Tigers 8, Yankees 3 - An Tigers-A's ALCS. I'm sure FOX is banging on MLB's door demanding more seven game series as we speak.
Actually, as we speak, the motions have already begun for the fun offseason ride that the Yankees will be on. Joe Torre, according to the NY Daily News, is expected to step aside so that the Yankees can sign Lou Piniella. I love this move for the Yankees- they do need a fire under their ass. I'm a staunch supporter of the theory that there are only 3 types of managers: players managers, hardass managers, and McCarthy/Weaver level managers. When your team needs a change of pace, you are better off changing between players/hardass managers than you are sitting on your hands.
ESPN has also already started it's ARod watch, and since you asked me, I'll tell you about my dream: I would love Alex Rodriguez to join the San Francisco Giants.
Let me explain. Barry Bonds + Alex Rodriguez = Profit. Two of the best players in baseball history, two people that the media can't leave alone. The Giants will be shedding a ton of salary and are looking to move into a new era, the Yankees could ask for maybe Matt Cain/Noah Lowry, Pedro Feliz (I guess? Let me dream here), some salary filler. This would be ESPN's wet dream. They'd buy an entire Econosuite and tell Pedro Gomez to live there and follow the two of them around all day. Reality TV series. Theres just nothing that wouldn't rule about this. Imagine the two of them trying to interact? Bonds doesn't give a fuck what anyone thinks of him, ARod cares what everyone thinks of him. This has to happen.
Padres 3, Cardinals 1
OFFENSIVE OUTBURST. Trevor Hoffman finally got to see the field, and the Padres won despite stranding fourteen runners. Good to see the monkey off their backs. Game four is a must-win for the Cardinals in this series. If the Cardinals lose, they'll have seen their ace chased off the field and be looking at Jeff Weaver on three days rest or Jason Marquis for a decisive Game five. Luckily for them, I can't see the Cardinals losing this game. Then again, I couldn't see them dropping 30 games in a row to end the season, and that happened too.
Mets 9, Dodgers 5
I didn't watch the last half of this game, but even despite that, I knew this team would win. They've been head and shoulders above the NL for the whole year, and even despite their rotation being Tom Glavine, John Maine, The Run Machine, and Oliver Perez; they have to be favored over either team they face in the NLCS too, I'd think. Shawn Green played like a man who was pissed off that they traded him away instead of Roberto Alomar, which was a big plus. Randolph was pro-active with the pen again, not letting the lead get away; and as a result, the pen has four days off. Teams that start Marlon Anderson in left field in the postseason are 0-3. Just sayin'.
Expect the recaps for the LCS' to be longer, as there will be less teams to cover. Also, expect someone else to have a blog at some point. Maybe.
Showing posts with label dodgers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dodgers. Show all posts
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Friday, October 06, 2006
Postseason Recap: Five game series are the spawn of the devil
Tigers 4, Yankees 3
Tigers 6, Yankees 0
Funny little thing happened on the way to the Yankees winning the World Series, as they find themselves down 2-1 and sending Jaret Wright to the hill with their playoff lives at stake.
Over at ESPN, we had a bigger split, but the two teams most favored were the Yankees and the Twins. Whoops. I didn't catch most of game two, but I don't think any lineup in the planet was going to put more than six runs in against Kenny Rogers tonight. It's a five game series, and when you play a five game series, these things are bound to happen. Look at these series: Three of the four home teams are losing, and the team that's winning lost two of their best starters and was considered at best a 50/50 proposition against a hot Dodger team. What does that tell us? Nothing matters once you get in a five game series. The sooner MLB figures this out, the sooner we will have the best teams playing deeper into October.
A lot of people are going to point the blame at ARod again for his anemic showing in pinstripes, and you know, rightfully so I guess. But what gets lost up in all his crapulence is that two offseasons ago, the Yankees paid a pretty big price to acquire a stopper for their postseason teams. Randy Johnson has come in, been mediocre in both seasons, and has gotten bombed in two PIVOTAL game threes that have put his team against the wall in back-to-back ALDS'.
