The Colonel: That was the easiest prediction of the postseason. You just knew the A's would lose at least one game in Detroit and have their backs against the wall despite having "home field advantage." I'm actually kinda looking forward to finding a stream to 95.7 and listening to A's fans complain about the postseason format.
49er16: A's fans won't mention their bullpen blowing the lead in game 2 and the fact they have stopped hitting home runs.
The Colonel: Speaking of a team that can't hit home runs or hit at all right now is the Giants. Wow that was depressing to watch.
49er16: I kinda had a bad feeling before the game the Giants would suck in that series. The pitchers didn't look great against Tomato cans like Arizona, San Diego, and Colorado in September. And now they get to go to a bandbox in Cincinnati. They'll be lucky if they don't get swept.
The Colonel: The problem with the Giants this year is that they're a great frontrunning team. When they get a lead early they look fine. If they have to come from behind it's a whole different story. The offense starts hacking, the pitchers tighten up, Bochy brings in the wrong relievers. They're just completely different coming from behind and they have struggled all year to score at home.
49er16: The pitching staff just hasn't looked quite right all year. No consistency from them this year. And the hitters could at least get on base and score. Not this series though. I guess we're just going to have to see Dusty Baker blow a game in the NLDS.
The Colonel: You know truthfully I'll be happy if Dusty finally gets his. There was one thing I miss about him and would take this one single quality about Dusty over the entire Bochy any day of the week, the man knows how to teach hitting. You listen to players like Will Clark, Jeff Kent, and Rich Aurillia and they'll say Dusty taught them to be better hitters. After living through Bochy's dreadful offenses the past 7(!) years, I would take at least one year of being offensively competent again.
49er16: If last night wasn't bad enough for the Giants, I turned on the Orioles-Yankees game just in time to see Russell Martin hit that home run. Out of all the Yankee players it had to be that asshole, didn't it?
The Colonel: Of course it had to be Martin. I was more surprised it wasn't Steve Finley coming out of nowhere to hit that home run. Also what has happened to the Orioles offense? They could at least hit home runs and their bats have gone quiet. Even in the Rangers game they didn't homer.
49er16: The O's and A's are finding out that it's really is feast or famine with an all hitting home run lineup. Thankfully for the Giants in 2010 it was feast.
The Colonel: I was glad to the Cards lose on Sunday despite Davey Johnson having a non-pitcher bunt in the 8th inning. I am torn though from what I want. Do I want a team that bunts a non-pitcher in a critical moment to win? Or a team filled with dirt dogs to win?
49er16: I didn't watch that entire game, but I'm sure if Mike Matheny in that situation would have bunted as well. When will these managers learn that bunting is evil? And when will a bunt in these playoffs hurt a team?
The Colonel: I think that's the problem. A bunt hasn't come back to bite a manager in the ass during a crucial moment in the playoffs. At least I can't think of a moment where it has. And since it hasn't hurt a team yet, we'll see it.
49er16: Why do you think managers love the bunt? Or is it a necessary evil that the managers see as the opportunity to drive in some runs?
The Colonel: I think managers think more like advance stats writers than advance stats writers like to believe. Managers know they only have a limited amount of opportunities to score and they see bunting as a necessary evil to score maybe a couple of runs.
49er16: Non-playoff talk, what do you make of the Indians hiring Terry Francona and what do you make of Francona excepting that job? Seems like he could have picked another team that isn't as cheap and is more willing to build a winner.
The Colonel: The Indians have some nice pieces on offense, but wow is that pitching staff is horrible. We've seen with the Orioles this year that you can piece meal together a pitching staff. But yeah I don't know why Francona would except that job. That being said, the Indians are probably the most attractive job this offseason. The Astros are massively rebuilding. The Rockies job should scare anyone, especially a veteran manager like Francona. (Remember when Jim Leyland "retired" after one year of coaching in Colorado?) There's no way he's going to Boston. And unless that idiotic John Farrell to Boston swap happens, he can't wait around to see what Toronto is going to do. I guess he could have waited to see what happens to Ozzie in Miami, but I doubt a cheapskate like Loria is going to shell out money to pay Ozzie not to manage while also paying Francona. So the Indians was really the only job for Tito unless he wanted to wait for another year.
49er16: I almost feel sorry for the Rockies. Unless they shell out huge money for a manager like Francona to manage a team in that house of horrors, they're basically stuck with the Jim Tracy and Clint Hurdle types. Jim Leyland retiring instead of managing any more in Colorado was great. And he's right, that's not baseball in Colorado. That's a video game.
The Colonel: Enough about the Rockies. Let's go eat!
Francona really should have waited to see what happens with Leyland in Detroit. If Cleveland was so eager to hire him, they would have waited another couple of weeks.
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