World Series Game 5 ChatMeg Rowleyon October 25, 2020 at 9:30 pm

8:02	Dan Szymborski: Good evening!

8:02

DJ Kitty: Jeff Passan noted Game 4 was among wildest World Series games he’s covered–with a “no (effin’) way” finish–also singling out Game 6, 2011 and Game 7, 2016.
Last night’s game was the only 9 inning game in that short list… can we quantify whether that was indeed the craziest 9 inning WS game?

8:03	Dan Szymborski: I actually have something on this for the morning.

8:03	CJ: I’m already dreading this series for Kershaw and Dodgers. Instead of reversing the ‘narratives’, game 4 ended up enforcing all of them. Now they have to rely on Kershaw to be super human – again – to reverse the tide and pitch until his arm falls off.

8:03	Dan Szymborski: Every playoff series has an awkward narrative.

8:03	Dodger Fan: I have no memory of last night. Please, no one tell me what I missed.

8:03	David Laurila: Hello Dan. Hello fellow baseball fans. (Dan is a baseball fan fellow, as well.)

8:04	Dan Szymborski:

8:04	Dan Szymborski: Hey David, how’s it going?

8:04	David Laurila: Tonight can’t possibly b as fun as last night. Right? Maybe not right.

8:05	Dan Szymborski: Depends on the team you’re rooting for. The last few innings were bananas and wonderfully tense baseball at its best.

8:05	Dan Szymborski: Me, I’m fine with either team winning!

8:05

David Laurila: Kevin Cash earlier today: “It was pandemonium last night. The ball was being thrown around all over the place, kicked around; Randy is falling. It was a pretty fun night — certainly for the Tampa Bay Rays — and a good night for baseball as a whole. I would imagine that’s the type of game fans want to see.”

8:05	Dan Szymborski: May not be quite as fun for Rays/Dodgers fan.

8:06	Dan Szymborski: For some reason, Brett Phillips needing some clubhouse medicine after exhausting himself just makes the legend of last night greater!

8:06	David Laurila: Dave Roberts admitted to being shellshocked after the winning run scored, but “yesterday was yesterday and our focus has to be about today — today only.”

8:07	Dan Szymborski: He might deserve to be manager of the year if he can actually get his team to not think about yesterday!

8:07	Dan Szymborski: And he’s certainly gotta be thinking about Jansen. His location was a disaster and he was out of options trying to put away batters.

8:07	David Laurila: Roberts was asked this afternoon how he slept last night. His response: “Actually I slept well. I had a little help, but I slept well. Some medication. I slept like a baby.”

8:08	Dan Szymborski: I don’t have kids, but from what people who I know who have kids say, sleeping like a baby isn’t that great.

8:09	Dan Szymborski: Though my one-year-old nephew seems to sleep well. I didn’t know putting babies in sacks to sleep was a thing, but apparently it is!

8:09	Guest: How hot is Dave Robert’s seat right now?

8:10	Dan Szymborski: It’s gotta be at least warm. At some point, someone always faces the axe when there’s disappointment.

8:10

David Laurila: Tyler Glasnow said yesterday that he doesn’t need to make specific adjustments against Dodgers hitters, he simply needs to execute his pitches better than h did in his last start — especially early in the count so that he’s working ahead. If he does, he feels he can match up against anybody.

8:11	David Laurila: Markus Betts continues to be good at baseball.

8:12	Dave Roberts: pretty close to ideal start for the Dodgers

8:13	Dan Szymborski: David, do you watch Peaky Blinders? Someone on Twitter yesterday made a comparison between Cillian Murphy and Tyler Glasnow that I can’t un-see now.

8:13	Dan Szymborski:

8:13	LarryTheBerry: If LA loses today do you think they throw Bueler in G6? Or save him for G7 know that they’d need to win both anyway?

8:13	David Laurila: Kevin Cash was asked today if the Rays need to start pitching around Kyle Seager. He said that with the Dodgers’ lineup, they’d be asking for trouble if “they get cute and try to pitch around guys.” Might want to rethink that one.

8:14	David Laurila: I have never heard of Peaky Blinders, nor of Cillian Murphy.

8:15	Sam: I don’t remember the last time I’ve seen Corey Seager make an out

8:15	Dan Szymborski: Definitely check it out if you get a chance, it’s a period British gangster show. And at like 30 episodes, which is like 20 more than any English show in history.

