FanGraphs Astros/Phillies World Series Game 1 Chat

8:01
Lzfreak: Hell yeah! Chats are back!

8:02
Avatar David Laurila: Greetings all. Go Astros. Go Phillies. Go baseball.

8:04
Avatar David Laurila: I got both a flu shot and a Covid booster yesterday, and am really dragging today, but fortunately I have a few energetic colleagues joining the chat shortly.

8:04
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Greetings peoples!

8:04
Justin Choi: Good morning from South Korea!

8:05
Avatar Alex Sonty: Man, Justin. I remember us getting up with you in 2020 to play KBO DFS.

8:04
Belli Flop: Baseball is so special.  Thank you to everyone at FanGraphs and in the community for helping make it so!

8:05
Avatar Dan Szymborski: David. Justin. I believe Alex is joining us too at some point?

8:05
Avatar Dan Szymborski: And there he is!

8:05
Avatar Dan Szymborski: This has been a long stretch of no baseball

8:06
Avatar Alex Sonty: I talked to my wife!

8:05
Avatar Alex Sonty: Yes, I’m here! Sorry. Having an internet hiccup.

8:06
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Those are the worst! I had a real hell of an internet time the first few games of the playoffs.

8:07
Chris: Dusty Baker brought up Bill Cosby today… Oof

8:07
Avatar Dan Szymborski: He’s a bit behind with the news!

8:07
Rays stan: Don’t let this WS distract you from what Evan Reifert is doing in the Arizona Fall League

8:07
Avatar David Laurila: I just spent a week at AFL games. Don’t believe I saw Reifert. Did see some greta baseball. Highly recommend the AFL.

8:07
The Stranger: Ugh, I did the flu/covid double vaccine and it knocked me out for a week.  Hopefully you do better than I did.

8:08
Avatar Dan Szymborski: My sister just got her second stint of COVID today. If she thinks I’m visiting or babysitting for like the next month, she’s mistaken!

8:08
Devil Ray Jay Johnson: What order would you use the Astros relievers (assume Verlander goes 5 IP)?

8:08
Avatar Alex Sonty: Verlander has more of his own leash to any modern pitcher. Even in the postseason. Even in the World Series.

8:08
Avatar Alex Sonty: I think Verlander’s outs prop was 16.5. I didn’t make any bets on this game, but that could be close.

8:09
Lzfreak: Is this the most seemingly lopsided WS matchup in recent memory?

8:09
Avatar David Laurila: I don’t have the exact numbers in front of me, but in World Series history, the team with the better cord has won just over half the time.

8:10
Avatar Dan Szymborski: They never really describe someone as an incomplete player

8:10
The 6ix: Verlander’s career World Series ERA is astounding. Cue the Small Sample Size song.

8:10
Devil Ray Jay Johnson: For big games like this Ken Rosenthal should wear a spinning bow tie

8:11
Justin Choi: He should wear a bow tie-shaped suit

8:11
Avatar Alex Sonty: “Blurred vision” Good one, Joe.

8:11
Yo-Yo: Do you think the age of “get in and get lucky” is overblown, particularly in the NL? 5 of 6 NL playoff teams had a top 8 in MLB  payroll, with 4 in the top 5. The team that particularly builds for barely getting in (STL) is 1-9 in their last 10 playoff games.

8:11
Avatar David Laurila: Kind of amazing that the Cards have that record, but baseball will baseball.

8:13
Justin Choi: There’s an argument to be made that in the playoffs, depth is less important than top-end talent, which can only be acquired through spending

8:12
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I wasn’t looking at the screen and I thought that was a new age Meow Mix commercial.

8:12
The Stranger: I could definitely see They Might Be Giants writing a song called Small Sample Size

8:13
Lzfreak: If you had to, how would you rank the careers of Verlander, Kershaw, Scherzer, Greinke?

8:13
Avatar Alex Sonty: I don’t know but Kershaw’s firmly first and Greinke’s firmly last.

8:16
Avatar Alex Sonty: Best part of the days off is that the rotations align. Ace vs. ace and so forth. I’m a bit old school like that.

8:16
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Altuve is usually just around league-average for rate of swinging outside the strike zone. In Statcast, it’s his lowest out of zone swing % since 2012.

8:16
Justin Choi: Nola’s command is so good, it’s unreal

8:18
Tigers2123: Well…..I thought he was overstating Altuve’s free swinging a bit much but he nailed the call on the vulnerability to the outside pitch

8:19
Avatar Dan Szymborski: And correct that Pena *is* a free swinger

8:19
Belli Flop: Polls for rooting interest and prediction?

8:19
Justin Choi:

Who Takes Game 1?

Astros (54.0% | 27 votes)
 
Phillies (46.0% | 23 votes)
 

Total Votes: 50
8:19
Justin Choi: First time creating a poll!

8:19
Justin Choi: This is cool

8:22
Avatar Alex Sonty: Yordan Alvarez is in that “stop what you’re doing” territory

8:22
Avatar Alex Sonty: Chat got really quiet there.

8:23
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Always gonna have less of a crowd on a Friday night

8:23
jae: which starter y’all got going deeper?

8:23
Justin Choi: This feels like a potential Angry and Amped Justin Verlander start, so I’ll go with him

8:23
Avatar David Laurila: I liked these quotes from Nola when we talked about his curveball last summer:

“The more I have pressure on my thumb, the better it is. Sometimes I lose the feel on it and will put too much pressure on just my middle finger. For me, it’s more about the tip of my middle finger and the tip of my thumb. So really, I’m kind of going back to throwing it like a football. It’s the most true and has the most bite when I do that.”

8:23
jae: walking Yordan just to get to Bregman has got to feel awful. Can’t afford to not have location against these guys

8:23
Avatar Alex Sonty: Bregman has far less power

8:23
Avatar Alex Sonty: But yeah, pick your poison.

8:23
jae: JV definitely has some motivation to have a deep quality start

8:25
Avatar Alex Sonty: Hate to say it because it sounds stupid, but Verlander is writing his legacy. If he’s rolling and good on pitches, he’s gonna push Dusty as hard as it takes.

8:25
jae: agreed Sonty, just gotta be demoralizing to walk a batter right before facing Bregman. Not gonna get any free strikes

8:25
Daniel Bardo Pond: Any thoughts on Thompson sticking with Harper at cleanup vs hitting him 3rd?

8:27
Avatar Alex Sonty: Don’t really care? Should I?

8:27
Lzfreak: Dan, do we have neural network nicknames for this series?

8:27
Avatar Dan Szymborski: We do, of course!

8:27
Justin Choi: Ha, three perfect fastballs from JV

8:27
Avatar Dan Szymborski:

8:28
Guest: It is painful to watch this WS, again, as a Yankee fan

8:28
Avatar Alex Sonty: Verlander is such a god. Pure bulldozer approach to Harper.

8:28
Avatar Dan Szymborski:

8:28
Avatar Alex Sonty: (Sorry, I’m delayed from the internet issues)

8:29
jae: those are genius Dan, how do you generate those?

8:29
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Midvalley’s algorithms!

8:29
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Oh, the nicknames are GPT-3

8:29
Belli Flop: Yordan Alvarez being the superior defensive fielder at his position in this series is…something.

8:30
Belli Flop: I love myself some Kyle Schwarber it’s just funny.

8:32
jae: Yordan is overall at least average in LF at minute maid, his deficient range is mitigated by the short porch, and he has a cannon of an arm. Don’t sleep on him out there.

8:34
Justin Choi: Also helps that the Astros seem intent on minimizing the no. of plays he has to make

8:32
Avatar Alex Sonty: If you had the under on 2.5 innings before talking of “pressing” would begin, you won!

