I've had difficulty accessing the site since yesterday, so it's that, not my disappointment, that's kept me from posting here.
So, now, all fans here -- chiefly myself and FilmFan -- are done for the year (that includes all you who get your rocks off watching the Yankees lose: you got your wish, but your season's over).
It was amazing/sad to watch the first three series expire so quickly...I feel like I barely had time to get to know the NL teams (who I don't watch on a regular basis). The five-game series always feels like it's going too fast, because there's so little time for recovery.
And from a Yankee fan's perspective, there's some bitterness in this, because we all know in our hearts that it took a literal rebellion of nature to swipe Game 2 from us. Joba was clearly undone by the swarm of gnats, as the Indians scored without a hit (a 4-pitch walk -- Joba's first EVER -- and two wild pitches), tying a game that the Yanks would otherwise have won despite Carmona's brilliance. After that, though there was gallantry in Damon's Game 3 homer, the uphill battle was too much; Wang's second consecutive flameout made a comeback impossible. It was a shame because I thought this team was alot more cohesive than other recent failures, but they share the same ignominous result.
But, as I've said here before, I think the Yanks are doomed for now by the Curse ON the Bambino: evr since the Babe's famous "I had a better year than he did" rejoinder to Hoover, the Yanks have done extremely poorly in winning the Series while Republicans have held the White House. Post-1932, they've won only 3 under GOP administrations (all Ike) and lost 7, while taking 22 and losing only 3 while Dems were in charge (despite Dems only leading 40-35 in command years). So, I look forward to the next decade -- even next year, as most years Dems have taken over ('32, '60, '76) have at least seen the Bombers in the Series.
As for what remains...the Red Sox probably feel like the Yanks did, that they're drawing the weaker possible opponent for the ALCS (considering how the Yanks played them in late season), but we'll see what the Sabathia/Carmona tandem can do. The numbers say the Red Sox are better, but they said that about the Yanks, too. I just hope for a long, rousing series, after the too-brief ones we've seen so far.
On the NL side, I'm bored by the Diamondbacks, and have to say I"m intrigued by the idea of a World Series in nutty Coors Field, so Rockies all the way.
The Baseball Post-Season
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Mister Tee
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Momentum can be a funny thing in the post-season. Teams can be so exhausted from a final run-up, that they seem spent when the playoffs begin. And since the Rockies and Phils are the two NL teams with the most mo, they probably cancel each other out.
Considering that they play in Coors Field, it's amazing that the Rockies' pitching staff's ERA has been so low (particularly in the second half of the season). So it's Rockies pitching vs. Phillies hitting (notably Rollins and Ryan Howard), although the Rockies have big guns at the plate as wellstarting with Matt Holliday. My gut is that a few scattered big innings will give it to the Phils in 5.
The Diamondbacks somehow landed in first place despite scoring fewer runs than they gave up. Brandon Webb can't pitch every game so it's Cubs in 4. But then again, Bob Melvin's a more resourceful manager than Pinella and Carlos Zambrano may get too emotional to be effective . . .
The Red Sox rotation should be more than enough to handle the Angels in 4.
The Indians are in a good poosition to win games 1 and 2 with Sabathia and Carmona starting (but then again, who could have predicted Glavine's outing this past Sunday?). But it may all come down to Rodriguez and whether he finally shows some October moxie. Indians in 5.
Considering that they play in Coors Field, it's amazing that the Rockies' pitching staff's ERA has been so low (particularly in the second half of the season). So it's Rockies pitching vs. Phillies hitting (notably Rollins and Ryan Howard), although the Rockies have big guns at the plate as wellstarting with Matt Holliday. My gut is that a few scattered big innings will give it to the Phils in 5.
The Diamondbacks somehow landed in first place despite scoring fewer runs than they gave up. Brandon Webb can't pitch every game so it's Cubs in 4. But then again, Bob Melvin's a more resourceful manager than Pinella and Carlos Zambrano may get too emotional to be effective . . .
The Red Sox rotation should be more than enough to handle the Angels in 4.
The Indians are in a good poosition to win games 1 and 2 with Sabathia and Carmona starting (but then again, who could have predicted Glavine's outing this past Sunday?). But it may all come down to Rodriguez and whether he finally shows some October moxie. Indians in 5.
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
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FilmFan720
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Cubs in three, Cubs in four, Cubs in four!!!
Just kidding. First off, let me second the complaints of Mister Tee in regards to the late-night baseball the Cubs are playing this week. My father-in-law (a die-hard White Sox fan) called tonight to ask if "I was really going to watch those games this week?" The answer is obviously yes, but there are going to be a lot of sleepy-eyed folk on the El Thurs and Fri morning.
Looking at the National League, obviously all four teams have major momentum going into tomorrow's games. The Rockies and Phillies had an amazing last run, so their games should be action-packed (especially figuring they are offensive teams and do not have top-caliber pitching staffs). On paper, the Cubs seem the best bet to go all the way to the pennant, but anything can happen.
Just kidding. First off, let me second the complaints of Mister Tee in regards to the late-night baseball the Cubs are playing this week. My father-in-law (a die-hard White Sox fan) called tonight to ask if "I was really going to watch those games this week?" The answer is obviously yes, but there are going to be a lot of sleepy-eyed folk on the El Thurs and Fri morning.
Looking at the National League, obviously all four teams have major momentum going into tomorrow's games. The Rockies and Phillies had an amazing last run, so their games should be action-packed (especially figuring they are offensive teams and do not have top-caliber pitching staffs). On paper, the Cubs seem the best bet to go all the way to the pennant, but anything can happen.
"Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good."
- Minor Myers, Jr.
- Minor Myers, Jr.
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Mister Tee
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It's time to kick off the annual post-season discussion, but, first, a few words about the season past.
