Two nights in a row I was a little late turning on the ballgame. Last night, I turned on the game in the bottom of the 1st and the Yanks were already down 2-0. They never managed to tie it up, and they lost the game and the series 3-2. Tonight I turned the Phillies game on in the Bottom of the 2nd and it was 1-0 Cards. I never saw a runner cross the plate. The Phils lost 1-0 and were eliminated.
So, my teams are out of it despite having the best regular seasons. I really don’t like the five game format. Let’s go back to 154-game seasons, have three seven game series, and we’ll still end things earlier than we do now.
It’s going to be kind of weird that the NLCS is a rematch of the 1982 Suds Series between the Milwaukee Brewers and the St. Louis Cardinals. I have mixed feelings about that matchup. I still remember Albert Pujols and Tony LaRussa stumping for McCain and Palin. But I love the history of the Cardinals franchise and their fan base is awesome. And I have respect for Pujols and LaRussa despite their fondness for Caribou Barbie.
On the other hand, the Brewers are a true low budget team that has assembled a really good group of players. They won’t be able to keep all the parts, so this is their big chance. I’d probably like the Brewers more if they didn’t carry the stink of Bud Selig with them. Better uniforms would help, too. And I can’t get used to them as a National League team. Overall, I just can’t warm up to them. But it would be a nice story if they won it all.
As a Yankees fan, the Red Sox are the team I like to see win the least, but baseball wouldn’t be fun without the Red Sox. I love their fans, their stadium, their history, and the rivalry. The team I hate the most is the Texas Rangers, whose only redeeming quality is Nolan Ryan. Nolan Ryan was and remains awesome. Other than that, they are a putrid organization with a putrid history. If there’s any team in the American League I can support once the Yankees are defeated, it’s the Tigers. That’s who I’ll be pulling for to win the World Series.
I’d like to see a rematch of the 1968 and 2006 World Series, with Justin Verlander and Chris Carpenter on the mound for Game Seven.