8:15	Dan Szymborski: Sam: In the field!

8:16	Kwah: I was in the left field bleachers for Game 1 2000 World “Subway” Series, Yankees over Mets, one of the longest WS games in history. Twas fun, lot of crazy stuff happened. Last night watching on the telly with you folks was as entertaining.

8:16	Guest: Corey Seager, David?

8:16	David Laurila: I’m bad on Seagers.

8:16	Dan Szymborski: I call Bellinger Clay all the time.

8:17	Dan Szymborski: Which is weird given that his dad wasn’t a prominent player.

8:17	Dan Szymborski: But I also refer to both Romines as Kevin sometimes.

8:17	Rave Doberts: ”I’ll be watching Kershaw closely until the first sign of trouble. Then I’ll bring in our secret weapon: Pedro Baez”

8:18	Dan Szymborski: The only thing worse than a long Pedro Baez appearance is a short one!

8:18	BringBackDeSpanielHair: I’m confused about why everyone is down on Jansen. He looked good last night, even if the results weren’t there. Was hitting 93-94 with good movement. #shrugs

8:18	Dan Szymborski: The velocity was there, but look where both the hits were. Center-in and there’s no way those were the intended locations.

8:18	Dan Szymborski: Better hitters, especially than Phillips, could have really turned on those.

8:19	Guest: Dan, that is a OLD movie reference. I do appreciate it, but am dreading to think how many on the chat would recognize it..

8:20	Dan Szymborski: Hey North by Northwest was nearly 20 years before I was born. Age is no excuse to have not seen it!

8:20

Kiermaier’s Piercing Green Eyes: The location on Jansen’s cutters were not the indended spots.

Positive Residual

@presidual

The worst part about that fateful pitch was it happened twice. Kenley Jansen made the same mistake against Kevin Kiermaier *and* Brett Phillips. A cutter intended to be up and in was instead middle in, and *both* hitters singled softly to right-center.

25 Oct 2020

8:21	Dan Szymborski: Yeah, that’s about what I was thinking.

8:21	David Laurila: Fun fact: Corey Seager had 44 doubles and 44 walks in 2019.

8:22	Guest: Dan I made green chicken chili tonight. What’s your ruling on that

8:22	Dan Szymborski: Possibly not OFFICIAL chili, but it was probably good. I’m a chili fundamentalist!

8:22	Dodger Fan: Glasnow does have some control issues tonight; his stuff looks awesome though.

8:22	5 Run Homer: 44 doubles seems like a lot, more than I thought Seager would’ve had

8:22	David Laurila: Glasnow feels he was just missing early in his last start, and a bit wilder later on.

8:23	Dave Roberts: does anyone have Will Smith’s xSLG in the playoffs? Seems like he’s been crushing it right at fielders

8:23	Dan Szymborski: I can get it!

8:23	kevinthecomic: These “most in a post season” records are irritating — they’re comparing 20 games to 4 or 5 games in some cases.

8:23	David Laurila: Concur.

8:24	Dan Szymborski: Will Smith’s xSLG for the playoffs this year is .355.

8:25	Dan Szymborski: Among players with 20 AB this postseason, Giancarlo Stanton leads.

8:26	Dan Szymborski: Oops, that was just regular SLG!

8:26	Dan Szymborski: And 2-0. Seager would likely be MVP if a Dodgers win today would have won the Series.

8:27	Dan Szymborski: So to correct myself from earlier, Smith’s xSLG for the playoffs is .494.

8:27	David Laurila: Sarah Langs on Twitter: “Tyler Glasnow’s strikeout of Justin Turner came on a curveball with a 3,275 rpm spin rate.”

8:28	Dan Szymborski:

8:28	Dan Szymborski: Minimum 20 PA. Seager at second place.

8:28	Geebs: Hey Dan is here, my vote last night counted!

8:29	Dan Szymborski: This is likely my last chat for the postseason unless they need reinforcements. Trust me, you would get tired of too much of me. I get tired of too much of me.

8:29	Guest: Does it seem to anyone else that Smoltz has been…fine the past couple games? Do you think anyone said anything to him?

8:29	David Laurila: Smoltz is underrated.

