[Official] ALCS Rangers vs. Astros

RussE · Oct 21, 2023

J.R. said: ↑

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That is horrible and unacceptable in 2023.

RussE · Oct 21, 2023

J.R. said: ↑

b****es, b****es, b****es. Still got a game to go win. Go finish these crying b****es.

https://theathletic.com/4983070/2023/10/21/astros-rangers-intentions-hit-brawl/

“He could have hurt me,” García said.

What, though, would have been Abreu’s motivation to throw at García intentionally? Justin Verlander, who allowed Garcia’s homer, said the Astros were not upset the slugger walked up the first-base line, then spiked his bat, saying, “I don’t think anybody is mad about him pimping a homer, it was the biggest homer in his career, quite honestly.” Rangers first baseman Nathaniel Lowe suggested Abreu might have been retaliating for Aroldis Chapman nearly hitting Yordan Alvarez in the top of the eighth, but that, too, seems a stretch.

Here’s Lowe:

“Wearing this jersey, having Adolis be my teammate, it feels pretty intentional. There’s a history, obviously, between these two teams. I’m sure Alvarez didn’t like the ball high and tight to him either. But in today’s game, we throw fastballs up. If you want to get emotional about something like that and take it out on a guy that hit a three-run homer, that’s too bad. I don’t really stand for it.”

But what about the game situation? Wasn’t it an odd time for Abreu to hit García?

“It’s a beautiful excuse, isn’t it?” Lowe asked. “That’s how I view it. When half your bench is running out in a hurry and guys on the injured list want to run their mouth and starters who aren’t involved want to get involved, it seems like there are more emotions tied in than gameplay.”

Catcher Jonah Heim was more restrained than Lowe, saying, “It looked bad. That’s all I can really say. We don’t know if it’s intentional or not. But it wasn’t the best look.” Another Rangers player, granted anonymity in exchange for his candor, essentially accused Maldonado of masterminding the whole thing.

“One of the best relievers in baseball just suddenly lost command?” the player asked, referring to Abreu. “Maldonado’s smart. They got exactly what they wanted, Adolis riled up. Crazy coincidence, isn’t it?”

Maldonado is certainly smart. He also can be an irritant. And evidently, he is inside the Rangers’ heads.

If Maldonado is playing the kind of three-dimensional chess the Rangers player suggested, some team should hire him immediately as player-manager. And if Lowe says it’s OK for Chapman to throw a fastball high and tight at Alvarez, then the same logic for Abreu throwing one high and tight to García should apply, no?

That’s what Abreu insisted he was trying to do — “My plan was to try to get the ball up and in. I just missed with the pitch,” he said. Maldonado, though, offered a curiously different view. He said the pitch was supposed to be away, and set up accordingly. His differing account will offer further fuel for conspiracy theorists.

After the pitch, Maldonado said García asked him, “Why like that?” To which Maldonado replied, “Why what?” Abreu said García overreacted. “I went in and said, ‘Hey, my bad, it wasn’t on purpose.’ He said, ‘Hey, bull—-.’ I was like, OK, I’m done, you’re hot. I just tried to move back.”

Abreu hit only three batters during the regular season. Is it possible he simply was trying to make García uncomfortable, in the same way Chapman might have been trying to make Alvarez uncomfortable? Sure. And that is what enraged the Astros about Abreu’s ejection. Baker said, “I haven’t been that mad in a long time.”

García’s homer off Verlander, Baker said, was a mistake, a pitch that was down and in. “We pitch him up and in,” Baker said. “And anytime you’re throwing a projectile 97 miles an hour, some of them are going to get away. I don’t care if you’re big league, Hall of Fame, I don’t care who you are.”

Baker was still fuming in his office a good hour after the game, saying, “You cannot prove intent.” Ryan Pressly, the Astros’ closer who replaced Abreu and escaped first-and-second, none-out jams in both the eighth and ninth, said, “Nobody’s trying to hit anybody in that situation.”

The umpires disagreed, taking the unusually audacious step of ejecting both Abreu and Garcia from a postseason game. Crew chief James Hoye told a pool reporter that all six umpires determined Abreu’s pitch was intentional. Garcia was ejected for being the “aggressor” and trying to go through plate umpire Marvin Hudson to get to Maldonado. Baker was ejected for arguing Abreu’s ejection.

And the delay that so frustrated Bochy? Hoye said the umpires took their time because they did not want to make a mistake. Further discipline is possible for those ejected, according to Michael Hill, the league’s senior vice president of on-field operations. Any suspensions likely would not be served until next season. That’s what happened during the 2017 World Series when the league suspended then-Astros first baseman Yuli Gurriel for five games after he made a racist gesture at then-Dodgers pitcher Yu Darvish.

