MLB 2021 Season

[Hiromi]

a few deserved superlatives for Freddie, this was only the forth homer Hader has allowed all year. Freddie is also the only left handed hitter in baseball to have homered off him twice, and both are walk offs

[achilles]

a few deserved superlatives for Freddie, this was only the forth homer Hader has allowed all year. Freddie is also the only left handed hitter in baseball to have homered off him twice, and both are walk offs

He's my favorite player in all of BB. And he's better than his stats suggest, and they suggest he's very good.

While the Dodgers are last I checked leading the Giants this game, I think the Giants will bring it off. This game, or the next. Which would mean the Cheaters will face...er....the...cheaters in the ALCS, while the Braves will face the Giants, (or the Dodgers should I be wrong). So...the Houston team, accused by a WS pitcher of cheating yet again, will be facing some more stinky feet.

[achilles]

called him out even though replay clearly showed the ball hit the ground first, and apparently it couldn't be challenged for some stupid reason

EDIT
BUT IT DOESN'T MATTER, Freeman hits the go ahead homer off Hader and Smith slams the door, Braves onto the NLCS!!!

It would have evidently in the outfield but not in the infield for some reason. Reviewable in one case, but not the other. My view is....it's baseball, that's a feature, not a bug. Not that it mattered.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

a few deserved superlatives for Freddie, this was only the forth homer Hader has allowed all year. Freddie is also the only left handed hitter in baseball to have homered off him twice, and both are walk offs

While I have zero love for the Braves (division rival of my Phillies), it's hard not to like Freddie Freeman who's a genuinely good guy.

[thwhtGuardian]

Braves moving on after an exciting game! Freeman is awesome. Got to give it to him.

Eh, there's nothing exciting about the Braves here. That whole series was just evidence on how garbage the national league is. 88 wins doesn't even get you near the wild card in any other other division and yet the Braves have a shot at going to the world series? That's not exciting, that embarrassing.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Eh, there's nothing exciting about the Braves here. That whole series was just evidence on how garbage the national league is. 88 wins doesn't even get you near the wild card in any other other division and yet the Braves have a shot at going to the world series? That's not exciting, that embarrassing.

It would only be embarrassing to whatever AL team that lost to Atlanta in the World Series because they couldn't match up with the Braves. That's the beauty of baseball, if a team goes into the postseason on a roll, then anything is possible, regular season record be damned. Boston won only four more games than Atlanta, Houston seven, what makes them better? The 2006 Cardinals won the Fall Classic after an 83-win season, the 1987 Twins won after a 85-77 campaign and the 2000 Yankees with a 87-74 record. Were they embarrassing? But, in the postseason, everyone is 0-0, and that's what matters when it comes to a run to the championship.

[thwhtGuardian]

It would only be embarrassing to whatever AL team that lost to Atlanta in the World Series because they couldn't match up with the Braves. That's the beauty of baseball, if a team goes into the postseason on a roll, then anything is possible, regular season record be damned. Boston won only four more games than Atlanta, Houston seven, what makes them better? The 2006 Cardinals won the Fall Classic after an 83-win season, the 1987 Twins won after a 85-77 campaign and the 2000 Yankees with a 87-74 record. Were they embarrassing? But, in the postseason, everyone is 0-0, and that's what matters when it comes to a run to the championship.

They're four and seven more wins against better teams than Atlanta faced. And yes, those other wins were embarrassing as well. Baseball is the only sport where teams with better records sit out the post season because of an antiquated structure. It'd be far more exciting to see all the best teams duke it out rather than some teams getting an easier time of it because they're up against a team that has no right being there, because lets face it no matter who wins( the giants or the dodgers) they're going to have a cake walk against the braves. It's a one sided tournament that could easily be avoidable.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

They're four and seven more wins against better teams than Atlanta faced. And yes, those other wins were embarrassing as well. Baseball is the only sport where teams with better records sit out the post season because of an antiquated structure. It'd be far more exciting to see all the best teams duke it out rather than some teams getting an easier time of it because they're up against a team that has no right being there, because lets face it no matter who wins( the giants or the dodgers) they're going to have a cake walk against the braves. It's a one sided tournament that could easily be avoidable.

Embarrassing to who? You? If a team makes it to the postseason, it's because they did what they had to in order to get there, and deserved to be there, again, come playoff time, anything is possible for any team. Meanwhile, the Dodgers or Giants shouldn't sleep on Atlanta, god knows I see enough of them as NL East opponents to know the Braves shouldn't be taken likely because they won a weak division. I have no love for Atlanta, but I wouldn't be surprised if they top L.A. or San Fran. By the by, the 2001 Seattle Mariners won 116 games, but failed to get to the World Series after they were beaten by the Yankees in the ALCS with "only" 95 wins. Were the Yankees "undeserving"? Another example of how regular season records don't count for anything in the playoffs.

