2011 Baseball Thread

[FilmFan720]

I haven't posted yet here, but my condolences to Tee and Sonic...you put up a good fight, and this was an excellent (yet bizarre) series, but for the second time in 6 years, my Tigers have stopped your Yankees dead in their tracks. Now, on to Arlington and some more upsetting.

And no matter how much I love the Tigers, I cannot get on the Valverde wagon...he is great, but what an ass.

[Sonic Youth]

Dear Red Sox,
We hear you're looking for a new manager. How'd you like to take Joe Girardi off our hands?
Sincerely,
The Yankees
P.S. We'll throw in A-Rod for a couple of baseball bats.

[Mister Tee]

Still too damn busy in real life, but, before my playoffs start, a quick overview:

I really haven't paid close attention to the NL this year, though it's been fairly clear that, until their week-plus post-clinch winless period, the Phillies simply ascended to the top and stayed there. It's hard to see the Cardinals offering much challenge.

The Brewers/Diamondbacks match-up is more interesting, with two normally non-contending teams seemingly evenly matched. In tribute to their ancient AL origins, I'll pick the Brew-has.

I have the advantage of seeing the Texas/Tampa score as I type this -- 8-0 Tampa, late -- which of course tempts me to jump ship for Tampa. And it's possible their pitching will hold Texas down enough. But the numbers say Texas is a much better team, so I'll stick with them despite the soon-to-be 0-1 deficit. (Of course, last year Tampa was favored and Texas won their encounter, so maybe they'll simply trade upsets)

As for Yanks/Detroit...the numbers say the Yanks are MUCH stronger: Detroit outscored their opposition by only 66 runs, while the Yanks did it to the tune of 210 runs. (NY, thought to be pitching-short, even gave up 54 fewer runs than Detroit) There's also the fact that Detroit's record is mostly indicative of playing nearly half their games against a pitifully weak division -- against non-AL Central opponents, they're actually a sub-.500 team. So, the odds favor NY. But...it's a short series, and there's precedent for one pitcher getting hot enough to carry his team over a stronger opponent -- ask the '88 Mets about Orel Hershiser.

I went into this season thinking the Yanks were not championship calibre --even I bought into some of the Boston hype -- so, after what they've accomplished so far, the post-season is lagniappe. I'll root, but not count on anything.

By the way, did anyone see Francon'a's farewell interview today? Sounds like that Boston clubhouse has been an ugly place for quite some time.

[Damien]

A t-shirt I saw the other day on 9th Avenue:

"Hey Red Sox fans. There never was a 'Curse' Your teams just sucked all those years."

[Sonic Youth]

An unbelievable night, and thank the deities of technology for making this "The Greatest Day..." because it wouldn't seem all that special if we didn't have all those cable channels to switch back and forth from. Yankees-Rays was an incredible watch, and the anonymous anecdote Mister Tee provided only strengthens my suspicion that the Yanks decided to throw the game (maybe out of exhaustion) once they learned of the Bosox's crash-n'-burn. And unlike Tee, I was actually rooting for the Sox to pull through. That's probably because I know a few Sox fans, and even though I've lived in St. Pete's for eight months (from '05 to '06), I don't know anyone who's a Tampa Bay fan. In fact, I don't think I knew anyone who was a fan while I was living there. (We even went to a Rays-Yankees game. Yankees won 4-2 in extra innings.)

My wife the Braves fan didn't think it was such a great night, and she turned in early, depressed. And I'm sure the Sox faithful are feeling absolutely murderous tonight. But from a purely objective standpoint, it was classic.

And it'll all be for naught, because the Yanks will be Verlander'd in no time. The best we can hope for is CC going at least 1-for-2 against him.

[Mister Tee]

A sign of how unique yesterday was: both leagues saw secondary home field advantage decided in the final hours (Texas over Detroit, Milwaukee over Arizona); a batting title was also won. These developments are normally notable end-of-season stories...but they appeared nowhere in today's coverage, as more prominent developments blotted out all else.

It's probably over the top for so many to be declaring this The Greatest Day in Baseball History -- you want to wait at least a few weeks before assigning historical slots like that. But let this be said: the 1986 post-season has always been held in very high esteem, because it contained three legendary games -- the Red Sox down-to-their-last-strike rally against the Angels in what would have been a clinching game; the Mets' rally from 3 runs down in the 9th against Houston, which led to 16 innings of through-dinner-hour baseball; and the rise-from-the-dead of the Mets in World Series Game 6 against the Red Sox -- culminating in the ball that glided under Bill Buckner's glove. Last night, it felt as if all three of those games were being played/watched simultaneously.

Not quite everybody was invited to the party: the Cardinals won their game in a breeze, an 8-0 shutout that the players no doubt found relaxing but that kept them out of today's discussions. The action in the NL was the Phillies/Braves games, another in the long string of heartbreakers Atlanta has endured in the past two decades. As I noted the other day, Atlanta's collapse was almost as dramatic as Boston's, but not viewed as similarly humiliating, because the Braves were always an over-achieving mid-level team for whom a correction was predictable. Still, they came oh so close to holding on -- taking a lead into the 9th (a lead lost on walks and a sac fly), bidding for a win off Chipper Jones' extra inning drive that was just caught by the Phillie center-fielder, and finally falling on a bloop single that didn't even get past the Philadelphia second baseman. A crusher.

But the bigger story was over in the AL, where a night of "I don't believe it" reversals raised and dashed hopes enough to make any fan's EKG look dire. The Rays/Yankees match-up looked like the Yanks were giving Tampa a bye into a potential playoff game -- sending their AAA scrub pitchers against all-star David Price. But expectation went out the window, as a grand slam from Teixeira helped send NY out to a 7-0 lead. Boston was playing a tight one with Baltimore, but they were confident that the worst that could happen would be their meeting Tampa the next day.