8:30	Dan Szymborski: As I said yesterday, Smoltz is great when he’ll allowed to talk about his wheelhouse.

8:30	Dan Szymborski: When he talks about the art of actually pitching, he’s one of the best.

8:30	Dan Szymborski: I think you forget the broadcasters when the game is excellent.

8:30	BringBackDeSpanielHair: Lets do this! Hoping to see Kershaw shut the critics down with a stellar performance.

8:30	David Laurila: Earlier today Kevin Cash called Clayton Kershaw, “one of the game’s all-time best.”

8:30	Dan Szymborski: The games we complain the most do appear to be the least exciting games.

8:31	Angel Hernandez: “I’ve noticed the umpires haven’t gotten any attention this WS. They should’ve had me in there!! We need more unnecessary drama and attention!”

8:32	Dan Szymborski: Umpires should all be from the Milford school: Neither seen nor heard.

8:32	David Laurila: With Kershaw in mind, the Dodgers and Twins went into 1965 World Series Game 5 tied at two games each. Sandy Koufax threw a four-hit shutout. Three days later he threw a three-hit shutout in Game 7.

8:32	sadtrombone: I would never get tired of you, Dan. Okay, maybe “never” is strong but certainly not before this series ends.

8:33	sadtrombone: Here he is, Babe Arozarena

8:33	Sam: You can always tell a Milford man

8:33	Every Dodger Fan: Game will be tied within 3 pitches.

8:34	sadtrombone: Kershaw definitely has a plan against Arozarena.

8:34	The Devil: “I know I put this curse on the Dodgers, but I kinda want Kershaw to do well tonight and the Dodgers to just win the series finally. I mean, I kinda feel bad honestly”

8:35	Marnie: The Devil used to be a part of the Tampa Bay ownership

8:35	sadtrombone: Every single one of Kershaw’s pitches could be stacked on top of each other. It’s uncanny.

8:35	David Laurila: Baseball is a game of inches.

8:36	5 Run Homer: oooooooooooh man

8:36	Logan: Would have been fair if he had been jumping Fisk-style.

8:36	The Devil: ”what can I say. I’ve got my hands in a lot of baskets. Sorry not sorry”

8:37	Dan Szymborski: That was about my golf swing…and result.

8:37	Mike: Wait people had fun last night? I thought it was just my recurring nightmares about games 2 and 5 of 2017. It was the 3rd time I’ve seen that baseball game and it always ends badly

8:37	Dan Szymborski: I had fun!

8:37	Dodger Fan: That was Taylor made.

8:37	Dodger Nation: enormous sigh of relief

8:39	Dan Szymborski: I still can’t believe they kept the Folger’s commercial after the Jeff Toobin stuff!

8:40	The Devil: “I sneezed to keep that one foul. You’re welcome. Ok that’s it for me, time to morph back into my regular form: Rob Manfred”

8:40	David Laurila: From Jon Morosi: Corey Seager is a candidate to become the 8th player to win LCS and WS MVP honors in the same year. The others: Bumgarner, 2014; Freese, 2011; Hamels, 2008; Hernandez, 1997; Hershiser, 1988; Porter, 1982; Stargell, 1979.

8:41	Mike: Re: David’s quote of Glasnow on executing better. As a Dodger fan I am greatly encouraged and think Glasnow is very wrong about that. Trying to get the Dodgers to swing and miss outside the zone is unlikely to end well and doubling down on it is the best possible thing from my perspective

8:42	Dan Szymborski: Honestly, if people had the key to defeating the Dodgers, they wouldn’t have been 43-17! Plans and four quarters gets you a dollar against prime Mike Tyson.

8:43	Dodger Fan: JOCTOBERFEST!

8:43	Kwah: Joc PedeHRgone.

8:43	5 Run Homer: Joc, jam

8:43	Dave Roberts: he’s doing his best to make Joctober a thing

8:43	Kiermaier’s Piercing Green Eyes: My heart is heavy but I love the thought of a full night of sleep if this game is noncompetitive.

8:44	Dan Szymborski: For personal reasons, I just don’t want it to be 6 hours!

8:44	David Laurila: Last night was a reminder that you stick around for the end.

