Special Event: MLB baseball - World Series 2019
October 22, 2019 4:16 PM - Subscribe

The World Series begins tonight! A seven game series, Houston Astros vs Washington Nationals. Come in here for all your livewatch needs!
posted by LobsterMitten (91 comments total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
BUZZ? Wait, there aren’t any baseballs up there!
posted by mwhybark at 5:19 PM on October 22, 2019


(I liked the ad more than I hated it)
posted by mwhybark at 5:20 PM on October 22, 2019


Buck Bokai undoubtedly remembers the day this ad aired with crystalline clarity.
posted by mwhybark at 5:21 PM on October 22, 2019 [2 favorites]


Free tacos y’all. They didn’t waste any time, either.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 6:36 PM on October 22, 2019


Gah, the stress of watching baseball is too much. At least the Nats won this one.

It is great to see the world discovering Juan Soto, who has just been a beast since his arrival on the team last year. He's going places.
posted by Cash4Lead at 9:25 PM on October 22, 2019


Go Nats!
posted by LobsterMitten at 9:29 PM on October 22, 2019 [1 favorite]


When did announcers start saying "nasty" so much regarding good pitching?

It's always been a term in baseball for pitches with a lot of movement that a batter has no chance of catching up to. As for the announce team...well...it's the Fox team, so annoyance is just part of the package. I try very hard to tune them out, especially Buck. He's terrible. Honestly, the Series being on Fox makes me not want to watch.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:35 AM on October 23, 2019 [1 favorite]


This is very stupid but I do kind of miss the shots of “stars of the new Fox shows in the stands” that we used to get. They could do this with the wrestlers, but they’re busy in Saudi this week, and anyway it’s no “His father is the district attorney!”
posted by Huffy Puffy at 7:36 AM on October 23, 2019 [2 favorites]


I was just looking that up a few weeks ago, Huffy Puffy! Last year was the 15th anniversary of "his father is the district attorney!".
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:08 AM on October 23, 2019 [2 favorites]


Really wish I could turn off the captain obvious audio and just hear the field mics.)
See if you can mute your center channel on surround sound. Our soundbar periodically cuts it out and all you can hear is the background mikes.

Oh and go nats! ^_^
posted by Hermeowne Grangepurr at 8:56 AM on October 23, 2019


Buck has a tendency to overreach for narrative while calling the game. It's like he's trying to narrate the eventual souvenir video live in real time.

I suspect he is overusing "nasty" as part of a larger notion that this series will be decided by top level pitching. As such, he's trying to get in early on having called that, and is working to provide as many quotable moments as possible for later that will prove he knew this all along.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:06 AM on October 23, 2019


That's how I see Buck too; well put.
posted by LobsterMitten at 10:10 AM on October 23, 2019


For me, it’s Buck’s tone and delivery. It’s as if he’s trying to make it very, very, very, clear that scandal may erupt at any given moment. He’s sort of the “And, you won’t believe what happened next!” of sports announcers. Thank gawd McCarver is long gone, though.
posted by Thorzdad at 1:07 PM on October 23, 2019


oh. oh, because Houston. Oh! That’s why they call the team that. Hunh.

I don’t think I can see the team as the NASA team. But OK.
posted by mwhybark at 5:10 PM on October 23, 2019


The Astros joined the NL with the Mets in 1962 as the Houston Colt .45’s. They played in temporary Colt Stadium just north of the Harris County Domed Stadium construction site. For 1965 the name was changed to the Astros, and they moved into the Astrodome.