Cardinals 2, Padres 0
We have an eighty-three win team here that is one win from the NLCS. And you thought the NL playoffs would lack excitement. The Padres were shutout by Jeff Weaver, which is almost unfathomable. Bruce Bochy really needs to get it through his head that Mike Piazza needs to be starting every game when your team has scored one run in two games.
The deeper question here is: Why didn't anyone else see this coming? Obviously the Cardinals swooned and the Padres were hot, a key factor for people predicting the postseason (This is why the A's were so good in the postseason in 01-03...wait a minute). But, we were really ready to say that a team that starts Geoff Blum at shortstop and Russ Branyan at third base is going to the NLCS? Really? If I were a Cardinals batter I would just slap the ball to that side and hope for the best. It would work most of the time.
Also: Adventures in playoff Bullpen Management.
Scott Linebrink and Trevor Hoffman: one-third of an inning in two games. How does this guy have his job still? I understand it's San Diego and all the owners are too busy living it up in that beautiful city to give a shit, but Bochy has completely fallen asleep at the wheel and cost his team a chance to win at least Game 1 and arguably Game 2 as well.
Mets 4, Dodgers 1
Remember when I told you guys that I hoped Endy Chavez started? Well, that was everything I expected. Not only is he one of the few sparkplugs against left-handers for the Mets, but he actually has the speed and defense to play right-field. Instead of say, Mr. Shawn Green, who has checked out like Roberto Alomar did, minus the head first dives into first base on every play.
This game made me happy. Although we did have to deal with Steve Lyons and Thom Brennaman, who seem to get worse every season. The Mets can't hit lefties blah blah blah. Would it be that hard to give everyone else a chance? This isn't the 1970's anymore. Also, FOX's game presentation continues to be despicable in every imaginable way. Focusing on Chevy billboard ads, zoom ins on every goddamn face, finding every stupid fucking e-list celebrity who ever came to the game (WHOA THERES MATT DILLON! MARY JO HART GOES TO DODGERS GAMES!). I think despite the disparity between every baseball fan's situation, we can put all that aside so we can focus on the worst moment for all of baseball this season: When FOX kept the playoff rights for 7 more years.
A's 8, Twins 3
I'd like to congratulate Jon Raymond on his teams triumphant return to winning postseason series. Since I have nothing to add to this game besides my love of ex-Met Marco Scutaro, I'd like to take on something else here.
Tommy Lasorda commercials. I know it's an obvious (and failing) ploy to get fans of baseball to watch games that don't involve their teams, but I don't think it's doing it for me. Heres what they should've done: Everyone who is a real baseball fan gets sick of this commercial anyway, so instead of airing the commercial normally, have Tommy be featured in every other commercial, then switch the tapes to keep people wondering when they'd see Lasorda again.
Come on, like you wouldn't want to see the dialogue Tommy would have with the Ruby Tuesday's guys. Or John Cougar Mellencamp. Or that chick who gets pissy about them frying green beans. It would be clever, unexpected, and would make people want to watch commercials. Thats exactly why it will never happen.
Tigers 6, Yankees 0
Funny little thing happened on the way to the Yankees winning the World Series, as they find themselves down 2-1 and sending Jaret Wright to the hill with their playoff lives at stake.
Over at ESPN, we had a bigger split, but the two teams most favored were the Yankees and the Twins. Whoops. I didn't catch most of game two, but I don't think any lineup in the planet was going to put more than six runs in against Kenny Rogers tonight. It's a five game series, and when you play a five game series, these things are bound to happen. Look at these series: Three of the four home teams are losing, and the team that's winning lost two of their best starters and was considered at best a 50/50 proposition against a hot Dodger team. What does that tell us? Nothing matters once you get in a five game series. The sooner MLB figures this out, the sooner we will have the best teams playing deeper into October.