8:46

Dan Szymborski: Back for the Patriots/Falcons Super Bowl, my girlfriend and I left the Super Bowl party we were at when it was 28-9 in the 4th because she had work the next day and couldn’t skip it. Got back to the house and turned on the TV to see if the game was still on and I was surprsied to see the Patriots celebrating!

8:46	David Laurila: I went to bed a little after one last night and got up this morning at seven. Count me among those not wanting another four-plus-hour game.

8:46	sadtrombone: And unless the Rays pull Glasnow I doubt it’s going to be much of a nailbiter. My goodness.

8:46	Guest: Game 3 in 2018 ended at 3:36 EDT, the Red Sox lost yet it still is a great memory.

8:47	David Laurila: Patriots fans didn’t celebrate today. Nor did Falcons fans.

8:47	Dan Szymborski: Luckily, I’m a night owl. When baseball season’s in full blast, I tend to sleep from 4-10 and then I take a 2 hour nap before the 7 PM games.

8:48	Guest: It’s these cursed hats the rays are wearing. They look like the bad guy from aquaman

8:48	Dan Szymborski: “We wear them for luck, only good things happened when were the Devil Rays!” (not a quote)

8:48

Craig: I get they’re the owners and they can do what they want. And maybe I’m just unaware, but do they generally have the knowledge to overrule things the baseball ops department decides on? Or do they usually just interject for monetary reasons (like what was the word on the Joc/Stripling deal getting nixed)?

8:49	Dan Szymborski: It depends. There’s a huge array of how different franchises function.

8:49	Hugh Duffy: The Rays hats are neither as stylish nor as evil as Black Manta.

8:50	sadtrombone: Joc/Stripling deal was because Moreno was sick of waiting and didn’t like feeling beholden to the Dodgers. Of course they were both terrible this year so it probably worked out well for them.

8:50	Dan Szymborski: The Angels really should have closed the deal though.

8:50	Craig: Was Bill Buckner “great?” Maybe just some friendly courtesy

8:50	Dave Roberts: The Joc deal got held up and the word was that Moreno didn’t want the delay

8:50	Guest: Luis Rengifo was worse

8:51	David Laurila: Fun fact: Bill Buckner’s last career home run was an inside-the-parker.

8:51	Dan Szymborski: Man Bruce Willis got old.

8:51	Fangraph’s Lurker: Arozarena has been amazing, and has me wondering how good Franco will be. Can you give me an example of the gap between them with two players currently in the bigs?

8:52	Dan Szymborski: Aro’s been terrific, been Wander has mega-superstar potential that Aro can’t touch.

8:52	kevinthecomic: Wasn’t Buckner batting champ or MVP or something one year?

8:52	Dan Szymborski: I know you said currently, but Dom DiMaggio was a really good player.

8:52	David Laurila: In 1980 withe the Cubs.

8:53	Dan Szymborski: But he was never going to be Joe. How did I pull that particular name switch? SMDH

8:53	Guest: How many megasuperstars are currently playing

8:54	Dan Szymborski: That’s always in the eye of the beholder. I’m thinking top 5ish guys

8:54

Mike: People getting gushy about Arozarena forget what Aristedes Aquino looked like in 19. Guys start as phenoms much more frequently than they’re able to sustain it when the league gets to scout their weakness for a season of PAs. Arozarena could be a mega star and he may also be playing the best 50 games of his career at the best possible time

8:55	David Laurila: Dom DiMaggio pulled a hammy in the eighth inning of the “Pesky Held the Ball” Game 7 and had to be replaced in center by Leon Culberson, a less-accomplished fielder. Played a role in Enos Slaughter’s mad dash.

8:56	Guest: So Dan, just confirming, you don’t use playoff stats in ZiPS?

8:56	Dan Szymborski: No, I always do!

8:56	Dan Szymborski: I tested years ago with ZiPS and with Marcel. Slightly improves the accuracy.

8:56	Dan Szymborski: Which makes sense, these aren’t exhibition games, they’re games that super count against the best teams in baseball!

8:56	Dan Szymborski: Wouldn’t it be weird if we only evaluated boxers by non-championship fights?

8:57	Mike: Playoff stats seem way more useful this year with extra games in the postseason and less games in the regular season. Much larger increase in the sample

8:57	Dan Szymborski: They’re always useful though!

8:57	Dodger Fan: That was Margot’s birthday present to John Smoltz.

