Rays of hope

I underestimated them all year... but congrats Rays.

And congrats Joe Maddon on what should be a unanimous Manager of the Year vote.

Good crowd today at the Trop... now for the Red Sox to carve 2 more off of the magic number for the Wild Card and we might see that rivalry I wanted!

CUBS IN! CUBS IN!

I'm sure Cubs fans would have been fine with clinching the division with a Milwaukee loss... but man there is something beautiful about a Cubs clinching party on a Saturday afternoon against the Cardinals.

This might be the Cubs' 2004.

It had better be standing room only at the Trop

Hey Rays fans...
when I read about today's game with Minnesota later today, I had better see the words "capacity crowd" in the article.

Not "a good size crowd" or "a nice crowd."
I'm talking standing room only.
I'm talking scalpers being able to pay a lot of bills this weekend.

If the Rays win today, they are going to the playoffs.
It's that simple.

And the Rays, a team whose previous accomplishments were a 70 win season and The Rookie, a team that was a consensus pick for contraction, can get into the playoffs... the baseball playoffs... the hardest playoffs to qualify for... with a win today.

The team with the lowest payroll in the American League can thumb their noses at all of baseball and punch the most unlikely ticket to October possibly in history if they beat the Twins today.

And they can do it at home... on a Saturday afternoon... on a day which according to Weather.com is 90 degrees and sunny... and you'll be in a dome.

And Saturday and Sunday are the last two home games of the season. The last chance to cheer on the team that will, against all the odds, bring post season baseball to Tampa Bay.

There had better not be an empty seat.
I don't want to hear about how most baseball fans in Tampa are transplanted Northeasterners.

I don't want to hear about how hard it is to get to the Trop.

I don't want to hear how people dislike the management and are taking a wait and see approach.

I don't want to hear how long it takes to build a fanbase.

Sell this game out.
Tickets are reasonably priced.

If there aren't 45,000 people in a Metropolitan area wanting to come out on a beautiful Saturday afternoon to see the hometown team pull off a feat that should be the subject of books and HBO specials for years to come... then maybe it's not a Major League town.

The post strike expansion already gave us the Diamondbacks, a team that couldn't sell out the NLCS.

A game like this had better be the hottest ticket in town.
I had better not be able to talk to the ticket window and say "two please."

If the Baseball Playoffs Started Today.... September 20th, 2008

There has been some changes from yesterday's playoff scenario.

Some late heroics from Daniel Murphy helped put the Mets back on top of the NL East.


So here we go...

AMERICAN LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES
Best of 5
LOS ANGELES ANGELS OF ANAHEIM vs BOSTON RED SOX
Angels have the home field advantage

TAMPA BAY RAYS vs. CHICAGO WHITE SOX
Rays have the home field advantage


NATIONAL LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES
Best of 5
CHICAGO CUBS vs. PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
Cubs have the home field advantage

NEW YORK METS vs. LOS ANGELES DODGERS
Mets have the home field advantage


Sully Baseball Old Post Link of the Day: My defense of Veterans Stadium


PLUG:
YOU ARE A MISERABLE EXCUSE FOR A HERO
by Bob Powers

Bob, the brilliant writer of Happy Cruelty Day, has created a brilliant spot on parody of Choose Your Own Adventure books... The books are formated in the same way as the Choose Your Adventure stories except the hero is a self loathing underachiever who tends to make the wrong decisions in a tale involving kidnapping, extortion and staying in bed part noon. It's funny and wicked and because of the format, the story is never the same twice.

It's a hilarious read... buy it here and thank me later.

Interesting George Brett clip

First of all, this clip would be rated R for its language and content...
As for this post, let's just say it's not one to read to the kids.

You've been warned.
Now enjoy this clip of George Brett.



This clip is amazing on about 921 levels

Not the least of which here is a rebuilding Royals team in 2005, fresh off of a 104 loss season with tons of young kids trying to make the squad.

And here s George Brett, undoubtedly the most famous player in Royals history talking to some of the young players (all wearing high numbers like 71) and is he giving them tips?

Is he telling them how to be a champion?

No, he is telling in great detail about how he takes a sh*t in his pants a few times a year (????)

