"Dreary"? "Lopsided"?
Look at the line scores of the seven games and notice the following run differentials at the end of any given inning:
Zero runs (or tied): 10 innings
One run: 16 innings
Two runs: 12
Three runs: 10
Four runs: 7
Five runs: 1
Six runs: 2
Seven runs: 3
Eight runs: 0
Nine runs: 2
A common description of a blowout is a win by five or more runs. In this series 55 of 63 innings had a run differential of four or fewer runs. All eight of the innings with five-run or greater differentials were in the 5th inning or later; 5 of 8 in the 7th or later. Late inning scoring was the hallmark of the Nationals and the series was anything but dreary.
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Dear Tyler Kepner, you waited until the third paragraph to give the score?! Not everyone saw the game (hey, that's why you're writing the piece) - give readers the facts first.
Gutsy performance by Strasburg, after a rough 1st inning. Jim Wolf, the 1st base umpire last night, he who blew the call at 1st on the 1st batter of the game, not even close, will be behind the plate in this the 7th game, Wolf is brutal at calling balls and strikes. How could MLB let this happen? Still, 7th game, no tomorrow, should be fun.
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Umps don't have an easy job in this age of slow-motion, big-boards on field, and reviews in Chelsey. But Holbrook blew it badly in the 7th on a baseball basic. The "45 Foot Rule," as it was called when I was a boy, gives the catcher a throwing lane on balls in front of the plate or along the first base line. The runner is required to veer right when in those parallel 45' lines. But Turner's squibber was at least a third of the way toward third base and either Gomes or Bregman had a clear throw to Gurriel -- the peg was into the runner's path as he approached the bag --there was an open throwing lane to the first baseman's right side. Turner has a right to the base, and may have beat the throw anyway. Sam, brain-locked, blew the call -- it happens. What happened next was ridiculous as noted by Joe Buck -- FOUR MINUTES on a non-reviewable call? Turner pointing to (evidently) Joe Torre ("ASK HIM!!). Martinez, justifiably, furious, and lucky he didn't wind up in cardiac arrest, as half a dozen Men In Blue stood around looking bewildered. Why didn't the crew chief intervene, and change the call? Because he didn't want to upstage Holbrook, probably, and admirably. But sometimes "time" has to be called and situations rectified. Luckily, the situation WAS rectified by Rendon, but Peacock, meanwhile, had to stand around, his concentration evaporating in the heat. If Rendon fans and the Nats lose, this is a major stink lasting until Opening Day -- and forever in DC.
Kudos to Stephen Strasberg for his guts and determination. He pitched a knockout game, under as tough a scenario as imaginable. And his changeup and curve were working the corners and baffling the heart of the Stros lineup.
A Big Kudos to Martinez, for keeping the team loose, on point, and having their backs.
And a Super Kudos to the entire Nats team - a team in every sense of the word. No single player is taking credit or limelight over any other player....they all click. They all seem to come through when needed, in any clutch situation.
What a super, super organization. They represent the best that baseball can be. Unbelievable what this team has done.
Houston is one tough team. And very, very resilient. But they sure have met their match in the Nationals!!!
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This version of baseball, which is nothing more than home run/strikeout derby, is boring and torturous to watch because it is the same thing for 9 innings: pitchers aiming only to strike out batters who are swinging for the fences every time. Add to that the too-frequent changing of pitchers and the interminable wait for close plays to be reviewed and you have a nightmare that puts you to sleep instead of waking you up.
The best moment of the Series so far was Trump getting booed. He so deserved it.
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It's a World Series that has been a pain in the neck for baseball, both figuratively and literally. Low TV ratings, boos for a President, a couple of boobs, and now a game six that dissolved into controversy. Usually the World Series is the most staid of events, but this one has been a twitter dream come true, and if you go by the axiom that all publicity is good publicity, there is an unattended consequence to the madness, that has even millennials beginning to tune in to watch the wackiness. And now we arrive at the ultimate game the mythical game 7 we all dream about as children. That game in which we know going in the day will end with a new champion of baseball, and anything that happens will be magnifies to nth nth degree. Football has its Superbowl, but that overhyped spectacular goes by so fast and hits you left and right with so many commercials and a halftime show that is a combination Busby Berkley and PT Barnum, your so woozy by the end of a Superbowl Sunday who can remember the game, The Nfl succeeds because there is no need to watch every play and nothing usually happens anyway, but every pitch of a WS game 7 has a tinge of suspense and drama, your eyes and attention are riveted to the screen, its like the greatest suspense movie ever made, complete with possible disaster at any moment, a walk, and error, a bloop and then a blast a team can be up by 4 runs, it happens that fast. So put the seat belt on, its going to be a bumpy ride to midnight and a new champion
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For Kepner, “dreary” = “Yanks not playing”. If the call against Trea Turner had gone against, say, Didi Gregorius, Kepner would be demanding the Commissioner’s resignation.