A lot of people are going to point the blame at ARod again for his anemic showing in pinstripes, and you know, rightfully so I guess. But what gets lost up in all his crapulence is that two offseasons ago, the Yankees paid a pretty big price to acquire a stopper for their postseason teams. Randy Johnson has come in, been mediocre in both seasons, and has gotten bombed in two PIVOTAL game threes that have put his team against the wall in back-to-back ALDS'.
Cardinals 2, Padres 0
We have an eighty-three win team here that is one win from the NLCS. And you thought the NL playoffs would lack excitement. The Padres were shutout by Jeff Weaver, which is almost unfathomable. Bruce Bochy really needs to get it through his head that Mike Piazza needs to be starting every game when your team has scored one run in two games.
The deeper question here is: Why didn't anyone else see this coming? Obviously the Cardinals swooned and the Padres were hot, a key factor for people predicting the postseason (This is why the A's were so good in the postseason in 01-03...wait a minute). But, we were really ready to say that a team that starts Geoff Blum at shortstop and Russ Branyan at third base is going to the NLCS? Really? If I were a Cardinals batter I would just slap the ball to that side and hope for the best. It would work most of the time.
Also: Adventures in playoff Bullpen Management.
Scott Linebrink and Trevor Hoffman: one-third of an inning in two games. How does this guy have his job still? I understand it's San Diego and all the owners are too busy living it up in that beautiful city to give a shit, but Bochy has completely fallen asleep at the wheel and cost his team a chance to win at least Game 1 and arguably Game 2 as well.
Mets 4, Dodgers 1
Remember when I told you guys that I hoped Endy Chavez started? Well, that was everything I expected. Not only is he one of the few sparkplugs against left-handers for the Mets, but he actually has the speed and defense to play right-field. Instead of say, Mr. Shawn Green, who has checked out like Roberto Alomar did, minus the head first dives into first base on every play.
This game made me happy. Although we did have to deal with Steve Lyons and Thom Brennaman, who seem to get worse every season. The Mets can't hit lefties blah blah blah. Would it be that hard to give everyone else a chance? This isn't the 1970's anymore. Also, FOX's game presentation continues to be despicable in every imaginable way. Focusing on Chevy billboard ads, zoom ins on every goddamn face, finding every stupid fucking e-list celebrity who ever came to the game (WHOA THERES MATT DILLON! MARY JO HART GOES TO DODGERS GAMES!). I think despite the disparity between every baseball fan's situation, we can put all that aside so we can focus on the worst moment for all of baseball this season: When FOX kept the playoff rights for 7 more years.
A's 8, Twins 3
I'd like to congratulate Jon Raymond on his teams triumphant return to winning postseason series. Since I have nothing to add to this game besides my love of ex-Met Marco Scutaro, I'd like to take on something else here.
Tommy Lasorda commercials. I know it's an obvious (and failing) ploy to get fans of baseball to watch games that don't involve their teams, but I don't think it's doing it for me. Heres what they should've done: Everyone who is a real baseball fan gets sick of this commercial anyway, so instead of airing the commercial normally, have Tommy be featured in every other commercial, then switch the tapes to keep people wondering when they'd see Lasorda again.
Come on, like you wouldn't want to see the dialogue Tommy would have with the Ruby Tuesday's guys. Or John Cougar Mellencamp. Or that chick who gets pissy about them frying green beans. It would be clever, unexpected, and would make people want to watch commercials. Thats exactly why it will never happen.
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Postseason Recap: Joe Beimel: The most important person in America
At least according to ESPN.
Dodgers 5 @ Mets 6
It's very hard to express how exhilarating/terrifying it is to watch postseason baseball as a fan of a team to someone who hasn’t experienced it before. Basically, the only thing I could equate it to is asking a girl out for the first time in your life, except it lasts for three hours instead of three minutes. Everything you do is magnified both in your head and in your body movements. So in my case, it was kind of like asking a girl out for the first time in six years. I paced, my entire body was electric. I wasn’t up to talking to anyone who might harsh my buzz.
