playoff baseball thread
the yankees game was postponed last night. the game is set for 1pm this afternoon. their 200 million dollar lineup (nearly twice the next team) has a recent or current all-star at every position albeit some aging and injury prone. even with all that money invested the starting pitching is suspect, and the middle relievers moreso. even their vaunted closer is more vulnerable this year due to injury. still, they represent a modern day version of the yankees murderers row. many bats that can kill you...as the announcers have been fond of pointing out, their number 9 hitter batted .342 this year and was the starting second baseman at the all-star game.
the mets play tonight at 8. in many respects they resemble the yankees especially now that their starting pitching has fallen apart with the injuries to pedro martinez and orlando hernandez. the mets, however, have a vastly superior bullpen. the only significant advantage the yankees have is in rightfield. both players were picked up midseason as a result of injury. the yankees 16million dollar pickup has played up to his ability while the mets 4million dolllar player has shown why so many people were anxious to see him depart. for a skinny white guy he runs like a deer...thats been hit by a jeep. its painful to watch. and his hitting as been as anemic. he likely wont be in the lineup tonight though with a lefty pitching for the dodgers. the mets have had trouble with left-handed pitching all year. this is the dodgers only one in the rotation so if the mets can beat him to take a 2-0 lead heading to los angeles, they will be feeling pretty confident even with metkiller greg maddux pitching in game 3.
intensive breakdown of mets starting pitcher john maines performance yesterday. final grade: b-
Nice of ESPN to devote a few innings to Hall of Fame broadcaster Ernie Harwell. He was the voice of the Tigers for two generations, my introduction to the sport back when radio was the main access point for baseball. His play-by-play brings me back to the magical 1968 Detroit Tigers season, one of the great landmarks of my childhood. He’s still sharp.
yeah, a bit more on the ball than ralph kiner. i liked his south pole story. dont get too many guys referencing the 1909 world series anymore. although kiner always manages to slip in a honus wagner story, unfortunately its always the same one.
...so I said to Hans, I'll pare us an apple if you'll honus a knife...
nope. wagner would go in to bars in pittsburgh and slap a silver dollar down on the bar. this would get him noticed by his fellow patrons and someone would invariably offer to buy wagner his drinks. kiner was always favorably impressed by this unnatural phenomena.
so much for the yankees murderers row redux. looks more like a circular firing squad although latest word is that manager torre will avoid a purge this season but expect it to be his last if they dont win next season as his contract will expire of natural causes.
the mets continue on despite their starting pitching woes on the strength of their offense and relief pitching. st louis has a somewhat more daunting presence but not much more than the dodgers in terms of talent. that said, anything can happen in these short series but id be surprised if the mets dont win in six or fewer games.
the american league series features the oakland a's v. the detroit tigers. the fashionable pick is the tigers so ill go with the a's. an a's - mets world series would be a repeat of the 1973 series which the mets lost. what better time to exorcise the ghosts of rollie fingers and sal bando?
heres some mets-cardinals trivialia.
metstube
alright. got home at 1100 and just watched my tivoed victory in 45 minutes. not much "action" going on in a 2-0 game. and i was gifted by the birthday boy with a ticket to a game seven at shea should there be one. is it customary at birthdays to receive gifts? if so, i might have to go to these gatherings more often.
the vertigo was beginning to kick in for mets fans as they could feel the ground beneath their season slipping away, the mets rebounded from two awful showings to even the series at two. so they could still win in six as predicted but they could just as easily lose in six, something which seemed an unlikely possibility at the start. there is rain in the forecast for st louis and new york which could well play in to events as starting pitchers will now be working on short rest.
im still hoping my game seven ticket goes unused if for no other reason than the prospect of sitting in the nose bleed section has me less than enthused, to say nothing of, win or lose, that long seven train ride back to grand central. ok, if they won a game seven it wouldnt be the worst thing. ill give you that much....
A gift that requires one to root against the home team may have karmic repercussions.
I went to the 7th game of the World Series in 1986. I saw about 50 games that year, Mets and Yankees, mostly on scalped tickets, but it was only after the mind-bending 6th game that I figured I had to do the post-season. I mean, how could they loose? Even so, the Mets had to come from behind; it was a great game, though overshadowed in memory by one before it. For $100 I got a good seat, high up but behind the plate. And yeah, if your team wins and everyone’s getting carried away the trip home can be fun, at least that’s how I remember it, unless that’s just what my father told me about seeing the ’35 Tigers win it all. Or maybe he said they were rioting at Michigan and Trumble…
Now I’m just worried about the hot Tigers cooling off while the NL finds out who can lose 4 first.
looks like ill be spending the evening in queens tomorrow. fuckers better win.
