World Series Game 1&2 Thread

[biggentleben]

So, yes, he got out of the jams, but I don't know how many times Buck had to state that Miller was dominating. He was not at all dominating last night. He had no clue where his pitches were going. If the Cubs simply waited on pitches, they'd have been golden. The pitch that Schwarber struck out on missed the catcher's target significantly (catcher was on the outside of the plate, Miller missed down the middle of the plate). He's also done for game 2.

 

You have to win one game before you win two games, but I was questioning the wisdom in how Miller was used last night with obviously lesser stuff than he's shown and pitching significantly more than he had all season.

[jimmer]

The Cubs batters were patient.  Pitches Miller would get other teams to swing at, the Cubs weren't.  It didn't work out for the Cubs obviously, but Miller's strength is that he throws a lot of pitches that are close to the zone or look like they are in the zone when they aren't.  If batters can have patience. and really only swing at strikes (easier said than done, cause he's wicked) a team can have success.

[biggentleben]

 

The Cubs batters were patient.  Pitches Miller would get other teams to swing at, the Cubs weren't.  It didn't work out for the Cubs obviously, but Miller's strength is that he throws a lot of pitches that are close to the zone or look like they are in the zone when they aren't.  If batters can have patience. and really only swing at strikes (easier said than done, cause he's wicked) a team can have success.

 

Yes, they did better, though they did swing at plenty. It will be interesting to see how it goes forward.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Schwarber was able to lay off his first appearance against Miller, but Miller got him the second time when it really counted. Hard to lay off a pitch that comes in like a fastball, only slower. The batter knows he is going to destroy this pitch, kicks into his swing, and then it starts breaking...

[biggentleben]

 

Schwarber was able to lay off his first appearance against Miller, but Miller got him the second time when it really counted. Hard to lay off a pitch that comes in like a fastball, only slower. The batter knows he is going to destroy this pitch, kicks into his swing, and then it starts breaking...

 

But he missed, badly, with the pitch. Schwarber has talked about how his vision allows him to often take in where the catcher sets up as he views the pitcher. I wonder if that honestly didn't play into that, because if he misses on the outside edge of the plate instead of the middle, that's a home run. The catcher was set up outside the plate, so he missed that spot by a long shot.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

But he missed, badly, with the pitch. Schwarber has talked about how his vision allows him to often take in where the catcher sets up as he views the pitcher. I wonder if that honestly didn't play into that, because if he misses on the outside edge of the plate instead of the middle, that's a home run. The catcher was set up outside the plate, so he missed that spot by a long shot.

The pitch did not go where the catcher eventually set up but I don't think that's incredibly uncommon, necessarily. Maybe Miller changed his mind after getting the sign. Maybe it was even by design. That slider was hard to hit regardless. The 8-9 guys didn't have a chance and the middle of the order couldn't get a run in, though they did get runners on like you say. I do agree Miller is probably not pitching tonight but maybe because the Cubs get to Bauer and Arrieta holds down the Cleveland lineup.

[Seth Stohs]

Let's have this remain the Game 2 Thread... I was busy all day and see no one else had started a Game 2 Thread...

[jimmer]

Was the Cubs starting lineup tonight the youngest lineup in W Series history?

[Squirrel]

Met another Twins fan in Chicago today. He's also cheering on the Indians. The bars close to Wrigley are charging outrageous amounts this weekend, somewhere in the $250 range, with no guarantees of a place to sit. If you want to pay $1000 you can get a table.

[Brock Beauchamp]

I only spot-checked game two but so far, this World Series is a bit of a yawner. Hopefully we either get some close games or the series goes the distance.

[USAFChief]

4 hours for a 9 inning game.  A game in which one pitcher took a no hitter into the middle innings, and there were only 6 runs scored, combined.

 

I love baseball, but even I couldn't sit through that.  

 

Something needs to be done.  How do you attract, and keep, new fans, when even diehards like myself are tuning out?

[jimmer]

Loved that game last night.  I hope Sid stays watching hockey and ignores baseball :-)

[jimmer]

Hank Aaron talking about how Big Papi has done it the right way his whole career.  I guess PEDs is the right way.

[TheLeviathan]

 

4 hours for a 9 inning game.  A game in which one pitcher took a no hitter into the middle innings, and there were only 6 runs scored, combined.

 

I love baseball, but even I couldn't sit through that.  

 

Something needs to be done.  How do you attract, and keep, new fans, when even diehards like myself are tuning out?

 

I believe it has been firmly established that your totally justifiable take makes you "not a real fan".

 

Sorry, those of us that are being pushed out are forming a club.....want in?  We haven't settled on a name yet though.  "We thought we were fans but 8 hours to finish a game made us mad and now we're not allowed to be fans anymore" doesn't have a good acronym.

 

I'm starting to wonder if the "you're not a real fan!" is referring not to baseball but the unending commercials.....