This game was won and lost by the managers, in my opinion. Willie Randolph, as much as I have bashed him in his tenure in Mets manager, was completely pro-active with his approach with John Maine on the mound. At the first sign of trouble after the first few innings, he went right to the bullpen, even though he ran everyone but Royce Ring out, he won the game. You don’t win postseason games with people who have regular season milestones, and in this case, I thought it was absolutely wonderful that Maine was pitching. I’m not sure if Willie would have been as proactive to the whole thing if Glavine or Pedro was on the mound, and I’d lean towards the answer being “no”. He did not have a perfect game; in my opinion he should have tried to step on the Dodgers’ throat in the sixth instead of letting Guillermo Mota bat, and then handed the last three innings over to Wagner and Heilman. Instead, Randolph let Mota get touched up a bit in the seventh (although he was hurt by the Valentin error), leading the game to be tied again.
On the other side, Grady Little absolutely bungled this game. Game one is the most important game of any five-game series; the Dodgers would have to win three of four games if they lost this game. He went to the seventh with a tie game, and instead of relying on the relievers who got him through the entire season; he brought in a pitcher who had been lit up the last few weeks of the season in Brad Penny, who was thought by many to be injured. Penny immediately coughed up the lead, and the final two runs that the Mets needed to win the game. This was a huge blunder that will be lost under the more ridiculous “two outs at home” double play, which I still can’t believe actually happened.
Other thoughts from this game:
-John Hirschbeck was horrendous in this game, for both sides. He cost the Mets dearly when he called Floyd out and when he wouldn’t call Betemit out, and he cost the Dodgers when Lugo struck out during their three run rally in the seventh. And he wasn’t even the worst umpire today, Kerwin Danley was up to the task, providing a maddeningly inconsistent strike zone.
-Shawn Green has NO RANGE at all. If Endy Chavez were out in right field in the ninth, Wagner arguably could have had a 1-2-3 inning. He’s just a terrible player in all facets of the game right now. I hope he proves me wrong and comes up with some good games the rest of the postseason, but right now I would much rather have Endy Chavez playing.
-Jose Reyes continued to be up and down. His first three plate appearances were just brutal, and then when he stopped hacking at everything, he was the key cog in the comeback, reaching base twice in a row and scoring a run.
-Carlos Delgado is scary when he uses the whole field. It made me wonder what kind of player he could have been if he didn’t have the same kind of power.
-The Dodgers are not really a team with the same kind of star power as the Mets have, where they succeed is by throwing above-average hitter after above-average hitter after you. There aren’t any holes in that lineup, with Betemit batting eighth. I was a little surprised that Ethier didn’t get to play, as Kenny Lofton looked pretty bad out there today.
-It’s bad enough that noted-Met hater Steve Phillips had to be there being a smug cunt about the whole issue, but I was very afraid when Joe Morgan was involved too. Thankfully, Morgan didn’t really commit any mortal sins in this game. He did create this stupid “the most important inning is the half-inning after the other team scores” bullshit, but that was mild in comparison to Phillips’ Met hatred. I don’t understand how he gets assigned to their games every time.
Oh right, there was another game.
A’s 5 @ Twins 2
Not really a lot of managerial blunders in this one. 2-2 game until the seventh, both teams had as close to optimal bullpen usage as can be expected when teams won’t use their closers until the seventh. The Torii Hunter play was brutal, but I feel good for Jon Raymond and his Athletics.
I'd do the Yankees game but since ITS GON RAIN, I'll save that for tommorow.
Dodgers 5 @ Mets 6
It's very hard to express how exhilarating/terrifying it is to watch postseason baseball as a fan of a team to someone who hasn’t experienced it before. Basically, the only thing I could equate it to is asking a girl out for the first time in your life, except it lasts for three hours instead of three minutes. Everything you do is magnified both in your head and in your body movements. So in my case, it was kind of like asking a girl out for the first time in six years. I paced, my entire body was electric. I wasn’t up to talking to anyone who might harsh my buzz.
