2014 Wildcard Games: Royals beat A's, 9-8, 12 innings; Giants beat Pirates, 8-0

[1992casey]

Athletics (Jon Lester) vs. Royals (James Shields)

Tuesday, September 30, 7:00 PM CDT

Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City

Radio: ESPN Radio

TV: TBS

A's at Royals Game Preview, MLB.com

Royals win, 9-8, 12 innings

 

Giants (Madison Bumgarner) vs. Pirates (Edinson Volquez)

Wednesday October 1, 7:00 PM CDT

PNC Park, Pittsburgh

Radio: ESPN Radio

TV: ESPN

Giants at Pirates Game Preview, MLB.com

[DocLuna7]

I am looking forward to some great playoff games this year.

[TauPentaRei]

Lifelong Brewers fan here, but moved to Oakland 6 years ago... promptly ditched my "AL Team" (White Sox... as I was living near Soldier Field for 4 years and was preconditioned to like their "grittiness". Having Scott Podsednik didn't hurt also. Mutual disgust of the Cubs and Cubs fans was probably most galvanizing) to adopt the A's as my mistress.

 

Just so much to like about them:

• The owner that wants to move them to San Jose but can't (allegory to the movie Major League)
  The Coliseum that flat out sucks and routinely fills with sewage (ditto) but is filled by an atmosphere that rivals a European soccer match because of the fans
  The 2012 playoffs where ownership wouldn't take the tarps off the upper deck and fans wanting to buy tickets were getting turned away - just fostering populist angst
  Small market (?)... sustained success despite minuscule budgets
  Rollie Fingers
  Being in the shadow of the "glossier" Giants and having that chip on your shoulder
  Ease of taking the BART to the games - drinking on the train / the energy of the platform
  On Base Percentage (some poster here a few days ago was talking about the "taking walks" ethos developed all the way through A ball)
  Josh Donaldson, yesterday, talking about his BABIP on pull hitting this year versus last year (minus .070 swing)

 

You might be able to tell that I could produce 4 or 13 more lists just as substantial if you get me talking and belly up to fine ale pints.

 

 

Anyhoo... as a result of all of this, coupled with taking my son to his first ever game, mixed with my disgust of Ryan Braun's pathological lying (please don't let this derail my overture)... multiplied by the elation / pain cycle detailed below...

 

In attendance:

• 2012 game #162, sweep the final 3 games of the season from the Rangers to win the division
  2012, ALDS game 4: watching the A's turn a 3 - 1 bottom-of-9th deficit into a 4 - 3 win - so I could go to game 5
  2012, ALDS game 5: Verlander
  2013, ALDS game 5: Verlander

 

I've been through the birthing canal of fandom and have swapped wife and mistress, so to speak... will always love the Brewers, but the A's are it for me.

 

 

I'm a bit distracted today, can you tell?

[torts]

my day of mourning has passed on the brewers season, LETS GO BUCS!

[adamb100]

Hoping for an A's/Royals vs. Nats WS this year.

[TURBO]

I'd like to see KC vs Pittsburgh or Washington... As much as I try, I can't hate Pittsburgh, the team. I can hate specific players, but they have been down so long and I can't help myself in pulling for underdogs. Different story when playing the Brewers of course, then I hate everything about them...

[dlk9s]

Lifelong Brewers fan here, but moved to Oakland 6 years ago... promptly ditched my "AL Team" (White Sox... as I was living near Soldier Field for 4 years and was preconditioned to like their "grittiness". Having Scott Podsednik didn't hurt also. Mutual disgust of the Cubs and Cubs fans was probably most galvanizing) to adopt the A's as my mistress.

 

Just so much to like about them:

• The owner that wants to move them to San Jose but can't (allegory to the movie Major League)
  The Coliseum that flat out sucks and routinely fills with sewage (ditto) but is filled by an atmosphere that rivals a European soccer match because of the fans
  The 2012 playoffs where ownership wouldn't take the tarps off the upper deck and fans wanting to buy tickets were getting turned away

These sound like reasons to root against them, if you ask me.

[vegasbrewcrew1993]

Lifelong Brewers fan here, but moved to Oakland 6 years ago... promptly ditched my "AL Team" (White Sox... as I was living near Soldier Field for 4 years and was preconditioned to like their "grittiness". Having Scott Podsednik didn't hurt also. Mutual disgust of the Cubs and Cubs fans was probably most galvanizing) to adopt the A's as my mistress.

