GT: Rays @ Blue Jays - Sept 29 - October 1

[JN]

Time to face a team that hasn’t won a playoff game in nearly 2 decades!

A franchise that has lost an amazing 19 playoff games in a row (Minnesota) vs a franchise that has lost 5 playoff games in a row (Toronto). Somebody has to win!
We have the edge here.

Not going to bother checking but I feel like all of those 19 losses were to the Yankees.

I believe its 13 of them against the Yanks IIRC.

[s e n s i]

has there been a team in the past decade that hasn't popped bottles after clinching a playoff birth? really confused about how much and how many people care about how grown men decide to celebrate an accomplishment that no one here will ever experience themselves. especially when it's the norm?

[Randle McMurphy]

has there been a team in the past decade that hasn't popped bottles after clinching a playoff birth? really confused about how much and how many people care about how grown men decide to celebrate an accomplishment that no one here will ever experience themselves. especially when it's the norm?

My guess would be that anyone criticizing it isn't aware that it is the norm.

[Lateral Quicks]

Somehow the Jays lucked into the easiest path to the AL Championship series. Now they just have to execute. They're a better team than the Twins and Astros, but they've got to prove it. The bats hitting to potential with some consistency will be the difference.;

[C Court]

My cousin from Winnipeg just picked up tickets for the Jays v Twins on Tuesday and Wednesday.

He was here for the Yankees series last week and is hoping for a better end result in Minny.

[Boogie!]

Somehow the Jays lucked into the easiest path to the AL Championship series. Now they just have to execute. They're a better team than the Twins and Astros, but they've got to prove it. The bats hitting to potential with some consistency will be the difference.;

All we need to do is hold teams to 0 runs and we got this.

[Cyrus]

Alright suckers, for playoffs, it'll be you start game threads until you lose a game (NOT a series), just like we do it on the nba side. So which of you suckers is going to start the first game.

[Mehar]

has there been a team in the past decade that hasn't popped bottles after clinching a playoff birth? really confused about how much and how many people care about how grown men decide to celebrate an accomplishment that no one here will ever experience themselves. especially when it's the norm?

My guess would be that anyone criticizing it isn't aware that it is the norm.

I am aware it is the norm, but it is a bit far fetched from my vantage point. I understand popping bottles if you win the ALDS, ALCS, and definitely going crazy when you the World Series. Maybe it is me, but to celebrate like you won something big, when all you do is advance to a 3 Game Wild Card series in order to determine who plays in the ALDS, is not something to go crazy for. Especially now with the expanded playoffs compared to years back. Maybe celebrate something when you actually win a playoff series first (something that has not happened in Toronto in 7 years). I do not recall the Raptors popping tens of thousands of dollars of Champagne, when they made the play-in tournament. If the Jays have another quick exit like last year, at least they will have great memories of this celebration. The Wild Card teams are very similar to the ones that made the play-in tournament in the NBA. I am happy for the players who celebrated, along with the fans, but not a fan of this excessive celebration of being a 6th seed playing a 3 Game Wild Card to determine who plays in the ALDS.

[Mehar]

I am all for celebrations, but spending tens of thousands of dollars on champagne and celebrating like you won a World Series, when in reality you are the 6th Seed with zero playoff wins is a bit much for me. At least win a Wild Card Round and then maybe have these over the top celebrations. I guess at least the players will have these memories to cherish, if they get bounced out early like they did last year.

Nothing wrong with celebrating after playing 162 freaking games. Let them have fun.

Nothing wrong with celebrating for sure. Everything wrong celebrating like you won the World Series after getting blown out at home and only backing into the playoffs at the whim of other teams.

Like the other dude said, Maybe actually WIN a single playoff game, let alone round, before going this insane. How dumb will these guys look if they lose both games in Minnesota after this?

I never cringed harder in my life watching that farce.

I agree with this. I just mentioned this above. I would prefer a team win a round, before they go this insane celebrating. The Wild Card is similar to the NBA Play-in. I do not recall the Raptors going crazy when they made the play-in. However, I am happy the players enjoyed themselves this evening. Hopefully, they do not lose both games in Minnesota though. Let's not ponder that thought.

[Raps in 4]

They're saying it's us, Miami, and Arizona who are the favourites.

[SharoneWright]

Really tempted to start the ALWC thread over on the Twins board.

[Potential]

Really tempted to start the ALWC thread over on the Twins board.

There's no one there they got a thread from 2009 talking about Cliff Lee to the twins? And threads from the year 1969 3 pages back

[SharoneWright]

Really tempted to start the ALWC thread over on the Twins board.

There's no one there they got a thread from 2009 talking about Cliff Lee to the twins? And threads from the year 1969 3 pages back

If you troll in a forest and there is no one there to hear, its it really a good troll job? lol

(And then to the mods,,, is it really ban-worthy?)

[SharoneWright]

Interessante....

