rpic wrote:Best story in baseball this year is the Oakland A's. Any win in the post season, a post season their not even supposed to be in, by this rag tag bunch of misfits and rookies is a plus.
My first MLB game ever back in the early 70's watching a young Vida Blue on the mound.
LET'S - GO - OAKLAND (Boom....Boom...Boom,Boom,Boom)
I guess most people feel this about their teams, but I really have to disagree here - there is no bigger or better 'story' this year than the miraculous performance of the no-hope, perennial last place Nats in bringing post-season play to the D.C. area for the first time since 1933 - and doing it in style! - led the division virtually the entire season and finished with the best stats in baseball. All credit to the A's for their great catch-up race, but best story? Give me a break, only if you're from California.
I was thrilled to see both wild card games go the way I wanted because I decided that I'd rather see us play the Cards than the Braves, and because the O's are my hope/pick for the AL title.
I hope to see Detroit lose, because they're dangerous - and of course, congrats to Cabrera for his rare feat - and I'd like to see the Gigantes go through so that Jdawg and I can have some fun next week.
Network planners have really ****ed me up tonight, I need an extra tivo/dvr. The Redskins kick off at 7 pm, Barca-Real Madrid starts at 8, while the Nats start at 9. The plan is to watch the Skins till the Nats start, record the Barca game, then switch to recording the end of the Skins game (if there's any interest left) while watching the Nats on the pc.
It's hard work, but someone has to do it.
I'm looking forward to finding out if it's really true what they say about post season compared to regular season -
No other sport is an exact analogy, but trust me, people in towns with baseball traditions understand: October baseball bears no resemblance to the “pastoral” sport of April through September. The playoffs are more like the Myocardial Infarction Games.
And two reasons why Nats fans should be hopeful and optimistic -
This season, six of the remaining eight teams won 93 to 98 games — all very good, but little to choose among them. I’ve found only one stunning outlier factor. With their lineup finally healthy, the Nats hit 104 home runs after the all-star break compared to 63, 76 and 52for the Cardinals, Reds and Giants. That’s a huge gap. Against the best pitchers, the one-swing offense is the best solution in the playoffs.
Perhaps more important, the Nats have the right pitcher set to start Games 1 and, if necessary, 5. Gio Gonzalez has pitched only one complete-game shutout in his career. It was against the Cardinals five weeks ago (the only time he’s ever faced them). Gonzalez has the lowest batting-average-against of anyone in MLB and swing-and-miss stuff is golden in playoffs.
#Natitude
RIP Iron Man
Rock On and keep the Faith