Those of us with fully functioning brains have already been treated to many great moments during this very young postseason. And what could be better than watching two great pitchers match each other pitch for pitch as the tension built into the eighth inning of a game that was really almost a "must win"? (I didn't hear a single dumbass mention "run support" last night!)

But don't worry, Kirkwood, Spaulding, Boilermaker Rick and all other fans of television. You will have a smorgasbord of juiced up behemoths smashing each other's brains into mush to choose from on your Xfinity viewer's guide. For the rest of us, there is GLORIOUS BASEBALL!!!!!

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Ecclesiastes 5:8

Or............ Both?

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FOCUS!

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Ecclesiastes 5:8

Fully functioning brains and baseball fans aren't mutually exclusive. I would know.

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So I suppose Cueto pitched like a loser last night.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

nomination denied.

Wake me up Wednesday when the real sport starts.

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When there's a single important game on the scoreboard it really shows "run support" for the specious concept it is. "Run support" only exists within a world of averages and algorithms along with its spurious sisters such as "expected runs". What you had last night was a real baseball game. There was one homer in said game, which some might refer to as "support", but which I simply call a run. The reason such "support" was enjoyed by Jon Lester was because that homer was allowed by Johnny Cueto. And the reason Cueto lacked "support" was simply because Lester pitched better than he did.

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Yes, I watch and attend! I haven't watched football in 6 years and haven't gone in 8+. Baseball was on my TV last night and I wasn't a huge fan and I don't think I'd be if I was there.

Would you and shakes kindly take your discussion of foreign sports to the proper section? This is an American thread.

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Ecclesiastes 5:8

MLB, NHL, NCAA Mens basketball tourney

Post-seasons that are better than anything else. Not sure what order I'd rank them...Probably just as I wrote them above.

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

I don't really get why JORR simultaneously wants to argue that baseball is the most popular sport in the country while also insisting it's cooler/more authentic/whatever he's doing here than everything else as well. I think it would make a lot more sense to concede that football is the most popular sport while also decrying the shit product and the shit taste of the people who have made it more popular than more real sport like baseball. In many contexts the masses are asses and sports consumption is no exception.

As it is, his bizarre redefinition of popularity makes him sound like the poptimist idiots who militantly insist that Taylor Swift is more popular and better than your favorite musician or an art critic extolling the brilliance of Thomas Kinkade.

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Was it lester being the better pitcher or the cubs being better at capitalizing on mistakes?

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The only argument for the "popularity" of football is TV ratings. Could you acknowledge that?

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Ecclesiastes 5:8

Both pitched great...I think Cueto actually pitched a little better game...with one slightly bigger consequence to a mistake pitch.

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I think that's the heart of the argument. How we define what "good pitching" is. Hanging up that pitch to Baez was the whole game. At that point, all of his other "domination" became meaningless. His performance is only pertinent within the context of this game. He happened to be facing Jon Lester instead of James Shields or Clay Buchholz. And there's a good reason for that. On the night that Tex Cobb got his face destroyed by Larry Holmes he would have beaten the crap out of 99.9999999% of all human beings on earth by fighting the same damn fight that got him whipped by Holmes. But we don't talk about how great he fought, because he got his ass kicked by the guy he was actually fighting. Cueto pitched a good game. It just wasn't good enough. And any talk of "run support", by its very nature ignores the effort of Lester.

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Ecclesiastes 5:8

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertai ... story.html

This is good.

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Art critics are dumb.

Lester had an easier time against that lineup that has struggled to score runs all year, the Cubs have the best lineup in the NL.. Wind blowing in hard helps too, but both pitched great...Lester pitched a Lil better.

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Somewhat true. A game like that had a good chance of coming down to a homer and the Cubs have more guys likely to hit one.

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Ecclesiastes 5:8

He sure didn't look hittable....I know they had lead-off hits in the first couple, but he looked as sharp as he has ever looked. Kept that ball low and on the corners with great movement....fun to watch.

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Mondays game was a game that people who love baseball loved. For people who are just there to be at the game ,not so much.

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When I am stuck and need to figure something out I always remember the Immortal words of Socrates when he said:"I just drank what?"

How many 1 run games have we seen in the playoffs so far?

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

So popular the game is on the fucking MLB netowrk.

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Great channel.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

Weighted for lineups, Cueto pitched a little better but still lost. Shit happens.

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Jorr wont answer my question...

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Because it's a chicken/egg question. A batter can't "capitalize" unless a pitcher A) just isn't good or B) makes a mistake. The pitcher has all the power. An average pitcher retires Babe Ruth well over half the time.

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Ecclesiastes 5:8