8:35
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Boom!

8:35
Justin Choi: That’s one dangerous lefty hitter

8:35
Avatar Dan Szymborski: What’s your delay Alex? We can try and not spoil you

8:35
Avatar Alex Sonty: LOL. Just saw it. Caught up more during the commercials, but still a bit behind

8:36
B’Ryce Hammer’s Luscious Locks: Kyle Tucker… #5 hitter. Love it, lol

8:36
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I will try to tamp down on my excitement for 45 seconds

8:36
The 6ix: That big bald guy in the crowd really feeling it.

8:36
Sean: I’m on a delay too. YouTube TV seems to be a pitch behind.

8:38
Avatar Alex Sonty: OK, not just me.

8:36
jae: Destroyer strikes first!

8:37
Avatar David Laurila: Kyle Tucker has 60 home runs (30 plus 30) and a 137 wRC+ over the past two seasons. He can hit.

8:38
Sean: I’m happy to see Aaron Nola get back to his wet guy roots. He was looking kind of normie there for a while, but he is very wet tonight.

8:38
Lzfreak: Even if I’m not rooting for the Astros I’m rooting for Mancini

8:39
Avatar Alex Sonty: How can you not be romantic about Trey Mancini?

8:38
Daniel Bardo Pond: Per Savant, Nola’s two changeups have been thrown 3.1 mph faster than his average with 8 fewer inches of V break. That seems suboptimal.

8:39
Justin Choi: Interesting, because a greater v break and velocity differential from FB equals more whiffs, but faster changeups in general produce more groundballs

8:39
Justin Choi: Might be a small sample quirk though

8:38
Avatar Alex Sonty: Slugging over .500 for his career. Tucker’s a monster.

8:39
jae: Tucker will benefit immensely from the shift limitations. He always hits hard contact, but is shifted on very effectively. Watch out for him in 2023

8:40
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I think you have to be Chaz to be “chazz.” Chas is “chass.”

8:40
Andrew: What about Chone?

8:40
Avatar Dan Szymborski: That’s a whole other jar of mustard

8:41
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I don’t think “Get off me, ball!” is going to be a catchphrase

8:41
Justin Choi: Oh no, Nola’s getting BABIP’d again

8:41
Justin Choi: Also Smoltz again on the verge of understanding defense independent pitching

8:42
Lzfreak: If the Astros get babip luck this could be a short series

8:42
Baseball enjoyer: reminder that Click had to trade Siri in order to prevent dusty from starting him over chas

8:42
Baseball enjoyer: Silver slugger finalist Martin Maldonado…

8:43
Avatar Dan Szymborski: That befuddles me

8:43
Avatar David Laurila: Jose Siri is a really interesting player. Crazy tools.

8:43
Avatar Alex Sonty: Jose Siri is legit good

8:43
Avatar Alex Sonty: Serious power

8:44
Avatar Alex Sonty: This year was weird for him

8:44
jae: Astros broadcast pronounces it as Chazz, also I believe his name on twitter is spelled with a Z

8:45
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I’m still bitter my parents didn’t go with Alexander since dad hated it, or I could be Zander Szymborski

8:45
Avatar Alex Sonty: Gotta spell Xander with an “x” dude

8:45
jae: I love Siri. Glad the Astros traded him, I think he needs regular big league playing time to take it to the next level. Rays seem like a great fit for him

8:46
Avatar Alex Sonty: Ladies love the “x” I don’t make the rules.

8:46
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I do appreciate that Smoltz has little interest in tht etaco talk

8:46
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Then I have to be Xander Xymborski

8:46
Avatar David Laurila: Maldonado and his 70 wRC+ as a Silver Slugger finalist really needs to be explained. Jonah Heim was a notable omission among the many who were more deserving, (Waited for the hit to tweet this.)

8:46
Avatar Alex Sonty: lol

8:47
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Yeah, you can make an argument that it’s hard to capture Maldonado’s defensive abilities

8:47
Avatar Dan Szymborski: But Maldonado for a hitter award is just wackadoo

8:47
jae: so glad I found this chat. Nice and small, and chill.

8:47
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Day game chats are busier

8:47
InternetStranger: A perfectly executed hit and run!  Is this 1987?

8:47
Avatar Alex Sonty: #RBIGUY

8:47
Baseball enjoyer: “I care about exit hits” – Dusty Baker

8:48
Andrew: Who picks Silver Slugger finalists?

8:49
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Coaches and managers

8:49
The 6ix: 36 pitches already. I think I like Verlander to go deeper into the game.

8:50
Baseball enjoyer: If anyone hasn’t noticed, white hate behind home plate is Bagwell and Biggio is beside him

8:50
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Hat?

8:50
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Because if Bagwell and Biggio started up a neo-nazi rock group, I’m *way* behind on the news, more than Dusty!

8:52
Tigers2123: 6 up 6 down is a great start but any concern JV sitting 93-95 instead of 97-99.  He does have a reputation of building velo as he goes but…

8:53
Avatar Alex Sonty: I’m telling you, dude wants a CGSO

8:52
Avatar Dan Szymborski: He certainly doesn’t look like he’s struggling out there

8:52
Bunk: TIL Maldonado is a Silver Slugger finalist.  I had to read that multiple times because it didn’t register at first.

8:53
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Charlie Blackmon too, who didn’t hit well even without a Coors adjustment

8:54
jae: Verlander’s year-average fastball velocity is 95. According to savant he is sitting at 94.6 thus far

8:54
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I love how they keep finding reasons that the Phils were a Team of Destiny during the season, but never mention *any* of it until they actually do well in the World Series

8:55
Justin Choi: Narratives are fun and manipulative Dan

8:55
Avatar Alex Sonty: “Just happy to be here” is being saved for after the fact.

8:56
jae: The Phillie underdog narrative is weird, they literally have the second highest payroll in baseball and underperformed for most of the season

8:56
Avatar David Laurila: Random fact: Prior to 1980, the only Philadelphia Phillies player to hit a World Series home run was Fred Luderus.

8:56
Avatar Dan Szymborski: There wasn’t a lot about the secret holy fire burning their souls with a passion while they were sucking in September

8:57
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I did not know that

8:57
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I would have assumed the Whiz Kids snuck in a solo homer or something

8:57
Tigers2123: It’s almost 30 year anniversary of the last Phillies WS team built around sluggers, not so great defense or bullpen

8:58
Avatar Alex Sonty: I think they’ve done the best they could.

8:57
B’Ryce Hammer’s Luscious Locks: JV is just a stud…

8:57
Baseball enjoyer: Speaking of white hate, Marsh inspired a very particular chant at the A earlier this season. Sometimes when he wasn’t even batting!

8:58
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I’m not sure I understand or if I want to

8:58
Tigers2123: I hope so.   CGSO would be epic.  Might be his last start of 2022 way they’re running table

8:58
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I initially read this as CSGO and didn’t get it

8:58
Jaret: Did the McCormick going on the rbi single by Maldonado pull the 2nd baseman over enough to get the ball through? looked like a double play off the bat

8:59
Wireless Joe Jackson: Old Man Winter looking inevitable.

9:01
Baseball enjoyer: Peña is so fun to watch

9:02
Avatar Alex Sonty: Carlos who?

9:02
Wireless Joe Jackson: Pena has a super interesting windup.  He starts with the bat so low.

9:03
Avatar Alex Sonty: Not exactly, but makes me think of Eric Davis

9:02
Belli Flop: Heart hands

9:02
Avatar David Laurila: Mike Bordick’s 1,500 hits are the most for a player out of the University of Maine. Jeremy Peña has a good chance to exceed that number some day.

