2014 Playoff/WS Thread

[Quake Griffin]

please drop a 3 spot on Rosenthal so i can salvage my night

[Neddy]

If Im the manager, no if it was Tommy, he would have had relief pitchers already warmed up and ready to go for the 7th. after kershaw gave up the first hit, Tommy would have walked out there to ask how he was doing. after the second straight hit given up, Tommy would have pulled kershaw so he could only win and have no chance to lose.

Don Mattingly is an idiot. there is nothing else to it. if we win, we won despite of him like the royals winning the wildcard despite of Ned Yost. if we lose, it's all on Donny.

[Ranma]

Not going to lie, this is a stunning punch to the gut, but I am proud of A-Gon rallying the team all game so that the Dodgers would fight right down to the last out.

Harold Reynolds and Marlon Anderson are apparently saying that Kershaw is tipping his pitches when he's going out of the stretch. If true, it would explain a lot, but how come the Dodgers and the rest of Major League Baseball haven't caught it yet?

[tweet]https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/518213767843151872[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/MarlonAnderson8/status/518207818672128000[/tweet]

[Neddy]

doesn't really matter tho. if Kershaw is tipping his pitches it is still up to Don to pull him when he needed to leave the game. I still blame Don 100% on this. Don needs to go. i have always said this from the day 1 when Don was hired. hell i didn't like Joe Torre either.

[Quake Griffin]

who knows WHAT the hell it could be that gives it off.

all i know is he was fine, then HR.
fine for 5 more innings, then HR.
then it just seems like they had his number.

either he was tipping them or they stole the signs or theyre in his glove from second.
but they seem to be the only team that knows that.....so wtf do they know that no one else does?

[Neddy]

again, like i said man, he pitched fine for the first 6 innings and only gave up 2 hits. sandy koufax tipped his pitches and he did fine. to me whatever the reason that maybe, Clayton was out of gas/mojo/stamina/whatever you wanna call it when the 7th inning started and it was up to the manager to manage the situation and he didn't. i don't care even if Clay actually gave away the signs it is still on Don and Don only to make the change. he blew it. plain and simple.

[Ranma]

who knows WHAT the hell it could be that gives it off.

all i know is he was fine, then HR.
fine for 5 more innings, then HR.
then it just seems like they had his number.

either he was tipping them or they stole the signs or theyre in his glove from second.
but they seem to be the only team that knows that.....so wtf do they know that no one else does?

Former MLB pitcher, Danny Graves, seems to confirm Kershaw is tipping his pitches out of the stretch by slight wiggle with his hand to grip curveball (no wiggle for fastball) when he pulls his glove up top right before wind-up. I still can't notice it myself, but that makes at least three former major leaguers (Harold Reynolds, Marlon Anderson, and Danny Graves) who are attesting that he is tipping his pitches out of the stretch. Here's a video:

[Quake Griffin]

i notice it...and I'm not even a major league hitter.

let alone a hitter for a franchise like the Cardinals. How they picked that up, I have no idea. Now the question is, can he fix it if we end up needing him for a Game 5?

[Ranma]

again, like i said man, he pitched fine for the first 6 innings and only gave up 2 hits. sandy koufax tipped his pitches and he did fine. to me whatever the reason that maybe, Clayton was out of gas/mojo/stamina/whatever you wanna call it when the 7th inning started and it was up to the manager to manage the situation and he didn't. i don't care even if Clay actually gave away the signs it is still on Don and Don only to make the change. he blew it. plain and simple.

Read the short article below as Ellis' pitch-calling was also apparently to blame.

Ken Rosenthal, Fox Sports (10/4/14)

One rival scout who covered Friday night’s game at Dodger Stadium said that Clayton Kershaw’s issue was not tipping pitches. Nor did the scout believe that the Cardinals were picking up signs.

No, the scout indicated that Kershaw’s problem was fatigue, saying that he lost his “edge” at around 80 pitches and no longer could command as effectively, missing in the strike zone.

The scout also noted that the Cardinals were attacking the first pitch, knowing Kershaw’s tendencies. Kershaw threw 25 of 28 first-pitch fastballs Friday night (89.3 percent), according to STATS LLC. For the season, he threw first-pitch fastballs 85.4 percent of the time, the highest percentage in the majors.

Cardinals Had a Plan for Kershaw

[Neddy]

again, like i said man, he pitched fine for the first 6 innings and only gave up 2 hits. sandy koufax tipped his pitches and he did fine. to me whatever the reason that maybe, Clayton was out of gas/mojo/stamina/whatever you wanna call it when the 7th inning started and it was up to the manager to manage the situation and he didn't. i don't care even if Clay actually gave away the signs it is still on Don and Don only to make the change. he blew it. plain and simple.

