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October 23, 2012

Playoff Prospectus

NLCS Recap: Giants Win The Pennant

by Sam Miller

Guess the MLB.com headline!

a. Gritty By The Bay!
b. They Might Be Giants
c. Giants Cain On Cards’ Parade
d. Matt’s All, Folks
e. Giant Uprising Brings Pennant Back

It’s probably the one you’re not thinking of. Answer at the bottom.

***

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13 comments have been left for this article.

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R.A.Wagman

(32721)

"And the Giants didn’t steal any bases" - I have read this on more than one series summary, but it isn't true. Brandon Belt swiped one in the 8th inning of game 5. In any case, you did a marvelous job of recapping the series for this long-time misplaced Giants fan.

Oct 23, 2012 05:08 AM

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rating: 2

DetroitDale

(31270)

I'll admit I was rooting for a Cardinals rematch, not because I wanted revenge for '06, but I felt that Giants would be the tougher team. They're one of the few teams in the playoffs with starting pitching as deep as Detroit's. Combine that with a more solid bullpen, and the loss of the DH in national league parks (and SF pitchers aren't as useless with the bat as most) and I'm not sure you can call the Tigers the favorite.

I do think this will be a seven game series with several low-scoring games with one run margins, the kind of classic series neutral observers should love, fans of the teams will be biting their nails the whole way.

Oct 23, 2012 06:17 AM

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rrvwmr

(11107)

Couple of observations... Rafael Furcal's loss really showed in this series. Kozma looked fairly uncomfortable out there defensively. Telephone Company park looked monstrous with all of the Cardinals' fly balls. My gut tells me the Cards were at a 50% FB rate and the Giants were at a 50% LD rate. Aside from Posey, if seemed like every Giant was swinging like they knew what pitch was coming.

Oct 23, 2012 09:15 AM

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rweiler

(21660)

The Phone Company Park is only really only exceptionally large out in right center. The high wall in right turns a lot of line drives in that direction from home runs into doubles but the Cards rarely hit any that way. Molina has the right sort of line drive swing for the park, and he did well.

Oct 23, 2012 10:08 AM

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drmorris

(37508)

I had the same reaction to last night's x-mo cameraman, who really ought to be working for Michael Mann instead of Fox Sports.

Oct 23, 2012 11:13 AM

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whatevergong82

(30136)

I think that this year's World Series could turn out into a classic 7 game classic, where one turn at bat, one pitch, can decide who will be the World Series Champion.

Anyway, I hope that Detroit will pull it out, but if San Francisco wins, I'll tip my cap to them.

Oct 23, 2012 11:55 AM

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LynchMob

(6915)

How could Pence's "Triple Double" be scored a double? I initially thought it was E6 + E8 ... then saw the slo-mo of how/why Kozma got fooled ... so it was obviously single + E8 ... just a nit ...

Here's the slo-mo ...

http://webusers.npl.illinois.edu/~a-nathan/pob//PenceTripleDouble.html

Oct 23, 2012 14:03 PM

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rweiler

(21660)

I don't think there is any mystery about what happened to Kozma. Even playing left field in softball my first reaction would be to the location of the pitch and the timing of the batter's swing. On an inside pitch with an early swing, the batter is going to pull the ball. That's almost certainly what Kozma was reacting to and, if the bat hadn't broken, he would have been right.

Oct 23, 2012 17:24 PM

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rweiler

(21660)

It also occurs to me that the play illustrates what's wrong with Pence's swing; he isn't accelerating the bat head enough to get around on an inside pitch, hence, getting the ball near the handle instead of the bat head. If so, perhaps he should try a lighter bat for the series.

Oct 23, 2012 17:27 PM

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thegeneral13

(32625)

His swing is just flat out awful. In fact, I've never really watched him before and I've been struck by how ugly his entire game is, from his swing to his throwing motion to his posture to his general mannerisms to his crazy eyes and hobo beard. He has to have one of the ugliest games in the majors, and definitely the ugliest among guys who are actually good. I'm not trying to be mean; it just startled me to watch him play.

Oct 23, 2012 18:58 PM

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SaxonB

(67391)

mmmm...Chalupa.

Too bad I live in Brooklyn and there isn't a easily accessible Taco Bell within a ten mile radius. And that I don't have a car. And that it's 11 pm.

That's what I get for reading Baseball Prospectus past my bed time.

Oct 23, 2012 19:38 PM

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elljay

(58233)

Pence looks like he's doing everything for the very 1st time.

Oct 24, 2012 06:50 AM

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Robotey

(26684)

Sam - please risk inspring the wrath of Jason Parks by writing an article decrying Tom Verducci's 'don't swing for the fences in the postseason' mumbo jumbo.

It's gone too far. This propoganda made its way into my NPR broadcast this morning. Bill James would be turning over in his not yet dug grave if word of this sophistry ever reached him.

HR's are great in the postseason. In low-scoring games with dominating pitchers--of which there are certainly more in the postseason--it's that much more important to be able to tie the score with one swing. Exhibit A - the Yankees 9th inning in Game one of the NLCS. Sure, they lost the game in extras, but they made up for 8 innings of futility with a bloop and a bop, then a hard-fought BB and another bop.

Barring triple-struck grounders that miraculously are transformed into doubles, HRs are needed in postseason.

Oct 24, 2012 08:21 AM

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rating: 1

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