9:03
Justin Choi: Oh hey, Alvarez’s sprint speed isn’t actually THAT terrible

9:03
Justin Choi: 26.4 ft/s, which is 30th percentile

9:03
jae: lots of kids are gonna immitate Pena’s stance where he holds the bat a little bit back

9:04
Baseball enjoyer: Uconn, Maine, the Astros scouting dept has the northeast locked down

9:04
Zac Lowther of the Hill People: Have the White Sox interviewed Lou Piniella yet?

9:04
Avatar Alex Sonty: hush, you

9:04
Avatar Dan Szymborski: TORBORG TIME

9:04
Wireless Joe Jackson: I would be really entertained by a safety squeeze here.  It would’ve made more sense with Maldonado, but…

9:05
Avatar Dan Szymborski: But Maldonado’s a Silver Slugger, you gotta let him swing away!!!111oneone

9:05
Baseball enjoyer: Astros Batting Stances Ranked

9:05
Baseball enjoyer:

  1. baggy 2. Moises alou 3. Peña
9:07
Avatar Alex Sonty: You like the hands in the zone, huh

9:07
Baseball enjoyer: Baggy was easier to emulate as a kid because I wasn’t allowed to put in an Alou level chaw

9:07
Avatar Dan Szymborski: There was this weird trend in 10th grade where all the kids were using chewing tobacco

9:08
Avatar Alex Sonty: Not sure where you grew up, but we did far less harmful and far more illegal things here.

9:08
jae: source: White Sox pursuing Connie Mac’s reanimated corpse as manager

9:08
Zac Lowther of the Hill People: Is the Houston train the tackiest ballpark feature with the retirement of the Marlins sculpture?

9:08
Justin Choi: I think the Houston train is awesome!

9:09
Wireless Joe Jackson: I think Tom Kelly is probably available.

9:09
jae: Train is the right kind of tacky

9:09
Avatar Dan Szymborski: This was suburban Baltimore (Towson) in about 1992

9:09
Avatar David Laurila: Train is a terrible band.

9:10
Don: Is Michael Jordan the most popular athlete of all time, or is there some recency bias at work? The Babe? Post 1960 or so, is it Jeter for baseball? I have no idea for football. Gretzky hockey?

9:14
Avatar Alex Sonty: It’s Jordan or Ali, regarding American athletes. Gretzky, definitely, for hockey. Not sure about baseball, but when it’s all said and done, why not Ohtani? (Football is Brady, btw)

9:10
Lzfreak: The Houston train feels like a mixed metaphor. Are they space-themed or locomotive-themed? Pick a lane

9:10
Justin Choi: It can be both, a la Galaxy Express 999

9:10
The 6ix: Train would be tacky if the ballpark site didn’t have a history as a train station.

9:11
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Wait 45 secs

9:11
Daniel Bardo Pond: I may be in the minority, but I miss Tal’s Hill. Anyone else? … *crickets*…

9:11
Avatar Alex Sonty: Way too gimmicky for my tastes

9:11
Kiermaier’s Piercing Green Eyes: *Sad Phanatic noises*

9:12
Avatar Dan Szymborski: OK now

9:12
jae: KING TUCK STRIKES AGAIN

9:12
Baseball enjoyer: I interviewed train once and they are 100% in on the joke. Told me a story about playing “one of our godawful songs” for “a bunch of moms” while on mushrooms.

9:12
Andrew: The train in Houston is because the location used to be a train station. And now we get to see it again!

9:13
Avatar Dan Szymborski: My favorite piece of inside info ever is that the Astros *do* arrange a toothpick supply for Dusty

9:13
Avatar David Laurila: The Astros drafted Alex Bregman second overall in 2015. They drafted Kyle Tucker fifth overall in 2015.

9:14
Baseball enjoyer: Preston and Kyle Tucker have combined for 7 postseason homers for the Astros

9:14
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Me and Mariano Rivera have combined for 42 postseason saves!

9:15
Avatar Alex Sonty: Back to Tucker, so many tools. Such a gifted athlete.

9:16
Justin Choi: Just noticed, but that was a smooth bat flip from Tucker

9:16
Justin Choi: One of the best this postseason

9:16
Justin Choi: And he twirled too

9:17
Avatar Alex Sonty: The twirl was cool

9:20
Wireless Joe Jackson: What does this mean for Verlander?  He gets to pitch as long as he wants unless he gets in trouble, right?

9:20
Avatar Alex Sonty: I hope so

9:20
Andrew: the strike zone graphic opacity is so low as to be barely perceptible – I like it, tbh

9:21
Avatar David Laurila: Re Kyle Tucker’s back-to-back 30-home-run seasons: He’s never struck out 100 times in a single season.

9:21
Baseball enjoyer: That was Yuli’s 32nd consecutive postseason AB without a walk or K. Record!

9:21
Wireless Joe Jackson: Both the strike zone graphic and the called strike zone have been on point.

9:25
Avatar David Laurila: Of note: The best-of-seven (which might end up going eight) Japan Series between the Orix Buffaloes and Yakult Swallows is tied at two games apiece, with one 12-inning tie.

9:26
Wireless Joe Jackson: There are ties?  And they can result in an extra game?!  Awesome!

9:26
jae: wow. I tried to follow the NPB but the games start at like 3AM and it’s hard to find coverage in english

9:26
Avatar David Laurila: Also, the KBO championship series will be starting in a few days.

9:28
Avatar Alex Sonty: I loved KBO in 2020. A lot of DFS players speak ill of the grind, but I had a blast.

9:28
The 6ix: Yakut Swallows makes me laugh every time. That and Nippon Ham Fighters.

9:28
Justin Choi: I know it’s ‘Nippon-Ham’, but seeing Ham and Fighters together makes me picture a frightened butcher trying to fight off a piece of sentient, murderous ham

9:28
jae: how does Castellanos hit that

9:28
B’Ryce Hammer’s Luscious Locks: shocked that realmuto didn’t score there…

9:28
Avatar David Laurila: @NPB_Reddit is a good way to follow NPB. Links to English language articles and box scores are plentiful.

9:29
Baseball enjoyer: Going to email Chomsky and ask whether the Astros using asymmetrical warfare to defeat the Yankees or Philly using “red October” as a theme is more socialist.

9:29
Justin Choi: Whoa Phillies!

9:29
Avatar David Laurila: The Phillies scoring runs is… not exactly a surprise.

9:30
Avatar Alex Sonty: Bohm with a laser

9:30
Avatar Alex Sonty: Such an excellent hit

9:30
Avatar Alex Sonty: Pulled on a line to the corner.

9:30
Justin Choi: Consecutive 97 mph heaters from JV, nice

9:31
Guest: Do Phillies pickup Jean’s segura’s option for 23 or move Stott to second and go after a free agent SS?

9:31
Justin Choi: I’d pursue a SS if I were them

9:31
Bryce Harpers Bandana: He has a Phanatic bandana!!

9:33
jae: Bryce sure likes neon green

9:34
Avatar Dan Szymborski: back sorry

9:34
Avatar Alex Sonty: Either Verlander is really focusing on his breathing to center himself or he’s huffing and puffing

9:34
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I appear to have missed q uite a bit in the bathroom

9:37
Avatar Alex Sonty: When do we get Luis Garcia’s eyesore of a windup?

9:37
Avatar David Laurila: Coming into tonight, Justin Verlander had allowed 27 runs in 79 ALDS innings, 27 runs in 80-and-two-thirds ALCS innings, and 27 runs in 38 World Series innings.

9:38
Avatar Alex Sonty: He’s tired. Breathing very hard

9:37
B’Ryce Hammer’s Luscious Locks: Studly AB by Stott!

