I still remember those ESPN predictions, and how bad we thought they were even back then. Of the current division leaders, all others had at least double the votes we did. Only 9 of 31 "experts" picked us to even make the postseason. We won 3 straight divisions, have the most financial power in the league, had a lot of depth lined up and the #1 ranked minor league system in baseball - basically, this wasn't a hard prediction to make. Shows that these experts have no more insight than your average Twitter troll running on emotion. If we had signed Greinke the opinions would have probably been overwhelming in our favor, even though one player (not even Kershaw) can explain such a drastic swing. ESPN should be fuckin embarrassed, but they don't care since that article is now buried under months of bad NFL and NHL predictions. As far as Fox, their predictions sucked across the board.
I think it goes to show just how much narratives play on all of these people. We see it with award voting at the end of the year, HOF voting, this BS, etc. The real experts are the people over at Fangraphs.
Maybe I've got it wrong...but isn't the even year bullshit the SFags have going for them based on WS rings? Not NLWC ? And isn't that possibility still very alive and well ? I guess it's me, and what I remember what I was taught, but premature gloating just seems like almost always pissing into the wind. Just my tuppence...carry on...
Oh most definitely. And I have little confidence the Cardinals can overtake them, then Madison in the Wild Card game is gonna be scary Then they'd face the Cubs who are very good but also..:the Cubs The Giants have played awful but I thought they were bad in 2010 and 2014, so I'm not getting my hopes up
We should start another magic number thread, one that shows how many games the Gnats have to lose to get kicked out of the playoffs.
I don't care as far as our chances of winning. Hell, I like our odds more against the gnats than the Cubs, so I wouldn't be too disappointed to face them. My biggest worry is that the playoffs, no matter how good you are, is a crapshoot - so there is a very real chance we can lose no matter who we face. And if we are destined to lose, it can't be to the gnats. I simply couldn't take it. We've already beaten them, we've already shown we are the better team. Honestly, none of these WC teams deserve a shot at the World Series this year, but damn it to hell if the gnats get a shot to redeem all the preseason Dodger haters, not after that epic meltdown.
agree on the crapshoot thing best teams don't always win usually the hottest team that said i like our odds vs anybody, especially in the nl i don't think the cubs are overrated but i think they're more beatable than people think the team that worries me most is the nationals but if the playoffs started today i think we'd take them toughest part for any manager is figuring out a way to keep the players game ready that's why imo the wild card teams often have an edge they usually play with their backs to the wall getting in whereas division winners usually have time to get flat after clinching still, i like our chances
I like our chances as well. A lot. I also agree that sometimes the WC can have the edge coming in. Not only are they more prepared mentally, but when there are 4 or 5 teams fighting for the WC, the team that wins is almost by definition/necessity hot going into the playoffs. It's actually one reason I like the extra WC, it forces those teams to burn a pitcher and come into a series without their SP set up the way they may want. But nevertheless, like you suggest, WC's are always dangerous. I think we are in a good spot. Playing hot. We have a week to get our rotation set up exactly how we want. Hopefully the final series in SF, trying to knock them out of the playoffs and it being Vin's final games, keeps us motivated going into the playoffs. Not to mention, homefield advantage is very much up for grabs - we are one-game behind the Nats and we hold the tiebreaker.
let's see so after posting this ^ the following was announced... - ramos out for the season - harper has a thumb injury - murphy has a strained buttocks hmmm, maybe i'm on to something... okay, revised statement... the team that worries me most is the nationals, cubs, mets, giants, cardinals, marlins, pirates, red sox, indians, rangers, blue jays, o’s, tigers, m’s, astros, yankees, royals