Rays-Rangers ALWC series

[Moshagge3]

1 hour ago, dystopia said:

LOL this board is something else. A few days ago everyone almost unanimously said they’d rather face Texas than TB. 
 

A few days is everything in baseball. A few days ago the Rangers needed just one win to take the division and lost 1-0. Now they look like the second coming of the Big Red Machine. The Orioles scored just 14 runs over their last 6 games. The truth is we have no idea what versions of the Rangers or Orioles show up this weekend, so I'm just going to enjoy postseason baseball with no expectations.

[btdart20]

1 hour ago, dystopia said:

LOL this board is something else. A few days ago everyone almost unanimously said they’d rather face Texas than TB. 
 

 

SSS, a few days, and herd mentality are real things.

In other threads I said Baltimore, Houston and Tampa were top tier.  Tampa’s depth just couldn’t get past the body count.  Cross Tampa off the 2023 list now.  

And had Texas and Seattle as the two I’d be most worried about.  Seattle didn’t make the cut thankfully.

 

[RZNJ]

I am glad that both Tampa and Toronto are out.   IF we lose there it would have really bothered me to lose to a team, especially Toronto,  that we beat out in our own division.   In some way it would have taken a little something away from the division championship.   Seeing them both go out in the first round adds something to the bye and that we earned it.   If our pitchers pitch they’ll handle the Texas hitters but it’s a tough lineup if our guys are off.   My main concern, besides pitching, is O’Hearn who was a big part of the offense but started looking badly towards the end.

[sportsfan8703]

Texas has a good lineup and three pitchers the OH wanted really bad. Montgomery, Chapman, and Eovaldi. We’ll forget about Scherzer and DeGrom. 

[maybenxtyr]

Obviously Texas looked really good against Tampa, but I still like our team. 

 

Neither team in the playoffs will be an easy win.... they're going to have to earn it.

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, RZNJ said:

I am glad that both Tampa and Toronto are out.   IF we lose there it would have really bothered me to lose to a team, especially Toronto,  that we beat out in our own division.   In some way it would have taken a little something away from the division championship.   Seeing them both go out in the first round adds something to the bye and that we earned it.   If our pitchers pitch they’ll handle the Texas hitters but it’s a tough lineup if our guys are off.   My main concern, besides pitching, is O’Hearn who was a big part of the offense but started looking badly towards the end.

I feel the same way about Tampa and Toronto.  We beat them out for the division title, and we beat them both in the season series.  It would have felt very unjust to lose to either team.  

As to Texas, I wouldn’t get too worked up about the fact that they manhandled Tampa in two games.   It’s two games, and anything can happen.  They’re a good team, and so are the O’s.  Bring it on.  

 

[Fan4Life]

1 hour ago, RZNJ said:

I am glad that both Tampa and Toronto are out.   IF we lose there it would have really bothered me to lose to a team, especially Toronto,  that we beat out in our own division.   In some way it would have taken a little something away from the division championship.   Seeing them both go out in the first round adds something to the bye and that we earned it.   If our pitchers pitch they’ll handle the Texas hitters but it’s a tough lineup if our guys are off.   My main concern, besides pitching, is O’Hearn who was a big part of the offense but started looking badly towards the end.

Interesting.. I see it the opposite. Toronto and Tampa going out with a whimper diminishes our division title in my view. The best case would have been Tampa and Toronta to win, We beat Tampa again, Toronto beats Minnesota, we beat Toronto again. That would have provided the most value to winning the division, 

[waroriole]

4 minutes ago, Fan4Life said:

Interesting.. I see it the opposite. Toronto and Tampa going out with a whimper diminishes our division title in my view. The best case would have been Tampa and Toronta to win, We beat Tampa again, Toronto beats Minnesota, we beat Toronto again. That would have provided the most value to winning the division, 

So in your view a 3 game series overshadows 162?

[spleen1015]

14 minutes ago, waroriole said:

So in your view a 3 game series overshadows 162?

It's just part of the recency bias that some folks have.

[AdamK]

No judgement.

https://www.mlb.com/news/rays-give-out-free-permanent-tattoos-for-playoffs

Maybe this is where everyone was during games 1 and 2?

 

[Fan4Life]

5 hours ago, waroriole said:

So in your view a 3 game series overshadows 162?

Them both bowing out so easily certainly doesn't validate anything we accomplished.  

[Frobby]

Just now, Fan4Life said:

Them both bowing out so easily certainly doesn't validate anything we accomplished.  

We don’t require validation.  

32-20 vs. AL East

22-10 vs. AL Central

21-11 vs. AL West 

26-20 in interleague play.  

101-61 overall

Our record speaks for itself and no validation is required.   Our postseason will be judged on how the Orioles play, not how Tampa or Toronto played.  

 

[MCO'sFan]

5 minutes ago, Fan4Life said:

Them both bowing out so easily certainly doesn't validate anything we accomplished.  

Nor does it invalidate anything either. The postseason is a crapshoot and anything can happen and I don't think momentum carries over from one series to the next. See the O's in 2014. 

[Fan4Life]

15 minutes ago, Frobby said:

We don’t require validation.  

32-20 vs. AL East

22-10 vs. AL Central

21-11 vs. AL West 

26-20 in interleague play.  

101-61 overall

Our record speaks for itself and no validation is required.   Our postseason will be judged on how the Orioles play, not how Tampa or Toronto played.  

 

All good points...  I retract my comment.. but I would have preferred Tampa and Toronto won and we beat them both to get to the WS. That would have been the icing on the cake for me.. albeit a different cake.  

[Fan4Life]

16 minutes ago, MCO'sFan said:

Nor does it invalidate anything either. The postseason is a crapshoot and anything can happen and I don't think momentum carries over from one series to the next. See the O's in 2014. 

Yes.. I agree.. my comment wasn't appropriate.