9:38
Devil Ray Jay Johnson: Verlander’s face is starting to look the same as a grocery store manager’s when told they ran out of shopping bags

9:39
Lzfreak: I like the Luis Garcia windup!

9:42
Avatar Alex Sonty: It’s pretty funny. It’s like someone randomly said throw this baseball to a stranger and that was the product

9:41
Daniel Bardo Pond: Verlander’s thrown 14 curveballs and 11 sliders and doesn’t have a single whiff on either pitch. Man, Philly can hit.

9:42
Wireless Joe Jackson: Playing Trails from Zero on your handheld in there, Dan?

9:42
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I haven’t yet as I’m still finishing up a Hajimari run and playing a fan translation of Kuro

9:43
Tigers2123: Who rocks the baby better?  Naylor or Luis Garcia?  

9:44
Wire Fan: Does this WS trip get Dombrowski into the HoF?

9:44
Avatar Alex Sonty: Probably should

9:44
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I’d be surprised honestly

9:44
Avatar Dan Szymborski: there are only four GMs in the Hall, IIRC

9:44
Avatar Dan Szymborski: and the most recent is Rickey

9:45
Liz: Is JV tipping his breaking balls or are the Philly hitters just that good?

9:45
Justin Choi: Phillies struggled with the heater first time through, so they might have shifted their focus to the breakers

9:45
Andrew: Wow, almost an Eric Gregg level call there

9:45
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Neither Gillick or Paul Richards are in

9:46
Wire Fan: Gillick not being in is ridiculous

9:47
Avatar Dan Szymborski: It’s just hard because they’re all in this innovator executive whatever category

9:48
Schmegs: That’s a shockingly high bar for HOF GMs.

9:48
Lzfreak: The worst part of playoff baseball is political commercials

9:48
Avatar Alex Sonty: “This WS trip” is the stretch. But he’s only 66.

9:49
Avatar Alex Sonty: I’m getting very little political ads in Chicago. Very little to elect.

9:49
Avatar Alex Sonty: More ads by advocacy firms on single issues.

9:50
Justin Choi: Spiritual connection between Marsh and bearded Philly fan

9:50
Lzfreak: Is Marsh growing a playoff beard or is that regular length for him?

9:50
Justin Choi: I believe it’s regular?

9:51
Wireless Joe Jackson: Marsh’s beard:  more Gandalf or more ZZ Top?

9:51
Avatar Alex Sonty: Frank Beard had no beard

9:52
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Tim Salmon could not breathe underwater.

9:52
Avatar David Laurila: Random fact: Brandon Marsh is one of only three players with that surname in big-league history. Tom Marsh played for the Phillies in the 1960s. Fred Marsh played for a handful of teams in the 1950s.

9:52
Bryce Harpers Bandana: On field mics seem louder than usual. I like it.

9:53
Guest: GIllick is in HOF Class 2011

9:53
jae: Ump is a little too loud for my taste. love the crowd noise though

9:54
Tigers2123: If a pitch gets stuck in Marsh’s beard, is that a HBP?

9:55
Avatar Dan Szymborski: It’s a HBP if it touches the clothing and the a HBP if it touches the person so I don’t know how hair wouldn’t count

9:55
Lzfreak: Should Verlander still be in?

9:55
Avatar Alex Sonty: Normally I say yes, but the way he’s breathing, no.

9:55
Wireless Joe Jackson: I think it depends on if the beard’s in the strike zone?

9:55
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Standing with your beard in the strike zone is dangerous!

9:55
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Unless you’ve got a very long or weirdly shaped beard

9:55
Avatar David Laurila: The chances of Verlander making it out of this inning aren’t great.

9:56
Avatar Alex Sonty: LOL 67-0

9:56
Avatar Alex Sonty: I mean five runs is a lot. Just sayin’, LOL

9:57
B’Ryce Hammer’s Luscious Locks: That Stott AB is still paying dividends

9:57
Lzfreak: Realmuto is such a good player

9:57
jae: god this is excruciating from an astros fan pov

9:57
Wireless Joe Jackson: EXCELLENT!  A win for entertainment.

9:57
Justin Choi: This chat’s been blessed with a proper game!

9:58
Justin Choi: Curious why the Astros didn’t turn to its pitching depth earlier though

9:58
Justin Choi: JV’s looked tired for the past inning plus

9:59
Avatar Alex Sonty: Been breathing very heavily since around pitch #60

9:58
Wire Fan: This is not going to help the Verlander WS narrative.

9:58
Avatar Alex Sonty: Realmuto squared that up really well. Was behind on it. Still smashed instead of poking it oppo

9:59
Tigers2123: 93 Phillies scored 6 runs per game in WS and lost in 6 games…..maybe it will be that kind of rock em sock em series

10:01
Avatar Alex Sonty: The 93 World Series was up there with 1991 and 1997 as the most fun of my childhood.

10:00
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Realmuto has the fourth highest career speed score of catchers since 1960.

10:01
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Behind Wathan, Varsho, and Marrero

10:01
The 6ix: Mitch Williams.

10:01
Avatar Alex Sonty: Effectively wild

10:01
Avatar David Laurila: Per Jeeho Yoo on Twitter:

MLB has cancelled its “World Tour: Korea Series,” citing contractual issues with a local promoter. Games had been scheduled for Nov. 11-12 & 14-15 in Korea.

10:03
Justin Choi: Was super disappointed to hear that

10:03
Avatar Alex Sonty: That’s horrible to see.

10:02
Avatar Alex Sonty: Dusty is really pushing the machismo

10:06
jae: need another Tucker dinger to get JV that elusive world series win

10:06
Wireless Joe Jackson: Modern baseball is so boring.  Why can’t these guys play the game the right way?

10:10
Wireless Joe Jackson: Oh man, I think I would’ve tried to get two or three more out of Nola.  What does the plan look like after this?

10:10
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Chaos!

10:10
Guest: Astros are gonna pull Verlander for the 6th right?
Segura and Marsh have good numbers against Verlander and were into the 3rd time through the lineup.

10:10
Justin Choi: If they don’t I’ll be very surprised

10:11
B’Ryce Hammer’s Luscious Locks: Not sure about this Nola hook

10:11
Avatar Alex Sonty: It’s fine.

10:12
Avatar David Laurila: Alvarado in a tie game, in the fifth inning. I like it.

10:12
Avatar Alex Sonty: That this game is anything more than in reach is something

10:14
Justin Choi: Alvarado destroyed Bregman, wow

10:14
Avatar Alex Sonty: You never truly punt a game, but if you go all-in, you do it on the road in Game 1 tied up.

10:14
B’Ryce Hammer’s Luscious Locks: Wow… 101mph from the left side

10:15
jae: Verlander never getting that World Series win, huh

10:15
Avatar Alex Sonty: He’ll get another game.

10:15
CWess: 101, 101, 101 then “offspeed” at 95. Hitting is impossible.

10:15
Will H.: Phillies should consider losing this game so they can save their bullpen — smoltz

10:16
Daniel Bardo Pond: Alvarado’s 95 mph cutter has more downward movement than Nola’s 92 mph sinker.

10:16
Wireless Joe Jackson: The “citizens for sanity” ads are just batshit crazy.

10:16
Avatar David Laurila: This is correct.

10:17
Michael Scott: Snit after falling behind 4-1 put in low leverage guys in NLDS game 4 ATL @ PHI and lost 9-3.  Said “We lost but it wasn’t costly because our pen is in good shape.”   I guess Smoltz would agree!?

10:18
Antonio Bananas: The train station is not only the site of an actual train, but Nolan Ryan (GOAT Astro and a Texan) was nicknamed the Express.

