petriello: Would you say that re Moustakas, too?

9:32	Comment From Zack Still, Sandoval seems to come up big in these situations. I havent looked at his numbers in high leverage situations, but I’d assume they’re very good.

9:32	Mike Petriello: Nope. Exactly the opposite for his career.

9:32	Comment From Grand Admiral Braun Brandon McCarthy a good candidate for Royals this off season? Or he likely a NL candidate (Cubs, Giants)

9:33	Mike Petriello: I think a lot of teams who need a pitcher will be in on him. Angels might be a good fit. I’m sure Pirates, with that D, would love him.

9:33	Comment From Dano I would think the Giants have to focus on post-season performance more than prospective bidders. What if Sandoval ends up being the hero of the World Series and SF let’s him go? That seems bad for public opinion.

9:33	Mike Petriello: I think 3 titles in 5 years would buy them more than enough public opinion credits.

9:33	Comment From Tommy It seems like the post-season might highlight troubling trends for free agents though– Shields and his cutter, for instance

9:34	Mike Petriello: In terms of it being an extension of the season, and thus more evidence, sure. We saw that trend start in Sept.

9:34	Comment From Greg on bass They should just record Buck saying “Ishikawa can’t get there” once and make it a hot button.

9:35	Comment From Guest no chance shields gets 4/80

9:35	Mike Petriello: Let’s see!

9:35	Mike Petriello: Yes

9:36	Comment From The Big Dipper Do you find it incredible that Michael Jordan was able to step into AA baseball and hit .200 despite not playing since high school ~13 years prior?

9:36	Mike Petriello: It was seen as disappointing, but you’re probably right. Not being 000/000/000 is something.

9:37	Comment From Daniel Ishikawa is the worst fielder in the WS

9:37	Mike Petriello: Well, he’s out of position and surrounded by a ton of great fielders, so.. we haven’t seen Morse there, either.

9:37	Mike Petriello: I’d be hitting for Shields here, by the way.

9:37	David G Temple: WS history? Or just this WS?

9:37	Comment From Guest Should they have brough Perez in for defense?

9:38	Comment From Daniel Just this WS, IDK about others

9:38	David G Temple: Then yes.

9:38	Mike Petriello: We heard, sadly, that he was in tears in the dugout after hearing tonight’s tragic news. Very possible he’s not prepared to play right this second.

9:38	David G Temple: But as Mike said, playing out of position.

9:38	Comment From Crusty Do you have any early thoughts on to where Russel Martin ends up? Could be go to the Mets (if Darnaud cannot catch)?

9:38	Mike Petriello: Cubs seem like a good fit. Doubt Mets spend to replace a talented prospect like that.

9:39	Comment From Chris Is there a place where I can find contact rate (either O or Z) for a live game in-progress? I don’t know if Baseball Savant has that info or not.

9:39	Mike Petriello: Not so far as I am aware.

9:39	Comment From The Big Dipper What teams would you say are behind the curve in regards to using analytics?

9:39	David G Temple: MLB doesn’t publish the XML until after the game is over.

9:39	Mike Petriello: The stock answer is the Phillies. The real answer is probably also the Phillies.

9:39	David G Temple: So unless some site has people live tracking it, then no.

9:40	Mike Petriello: You can get the live XML data: http://gamedata.inside-edge… but no one makes it user friendly, I don’t think

9:40	Comment From KP Even with a QO attached to him?

9:40	Mike Petriello: the thing about the chat is, we get a lot of questions, so I don’t know who “him” is now. Questions, with details, please.

9:40	David G Temple: I did not know Inside Edge made that data available.

9:41	Mike Petriello: IE makes it a little prettier: http://dev.realtime.db.insi… but it also is not always right. Bumgarner hasn’t thrown a slider (per Brooks) in years.

9:41	Comment From The Big Dipper How many people are chatting?

9:41	Mike Petriello: bit over 1,000

9:42	Comment From KP My apologies. Won’t a QO keep Shields from making top dollar? Unless the NYY are going after him, I would think teams like Cubs would heavily discount a contract.