Because the baseball gods decided we needed a bit more suspense, the Sox/Orioles game was put into a lengthy rain delay in the 7th. And because they wanted to really fuck with the Red Sox, they let Tampa score seven runs in the 8th and 9th innings.

There's some complaint the Yankees didn't play fair with the Sox by not using their best relievers in those innings. And there's no question that if NY truly wanted or needed the win, they'd have sent our DRob and Mo for the last two innings, and Tampa's chances at the miraculous rally for which they're being lauded would have been miniscule. But, even if you fault Girardi for not throwing his best (who he'd announced ahead of time he'd not use, because he needs them fresh for Friday & Saturday games of exponentially higher importance), it was still up to Tampa to execute. And even as it was, it took a two-out, two-strike foul pole home run in the 9th to bring Tampa even.

Speaking of two outs, two strikes...that's what Papelbon had on Davis in the 9th in Baltimore, with the Sox holding its one-run lead. Only he never got the third strike. The double, followed by double, followed by the just-barely-eluding-Carl Crawford single, meant Boston was at the mercy of what happened in Tampa. And, given that Scott Proctor was by now the last-ditch Yankee pitcher -- Proctor, who'd kept Boston's hopes alive by serving up the homer to Ellsbury on Sunday -- it came as no surprise to fans that it was over quickly, as Evan Longoria hooked one down the left field line and put Tampa into the playoffs.

One anonymousYankee player was quoted as saying that, when Yankee players saw Papelbon blow the game, the locker room cheered as if they were clinching. I know as a fan I felt the same; this night featured the best Yankee loss ever. The hype over this Red Sox team was insane, especially at ESPN (they described an inter-league series between the Sox and Phillies as a World Series preview, despite the fact the Yankees were leading the division at the time), and every Yankee fan I know is deliriously happy to not only have beaten them out but now to see them stuck with the biggest regular-season choke in history.

[danfrank]

Wow! What happened yesterday, and of course what led up to it, will be baseball lore for years to come. Simultaneous monumental collapses in each league! Of course the American League side had the most drama yesterday. I felt like a yo-yo following it. You gotta love baseball for its unpredictability. I have mixed feelings about the Braves, who were a very solid team for most of the year. I'm happy about the Red Sox: the curse is back, baby! Speaking of, did anyone see the Curb Your Enthusiasm episode this season featuring Bill Buckner? Hilarious.

[dws1982]

Not really a baseball watcher, but I have a good friend who is over the moon about the Rays. I've decided I'll be a post-season Rays fan for him.

[Mister Tee]

Well, we didn't get even one playoff game tomorrow...but it's sure hard to be grouchy after a baseball night like this. More in the morning, but...Jesus; I'm exhausted. Amazing night.

[Damien]

What a great way for the season to end. And yes, definitely, two one-game playoffs!

It's time like this when you look back on the games lost to lousy teams back in April that didn't seem too important and the time and think, If only . . .

[Mister Tee]

And we enter the final day of the season with four teams grappling for those two wild card spots. Surely all true fans are rooting for both to end in ties after tonight's games as well, so we can have two sudden-death matches on Thursday. (Of course, under Grandmaster Selig's plan for next year, today's games would be meaningless, as there would be two wild cards in each league, meaning all teams involved would have already qualified for tomorrow's games. Way to weaken the sauce again, Bud)

It's strange to be a Yankee fan -- watching a game last night that at any other time would have pissed me off to the core (Martin hitting into a triple play with the bases loaded, Soriano surrendering a game-turning 3-run homer in the 7th), but last night actually heartened me, as I desperately wanted the Rays to keep pace with the Red Sox. The ESPN-led media remain in the tank for the Sox -- every time they eke out a win, as they did Sunday and last night, they're described as gritty warriors, and the historically embarrassing collapse is airbrushed away...until the next grueling loss. If the Sox should survive this and eke out a playoff spot, I predict mass media amnesia about the month of September.

Obviously I was wrong about the Cardinals having blown their best chance, but not because they've risen to the occasion -- they've already lost one to the hapless Astros, and had to climb back from a serious hole last night as well. Their luck is, the Braves continue to fold, in a way that would be viewed as cataclysmic if not for the fact it's happening simultaneously with the even-worse run from Boston.

[Damien]

I'm generally a baseball traditionalist (I still abhor the DH) and I don't like the Wild Card in principle. But over the years it has added a lot of excitement to the waning days of the season. That being said, I usually hope that the wild card team goes down in the division series (unless it's the Giants, of course. And unless the wind card is playing the Yankees. )

[Mister Tee]

Appreciated, Damien.

Man, the Cardinals suffered what sure looks like a death blow yesterday -- tossing away a 4-run 9th inning lead on walks and an egregious error. It's hard to see how they recover from that in less than a week. The Angels also blew one last night, letting the tie-ing run score on a late wild pitch, then losing in extras.

The Rays seem like the only underdog firmly in the hunt, with 6 to go. The Red Sox find themselves in the bizarre position of wanting to crush the Yanks this weekend, then have the Yanks turn around and crush the Rays Monday-Wednesday. The fact that it'll probably rain all weekend in NY should only raise the tension level.

I've never been a fan of the wild card in general, but this year it's providing the only final week races.

[Sonic Youth]

Thank you, Damien. But...

================================================

Are those your gritted teeth?

[Damien]

This my annual only-time-of-the-year-when-I'll-say-anything positive-about-the-Yankees-post.

Congratulations on another post-season, Tee and Sonic!

================================================

Exciting wild care races in both leagues -- I love a nail biting final week of the season, no matter which teams are involved.