10:18
Avatar Alex Sonty: Tucker’s so smooth

10:19
Wire Fan: Why does seemingly every car commercial involve people singing in the car?

10:19
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I thought those were commercials advertising murdering your family

10:20
Avatar Alex Sonty: No they’re for cracking the skulls of congresspeople’s families.

10:20
Guest: Thomson has been doing better than the man who beat him out for the Ynakees job

10:21
Avatar Alex Sonty: But we’re here to escape the ills of the real world. Let’s be better than those ads.

10:21
CJ: Alex: Don’t get me started, please! I’m trying VERY hard to leave that to twitter…

10:21
Avatar Alex Sonty: @AlexSonty

10:22
Lzfreak: The Astros bullpen might somehow be underrated. Or at least overshadowed by other strengths of the roster

10:22
Avatar David Laurila: Statistically the best pen in the AL.

10:22
Wireless Joe Jackson: FILTHY stuff from Abreu.  He’s their 5th best reliever?

10:22
CJ: Houston Pen’s numbers are ‘helped’ by the absolute inept Yankee ‘bats’

10:22
CJ: CC looks almost unhealthy

10:22
Eel Ffilc: 99 mph is hot as it is but that 99 is sizzlin’

10:24
CJ: I’m sorry I can’t help being myself: old, cranky yankee fan

10:24
jae: Stanek throws pure heat, very exciting. Astros middle inning guys get fired up and then Montero/Pressly come in to lock it down in the 8th/9th

10:25
CJ: I miss George

10:26
Avatar David Laurila: Astros relievers gave up 36 home runs this year. By comparison, Cubs relievers allowed 98 home runs.  (Caveat: Astros relievers threw far fewer innings.)

10:26
Lzfreak: 7 pitches from Alvarado seems light

10:28
B’Ryce Hammer’s Luscious Locks: I like the move, actually… no need to jeopardize his arm for tomorrow on the bottom of the order

10:28
Tigers2123: would love to see Mancini get a timely WS hit. Maybe this inning.

10:28
CJ: So if you are Phils, maybe you figure you have only one chance between gm 1 and 2 and go all in here, right?

10:29
Avatar Alex Sonty: I think you wanna fade Eflin facing Yordan or Tucker

10:30
Justin Choi: Yeah, righty sinkers vs. lefties are dangerous

10:29
Avatar Alex Sonty: He’s good now, but he has a platoon history that might matter.

10:31
Wireless Joe Jackson: To the extent that Houston has a bottom of the order.

10:31
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Silver Slugger candidate!

10:31
Xax Xxxxxoxxxi: It’s the World Series. You go all in no matter what.

10:31
Avatar Alex Sonty: Up 8-0 is different from being tied 5-5, though.

10:31
Avatar David Laurila: Mancini is now 1 for 30 in his career vs Philadelphia.

10:31
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Maybe he hates cheesesteaks

10:33
jae: I was really optimistic about Mancini coming over here with the short porch. Not sure why he hasn’t been able to figure it out

10:33
Avatar Alex Sonty: Could just be variance

10:33
CWess: “What you wanna do is the thing you’re good at and not what the hitter is not good at” -Smoltz

10:35
Avatar Alex Sonty: How that’s not a head injury is beyond me

10:37
Will H.: has there been a sabermetric study if the distance the catcher’s hand moves to frame helps or hurt getting calls?

10:38
Justin Choi: The required data isn’t publically available, so no. But it’d be a fascinating question to answer

10:37
Daniel Bardo Pond: I think it was Bud Black who had a rule change idea that catchers should be allowed to leave the game briefly to go through concussion protocol. If they pass it, they can re-enter the game. Seems sensible to me.

10:38
Lzfreak: Maldonado runs slowly even for a catcher

10:38
Liz: The ball bounced away pretty far which is a good sign for JT, means not much of its force was transferred to the mask/his face

10:41
jae: top 99%!

10:41
Lzfreak: This would make for a fun 18 inning game 😉

10:41
Avatar David Laurila: Uh,,, no.

10:42
Avatar Alex Sonty: I have a 1000-word football article to write tonight, so nuh-uh

10:43
Guest: WE says 56 percent Astros, but where would you put it taking into account actual bullpens?

10:44
jae: I would put Astros at maybe 65%. purely from bullpens I would say like 70% but Phillies have the comeback momentum

10:45
Antonio Bananas: How much prep does Smoltz realistically do to say things like “when his front side doesn’t fly open he’s nasty”?

10:45
Justin Choi: Not that much is my bet

10:45
Justin Choi: Apparently Ranger is warming in the ‘pen

10:46
Avatar David Laurila: Random Schwarber stat: He has two postseason doubles and 12 postseason home runs.

10:46
jae: I think one of the most important skills in a broadcaster is to be able to be confidently wrong

10:47
Justin Choi: If I was in the booth, I’d be worried about making the slightest of errors in whatever I say

10:48
Avatar Alex Sonty: I honestly don’t do live YouTube shows for this reason and this reason only.

10:47
Wireless Joe Jackson: It’s ot even 7PM here.  Bring it on.

10:47
Avatar David Laurila: You are presumably in Alaska?

10:49
Wireless Joe Jackson: Juneau, represent. (not Wisconsin).

10:49
Wireless Joe Jackson: Seems like this should be Abreu’s last batter.

10:50
Lzfreak: Who had Schwarber getting us the taco?

10:50
Avatar David Laurila: Schwarber is 5 for 5 in stolen base attempts in postseason play.

10:51
Sharps: Noted speedster Kyle Schwarber.

10:51
Avatar Alex Sonty: Pure exploitative game theory

10:52
Guest: Schwarber was 10/11 in SB tries this season; he and Realmuto have some sneaky speed

10:52
Avatar Alex Sonty: Abreu staying in is interesting but not bad,

10:52
Avatar Alex Sonty: Is Realmuto’s speed sneaky?

10:52
Hugh Duffy: 10 out of 22 of Kyle Schwarber’s career stolen bases have been in 2022.

10:53
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Big Vince Coleman

10:54
Guest: Any catcher’s speed is sneaky.

10:54
Wireless Joe Jackson: I can’t believe Abreu’s facing Harper here after 28 pitches.  WHY?

10:55
CJ: Abreu was wondering the same thing.

10:55
Michael Scott: Hmmm.. why is Will Smith on the roster if not to face Harper?

10:55
Avatar David Laurila: Counting the postseason, Kyle Schwarber is 13 for 14 in stolen base attempts this year.

10:55
Justin Choi: Hey, we’ve just passed 100 readers in chat!

10:56
Avatar Alex Sonty: They’re just here to talk politics

10:56
Avatar Dan Szymborski: So, do they announce Jerry Lee Lewis died during Castellanos’ at bat with bases loaded?

10:56
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Because THAT’s how you get a big homer

10:58
jae: is that only viewable by mods Justin?

10:58
Justin Choi: Yep

10:58
B’Ryce Hammer’s Luscious Locks: did not have Neris vs Castellanos on my Big Game Moments Bingo card….

10:59
Avatar David Laurila: Broadcast got that right. Castellanos had the highest swing% among qualified hitters this year.

11:00
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Whew

11:01
Will H.: wow, this is a two bags of popcorn game

11:02
Avatar Alex Sonty: What a game we got here.

11:03
Avatar Dan Szymborski: This better not be a 15 bags of popcorn game

11:03
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I love you guys, but I’m not chatting until 3 AM

11:04
Antonio Bananas: Schwarber is one of those 30 Speed 60 Steal guys in OOTP I’m never sure what to do with when they get on

11:05
Will H.: Dan with despondent Rocky 3 needs a pep talk from Apollo Creed vibes

11:06
TL Hopper: Unrelated to WS, but this was the most shocking thing I came across this week.  546 pitchers threw 20 innings this year.  Luis Patino was 542nd in K%, 517 in BB%, dead last in K-BB%, 540th in HR/9.  This guy might have thrown his last MLB pitch, and he was a top 10 spect 2 years ago.