I love that every once in a while you see Manager Tony Pena walking around looking at the young players while the Hall of Famer talks about soiling his blue jeans in Las Vegas.

And the players seem to be walking away from Brett towards the end to go to batting practice, and Brett won't let them go... he NEEDS to tell them how the story of ruining his clothes.

And the last line is brilliant.

Another note...
George Brett had a well publicized struggle with hemorrhoids during the 1980 World Series. I wonder if that could have been avoided if he had anything resembling bladder control.

One more note...
The most famous clip ever of Brett was him, well, losing his sh*t during the famous pine tar game. Knowing what I know know about his bowels... I wonder if he held it in then.



I wonder what Royals fans think of this.

Bruce at the Royal fan zone, what do you think of the greatest Royal of all time not showing the same control with himself as he did with the bat?

Hey Royals Retro, is this something Royals fans knew about Brett?

I wonder how much this affected the 2005 season for the Royals. Keith at Royal Tower, do you think a story like this would be a point of distraction? I know if Yaz showed up to spring training and started talking like that... it would screw me up a little.

He said this knowing he was miked. Joe at Royals fan in Atlanta, can you imagine what he would say if he WASN'T miked? Should we even want to?

A couple of times a year? Doesn't that seem... oh I don't know... like he's sick, Royals Review?

Finally let me ask you House of Georges. Had you seen this clip already? Has this been floating around Royals fans?

Either way, I want to thank my brother for sending me the most disturbing piece of video of the day.

Keep up the good work, Ted.

IF THE BASEBALL PLAYOFFS STARTED TODAY... September 19, 2008

Yesterday saw 2 startling 9th inning comebacks, one from the Cubs that may have broken the Brewers hearts.

The other was by the Twins as they pulled themselves within 1 1/2 games of the White Sox while causing the Rays lead to shrink to 1 1/2 games over the Defending World Champion Boston Red Sox (not sure how much longer I can say that.)

The Marlins winning streak has basically sunk the Astros while the Diamondbacks continute to hang around.

But the playoffs themselves are unchanged:

AMERICAN LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES (Best of 5)
LOS ANGELES ANGELS OF ANAHEIM (AL West) vs. BOSTON RED SOX (AL Wild Card)
Angels with Home Field Advantage

TAMPA BAY RAYS (AL East) vs. CHICAGO WHITE SOX (AL Central)
Rays with Home Field Advantage


NATIONAL LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES (Best of 5)

CHICAGO CUBS (NL Central) vs. NEW YORK METS (NL Wild Card)
Cubs with Home Field Advantage

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES (NL East) vs. LOS ANGELES DODGERS (NL West)
Phillies with Home Field Advantage


As I promised yesterday, I will everyday link one of my favorite previous posts... this one was about Armando Benitez.

PLUG OF THE DAY:
TWENTY TIMES A LADY by Karyn Bosnak

Karyn, a former producer colleague of mine, gained fame (or notoriety depending on who you asked) with her Save Karyn website and book, designed to help her climb out of her credit card debt.

20 Times A Lady is her first novel and it follows the story of a woman trying to figure out which one of her 20 sexual partners was actually the love of her life. It's fun, not exactly a family read and will no doubt be a movie before long.

Now BACK TO BASEBALL

IF THE PLAYOFFS STARTED TODAY... September 18th, 2008

AMERICAN LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES
Best of 5

LOS ANGELES ANGELS OF ANAHEIM (A.L. West)
Vs.
BOSTON RED SOX (A.L. Wild Card)

Angels have home field advantage

TAMPA BAY RAYS (A.L. East)
Vs.
CHICAGO WHITE SOX (A.L. Central

Rays have home field advantage

WAYS IT CAN CHANGE:
Red Sox are 2 games behind Rays for AL East.
Twins are 2 ½ games behind White Sox for AL Central


NATIONAL LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES
Best of 5

CHICAGO CUBS (N.L. Central)
Vs.
NEW YORK METS (N. L. Wild Card)

Cubs have home field advantage





PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES (N.L. East)
Vs.
LOS ANGELES DODGERS (N.L. West)

Phillies have home field advantage


WAYS IT CAN CHANGE:
Mets are ½ game behind Phillies for NL East
Brewers are ½ game behind Mets for NL Wild Card
Diamondbacks are 3 ½ games behind Dodgers for NL West
Astros are 4 games behind Mets for NL Wild Card



Now it has come to my attention that a lot of people have found my site by Googling “If the playoffs started today.”