The incident will be debated for years. People will see what they want to see. But the bottom line is this: The Astros are on the verge of going to their third straight World Series. Seems difficult to believe that in a game they badly needed to win, they were willing, for the sole purpose of vigilante justice, to fall further behind.
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The undisclosed Ranger player hasn’t seen Abreu pitch all season then. Abreu can struggle with command at times.

If the Astros are way ahead tomorrow night, look for “retaliation”

Buck Turgidson · Oct 21, 2023

RussE said: ↑

That is horrible and unacceptable in 2023.
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Doug Eddings had the 2 worst umpired games (including game 4) in the postseason until yesterday. Marvin is the new #2.

conquistador#11 · Oct 21, 2023

A non Jalen Green tweet from Simmons

HatsForBats · Oct 21, 2023

RussE said: ↑

The undisclosed Ranger player hasn’t seen Abreu pitch all season then. Abreu can struggle with command at times.

If the Astros are way ahead tomorrow night, look for “retaliation”
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Taking bets on player.

$20 Semien.

donkeypunch · Oct 21, 2023

Got a former Astros draftee thats now part of the opposing team this series speaking on the greatness of Altuve. LMAO. Arlington continues to take L's

RussE · Oct 21, 2023

HatsForBats said: ↑

Taking bets on player.

$20 Semien.
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That’s a good bet. He hates the Astros.

Houstunna · Oct 21, 2023

Yordan The Great said: ↑

In order of greatness/importance

Carter (it won the WS)
Gibson (WS G1 seemed impossible)
Sprague (WS)
Altuve/Yankees (it's the Yankees)
Henderson (the pitcher sadly committed suicide years later)
Clark

Hard to place Altuve amongst the LCS HRs until the series is over.
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Altuve wasn't lead-changing vs the Yankees.

All lead-changing are go-ahead, but not all go-ahead are lead-changing.

RussE · Oct 21, 2023

conquistador#11 said: ↑

A non Jalen Green tweet from Simmons

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Instant classic.

marks0223 · Oct 21, 2023

RKREBORN · Oct 21, 2023

Major said: ↑

What Lunhow did is great, but people need to stop acting like it was all him. Altuve and Springer, two of the best players in that WS run, were here before him. He came into a team that was already at rock bottom and kept them there and drafted even more talent and built itup, but if he comes in a few years earlier, it's possible he's already out of a job by 2017 if had people lost patience in the rebuild. And tons more talent has been brought in post-Lunhow by Click and Crane in the last several years to keep this thing rolling - in particular, the ridiculous investments in the bullpen which have been critical the last 2 years, and the addition of Abreu (thanks, Bagwell!) and complementary pieces like Dubon. Lunhow was foundational, but it wasn't all him and it's impossible to know if they'd still be on this run if he was still here.

Lunhow was perfect for the Astros and his timing for joining them was stellar. New and patient ownership, no expectations for a long while, talent already being developed in the minors, etc. It's hard to say if it could be duplicated elsewhere.
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Dumbest post ever

zeeshan2 · Oct 21, 2023

tehG l i d e · Oct 21, 2023

The league assigned the worst rated umps to this series so they can **** us over but it's not working

RKREBORN · Oct 21, 2023

Adolis is a freaking clown

rocketsjudoka · Oct 21, 2023

marks0223 said: ↑

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So the Rangers are the Mexicans?

RussE · Oct 21, 2023

RKREBORN said: ↑

Adolis is a freaking clown
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Who will be booed loudly at Astro South...aka MMP.

RKREBORN · Oct 21, 2023

WE WANT HOUSTON

Surfguy · Oct 21, 2023

RKREBORN said: ↑

Adolis is a freaking clown
Click to expand...

He is controlled by his emotions. That can be good and bad. It can leave reason by the wayside. You just act without thinking. He admitted as much postgame.

jim1961 · Oct 21, 2023

napalm06 · Oct 21, 2023

J.R. said: ↑

b****es, b****es, b****es. Still got a game to go win. Go finish these crying b****es.

https://theathletic.com/4983070/2023/10/21/astros-rangers-intentions-hit-brawl/

“He could have hurt me,” García said.