[thwhtGuardian]

Embarrassing to who? You? If a team makes it to the postseason, it's because they did what they had to in order to get there, and deserved to be there, again, come playoff time, anything is possible for any team. Meanwhile, the Dodgers or Giants shouldn't sleep on Atlanta, god knows I see enough of them as NL East opponents to know the Braves shouldn't be taken likely because they won a weak division. I have no love for Atlanta, but I wouldn't be surprised if they top L.A. or San Fran. By the by, the 2001 Seattle Mariners won 116 games, but failed to get to the World Series after they were beaten by the Yankees in the ALCS with "only" 95 wins. Were the Yankees "undeserving"? Another example of how regular season records don't count for anything in the playoffs.

95 wins in the AL East isn't "only" that's a damn good season and I'll eat my Sox hat if the Braves beat the Dodgers or Giants. Regular season records should be the only thing that does matter, if not then why bother? The divisions should only be used for keeping teams from traveling unnecessarily far too often, after that it should just be who has the best record period.

[MRP]

95 wins in the AL East isn't "only" that's a damn good season and I'll eat my Sox hat if the Braves beat the Dodgers or Giants. Regular season records should be the only thing that does matter, if not then why bother? The divisions should only be used for keeping teams from traveling unnecessarily far too often, after that it should just be who has the best record period.

Since the advent of divisional play, the goal in the regular season has been to win your division. Period. Win and you're in. Prior to the wild card addition, it was the only way in. And often teams that won one division had worse records than teams in the other division that did not win. That's baseball. Prior to divisional play it was win your league and you're in. And there were teams that won a league with worse records than teams in the other league who lost their league. Wild Cards and interleague play have diluted that concept some, but still the goal of the regular season is to win your division and make it in. If you don't win your division, you shouldn't be focused on who won the other divisions, but on the fact you weren't good enough to win yours. Wild Card means you're a division loser who got a second chance to be in the playoffs. The AL East was a beast this year with 4 90 win teams. First time that happened. The AL Central only had 1 team above .500. But when the playoffs start, the Central winner is on equal standing as the East winner, no matter what the competition looked like in the regular season because they won their division. That's baseball. The only time win total matters is if you weren't good enough to win your division. Then the teams with the most wins that didn't win their division get a second chance. But it only matters because they weren't good enough to win their division. The Braves were good enough to win their division. Their win total doesn't matter. That's baseball.


Same thing happens in the NFL. Win your division and you re in. A 7 win Washington Football Team made it to the playoffs last year while a 10 win Dolphins team sat home. Why-because the Dolphins weren't good enough to win their division. The WFT was.


It's not embarrassing, it's the way the league is designed. Win your division and you're in. Win totals only matter to division losers. Divisional play has been the standard for about 5 decades, and I used to hear old timers all the time talk about how its embarrassing a team who didn't win their league has a chance to be in the playoffs because the the champion series round. And I hear the same thing about Wild Cards all the time form a lot of baseball purists. If you're not good enough to win your division, you're not good enough to be in the playoffs. The fact is that wild cards do get in. But the goal is still to win your division. Divisions are not geographic conveniences for travel. They are sub-leagues within the league. They are the first and primary measuring stick by which teams have to prove themselves. If it is just going to be who has the best record in the regular season, then you need to balance the schedule so everyone has the same opponents the same number of games so the records are measuring the same thing. That's not baseball, or at least MLB baseball (it's Olympics round robin tournament baseball though).

Braves own their division. They deserve to be there. Pure and simple.


-M

[Ghost Rider TheHellfireDemon]

I was very entertained watching the Dodgers defeat the Giants 7-2 in a must-win game four. The Dodgers scored first, they held on to the lead, and had terrific hitting since they hit a two-run homer twice, a sacrifice fly, etc.
The Dodgers scored runs a variety of ways which was to much for the Giants to overcome since they were held to a measly 2 runs.

[achilles]

I don't think the Braves need to hang their head at all; they are legit WS contenders IMO, if not really strong candidates. Along with the Phillies, they were my favorite teams to watch this year.

[InfamousBG]

Braves moving on after an exciting game! Freeman is awesome. Got to give it to him.

I am happy the Braves won. I really like Freeman as well. Id love to see the Braves win the NL pennant.

[InfamousBG]

Red sox vs Astros ALCS. Who ya got winning it?

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Red sox vs Astros ALCS. Who ya got winning it?

Boston might have the edge in pitching, but Houston can bang all night long. Astros in six.