8:57

David Laurila: Speaking of bunting, last night’s failed sacrifice by Enrique Hernandez was a defendable strategy IMO. Had it been successful the Dodgers would have had a runner on third, one out, and Betts — a great hitter with a relatively low K rate — at the plate. If you pitch around him, you get Seager and Turner.

8:58	David Laurila: Sacrifice bunts are mostly bad, but there are exceptions.

8:58	Dan Szymborski: Arozarena has nine homers against the Yankees, Astros, Dodgers. Why should those not be in projections? These were games that mattered and these were things that he DID.

8:58	Guest: Kershaw’s at that age where he gets a handicap, huh?

8:58	Kiermaier’s Piercing Green Eyes: That call was kind of outrageous.

8:59	Andrew Friedman: “I talked to Dave last night. If he loses the World Series, we’ll offer him as tribute in Manfred’s Inaugural 2021 Hunger Games”

8:59	Guest: David, that’s the rub of the bunt though isn’t it? “If it’s successful.” I think the criticism is the chance that it wasn’t successful, PLUS the diminished chance of a regular hit working out.

9:00	Dan Szymborski: If you run the numbers on bunts, it doesn’t take a very high successful bunt hit rate for the calculus to become much better.

9:00	Dan Szymborski: I like bunts when it’s a situation and with a guy where it could be a sacrifice, but there’s a real chance it could be more.

9:00	Dan Szymborski: And really, the threat of a bunt has value.

9:00	Dan Szymborski: Though I’m not sure how to do the math with that.

9:00	Chuck: Have you run Aroz’s projections for next year? Im very curious for fantasy

9:00	Dan Szymborski: I did in one of the Live events for FG!

9:01	Dan Szymborski: The Eric/Ben casts.

9:01	Dan Szymborski: I don’t have it handy.

9:01	Dan Szymborski: And I don’t have the ZiPS SuperComputer open right now.

9:03	Dan Szymborski: 42 yards for Renfroe with the Raiders and then a game tonight!

9:03	Dan Szymborski: (Sorry)

9:03	Jesse: My memory of the Arrozarena ZiPS projection was above average regular

9:03	Mike: Max Muncy has a sort of insane career postseason batting line

9:03	Sam: Glasnow is getting hit very hard

9:06	CJ: IMHO, all the discussions on bunt in recent days are skewed, because NO ONE CAN BUNT

9:07	sadtrombone: Striking out on a wild pitch is peak Glasnow.

9:07	David Laurila: Per Tyler Kepner: That’s a World Series record for Glasnow: 3 wild pitches in one game.

9:08	Jim: The Raiders also have an AJ Cole. I was super confused the first time I realized this, as it was at the same time I realized they had a Hunter Renfrow. Spooky

9:08	Dan Szymborski: And there’s still time to beat it!

9:12	Tampa Bay Ray Liottas: Jeffrey Toobin is way ahead of you Dan

9:12	Dan Szymborski: I give all FanGraphs readers my Yes Pants Guarantee.

9:12	Guest: Will one of Wander Franco or Willy Adames have to move to third base in the future Rays infield?

9:12	Dan Szymborski: The Rays never stand still as a roster, they’ll cross that path when they get to it.

9:16	David Laurila: FWIW: Hunter Renfroe was asked the other day if he’d like to see some of this year’s new rules, such as a runner on second in extra innings, and seven-inning doubleheaders, carry over to next season. His response: “I want to go back to baseball.”

9:17	Kwah: Hunter Retroe.

9:17	Dave Roberts: looks like Zunino wasn’t expecting the … fastball right down the middle

9:17	Appa Yip Yip: I like bunts because of the discourse

9:17	Rave Doberts: “I rubbed Magic Johnson’s head last night and it said we would win the series”

9:18	David Laurila: Rays on the board!

9:19	Steve Nebraska: Terrible route by Betts…

9:19	kevinthecomic: Betts played that into a triple

9:19	Hugh Duffy: A triple from a big slow guy! Exciting plays in baseball! Take that Hunter Retroe!

9:19	Mob Ranfred: “Because of Hunter Renfroes insolence, in 2021 we’ll be having 1 inning doubleheaders, with each inning consisting of 21 outs”

9:19	Marnie: that’s the correct response

9:22	sadtrombone: IMO Glasnow is like Freddy Peralta, but even more so. When he’s on, he’s completely unhittable. When he’s off, you just have to pull him.

