Giants reach NLCS, oust Braves in Game 4 (AP)

post from MLB News Blog on 11 October 2010 11:50:36 PM. © MLB News Blog

The San Francisco Giants celebrated their first playoff win in eight years, then paused to honor the man whose career they had just ended. As Bobby Cox came out of the Braves dugout to tip his cap to the chanting crowd one last time Monday night, the Giants stopped what they were doing on the [...]

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Errors Once Again Plague The Braves As They Fall
To The Giants In The Final Game For Bobby Cox

post from Talking Chop on 11 October 2010 11:02:36 PM. © Talking Chop

More photos » Jamie Squire - Getty Images

Thanks Bobby.

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It was an unfortunate result for the Braves, who got a great performance from Derek Lowe, but couldn't muster enough offense and didn't play good defense behind him. Lowe had a no-hitter working into the sixth inning with a 1-0 lead, but he surrendered a home run to Cody Ross for the first hit and the first run.

Brian McCann gave the Braves the lead again the next inning with a solo home run, but Lowe ran out of gas in the seventh, walking two Giants to load the bases. A throwing error by Alex Gonzalez one batter later allowed the tying run to score, but replays showed that while the throw was high to Infante at second base, he did hold the bag. Another bad call by the umpiring crew in this series goes against the Braves. After a strikeout that would have been the third out, the Giants go ahead on a seeing-eye single.

The Braves had plenty of run-scoring opportunities. They left nine men on base and were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position. The young lefty Madison Bumgarner did a good job of working his way out of trouble, and the Giants relievers were a bunch of magicians. Atlanta threatened in the ninth inning with runners on first and second and one out, but Omar Infante struck out and Melky Cabrera made the last out of the Braves season.

The Braves lose another one-run postseason game. Every game of this series has been decided by one run. Simply amazing.

Bobby Cox came out for a curtain call after managing this rag-tag group of players in his last game as the skipper of the Atlanta Braves. With the crowd cheering and chanting "Bobby, Bobby," even the Giants players tipped their caps and applauded the future Hall of Fame manager.

It is unfortunate and ironic that a manager who stressed fundamentals and fielding as much as Bobby Cox did, has his final series and his final game undone by poor fielding. We'll miss you, Bobby.

For an inning by inning recap of the game, go here. More on the game tomorrow morning, sad end to an exciting season.

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-as-they-fall-to-the-giants-in-the

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Giants send Cox into retirement (AP)

post from MLB News Blog on 11 October 2010 10:56:41 PM. © MLB News Blog

Bobby Cox wouldn’t allow himself to think about the end of his career before Monday night’s game. Now he has no choice. After a half-century in baseball, most of it in uniform, Cox must move out of the dugout. The San Francisco Giants tipped their caps to the Atlanta manager after sending Cox into retirement [...]

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Giants reach NLCS, oust Cox and Braves (AP)

post from MLB News Blog on 11 October 2010 10:47:39 PM. © MLB News Blog

San Francisco won another thriller, again with help from some shaky Atlanta defense, and the Giants are off to the NL championship series for the first time since 2002. For Bobby Cox, there are no more games. Cody Ross homered and drove in the go-ahead run with a seventh-inning single, leading the Giants to a [...]

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Former Playoff MVPs still in the 2010 Playoffs

post from Baseball In-Depth on 11 October 2010 10:16:00 PM. © Baseball In-Depth

Former LCS, World Series MVPs currently in the playoffs

Yankees
Mariano Rivera, 1999 WS (Yankees)
Derek Jeter, 2000 WS (Yankees)
Andy Pettitte, 2001 ALCS (Yankees)
Mariano Rivera, 2003 ALCS (Yankees)
C.C. Sabathia, 2009 ALCS (Yankees)

Phillies
Roy Oswalt, 2005 NLCS (Astros)
Placido Polanco, 2006 ALCS (Tigers)
Cole Hamels, 2008 WS (Phillies)
Ryan Howard, 2009 NLCS (Phillies)

Everyone Else
Troy Glaus, 2002 WS (Angels, Braves)
Matt Garza, 2008 ALCS (Rays, Rays)

Troy Glaus (Braves) might not be in the playoffs a few minutes from now (Giants up 3-2 going into the 9th), and Garza could be out if the Rangers win tomorrow.

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Stupid whimsical quiz question

post from Royals Review on 11 October 2010 10:03:05 PM. © Royals Review

Stupid whimsical quiz question

ESPN's Gamecast has the pitches show up in the strike zone with a number in the middle of the circle to show the number of that pitch in the sequence.What's the highest number that has appeared on such a pitch since Gamecast's inception?

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Giants At Braves: 10/11 Open Thread #3

post from Talking Chop on 11 October 2010 10:03:00 PM. © Talking Chop

Let's get some RUNS!!!!!!

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3

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Purple Row Awards: Rockies Defensive Player of
the Year Troy Tulowitzki

Troy Tulowitzki took our Purple Row Defensive Player of the Year Award with five of seven first-place votes. We're all amazed at the throws he's able to make and the range he shows. Of course, some would tell us that he needs to plant his feet when he throws from time to time. He had an .833 RZR and made 51 out of zone plays (OOZ). He also posted a 6.8 UZR and a 7.8 UZR/150, which are his best since his 15.2/13.2 of 2007.

Carlos Gonzalez finished in second, but was also left off of two ballots completely. As you'll see in the full results below, CarGo found himself at the top of the ballot twice and in the middle twice. He received one third-place vote. Depending on how you feel about UZR, CarGo was a negative in the field for the most part, except when he played left field (3.6 UZR).

I chose Miguel Olivo third for actually throwing out would-be base stealers. Among qualified catchers, he had the second-best caught stealing percentage at .423 (behind only Yadier Molina's .485). However, Olivo only appeared on my ballot and Jeff's. Find out the full results after the jump.

The voting results:

RussJeffFishA-MartBryanSilverbloodWM1TulowitzkiTulowitzkiTulowitzkiTulowitzkiTulowitzkiGonzalezGonzalez2GonzalezOlivoFowlerFowlerGonzalezTulowitzkiTulowitzki3OlivoBarmesBarmesGonzalezFowlerFowlerFowler

And here are the final points:

PlayerPointsTulo19Gonzalez11Fowler7Olivo3Barmes2

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layer-of-the-year-troy-tulowitzki

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Giants At Braves: 10/11 Open Thread #2

Get some more runs thread! Go Braves!

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2

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Comeback Players Of The Year Announced

Lost in all the hubbub of baseball’s postseason was that Major League Baseball announced their Comeback Players of the Year award last week. Let’s see who won this award in both the American League and National League… National League My Prediction: Tim Hudson 2010 NL Comeback Player of the Year: Tim Hudson After starting only [...]

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http://theghostofmoonlightgraham.com/2010/10/12/comeback-players-of-the-year-anno
unced/

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