Supposedly they thought about naming the team the Astronauts, but as an expansion team they weren’t very good, and they worried people would call them the ‘Nauts. So instead they’re the ‘Stros.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 5:36 PM on October 23, 2019 [2 favorites]


(Also, the basketball team is the Rockets...but they started out as the San Diego Rockets and only wound up with the Houston space nickname by coincidence!)
posted by Huffy Puffy at 5:38 PM on October 23, 2019


The Astros traded for Justin Verlander at the waiver trade deadline in 2017, in the middle of Hurricane Harvey.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 5:41 PM on October 23, 2019


The bald guy with glasses wearing a light blue shirt on the right end of the front row, visible behind home plate, is Nolan Ryan. He’s 72, which means that we are old too.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 5:49 PM on October 23, 2019 [1 favorite]


aye aye aye aye aye aye aye

At least they are not the Dodgers.
posted by bukvich at 8:43 PM on October 23, 2019




I only just got back into baseball this May after tuning it out almost completely since about 1994. Around June or July, inspired by outcomes in The Show 16/17 and by RL games, I started repeating my own broadcaster-style MLB axiom (which I'm kind of surprised I haven't heard an actual talking head say yet): "The game hasn't started until the relievers come in." Nevertheless, I didn't expect to see a demonstration of it during the World Friggin' Series.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 3:25 AM on October 24, 2019 [1 favorite]


Part of me thinks the way the series is going is cosmic retribution for this.
posted by exogenous at 5:25 AM on October 24, 2019 [1 favorite]


That escalated quickly.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 6:21 AM on October 24, 2019


Isn’t there a rule change next year that will pretty much do away with the “bring in a pitcher to go up against a single batter” bullshit? Something like any pitcher entering a game must throw to a minimum X-number of players?
posted by Thorzdad at 2:51 PM on October 24, 2019 [1 favorite]


Yup. Three batter minimum unless the pitcher finishes the inning. I kind of like the strategy of the lefty coming in to face one batter, but I'd trade it for fewer four hour, nine inning games.
posted by tonycpsu at 4:31 PM on October 24, 2019 [3 favorites]


Well, the jerk got fired. Not the guy who got suspended for abusing his girlfriend: the guy who was happy they traded for him.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 5:29 PM on October 24, 2019 [3 favorites]


This Is The World Series MLB Deserves

In addition to the Astros' front office shit-show and the fact that there's a full-on MAGAhat umpire who likes to favorite porny tweets, POTUS is apparently planning on attending game 5. I think I speak for most here when I root for the Nats to complete a four game sweep.
posted by tonycpsu at 6:26 AM on October 25, 2019 [3 favorites]


Joe Pasnanski tweeted the apology the Astros could have made (here's a direct link to the image of that text instead of the tweet, in case it helps folks without a Twitter account).

Before this season I had only missed attending one Nationals playoff game (in four previous years they had advanced to and then lost in the division series). Prices on Stubhub for these home games are at or above $1000 a pop just for standing room so I think I will pass.

BTW a friend who lives a little loser to the stadium, about 1.5 miles from it, reported that they could hear the fans there yelling during the big 1st inning of game 4 of the NLCS the when she was putting her child to bed. I reckon a temperature inversion helped channel the sound, but I was impressed anyway.
posted by exogenous at 9:22 AM on October 25, 2019 [3 favorites]


Trump won't be throwing out the first pitch at a possible game 5. He turned down the opportunity.
posted by ZeusHumms at 9:58 AM on October 25, 2019


It's hard to imagine Trump throwing out the opening pitch because it's hard to imagine him putting himself in a position where he might inarguably fail at something in stark contrast to his would be macho image. Throwing out the first pitch is harder than it looks. A complete list of politicians I have seen do a decent job of it is as follows: George W Bush.

I'm a little torn on what it would be like to watch him attending Game 5. I'd hate for him to be feted, but I think he's more fated to hated. They'd boo his ass off and that might be fun.

It would be a miserable distraction from he ballgame though, so I guess we'd rather not.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:07 AM on October 25, 2019


So … Baby Sharks?
posted by ZeusHumms at 10:09 AM on October 25, 2019


He’s no Simone Biles, that’s for sure.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 10:50 AM on October 25, 2019 [1 favorite]


Trump won't be throwing out the first pitch at a possible game 5. He turned down the opportunity.