Read the short article below as Ellis' pitch-calling was also apparently to blame.

Ken Rosenthal, Fox Sports (10/4/14)

One rival scout who covered Friday night’s game at Dodger Stadium said that Clayton Kershaw’s issue was not tipping pitches. Nor did the scout believe that the Cardinals were picking up signs.

No, the scout indicated that Kershaw’s problem was fatigue, saying that he lost his “edge” at around 80 pitches and no longer could command as effectively, missing in the strike zone.

The scout also noted that the Cardinals were attacking the first pitch, knowing Kershaw’s tendencies. Kershaw threw 25 of 28 first-pitch fastballs Friday night (89.3 percent), according to STATS LLC. For the season, he threw first-pitch fastballs 85.4 percent of the time, the highest percentage in the majors.

Cardinals Had a Plan for Kershaw

this is the reason why I think catchers make the best managers since he can see and understand the most important aspect of the game, pitching, pitch selections, and pitchers. great hitting superstars rarely ever make a decent manager and Don Mattingly is just living off of his old fame like the rest of them star batsmen turned managers. i have not seen one smart decisive move he made in his tenure with us, ever.

I have invited a retired sheriff from Missouri for the game #2 and i am already regretting that choice. imagine me getting too drunk and upset and act a fool then gets arrested in my own house! we better win tonight

[Quake Griffin]

again, like i said man, he pitched fine for the first 6 innings and only gave up 2 hits. sandy koufax tipped his pitches and he did fine. to me whatever the reason that maybe, Clayton was out of gas/mojo/stamina/whatever you wanna call it when the 7th inning started and it was up to the manager to manage the situation and he didn't. i don't care even if Clay actually gave away the signs it is still on Don and Don only to make the change. he blew it. plain and simple.

Read the short article below as Ellis' pitch-calling was also apparently to blame.

Ken Rosenthal, Fox Sports (10/4/14)

One rival scout who covered Friday night’s game at Dodger Stadium said that Clayton Kershaw’s issue was not tipping pitches. Nor did the scout believe that the Cardinals were picking up signs.

No, the scout indicated that Kershaw’s problem was fatigue, saying that he lost his “edge” at around 80 pitches and no longer could command as effectively, missing in the strike zone.

The scout also noted that the Cardinals were attacking the first pitch, knowing Kershaw’s tendencies. Kershaw threw 25 of 28 first-pitch fastballs Friday night (89.3 percent), according to STATS LLC. For the season, he threw first-pitch fastballs 85.4 percent of the time, the highest percentage in the majors.

Cardinals Had a Plan for Kershaw

this is the reason why I think catchers make the best managers since he can see and understand the most important aspect of the game, pitching, pitch selections, and pitchers. great hitting superstars rarely ever make a decent manager and Don Mattingly is just living off of his old fame like the rest of them star batsmen turned managers. i have not seen one smart decisive move he made in his tenure with us, ever.

I have invited a retired sheriff from Missouri for the game #2 and i am already regretting that choice. imagine me getting too drunk and upset and act a fool then gets arrested in my own house! we better win tonight

as soon as Kershaw gave up those 2 hits in the 7th.

I sat there and said right to myself, "he (donnie) has no idea what to do right now."
He didn't. He could have saved the game with a sub to face Carpenter too. would have been late. But an out there would have had us up 6-4 and needing 6 outs to win.

[Neddy]

I would rather have Ned Yost over Don. hell, I would rather have Bobby Valentine over Don. we need a new manager comes next season because we can't keep wasting our chances. it is hard enough to beat the opponent but having to overcome incompetency from your top guy? not impossible, but highly improbable.

[Neddy]

I wish the Angels would fire Mike Scioscia after they are eliminated so we can pick him up and right the wrong. that would be my ultimate choice for our next skip.

[Kilroy]

Damn... Tied.

[Kilroy]

Kemp... WTF

[Quake Griffin]

Why didn't Mattingly bunt Rojas over with Crawford?

am i missing something here?
this guy truly got caught up in the moment and stopped managing and hoping Crawford just got a hit.

[Kilroy]

nice series tied!

[Kilroy]

Why didn't Mattingly bunt Rojas over with Crawford?

am i missing something here?
this guy truly got caught up in the moment and stopped managing and hoping Crawford just got a hit.

Not sure about that one either... Definitely a blown play at least.

[Quake Griffin]

[Neddy]

great night, we won the game and i didn't get arrested.

now the ball is in Ryu's court. he is a big game player and gotta hope he steps up to the plate.