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Dreary? Dreary?? Come on.
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All is right in the world while baseball is still being played. Summer will finally end tonight,or early tomorrow.
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MLB doesn't often get the chance, the very real chance to capture the imagination of the country, not anymore, not like it once did, but it can and will when there is a game 7 of the world series.
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The umps have been hosing the Nats all series. They have given their pitchers a much more generous strike zone than the Nats pitchers. They have called strike 3 on Nats batters on numerous pitches off the plate--like 2 to 3 inches off the plate, while calling ball four on pitches but Nats pitchers on the pitch track paint.
The bad--and one-sided--calls have been bubbling all series. It's about time Davey came out of the dugout.
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@Liberty hound You probably perceive it that way because you're a Nats fan. The umpiring has definitely been bad, but other than that egregious call last night, it's been bad for both sides. The strike zones have been wildly inconsistent. Sederstrom, the crew chief, was the worst offender in the game in which he was behind home plate.
Frankly, it doesn't matter at this point. The Nats had no chance to win any of the games they lost. They were absolutely hammered by the Astros. A few balls and strikes wouldn't have made a difference in those games.
Let's just hope no one is talking about the umpires tomorrow. I don't have a dog in this fight. I just want to see great baseball.
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The crowd that booed trump, patriots all, except trump, was the largest crowd ever to boo a sitting president.
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I join others below in bewilderment about "dreary".
What was dreary where never in history of the Series, opposing teams lost on home turf it all - ok, we wait Tonite.
I am a big fan of Mr. Kepner but he seems to have watched a different Series than I did.
I am an Astros fan.
Strasbourg - if the Nats win Tonite - should be an MVP.
He whipped Astros in 2 games.
The worse part is Astros - famous for metrics etc - never figured him out after what he had done to them the first game.
He had them whipped then.
Astros went thru motion last nite as if the Series already belongs to them.
If they don't wake up and become Astros of DC - they are done in.
I have already put my champagne bottles away and kept handy a couple of Jack Daniels to forget the whole thing.
Houston gets many hurricane warnings.
Strasbourg was that warning about what's coming their way.
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@Neil seriously? these games have all been over by the 6th inning. there hasnt been any late inning drama and the games drag with 4 hr run times. Its no wonder Thursday Night Football killed the WS in ratings
I join others below in bewilderment about "dreary".
What was dreary where never in history of the Series, opposing teams lost on home turf it all - ok, we wait Tonite.
I am a big fan of Mr. Kepner but he seems to have watched a different Series than I did.
I am an Astros fan.
Strasbourg - if the Nats win Tonite - should be an MVP.
He whipped Astros in 2 games.
The worse part is Astros - famous for metrics etc - never figured him out after what he had done to them the first game.
He had them whipped then.
Astros went thru motion last nite as if the Series already belongs to them.
If they don't wake up and become Astros of DC - they are done in.
I have already put my champagne bottles away and kept handy a couple of Jack Daniels to forget the whole thing.
Houston gets many hurricane warnings.
Strasbourg was that warning about what's coming their way.
1
Nowadays, when I watch sports on TV, I find I have to mute the sound to enjoy the game because so many of the commentators never shut up. I watch to see the live action, not to listen to wonks blab about what I can see I can see on my own screen, or listen to their endless drivel about stats from the last 150 years. It happens in baseball with Joe Buck, a man who obviously loves the sound of his own voice. It happens watching football, golf, tennis and swimming. I grew up in Detroit in the '50s and '60s. Listening to the Tiger's games on the radio, George Kell and Ernie Harwell told us everything we needed to appreciate the action, but they also could go for minutes without comment, as we listened to the hawkers of "RED HOTS" or "PEEEEENUTS" or just the crowd noise. I miss those days...
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@KOOLTOZE It's funny you say that. Most people chide Joe Buck for not involving himself enough in the game. I think he does a pretty good job. He lets huge moments (game-tying home runs and huge strikeouts) speak for themselves on camera instead of crowding the moment with useless commentary. Most people want screaming and catch-phrases at that moment, and he doesn't use them, which I appreciate.