Any bets on whether he’ll appear in the announcer booth and go off on one of his wandering rants?
posted by Thorzdad at 12:16 PM on October 25, 2019


Major League Baseball is owned by rich, conservative dudes, but they prefer for the media presentation to at least give the appearance of being apolitical. So I wouldn't imagine they'd want him anywhere near the booth.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:44 PM on October 25, 2019


I have to admit I’m a little curious to see how Joe Buck would handle that.

Also, I’m not saying that Tropical Storm Olga formed in the Gulf from Houston fans’ tropical depression, but I’m not not saying it either, and I’m getting the rain all the way here and it’s heading straight for me (in western Tennessee, don’t worry in real life).
posted by Huffy Puffy at 2:21 PM on October 25, 2019


I think I speak for most here when I root for the Nats to complete a four game sweep.

No no, I want him to be booed. I am not sure he has ever been booed by a stadium full of people and I want that to happen.
posted by chainsofreedom at 5:19 PM on October 25, 2019 [1 favorite]


And at long last we get Gerardo Parra and the Baby Shark song.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 7:53 PM on October 25, 2019 [2 favorites]


You know...for the kids.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 8:02 PM on October 25, 2019 [2 favorites]


“There are some 2-way words, like it's okay for [Joe Buck] to say ‘[Trea Turner] has 2 balls on him,’ but he can't say, ‘I think he hurt his balls on that play, [John]. Don't you? He's holding them. He must've hurt them, by God.’”
posted by Huffy Puffy at 8:18 PM on October 25, 2019 [2 favorites]


AP:
"Trump critic gets 1st pitch at Series game Trump to attend"
A day after President Donald Trump said he plans to attend Game 5 of the World Series, the Washington Nationals announced the ceremonial first pitch at that game will be thrown by chef José Andrés, a vocal critic of Trump.

Four years ago, Andrés withdrew from plans to open a restaurant in the Trump International Hotel in Washington following Trump's controversial comments about Mexican immigrants during the presidential campaign.

Trump Old Post Office, which runs the hotel as the landlord under a lease with the General Services Administration, sued Andrés' companies, Think Food Group and Topo Atrio, in July 2015 for breach of contract and claimed damages in excess of $10 million.

"The landlord allowed Mr. Trump to saddle us with the burden of his inflammatory statements, such that operating a high-end Spanish restaurant is no longer viable for us at this location," Andrés' companies said in a statement the following month.

Andrés' companies filed a counterclaim, and the case in D.C. Superior Court was settled in 2017.

The Washington Nationals made the announcement Friday. Major League Baseball said the decision on first pitches is made jointly between the host team and MLB.


NY Post:
“If a Game 5 is necessary, the Nationals will welcome chef and humanitarian José Andrés to throw a ceremonial first pitch,” the National League champions said in a press release. “Named one of Time Magazine’s ‘100 Most Influential People’ in both 2012 and 2018, Andrés is an internationally-recognized culinary innovator and founder of World Central Kitchen."

It added: “In January 2019 Andrés opened a World Central Kitchen on Pennsylvania Ave, Washington D.C. to feed federal workers who were furloughed during the government shutdown.”

Trump nominated himself as a possible contender for Game 5’s first throw as he answered reporters’ questions at the White House on Thursday, joking about his heft when asked if he would be throwing out the first pitch.

“I don’t know, they got to dress me up in a lot of heavy armor — I’ll look too heavy,” he quipped.

posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 3:58 AM on October 26, 2019 [1 favorite]


I don't want this to get too derailed onto the comings and goings of garbagehead, but the José Andrés invite is just masterful, gorgeous. A good pick in any circumstances and given the threat, so much sweeter. Go Nats!
posted by LobsterMitten at 7:58 AM on October 26, 2019 [1 favorite]


José Andrés is great and I wish I could come up with a decent quip about putting the ball over the "plate."

