Members-Only Game Thread: ALDS – Guardians at White Sox – Oct 8, 2026
Welcome to our Open Game Thread for the ALDS game today. Chat with fellow readers as we watch the Guardians play the White Sox! Only Members can participate, and unlike our usual game chats, your messages will be posted immediately.
Our Member community is made up of thousands of incredibly knowledgable baseball fans, and we think this is a great way to follow a game with like-minded baseball enthusiasts. We might even have some FanGraphs Staff drop in and join the fun. Please be courteous to your fellow Members, or you may find your chat privileges revoked.
Moves set in Chicago: The Man with the Golden Arm is interesting and worth watching. It is not as daring as the book. But Sinatra as a not especially likable character is very surprising casting that works pretty well in the end.
Hey everyone! We had some exciting games yesterday. Specifically the Yankees fan interference. I’m hoping this is almost as entertaining.
Can't think of any non-baseball movies set in Cleveland right now, though I'm sure there are some I'm not thinking of.
A Christmas Story?
Guess that was filmed there not set there.
Is that the one with their air rifle–"you'll shoot your eye out"?
Yup! You can’t miss it if you turn on the TV on Christmas.
Abe Froman
i don't see a lot of movies. i tried to go to movie nights but i kept getting spooked and overstimulated. shame, because they're a really fantastic artform
the word that comes to mind is "Gesamtkunstwerk"
I’d prefer to watch movie at home. Watch the NFL at home. Baseball is better in person. Postseason baseball is something else
Hi everyone!
For Chicago, my no. 1 is The Fugitive
Draft Day is set in Cleveland!
Kyle Teel, nooooooo!
2.2 inches is terrible
Doesn't Howard the Duck take place in Cleveland?
It does! I barely watched that. Can’t believe it’s a Marvel property.
I’d think everyone would be on point with ABS. Maybe all that pressure.
I just posted about this on Bluesky. But when I reported on the different strategies teams and players were using when deciding whether to challenge, the White Sox told me their strategy was to be more aggressive with them rather than waiting for a moment that might never come.
The challenge to Lowe aligned with that strategy, in that it made sense from a leverage perspective, especially in the playoffs when scoring first is so important. The problem was that pitch was nowhere near the zone.
I still remember when the Dodgers made Vargas go to the plate during spring training to get a feel for things when he was hurt and couldn't swing the bat in spring training, and Grienke just f'd with him by throwing eephus pitches and laughing. I miss Grienke.
Here's the link to that story, from June: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/to-challenge-or-not-to-challenge…
I can understand that strategy but continue to be stunned at some of the challenges. It makes sense to only use them in high leverage situations but, even after a full season, there seems to be no rhyme or reason in far too many instances
Was… was Jerry Reinsdorf smoking a cigar in his owner's box?
Reminder that Austin Hedges had a 100 wRC+ this season
The White Sox don't get enough crap for being one of the most historically terrible franchises
I remember people hating the Hahn years with the Star Trek 2 meme.
Sesn, I asked this last night and Davy said to ask you–have you looked into creating a live scoreboard in Fangraphs? Would it be hugely expensive? Just curious, though it would be useful since I often have FG open while watching a game anyway.
Live scoreboard? Like at the top of the site? Or just in general like our scores page? https://www.fangraphs.com/scores?date=2026-10-08
Yes, I guess I was imagining it built into the banner, like at a certain red-branded site that starts with an E. But the scores page is very cool! I should bookmark it.
We've kicked around having the scores in the header. It might be a customization feature, just so we don't force everyone to have a thicker header. I fought for about a year to get the header sized down back in 2017.
Doyle was definitely not looking for a fastball down the middle on 3-2.
Montgomery quickly pulled his hand back even though he knew it was a ball.
Teel's incorrect challenge earlier put Montgomery in a bind
Most definitely.
This has happened a few times this postseason.
The Blues Brothers is probably Chicago's favorite movie.
Does anybody else just pull up to the stats on those 90's Cleveland lineups every so often and nod approvingly?
MLB did an essay on those Cleveland teams, "The Dynasty That Almost Was".
Is Blues Brothers more loved in Chicago than Ferris Bueller's Day Off?
They’re both loved here. I don’t know if you could say one more than the other.
Something happened! Finally. What a hit!
I went to the game yesterday, and if you don’t love Seven Nation Army and the Cha Cha Slide, it is…not the place for you.
