Historically Landis is vindicated. At the time the Cards were stockpiling players and their huge system (4x as many farm teams as now) kept players from any chance of promotion unless the ML starter was traded or retired. The Rickey system was patently unfair to the players, and the Cards were the biggest violator by far. Every player he released would have been gone with the modern Rule 5 and minor league free agency. At that time though no way was baseball going to institute FA at any level so Landis had little other choice to rectify the situation. He saved several careers of guys who otherwise would have languished for years without getting a shot.
OGB (05-25-2013)
Something interesting I heard during a game I was watching recently, supposedly the speed of the ball coming off the bat is going to be measured for every swing in the future (if it isn't already). I think this is going to change our view on BABIP for hitters (and possibly pitchers, too). I wouldn't be surprised to find out that hitters who hit the ball harder, consistently, have a higher BABIP because ground balls get through the infield more quickly. This could turn out to not be true due to other factors mitigating it, but I'm interested to see the results.
Old school 1983 (05-25-2013)
Every team is lucky.
Old school 1983 (05-25-2013)
I can agree with that. I don't think the cards are lucky at all. They are a well run organization. I just think when my fellow reds fans say things like the cards get lucky or the playoffs are a crapshoot it's because they are looking for an excuse to explain why the cards have been more successful in the playoffs than the reds
Just finished reading this entire thread, and I must say it's one of the best threads I've ever seen on this board.
To answer the question a few have asked (about posting here because other Cards boards are terrible)...
They aren't all terrible. They just aren't as active. I post mostly at BirdsOnTheBat which has knowledgeable fans and quite a few, to put it delicately, "quirky" personalities. They have deliberately made the site difficult to find on google, presumably because they don't want to be overrun by new members coming from Cards Talk (the Post-Dispatch message board).
I mostly enjoy the talk there, but I visit other team's boards regularly to get perspective from fans of other teams. This board is very well run and I generally enjoy reading, especially the game threads when the Cards play the Reds.
I'm enjoying the fact that the Cards and Reds have the two best records in the National League, and believe that will be the situation at season's end. It's become quite a good rivalry.
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FWIW, I really like this board. The fans here seem to be very knowledgable. If anyone is interested, I read onlybucs.net on a daily basis. It's a well-run, clean site, with very knowledgable Pirates' fans. No fans for other teams post regularly there though, so it might be nice to get some other perspectives.
Not in my opinion. The best regular season teams aren't the best playoff teams sometimes. Like in my opinion, while the reds are an excellent regular season team, and have playoff caliber pitching, their lineup is too hot and cold for playoff success and their manager, while an above average regular season manager is just not the greatest in the playoffs. I think the reds have to do things to make the the team a better playoff type team like getting more team speed, more consistent hitters with a more disciplined approach, and in reality a better tactical manager. I'm not saying they need all if those things but some combo of them would help.
Do I think the regular season has been cheapened by the recent changes in playoff format,yes. This I think is unfair to the best regular season teams who had success all year. But at the same time it is the system the reds play under. That being the case, the best team doesn't always win, but the best PLAYOFF built team does a lot of the time.
Last edited by Old school 1983; 05-26-2013 at 09:53 AM.
If there is a key to being a playoff team it ain't hitting. ITS PITCHING.
Pitching gets you there but being able to prevent runs with defense and being able manufacture runs against great pitching will win it for you just as much as pitching. Its not all pitching. Thats a misconception about the playoffs. You don't win in the playoffs if you can't score against great pitching no matter how good your pitching is zero runs has never won a game. The reds generally this year and with this core of players generally have problems manufacturing runs against great pitching. If they connect for homers they win but if they have to play get em on get em over n get em in they don't fair that well. Also good disciplined hitters will wear a pitcher out faster than free swingers, which the reds have a lot of. For the most part, playoff pitchers are studs. These type of batters wear pitchers out. A fatigued pitcher is more bound to make a mistake or be pulled for a bullpen guy. Speed also kills in the playoffs. Lets use our ever not ready AAA centerfielder as an example. Even if he doesn't start. Say hanigan gets a single in a tie game late. Billy pinch runs steals a base. He easly scores on a single. If he can take third as well it doesnt require a hit.
I'm not arguing that pitching does not play a major role in getting you there. It does and the reds have a playoff caliber rotation and pen, but so does every other team in the playoffs, and your team has to find a way to manufacture runs consistently against that quality of pitching, just as much as your pitchers need to pitch at a high level. The reds have the pitching. I'm not sweating that. They don't have the offense.
Last edited by Old school 1983; 05-26-2013 at 11:41 AM.
For the record, the BRM was considered a great regular season team and a bad post-season team for the first five years... Until they won the World Series in 1975. And they almost lost that one. Had Perez not homered against Bill Lee in the sixth inning of game 7, the BRM would have gone down in history as a failure, and as a terrible playoff team.
During the regular season, I've seen last place teams dominate first place teams in their season series. That doesn't mean the last place team is a better playoff team.
Hoping to change my username to 75769024
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