11:06
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I’ve been sick all week from some apparently bad seafood!

11:06
Yo-Yo: Does the shift ban affect outfielders’ positions? Just thinking about Philly’s outfield and if they’ll have to cover more ground or something

11:06
Justin Choi: If I recall correctly it shouldn’t, but four-man outfields are out of the question now

11:06
Schmegs: How many times per game does Dusty poke himself in the tongue with his toothpick?

11:07
Avatar Alex Sonty: It’s calloused. Doesn’t matter.

11:07
Ben Schneider: I’m annoyed at myself for forgetting about this chat three hours ago, but I (and probably others) would appreciate a little more promotion in advance

11:07
Avatar Dan Szymborski: He has to be skilled at it by this point

11:07
Avatar David Laurila: Bill Dineen (35) and Cy Young (34) combined to pitch all but two innings for the Boston Americans when they beat the Pittsburgh Pirates five games to three to win the first modern-era World Series in 1903.

11:08
Justin Choi:

Dusty self-pokes per game

2 or less (23.6% | 9 votes)
 
3 (13.1% | 5 votes)
 
4 (13.1% | 5 votes)
 
5 (21.0% | 8 votes)
 
6 or more (28.9% | 11 votes)
 

Total Votes: 38
11:08
Justin Choi: Why not

11:09
Wireless Joe Jackson: The Frying Dutchman is all you can eat, Dan.  Not all youdo eat.

11:09
Ben Schneider: Dusty has been doing this for years. He must have perfected the technique for using tooth picks

11:11
Avatar Dan Szymborski: You really gotta save Brad Hand for when everyone just wants to go home

11:11
Davidk: Who is Alex Sonty?

11:11
Avatar Alex Sonty: Me

11:13
Yo-Yo: The dexterity of Dusty Baker’s tongue isn’t something I planned on envisioning tonight, but I feel like I somehow deserve it

11:13
Avatar Alex Sonty: Email the Analytics bros

11:13
Avatar David Laurila: The Yordan Alvarez home run vs the Mariners is still the biggest moment of the postseason, right?

11:15
Avatar Alex Sonty: Oh, yeah. That it was a binary Robbie Ray spot made it all the more tense.

11:14
Avatar Dan Szymborski: A water slide that goes 1000 times as fast you’d be dead

11:14
Avatar Alex Sonty: The late inside cut killed Yordan. He had it barrelled up

11:14
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Don’t count your barrels before they’ve coopered.

11:15
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Is the MLB App the ONLY way to get locked in? Doubt.

11:16
Davidk: Harper’s homer is the biggest moment, David

11:16
Fire Ken Tremendous: Would be great if Cecil Cooper had the most barrels in MLB history

11:16
Kenny C: Astrosfan here to say that Harper’s homer was bigger

11:17
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Moment size is very subjective

11:17
Avatar Alex Sonty: Only says a man without a large moment

11:17
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Bo Jackson’s ASG homer is still a huge moment for me

11:17
Avatar Dan Szymborski: My gut size says there have been may large moments

11:17
Avatar Dan Szymborski: and ASG homers don’t really matter for anythng

11:18
Avatar Alex Sonty: Torii Hunter robbing homers two years in a row mattered a lot to me

11:19
Avatar Alex Sonty: I have no connection to Torii Hunter’s teams

11:19
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Bryson “Butters” Stott

11:19
Wireless Joe Jackson: Ixnay with the omentmay

11:19
Antonio Bananas: Hoskins home run is more memorable because of the spike.  Expectancy be damned, people remember theatrics

11:20
Yo-Yo: I mean, STL won a Series with 83 wins. That’s probably more improbable

11:20
Fire Ken Tremendous: Is there any debate that Bo was better as a football player?

11:20
Avatar Alex Sonty: No, but he was a more valuable baseball player because RBs don;’t really matter

11:20
Avatar Dan Szymborski: He was more skilled as a football player

11:21
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I think Bo is the closest anyone’s come to being a star just on pure athletic talent

11:21
Avatar Dan Szymborski: He almost brute-forced his was there

11:21
Eel Ffilc: It’s ‘Stotch” but that still made me laugh

11:21
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I know, but there’s no Stotch!

11:22
Wireless Joe Jackson: This is one of the best games in which I had no rooting interest I’ve ever watched .

11:22
Will H.: I was at the Bo Jackson 3 homer / Deion Sanders inside the park homer game.

11:24
Avatar Alex Sonty: I don’t believe one can simultaneously play two sports like that and not suffer at both. And Deion was maybe the best cover corner of all-time, he was that great.

11:22
Xax Xxxxxoxxxi: I can’t believe it’s not “butters”

11:23
Wireless Joe Jackson: I have plenty of stotch left!  …oh, wait.

11:24
Avatar David Laurila: The 1914 Boston Braves were 15 games out of first place on the 4th of July and a game under ,500 going into August. That was improbable.

11:24
Ben Schneider: Any chance we get throwback unis for one of the games?

11:25
Avatar Alex Sonty: I wanna see a throwback game in each ballpark. Quintessential retro unis from these two.

11:24
Avatar Dan Szymborski: The “beneficiary”

11:25
Daniel Bardo Pond: “Rafael Montero, #3 starting pitcher prospect on the Mets” feels like a lifetime ago.

11:25
Hugh Duffy: In terms of moments, I’m sure that Jorge Soler’s home run in Game 6 last year is slated to come back to earth any day now.

11:27
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Yeah, Kyle Tucker is such an obscure player to emerge into stardom finally tonight <eyeroll>

11:28
Reinsdorf and LaRussa’s Love CHild: The new fragrance from John Smoltz: Comfortably Confident.. Coming this holiday season.

11:29
Hugh Duffy: At least Kyle Tucker is hitting 5th in the order this year.

11:30
KC: It is just unpossible that the Phillies & Marlins have won the same number of World Series. Since the 1880s!

11:31
Fire Ken Tremendous: Was Brian Jordan at that game? Could have been the dual sport guy trifecta

11:31
Avatar Alex Sonty: Jordan was the best baseball player of two-sport guys, I think. Unless I’m forgetting someone at 10:30 p.m.

11:32
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I’m happy to see Lindor get some promotional stuff, but I hope he gets something cooler than a job search app

11:33
Daniel Bardo Pond: Only 11 pitches for Ranger Suarez seems like a decent side session between starts. The stress of a WS bullpen appearance has to count differently though, right? Any chance he’s limited a bit in his Monday start?

11:33
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I don’t think the Phillies have enough arms to have anyone be that limited

11:33
B’Ryce Hammer’s Luscious Locks: Lindor’s got that New Balance gig too

11:34
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Yeah, but aren’t New Balance mostly for doughly uncool middle aged dudes like me?

11:34
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Or are they in now?

11:34
B’Ryce Hammer’s Luscious Locks: I’m not saying it’s great… but it’s better than Indeed

11:34
Avatar Alex Sonty: New Balance has a hipster following and everyone’s into running these days.

11:34
TL Hopper: The Rays had a reliever who is now the best pickleball player in the world.  So it might have been a night of 2 sport athletes.  Googleing his name now.

11:34
TL Hopper: Kent Mercker would have been at that game, and he’s now a pickleball world champ.  2 sport athletes all over at that game.     https://www.mlb.com/news/kent-mercker-is-a-pickleball-star

11:36
Hugh Duffy: If you’ve got wide feet, New Balance is one of your few options.

