Cubs win

luv baseball posted:

Cubbies did it.  Good on them and their fans.

The other downside:  When the dust settles and people come back down to earth they will eventually realize that despite all the drama and delirium of the W that baseball actually lost something last night. 

The Cubs are no longer special and are now just another team.  As with the Red Sox 10 years ago who went from tortured souls to just different set of Yankee fans with worse accents,  the Cub fans will never be the same.  It will be worse if they actually fulfill the potential and win a couple more in the next 5 years.

I am sad to see it go.

Pretty negative spin...  it was an excellent series and final game.  The Cubs will be fun to watch to see how they develop this young group of players.

Midlo Dad posted:

This has to go down as one of the all time great Series.

...

Unfortunately, I have to agree with this from above:  "Umpiring behind the plate was brutal entire series."

Umpiring is not the U.S. Supreme Court.  When umpires screw up repeatedly, they need to go.  It's not like there aren't hundreds of aspiring prospects working hard to get better for the all-too-rare opening at the MLB level.

I have a somewhat radical notion about MLB umps.    IR on the bases is not perfect but it's close enough so that a blown call is almost never going to be a factor that decides a game. Really the only issue there is getting it speeded up a bit, but that's an issue overall.

So it's the plate that needs to be improved.  A lot.  Calling balls and strikes is just plain hard.  And if we don't want the machines to do it, which I think most people don't, then we should use the machines to train the umps, and retire those umps who can't or won't  get better.  I'm sure everybody's seen the HBO report where the ump says he throws away the DVD given to him of his call after every game. Fire that guy.  Hire another guy and pay him better, and have him work plate only.  Or hire two guys and have them work half as many games, but put in an equal amount of time on studying their mistakes, training, and attempting to call the game as well as a machine.  Constantly and rigorously review the guys at this level and renew contracts only for those guys who are the best of the best, while also recruiting and  training a large number of people on a yearly basis to take their place.  Use the machines to review every game, hire and fire accordingly, and watch the human umpires accuracy climb each year.  Sounds brutal, I know, but that's exactly how MLB gets the best players on the field.

Lots of action in this game...unlike my all time favorite game seven  with the Twins and Jack Morris pitching....This game was a much more non baseball fan spectator game. No one other than baseball purists want to see a low scoring Game 7. More like a movie with all of the drama including horrific umpiring. ( umpiring ?? is that a word? )

I even like the commentary by the baseball player pariah known as  A-Rod. I thought he did a really good job. In fact, I thought he really added insight

Exactly -- Bryant should've been rung up.  After he walked, he was running when Rizzo lined to the RF corner, and he scored.  And that pitch had a fair amount of the plate, it was not borderline.

This doesn't even get into the question of balls that cross at the belt buckle being called "high." 

One thing that always gets me stirred up is when people excuse this by saying, "All you can ask is that they be consistent."  False.  I ask that a guy who earns 10 times the average wage in this country for 7 months of work (a) read the rule book and (b) follow it consistently.  That is not too much to ask.

And since I'm now into full-on rant (), to all you umpires out there, NEVER come to a home plate meeting and try to explain to me what YOUR strike zone is.  YOU don't have a strike zone.  The rule book says what the strike zone is.  Your job description does not include license to alter the rules.  Your job is to know the rules and to enforce them.  If people decide at some point that the rules may need reconsideration, you can show up and speak at that meeting -- but get in line along with the rest of us. 

BTW, true story, I once indulged myself at a home plate meeting.  Following the HPU's description of his personal strike zone, I asked with a wry smile, "Are there any other rules you'll be changing today that we should know about?" 

He didn't think it was funny, and based on how things went that game, I have decided that I'll only say that in my head from now on.

I'm still on cloud nine. What a fitting way to end an amazing series from two very talented teams. Going into next season, the Cubs and Indians have to be the favorites. I may be a West coast gal, but my grandpa instilled a love for the Cubs across our whole family. Many of us cried tears that he missed this day. I get why the East coast people would like an earlier start time, but out here it's hard to get home from work in time for a 5 pm game.

I really don't want the umpires to become the story of this series, but something really needs to be done. When there are stats about who has the toughest or easiest strike zone, then you know something is amiss.

There are 108 stitches on a baseball and it took 108 years...

hmmmm the magic of baseball continues to amaze me. 

Midlo Dad posted:

This has to go down as one of the all time great Series.

Unfortunately, I have to agree with this from above:  "Umpiring behind the plate was brutal entire series."

Actually the umpiring in general was poor, which is amazing when you consider that the guys picked to handle the WS are supposed to be the cream of the crop.  Video replays spared us some of what otherwise would've been embarrassing calls, e.g., the muff by Baez when trying to turn a bare-handed DP last night, initially called an out at 2nd.  Unfortunately we still have no help for the ball/strike situation.