This game was won and lost by the managers, in my opinion. Willie Randolph, as much as I have bashed him in his tenure in Mets manager, was completely pro-active with his approach with John Maine on the mound. At the first sign of trouble after the first few innings, he went right to the bullpen, even though he ran everyone but Royce Ring out, he won the game. You don’t win postseason games with people who have regular season milestones, and in this case, I thought it was absolutely wonderful that Maine was pitching. I’m not sure if Willie would have been as proactive to the whole thing if Glavine or Pedro was on the mound, and I’d lean towards the answer being “no”. He did not have a perfect game; in my opinion he should have tried to step on the Dodgers’ throat in the sixth instead of letting Guillermo Mota bat, and then handed the last three innings over to Wagner and Heilman. Instead, Randolph let Mota get touched up a bit in the seventh (although he was hurt by the Valentin error), leading the game to be tied again.
On the other side, Grady Little absolutely bungled this game. Game one is the most important game of any five-game series; the Dodgers would have to win three of four games if they lost this game. He went to the seventh with a tie game, and instead of relying on the relievers who got him through the entire season; he brought in a pitcher who had been lit up the last few weeks of the season in Brad Penny, who was thought by many to be injured. Penny immediately coughed up the lead, and the final two runs that the Mets needed to win the game. This was a huge blunder that will be lost under the more ridiculous “two outs at home” double play, which I still can’t believe actually happened.
Other thoughts from this game:
-John Hirschbeck was horrendous in this game, for both sides. He cost the Mets dearly when he called Floyd out and when he wouldn’t call Betemit out, and he cost the Dodgers when Lugo struck out during their three run rally in the seventh. And he wasn’t even the worst umpire today, Kerwin Danley was up to the task, providing a maddeningly inconsistent strike zone.
-Shawn Green has NO RANGE at all. If Endy Chavez were out in right field in the ninth, Wagner arguably could have had a 1-2-3 inning. He’s just a terrible player in all facets of the game right now. I hope he proves me wrong and comes up with some good games the rest of the postseason, but right now I would much rather have Endy Chavez playing.
-Jose Reyes continued to be up and down. His first three plate appearances were just brutal, and then when he stopped hacking at everything, he was the key cog in the comeback, reaching base twice in a row and scoring a run.
-Carlos Delgado is scary when he uses the whole field. It made me wonder what kind of player he could have been if he didn’t have the same kind of power.
-The Dodgers are not really a team with the same kind of star power as the Mets have, where they succeed is by throwing above-average hitter after above-average hitter after you. There aren’t any holes in that lineup, with Betemit batting eighth. I was a little surprised that Ethier didn’t get to play, as Kenny Lofton looked pretty bad out there today.
-It’s bad enough that noted-Met hater Steve Phillips had to be there being a smug cunt about the whole issue, but I was very afraid when Joe Morgan was involved too. Thankfully, Morgan didn’t really commit any mortal sins in this game. He did create this stupid “the most important inning is the half-inning after the other team scores” bullshit, but that was mild in comparison to Phillips’ Met hatred. I don’t understand how he gets assigned to their games every time.
Oh right, there was another game.
A’s 5 @ Twins 2
Not really a lot of managerial blunders in this one. 2-2 game until the seventh, both teams had as close to optimal bullpen usage as can be expected when teams won’t use their closers until the seventh. The Torii Hunter play was brutal, but I feel good for Jon Raymond and his Athletics.
I'd do the Yankees game but since ITS GON RAIN, I'll save that for tommorow.
Friday, September 29, 2006
Slow Country 21 (3:01:25 AM): i'm pretty into greg norton | TheTV17NewsTeam (3:01:31 AM): he comes back every two years or so!
Tonight's big theme seemed to be rain. The start of two of today's most crucial games were delayed in excess of three hours. The Bucs and Astros got underway shortly after four p.m. EST after a scheduled start time of 12:35. Tom Gorzelanny was the good soldier for our guys, taking the loss despite allowing just six baserunners in seven innings. He probably deserved a better fate, but there was no way the Pirates were about to actually try to get hits against Roy Oswalt. It was clear neither team really wanted to be there, and the game was played in a brisk 2:15.