11:36
Avatar Dan Szymborski: My feet are almost squares

11:36
Avatar David Laurila: Best basketball player who played in MLB be… Dave DeBusschere?

11:36
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Beats Ainge for sure

11:37
Avatar Dan Szymborski: certainly isn’t Gene Conley

11:37
Fire Ken Tremendous: That’s some top trivia

11:37
JM: New Balance cleats and stuff got popular in the mid 2010s i think

11:37
Jeter North: Why doesn’t the kid just leave the GEICO lizard at the mercy of the sea? I sure would.

11:38
Xax Xxxxxoxxxi: They are totally in : gances at his new New Balance sneakers:

11:38
Avatar Alex Sonty: Ainge was ahead of his time. He’s a starter who sits in the corner and scores 15 a game today.

11:38
Avatar Dan Szymborski: My grandfather had a Members Only jacket for the last 20 years of his life without ever realizing or care that it was “in” at any point

11:38
Jeter North: I have seven lucky pairs of NB sneakers. They rule.

11:38
Avatar Alex Sonty: Same with my grandfathers Members Only. It was burgundy

11:39
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I think it’s cheating to have SEVEN lucky pairs of sneakers

11:39
Avatar Dan Szymborski: “What’s in that cardboard box?”

11:39
Avatar Alex Sonty: I don’t think that’s what “lucky” means

11:39
Avatar Dan Szymborski: “It’s my box of 35 lucky rabbit’s feet”

11:39
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I think something’s gone over my head then

11:40
B’Ryce Hammer’s Luscious Locks: Schwar-boom? Please? Maybe?

11:40
Xax Xxxxxoxxxi: Scwharbomb

(I hope)

11:41
Avatar David Laurila: This is a great baseball game.

11:41
Justin Choi: Did not see that pitch coming

11:42
Hugh Duffy: A righty changeup on the inside to a lefty. Ballsy.

11:43
Avatar Alex Sonty: Sick pitch

11:43
Avatar David Laurila: Whoa,

11:43
Avatar Alex Sonty: No framing necessary. Just dropped it in there

11:43
Daniel Bardo Pond: Pressly thew 25 changeups all season.

11:44
Ben Schneider: Pena picked up his teammate there.  That teammate being himself

11:44
Bryce Harpers Bandana: My heart skipped a beat there

11:44
Avatar Alex Sonty: Would really hate to see this game fall to an infield fly error

11:45
Marsh’s Beard: Use two hands!!!!

11:48
Michael Scott: Yeah, tie game in the World Series is an unusual time to use high leverage guys.

11:48
Avatar Alex Sonty: NEEDS MORE LEVERAGE

11:48
Bunk: Silver Slugger candidate Maldonado with a walk off home run.  Calling it.

11:49
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Christian Vazquez must be damn good if they’re bringing in him to pinch-hit for an SS candidate!

11:49
Justin Choi: Dominguez vs. Maldonado, the unstoppable force meeting the stoppable object

11:49
Justin Choi: Who knows what will happen

11:50
CWess: I get workload and all but sheesh this game is just more evidence that SP are dying. Absolutely 0 offense since the bullpens took over

11:50
Justin Choi: I think it’s more the case that bullpens are comically good these days

11:50
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Do you REALLY always bet on Christian Vazquez in the big spots?

11:50
Avatar David Laurila: Christian Vazquez is an underrated player. Solid catcher for a number of years.

11:50
Justin Choi: Oh shoot it’s Vazquez haha

11:51
Avatar Alex Sonty: Are broadcasters contractually obligated to insert “postseason” into every sentence?

11:51
Jeter North: This is the most interesting WS Game 1 that I can recall.

11:53
Avatar Alex Sonty: Good thing Maldonado didn’t do that

11:54
Marsh’s Beard: Vazquez secret sauce

11:55
Jeter North: Caught ‘em playing deep 🙄

11:55
Avatar David Laurila: No-doubles defense and all.

11:55
Bat: Wow, that hung up there awhile…I didn’t see that dropping in.

11:55
Avatar Alex Sonty: Real deep OF

11:56
CJ: That is close

11:56
Eel Ffilc: Sweet pick by Segura

11:57
Avatar Alex Sonty: Jeremy Pena’s stance is like a cross between Alex Rodriguez and Eric Davis.

11:57
Avatar David Laurila: Crazy play. Can’t see them overturning the call.

11:57
JM: Great throw, great pick, wow

11:57
Justin Choi: Like how everyone agrees that this is great baseball on display

11:59
Avatar Alex Sonty: Yes

11:58
Avatar Alex Sonty: That’s a great catch and tag by Segura, right?

11:59
Avatar David Laurila: Good god this is great baseball.

11:59
Justin Choi: Castellanos!!

11:59
Liz: What a cool game

11:59
Bunk: What a game!

12:00
Jeter North: Good call on Eric Davis.

12:00
CJ: Are we sure he is bad defender??

12:00
Burrito Buddy: Even bad defenders are super good at the defense

12:00
Jeter North: Holy moly what a catch!!

12:00
Will H.: MOAR POPCORN DAN!!!!

12:01
CJ: Castellanos *is* bad normally, right? Could’ve fooled me.

12:01
Xax Xxxxxoxxxi: Happy Saturday

12:01
Yo-Yo: Castellanos just bought himself a “can’t judge my defense” card for the rest of his career

12:01
Marsh’s Beard: Bad defenders making routine please look hard. picking up their teammates.

12:01
Daniel Bardo Pond: Phillies, elite defensive team, confirmed.

12:01
Fire Ken Tremendous: Legendary outfielder Nick Castellanos doing what he’s known for there

12:02
CWess: We are now tomorrow

12:02
Bat: The Phillies couldn’t catch a cold during the regular season but now they are turning into defensive magicians.

12:02
Avatar Alex Sonty: Well, the Altuve single should’ve been caught

12:02
CJ: Somewhere Girardi is weeping, chuckling or throwing stuff at TV

12:02
Bat: Nick Clemente saves the games for the Phillies

12:02
Guest: Too good of a game to end on back to back shallow dinkers.

12:02
Lzfreak: The Garcia windup time!

12:03
Michael Scott: Castellanos saves his nice catches for the 9th innings of postseason game ones, apparently.

12:04
CJ: REALMUTO!!!

12:04
Jeter North: Boooomm!!!

12:04
Fire Ken Tremendous: KABOOM

12:05
CJ: WOW

12:05
Marsh’s Beard: Yeeeaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!!

12:05
Jeter North: Ballpark is absolutely stunned.

12:05
Lzfreak: This will be a fun win probability graph game when it’s all said and done

12:05
Xax Xxxxxoxxxi: Phinally!

12:06
Kwah: JT Realmutovertime

12:07
Michael Scott: So if the Phils win, then the 106 win Astros join the list of “chokers” and no dynasty.  Is this mainstream the narrative?

12:07
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Also analytics. Because

12:08
CWess: I wish we could stop with these dugout interviews

12:08
Avatar David Laurila: 100%. No idea why anyone would think that’s a good idea.

12:08
Bat: I don’t like in-game dugout interviews…I just wanted to say that.

12:08
Justin Choi: The analytics say don’t give up go-ahead homers in the 10th

12:08
Bohm Lettuce: Analytics are when a team is consistently good in the regular season but doesn’t win the World Series every year

12:08
Avatar Dan Szymborski: See, David does great interviews because he asks questions that results in something interesting for people to read about

12:09
Avatar Dan Szymborski: These types of interviews are just pointless

12:09
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Becuase they rarely elicit anything the least bit interesting

12:09
Avatar Alex Sonty: Nobody wants these guys giving mid-game interviews.