9:22	Dave Roberts: worth noting that Randy Arozarena has also tied the record for most games played in a single postseason

9:22	Mob Ranfred: “I’m not a monster though. After 10 outs, both teams will get a 5 min break to go pee and have an orange slice. But we’re still contracting the hell out of the minor leagues”

9:24	David Laurila: Meanwhile, I just opened a bottle of Smuttynose Old Brown Dog. This baseball contest merits one (or more).

9:25	bosoxforlife: Why didn’t Morosi also mention that if the Rays win Arozarena will also be MVP of both series?

9:25	Kwah: Randeadmeat Arozarena.

9:26	BLABB: How awesome would a un-assisted quadruple play be in such an inning, Mob?

9:26	David Laurila: Too many outs on the bases for the Rays this series. Obviously would have had another last night had Smith caught the throw in the ninth.

9:26	Dan Szymborski: Echo & the Bunnymen’s The Killing Moon should be required to be played every time an announcer says twin killing.

9:26	JocPop: kershaw threw a couple 82-83 mph sliders that half inning. smack in the middle of his avg slider and curveball velos. they looked a little loopier too, interesting to watch

9:28	David Laurila: Just saw a political ad on my TV and somehow refrained from throwing my bottle of Old Brown Dog at the screen.

9:28	Dodger Fan: “Twin Killing” is really just what the Yankees do. It’s not a K-CS.

9:29	Marnie: “future me needs this beer and this TV”

9:29	David Laurila: Yes.

9:29	Lzfreak: As a Twins fan I’ve always hated that phrase

9:29	Tampa Bay Ray Liottas: I’m enjoying a delicious Copper Legend from Jack’s Abby. A great October fest beer

9:30	Marnie: The Twins going into a playoff series: WITNESS ME BROTHERS!

9:30	Dan Szymborski: I’m not drinking anything because I’m losing weight to take some pressure off my poor back.

9:30	Dan Szymborski: Water, without bubbles and gin!

9:30	Guest: As a father of twins I’ve always hated that saying

9:30	Bb: This is the first WS since my state legalized weed.

9:31	Dave Roberts: fun fact: Brett Phillips now has a career cWPA of +29.1%. Jeter’s career cWPA was +1.5%

9:34

Mob Ranfred: “In 2022, we’ll be instituting the “Playoff Cryo Chambers. Each team can freeze one player per season and thaw them out for the playoffs, decreasing chance of injury and increasing said players effectiveness. It’ll be called the Pederson Playoff Preservation Plan, and only cost each team a player of their choice offered up for the annual Hunger Games. Choose wisely, and may the odds be ever in your favor”

9:34	Lzfreak: Would Glasnow be more effective today if he hadn’t thrown so many pitches in game 1?

9:34	David Laurila: Glasnow has hung in well, which is something the Rays really need.

9:35	Dan Szymborski: I’m not sure, there’s always a chance he goes erratic. As David says, Glasnow didn’t collapse after a rough start.

9:35	kevinthecomic: All of a sudden, a QS for Glasnow isn’t out of reach

9:37	David Laurila: Cole, Glasnow, Taillon would be a strong top three.

9:37	weezy: @kevinthecomic I would still very much take the under on him hitting a QS

9:37	Logan: Are Cash and Roberts going to push Glasnow and Kershaw too far out of concern for their bullpens, given the number of pitchers used last night?

9:38	David Laurila: Day off tomorrow impacts those decisions, I’d think.

9:38	Pete: Cole, Taillon, Glasnow is nice, but Williams, Empty Husk of Chris Archer, and, uh, Steven Brault(?) isn’t half bad, thanks very much.

9:39	Kwah: Tyler Gladequatenow is all Jeff Sullivan wants tonight.

9:39	David Laurila: Chancy by Margot, and perhaps lucky.

9:39	Dodger Fan: TAYLOR CANNOT CATCH ANYTHING

9:39	Dan Szymborski: TAYLOR PORK ROLL

9:40	Dan Szymborski: If you throw 11 pitches at once, you’ll always be effective!