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- dave 10-05-2006 6:55 pm
the yankees game was postponed last night. the game is set for 1pm this afternoon. their 200 million dollar lineup (nearly twice the next team) has a recent or current all-star at every position albeit some aging and injury prone. even with all that money invested the starting pitching is suspect, and the middle relievers moreso. even their vaunted closer is more vulnerable this year due to injury. still, they represent a modern day version of the yankees murderers row. many bats that can kill you...as the announcers have been fond of pointing out, their number 9 hitter batted .342 this year and was the starting second baseman at the all-star game.
the mets play tonight at 8. in many respects they resemble the yankees especially now that their starting pitching has fallen apart with the injuries to pedro martinez and orlando hernandez. the mets, however, have a vastly superior bullpen. the only significant advantage the yankees have is in rightfield. both players were picked up midseason as a result of injury. the yankees 16million dollar pickup has played up to his ability while the mets 4million dolllar player has shown why so many people were anxious to see him depart. for a skinny white guy he runs like a deer...thats been hit by a jeep. its painful to watch. and his hitting as been as anemic. he likely wont be in the lineup tonight though with a lefty pitching for the dodgers. the mets have had trouble with left-handed pitching all year. this is the dodgers only one in the rotation so if the mets can beat him to take a 2-0 lead heading to los angeles, they will be feeling pretty confident even with metkiller greg maddux pitching in game 3.
- dave 10-05-2006 7:24 pm [add a comment]
intensive breakdown of mets starting pitcher john maines performance yesterday. final grade: b-
- dave 10-05-2006 9:31 pm [add a comment]
Nice of ESPN to devote a few innings to Hall of Fame broadcaster Ernie Harwell. He was the voice of the Tigers for two generations, my introduction to the sport back when radio was the main access point for baseball. His play-by-play brings me back to the magical 1968 Detroit Tigers season, one of the great landmarks of my childhood. He’s still sharp.
- alex 10-07-2006 5:20 am [add a comment]
yeah, a bit more on the ball than ralph kiner. i liked his south pole story. dont get too many guys referencing the 1909 world series anymore. although kiner always manages to slip in a honus wagner story, unfortunately its always the same one.
- dave 10-07-2006 5:31 am [add a comment]
...so I said to Hans, I'll pare us an apple if you'll honus a knife...
- alex 10-07-2006 5:44 am [add a comment]
nope. wagner would go in to bars in pittsburgh and slap a silver dollar down on the bar. this would get him noticed by his fellow patrons and someone would invariably offer to buy wagner his drinks. kiner was always favorably impressed by this unnatural phenomena.
- dave 10-07-2006 5:55 am [add a comment]
so much for the yankees murderers row redux. looks more like a circular firing squad although latest word is that manager torre will avoid a purge this season but expect it to be his last if they dont win next season as his contract will expire of natural causes.
the mets continue on despite their starting pitching woes on the strength of their offense and relief pitching. st louis has a somewhat more daunting presence but not much more than the dodgers in terms of talent. that said, anything can happen in these short series but id be surprised if the mets dont win in six or fewer games.
the american league series features the oakland a's v. the detroit tigers. the fashionable pick is the tigers so ill go with the a's. an a's - mets world series would be a repeat of the 1973 series which the mets lost. what better time to exorcise the ghosts of rollie fingers and sal bando?
heres some mets-cardinals trivialia.
- dave 10-10-2006 10:10 pm [add a comment]
metstube
- dave 10-11-2006 9:44 pm [add a comment]
alright. got home at 1100 and just watched my tivoed victory in 45 minutes. not much "action" going on in a 2-0 game. and i was gifted by the birthday boy with a ticket to a game seven at shea should there be one. is it customary at birthdays to receive gifts? if so, i might have to go to these gatherings more often.
- dave 10-13-2006 7:52 am [add a comment]
the vertigo was beginning to kick in for mets fans as they could feel the ground beneath their season slipping away, the mets rebounded from two awful showings to even the series at two. so they could still win in six as predicted but they could just as easily lose in six, something which seemed an unlikely possibility at the start. there is rain in the forecast for st louis and new york which could well play in to events as starting pitchers will now be working on short rest.
im still hoping my game seven ticket goes unused if for no other reason than the prospect of sitting in the nose bleed section has me less than enthused, to say nothing of, win or lose, that long seven train ride back to grand central. ok, if they won a game seven it wouldnt be the worst thing. ill give you that much....
- dave 10-16-2006 7:26 pm [add a comment]
A gift that requires one to root against the home team may have karmic repercussions.
I went to the 7th game of the World Series in 1986. I saw about 50 games that year, Mets and Yankees, mostly on scalped tickets, but it was only after the mind-bending 6th game that I figured I had to do the post-season. I mean, how could they loose? Even so, the Mets had to come from behind; it was a great game, though overshadowed in memory by one before it. For $100 I got a good seat, high up but behind the plate. And yeah, if your team wins and everyone’s getting carried away the trip home can be fun, at least that’s how I remember it, unless that’s just what my father told me about seeing the ’35 Tigers win it all. Or maybe he said they were rioting at Michigan and Trumble…
Now I’m just worried about the hot Tigers cooling off while the NL finds out who can lose 4 first.
- alex 10-17-2006 3:18 am [add a comment]
looks like ill be spending the evening in queens tomorrow. fuckers better win.
- dave 10-19-2006 7:18 am [add a comment]