12:09
Avatar Dan Szymborski: “Tell me Joe Slugger, how did hitting the game winning home run feel?”

12:09
Avatar Alex Sonty: Hell, I don’t care what they ever have to say.

12:09
Avatar Dan Szymborski: “It felt great!”

12:10
Wire Fan: I don’t know… I thought JT might say “I was hoping to make an out”

12:10
Justin Choi: Yeah, it’s like, what do you expect the player to say? They’re mostly playing on instinct, and it isn’t in their best interest to reveal strategy

12:10
Marsh’s Beard: Yeah but what would a rod say

12:10
Kwah: The cowards at FoxSports refuse to air a live Fangraphs chat feed in a quadrant of their telecast.

12:10
Avatar Dan Szymborski: At least A-Rod may say something batshit

12:10
Hugh Duffy: Ya’ll are wrong. The in-game interviews are great.

12:10
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Well you’ve been dead for a century!

12:10
CWess: Baseball just continues to be totally clueless with regard to what good publicity is. “Let’s shove a camera in a players face in the middle of the game, thats a good trick!”

12:10
Michael Scott: But Ken gets to show off his bow-tie.

12:10
Arod: Thats an odd number lead. So the Phillies should be feeling good.

12:10
benjy: do they tell the players that they need to cut their celebrations short so they can go talk to ken? while he just stands there weirdly in the dugout?

12:11
Will H.: someone will say something crazy eventually, and it will be fun like “Saw meat and carved it up”

12:12
Avatar David Laurila: Roughly three hours ago (forget if it was here or on Twitter), someone asked what there will be more of: Astros runs or Phillies hits.

12:12
Marsh’s Beard: Arod usually says solo homers are OK

12:12
Avatar Alex Sonty: Solo HRs or three-run HRs. Two-run HRs take a guy off the bases.

12:12
Burrito Buddy: I’d rather see an interview with a player from another team who’s at home drinking

12:14
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Honestly, a lot of the complaints we have would go away if producers weren’t in these guys ears declaring “REMEMBER GUYS EVERY SINGLE SECOND HAS TO BE FILLED WITH TALKING”

12:14
Marsh’s Beard: Three hours ago I threw my remote turned off the TV and went to bed

12:14
Eel Ffilc: I’ll never get tired of a barehanded play

12:14
AdamZ: ”so mike trout, how do you think it must feel to get a big hit in the world series?”

12:14
Avatar Alex Sonty: LMAO Trout in the World Series

12:15
Bat: Syzm, remember when A-Rod had that one quote about how a larger disparity in score was worse than a smaller disparity in score?  I need to find that link.

12:15
Daniel Bardo Pond: I’m sure FOX’s thinking was “let’s capture their demeanor in the heat of a big moment” but all that goes away as soon as a camera is in their face.

12:15
Guest: @Eel.  Then you’ll love the throwback glove-less retro 1860’s baseball festival in Gettysburg, PA

12:17
Avatar Dan Szymborski: A-Rod was actually pretty good in that first postseason they brought him in just to do the pregame/postgame

12:18
Avatar Alex Sonty: A-Rod is great in the studio

12:17
Avatar Dan Szymborski: But doing in game analysis gives him WAY TOO MUCH TIME TO FILL

12:18
Avatar David Laurila: Alvarez, Bregman, Tucker due up in bottom half.

12:18
Marsh’s Beard: This one is not over yet. The Phillies two good relief arms are used.

12:21
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Chris Pratt’s stoner uncle survived the inning

12:21
Justin Choi: Alright, buckle your seatbelts…

12:22
CWess: Nobody loves themselves as much as A-Rod loves A-Rod

12:22
Avatar Alex Sonty: Can we bring it back to the reality that A-Rod had over 113 fWAR in his career? Because I’d think highly of myself, too, if I were that great at what I did.

12:22
Avatar Dan Szymborski: IS the American Sports Network “my favorite sports network?”

12:22
Child: My dad says stanek looks more like a professional bowler

12:23
Avatar David Laurila: Robertson has issued eight walks in his last five-and-two-thirds innings.

12:27
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Danh

12:27
Avatar Dan Szymborski: h

12:27
Avatar Dan Szymborski: g

12:27
Marsh’s Beard: Did Dan’s  face end up in his keyboard

12:28
Avatar Alex Sonty: lol

12:28
Bunk: Really not a good time for my local station to cut to a Big Bang Theory re-run

12:28
Bat: Robertson slays the dragon to open the 10th

12:29
Avatar Dan Szymborski: That was loud

12:29
Marsh’s Beard: Imagine Robertson when he realizes they are still two dragons left

12:29
Justin Choi: That could have been much, much worse

12:29
Kwah: High socks + Low pitch combo causes an awkward flailing effort from both Yordan Alvarez & Dan Szymborski.

12:30
CWess: Nobody is taking anything away from what A-Rod did. Can we also come back to reality that he cheated and isn’t always the most likeable character? Its okay to call out hubris where it exists. It doesn’t speak anything about his career accomplishments.

12:30
Avatar Alex Sonty: My point is that if you don’t love yourself a lot after being that great, there’s a bigger problem there. His confidence is valid.

12:30
Avatar David Laurila: Someone suggested earlier that this will be known as the Kyle Tucker game.

12:31
Avatar Alex Sonty: Now you jinxed it

12:31
Ben Schneider: Only the Crawford Boxes makes that a hit

12:31
CJ: That was out in many stadiums

12:31
Wire Fan: Is that a bloop double off the wall?

12:33
Avatar Dan Szymborski: “How about some bad NBA analogies?”

12:34
Avatar Alex Sonty: Not like NBA runs at all, Smoltz

12:34
Marsh’s Beard: Hey Trent Gresham. Now is not the time to lay one down.

12:35
Fire Ken Tremendous: I don’t even care who wins but this is tense

12:35
Avatar Alex Sonty: SAME HERE

12:37
Justin Choi: This game has everything

12:37
Wild Pitch Wilder Game: The suspense in this game is staggering. What an incredible example of the sport.

12:37
CWess: Suddenly David Robertson has no idea where the ball is going. I’d get him out of there immediately

12:38
Andrew: I absolutely love that they just called that

12:38
Daniel Bardo Pond: I waited all week for baseball to return and it has not disappointed!

12:38
Bat: WHOA!

12:39
Bat: I don’t recall seeing that since Little League

12:39
Avatar Dan Szymborski: whew that was a close shave

12:39
Avatar Alex Sonty: That was a strike

12:40
Avatar Dan Szymborski: That last explanation by Smoltz was confusing

12:40
Justin Choi: The Phillies hang on. And to imagine they were down 5-0 at some point.

12:40
Avatar David Laurila: Four-and-a-half hours of great baseball. Thanks everyone for staying with us.

12:41
Avatar Alex Sonty: “It’s hard to explain.” — Guy who’s expertise is paid to explain.

12:41
Avatar Alex Sonty: Thanks, everyone. This was a blast.

12:41
Liz: Thanks for the chat, what a great game

12:41
Justin Choi: Appreciate everyone for being great chatters!

12:42
Marsh’s Beard: Thanks guys

12:42
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Thanks for chilling with us all night!

12:42
Bat: Thanks for the chat – I enjoyed it!

12:42
Daniel Bardo Pond: Thanks for hosting this chat, guys. It was fun!

12:42
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Ima gonna hit the End Chat button





Meg is the managing editor of FanGraphs and the co-host of Effectively Wild. Prior to joining FanGraphs, her work appeared at Baseball Prospectus, Lookout Landing, and Just A Bit Outside. You can follow her on twitter @megrowler.

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