Right, I knew no reliever was perfect for us (as far as blown saves), but I recall us going a whole season without losing a game where we led going into either the 7th or 8th. Regardless of the team's overall performance, that's very impressive.
I distinctly remember the order as: 7th inning - Lidge (the kid) 8th inning - Dotel 9th inning - Wagner (Left handed fireballer)
Well it wasn't that season... they lost that game 2-1 after leading going into the 9th. They also lost later in the season to SF with a lead going into the 7th. And earlier in the year leading Milwaukee going into the 9th (lost in extras). Those are just the Wagner specific games. Lidge and Dotel had relief losses that year, so there were likely other instances (just haven't gone back and looked at their game logs).
I don't have that much faith in the A's owner shelling out the dough to keep his team together hoping the Astros get hurt in 2022.
Especially not when their biggest investment this off-season is out for the year. Does insurance cover that? The A's are good... its just the wrong time to be only "good". (and they fully could grab the 2nd wild card spot and give the Astros crap for one series, so nobody should be banging those drums too loudly... like they do in Oakland...)
I looked it up as well as I could and there were 4 losses. But I don't know the difference between BL, BS and L. From the record, I might be remembering an "After the All Star Break" streak, but before late September.
Comments about the Formula. I slotted the OPS+ leaders in the 3rd and fourth spots in the order based on the discussions about where Bagwell should hit in the line-up back in the day. He was coming up to bat at the top of the second a little too often and we discussed the advantages of moving him to the 3rd slot. If one of the first two batters managed to get on, he was assured of an rbi opportunity. But moving him up would give him a handful of additional plate appearances. So that's why I deviated from the 27 Yankee tradition of the fourth batter cleanup position. They just assumed that at least one of the first three batters would get on base. Suffice it to say, Dusty is a traditionalist and his BO doesn't actually deviate much from my own. Just throw ALTUVE into the lead-off and move OPS+ into the 4th and 5th positions in the BO, then best of the rest at OBP in slots 2 and 3, Best of the rest SLG at 6 & 7 and then finish up with OBP. adjust the groups for L/R/S and that's close to his line-up order.
I am so sorry the A's biggest Investment isn't working out for them. It's not like Houston's biggest investment (66M) isn't rehabbing from TJ and unlikely to ever pitch for the Astros again.
If the A's win a postseason series against the Astros, it happens. If the A's win the division, it is because the Astros got hurt or worn down, and likely not the A's being a better team. I think odds are good that the A's are more likely to get worn down as their bullpen is already feeling it despite the starters shouldering most of the workload. They are one injury away from Mike Fiers having a miraculous recovery and having to pitch. While the Astros have the luxury to rest starters when they get a fatigued, it will be disastrous for the A's if the A's have to do without a starting pitcher for any moderate or longer length of time.
This is a modified Formula adding the Leadoff in the BO and moving every other spot on the BO down one. This is for yesterday's lineup and you can see it is identical. L/R/S PLAYER OBP SLG OPS+ FORMULA (Modified) R ALTUVE 370 508 139 LEADOFF 1 L BRANTLEY 382 494 139 OBP 4 R GURRIEL 383 485 137 OBP 5 L ALVAREZ 375 553 151 OPS+ 2 R CORREA 390 517 147 OPS+ 3 L TUCKER 323 482 117 SLG 6 S TORO 313 366 86 SLG 7 R STRAW 355 341 93 OBP 8 R MALDENADO 261 286 51 OBP 9 L/R/S PLAYER OBP SLG OPS+ R ALTUVE 370 508 139 2017 MVP 1 L BRANTLEY 382 494 139 R GURRIEL 383 485 137 2017 ROY 4 L ALVAREZ 375 553 151 2019 ROY 1 R CORREA 390 517 147 L TUCKER 323 482 117 S TORO 313 366 86 R STRAW 355 341 93 R MALDENADO 261 286 51
Straw gets the rest day. Brantley at DH. It looks like this is turning into an alternating LF/DH for now between Brantley and Alvarez. POS L/R/S PLAYER OBP SLG OPS+ 2B R ALTUVE 370 508 139 DH L BRANTLEY 382 494 139 SS R CORREA 390 517 147 LF L ALVAREZ 375 553 151 1B R GURRIEL 383 485 137 RF L TUCKER 323 482 117 CF R MCCORMICK 303 500 116 3B S TORO 313 366 86 C R MALDENADO 261 286 51
Houston vs. ALE Leader BOS (54-34) 5-2 ALE Second TBR (51-36) 2-1 ALC Leader CWS (51-35) 4-0 ALC Second CLE (42-42) 4-0 ALW Leader HOU (54-33) - ALW Second OAK (49-39) 9-3 NLE Leader NYM (45-38) - NLE Second WAS (42-43) - NLC Leader MIL (52-36) - NLC Second CIN (45-41) - NLW Leader SFG (54-32) - NLW Second LAD (53-34) 1-1 Overall 25-7
I'm thinking it's much more likely that the A's lose out on WC2 to one of the Yankees, Jays, and Mariners than is the possibility of the A's winning the division. As you note, the A's bullpen has been hot garbage and an injury to one of their starters could be disastrous for their pitching staff. Being an A's fan must be the biggest tease in sports. They are run of the better managed orgs so they are typically competitive but aren't quite at the level of the Rays and don't have the resources to make up for it with FA signings. Maybe that's why the ALDS broke all their brains - they finally thought they were over the hump and were at least going to make a deep run into the playoffs, only to get humiliated by the Astros in the ALDS.
I am opposed to cheating. But I'm more opposed to double standards. Stealing signs and relaying them to the batter was considered cheating in 1916 when a pitcher walked off the field in protest which resulted in a forfeit. But when the Yankees were doing it in the 20s and on, it was just part of the game. When they cracked down on spit balls and doctoring balls, it wasn't even against the rules. But the Yankees didn't like it so they changed the rules. When the Yankees do something new to give them an advantage, it's innovation. When they cross the line, every other team is warned that there will be no tolerance for what they Yankees got caught doing. The Yankees were using cameras and relaying signs to the club house. This was common suspicion, if not common knowledge. When Beltran signed with Houston, he didn't come up with a new scheme to relay signs to the club house, he just told them that's what other teams were doing and they needed to stay competitive. So every time you hear someone screaming about Houston cheating, remember they weren't the first, just the first one punished.