The one thing I absolutely hate about the Fox broadcasts is the deluge of useless stats that Buck throws out seemingly every inning. "Adam Eaton is now the first player to hit sac bunt and home run in the same World Series game since 1973." "Jose Altuve is the first second baseman to hit two doubles in two consecutive at-bats since Nucky Williams in 1913." These stats are so contrived, and they add nothing of value. I am near-certain that the producers are feeding these stats to Bucks and making him say them, so I don't hold it against him personally, but it's so annoying.
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@Kevin
Totally agree. Watching golf on any channel is just as moronic. "He just needed to give that 4" putt a little more to get it to the hole", after we just watched a "pro" hit the worst putt of his career. Almost all of the fans who attend these events get by without any narration, because they're paying attention. IMO, Jim Nantz, Ian Baker-Finch and Gary McCord, who is his own biggest fan, should all find other work, voluntarily or with assistance.
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An October World Series that will be completed in… October!
That's a good thing.
How about an article with best and worst performances in November baseball?
Nah… on second thought.
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It is a traditional Fall Classic overcoming the pervasive stench of a temporary national disgrace.
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As if the New York press has ever found a World Series not involving New York teams other than ":dreary." All too predictable.
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Everybody loves a Game 7.
Nobody loves wretched umpiring, which Game 6 had with that atrocious call by umpire Sam Holbrook at 1st base claiming 'interference' by Turner for landing perfectly legally on the base.
The umpires even had a chance to review the call on video and still blew it.
What were the umpires smoking ?
It reminded me of the Donald Denkinger's incorrect safe call at first base in Game 6 of the 1985 World Series that gift-wrapped a bogus Royals win over the Cardinals.
Appalling.
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@Socrates That call was not reviewable. The delay was because Dave Martinez wanted to play the game under protest, and the umps were consulting the league office on how to handle that.
Judgment calls (infield fly rule, runner interference, balls and strikes) are not subject to review. Review is for things like whether the ball went over the fence or whether the runner beat the tag, which can be conclusively determined by video.
Houston is a tough team, but not as tough to overcome as the MLB ump behind the plate.
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A baseball difference between Theodore Roosevelt and Trump.
TR didn't go to games because he wasn't a fan of baseball. Because of his vision, he didn't go in much for any team sports that required him to see at distances such as BB and football but instead chose to focus on boxing where poor distant vision is not much of a handicap. His favorite pro athletes were boxers and invited a number of them to the White House and was also the only president to have a boxing coach come there to train him.
Unlike Trump who is afraid of going anyplace where he isn't guaranteed to be only surrounded by acolytes, TR wouldn't have been so cowardly as to fear appearing before an unfriendly crowd.
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If you draw a straight line to first base from the right handed batter's box the line would be in fair territory the entire way. That is the line Trea Turner ran. Even Joe Torre said that Turner was not called out for running out of the base line.
Torre said Turner was called out for interfering with the first baseman's ability to catch the ball. However, Gurriel (the first baseman) moved his glove into Turner's path at the last second. Turner would probably not even have been able to avoid the glove had he tried, and, if he had tried, he might have gotten seriously hurt.
You can't block home plate without the ball. You should not be able to block first base with an empty glove. It was a bad call and a bad interpretation of the rules.
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The baseball gods long ago set aside game six of the World Series for all the craziness that can happen in the most unpredictable of sports. It has often been said of baseball that: " you can watch a thousand baseball games and something you never saw before will happen." here was a perfect example, of what makes baseball so constantly intriguing and interesting. When you tune in to a World Series especially game 6 and sometimes game 7 you go in knowing anything, and i mean anything can happen. Just like the Godfather, with baseball, just when you think you are out, it pulls you right back in.
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Hey, Homer ... how do you come up with the idea that the Nationals "stole" the first two games but the Astros stomped them.
The Nationals beat Houston 12-3 in Game 2. That was a stomping! And their 5-4 victory in Game 1 came at the expense of Gerritt Cole, who had not lost a game since July 12, and not given up 5 runs since May 22.
So, what did they do last night? Only beat the Cooperstown-bound Justin Verlander for the second time in the series, this time 7-2.
And you call that "stealing" games? Puhleeze.
Go NATS!
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@Liberty hound
Verlander has never won a World Series game...
Detroit's "tigers" should have never traded him...
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In all the debate about the call I haven’t seen one comment on Dave Martinez’s violent behavior. In what other work environment in America can you act like that without consequence? I feel like I’m living in Crazy Person Land as everything else is addressed and a man acting like a violent lunatic on a stage in front of millions of kids is excused and portrayed as a victim.
