chazzed said:

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bonsallbear said:

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GRRAAH said:

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First team since 21 Yankees, and second ever, to begin the playoffs with two shutouts! Buehler goes tomorrow for the whitewash!!

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Big stage for a rookie. He will need to go far into this game for the Dodgers to have a chance in the rest of the playoffs.

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How do you figure?

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I figure the Dodgers will win this series. Conventional wisdom suggests winning teams need 3 quality starters to win the whole enchilada. I'm not counting on rich Hill to be that starter.

SurvivorOf1and10fkaLEA said:

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Giants' fans are still celebrating the 2014 championship? Based on their logic of "it's 1st or nothing," the only team that should be celebrating the past are the New York Yankees (27 titles), and the only team that should be celebrating the present are the reigning world champion Houston Astros.

Go ahead and celebrate your relatively better past successes. I'm happy to celebrate the Dodgers relatively better current success.

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I'd rather win one world series and finish in last 29 years than experience the last 30 years of doyer baseball. Enjoy your division titles and nlcs/ws appearances. Call me when you actually win something meaningful.

Are there any other giant fans that feel this way?

bonsallbear said:

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Are there any other giant fans that feel this way?

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In 2004 I definitely did. (Choosing this year because it was after a long string of winning seasons and playoff appearances for the Giants . . . but no title.)

bonsallbear said:

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Are there any other giant fans that feel this way?

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Many. Division titles are only important in that they give you a chance to win the World Series. The Giants even won a World Series as the Wild Card. I'd rather win the division than not, don't get me wrong. A division winning season is also more enjoyable for fans like you and I who follow the team day after day for six months.

But winning the division is the first step toward the bigger goal. I don't want to be mean, but Giants fans are laughing at Dodger fans who are celebrating division titles like it is some great accomplishment.

GMP said:

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bonsallbear said:

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Are there any other giant fans that feel this way?

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Many. Division titles are only important in that they give you a chance to win the World Series. The Giants even won a World Series as the Wild Card. I'd rather win the division than not, don't get me wrong. A division winning season is also more enjoyable for fans like you and I who follow the team day after day for six months.

But winning the division is the first step toward the bigger goal. I don't want to be mean, but Giants fans are laughing at Dodger fans who are celebrating division titles like it is some great accomplishment.

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Will you be laughing at Cal fans when some of us celebrate winnng the PAC-12 six straight years but fail to win the national championship? I mean, in theory, of course.

TheSouseFamily said:

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GMP said:

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bonsallbear said:

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Are there any other giant fans that feel this way?

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Many. Division titles are only important in that they give you a chance to win the World Series. The Giants even won a World Series as the Wild Card. I'd rather win the division than not, don't get me wrong. A division winning season is also more enjoyable for fans like you and I who follow the team day after day for six months.

But winning the division is the first step toward the bigger goal. I don't want to be mean, but Giants fans are laughing at Dodger fans who are celebrating division titles like it is some great accomplishment.

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Will you be laughing at Cal fans when some of us celebrate winnng the PAC-12 six straight years but fail to win the national championship? I mean, in theory, of course.

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Winning a 12 team conference is a little bit different from winning a 5 team division.

Except the conference has two divisions, north and south.

Another Bear said:

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Except the conference has two divisions, north and south.

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Sure, but if you're talking about "winning the Pac-12," you're talking about winning a 12 team group.

If Cal had won the Pac-12 North 6 years in a row but lost to USC in the championship game every time? Yeah, I think we would start making fun of ourselves for that.

sycasey said:

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If Cal had won the Pac-12 North 6 years in a row but lost to USC in the championship game every time? Yeah, I think we would start making fun of ourselves for that.

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If only we could get that kind of success right now....

So happy for the Dodgers . On a related note, the grass is looking great at AT&T and all the bullpen mounds have been removed for the off season.

SO happy to see Playoff Kershaw is back. LOLOLOL!

GMP said:

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SO happy to see Playoff Kershaw is back. LOLOLOL!

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GMP said:

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SO happy to see Playoff Kershaw is back. LOLOLOL!

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You're happy? Says something about you.

bonsallbear said:

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GMP said:

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SO happy to see Playoff Kershaw is back. LOLOLOL!

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You're happy? Says something about you.

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That I want the Dodgers to lose? Sure.

3 more!

sycasey said:

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Perhaps we should focus on getting the Giants to .500 before we contemplate various post-season scenarios.

Seriously though, tip of the cap to Counsell and the Brewers strategy. The entire Dodger roster and lineup is based on match-ups and left/righty splits and Counsell threw that all out the window by the 3rd inning. So, Roberts gets 2 innings of thoughtfully crafted matchups and analytics-optimized hitting. And 7 inninngs of winging it with bad matchups and a depleted bench Dodgers burned their top RH pinch hitter in the 3rd and had all sorts of bad matchups in high leverage situations the rest of the way. That approach likely can't work in a regular season where starters have to go longer but in the playoff format, it can be very effective, especially against a team with 2 different RH/LH starting lineups like the Dodgers.

Well at least the Dodgers won. Roberts matchups worked pretty well tonight.
Go Rams!

Just GOTTA say it:

The Dodgers sure are supporting the notion that LA sports teams are dirty players.