So each day I will update “If the Playoffs Started Today” and link an old posting and plug something for a friend.

Today’s Link – Why Red Sox Fans and Yankee Fans Should Be Friends.

PLUG OF THE DAY:
Mass Historia: 365 Days of Historical Facts and (Mostly) Fictions

Chris Regan, the brilliant Peabody Award winner and 5 time Emmy winning writer for The Daily Show, wrote an intensely hilarious book that reviews a historical event for each day of the year and breaks them down in a laugh out loud manner.

It is as dense with comedy as The Daily Show’s America book (which he also co wrote) and I think it is funnier.

Buy the book, either at your bookstore or order it from Amazon.

Maybe my dad is right... Tim Lincecum might be the Cy Young Winner

This August, my dad and I were talking about what a great year Tim Lincecum was having.

My dad said "He's the Cy Young winner."
I countered "He'll get some votes, but Webb is winning it."

My dad just responded "He should win it" and continued eating his cereal.

Now it must be noted that my dad is the single most optimistic Giants fan you will ever meet.

Last year with the Giants dead in the water, he still mapped out ways the Giants could win the west.

And you will never meet a bigger defender of Barry Bonds.
OK, maybe Greg Anderson was a bigger defender of Bonds.
But for all the people who defended Bonds and DIDN'T go to jail, my dad is right up there.

So I took dad's take on Tim Lincecum as a bit of Giants fan bias.
Sure Lincecum was 14-3 with a 2.48 ERA for the Giants and he was having a great year.

But at that time Webb was 19-4 with a 2.74 ERA. He was not only going to be the first 20 game winner in the NL since Dontrelle Willis won 22 in 2005... but looked to be on pace to win 25 or more, which hasn't been done in the NL since Steve Carlton in 1972.

Plus he was the ace of the first place Diamondbacks (they would pull ahead to a 4 1/2 game lead in late August) and seemed poised to win his second Cy Young in three years.

Clearly Webb had it locked up.

Well since then, Webb lost two critical games to the Dodgers.
And they weren't pitchers duels.
On the last day of August with a chance to put LA away, the ace of the staff got crushed. The D'Backs were down 4 before they even came to bat and Webb couldn't get out of the 4th.

A week later, Webb got crushed by the Dodgers again. This time it cost the Diamondbacks the lead in the NL West... and by the looks of it, it looks like they fell from first place for good.

Ace pitchers don't take you OUT of the pennant race.

All the while Lincecum has brought his record up to 17-3.
He has the lowest ERA among NL Starters.
He has struck out the most batters.
He has the lowest batting average against among NL starters.
He has a better Walks and Hits per innings pitched ratio than Webb.
He has pitched the 4th most innings of any NL pitcher.

The only major category that Webb has him beat is wins... but Linecum has had no offense behind him. When Bengie Molina and Aaron Rowand lead your team with 13 homers, you know you have moved on from the Bonds era.

And besides Brian Wilson (who has been up and down) the bullpen, consisting of the Jack Taschners, Tyler Walkers and Alex Hinshaws of the world don't exactly strike fear in the hearts of mortal men.

He has 5 no decisions this year where he pitched 7 innings or more. Throw 2 of those in his win collumn and he'd be talked about as a 20 game winner.

So maybe my dad was right.
Maybe Lincecum is being penalized for playing on a bad team while Webb, who pitched the D'Backs out of this race, has thrown 2 good games since the LA beating and will probably claim the prize.

But they should listen to my dad.

Also a note on my dad, who is as good a baseball fan as you will meet... he loves to call home runs before they are hit.

The pitcher goes into his wind up and he'll say "It's gone."
Most of the time the pitch is taken, fouled off, popped up... anything but a homer.

But every once in a while my dad will say "it's gone" and the batter hits it out.
My dad will turn to me and say "I called it."

And you can't deny that he did...

Who will fold the least?

