I'll say it again: losing to a comparable or better team is not a "choke". The Astros are not entitled to the 2019 WS championship by birthright. It can be argued, based on recent history and postseason performance before this series, that Scherzer and Strasburg are better than Cole and Verlander. That lineup is pretty sick. Losing to the Nationals isn't a "choke". What a tired, stupid, entitled take.
Nope. Not a choke job. Nationals are deserving and playing like it. They are firing on all cylinders with a turbocharger. We got into the world series on the back of some pretty damn good pitching. However, we just ran into a buzz saw who is tearing through everything they get near. They are simply peaking at the right time. I doubt any team could take Washington in 7 right now. But, like every team, they will come back down to earth. Just not this series.
I want to argue with the post...but slumping at the wrong time in baseball is choking. We said it about the 1990's Astros and this is that all over again. 20 men left on base in these spots over 2 games is choking from my viewpoint. I get that we might all define what it is to choke, though. Having said that, there's still time to rewrite the story...from Choke City to Clutch City. It's happened before.
I thought the Astros were supposed to be the GS of MLB...a dynasty in the making They just lost the 1st 2 games at home with the 2nd one being by a score of 12-3. All I’d been hearing was that the Astros had the better lineup, more experience, etc if it’s not a choke, then at the very least it’s an embarrassment if they were to end up getting demolished in the WS
I'm in that camp too. You can't spend all year talking about how your team is historically great and then get beat by a wild card team at home like this while stranding runners like crazy...and not call it a choke. It reminds me (so far) of the 1990 World Series where the Bash Brother Oakland A's looked like world beaters all season long...won 103 games..were huge favorites to win the World Series...and then got swept by a 91 win Reds team. No one saw that coming. But again, all that can be rewritten over the course of the next 5 games. We've seen it before in baseball and more intimately with our Rockets. It can happen.
No it's not - it's baseball. Teams get hot all the time and win World Series. Just look at how many previous wild card winners there have been. It's not because their opponents all choked - that does a huge disservice to the teams that win. The 2017 World Series wasn't the Dodgers choking - it was the Astros playing extraordinarily well and winning. That's what the Nationals are doing right now.
Make no mistake people..... The hitters are CHOKING w/risp. Absolute choking dogs. Hoping they put on their big boy pants tomorrow and put barrel to ball.
It’s kind of hard to choke in baseball once your past the DS round especially. This isn’t basketball or football... There’s an article on ESPN MLB home page showing how we’ve actually hit for a higher average exit velocity and have hit into 8 “hard outs” compared to them hitting into 2. It’s such a small sample size which is why dynasties are such a tough thing to accomplish in today’s era. Plus the series isn’t over - are they in a terrible position and will the Nats likely win? Yeah, probably...but this team isn’t going to lay down. They’ve lost three in a row in the ALCS in 2017 then had some incredible improbable comebacks in the WS. That said, I think we may look back at the Morton decision and see that it may have been Lunhow’s biggest mistake... Edit: And this is coming from the guy with a decent amount of money on the Astros...I still think we’re the better team but admittedly where I overlooked was their ability to put the bat on the ball. I think our pitchers are set up great against teams like the Yankees who emphasize the true three outcomes but I’ve got to credit them for realizing striking out isn’t cool...especially in the playoffs with small sample sizes.
When our pitchers limit damage when people are on base against them (Cole, Game 4 against NY for example), we don't say the Yankees hitters choked. We say our pitchers made big pitches and stepped up. Why isn't the same true in reverse?
By their same logic I guess we’ve never really been good - we beat two chokers in NY and LAD in 2017. On a serious note, the Nats are able to put the bat on the ball unlike NY and it’s been a difference maker. I don’t understand the fascination with loading up with HR/K guys, we did it in 2015 when we were operating at a low payroll but we’ve shifted away from that. I’m not sure what NYY and several other teams are doing...it’s fun to watch when you’re bashing in the Orioles and Blue Jays staffs 36 times a year but in a short playoff series where you only see the best of the best pitching wise, I don’t see how anyone thinks that works.
I kind of agree with you... but Gerrit Cole isn't the opposing pitcher. It's someone named Sean Doolittle. But I don't think it's a choke for the very simple reason this is who the Astros are. They ranked 26th with RISP this year... I mean, it's not like they led MLB all year and then suddenly forgot how to hit. It's been a year-long struggle.
Sure - but we say the same when Pressly or Harris or Osuna came through in big situations too. And many of our struggles this series have been against Scherzer and Strasburg. Yesterday's game was out of hand by the time the bullpen came in. And we did score on on their closer in Hudson in Game 1. I just think everyone always finds the need to look solely at our own team for everything while ignoring that not everything is in their control. The other team gets just as much say in the outcome.
Oh, believe me... I KNOW. People want to knee-jerk; they do not want to think critically, or be patient, or... Have the Astros failed with RISP? Tremendously. They've also played three teams that are throwing the kitchen sink at them (and have the capacity and talent to do so) to make it much harder, something the... Orioles don't quite have the urgency to do in early August for some reason...
This sucks, but I don't consider it a choke job. The Nats have been STEAMROLLING through the playoffs. They're 10-2 and have now won 8 in a row. We may very well be playing the MLB version of the 95 Rockets.
This isnt a choke? A team that is the largest world series in over a decade and loses is CHOKE JOB. Plain and simple. I still have faith we can come back and win but if we lose this series then we will be known as chokers. No body will remember how many games we won during the regular season. LOL a team thats -220 and loses is a CHOKE JOB. The warriors were never these favorite favorites during all their titles runes.
Cool. Nor will they remember we lost... *we* will - but the cycle spits out new information with such consistent frequency that the entire series will be forgotten two weeks after it ends.
LOL you clearly don’t bet sports and I now question your understanding of sports in general after reading the GS statement. They were around -220 to START THE YEAR two years ago as title favorites. “According to OddsShark, the Warriors' title odds have moved all the way to -1100 (bet $1,100 to win $100). According to ESPN's David Payne Purdum, the Cavaliers are the biggest NBA Finals underdogs since at least 2002.”
