So You Want To Talk Collapse?

[clvclv]

This is by no means an effort to put this team's September disappearing act aside...just a little historical perspective...

the Milwaukee Brewers spent 150 days in first place this season, and were officially eliminated tonight - that marks the first time since Divisional play started (and the year I was born) that ANY TEAM spent that many days in 1st Place and eventually missed the postseason.

Just sayin'.

[jcc03004]

This is by no means an effort to put this team's September disappearing act aside...just a little historical perspective...

the Milwaukee Brewers spent 150 days in first place this season, and were officially eliminated tonight - that marks the first time since Divisional play started (and the year I was born) that ANY TEAM spent that many days in 1st Place and eventually missed the postseason.

Just sayin'.

Seems everytime we collapse someone else does the same thing (Boston in 2011, Milwaukee this year ) makes me feel better we aren't the only fan base dealing with this. I must say ours was less surprising then theirs (our collapse started in April)

[VirginiaBrave]

But we didn't collapse. True we played like crap in August and September but we weren't playoff material from May 1st forward. We were just a bad baseball team.

[yeezus]

Baseball is a crazy sport.

[50PoundHead]

Neither the A's or the Mariners seem to want a WC spot in the AL. Oakland is 20-32 since August 1. They were up by 3.5 games on July 4 and now they are 12 GB. They could still do damage if they make the playoffs, but I never really liked that line-up and they haven't hit well for the last two months. Great pitching staff top-to-bottom though which could make them a legitimate post-season threat. Seattle had a great August, but have kind of spit the bit in September when Oakland hit the skids. Could be an interesting last weekend.

PS--Hard to figure out the Brewers. Feast-or-famine offense may have something to do with their struggles. Horrible year for Segura with the bat.

[Perfect Cell]

I hope Oakland makes it. Ill have an excuse to watch the playoffs

[yeezus]

Neither the A's or the Mariners seem to want a WC spot in the AL. Oakland is 20-32 since August 1. They were up by 3.5 games on July 4 and now they are 12 GB. They could still do damage if they make the playoffs, but I never really liked that line-up and they haven't hit well for the last two months. Great pitching staff top-to-bottom though which could make them a legitimate post-season threat. Seattle had a great August, but have kind of spit the bit in September when Oakland hit the skids. Could be an interesting last weekend.

PS--Hard to figure out the Brewers. Feast-or-famine offense may have something to do with their struggles. Horrible year for Segura with the bat.

I thought it was a mistake to trade Cespedes. He isn't a great player, but has been a 3.6 fWAR player this year so far. Their offense has really taken a nosedive. And I suppose you could attribute that to guys like Moss and Donaldson coming back to earth. Still, I didn't think their chances went way up by dealing him and getting Lester, though Lester has been great.

[Dalyn]

I thought it was a mistake to trade Cespedes. He isn't a great player, but has been a 3.6 fWAR player this year so far. Their offense has really taken a nosedive. And I suppose you could attribute that to guys like Moss and Donaldson coming back to earth. Still, I didn't think their chances went way up by dealing him and getting Lester, though Lester has been great.

Trading Cespedes for Lester is the ONLY reason they are still in the race. Beane saw the collapse coming and did what he could to stop it.

[yeezus]

Trading Cespedes for Lester is the ONLY reason they are still in the race. Beane saw the collapse coming and did what he could to stop it.

Perhaps. I think the argument could be made that their rotation could have survived without Lester better than their offense could without Cespedes. However, Beane did seemingly "sell high" on Cespedes, as he is definitely overrated.

[Dalyn]

Perhaps. I think the argument could be made that their rotation could have survived without Lester better than their offense could without Cespedes. However, Beane did seemingly "sell high" on Cespedes, as he is definitely overrated.

Check out the stats. No way.

[CyYoung31]

The A's collapse has been just as bad.

[Runnin]

But we didn't collapse. True we played like crap in August and September but we weren't playoff material from May 1st forward. We were just a bad baseball team.

Collapse is exactly the right word. True we've clearly been a highly flawed team offensively, but coming together as a team and playing to the upper level of our potential, instead of the lower, is also a possibility that lies well within normal outcomes. That's why our flat, unemotional style of play is often so painful to watch, even though it was sorta working before the AS break. Sometimes you have to trick yourselves into playing better than you actually are. This ho hum, another day at the office approach is fine once the game is over, but while the game is on you've got to pretend it IS the last game of the WS. Especially coming into the home stretch of a season and you're on the playoff bubble.

I don't see anything wrong with bringing a little urgency to the final leg of a season. It's not called a pennant race for nothing. As a great Canadian songwriter once wrote, "It's better to burn out than to fade away." (No, not Justin Bieber.)