 

Just so much to like about them:

• The owner that wants to move them to San Jose but can't (allegory to the movie Major League)
  The Coliseum that flat out sucks and routinely fills with sewage (ditto) but is filled by an atmosphere that rivals a European soccer match because of the fans
  The 2012 playoffs where ownership wouldn't take the tarps off the upper deck and fans wanting to buy tickets were getting turned away - just fostering populist angst
  Small market (?)... sustained success despite minuscule budgets
  Rollie Fingers
  Being in the shadow of the "glossier" Giants and having that chip on your shoulder
  Ease of taking the BART to the games - drinking on the train / the energy of the platform
  On Base Percentage (some poster here a few days ago was talking about the "taking walks" ethos developed all the way through A ball)
  Josh Donaldson, yesterday, talking about his BABIP on pull hitting this year versus last year (minus .070 swing)

 

You might be able to tell that I could produce 4 or 13 more lists just as substantial if you get me talking and belly up to fine ale pints.

 

 

Anyhoo... as a result of all of this, coupled with taking my son to his first ever game, mixed with my disgust of Ryan Braun's pathological lying (please don't let this derail my overture)... multiplied by the elation / pain cycle detailed below...

 

In attendance:

• 2012 game #162, sweep the final 3 games of the season from the Rangers to win the division
  2012, ALDS game 4: watching the A's turn a 3 - 1 bottom-of-9th deficit into a 4 - 3 win - so I could go to game 5
  2012, ALDS game 5: Verlander
  2013, ALDS game 5: Verlander

 

I've been through the birthing canal of fandom and have swapped wife and mistress, so to speak... will always love the Brewers, but the A's are it for me.

 

 

I'm a bit distracted today, can you tell?

nice to see a fellow A's fan on here. dad being an A's fan made it easy for me to adopt them as a 2nd team. plus they are low payroll small market just like the brew crew. go a's!

[TURBO]

How on earth do you guys have a 2nd team? I can only support one team, under any circumstance. I don't have it in me to split loyalties. I hear of people all the time with more than one favorite team in a given sport, but that concept just doesn't compute with me...

 

I actually sometimes wish I was a fan of a different team though, does that make me a bad guy?

[dlk9s]

I'm only a fan of multiple teams when it comes to college sports, but even then my alma mater is still number one above all. I'll root for my brother's and father's schools (especially since my dad's is Marquette and I grew up a fan), but I don't follow them as closely. I obviously am NOT torn when my school has to play one of their's. I am 1-0 in football against my brother in football (bowl game, even) and 1-1 against him in basketball (both in the ACC/Big Ten challenge).

[TURBO]

Looks like the Royals just got "Yosted!"

 

Why bring in a starter for the 6th inning when he hasn't done that before? Announcers are ripping that poor decision left and right, as it should be.

[Bombers]

Looks like the Royals just got "Yosted!"

 

Why bring in a starter for the 6th inning when he hasn't done that before? Announcers are ripping that poor decision left and right, as it should be.

Yost isn't a good manager. He just doesn't know how to handle a staff

[Bombers]

Hey Ned - let's just hold right and see how this one plays out. It's only 7-3

[bucks2281]

KC just got Yosted. He's literally the last guy on Earth I'd want managing my team in a winner-take-all game.

[NYChez]

It's bad enough the kid was thrown into the situation. I assumed he was well-rested. Ventura threw 74 pitches 2 days ago!

[TURBO]

Just a purely asinine decision... I sure don't miss Yost, however, it kind of reminds me of starting Mark Kotsay in CF for a NLCS game with Carlos Gomez, arguably one of the best defensive CFers in the game, on the bench...

[folly412]

I wouldn't want Edgar anywhere near a contending team. I'd hand him a bad young team to make competitive since he's 2/2, just as long as there's an eject button.

[Bombers]

What a game. I am rooting for the royals here. Aoki up, Cain on deck - can they get it done?

[pitchleague]

It's been a real roller coaster of a game, that's for sure! Very entertaining!

[DocLuna7]

Wow, this game is really, really good.

[valpocrewsader]

I dislike Yost so much that I'm rooting against the Royals. Looks like they might pull this one out of their butt. Then he'll probably get undue credit for the win. He's terrible.

[Eye Black]

Brandon Finnegan looks very comfortable pitching in this high pressure game, and just 3-plus months removed from pitching for TCU. I didn't want the Brewers to draft him going into this years draft, but I am ready to admit I was probably wrong on that one.

[1992casey]

Somebody edited Brandon Finnegan's Wikipedia page a bit ahead of time. It says, "He got his first playoff win in the 2014 Wild Card game against the Oakland Athletics." It'll be interesting to see how long that sticks.

 

EDIT: It's been removed.

[rondoman]

Ned Yost doing everything he can to lose I see.

[sveumrules]

Between walking the lead off guy in the 12th, not blocking that pitch in the dirt to keep the runner from advancing to third following the sacrifice to giving up the go ahead single; Ned Yost has really killed the Royals this inning.