If the still relatively new commissioner wants to make his mark, he can work on more accountability in this area.  Hendricks got pulled last night because of one terrible call -- maybe an overreaction by Maddon, but still, a  two-run inning doesn't happen if a correct strike call is made on what was, quite frankly, not even a borderline pitch.  I will say, the calls weren't biased; it went both ways.  Miller had another guy K'ed who ended up walking, leading to another run.  It went on all night. 

In the penultimate game of a season that ran for over 7 months, it was an embarrassment.  And frankly, Joe West was just as bad in game 6. 

Players who perform that poorly lose their jobs.  Umpiring is not the U.S. Supreme Court.  When umpires screw up repeatedly, they need to go.  It's not like there aren't hundreds of aspiring prospects working hard to get better for the all-too-rare opening at the MLB level.

I don't know what they use for a grading but anytime you have cowboy Joe West umping you don't have the cream of anything. The man is a POS and an embarrassment to the profession.

BOF posted:

There are 108 stitches on a baseball and it took 108 years...

hmmmm the magic of baseball continues to amaze me. 

And 27 outs * 4 wins = 108.

In the big picture I didn't care which team won. My preference was for the Indians. I believe Francona got screwed in Boston with how things ended. I figure one more World Series win and he's a Hall of Famer.

in my perverted little world I ended up rooting for the Cubs to blow the lead twice and lose. I figured it would add to the legacy. If the Cubs hadn't won this year they're built to win. It's about being well built from the top down. The owner has money and stays out of the way. He hired the right baseball person and let him do his thing. Then he hired the right manager. 

I figure the rain delay helped the Cubs immensely. They were emotionally on their heels. The delay allowed them time to relax, then come charging out of the clubhouse with a changed attitude.

I have to agree that the umpiring was a joke.  You don't typically see this many bad calls in a baseball game.  

Go-Cubs-Go ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9XtDyDUjIU

The Cubs should send Eric Hosmer a nice big thank you basket. Who would have thought that when the AL won the All Star game it would allow Kyle Schwarber to play four games instead of three. The Cubs were 3-1 with him in the lineup.  

hshuler posted:

The Cubs should send Eric Hosmer a nice big thank you basket. Who would have thought that when the AL won the All Star game it would allow Kyle Schwarber to play four games instead of three. The Cubs were 3-1 with him in the lineup.  

Good point.  They are an AL team.  Maybe they could swap leagues with the White Sox. If not they'll probably have to trade Scharber to an AL team at some point.

ESPN SportsCenter had a great video to celebrate the occasion.  Congrats Cubbie fans everywhere!  I know exactly how you feel.  For a RedSox fan 2004 was a magical year as 2016 will be for the Cubs.  No more announcers filling in time with comments about curses, jinxes or anything of the like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IEHEP3Uea0

Still can't get over that the Cubs Won the World Series!! Students (and teachers) have been congratulating me the past few days! Well deserved. Glad the Series got big ratings. I know he's in his early 40's, but I'd pencil in Thoe to the HOF after bringing rings to the Red Sox and Cubs. I was wary when the season began and the Cubs were the favorites in Las Vegas to win the series. I didn't get to a World Series game (probably would have gone to CLE if those games were the weekend ones), but will remember that I got to a make-up game in Aug vs Milwaukee and that memorable game that put the Cubs into the World Series.  Hot stove talk not far away....did Chapman pitch his last game for Cubs?? He's a free agent.

Ripken Fan posted:

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  Hot stove talk not far away....did Chapman pitch his last game for Cubs?? He's a free agent.

I'd try to keep Chapman if his asking price is in line with his market value.  He is still a top closer and can shorten a game for a way above average Cubs offense.  Chapman was asked to do something way beyond what he is normally asked to do in the World Series.  As a result he was missing location and his velocity was down.  I think anybody who follows baseball could see that. Under almost all other circumstances Chapman would have succeeded. 

BTW...Chapman wasn't the only person that almost cost the Cubs Game 7.  Joe Maddon made some questionable moves and decisions including taking Kyle Hendricks out.  For the life of me, I don't know what Ol' Joe was thinking bringing in Lester when Hendricks had handled Kipnis (arguably their best hitter)  convincingly in his previous 2 ABs.  He could have stretched Hendricks another 1 1/3 innings (based on pitch count and results) then brought Lester in for 1 inning and Chapman in for 1 inning....or something along those lines.  I got a little fired up when he took out Hendricks and Mrs Fenwaysouth was ALOT fired up at that move.   The Cubs saved themselves from some very questionable managerial decisions IMHO.