I didn't find this out until after the game, but if the Nats won last night they would have been the first team in MLB postseason history to have won 9 in a row. On the bright side, a lot of superstitious fans will have an excuse to finally wash various items of clothing today.
posted by exogenous at 9:16 AM on October 26, 2019 [1 favorite]


Well I wanted to see Harris bat. Pity.
posted by bukvich at 7:22 PM on October 26, 2019


That was an excellent maneuver pinch hitting for Harris!
posted by bukvich at 7:27 PM on October 26, 2019


Tucker, the pinch hitter, gets to bat twice!
posted by Huffy Puffy at 7:45 PM on October 26, 2019




Cortisone shot in the neck is no joke. I hope he gets better and still gets to pitch.
posted by bukvich at 4:51 PM on October 27, 2019


Tonight Joe Buck is somehow even more annoying than usual
posted by exogenous at 5:59 PM on October 27, 2019


Cole gettin' mad at himself and then mowing down batters, that's what I like to see.
posted by lefty lucky cat at 6:54 PM on October 27, 2019 [1 favorite]


They will probably start going home now. Springer really tagged that ball. They said it went 435 feet.
posted by bukvich at 8:20 PM on October 27, 2019


IF the Nationals win two games we get something that has never happened in the history of baseball. All World Series games won by visiting team.

ASTROS FANS CANNOT LOSE!

Even if the team loses the series we get to watch history.
posted by bukvich at 5:37 PM on October 29, 2019


That call on Trea was bullshit
posted by exogenous at 7:52 PM on October 29, 2019


So Trea Turner hit a ball on the infield and ran into Gurriel’s glove when the throw came. Throw trickled away and runners wound up on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out. They called him out for interference and sent the runner back to first.

Then there was a pitching change and a commercial break. Then there was a review for like 5 minutes. In the end they upheld the call and Turner’s out.

And now with 2 outs Anthony Rendon just hit a 2-run homer. Dammit.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 7:53 PM on October 29, 2019 [1 favorite]


Tony four bags!
posted by exogenous at 7:53 PM on October 29, 2019


I imagine you have to work really hard to get ejected from a World Series game, but with hard work and dedication Davey Martinez managed to pull it off.

(And it turns out the play wasn’t reviewable in the first place.)
posted by Huffy Puffy at 8:00 PM on October 29, 2019 [4 favorites]


Hopefully Davey’s heart makes it through the series. I think Smoltz just said he was the first managerial ejection in the WS since 1996.
posted by exogenous at 8:06 PM on October 29, 2019 [1 favorite]


Joe Buck keeps comparing this World Series to 1996. This antagonizes Smoltz, who went 1-1 in that series as the Braves blew a 2-0 series lead to lose the next 4, including all 3 home games.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 8:12 PM on October 29, 2019 [2 favorites]


Bottom of the 9th ... Nats up 7-2. Yikes
posted by ZeusHumms at 8:36 PM on October 29, 2019 [1 favorite]


Astros seem to have given up sometime in the fifth inning.
posted by lefty lucky cat at 8:39 PM on October 29, 2019


Ho ho hooooooo go Nats!
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:52 PM on October 29, 2019 [1 favorite]


Now that's what I call a game.

First time the road team has won 6 games in a postseason series. Like, in any major American sport.
posted by Cash4Lead at 8:58 PM on October 29, 2019 [3 favorites]


GAME 7! woot!!
posted by bukvich at 9:09 PM on October 29, 2019 [1 favorite]




Fortunately Take Me Out To The Ballgame got its revenge by getting Dave Martinez ejected during the song.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 8:11 AM on October 30, 2019 [2 favorites]


Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack,
Oh shit they're expensive, I'll never come back
posted by exogenous at 9:56 AM on October 30, 2019 [2 favorites]


See Dave rant, rant, rant at the umpire
looks like he might throw a punch
posted by mwhybark at 12:55 PM on October 30, 2019 [1 favorite]




I have been ultra meh about this series, to the point of thinking I would not bother to watch it, and it’s sorta kinda like that would have been a good call, because the most entertaining shit has really had nothing to do with the game - booing the criminal in chief, a manager getting ejected over an unreviewable (but bad in my eyes even if the ruleset supports it - he was literally past the ball and the glove when he was struck by the first baseman’s glove) call - I mean what has kept it interesting is circus theatrics, not the game. I guess it works, though, since I am now actually looking forward to the game tonight. I may even make hot dogs.
posted by mwhybark at 3:57 PM on October 30, 2019


Orange shirts today. Same shirts they wore for game 7 in 2017. Let’s do this.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 5:10 PM on October 30, 2019


Scherzer has thrown 55 pitches through 3 innings. Greinke is pitching better but it's still anybody's ball game.