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

4 hours for a 9 inning game.  A game in which one pitcher took a no hitter into the middle innings, and there were only 6 runs scored, combined.

 

I love baseball, but even I couldn't sit through that.  

 

Something needs to be done.  How do you attract, and keep, new fans, when even diehards like myself are tuning out?

I noticed how long game one was dragging on and thought it was a problem. 3:37 run time for, again, a six run game. Game two even managed to be worse at a 4:04 run time.

 

Six run games should clock in at 3:15-3:20, tops. That's a slightly below average run total so really, that should be a 3:00 game in a perfect world.

[biggentleben]

So here's a fun study I was able to do this week...

 

I had a game DVR'd this year earlier, and it ended up being the game that Ender Inciarte made the best catch of the year. I then was going to be out on Wednesday night, so I DVR'd that game.

 

I set up both recordings to go for a full hour beyond the TV listing because, well, that's just what to expect.

 

I then took time to review both last night without commercials. The game earlier in the season was a 4-3 game in 9 innings that used 10 pitchers total between the teams. The WS game was a 5-1 game with 10 pitchers utilized.

 

Regular season game 3:17

WS Game 2 4:04

 

The big difference that I totaled up due to curiousity:

 

Regular season commercial total during broadcast 0:23 (rounded up)

WS Game 2 0:48 (rounded down)

 

...over twice as much length in commercial time spent during the world series broadcast, almost an entire hour of broadcast time! This does also include some natural time that there would be "dead time" due to the teams changing sides, but a game with 3:16 of on-field action took 4:04 to broadcast, and a game with 2:44 of game action took 3:17 to broadcast. That's certainly not going to attract in more fans...

[Squirrel]

Is anyone surprised at that? More commercial airing time? I'm not. It's about the money, not the game. Maybe if it weren't the Cubs looking for an historic WS win, it wouldn't draw quite that much.

 

And on another money-making note ... people have been lined up for HOURS waiting for bars to open on Clark St., waiting to pay $250-$1000 (or more) to get a spot 'close to the action' to watch the game. There is a no-parking ban within a 4-block radius of Wrigley, even if you LIVE there and have a permit to park there. Glad I live nowhere near there and glad I'm leaving town.

[biggentleben]

 

Is anyone surprised at that? More commercial airing time? I'm not. It's about the money, not the game. Maybe if it weren't the Cubs looking for an historic WS win, it wouldn't draw quite that much.

 

And on another money-making note ... people have been lined up for HOURS waiting for bars to open on Clark St., waiting to pay $250-$1000 (or more) to get a spot 'close to the action' to watch the game. There is a no-parking ban within a 4-block radius of Wrigley, even if you LIVE there and have a permit to park there. Glad I live nowhere near there and glad I'm leaving town.

 

Surprised it's more, no. I was surprised that almost 1/4 of the broadcast time was actually commercials. That really puts a dent in anyone complaining about the game being a problem and not being viable to attract fans. No, it's not baseball that pushes away fans - it's the long stretches of commercial breaks. Television has primarily 30-second ads with a few 60-second spots scattered in. There were multiple breaks that were 3 full minutes long during the World Series game! That is flat ridiculous.

[Squirrel]

Surprised it's more, no. I was surprised that almost 1/4 of the broadcast time was actually commercials. That really puts a dent in anyone complaining about the game being a problem and not being viable to attract fans. No, it's not baseball that pushes away fans - it's the long stretches of commercial breaks. Television has primarily 30-second ads with a few 60-second spots scattered in. There were multiple breaks that were 3 full minutes long during the World Series game! That is flat ridiculous.

I'm agreeing with you here. It's ridiculous. But I'm not surprised by it.

[spinowner]

 

4 hours for a 9 inning game.  A game in which one pitcher took a no hitter into the middle innings, and there were only 6 runs scored, combined.

 

I love baseball, but even I couldn't sit through that.  

 

Something needs to be done.  How do you attract, and keep, new fans, when even diehards like myself are tuning out?

Cut the commercial breaks between innings in half, for one. (As if that would ever happen.)

Edited to add that I did not finish reading the thread before I wrote this.

[TheLeviathan]

 

Surprised it's more, no. I was surprised that almost 1/4 of the broadcast time was actually commercials. That really puts a dent in anyone complaining about the game being a problem and not being viable to attract fans. No, it's not baseball that pushes away fans - it's the long stretches of commercial breaks. Television has primarily 30-second ads with a few 60-second spots scattered in. There were multiple breaks that were 3 full minutes long during the World Series game! That is flat ridiculous.

 

Exactly, look a the other thread on this.  The first retort is "real baseball fans like watching more baseball".

 

Except, the added run time isn't actually baseball.  So much of  it isn't even dragged out player behavior, it's commercials.  I get it.  I'm not shocked.  But it's really obnoxious.