The men on MLB radio today were raving about Meidroth. That trade is going to be remembered for a long time on the South Side.
@Matt, I could probably use a new kneecap too.
The fan wearing the gaudy M&Ms bomber jacket and a giant, novelty-sized cap is a vibe I'm strangely jealous of.
I don't know how any catcher can make that play.
Some command issues in this game.
I kind of hoped that was going to go out and just clear the bases.
This is a good challenge.
Home Alone needs a shoutout for Chicago-set movies. Every couple years that's a holiday re-watch.
Can't believe this didn't cross my mind until now.
There are good fastballs and good sliders but the best pitch a pitcher has is the atom ball.
similar-sounding but unrelated: the demon core slider, which creates a little supercriticality event when the bat meets the ball. you may give up a nuke but the batter won't feel so good the next day
Good idea to actually get a hit
M&M jacket man has been at every game for many years.
Is this like Marlins Man but not at all?
Re: live scores in the header – this might make some people avoid your site sometimes, if they have DVR'd their game and don't want it ruined. If people want live scores they know how to find it
The best pitches are the ones from NES Baseball Simulator 1.000 that nobody can throw…yet
That game came out just as I was developing serious baseball fandom as a 9 year old. The number of hours I was allowed to play it is shocking in hindsight. That was straight up bad parenting, tbh.
it's a shame it happened before the advent of mainstream esports too.
Maybe a clicky option?
The Sting was mostly in Chicago
Chicago suburbs classics: Home alone, Sixteen Candles, Uncle Buck, some of FBDO.
Pretty in Pink , Breakfast Club
National Lampoons Christmas Vacation
They really don't make Midwest movies (or TV) like they used to.
i'm supposed to be watching a movie for class but i nearly had a panic attack so i'm calming down by checking baseball scores
unfortunately, i doubt The Hurt Locker (2008) is a midwest film
To me, a real Chicago movie has to have an L scene. The one in Blues Brothers is perfect. Fugitive also.
A new version of it would be awesome
Two weeks ago I watched Snow White with my 4 year old great-grand daughter sitting on my lap, Now that was a great movie experience. I am getting to visit her and her 2 year old sister again on Saturday
OH geez
Oh, Fedde's OK
From the reaction, I thought he had gotten it square in the face
It was funny, he watched the liner go past him into center, but then opened his glove to see if it might have also ended up there somehow.
Jose – Jose -Jose – Jose. !!!!!!
Turns out homers are good
I hope Keaton is watching and happy.
José is AMPED!
I was heartbroken back when he was coming up and found out his name wasn't pronounced Bibby
You mean Bibberty?
I'm too busy trying to replace our Meidroth/sistene chapel picture with Jose Ramirez
Do people not mind all these seven-pitcher games? I’m not a fan aesthetically.
I was looking through our articles from 10 years ago, because I know we advocated this idea more or less. https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-al-wild-card-game-should-be-…
A little be careful what you wish for.
A little it becomes uncool once everyone does. Defensive shifts were the same way. Once everyone did it. It wasn't a competitive edge. It was just lame.
It'll be funny if the White Sox end up scoring 10 and none of them via hit
chase meidroth's name sounds like a very rude imperative
probably uttered by bart simpson or similar
joey bart simpson. is this anything.
d'oh. chandler was also right there.
Sabrowski games drive me nuts, because I have a reflexive reaction to every time his name is said because it's a common way people mispronounce my last name if they don't really read the order of the letters right
There is nothing that I find more useless than the 1st base penalty. There are two plays a 1st baseman has to do that no other fielder has to make. Scooping and avoiding the runner on the throw to 2nd. Murakami has surprised me with his deft fielding .
This game rules!
Yesterday I complained to Sean that I couldn't find a "neither" button when asked who I wanted to win between the Rays and the other team. Today it is a "both" button that is needed because I will be rooting for whichever team wins this series when they meet the Rays
I'm going to start just putting in teams that aren't playing in the game.
Good challenge by Kwan!
Used at the proper time.
This game is insane. I have lost track of the number of lead changes. Though some of that is I am not sure I know how to define a lead change. Does tying count? But does that mean tying and then going ahead counts as two? Hmm. (Maybe there won't be any more, though–this game is getting out of hand as I'm typing this.)
Yeah, that slipped away quickly.
Just made a poll for this!
I run the bathroom and hell breaks out
Unsurprisingly, the White Sox have run out of pitching.