This is fantastic.
posted by bukvich at 6:10 PM on October 30, 2019


I just got to explain save the beers guy to my wife after I stopped laughing. OK, three memorable moments: save the beers guy, boo the president, Dave Martinez nearly decks a blue.
posted by mwhybark at 6:49 PM on October 30, 2019


Scherzer has now thrown 99 pitches.
posted by bukvich at 6:57 PM on October 30, 2019


The plot thickens.
posted by bukvich at 7:31 PM on October 30, 2019 [1 favorite]


Holy cow, Nationals got the lead with 3 runs on 2 HR in the 7th.
posted by ZeusHumms at 7:31 PM on October 30, 2019 [1 favorite]


💩🧱
🥃🥃🥃🥃🥃🥃
posted by Huffy Puffy at 8:44 PM on October 30, 2019


One out away.
posted by Thorzdad at 8:47 PM on October 30, 2019


ExposNats win!!!
posted by Thorzdad at 8:50 PM on October 30, 2019 [2 favorites]


Whooo!
posted by ZeusHumms at 8:52 PM on October 30, 2019


The road team won every game in the series. That’s crazy.
posted by Thorzdad at 8:53 PM on October 30, 2019 [2 favorites]


That was a great game and a great series and congrats to the Gnats.
posted by bukvich at 8:53 PM on October 30, 2019


!!!!!!!!!!!!!
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:58 PM on October 30, 2019


It’s so fun watching a field full of millionaires celebrating.
posted by Thorzdad at 8:59 PM on October 30, 2019


Did you see the analytics post on espn a couple months ago where they claimed that the most productive maneuver by far in the nba is harden flopping outside the arc for 3 free throws?
posted by bukvich at 9:21 PM on October 30, 2019 [1 favorite]


Against all odds, Bryce Harper's dream has become a reality. It's still sinking in for me. Our guys did it, exorcised the haunting of years of choking in the playoffs, and while showing role model level masculinity. And so many come from behind wins in do-or-die games that I just can't comprehend it. We won one. Parade's Saturday!
posted by exogenous at 6:33 AM on October 31, 2019 [3 favorites]




fuck, unbelievable. Newspapers, you are doomed. I clicked on ZeusHumms link. I was presented with three ad overlays, one of which was a video-content feed. The ad that really caught my attention, though, was some anti-Seattle bullshit, well, a targeted PAC ad in our frickin’ city council race campaigning against Kshama Sawant, which helpfully gave the names of the top five contributors to the PAC that placed the ad. I didn’t screenshot it, alas, because I was so annoyed I just refreshed the page.

I did a decent Dave Martinez impression when on reload the ad was presented as a large placard before the page content loaded, at which point I decided, fuck this, I don’t care why that guy is wearing a stanford cricket helmet, I want the street address of the motherfuckers that paid for this ad so I can dump my garbage on their lawn.

In sum, Sawant has my vote. That’s my takeaway from the 2019 WS.
posted by mwhybark at 2:46 PM on October 31, 2019


Newspapers, you are doomed. I clicked on ZeusHumms link. I was presented with three ad overlays, one of which was a video-content feed.

It's a Gannett paper. All Gannett papers share the same gawdawful site design and are all uniformly a horrible experience.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:08 AM on November 1, 2019




Look, it’s not like the Nats will have lots of opportunities to be in Washington DC to visit the White House. It’s just not going to be possible with their schedule.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 9:19 AM on November 2, 2019 [1 favorite]


...
posted by tonycpsu at 1:12 PM on November 4, 2019


Read the freaking room, you bozos. I watched Game 5, and scoreboard notwithstanding I know you were all there.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 1:34 PM on November 4, 2019


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