All I do is Nguyen said:

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Random thought, but I miss the curses in baseball.

Curse of the Bambino on the BoSox
Curse of the billy goat on the cubs.

Things like that added a sense of tradition and mystique around the game at least for me

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Curse of the Run DMC jackets - Mariners
Curse of the "we want Houston" chants - all

BMX Bandit said:

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Looking back on how the last 6 went:

2018 Red Sox 5
A-W
A-L
H-L
H-L
H-L

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I remember in game 2 when the ball bounced off the monster and up onto the padding along the wall and rolled across it while Marwin just stood there looking for it, at that point I knew it was not meant to be that season

The Athletic writers are picking the Rangers to win the ALCS.

It was 61% Rangers, 39% Astros.

It seems like there is still a lot of Astros butthurt. I'm looking at you Ken Rosenthal and Jayson Stark.

Astros-Rangers ALCS predictions: Our experts make their World Series pick


The American League Championship Series will be an old-fashioned Texas showdown to decide who will represent the junior circuit in the World Series. We all saw that coming on Opening Day, right?
The Texas Rangers stumbled into the postseason, only to breeze through five straight wins to go from the lowest AL playoff seed to being four wins away from winning the pennant. The Houston Astros weren't as dominant in the regular season as they have been in the recent past, but they still staked claim to another AL West title and flexed their muscle in the Division Series in a 3-1 series win over the Minnesota Twins.

So which Texas team will play for all the marbles? We polled 23 of The Athletic's MLB experts to get their thoughts on who will advance and who will be vowing revenge next spring.

Katie Woo (Texas): It's the managerial showdown of our dreams, and if Max Scherzer is cleared, it'll be the pitching showdown of our dreams as well. There's no true front-runner in this series, but it's hard to ignore how dominant Texas has been this October. When you're hot, you're hot, and there's no hotter team right now than the Rangers.

Eno Sarris (Texas): The Rangers lineup is inevitable. Just as importantly, the Rangers are using the Nationals' roadmap of slimming the pitching staff down to the very few trustable arms, and it just feels like we're going to get a Max Scherzer/Willis Reed moment in this series, as well.

Sahadev Sharma (Texas): Is it insane to pick against the Astros in the postseason? Probably, but it's also boring to pick them and the Rangers are rolling.

Will Sammon (Houston): Every year, people try to talk themselves out of picking the Astros. Yet it seems every year they get here. Usually I rely on numbers for these picks, but it appears Houston has tapped into what makes it go at precisely the right time. The Astros' experience should help them in what should be a fun series. Plus, we have to be due for a repeat World Series winner, right?
[url=https://theathletic.com/4955809/2023/10/12/astros-advance-seventh-straight-alcs/][/url]
Stephen J. Nesbitt (Houston): The Astros won nine of 13 games against the Rangers in the regular season, including six of their last seven matchups. And my crystal ball here says the Rangers' pitching, which has performed wonderfully this postseason, will come apart a bit over a seven-game series. The Rangers' lineup is formidable and firing on all cylinders. They have power. They have speed. They have two catchers who mash. The Rangers' hitters can and likely will make life miserable for the Astros' pitching staff. But the Astros' bats are going now, too, and all it takes is jumping on Jordan Montgomery or Nathan Eovaldi early to send the Rangers scrambling to rearrange their pitching plans.

Chad Jennings (Texas): The Astros have been so consistent every postseason, it's hard to bet against them. But the Rangers have invested heavily the past few years, and it feels like we're seeing all of that investment come together and pay off at the right time. Also, there's just something about Nathan Eovaldi in October. That guy feels like a difference-maker to me.

Patrick Mooney (Houston): Even as free agents leave and managers and executives come and go, the Astros just keep winning.

Sam Blum (Texas): I picked against the Rangers the past two series and they haven't lost a playoff game yet. Their offense is clicking. The maligned bullpen has been good in the postseason. There can only be one star in this state, and it'll be the Rangers.

Tyler Kepner (Texas): This should be a great matchup of two Lone Star State teams with Texas-sized confidence to match. Since Bruce Bochy never loses in the LCS (4-0 with San Diego and San Francisco), I'll give his Rangers the edge in seven.
[url=https://theathletic.com/4938391/2023/10/07/rangers-bruce-bochy-october/][/url]

Jayson Stark (Texas): I know I've seen a Bruce Bochy team lose a postseason series, but it's hard to remember! He always has his teams so ready to play. And this version of the Rangers is the most complete and dangerous version we've seen all year, I think. So Texas in seven in a great series.

Grant Brisbee (Texas): Bruce Bochy isn't a wizard, but he's an excellent manager. I have seen him win a championship with the Giants. Dusty Baker isn't a wizard, but he's an excellent manager. I have not seen him win a championship with the Giants. You might think this is lazy analysis, and you're right, but there's no sense in pretending that you can escape confirmation bias. I say lay back and enjoy it. It's a hell of a toboggan ride.