Meanwhile, Tony's boys continued to watch their season slip dangerously out of control, getting reamed by the Brewers 9-4 at Busch II. Jason Marquis allowed 6 earned runs in 2 innings, his ERA climbing above the 6.00 mark. I really can't believe a self-proclaimed genius like Tony La Russa has let that guy make 33 starts this season. Marquis has approached Shawn Chacon levels of awfulness which is even more impressive given that Marquis has pitched about 80 more innings than the Alaskan Wonder.
This leaves the Astros just a half game behind the Cardinals. I've never been so happy to get swept by Houston in my life.
If being at PNC Park at the scheduled game time was an awful experience, the Phillies and Nats had to wait nearly four and a half hours to start playing baseball. The Phillies, however, were a little too eager to get the hell out of Washington, as they forgot to actually to win the game, falling meekly to Mike O'Connor, Jon Rauch, Nook Logan, and company, 3-1. This game, like the "day game" in Pittsburgh, was in the books within two and a half hours of the first pitch.
To make up for this speed baseball, the Dodgers and Rockies took literally all afternoon to single-handedly disprove the humidor theory, scoring a combined total of 30 runs on 33 base hits, 18 walks, 2 errors, 2 wild pitches, a hit batsman, a passed ball, and I'll refrain from making a cheesy "12 Days of Christmas" joke. Dodgers first baseman James Loney drove in nine runs in five at-bats on the day, one more than he'd had all season coming into that game in 93 at-bats. There were many fun facts to be unearthed from this mess of a box score, but one nugget outshone all the others. I learned that Mike Venafro, Instant Messenger Hero, is somehow still pitching in the Major Leagues, four years after being labelled as "finished" in Moneyball. Take that, Billy Beane.
As a result of all of that nonsense, the Phillies find themselves two games behind Los Angeles in the race for the National League Wild Card with three games to go. It's not looking good for Philadelphians, but then again, it's never really looking good for them; they live in Philadelphia.
There were some games played in the American League too, I think. The Toronto Blue Jays continued their quest for second place in the American League East by beating the Tigers, 8-6 in ESPN's "Day Game." The Blue Jays are now a full game up on the Red Sox, who are simply not very good. Not that the city of Boston is aware of this or anything, as most are still convinced the team has had a playoff spot locked up since mid-July. What a shock they will get when they turn on their TVs at the start of the postseason and wonder why the Red Sox are all of a sudden playing their home games at the Metrodome.
What they'll really be seeing are the Twins playing host to the Oakland A's, since the Twins appear poised to take the division crown from the struggling Tigers after tying Detroit for the division lead by toying with the Royals for 8 innings before tying the game in the 9th and winning in the 10th. This will consign the Tigers to opening the postseason in New York.
The only other A.L. game of note was one that really had no right to be nationally televised. As it happened, I was duped into watching two full innings of Yankees/Orioles, only to see Daniel Cabrera not pitch a no-hitter. In a way, that's karma. That's what the assholes at ESPN get for deciding to air a completely meaningless game during the last week of the season.
Nothing else in the American League was relevant at all, although I did happen to notice that Greg Norton hit his 16th home run for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Somehow, Greg Norton has accumulated 283 at-bats for the Rays this season, tying his career high in home runs and slugging percentage and setting new career marks in batting average and on-base percentage at the age of 34. I don't know why. Dave Littlefield doesn't know why, either, but that won't stop him from unveiling Mr. Norton as our big offseason acquisition.
Finally, the biggest off-the-field news in the world of Major League Baseball was the Mets announcing that Pedro Martinez is all kinds of messed up (torn calf) and will miss the entire postseason. The Mets postseason rotation is now two 40-year-olds, Steve Trachsel, and John Maine. I have to think (and Chris may disagree with me) that this really evens the odds between the Mets and the rest of the N.L. playoff field. Which, from my point of view makes the N.L. playoffs much more exciting since it looks to be much more of a crapshoot.