9:42	Mike Petriello: Doubt it. That hurts lower level guys like Drew, Kendrys, etc. Shields is better than that.

9:43	Comment From Larry Bernandez Who do you think will be the best team in the AL central next year

9:43	Mike Petriello: Tough to say before the winter, but… that CLE rotation of Kluber / Carrasco/ Salazar / Bauer could be tasty.

9:44	Comment From Guest Don’t forget TJ House in Cleveland too.

9:44	Mike Petriello: “Craig Brown@royalsauthority 2 mins Shields has 15 swinging strikes thru 4. Breakdown: Cutter – 10 Change – 2 Curve – 3 “

9:45	Comment From The Big Dipper Today marks one week since I quit smokeless tobacco.

9:45	Mike Petriello: Congrats. An effort worth making.

9:47	Comment From Anonymous Very surprising to hear the sound bytes from this home plate ump. Most polite gentleman I’ve ever heard. Is this normal from umps?

9:47	David G Temple: Umps that know they have a mic on them.

9:47	Comment From Hank Time to get someone up (for KC)?

9:48	Mike Petriello: It was time last inning when Shields should have been hit for.

9:48	Comment From Zack What do you think about Sandoval’s potential contract? Closer to 5 years/$80 million or 6 years/$106 million?

9:48	Mike Petriello: More than $106m. He’s younger than you think.

9:48	Comment From Crusty Joe Panik seems like he will be an above average second baseman for a decade

9:48	Mike Petriello: I disagree with most every part of that.

9:49	Comment From Gerard No lefty for Sandoval?

9:49	Mike Petriello: Yeah, I don’t get any of this.

9:50	Comment From jesucristo No point in blowing that ‘pen. Royals aren’t scoring tonight.

9:50	Mike Petriello: Day off tomorrow, most didn’t pitch yesterday. That’s not an issue.

9:50	Comment From The Big Dipper What don’t you like about Panik?

9:50	Mike Petriello: No power. Okay ish D, Okay ish plate discipline. Fine player, not a star.

9:50	Mike Petriello: Damn, Lorenzo Cain. He never stops being fun.

9:51	David G Temple: Wowzza

9:51	David G Temple: Cue the text from dad being pissed about the Brewers letting him go.

9:52	Comment From Daniel the Greinke trade worked out well for the Royals

9:52	Comment From Zack He knows they have Gomez though right?

9:52	David G Temple: Yes, but that doesn’t really play here.

9:52	Comment From Guest Look at Big Game James actually earning his nickname for once

9:52	Mike Petriello: By… allowing a hard hit ball that one of the best defensive OF in baseball barely got to?

9:53	Comment From John Re: Panik– doesn’t take much for him to be an above average 2B. Even his 94 wRC+ (projected for next year, per steamer), would put him above the ML average for 2B this year

9:53	Mike Petriello: Projected for ~2 WAR, which sounds right. Starter yes, star, no.

9:53	Comment From Crusty The Brewers should try to trade Braun, right?

9:53	Mike Petriello: At his lowest value? Nah.

9:54	Comment From baseball Lorenzo Cain should have a huge drop off in production next season right? He had a 380 BABIP

9:54	Mike Petriello: I don’t think I realized it was that high, but you’re right. Steamer does see a dropoff to a 96 wRC+ from 111.

9:55	Comment From 34 You think there’s any chance of Crisp being moved to LF/DH next year with Gentry getting an opportunity to start in CF?

9:56	Mike Petriello: I think I have absolutely no idea what to expect from Crisp’s neck. It’s such a big uncertainty.

9:56	Comment From Not an expert Has MadBum thrown a slow curve yet tonight?

9:56	Mike Petriello: Yes, at least one.

9:58	Comment From 34 A’s have a lot of positional questions next year — will Crisp be able to handle OF duty, will Jaso finally be moved off catcher, what happens to Vogt/Norris. Etc.

9:58	Mike Petriello: Who plays SS, who plays 2B… lots of questions.

9:59	David G Temple: Slow curve!