2008 MLB Playoffs
- Thread starter BillD1984
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ALCS and World Series had those (Kansas City Royals did it TWICE!).
The NLCS had a 2-0 deficit overcome in the Cardinals-Dodgers series; the one where Tom Niedenfuir redefined being a playoff goat not once, but twice!
The Red Sox will try to accomplish what that Royals team did vs. Toronto in the '85 ALCS,what the '04 Red Sox did against the Yankees in the ALCS and what the Pirates did against the Orioles in the '79 World Series: come back from a 3-1 deficit, BUT winning games 6 and 7 on the road.
Bill Russell has 'em beat. He never lost a single, "winner advances, loser eliminated" game in College or the pros. He was undefeated in two NCAA tournaments and in the Olympics, and his Celtics won every Game 5 in the five-game series, and every Game 7 he played in.
Rays blast past Red Sox to the brink of the World Series - Big League Stew - MLB - Yahoo! Sports
It's the equivalent of if we got Spurs/Pistons instead of Lakers/Celtics a few months ago.
Worse. It'd be like an Indiana-Sacramento series. TB-Philly is such a bad matchup that I bet Joe Buck and Tim McCarver won't even show up for it.
I imagine that is easy when they are all still cheap and not free agent eligible for awhile.
I hope TB fans start supporting their club so when those players become FA's, they won't end up in Boston or NY or LA or Chicago because TB can't compete ($$$) to keep them.
I imagine that is easy when they are all still cheap and not free agent eligible for awhile.
I hope TB fans start supporting their club so when those players become FA's, they won't end up in Boston or NY or LA or Chicago because TB can't compete ($$$) to keep them.
Boston will have its hand and wallet full just keeping the players it has. This past season, Pedroia got paid $475,000, Papelbon about $775,000, Lester and Ellsbury about $400,000 each. The first three guys on that list will be getting over $10,000,000 a year as soon as they are arbitration eligible, though the book is out on Ellsbury's future worth, as he is a superb athlete but with below average baseball instincts.
Buchholtz got $400,000 this year, but if he is a genuine major league starter, you'll have to multiply that number by more than ten fold, and Okajima, who was great in 2007 but who let in more than half the runners he inherited in 2008, gets about $1,250,000 and will surely get more next year as well. Throw in the fact that Youkilis, who gets paid around $3 million now, gets a huge jump either this winter or next, and it conceiveably could cost the Red Sox about $50 million more a year to keep those players than they are getting paid at present.
I'll still be watching, no matter what.
Don't sell a potential Phillies-Rays series short.
A lot of good offensive players and a lot of good pitching.
I imagine that is easy when they are all still cheap and not free agent eligible for awhile.
Which is exactly what my point was.
Bill Russell was the biggest winner in the history of sports.
It's my loss for never having seen him play live.
Yup. No question, the Red Sox will have to ante up when these young kids are free agent eligible.
I think you are really selling Philly short. It's not as huge as LA and the team doesn't have quite the regional following of the BoSox, but Philadelphia is far from a small market and in terms of the team itself, it has some particularly recognizable players (the last two MVPs for example). Philadelphia is something like the 5th or 6th largest TV market in the country.
The problem is Tampa Bay with its limited history and fanbase, relatively smaller market (with a lot of transplants) and lack of big name players. A Philly-Boston World Series would have actually been fine in terms of ratings (not as high as LA-Boston, but not a ratings quagmire).
Philly-Tampa, IMO, would be like Lakers/Pacers was in 2000- One huge market against a smaller market.
And a Philly-Tampa series would have the appeal of a Milwaukee Bucs vs. Golden State Warriors series. Can you say, Yuck!
Tampa Bay Rays welcome (band)wagon quiz
In an effort to welcome new Rays fans, a few fun trivia questions.......
1. The Rays wasted two second-round draft picks on two quarterbacks from state universities in Florida.
2. Besides Jackie Robinson’s No. 42, the Rays also retired the jersey number of a player that hit just nine home runs in a Rays uniform.
3. Tropicana Field has also been called “The Thunderdome,” “The Florida Suncoast Dome,” and “The SunDome.”
4. In the ‘80s and early ‘90s, the following teams were rumored to be considering relocating to the Bay area: A’s, Giants and Mariners.
5. Rolando Arrojo holds the team record for wins in a season with 14, from their expansion season (recently tied this year by James Shields and Edwin Jackson).
6. The Rays’ first draft pick in the June draft was Paul Wilder, a powerful, high school first baseman that never hit more than 13 home runs in five minor league seasons.
7. Tampa Bay chose a bad player just one pick ahead of the following players they could have had instead: Gavin Floyd, Mike Pelfrey and Joey Votto.