Read on Twitter

[s e n s i]

has there been a team in the past decade that hasn't popped bottles after clinching a playoff birth? really confused about how much and how many people care about how grown men decide to celebrate an accomplishment that no one here will ever experience themselves. especially when it's the norm?

My guess would be that anyone criticizing it isn't aware that it is the norm.

I am aware it is the norm, but it is a bit far fetched from my vantage point. I understand popping bottles if you win the ALDS, ALCS, and definitely going crazy when you the World Series. Maybe it is me, but to celebrate like you won something big, when all you do is advance to a 3 Game Wild Card series in order to determine who plays in the ALDS, is not something to go crazy for. Especially now with the expanded playoffs compared to years back. Maybe celebrate something when you actually win a playoff series first (something that has not happened in Toronto in 7 years). I do not recall the Raptors popping tens of thousands of dollars of Champagne, when they made the play-in tournament. If the Jays have another quick exit like last year, at least they will have great memories of this celebration. The Wild Card teams are very similar to the ones that made the play-in tournament in the NBA. I am happy for the players who celebrated, along with the fans, but not a fan of this excessive celebration of being a 6th seed playing a 3 Game Wild Card to determine who plays in the ALDS.

NBA
- 82 games over 5.5 months
- 20 teams play beyond that
- no tradition of celebrating in the locker room until you win your conference

MLB
- 162 games over 6 months
- 12 teams play beyond that
- historically, all teams who make the playoffs celebrate in that same fashion (why wouldn't they, it's much harder to make the playoffs in the MLB). you don't think the philles popped champagne 4 times before losing in the WS last year?

i seriously doubt that if you were in that clubhouse after going through that season, that you would just be like "i am not a fan us celebrating this, in this way. i am going home." lmao. and lastly, who really cares at the end of the day?

[Harry Palmer]

Also, not to pile on, but who cares is the Jays spend thousands on frivolity? Like it’s not our money, so who cares? Champagne is yummy.

[Mehar]

Interessante....

Read on Twitter

Seattle had a better record than the Twins, and just because Twins won the weak AL Central Division- they should not be automatically in the playoffs because of that over Seattle. MLB needs to correct this where the best 6 Teams in the Conference (regardless of division) qualify for the playoffs. The Jays would have gotten a lot more than 89 wins if they were in the AL Central rather than the East, and same with any other AL East team.

[pilkoids]

is everyone afraid of making a game thread?

[bluerap23]

My guess would be that anyone criticizing it isn't aware that it is the norm.

I am aware it is the norm, but it is a bit far fetched from my vantage point. I understand popping bottles if you win the ALDS, ALCS, and definitely going crazy when you the World Series. Maybe it is me, but to celebrate like you won something big, when all you do is advance to a 3 Game Wild Card series in order to determine who plays in the ALDS, is not something to go crazy for. Especially now with the expanded playoffs compared to years back. Maybe celebrate something when you actually win a playoff series first (something that has not happened in Toronto in 7 years). I do not recall the Raptors popping tens of thousands of dollars of Champagne, when they made the play-in tournament. If the Jays have another quick exit like last year, at least they will have great memories of this celebration. The Wild Card teams are very similar to the ones that made the play-in tournament in the NBA. I am happy for the players who celebrated, along with the fans, but not a fan of this excessive celebration of being a 6th seed playing a 3 Game Wild Card to determine who plays in the ALDS.

NBA
- 82 games over 5.5 months
- 20 teams play beyond that
- no tradition of celebrating in the locker room until you win your conference

MLB
- 162 games over 6 months
- 12 teams play beyond that
- historically, all teams who make the playoffs celebrate in that same fashion (why wouldn't they, it's much harder to make the playoffs in the MLB). you don't think the philles popped champagne 4 times before losing in the WS last year?

i seriously doubt that if you were in that clubhouse after going through that season, that you would just be like "i am not a fan us celebrating this, in this way. i am going home." lmao. and lastly, who really cares at the end of the day?

When you consider that only 4 teams made the playoffs until 1994 it makes the tradition of celebrating more reasonable.

[JN]

Many people are claiming the Jays did Jay Jackson dirty and they had other better options. Can someone lay out a better option for me. Perhaps it was discussed yesterday while I was away, but I just don't those better options.

It was common sense for the Jays to want to use non playoff pitchers to eat some innings before the playoff game on Tuesday. Can't see how someone disagrees with that. Are you going ask Jay Jackson to throw 4 innings for you on 1 day rest? Are you going to use Ryu for a few innings on 0 days rest?

Also.
- Can only carry 14 pitchers maximum. So could not demote Eden to make room for Parsons.
- So some active pitcher had to be demoted- do you DFA Ryu? do you DFA Richards? do you DFA Cabrera? What pitcher can we demote here.
- Taking Lukes of your 40 man roster and putting Parson on the 40 man for example achieves nothing.