Machado is a total jerk. He just ran to first and slammed into the Brewers' first baseman's leg. Totally dirty play. The replay clearly showed he intended to hit him. He was looking down at the first baseman as he hit the bag and his leg. Wasn't out of control, or losing his balance or anything else; he had a clear path to and past the bag, but he decides to slam the Brewers player. Can't believe there is no consequence for that type of thing. (I guess the Brewers simply have to decide if they're gonna lay some spikes on the Dodger's first baseman in the next inning.)

And he had some dirty slides last game. Went out of the running lane to hit the second baseman as well as grabbing him as he slid past on ANOTHER slide.

Guy sports a total jerk haircut too. Looks like a total tool with his hat off. Which just confirms the fact that he's a jerk player who will hopefully get what he deserves, and soon!

Go Brewers! Beat the LA scum!

He says all there needs to be said about LA athletics: dirty players from college to the pros. (Except Goff, of course.)

Great Frickin example of one player on one sports team to demonstrate that all players on all L. A. teams are dirty. I guess all Bay Area folks are petty and jealous of L. A.

Anyone trying to win this? Swing for the fences.

oskirules said:

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Anyone trying to win this? Swing for the fences.

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Not easy to hit homers at night in L.A.

oski003 said:

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Great Frickin example of one player on one sports team to demonstrate that all players on all L. A. teams are dirty. I guess all Bay Area folks are petty and jealous of L. A.

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We are not jealous of L.A. We just feel superior to it and hold it in contempt, without any particular good reasons...
other than it's L.A.

So Draymond' Green's antics of course mean that ALL Bay Area sports teams are comprised of dirty players, right? Nice BS comment. Used to respect you quite a bit. Reconsideration time.

Machado's a tool, I agree. So are you.

Beardog26 said:

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So Draymond' Green's antics of course mean that ALL Bay Area sports teams are comprised of dirty players, right?

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I suppose Draymond Green would have to be a dirty player in the first place.

I'm a Warriors fan, and believe that Draymond is the heart and soul of that team with perhaps as much impact as either Steph or KD.

That doesn't mean he's not dirty. He kicked Steven Adams in the nuts, and no, that was not a natural movement, as he claimed at the time. It also doesn't mean that the players on all other Bay Area sports teams are dirty players, which is my point.

TandemBear said:

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Just GOTTA say it:

The Dodgers sure are supporting the notion that LA sports teams are dirty players.

Machado is a total jerk. He just ran to first and slammed into the Brewers' first baseman's leg. Totally dirty play. The replay clearly showed he intended to hit him. He was looking down at the first baseman as he hit the bag and his leg. Wasn't out of control, or losing his balance or anything else; he had a clear path to and past the bag, but he decides to slam the Brewers player. Can't believe there is no consequence for that type of thing. (I guess the Brewers simply have to decide if they're gonna lay some spikes on the Dodger's first baseman in the next inning.)

And he had some dirty slides last game. Went out of the running lane to hit the second baseman as well as grabbing him as he slid past on ANOTHER slide.

Guy sports a total jerk haircut too. Looks like a total tool with his hat off. Which just confirms the fact that he's a jerk player who will hopefully get what he deserves, and soon!

Go Brewers! Beat the LA scum!

He says all there needs to be said about LA athletics: dirty players from college to the pros. (Except Goff, of course.)

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Maybe you should go back and review the play dispassionately. Aguilar a slim and petite man had moved his lithe frame off the bag to give Manny plenty of room.

It was a dirty play. Manny had plenty of time to see that the out had been recorded and he went in to deliberately kick the first baseman's ankle. It's not like this was a bang-bang play where he had to hustle all the way down the line.

Did Aguilar linger on the bag longer than normal? Yes, he did. I don't think that means you have to kick him.

This. I'm a Dodgers fan and am certain it was a dirty play. Aguilar definitely stayed on the bag too long but that is only more evidence that Machado could've easily avoided the contact with Aguilar's leg. Instead, he intentionally dragged his left leg (didn't raise his knee at all) to bring his foot through Aguilar's leg. It was a dirty play and could've got one or both of them injured.

Yogi Bear said:

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Beardog26 said:

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So Draymond' Green's antics of course mean that ALL Bay Area sports teams are comprised of dirty players, right?

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I suppose Draymond Green would have to be a dirty player in the first place.

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Manny is a dirty player and he's been a Dodger for half a season, a pick up to replace Seager. Not sure he'll be re-signed.

Any way, the Astros are being accused of cheating right now. Bellichik is dirty and the Niners back in the day used the leg whip.

Still...there's a special place for a player who has repeated kicked people in the nuts and grabbed them too. It's called the NUT FARM...and he's a farmer or harvester.

Dodgers fan here. Really don't like Machado at all. The guy is a punk, substandard defensive shortstop and seems prone to putting up meaningless stats vs. being a clutch player. I can't wait for the day the Dodgers decide to take their compensatory pick and let some other fool pay a gazillion dollars for him.

tequila4kapp said:

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Dodgers fan here. Really don't like Machado at all. The guy is a punk, substandard defensive shortstop and seems prone to putting up meaningless stats vs. being a clutch player. I can't wait for the day the Dodgers decide to take their compensatory pick and let some other fool pay a gazillion dollars for him.

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I don't think teams get comp picks for departing free agents that are acquired during the season. They used to, but not under the current terms.

I believe you're right. With Seager back next year, Machado is likely merely a rental.