9:40	Kiermaier’s Piercing Green Eyes: TAYLOR HAM YOU IGNORAMUS

9:40	Dan Szymborski: PORK ROLL

9:40	Dave Roberts: Margot came off lol

9:40	Guest: Oh boy, Taylor.

9:40	Dave Roberts: Dodgers are really metsing it up

9:41	Guest: It’s easy to make fun of the Pirates for trading Glasnow for Archer but when you consider they also would’ve kept Austin Meadows it’s even easier.

9:41	David Laurila: I hate the review process where a runner maybe was a fraction of an inch off the base for a fraction of second.

9:41	Kiermaier’s Piercing Green Eyes: Dan why the hell are you familiar with the Taylor Ham vs pork roll debates?

9:41	Dan Szymborski: I’m from the east coast.

9:41	Grant: I hate these replays that look into incidental loss of a contact between a runner and the base

9:41	Marnie: man if your torso and body are sliding directly OVER the bag, that should be safe.

9:41	Ford Prefect: I agree with the review comment for sure.

9:41	Sam: Yeah that would be very unfortunate if they reversed it, I hate that

9:41	LarryTheBerry: Asking for this type of challenge is so asinine. Just fucking stop it

9:42	Lzfreak: Baserunning is playing a role this series

9:42	Dan Szymborski: I love a Taylor pork roll sandwich. My mom orders cases delivered and fills up her freezer and I walk over and steal a bunch fo them

9:42	Steve Nebraska: Your job as the runner is to stay on the bag, if you’re going too fast that you can’t hold the bag, that’s your own fault and you should go more under control

9:43	Guest: Since physically it’s impossible to actually touch anything atom to atom, someone should challenge every baserunning play

9:43	Dan Szymborski: don’t cut four slices into a pork roll or it comes out looking like an iron cross after cooking

9:43	David Laurila: On a related note, VAR in soccer is not a great thing.

9:43	Ford Prefect: I guess the other side of it is you have to credit Fox for the camera work in this Series.

9:43	bosoxforlife: Just another area where old time baseball was far better than this. If you beat the ball you were safe unless there was an egregious situation.

9:44	Grant: Steve Nebraska, agreed, but this kind of call was NEVER made pre-replay. Technically, it’s correct, but I believe it’s not in line with the spirit of the rule. IMO

9:44	Six Ten: A couple years ago I saw someone suggest a vertical column above the base and as long as the runner has achieved the base he remains safe. I think it was after Terrance Gore was caught this way?

9:44	Mike: It’s like I can palpably feel this game slipping away into another chaotic mess that the Dodgers will never win in a million years

9:45	Dave Roberts: Why do we need all these specifics about how to change the replay rule when they can easily do what they just did: call the runner safe even though he clearly came off while the tag was applied

9:45	Guest: do we want to reward speed, or ability to perfectly control every millisecond of your slide?

9:45	Dan Szymborski: CONTROL YOUR ATOMS!

9:45	David Laurila: A lot of Dodgers fans aren’t filled with positivity.

9:45	Lzfreak: Kershaw is losing it

9:45	Guest: “Safety” is an illusion.

9:46	Jim: There’s nothing quite like the excitement of postseason baseball to bring out the immense negativity of all fanbases.

9:46	Kiermaier’s Piercing Green Eyes: The pessimism of LA fans is interesting, because I think they’re pretty clearly outplayed TB thus far.

9:46	Mike: I’m fatalistic at this point. I expected them to lose, I don’t know how you recover from last night. If anything it’s been better then I expected.

9:46	Pete: It’s called baseball for a reason. If you are not on the base, you are not safe. If you can’t control your body or speed and hence come off the bag, you don’t deserve to be safe because you have to stay on the bag. It is that simple.

9:47	bosoxforlife: A half hour ago you would not have thought i possible but it looks like Kershaw will be out before Glasnow.

9:47	Guest: Do you pronounce it “fowl” or “fowel?”

9:47	Dan Szymborski: foul

9:47	BLABB: The pessimism is like the Win Probability: When I dip, you dip. We dip.

9:48	Ford Prefect: Smoltz just beat to me to the comment, but this would be a good time for Adames to get it going.

9:48

Mike: Re pessimism of Dodger fans: the problem with being a Dodger fan is that they aren’t playing to complete a season or mark it successful, everything they do carries 8 seasons of weight. You constantly remember previous bad beats while watching the new one play out, and the bad beats are very similar.