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@Chris Drewry -- Yes, he didn't have to go that crazy, especially since the effect of the call had, for practical purposes, been negated.
Anthony Rendon--The Quiet Man!
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"Dreary"? As in Washington in a huge surprise grabbing the first two games in Houston, then the Astros roaring back with three straight in Washington?
Not at all "dreary" to fans who watch just for the fun of it and their love of baseball, not because we're being paid to watch.
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TYLER , your slip is showing. dreary World Series? the Astros were down 2 games to none heading to DC where they swept the Nats to go up 3-2. now the Nats have survived elimination and forced a game 7. this has been a great series .
you mention a decade when only one New York team won. your bias is palpable. an east coast or major market team does not need to make the championship round for the post season to be exciting and compelling. love both these teams!
hope the nationals win
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He does write for a New York paper.
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Defined by what's been of the field?!? For whom? it's been a great, wonderful series with lots of highlights.
The times continually forgets that sports are, primarily sports. Stat lines, narratives and plays are what make them compelling.
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If the conversation is about the greatest WS it has to be the Reds vs Red Socks in 1975, but then I am admittedly biased and a lifelong Reds fan. That occurred when I was a mere 16 years old and could actually remember things without the aid of video playback.
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Not sure why this otherwise decent article veers off into a history lesson. I'm reading a daily newspaper to get news about what happened most recently, not look back at other moments. Seems like a pander, even if unwitting, to the big clubs that need to be stroked even if they're not in the competition! Calling a world series "dreary" also strikes me as out of place. I want to see a well-played game, that's all. I could care less for the final score. Baseball is lots of boredom interrupted occasionally by a few exciting moments. Arguably, it's dreary by definition. But it's not always well played. Last night's game was a classic because it was so well played.
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My Prediction:
7th Game Here We Go
Will Greinke and Scherzer put on a show?
Could be either close or a blowout mauling
Let’s hope the umps make no more judgment calling
We might see a game that’s error free
Or a Buckner moment that may very well be...
How the game ends with one team ecstatic
And the other sits in the dugout quite traumatic
The winner? The fans! getting a much needed rest
From the day to day chaos, intensity and stress
8
The World Series w/o the Yanks is simply a curiosity.
I am very very tired of the Astros. I believe the Series will go this time to the team that wants it more. The Nats are showing a lot of grit and I wish them well.
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The World Series w/o the Yanks is simply divine, Plennie Wingo.
The 1930's and 1950's are over...get over it.
6
The 20’s (6 pennants) 40’s (5 pennants) 60’s (5 pennants) weren’ t too bad either. 70’s with 3 pennants, 90’s with another 3 and the 00’s with 4 were OK I suppose
Thank you Mr. Kepner for helping keep the great game alive with your coverage of baseball. You are the latest in a long line of wonderful writers that capture the beauty the game.
And to echo another thought here how wonderful to spend some time away from the fray with this odd World Series.
A Yankees fan since way before I can remember, I have created two Red Sox fans in my grandsons by taking them to Fenway a few times. Our rivalry is fun.
For a month this summer the boys and I looked at the scores, box scores and standings every morning before the world woke up and caught a few innings on TV several nights. At bedtime they fell asleep listening to the Sox on radio.
All this to remind me and us of how good life can be and to hope for a better world for our children.
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Wonderful article. As a Red Sox fan - I saw Ted Williams play - I loved your mention of our Big Papi.
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Great game last night.
Bad call by umpire.
There was no play at first.
Throw came too late.
Turner committed no breach of rule in his base running.
If one looked at footage of people running to first base a thousand times, I'de bet more often than not they are in the same position as Turner was when stuck by the ball.
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@two cents
I agree, thought it was a bad call. And to me something that nobody seemed to be talking about, it appeared to me that Turner beat the throw to the bag anyway. So if he interfered, his interference occurred after he had reached safely. To me, that's the same as if the batter swung at strike three, and as the bat went around at the end of the swing, he hit the catcher's mitt. Is that catcher's interference? No, he swung at strike three. He's out. Period. It's interference only if he hits the catcher's mitt at the start of the swing before the bat goes through the strike zone.
Turner beat the throw to first. Thus interference, if any, was moot.
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@Occams razor Nope. It was the right call. That other line is there for a reason. Turner was on the infield side of the baseline. Runners do that for a reason, to make the throw harder. If he was on the baseline; then it would be different, maybe. But he was clearly inside the line. And the rules don't change because it's the WS. Ump made the right call.
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I am weary with the news and baseball has been a respite. Thank you for one last day of summer.
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@Maryrose
Amen!
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