All series talk goes in here. Non series talk goes somewhere else. No PBP, that can be found from other sources if you need it. All games are broadcast on AT&T Sports SW unless otherwise noted. 9-27 Gerrit Cole (R) vs. Yefry Ramirez (R) 6:05 9-28 Justin Verlander (R) vs. David Hess (R) 6:05 9-29 Dallas Keuchel (L) vs. Alex Cobb (R) 6:05 9-30 TBA vs TBA 2:05
Sounding like Morton will start Sunday. Only thing left, if it's really a thing, is to go for 103 wins for a new club record...but no one inside that clubhouse cares. Right now, it's about being healthy and ready to go next Friday.
Yeah... the back-to-back 100 win seasons was a huge accomplishment. Not sure they care at all about the franchise record... not like falling short of the record last year was any big deal. Also, winning 103 and not winning the WS also makes it a footnote, much like 1998 has become.
Saw some tweet indicating Verlander is very interested in winning 103 to make it clear this is the best Astros team of all time.
Since we’re winning the World Series anyways we might as well add best regular season record to that as well.
I wonder how the 2001 Mariners feel about their season? I'd bet they'll say that they were proud to win that many games but ultimately it was a failure for not even reaching the World Series.
Franchise Win Record and Fewest Runs Allowed in the DH Era (only 27 runs removed) are both REALLY nice. I can't fathom how someone could call Winning 100 a "huge accomplishment", then downplay the franchise record for wins. They are either "both NICE" or "neither matters".
Overall, they're likely VERY proud of their season. Their Win Total is historic and will be respected/mentioned until someone breaks it. There's far less shame in losing to a Dynasty vs the '98 Astros who fell to a one hit wonder.
But again... only solidifies it if they win it all. I'm all for them winning 3 more games to even give them the option.
Well, good thing we've been to 2 and won a World Series to erase that shame. They can do that if/when they ever get past the ALCS.
Not sure why "winning it all" matters so much for "greatest team" if the playoffs are such a crapshoot.
Because, in American sports, no one plays for "best regular season ever". The Warriors don't consider their 73-win season as a complete success. The Patriots don't consider their 16-0 regular season a complete success. If we were talking about the English Premier League...fine. They don't have playoffs.
Good chance this gets rained out tonight. Not sure if they would even bother with a double header. May be a 161 game season, which honestly irks me more than it should. Makes the final W-L record look weird.
Has MLB done that before? Just not made up a game because it wouldn't matter and leave two teams with only 161 games played? Seems like too much would be dependent on it (players game checks, contract incentives, etc) for them to just decide to not play. But maybe they have all those details figured out.
Basketball and Football are muuuch less of a crapshoot than Baseball. As for "playing for best regular season ever"... every team that has had the best regular season are proud of their accomplishment and they no doubt tried to set the mark.
Do you think that if they won 103 but didn't win the World Series, the Astros players would feel like the season was a success?
It was more prevalent before the wild card, naturally, since more games now have late season implications. The record for a season is 11 teams playing less than 162. I would be shocked if they reschedule a game that gets rained out this series. eta: after a quick look at the standings I made it all the way back to 2016 and noticed that 4 teams played 161, 6 if you include the Cubs/Pirates game that got postponed with the score tied and never completed.