9:48	Dave Roberts: Why shouldn’t dodger fans be fatalistic? Yeah they’ve clearly outplayed the Rays, and all they’ve got for it is a 2-2 tie in the series and the Rays have a higher win probability in this game.

9:48	David Laurila: Ballet from Margot on the bullet.

9:49	Guest: Feels like the Dodgers should be up 3-1 in this series with tonight’s game being the potential WS clincher, but Rays keep hanging around despite at times feeling totally dominated by the Dodgers

9:49	Scuffy Mcgee: Kershaw makes me sad

9:50	5 Run Homer: Kershaw’s curveball still fuckin rules, man

9:50	Dodger Fan: Scuffy, are you related to Jake?

9:50	David Laurila: Wow

9:51	bosoxforlife: WOW!!!!

9:51	Ford Prefect: Wow

9:51

Mike: One thing I feel like I’ve learned from the last 4 postseasons is that when games get crazy and wild and unpredictable the Dodgers are never the team capitalizing on it but the team failing in it. I was hoping for some nice boring 8-3 baseball games. We’ve had two and they won both. In 17, there were 3 and they won all 3, losing 2 insane games and 2 darvish explosions. It’s just kind of who they are

9:52	Neutral fan: !!! That really got my adrenaline up.

9:52	Lzfreak: Trivia: name the player in this series who was drafted by the Devil Rays

9:52	Dan Szymborski: Jake McGee of course!

9:52	Dan Szymborski: We just mentioned him like 2 minutes ago!

9:52	Ford Prefect: I um, don’t remember seeing a steal attempt at home in the WS right away.

9:53	Tampa Bay Ray Liottas: Tampa Bay TOOTBLANS

9:53	Eel Ffilc: The balls on this man

9:53	BringBackDeSpanielHair: Kershaw with ice in the veins!

9:53	Steve Nebraska: That was also a hell of a job by kershaw to step off the mound to avoid the balk

9:54	Craig: I don’t understand ppl who are simultaneously critical of great players and lay nonstop praise on like utility players. Like constantly going in on a guy like Giancarlo but loving a Brock Holt type. Just the level of expectation? Aesthetic preferences?

9:54	David Laurila: A successful straight steal of home would have been really, really, cool.

9:55	Dodger Fan: David, it would not have been cool!

9:56	Dan Szymborski: Sorry, it would have been.

9:56	Jeremy: Counterpoint: it would have been cool.

9:56	Dan Szymborski: Would a Successful Steal of Home Be Cool? Yes (97.6% \| 127 votes) No (2.3% \| 3 votes) Total Votes: 130

9:56	David Laurila: This game is as good as last night’s, but might be tough to match the ending.

9:57	Mob Ranfred: “In 2023, we’ll be outlawing steals of home. But you’ll be allowed to steal First Base”

9:57	Mike: I’m forced to vote yes but this specific steal of home would not be cool

9:57	Matt: Conservation of steals

9:58	bosoxforlife: Craig, it is that people are asked to get the most out of what they were gifted with. Stanton was given great talent but , for various reasons, has only shown them on occasion. Brock Holt got 99.9% out of gifts.

9:58	Dan Szymborski: There’s a kind of white scrappydom bias too.

9:58	sadtrombone: JFC Tyler just throwing garbage after two straight strikes.

9:58	Marnie: after all the bad glovework in very recent memory, I was thinking that Margot HAD to try something. But I was shocked by the steal attempt!

9:58	Guest: Hey, Craig! Agreed. I think a large part historically of the praise for the “hard-working” but “less talented” athlete is rationalizing a preference for white players? These are the guys who “play the game the right way.”

9:59	Dan Szymborski: I remember an SI poll of players like 15 years ago

9:59	Dan Szymborski: All the “Most Underrated” players were white

9:59	David Laurila: Wasn’t sure about a second Old Brown Dog, but if guys are trying to steal home… dammit, I’m having another Dog!

9:59	LarryTheBerry: Craig asked the question that no one wants to answer with racism, but is probably actually racism

9:59	Jeremy: Fun to see Yogi Berra melting down at the ump in that clip of Jackie Robinson stealing home. It’s such a contrast to the affable image Yogi developed after he retired as a player.