There are three teams in the National League that are completely shellshocked and seeing their seasons coming to a crashing end.

The Brewers have won only 3 games this month, shocked the baseball world with a bizarre panic move of firing their manager with a dozen games left, and then lost to their division rival with the best pitcher in baseball losing for the first time since his trade to the NL… all the while knowing that free agency will devastate their pitching staff.

Speaking of devastation, the Astros had a hurricane derail their momentum, force them from their stadium where they were no hit one night, nearly no hit the next day and in the past three games have 1 run and 6 hits COMBINED.

And the Mets are in the middle of a gut wrenching free fall that is reminding everyone of their epic collapse one year ago… their bullpen can’t close games, their rotation is in shambles, their line up is old and banged up and teams like the Braves and Nationals are picking them apart,

There is nothing but panic, despair and resignation of failure in the eyes of those teams and the hearts of their fans.

All three teams resemble Alec Guinness at the end of The Bridge on the River Kwai… battered, about to die, suddenly realizing the mistakes he has made… and as he dies he destroys everything he has fought so hard to build.

Want to know the strange thing?

One of those teams are going to be playing in October.

The National League needs four teams… and one of them will be either the Mets, Brewers or Astros.

Like Rocky at the end of Rocky 2, if one of the teams can climb up that rope and be standing when the ref counts to ten, you win.

The Mets and Astros have 12 games left… the Brewers have 11.
Going on a winning streak over 12 games isn’t an outrageous request.

The Mets need to play the Nats and Braves… which has been a challenge as of late. And then the Cubs and Marlins at home.

The Brewers have 5 more games with the Cubs, plus 6 games with the Reds and Pirates.

The Astros have the easiest schedule… two more games in Miami and then the Pirates, Reds and Braves the rest of the way (with a possible make up game with the Cubbies.)

And if the Astros or Brewers win the Wild Card, chances are they would face either the beatable Phillies or maybe the Mets if they (David) right their ship.

I’d pick either the Astros or the Brewers over the NL East champ!

One of these three teams will be in it… and have that collective sigh of relief that comes over a team that struggles past the finish line.

Everyone remembers the Rockies sprinting past the Padres and Dodgers last year…
But how about the Cardinals in 2006?

They went on a 7 game losing streak in September. They had an 8 ½ game lead with 12 to play and the Astros cut it to ½ a game before the St. Louis finished the year with the third worst playoff record in baseball history.

And once they got in, there seemed to be a release of tension. “We didn’t blow it!” And they went on to win the World Series.

The Tigers that year also had a miserable September where they did blow the division lead and backed into the playoffs as the Wild Card.

They won the pennant.

The 2007 Red Sox and the 2005 White Sox saw their huge leads nearly evaporate in subpar Septembers… and both won the World Series.

So while these the three teams all resemble Mr. Orange bleeding to death in the warehouse… one could have a real shot at making their 2008 season have a happy ending.

At least happier than Mr. Orange’s ending.

IF THE PLAYOFFS STARTED TODAY!

I love saying that…
And I love breaking it down at this time of the year when the playoff participants seem to keep changing hourly.

So let’s see what the matchups would be.


AMERICAN LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim vs. Boston Red Sox












Red Sox have the solid starting pitching and some of their power seems to be coming back. When they get hot, there is no tougher team. But the fact of the matter is the Angels are the most complete team in baseball and I would be stunned if they didn’t win the American League Pennant.

ANGELS in 4



Tampa Bay Rays vs. Chicago White Sox













I’ve been underestimating the Rays all season long… and I haven’t learned my lesson. I am sure someone is still calling them a fluke, but it is September 17th and they are still in first place by themselves. They can pitch, they can hit and they haven’t wilted from the pressure of the post season. I have a soft spot in my heart for the White Sox this year because of Ken Griffey Jr, and if their bats get hot they’ll be tough… but this might be Tampa’s year.

RAYS in 5



NATIONAL LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES

Chicago Cubs vs. New York Mets



A match up that the networks will love for the big markets and big stars. And if this indeed the match up, don’t blink… the Cubs will make sure this series is over before all the ads are sold.

