I don't understand???

by Steve Nelson on Oct 14, 2008 10:13 PM PDT

How can Tampa Bay be leading the Red Sox 3-1 in the League Championship, particularly having now won two games on the road?

For years the esteemed and knowledgeable experts on Baseball Tonight, in the news media, and at ESPN.com have assured us that when it's the post-season teams simply cannot advance if the players on the roster don't have playoff experience. We've been advised in no uncertain terms that the post-season is "a different game" and if players "haven't been there before" there is no way they can prepare for it and they will wilt under the pressure. Isn't this precisely why rosters must be salted with veterans; why proven veterans are always worth more than untested youngsters, or even players with MLB experience but who have never experienced post-season play??

Surely the differences between the Rays and the Red Sox aren't as great as has been seen so far in their series. If those two teams played each other all 162 games in a season, overall wouldn't we expect no more than about 10 games separating them at the end of the season? If the teams are that closely matched, why isn't the veteran experience of the Red Sox manifesting as the deciding factor in a playoff series?

So why is Tampa Bay stomping the Red Sox? What am I missing here?? Could it be that the those esteemed experts about baseball are as full as BS as the stock broker who was telling me three months ago that with the pullbacks in the stock market stocks were oversold and it was one of the best times to buy stocks he had ever seen?

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Veteran experience heavily countered by Jason Bartlett's grit

and B.J. Upton’s lazy tempo.

by Omerta on Oct 14, 2008 10:22 PM PDT reply actions

Rec'd, you mean?

The road to hell is paved with Mariners.

by .Taylor on Oct 15, 2008 8:46 AM PDT up reply actions

Evan Longoria is simply too pretty to lose.

by BrianL on Oct 14, 2008 10:24 PM PDT reply actions

They signed Percival to drain the playoff experience from him into BJ Upton's mind in a weird experiment

That’s why he’s on the DL

by Graham MacAree on Oct 14, 2008 10:27 PM PDT reply actions

Black people can mind meld?

by JI on Oct 14, 2008 10:29 PM PDT up reply actions

Damn straight they can.

by BrianL on Oct 14, 2008 10:30 PM PDT up reply actions

I hate that show.

by JI on Oct 14, 2008 10:36 PM PDT up reply actions

Tim Russ gets asphyxiated by plastic wrap in the classic skinemax film "Night Eyes 2"

PS Voyager sucks.

by PhilR8 on Oct 15, 2008 10:55 AM PDT up reply actions

Looks like Obama

by johnbai on Oct 15, 2008 12:00 PM PDT up reply actions

No politics.

The road to hell is paved with Mariners.

by .Taylor on Oct 15, 2008 2:21 PM PDT up reply actions

They all look alike to you.

by JI on Oct 15, 2008 4:34 PM PDT up reply actions

We know you don't,

Now get him out of here

Don't believe the lies Bill!!!! look at the sparkly ERA!!! Sparkly, Sparkly!!! - McCovey Chronicles

by Trenchtown on Oct 15, 2008 12:02 AM PDT reply actions

Lack of Schilling

Cuba Si! Yanqi No!

by Patrick517 on Oct 15, 2008 6:23 AM PDT reply actions

But veteran grit.

The road to hell is paved with Mariners.

by .Taylor on Oct 15, 2008 8:46 AM PDT up reply actions

You're neglecting the Manny factor

Clearly the Sawx are missing his Clubhouse Presence and Veteran Leadership. Without him, they just don’t have the Chemistry needed. If Manny was still on the Sawx, you can bet the games would have been very different.

BJ Upton is so intimitated by Manny’s playoff experience that there’s no way he hits those bombs over the monster. Instead, the overpowering team Chemistry the Sawx exude would turn those bombs into soft flies for outs.

Cleary.

by PDXTai on Oct 15, 2008 9:16 AM PDT reply actions

In most cases that's true

But there are also times when a youthful roster excels in a playoff series due to the following factors:
1) They’re so young/raw, they don’t understand how Big the situation is; they’re too green to feel pressure. See: Andruw Jones.

2) They keep the clubhouse loose, and thus avoid pressure through getting team haircuts, devising elaborate celebratory handshakes and other practical jokes. Often, credit for this is split between players and the manager who lets the players “be themselves.” See: Red Sox, 2004; Rays 2008.

3) The team sagely looked for young players they KNEW could excel on this stage. This is a little known aspect of player evaluation, and its one of the ways the Yankees maintained their advantage over MLB for so long: they scout for the ability to handle pressure. Clearly, the Rays knew how to do this as well. Something as similar as posing as a crazed fan who will hurt your girlfriend if you don’t get a hit right here, Longoria. Or sending a letter to Sonnanstine posing as a dying child who could possibly live to see his 7th birthday…assuming you beat those douchebags from Bowling Green. This has been an area where one team has exploited a market inefficiency, but the Rays success shows that more teams are aware of it, and are moving to exploit it. It’s really a Moneyball strategy, but one you’d never hear from Billy Beane.

by marc w on Oct 15, 2008 9:36 AM PDT reply actions