8. The Rays traded Bobby Abreu for half-a-bag of Oreos and a Cyndi Lauper CD.
9. Tampa Bay once traded their leadoff man and second-best hitter on the team in 2002 for a manager.
10. Their first-ever win was against the Yankees.
ANSWER KEY:
1. TRUE: Florida’s Doug Johnson and Miami’s Kenny Kelly spent time in the lower minors before fizzling out.
2. TRUE: Wade Boggs’ No. 12 is retired, despite just two seasons in St. Pete.
3. FALSE: The Sun Dome is the Univ. of South Florida’s basketball arena in Tampa.
4. FALSE: The White Sox were rumored, not the A’s.
5. TRUE: After going 14-12 in his first year, Arrojo never won more than 10 games in a season.
6. TRUE: Unfortunately.
7. TRUE: The Rays unwisely chose to go with Dewon Brazelton (’01), Wade Townsend (’05) and Jason Pridie (’02) instead.
8. FALSE: Although some would argue that Oreos and a CD would have been better value than SS Kevin Stocker.
9. TRUE: Randy Winn was shipped to Seattle for manager Lou Piniella.
10. FALSE: They beat the Tigers for their first win, in their second game ever – on April Fool’s Day, 1998.
From:
Sports Community, Chat - User Profile: Gonos - Sports Blog - RSS - OPEN Sports
In an effort to welcome new Rays fans, a few fun trivia questions.......
1. The Rays wasted two second-round draft picks on two quarterbacks from state universities in Florida.
2. Besides Jackie Robinson’s No. 42, the Rays also retired the jersey number of a player that hit just nine home runs in a Rays uniform.
3. Tropicana Field has also been called “The Thunderdome,” “The Florida Suncoast Dome,” and “The SunDome.”
4. In the ‘80s and early ‘90s, the following teams were rumored to be considering relocating to the Bay area: A’s, Giants and Mariners.
5. Rolando Arrojo holds the team record for wins in a season with 14, from their expansion season (recently tied this year by James Shields and Edwin Jackson).
6. The Rays’ first draft pick in the June draft was Paul Wilder, a powerful, high school first baseman that never hit more than 13 home runs in five minor league seasons.
7. Tampa Bay chose a bad player just one pick ahead of the following players they could have had instead: Gavin Floyd, Mike Pelfrey and Joey Votto.
8. The Rays traded Bobby Abreu for half-a-bag of Oreos and a Cyndi Lauper CD.
9. Tampa Bay once traded their leadoff man and second-best hitter on the team in 2002 for a manager.
10. Their first-ever win was against the Yankees.
ANSWER KEY:
1. TRUE: Florida’s Doug Johnson and Miami’s Kenny Kelly spent time in the lower minors before fizzling out.
2. TRUE: Wade Boggs’ No. 12 is retired, despite just two seasons in St. Pete.
3. FALSE: The Sun Dome is the Univ. of South Florida’s basketball arena in Tampa.
4. FALSE: The White Sox were rumored, not the A’s.
5. TRUE: After going 14-12 in his first year, Arrojo never won more than 10 games in a season.
6. TRUE: Unfortunately.
7. TRUE: The Rays unwisely chose to go with Dewon Brazelton (’01), Wade Townsend (’05) and Jason Pridie (’02) instead.
8. FALSE: Although some would argue that Oreos and a CD would have been better value than SS Kevin Stocker.
9. TRUE: Randy Winn was shipped to Seattle for manager Lou Piniella.
10. FALSE: They beat the Tigers for their first win, in their second game ever – on April Fool’s Day, 1998.
From:
Sports Community, Chat - User Profile: Gonos - Sports Blog - RSS - OPEN Sports
Jon Miller & Joe Morgan were commenting when they were covering the ALCS in Tampa that the city's newspaper ran extensive articles on baseball rules and how to act @ ballgames. Example: Prior to the the start of the games, they would play a video about "Ringing Your Cowbells Responsibly"!!!!
Call 'em bandwaggoneers or whatever you like, I think the Tampa story is a great one and should they defeat the Sox and make the Series I will watch it with as much fervor. I think it will be a great series should it head to Tampa.
Call 'em bandwaggoneers or whatever you like, I think the Tampa story is a great one and should they defeat the Sox and make the Series I will watch it with as much fervor. I think it will be a great series should it head to Tampa.
That's pathetic. TB, last I checked, was in Florida. What kind of fool doesn't know how to cheer at a baseball game? What were they doing cheering foul balls? If TB makes it to the WS it might be the first time in WS history you could actually walk up to the ticket window day of game and get a ticket.
