Members-Only Game Thread: ALCS – Oct 19, 2026
Welcome to our Open Game Thread for the ALCS game today. Only Members can participate, and unlike our usual staff Q&A chats, your messages will be posted immediately.
Our Member community is made up of thousands of incredibly knowledgable baseball fans, and we think this is a great way to follow a game with like-minded baseball enthusiasts. We might even have some FanGraphs Staff drop in and join the fun. Please be courteous to your fellow Members, or you may find your chat privileges revoked.
I’m hearing under 1 and 2 from my FanGraphs coworkers.
Good evening everyone!
Hello everyone. Steven Kwan is letting the beard grow and I am proud of him.
So somebody on this broadcast seems to have read my article.
Thank you!
If I'd had a little more time, I was going to do some fun graphics. You'd see a picture of José Ramírez or whoever with a big thumbs up, and then in huge letters at the bottom of the picture, it'd say "87.2 mph."
Noted FanGraphs reader Ron Darling
Hello from Raleigh, everyone!
North Carolina, not Cal
Hey guys! What's in Raleigh, Jon?
Open source coding conference
Alright everybody, best joke of the night has been achieved before we're out of the second inning.
Glad I logged on in time for the Friends reference
I wish there was a food called a Baltimore chip
chop
Not sure I agree with Matt Festa as potentially the third reliever used in an elimination game
A Festavus for the rest of us
Also by “not sure” I mean “I do not agree.” Your report card will suffer, Vogt
I need the Rays to win this game before Cascade Platinum Plus infests my brain permanently in another game
That commercial drives me crazy.
Imagine being a dishwasher repair guy and just going from house to house saying, "Yeah, nothing for me to repair. You owe me $300 for the visit, though."
I keep hearing "double dong power" and giggle because I"m a child
Also, we tried those pods. The plastic didn't dissolve all the way and they made my dishwasher leak all over the floor.
They work great in mine.
I am so perplexed.
BryanB, you're on fire tonight. Can you help me punch up articles?
YOu can always come back and win three straight in this best-of-9 series
You probably need to look at counter factual pitchers instead of just looking at outcomes. Though, that doesn’t seem to be bad for the bullpen team. If I understand it right.
This is remarkable considering he was quite bad during the regular season, successful on just 49 of 87 challenges initiated as a catcher
CHANDLER
He was 3 the first season of ZiPS 🙁
potty training?
Man, walking Taylor Walls twice is really inexcusable.
What he said.
You want to keep your best relievers saved just in case you need to hold a deficit at six!
I wish the lady in that commercial just did better brushing her teeth so that she didn't have to be ambushed
The correct pitcher IS in there now at least
I could take the Cascade commercial if after the guy says "Well now we know" if the dishwasher guy said "Knowing is half the battle!"
Honestly, I'd be very wary of a product that shows teeth whiteness change in one day
Ron Darling's always fun because I imagine it's James Woods
I used to get really mad about broadcasters when I was younger, but I kinda got over it. Because like Nickleback, they're not really FOR me.
And if you're hanging out here, and paying to read our site, you're not really the target audience for them either
Broadcasters are there for some dude who watches 8 games a year and flips on it becuase it's the ALCS and he needs someone to explain why theres' a guy named Petey
Dan, I cut a joke about those Knowing is half the battle PSAs from my article today.
I'm both proud and ashamed to admit my first concert was Nickelback when I was in 7th grade. I don't really listen to Nickelback anymore, but I had fun and perhaps against my better judgment, l like that one album, "All The Right Reasons."
But also if I never heard a Nickelback song again, I would be content
edited
Matt, buddy, they publish these transcripts.
Davey, the Fensler Films GI Joe videos was the hit of 2004 nerdy online people
Oh my God, I'd completely forgotten about those.
were
I feel like Tanner Bibee is on the roster as some sort of punishment, like he has there and sit watching and SEE how little they trust him to pitch
"SEE TANNER, LOOK WE'RE EVEN LETTING J-RAM PITCH BEFORE YOU"
They're pulling out all the theological stops for the ALCS
I wrote a song in 2020 about how you can't just sell your soul to the devil and then get it back by buying new uniforms. Looks like I was right.
If the Rays get the WS and get Brewers to an elimination game, they should choose then to whip out the never-before-seen red-and-black Tampa Bay Devils unis full of death imagery
"Nate Lowe, standing and smiling"
but you'll have clean dishes and teeth
and you'll know just what to ask your doctor about if you have motion sickness and want to go on a boat chase
The graphic in the Crest commercials suggests that sparkly toothpaste goes right into your bloodstream
Is that not how it works? I might be doing it wrong.
There's a buffet right behind the Rays bullpen. Do you think the relievers ever ask for a snack?
They're not saying boo, they're saying BOOOOOOOOOOOS
(I think they're just cheering)
Extremely nitpicking complaint: Darling has been saying "bulks pitcher" instead of "bulk pitcher" all postseason and it's driving me up a wall
That looked like a screwball
I love that he pointed to Randy and hit the Randy pose. What a move.
Looking like the Guardians might need to Chase DeLaudanum
I like how Scotch-Brite makes sure you know that they're America's number one scour pad since that's really important to viewers
I DUNNO IF I CAN TRUST THE NUMBER TWO SCOURING PAD
Are the tru tv/tbs stream commercials very different than broadcast?
Am I referencing things nobody knows WTF I'm talking about?
I'm on the stream
how long have been referencing commercials that only I am seeing?
October 19, 2026: Dan discovers that people are just listening to him and politely smiling and moving on
I haven't seen the scouring pad ads.
My goodness.
That's textbook intentionally getting hit by Martínez. He turned away from the pitch while leaning into it. Well done
One offseason, I'd for MLB to tell umpires "Hey, you know that HBP rule that you've been ignoring 100% of the time about making an effort to avoid getting hit? Can we try enforcing that?"
That was really damn scary for the Rays
Kelly could have thrown a beach ball and Rocchio would miss it there
I was taught that move too, and I appreciate it. But if I were king, I'd still say it should count as leaning into it. Because it is.
That's a great question!
A dog vet named Dr. Lobos? That sound suspicious
They should be able to challenge anything. Ask ABS if ketchup should ever be on a hot dog
I'm against ABS now
That was mostly Walls.
Well, that's a quick way to get the runs back
OK, NOW bring out the chase de laudanum
Yandy! sounds like a birth control that has obnoxious commercials
I love when they find a different camera angle that provides no useful information or visual
whew I'm a mere 48
Did he just make a Hurricane Milton joke?
I get some extra time to write my NLCS Dave Roberts report card
how can one dislike the brewers AND rays. That's pop on toast!
I like the Rays green jerseys