Yes, the game feels wild. I told my wife "There's just so many hits!" which is dumb because it's a baseball game and hitting baseballs is kind of the thing they do. And Chicago doesn't even have that many hits! It just feels like there's so much happening on the bases. I'm know this easy easy to quantify, but I prefer "total base vibes" and the vibes are large
We need to add TBV to the leaderboards.
There's been 4 lead changes. One each inning that a team scored. I'd say tying doesn't count, but it doesn't matter, because it was never tied after the inning finished.
I think DeLauter is out
edited
I called him out and did my little hand signal at my TV.
Thanks everybody. There have been a couple of late nights here on the east coast and this one is ovah so I will be heading off. Can't wait for Saturday night. Grandma and Great grandpa will be back from the family visit just about in time for the start.
I just went 1-1 in my kickball doubleheader, pitched very well in the second game, and I’m here and ready to party
10.242
3333333333333333333-6+
0
0
ack
Hello to Dan’s cat
Yeah, that was Justinian
The spam filter caught the repeated messages.
I thought maybe you were loading ZiPS data into the chat.
Justinian is good at Live Game Thread.
Do we have some analysis of RPs being overexposed in playoff series? I'm sure it's been done plenty of times but the Grant Taylor of it all this series seems like a fascinating case study
This is hard to watch….can't see the Sox recovering in Game 5 in Cleveland.
Bet ya didn't see them making the playoffs either
I've thought about looking to it, but I've never been able to pin down a good methodology
If Liberty Mutual really wants my business, they'll run a spoof ad of the Sydney Sweeny "sports" ad but with the himbo dude they have
But all the balls the himbo holds up is Bibberty
Haha amazing
edited
There's also this article from SABR's Baseball Research Journal.
https://sabr.org/journal/article/balancing-starter-and-bullp…
Also, hello everybody.
Whats the scuttlebutt on how much the White Sox will be willing to spend moving forward now that the competitive window is open? Dark horse on Skubs?
Maybe if the Catholic Church is pitching in funds.
I don't have any intel, but I'm inclined to agree with David CHW.
(I'm choosing to believe that the team you root for is part of your name.)
So basically get the Vatican to sell off some of their art collection and see what they can get. Is Jeffrey Loria still around? Whats the surplus value of a Raphael painting?
You have to differentiate in the sea of Davids
There have to be some players in MLB who would sign a below-market deal if personally asked to do so by the Pope. I'm guessing quite a few.
I have lived all over America and never met anyone with an accent like the people in George and Mandy's First Marriage
If Grant Taylor just got the overwork penalty, Cade Smith may be due for his in game 5
Vogt certainly does not deserve big points for how he's deployed his guys most of this series. Back to back days in effective mop-up for Smith.
This is a crazy pitching decision
Cool
Man I love baseball
I blame Gavin Williams coming in and ruining game 5 due to Cade Smith pitching yesterday with a 6 run lead.
So now Smith is likely burned for game 5? Wild…
So give them more looks at your closer, exhaust your closer, have your do or die game starter use bullets 2 days before said game. That's the strategy
This pitcher usage has all felt so extreme panic button from Cleveland
Is Matt Festa hurt? He should have pitched the 9th yesterday and now today.
Festa must have kicked Vogt's dog or something
late to the game, but if the white sox come back i'll eat one (1) walking taco
Managering.
Pulled this chat up to complain about this bullpen management but looks like y'all have that covered
I think this is great. Pitchers should pitch!!!
Benintendi was just hopeless there.
Incredible curves. These guys can pitch more pitches and more often than they do, so let's see it. Go White Sox though
I understand you NEED to win tonight to survive, but you also NEED to win the next game to survive. I just can't believe 1 inning in a 4 run lead is better now than getting 5 innings the next game in another must win game.
Whatever happens here they should absolutely start him game 5. Ligaments are replaceable but flags fly forever
This is beautiful
It's not just a matter of injury risk, though – it's a matter of effectiveness in an elimination game.
These curveballs look pretty effective to me
Today, yeah…
Where's Emmanuel Clase when you need him?
House arrest? I think?
I was mad last night about Cade Smith in the 9th, and now I'm really mad. Also, I didn't love Smith in the 8th with a 4 run lead, but it's defensible.
They get a day off they'll be fine
Both these dudes are 27 years old, peak physical condition
Thanks everyone! Looks like we got another one of these on Saturday!