Start with last night: Even after several replays, I have no idea if Holliday ever touched the plate. What I do know is, the umpire stood there making no call for such a long time that I have to figure HE didn't know, either -- then suddenly resolved his indecision in favor of the home team. I had truly no dog in the fight -- Pads or Rockies were equally fine -- but I think the non-call made the moment extremely weird.
Moving past that controversy, can we all agree that, whatever his exceptional lifetime stats, Trevor Hoffman is Mr. Un-clutch? His served-up home run to Brosius effectively gave the Yankees the '98 Series sweep; he blew the All-Star game last year; and his two-out triple to Gwynn on Saturday kept the Padres from clinching the Wild Card two days earlier. It's not so much that he fails in big games: he does it with booming extra-base hits (unlike, say, the bloopers that undid Rivera in Arizona '01 and Boston '04).
Go back one day, and contemplate the horror that is the '07 Mets. As everyone here knows, I'm a Yankee fan, but, unlike my NL counterparts, I never have a problem rooting for the city's other team until Series time. I ached for the team and its fans, as they lost in the cruellest way. They could have fallen behind the Phillies after being swept several weeks back, but rallied; they could have stayed in second place on Saturday, but came through with a Maine masterpiece -- only to see it all crumble in as ugly a fashion as possible on Sunday (first seeing Glavine giving up all those runs, then being unable to cash in on all those early-inning base-runners). I questioned for much of the season whether the Mets were as good as their position in the standings had suggested -- especially with their too-young-or-ancient pitching rotation -- but it's still shocking they were kept out of the playoffs in a year when only one NL team was able to hit 90 wins in regulation.
As for the teams that did make it: the Phillies and Rockies are now riding high on momentum fumes, but one of them will have to fall over the next week. It should be an exciting series, and anything can happen at Coors Field. The D'backs seem a bit better than the Cubbies (who benefited from not-ready-for-prime-time competition), but last year should have taught us William Goldman's "Nobody knows anything" applies equally to baseball playoffs these days.
In the AL, the Yanks and Indians finished hotter than Boston and LA-of-Anaheim, but who knows what that means. The Yanks -- who finally learned to stop worrying and love A-Rod this year -- took all six from Cleveland during the season, but three were way early, and none of the games featured Cy Young-likely Sabathia. The Yanks' offense is staggering most of the time, and the late bullpen, with the miracle addition of Joba Rules!, squelching, but their starting pitching is a notch below the other contenders. In the Boston/LA series, much will depend on whether Okajima and Papelbon are as burnt-out as they appeared a week or two ago, or whether a short period of rest has revived them. All four teams had roughly the same records, so I make no predictions -- though it seems fair to say whoever emerges should be favored over the NL representative.
I will, however, complain about the TV schedule -- Yankee games at 6:30? Cubs/D'backs at 10 PM? They've extended the series over an extra half-week, and that's the best they can do?
How does everyone else see it?
Start with last night: Even after several replays, I have no idea if Holliday ever touched the plate. What I do know is, the umpire stood there making no call for such a long time that I have to figure HE didn't know, either -- then suddenly resolved his indecision in favor of the home team. I had truly no dog in the fight -- Pads or Rockies were equally fine -- but I think the non-call made the moment extremely weird.
Moving past that controversy, can we all agree that, whatever his exceptional lifetime stats, Trevor Hoffman is Mr. Un-clutch? His served-up home run to Brosius effectively gave the Yankees the '98 Series sweep; he blew the All-Star game last year; and his two-out triple to Gwynn on Saturday kept the Padres from clinching the Wild Card two days earlier. It's not so much that he fails in big games: he does it with booming extra-base hits (unlike, say, the bloopers that undid Rivera in Arizona '01 and Boston '04).
Go back one day, and contemplate the horror that is the '07 Mets. As everyone here knows, I'm a Yankee fan, but, unlike my NL counterparts, I never have a problem rooting for the city's other team until Series time. I ached for the team and its fans, as they lost in the cruellest way. They could have fallen behind the Phillies after being swept several weeks back, but rallied; they could have stayed in second place on Saturday, but came through with a Maine masterpiece -- only to see it all crumble in as ugly a fashion as possible on Sunday (first seeing Glavine giving up all those runs, then being unable to cash in on all those early-inning base-runners). I questioned for much of the season whether the Mets were as good as their position in the standings had suggested -- especially with their too-young-or-ancient pitching rotation -- but it's still shocking they were kept out of the playoffs in a year when only one NL team was able to hit 90 wins in regulation.
As for the teams that did make it: the Phillies and Rockies are now riding high on momentum fumes, but one of them will have to fall over the next week. It should be an exciting series, and anything can happen at Coors Field. The D'backs seem a bit better than the Cubbies (who benefited from not-ready-for-prime-time competition), but last year should have taught us William Goldman's "Nobody knows anything" applies equally to baseball playoffs these days.
In the AL, the Yanks and Indians finished hotter than Boston and LA-of-Anaheim, but who knows what that means. The Yanks -- who finally learned to stop worrying and love A-Rod this year -- took all six from Cleveland during the season, but three were way early, and none of the games featured Cy Young-likely Sabathia. The Yanks' offense is staggering most of the time, and the late bullpen, with the miracle addition of Joba Rules!, squelching, but their starting pitching is a notch below the other contenders. In the Boston/LA series, much will depend on whether Okajima and Papelbon are as burnt-out as they appeared a week or two ago, or whether a short period of rest has revived them. All four teams had roughly the same records, so I make no predictions -- though it seems fair to say whoever emerges should be favored over the NL representative.
I will, however, complain about the TV schedule -- Yankee games at 6:30? Cubs/D'backs at 10 PM? They've extended the series over an extra half-week, and that's the best they can do?
How does everyone else see it?