I'm rooting for the Sox tonight, but I really hope this isn't a little bit like 'Congratulations Boston Red Sox 1986 World Champions' on the scoreboard at Shea.


- posted by Matt @ 4:23 PM

 
Red Sox vs Cardinals. Welcome to the Pythagorean World Series. The top-scoring teams from each league face off. Tony LaRussa went a little bunt-crazy yesterday, and probably ended up costing his team a couple of runs, but won when Albert Pujols doubled and Scott Rolen homered. Boston used a one-run strategy to score the biggest run of the Series in Game 4 vs the Yankees, but they used that strategy when that one run (all they got, by the way) was vital. They won the game on an Ortiz homer. And the Series when Johnny Damon went all Barry Bonds on us.

When Tim McCarver on TV, or Joe Morgan on the radio, start talking about how Larry Walker or Manny Ramirez need to lay down a key bunt in a crucial situation, mute the sound. These two teams flat-out mash the baseball. The series will be won by the team that draws the most walks, and hits more pitches over the fence, than the other.

I'm not even going to try to predict this one. This Series seems to me a total pick 'em. Both teams mash; Boston has a better bench, but the Cards have John Mabry to DH in Boston (yeah, Mabry, but there are no left-handed starters). Boston's starters are better, but the Cardinals have a better bullpen (I haven't heard if Steve Kline can go yet, but if he can, the Cards have a big advantage).

I just hope this thing goes seven games. After the two great LCS, it just has to.
- posted by Matt @ 5:14 PM

 
Well, the verdict is in. Alex Rodriguez is a punk-ass bitch, and the Boston Red Sox are the 2004 American League Champions. Wow.

And, while we're at it, how 'Dewey Defeats Truman' is this?



I can't wait to read the NY tabloids tomorrow morning.

- posted by Matt @ 11:17 PM

 
You know, all of a sudden, I'm in the mood for a little Liza Minelli.

Go Sox!
- posted by Matt @ 1:10 PM

 
I'm uh, well I, err, I've just never, um......

Wow. What to say after game 6? I've now been completely sucked in to what looked to be, after game 3, a dullard of a series. I mean honestly, what can you say? Baseball in October beats football in January seven days a week, and twice on Sunday.

Just a couple of thoughts. The umpiring crew tonight was ballsy. To reverse, In Yankee Stadium, two calls, both of which went against the Yankees, and both of which turned out to be the right call, was huge. Major kudos to the crew tonight.

Secondly, Alex Rodriguez is either a punk-ass bitch who just single-handedly reversed the Curse, or, well, he's a pawn in the Babe's nefarious plans to ratchet the damn thing up to never-before-seen levels of Red Sox Nation pain.

Finally, I can't believe what I just saw Curt Schilling do. This is one of those games that will be talked about 100 years from now, the way Smokey Joe Wood's 1-0 win against Walter Johnson still is. I can't even IMAGINE how many ways the 'Red Sox' angle is going to be played up, with close up photos of Schilling's bloodsoaked right sock.
- posted by Matt @ 9:44 PM

 
A couple of days ago, I commented to a friend that I wasn't really getting into the playoffs this year, since, in comparison to last year, they were a let down.

No more. Oh. My. God. Could you have scripted a more improbable two games than what we've seen between the Yankees and the Red Sox the last two days? The only drawback to tonight's game was that I was only able to see the pitching duel in Houston in little bits and pieces. Brandon Backe? BRANDON BACKE? Oh, and I think Jeff Kent was a little miffed that St. Louis intentionally walked Lance Berkman in front of him, with a 2-2 count, no less.

The weather forecast in New York is for rain. It could rain for a couple of days there. Don't forget that maybe the greatest post-season game of all time included a Boston team, and was delayed three days by rain.

And Boston won.
- posted by Matt @ 10:16 PM

 
And so, it ends. A season, and a career.

I was at the ballpark yesterday, and today. I didn't end up bawling in the aisles, as I feared, but I was sniffling noticeably as Edgar took his last at-bat in a Mariner uniform. I really wish I had been at the ballpark on Friday, because in the two games I attended, I really got the impression of a changing of the guard at Safeco.

Friday night was all about Ichiro. Even watching at home on TV, the energy at the ballpark was palpable. The game was maybe the best of the season, with the crowd energy surrounding Ichiro breaking the hits record pushing things to a playoff-level.

On Saturday, it was all about Edgar. The ninth inning, with Edgar coming out to play third base, was electric. When Edgar was pulled, and the crowd pulled him out for the inevitable curtain call, and then rained down the chants of 'Ed-Gar' for the rest of the inning, well, I was beside myself. I can't say if it was a more electric moment than Ichiro's 258th hit, but from what I saw on TV, the Safe was really rockin' when Ichiro got his.

Today, though, it seemed as if the attention were split between Ichiro and Edgar. The crowd tried to get a few 'Edgar' chants going, but they never seemed to materialize. He got a huge ovation, of course, for his final at-bat, but so did Ichiro. When Ichiro was pulled in the ninth, the place almost came down. And for Edgar....well, it seemed as if we'd given all our love the night before. Today was more melancholy than anything. We'd cheered all we could, and we'd cried a little, and it was all we could do to squeak out a tearful 'goodbye' to Edgar. It was like being at the airport, having hugged goodbye, only to realize there’s another hour to go before the plane leaves. It was, though, balanced by the knowledge that Ichiro will be in a Mariners uniform for years to come. And that's the beauty of baseball, of course. Players come, fill our summers, and then are replaced, by the new kids, the young guys who could be the old hero's son, hell, OUR son, and things move on. It breaks your heart. It's designed to break your heart, as the game's best commissioner, Bart Giamatti, once wrote.

And so, Edgar Martinez is now a former Mariner. A former baseball player.

I didn't bawl at the game today, but I'm bawling now.

- posted by Matt @ 1:03 AM

 
I'll make it quick, since I must sleep.

Edgar Martinez is the man. I wish he'd hit a grand slam when he came up with the bases loaded, but this wasn't 'The Natural'. I wish he'd played at third for at least one out, but Melvin's call to take him out gave us all the chance to chant his name, and give him the curtain call he deserved. The top of the ninth inning was one of the more electric moments I've ever experienced in a ballpark.

It's going to hit me tomorrow. I'll be at the park, and don't know if I'll be able to keep myself together.
- posted by Matt @ 2:24 AM