[url=https://theathletic.com/4952205/2023/10/11/texas-rangers-nathan-eovaldi-pitching/][/url]
[url=https://theathletic.com/4952205/2023/10/11/texas-rangers-nathan-eovaldi-pitching/][/url]Chris Kirschner (Houston): The Rangers employ Aroldis Chapman. By law, if he's employed by a team facing the Astros in the playoffs then that team will not advance.

Chris Strauss (Houston): Astros. October.

Levi Weaver (Texas): I (rightly) caught flak for incorrectly picking the Orioles to beat the Rangers, so I'm not making that mistake again. The Texas offense has looked unstoppable so far this postseason. The Astros are (still) the team to beat, but the mojo has been on the Rangers' side so far.

Melissa Lockard (Texas): I've picked against the Rangers in the past two series. I won't make the same mistake thrice.

Ken Rosenthal (Texas): Just feel it's their time … whatever that means!

Here’s your ALCS umpiring crew pic.twitter.com/rmXnPOCcpx

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) October 13, 2023

Awesome! Haven't heard of any of those guys so thats good

agproducer said:

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The Athletic writers are picking the Rangers to win the ALCS.

It was 61% Rangers, 39% Astros.

=

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I mean, what's wrong with making that pick, other than the fact that we root for the Astros? We spend 2 weeks talking about getting hot at the right time, which definitely worked for Philly and Arizona. WHo is hotter in the playoffs than the Rangers right now? They just systematicaly destroyed a 99-win Tampa team and a 101- win Baltimore team, haven't lost a game in the playoffs, are 4-0 on the road in those same playoffs, and are firing on all cylinders on offense and on the mound right now.

From as objective a view as I can muster, they look like a team that got nationally humiliated for pissing away a divisional title by having a 15 to 18 minute rager after cliniching a playoff spot, and has since gotten serious and motivated and proceeded to wreck shop. Their lineup is phenomenal and they are playing with supreme confidence. What happened in the regular season for us and them isn't going to matter much more than it did for Arizona vs. LA and Philly vs. Atlanta. I am terrified of the damage they an do.

Snitker is not using the Dodgers excuse

Watching Atlanta last night they were not mentally up to it. Watching Arcia clown with the crowd, they were beaten before they ever started.

It's such as lame excuse. If you ask any team in April if they want a week off at end of year or want to play wild card, they will unanimously say week off.

Mathguy64 said:

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Watching Atlanta last night they were not mentally up to it. Watching Arcia clown with the crowd, they were beaten before they ever started.

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Credit Philly pitching if you want, but man the big stars of ATL really failed them at the plate (just like the Doyers).

This ALCS has a pretty good chance to get really chippy.

I agree. It was more of a commentary on what the national view is of the series.

I don't think there is any issue choosing the Rangers. They are hot -- but some of the excuses like, "It's boring to choose the Astros, so I'm going with the Rangers" is sad.

Objectively -- like you -- I think it will be a dog fight.

MosesHallRAB04 said:

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This ALCS has a pretty good chance to get really chippy.

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First hit batter and it'll be on. Especially if it's Semien or Yordan

tjack16 said:

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MosesHallRAB04 said:

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This ALCS has a pretty good chance to get really chippy.

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First hit batter and it'll be on. Especially if it's Semien or Yordan

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I don't think Bochy will do that (throw at Yordan) but I could be wrong but could you imagine how chippy this series would be if Servais was managing the rangers? MINIMUM 3 bench clearing brawls. It would be like a Dothraki wedding (sorry, had to throw Porkchop a bone).

All I do is Nguyen said:

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Random thought, but I miss the curses in baseball.

Curse of the Bambino on the BoSox
Curse of the billy goat on the cubs.

Things like that added a sense of tradition and mystique around the game at least for me

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Well you'll always have the curse of the 1939 Aggies. I'm convinced some group of Cadets swore to God that as long as we won the NC that year nothing else mattered and now we are cursed.

Quote:

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Chris Strauss (Houston): Astros. October.

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This guy gets it.

MosesHallRAB04 said:

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This ALCS has a pretty good chance to get really chippy.

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Need to add Kuhnel to the roster solely so he can make Semien smell his fingers

I definitely get the vibe that there is going to be 1 game where they beat us by 6+ runs and one game where we do the same to them, sort of like the '21 series with Boston.

Speaking of the roster, I think we drop Singleton for Graveman or another pitcher since it will be a possible 7 games

All I do is Nguyen said:

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Speaking of the roster, I think we drop Singleton for Graveman or another pitcher since it will be a possible 7 games

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Sounds right.

BMX Bandit said:

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graveman for sure back on roster if heathy.

do they keep the lefty singleton?

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Don't really see the purpose of keeping Singleton. Dusty will not use him and we have Dubon to play 1B if Abreu gets hurt. Would rather have more pitching options.