What, though, would have been Abreu’s motivation to throw at García intentionally? Justin Verlander, who allowed Garcia’s homer, said the Astros were not upset the slugger walked up the first-base line, then spiked his bat, saying, “I don’t think anybody is mad about him pimping a homer, it was the biggest homer in his career, quite honestly.” Rangers first baseman Nathaniel Lowe suggested Abreu might have been retaliating for Aroldis Chapman nearly hitting Yordan Alvarez in the top of the eighth, but that, too, seems a stretch.

Here’s Lowe:

“Wearing this jersey, having Adolis be my teammate, it feels pretty intentional. There’s a history, obviously, between these two teams. I’m sure Alvarez didn’t like the ball high and tight to him either. But in today’s game, we throw fastballs up. If you want to get emotional about something like that and take it out on a guy that hit a three-run homer, that’s too bad. I don’t really stand for it.”

But what about the game situation? Wasn’t it an odd time for Abreu to hit García?

“It’s a beautiful excuse, isn’t it?” Lowe asked. “That’s how I view it. When half your bench is running out in a hurry and guys on the injured list want to run their mouth and starters who aren’t involved want to get involved, it seems like there are more emotions tied in than gameplay.”

Catcher Jonah Heim was more restrained than Lowe, saying, “It looked bad. That’s all I can really say. We don’t know if it’s intentional or not. But it wasn’t the best look.” Another Rangers player, granted anonymity in exchange for his candor, essentially accused Maldonado of masterminding the whole thing.

“One of the best relievers in baseball just suddenly lost command?” the player asked, referring to Abreu. “Maldonado’s smart. They got exactly what they wanted, Adolis riled up. Crazy coincidence, isn’t it?”

Maldonado is certainly smart. He also can be an irritant. And evidently, he is inside the Rangers’ heads.

If Maldonado is playing the kind of three-dimensional chess the Rangers player suggested, some team should hire him immediately as player-manager. And if Lowe says it’s OK for Chapman to throw a fastball high and tight at Alvarez, then the same logic for Abreu throwing one high and tight to García should apply, no?

That’s what Abreu insisted he was trying to do — “My plan was to try to get the ball up and in. I just missed with the pitch,” he said. Maldonado, though, offered a curiously different view. He said the pitch was supposed to be away, and set up accordingly. His differing account will offer further fuel for conspiracy theorists.

After the pitch, Maldonado said García asked him, “Why like that?” To which Maldonado replied, “Why what?” Abreu said García overreacted. “I went in and said, ‘Hey, my bad, it wasn’t on purpose.’ He said, ‘Hey, bull—-.’ I was like, OK, I’m done, you’re hot. I just tried to move back.”

Abreu hit only three batters during the regular season. Is it possible he simply was trying to make García uncomfortable, in the same way Chapman might have been trying to make Alvarez uncomfortable? Sure. And that is what enraged the Astros about Abreu’s ejection. Baker said, “I haven’t been that mad in a long time.”

García’s homer off Verlander, Baker said, was a mistake, a pitch that was down and in. “We pitch him up and in,” Baker said. “And anytime you’re throwing a projectile 97 miles an hour, some of them are going to get away. I don’t care if you’re big league, Hall of Fame, I don’t care who you are.”

Baker was still fuming in his office a good hour after the game, saying, “You cannot prove intent.” Ryan Pressly, the Astros’ closer who replaced Abreu and escaped first-and-second, none-out jams in both the eighth and ninth, said, “Nobody’s trying to hit anybody in that situation.”

The umpires disagreed, taking the unusually audacious step of ejecting both Abreu and Garcia from a postseason game. Crew chief James Hoye told a pool reporter that all six umpires determined Abreu’s pitch was intentional. Garcia was ejected for being the “aggressor” and trying to go through plate umpire Marvin Hudson to get to Maldonado. Baker was ejected for arguing Abreu’s ejection.

And the delay that so frustrated Bochy? Hoye said the umpires took their time because they did not want to make a mistake. Further discipline is possible for those ejected, according to Michael Hill, the league’s senior vice president of on-field operations. Any suspensions likely would not be served until next season. That’s what happened during the 2017 World Series when the league suspended then-Astros first baseman Yuli Gurriel for five games after he made a racist gesture at then-Dodgers pitcher Yu Darvish.

The incident will be debated for years. People will see what they want to see. But the bottom line is this: The Astros are on the verge of going to their third straight World Series. Seems difficult to believe that in a game they badly needed to win, they were willing, for the sole purpose of vigilante justice, to fall further behind.
Click to expand...

And still no mention of Alvarez getting dinged in the ankle early in game 4, or Altuve taking one 2 inches from his nose. No one flinched. Man-child gets hit on the elbow pad - WWIII.

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[Official] ALCS Rangers vs. Astros

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