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And I can't believe how bad the FOX coverage is, it's like their commercials are interrupted by a baseball game, obvious the announcers are Houston fans, I'm surprised they're not wearing Astros caps, the constant gushing over the Astros is really annoying.
And I can't believe how bad the FOX coverage is, it's like their commercials are interrupted by a baseball game, obvious the announcers are Houston fans, I'm surprised they're not wearing Astros caps, the constant gushing over the Astros is really annoying.
Oh to hear Vin Scully again...
and to think now we have to hear SEC let us know how bad the Hogs are. The game is just starting, guess i had better get off the computer.
As expected this series has proven to be the biggest challenge for the Dodgers in postseason. With these two talented teams this series is up for grabs with mental toughness likely deciding the winner. At this point the Dodgers just need to win one on the road to regain home field. A win tonight would split the series at 2-2. Let's do this Dodgers!
As expected this series has proven to be the biggest challenge for the Dodgers in postseason. With these two talented teams this series is up for grabs with mental toughness likely deciding the winner. At this point the Dodgers just need to win one on the road to regain home field. A win tonight would split the series at 2-2. Let's do this Dodgers!
Pssst, I sent you the money. Cheer for Houston as you promised.
With these two talented teams this series is up for grabs with mental toughness likely deciding the winner.
Los Angeles outscored their opponents by 190 runs and won 104 games. The Astros outscored their opponents by 196 runs and won 101 games.
It required 162 games to establish that there is very little difference between these teams in terms of talent and performance, a seven game series is not sufficient for the tiny differences to have any impact on designating a favorite.
And while the players like us to think that they win because of some superior character or virtue, in truth a series such as this is ultimately determined by random luck. The ball bounces an inch this way rather than that, a team gets away with a bad call from an umpire, someone slips in the outfield while pursuing a flyball, someone hits one out with the bases full rather than empty...none of that has anything to do with mental toughness. That both teams are mentally tough has already been established by their regular season records...now it is a matter of who gets the breaks.
Please do not interpret this as any sort of knock on either team. I'm a Giants fan and I have no problem admitting that their three WS wins this decade have been the product of good fortune at the right times.
Los Angeles outscored their opponents by 190 runs and won 104 games. The Astros outscored their opponents by 196 runs and won 101 games.
It required 162 games to establish that there is very little difference between these teams in terms of talent and performance, a seven game series is not sufficient for the tiny differences to have any impact on designating a favorite.
And while the players like us to think that they win because of some superior character or virtue, in truth a series such as this is ultimately determined by random luck. The ball bounces an inch this way rather than that, a team gets away with a bad call from an umpire, someone slips in the outfield while pursuing a flyball, someone hits one out with the bases full rather than empty...none of that has anything to do with mental toughness. That both teams are mentally tough has already been established by their regular season records...now it is a matter of who gets the breaks.
Please do not interpret this as any sort of knock on either team. I'm a Giants fan and I have no problem admitting that their three WS wins this decade have been the product of good fortune at the right times.
Sometimes people label things luck but there is another word for what determines outcomes in games and it's called execution. There's a pretty good quote I like "the more I practice the luckier I get" so while luck can play a part it can also come down to a team executing or not. I bad throw to first isn't a matter of luck and neither is a pitcher skipping a ball off home plate with a runner on third.
Also comparing run differentials and total wins isn't a clean comparison given the AL/NL and they simply don't play anywhere near the same schedule
Sometimes people label things luck but there is another word for what determines outcomes in games and it's called execution. There's a pretty good quote I like "the more I practice the luckier I get" so while luck can play a part it can also come down to a team executing or not. I bad throw to first isn't a matter of luck and neither is a pitcher skipping a ball off home plate with a runner on third.
Also comparing run differentials and total wins isn't a clean comparison given the AL/NL and they simply don't play anywhere near the same schedule
But whether they execute or not is so often a matter of luck. Someone who makes a long run to catch a flyball and winds up doing so by a full diving stretch has caught the ball because of his skill, his ability to run and catch. That wasn't luck.
What was luck was that the ball wasn't hit just an inch or two further away, meaning that despite the great run and stretch, the ball falls for a hit.
That a player can hit home runs...that is a skill. That a player can hit one of those home runs at a particular point in time, that is luck. That a pitcher can strike out batters, that is talent. That he can strike out a particular hitter in a particular situation...luck.
With the Dodgers and Astros, we have two teams full of skilled players, with very little to differentiate one from the other in terms of overall talent. Even if we said that the Dodgers were 2% more talented than the Astros, or vice versa, seven games is not enough for that 2 % to be manifest. Both teams will be doing their very best to translate their skills into runs and wins, but only one will prevail. The team that prevails will not be doing so because they had the more skilled players, they will be doing so because their skilled players were luckier than their opponent's skilled players.
I'm not sure we view luck in the same manner. A ball not being hit a foot further isn't luck genarlly speaking.
Well, yes it is. Are you suggesting that batters have the ability to hit a ball to a precise spot?
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