CUBS in 3

















Philadelphia Phillies vs. Los Angeles Dodgers















The Phillies are hitting, they are pitching and they are on a roll. But the Dodgers pitching is better, they have a better mix of veterans and young kids and Joe Torre has been here before.

DODGERS in 4



Stretching these picks to the next round… I’d see an Angels/Cubs World Series with the Angels winning it all.

But keep in mind something:

The last time the best team in the American League played the best team in the National League for the World Series was 1999 when the Yankees swept the Braves.

October is filled with upsets and LA and Chicago might host a Dodgers/White Sox World Series.

I’m just saying.

Some sympathy for Jason Giambi

Newsday writer Ken Davidoff wrote a great article today about soon to be Ex Yankee slugger Jason Giambi.

The article talks about how Jason Giambi made sure that the Yankees clubhouse people and staff got six figure bonuses after winning the pennant shows he is genuinely a good guy...

And it basically confirms what I've thought about him...
He's a nice guy who can get caught up in stuff.

I'm sure when he was a young kid coming into a locker room with Canseco and McGwire and saw them shooting God knows what into their asses, he probably thought "OK, I guess this is what you do in the bigs."

I'm also sure that when he was offered hundreds of millions of dollars he probably thought "I'm really comfortable in Oakland, but I guess this is what you do in the bigs."

And I am also sure he went cold turkey on the stuff in 2004, which resulted in his body breaking down, because he thought "This is the right thing to do."

And I am sure than when he became public enemy number one in the BALCO revelations, he was devastated.

And I am also sure that he wanted to do the right thing and come clean but the lawyers convinced him not to.





He's not a bad guy. He's just a big dumb lug.
He's basically Mongo in Blazing Saddles.

And like Mongo, Jason Giambi just pawn in game of life.

He made some bad decisions, but its hard not to feel for the guy.

(I wish some of MY bad decisions led to a $100 million contract!!!)

Worst loss of the night...

Man alive, I am glad I am not a Twins fan tonight!

If the pitching was even mediocre... you'd have a critical win.
The Twins came all the way back from an 8-1 deficit... it was about to be single biggest emotional win and keep the pressure on the White Sox...

Boom, homer from Sizemore ties it.
Boom, homer from Martinez beats them.

Hey Twins... you've only got 11 games left to make up 3 in the loss column.
Do yourself a favor... don't lose too many games like that.

*sigh*

Josh Beckett's last two starts have been against the Rays.

One was a game to put the Sox 1/2 a game back...
Todays was to put the Sox in first place by themselves.

Combined he pitched 14 innings, let up only 2 runs combined and struck out 14.
His record in those 2 games? 0-0
And two last at bat losses for the bullpen.

All I can say to Justin Masterson, who has been great this year... if you are going to hit a batter in the 9th on an 0-2 pitch... drill him with a fastball and not a breaking ball.

Oh well... magic number to the postseason is down to 5.
Win tomorrow and all is forgotten.

The Most Interesting Pennant Race

Sure the Tampa Bay/Boston series is exciting with First Place on the line, but both teams are clearly going to play in October… so they are fighting for position, not their lives.

The cluster in the National League is intense with the Mets and Brewers imploding, the Phillies surging and the Astros still hanging around despite getting only 1 hit in their last 2 games. But with the Wild Card, you know 2 of those teams are making it and the Mets and Brewers collapse is kind of disturbing to watch…


Here’s what’s interesting about this race for me.

1. Who saw this coming?

I think the most interesting race still going on is between the White Sox and the Twins. Let’s face it, going into this season the consensus picks for the American League Central were the Indians and the Tigers. A lot of people felt they were legit World Series contenders.

Well a sub .500 record in mid September and being a non factor all year is not what any of us predicted.

Nor could we have seen a White Sox team that was old and falling apart in 2007 to rebound nor a Twins team that shed Johan Santana and Torii Hunter to contend.





2. Who is the underdog?

Both teams are overachieving and both are a great story. And both are under manned due to injuries (Contreras and Quentin) or inexperience (the average age of the Twins is 13 years old.)






3. The Different Styles

The White Sox are a classic beer league softball team, swinging for the fences from their heels and trying to pound the opponent into submission. Even their closer Bobby Jenks has Artie Lange’s physique.

