That ESPN article linked no longer exists. Maybe it was over the top even for them. The new one on their main page at least mentions that out of the 23 missed calls, 12 went against Houston and 11 against Boston.

The airplane sacrifice worked! OK, which one of you fat cats will be offering up your jet to Jobu today?

astros4545 said:

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Lol

Michael Conner says Altuve's homerun cut the Sox fans "Sweet Caroline" song short

He hit it as fans were still singing and carrying on, not even realizing the game had started again

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"So good, so good."

Maybe they can talk about the 2 called strikes that Eovaldi got. Two of which were out of the zone wide.

ESPN and Jeff Passan in particular are carrying a metric **** ton of water for the Red Sox. Screw em. Post the articles in the clubhouse. Replay that pencil neck dweeb's video. Put it on a loop and piss our guys off rightly. Please keep hating.

jetch17 said:

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Quote:

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Still, when Cora watches replay of pitch No. 268, here is what he will see: Castro waggling his bat, Eovaldi perched like a crane before he extends more than 6 feet off the rubber and releases the pitch, the ball bending over the outside corner at Castro's belt, Castro buckling, Eovaldi hop-skipping and Diaz emerging from his crouch with his hands on his hips, which is really all that needed to be said.

On the Fox broadcast's pitch tracker, the landing spot of the ball was colored in -- meaning it was a strike. On MLB's website, the pitch landed on the edge of the zone -- a strike. Neither of those matters. The only computer that mattered was Diaz's brain -- and it processed the pitch as a ball.

Surely Diaz didn't know that of Eovaldi's 48 strikeouts this season with a curveball, only seven had been looking, none of those in the postseason. Nobody has a filthier repertoire -- a 100-mph fastball, a biting slider, an obscene splitter, a tempestuous cutter and a curve that's there almost as a palate cleanser for the bad taste all those other pitches are subject to leave. There are few tougher pitchers to umpire. The scene was set before pitch No. 268 before anyone realized it.

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Someone on reddit mentioned that the Fox guys talked about this last night (surprisingly), but we're talking about Astros pitching COMPLETELY shutting down the Red Sox if Greinke gets the strike 3 call in the first inning. The only reason JD got an at bat in the first place is because Greinke was getting completely squeezed on balls that they were getting.

That said, Laz Diaz is a god awful umpire, has been for a long time, and has absolutely no business being behind home plate in such a dire situation. He was terrible for both sides, and obviously folks are going to focus on the most prominent one, especially since it went against one of the darlings and benefited the EVIL ASTROS. This kind of outing is just another of many that shows that they need robo umps yesterday.

I remember. F the haters.

We were told to “suck it up” pic.twitter.com/rIUptsp16K

— Astros 2021 Champs (@AstrosOptimism2) October 20, 2021

I've seen the Ump's missed stroke-ball graphic, but they never show how many of those misses went in favor of each team. We got WAY more against us, including the one that gave them their ONLY runs of the night.

Wabs said:

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I remember. F the haters.

We were told to “suck it up” pic.twitter.com/rIUptsp16K

— Astros 2021 Champs (@AstrosOptimism2) October 20, 2021

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THIS.

Winners suck it up and move on. Bad breaks/calls happen. Losers complain.

jetch17 said:

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j_davis01 said:

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Can't wait to wake up to all the sports media talking about the umpiring… you know it's coming!

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Sho'nuff

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/32434892/mlb-playoffs-2021-how-268th-pitch-became-defining-moment-alcs-game-4

Quote:

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In an alternate universe, or at least one that follows the rulebook strike zone, the pitch was a strike, a strike that would have ended the ninth inning and allowed the Boston Red Sox, owners of two walk-off hits this postseason, the opportunity to mint a third. In the real world, where the rulebook strike zone is a castle in the sky, the pitch was a ball, a ball that kept Jason Castro at the plate, a ball that preceded the 269th pitch of the night, which he fouled off, and the 270th, which he whacked for a go-ahead single that opened the floodgates of the Houston Astros' 9-2 victory at Fenway Park on Tuesday night.

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Wait, so they scored 0 in the 9th but totally would've walked it off if it was tied.

That's not how this works

jetch17 said:

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Quote:

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Still, when Cora watches replay of pitch No. 268, here is what he will see: Castro waggling his bat, Eovaldi perched like a crane before he extends more than 6 feet off the rubber and releases the pitch, the ball bending over the outside corner at Castro's belt, Castro buckling, Eovaldi hop-skipping and Diaz emerging from his crouch with his hands on his hips, which is really all that needed to be said.

On the Fox broadcast's pitch tracker, the landing spot of the ball was colored in -- meaning it was a strike. On MLB's website, the pitch landed on the edge of the zone -- a strike. Neither of those matters. The only computer that mattered was Diaz's brain -- and it processed the pitch as a ball.

Surely Diaz didn't know that of Eovaldi's 48 strikeouts this season with a curveball, only seven had been looking, none of those in the postseason. Nobody has a filthier repertoire -- a 100-mph fastball, a biting slider, an obscene splitter, a tempestuous cutter and a curve that's there almost as a palate cleanser for the bad taste all those other pitches are subject to leave. There are few tougher pitchers to umpire. The scene was set before pitch No. 268 before anyone realized it.

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We were also told to suck it up when Grandal ran 5 feet inside the baseline to first base and deflected a throw home.

Deluxe said:

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We were also told to suck it up when Grandal ran 5 feet inside the baseline to first base and deflected a throw home.

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Yep, but he was only "establishing a base line". What total bull***** So next time we hit one toward the first baseman we can just run directly at the fielder, interfere with him and just claim we were establishing the baseline.

bearkatag15 said:

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pic.twitter.com/vpFanaC1jJ

— Landan Kuhlmann (@LandanKuhlmann) October 20, 2021

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I think this is actually a picture of Jeff Goldblum seeing how little the Independence Day sequel made.

Jose Altuve lifetime in the ALCS

29 games
110 at bats
25 runs scored
35 hits
9 home runs
18 RBI
.318 AVG
.415 OBP
.600 SLG
1.015 OPS

That's against the best of the best in the AL every year. Pace that across a 162-game season and you're talking:

140 runs scored
196 hits
50 HR
101 RB
106 BB

Insane.

He's already hit the tying "momentum shifting" HR twice in this series, in just 4 games

GOAT

Mr.Bond said:

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Anyone have the graphic of altuves post season Homer's

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21 homers in 71 #Postseason games! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/GF957exfrZ

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) October 20, 2021

I am the last person to complain about broadcaster bias and fan forums all think their team is getting screwed, but I had to laugh last night in the ninth when Buck said all of the air was just sucked out of the stadium.

Because it was also sucked out of the broadcast booth. I think Smoltz is a very good analyst but his tone went way down in the ninth.

Postseason Maton

6.1 IP
1 ER
6 K
1 BB
.100 AVG
.143 OBP
.250 SLG
.393 OPS

He's inherited 4 runners and only one came around to score.

The best part of the way the game ended, with an offensive explosion against their best pitchers, amd then the entire national media trying to run interference and whine for the Sox….

I love what it does for the Astros psyche headed into this brand new best-of-three series.

I would not be surprised to see our batters tee off tonight and put up 10+

I'm okay with Machete still getting the start. Framber needs him back there.

But he should not get a third at bat if its close, and if in high leverage situation should not get a second.