Since the Yankees and Tigers are in a long rain-delay, I thought I’d talk a little baseball. I haven’t paid much attention to baseball this season. It seems like I pay a little less attention each year. But I find it hard to believe that the Red Sox let manager Terry Francona go. They went from 1918 to 2004 without winning a championship. Then Francona became manager and they won two championships in eight years. He’s probably better as a manager than all but one or two of his players are as players. If the team had bad chemistry, they’d be better off changing players than getting rid of one of the top managers in the game. And who is going to replace him? Bobby Valentine? Valentine and the Fenway Faithful will be like oil and vinegar.
As for this year’s World Series, I’ll be thrilled with a Yankees-Cardinals matchup. I’ve wanted to see the matchup my whole life. Another Yankees-Phillies matchup would be awesome. If the Yanks don’t make it, I hope the Tigers go to the series. Cardinals-Tigers would be cool. I just don’t want to see the Diamondbacks, Rays, or Rangers in the Series. If the Brewers make a run, I’ll be happy for them. This is probably their best chance to win a World Series because I don’t think they’ll be able to hold the team together for next year.
Who are you pulling for?
Tigers – Verlander for MVP and CY Young. He’s been a beast this year!
they postponed tonight’s game. They will play tomorrow but pick up where they left off. However, who knows when Verlander and C.C. will pitch again. What a mess.
Weather here wasn’t much better. Cold and rainy all day.
Verlander is going to pitch Monday – and I have tickets! Woo hoo!
Also – I still owe you a phone call. Work has been crushing me. After Tuesday, things get better.
Second this analysis. Anybody but the recent expansion teams (it always feels like a waste of a Series when one of them wins), or Dubya’s team.
I’ll take either an expansion team or Texas over the NY Bankees.
Seriously, Booman’s support of this group of mercenaries, propped up by their excess cash, and reveling in their excess number of world championships, pretty much undercuts any of his other positions. Rarely is evil as clearly isolated as it is with the NY Wankers.
Pretty much why I can’t take baseball seriously. It’s fun to play when you’re a kid. But the MLB is awful.
I’m not even terribly bothered by the steroid scandal. But when one “group” (I hesitate to call them teams) wins — what, about 40% of pennants and a quarter of championships in the last hundred years? By simply having more money?
It’s truly the ultimate Republican sport.
I don’t blame the Yankees for that. That’s how the system is set up. The MLB deserves the blame.
I know BooMan grew up with the Yankees, so I won’t say rude things about them in his house. Or Philly. But man oh man do I get bored with East Coast baseball. I’ll admit this is a silly & superficial problem, all of my own, but another NY/Phil series would definitely go unwatched in Chez DuBois, and that’s only partly because I’m bitter at no CA teams in the postseason. Had to happen sometime, though.
I was actually at the game in Phoenix when Arizona beat the Giants to win the west. Great energy at that game. I’ve only been to 2 other truly meaningful games, both at Dodger Stadium and both playoffs that L.A. lost (vs Atlanta ’96, vs StL in ’04) and those were awesome purely because of how crazy the energy was. I’m sure it’s nothing like Fenway/Yankee Stadium/wherever, but it was sure something to me.
My wife and I are doing the visit-all-the-stadiums thing. We’ve done the whole west coast and AZ, and are looking for some good ones on the itinerary for next year. Most likely DC/Baltimore, just cause I want to go to DC and I have friends there.
I guess this year I’d like to see Milwaukee go the distance. They’re free of Selig (sort of) and it is probably their best shot. I’ll always root NL anyway. Even for Philly, because let’s face it, they will probably stomp the Brewers.
Wait, what the hell am I saying? The Dodgers won that game in 2004. Jose Lima owned the Cardinals and Shawn Green hit 2 home runs. I must really be getting senile.
That’s weird.
I guess I am a traditionalist, but I extend tradition to the new homes of the Giants and Dodgers.
I was psyched when the Giants made it to play the Rangers, and extra psyched when they won.
I’ve got nothing against West Coast baseball, as long as it originated in the Five Boroughs.
I’ll take the Dodgers or the Giants in the World Series any time.
Or the Cardinals.
The Phillies have reached the point where they belong in that same conversation.
I’d also be thrilled with a Cubs presence, for the novelty.
The Mets and the Braves has built some history, too. And the Reds, if they could ever reestablish some consistency.
Even the Pirates could give me a tingle.
The rest of the NL teams can pound sand. I don’t want to ever see the Astros, Padres, Marlins, Rockies, or Diamondbacks in a Series again.
In the AL, any team in the East except the Rays is cool. All the Central teams are acceptable, but the Royals, Twins, Indians, and Tigers are preferable to the White Sox. In the West, I’ll take the A’s or begrudgingly the Angels, but the Mariners and especially the Rangers can go screw themselves.
I like rematches. I like classic match ups. Give me the Yankees vs. the Cardinals. We need revenge for 1964.
I’d watch a Yanks-Cards series. I’ll admit that. And yes, I’ll admit my Eastophobia is weird. I am an NL fan and would be happy to see any of those teams you mentioned in the playoffs, but especially the Nats because of the Expos’ aborted ’94 season.
And if you don’t like the Padres, I get that, but that’s more for me. This was yet another painful, nasty year for San Diego as you may know…but whenever I needed to hear baseball, I turned on the radio for Leitner & Mazur announcing Pads games.
I gravitated to the Padres because my wife is from that area and she grew up on the late-90s not-awful Pads. My best friend’s favorite player when we were kids was Gwynn. Back then Ryne Sandberg was my favorite player, so I was a Cub fan despite growing up in SoCal.
Nominally I’m an NL west fan, but family ties help–my brother in law’s a diehard Braves fan and I have nothing but respect for the 90s Braves–except that stupid racist Chop.
Despite my Eastophobia, I’ll watch a game to just watch a game anymore. I’ll admit the 2004 Red Sox were fun. Good baseball is good baseball.
I didn’t really follow this season the way I normally do. That said, simply because it’s been such a long haul since their disastrous 2003 season (which was I recall, the worst since the 1962 Mets), I wouldn’t mind seeing the Tigers make it to the Series.
I just want the Yankees to win it all again.
What’s up with the Rays hate? Small payroll, big heart. What’s not to like? And the way the cosmic tumblers clicked into place this week to give them a shot…man!
Anyway, they’re my team, and I hope they go all the way. Unlikely, I know. But so was the wild card.
Local sports radio guy was talking about how management sold out Francona and then got him to act like it was his decision, because they were leaking this stuff about how Francona had lost the clubhouse last week and letting loyal writers like Gammons put that out to the public. His theory is management floated this stuff last week or earlier to soften up the public so they could let Francona be the fall guy when they very quietly let him know he wasn’t getting an extension. So to sum up his point was that management has a right to dispense with Francona but the manager of the only two championship teams in the last century deserved better than being sold out to the press the week before the season was over. This is all a long way of getting to my point, which is: yes, of course management should have treated him better. But is it at all surprising that management of a billion dollar enterprise made CYA their top priority? People get confused because it’s sports and think that the rules are somehow different. No, the rules are exactly the same.
#Tigers