The Twins on the other hand are free of big stars (save for Justin Morneau who just might win his second MVP) and play fundamentally strong baseball. They catch the ball, the pitchers throw strikes, the hitters don’t swing at balls out of the zone…

It’s the Original Ray’s Pizza Softball Team versus Tom Emanski














4. The Managers


Ozzie Guillen is insane. He’s unstable. He’s the character in my favorite baseball comic strip. And he’s the right man for the job.





Ron Gardenhire is the steadier hand but gets the job done as he tries to get the Twins in the post season for the 5th time since they were
threatened with contraction 7 years ago.












5. The Head to Head Match Up

The Twins play the Indians and then 4 with the Rays… then they come back to the Metrodome for 3 games with the White Sox.

The White Sox play 4 more with the Yankees and travel to KC before heading to Minnesota.

Anyone with a baseball soul will want to see the White Sox and Twins either tied or with only 1 game between them for Tuesday September 23rd through Thursday September 25th.



So for the next few days I will alternate rooting interests to make sure that series is indeed a showdown for one single playoff spot.

And here’s hoping Ozzie does something really crazy.

Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Be A Mets Fan...

Remember in Jaws 2 how disbelieving everyone was of another shark attacking Amity Island to the point where they ignored then fired Chief Brody and allowed the shark to attack more people?

OK, probably not.

But that’s kind of what has been happening with the Mets.

Nobody thought another collapse would come about.
Not after Jerry Manuel had the clubhouse loose after Willie Randolph’s less than classy firing.

Not after they came from behind… down 7 ½ games in early June… down 5 ½ games in July to taking a 3 ½ game lead with 17 to play.

Surely they learned from last year when they were up by 7 with 17 to play and blew it.
Surely they knew to stay focused and not let leads slip away and to not get beaten by teams like the Nationals, who beat the Mets 5 out of 6 times last September.

Da duh… da duh… da duh…

There’s a fin in the water.

Da duh da duh da duh….

Losing 2 out of 3 to Philadelphia was bad enough…
Blowing that lead to Atlanta on Sunday was worse…
Last night being blown out by Washington makes it clear:

The Mets are going to need a bigger boat.

Oh it’s a combination of starting pitching (I love you Pedro, but you aren’t the same pitcher) and bullpen (anyone think saves are easy to get NOW?)

But I wonder how much of it is also the constant reminder of how they wet the bed last fall.

I always felt that the Curse of the Bambino was real. Not that I thought it was a hex or some spell cast by Gandalph. Rather I felt like the pressure of an entire region saying into your face “You are going to fail… you are going to fail…” would help cause someone to eventually fail.

Maybe the never ending reminder of the collapse of 2007 is getting to them.
Or maybe this is gut check time and they win this division and the pennant as well.

I throw the question out to the Mets fans of the world…

Faith and Fear in Flushing, are you in full panic mode at this point or do you see the ship straightening itself out.

How about you, Dana Brand? Are you going to be like my cousin Dave and concede the division to Philadelphia before they even pass you?


Let me ask you The Good The Bad The Ugly and the Mets. Does the spiral of the Brewers and the possibility of a Wild Card cushion soften the blow of this flop?

I bet you have some Yankee hatred in you, Eric at Amazin' Avenue. Does the fact that the Yankees are out of it make this tumble slightly more bearable?

Hey hilarious comedian Michael Reisman, is a big disappointment an appropriate send off to Shea Stadium?

Hey Liam McEneaney, brilliant comic and my friend. Is this just part of the burden of being a Mets fan?

How about you, Andres DuBouchet, possibly the funniest sketch performer I have ever met. Are you seeing the glass as half full and the Mets have a chance to say “Let’s prove to the world that we are winners” or are you seeing the glass as shattered on the ground?

Hey Poppi Kramer… GET OFF OF THE LEDGE!

Either way, if this keeps up all I can tell you is THIS WAS NOT A BOAT ACCIDENT.

Two Things I Learned From Yesterday's Astros/Cubs game

1. Cub fans shouldn’t worry about their starting pitching

2. I picked the right time to write my “The Astros might win this thing” entry. Now, I don’t see it happening.