Meanwhile, Tony's boys continued to watch their season slip dangerously out of control, getting reamed by the Brewers 9-4 at Busch II. Jason Marquis allowed 6 earned runs in 2 innings, his ERA climbing above the 6.00 mark. I really can't believe a self-proclaimed genius like Tony La Russa has let that guy make 33 starts this season. Marquis has approached Shawn Chacon levels of awfulness which is even more impressive given that Marquis has pitched about 80 more innings than the Alaskan Wonder.
This leaves the Astros just a half game behind the Cardinals. I've never been so happy to get swept by Houston in my life.
If being at PNC Park at the scheduled game time was an awful experience, the Phillies and Nats had to wait nearly four and a half hours to start playing baseball. The Phillies, however, were a little too eager to get the hell out of Washington, as they forgot to actually to win the game, falling meekly to Mike O'Connor, Jon Rauch, Nook Logan, and company, 3-1. This game, like the "day game" in Pittsburgh, was in the books within two and a half hours of the first pitch.
To make up for this speed baseball, the Dodgers and Rockies took literally all afternoon to single-handedly disprove the humidor theory, scoring a combined total of 30 runs on 33 base hits, 18 walks, 2 errors, 2 wild pitches, a hit batsman, a passed ball, and I'll refrain from making a cheesy "12 Days of Christmas" joke. Dodgers first baseman James Loney drove in nine runs in five at-bats on the day, one more than he'd had all season coming into that game in 93 at-bats. There were many fun facts to be unearthed from this mess of a box score, but one nugget outshone all the others. I learned that Mike Venafro, Instant Messenger Hero, is somehow still pitching in the Major Leagues, four years after being labelled as "finished" in Moneyball. Take that, Billy Beane.
As a result of all of that nonsense, the Phillies find themselves two games behind Los Angeles in the race for the National League Wild Card with three games to go. It's not looking good for Philadelphians, but then again, it's never really looking good for them; they live in Philadelphia.
There were some games played in the American League too, I think. The Toronto Blue Jays continued their quest for second place in the American League East by beating the Tigers, 8-6 in ESPN's "Day Game." The Blue Jays are now a full game up on the Red Sox, who are simply not very good. Not that the city of Boston is aware of this or anything, as most are still convinced the team has had a playoff spot locked up since mid-July. What a shock they will get when they turn on their TVs at the start of the postseason and wonder why the Red Sox are all of a sudden playing their home games at the Metrodome.
What they'll really be seeing are the Twins playing host to the Oakland A's, since the Twins appear poised to take the division crown from the struggling Tigers after tying Detroit for the division lead by toying with the Royals for 8 innings before tying the game in the 9th and winning in the 10th. This will consign the Tigers to opening the postseason in New York.
The only other A.L. game of note was one that really had no right to be nationally televised. As it happened, I was duped into watching two full innings of Yankees/Orioles, only to see Daniel Cabrera not pitch a no-hitter. In a way, that's karma. That's what the assholes at ESPN get for deciding to air a completely meaningless game during the last week of the season.
Nothing else in the American League was relevant at all, although I did happen to notice that Greg Norton hit his 16th home run for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Somehow, Greg Norton has accumulated 283 at-bats for the Rays this season, tying his career high in home runs and slugging percentage and setting new career marks in batting average and on-base percentage at the age of 34. I don't know why. Dave Littlefield doesn't know why, either, but that won't stop him from unveiling Mr. Norton as our big offseason acquisition.
Finally, the biggest off-the-field news in the world of Major League Baseball was the Mets announcing that Pedro Martinez is all kinds of messed up (torn calf) and will miss the entire postseason. The Mets postseason rotation is now two 40-year-olds, Steve Trachsel, and John Maine. I have to think (and Chris may disagree with me) that this really evens the odds between the Mets and the rest of the N.L. playoff field. Which, from my point of view makes the N.L. playoffs much more exciting since it looks to be much more of a crapshoot.
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