Baseball Awards

I think it remains that the '90 Reds are the only team to go wire to wire and sweep the WS

By the way, while we're so fixated on the Tigers-Twins, Colorado beat LA last night to pull within 1 game of the Dodgers.

Isn't it something that despite the Wild-Card, despite a 162 game season...it can all come down to the last weekend of the year? I love this game!

 

If the Rockies overtake the Dodgers, it would be similar to '06 when the Twins did that to the Tigers, but the Tigers still got the wild card. This year's collapse by the Tigers will be so much worse, since there is no wild card to fall back on. So sad...the city of Detroit could use some good news.

 

At either rate, the managerial jobs done by Tracy and Gardenhire have been Herculean.

 

Tied going into Sunday's game. Pavano will go on 3 days rest against Hocheavar (played at UT and a great Christian guy from a great Christian family). Exciting day tomorrow.

The Dodgers struck out the side in the first. They're coming up to bat. The Reds play well in Sept when it's meaningless as usual. Oh, speaking of "as usual" the Vols are stinking tonight.

 

Yep, I was right, unfortunately. No way the Tigers win the play-in game with the Twins turning on the fans to help blow out their players' fly balls. Of course, Porcello is a sinker-baller, so there is always a chance. I'd say they have about a 1% chance of winning.

And after the Twins win, I will become a rabid Yankees fan for about a week. Can't wait to see the Twins get crushed in the 1st round again. And game 3 will be in the MetroDump - it will be nice to see that place go out on a Twins loss.

 

I'm rooting for the Cardinals to win it all.

 

After chewing on this for a bit, wouldn't it be a sweet stroke of [baseball] justice if the Tigers were to euthanize the MetroDump by beating the Twins? Just think - the very last game in That Place ends in a Tiger victory over the Twins. Oh, the irony. I can dream, can't I?

If that were to happen, this collapse and subsequent disruption of our pitching rotation against the Yankees would be oh so worth it to me.

 

Tiger results against the Yankees:

W, 4-2
L, 0-11
L, 6-8
L, 3-5
L, 1-2
L, 1-2

Except for the 11-0 game, I see no "domination." Olney is a Northeast butt-kisser (pardon the saltiness). Yes, the Yankees are better and yes, it would be a big upset, but I think the Tigers could do it (more so than the Twins). They would have Verlander in games 2 and 5. If they split the first 2, anything can happen. 5-game series' are so unpredictable. That's why I'm an advocate of making the 1st round be 7 games, so it decreases the likelihood of the better team losing.

 

BTW, the 11-0 game was 0-0 thru 6 innings, and then the Yankees scored 10 in the 7th off rookie reliever Perry and the awful Nate Robertson. And in the 8-6 game, the Yankees scored 7 in one inning. So 17 of the Yankees' 30 runs came in 2 innings against the Tigers. Yeah, I like our chances (if we get there).

 

Olney is not the sharpest knife in the drawer as they say down south.

I know the Yankees have acquitted themselves well this year, but I do not think they are a juggernaut. Particularly if the Twins win tomorrow night and they take that momentum with them, watch out. I think the Tigers stand a chance against the Yanks, too. Truth be told, I think just about anyone can win the whole thing this year, and at the same time you can poke holes in everyone. The Cards are peaking right and have great Pitching. But did they peak too soon? The Dodgers have enough pitching to get them by, but can that get them by the Cards? The Rockies just win games however they can, but can their pitching hold up? The Phillies have been there before and have enough Offense to get there again, and oh by the way, their rotation isn't bad (But their bullpen is a concern). The Tigers make me scratch my head the most, but they have just enough to get the right mix of hot days. The Twins are the AL version of the Rockies (any question that Mauer is now the MVP?) but will they run out of gas? Anaheim may not have the Paris Hilton thing going on, but they just win Can they win the dance? And the Yanks and BoSox have the talent to win a series or two, but when hasn't that been the case?

In short, this should be fun. I can't wait to get home tomorrow and turn on the tussle at the Humphreybag.

 

Jackson was a flash - he reverted back to a no. 4 o 5 starter like he was in Tampa. The basic diff. between his good self and bad self is location of his slider and falling behind hitters.

Typical Tiger luck.

He's one reason why our chances against the Yankees could be real slim. If he got it back in time, we could be a tough playoff team.

 

Well, it was a classic game, one for the ages, yada yada. But as John Smoltz once said - I'm tired of losing all these classic games. I love classic games when I have no rooting interest, but when your team loses one, there's no consolation that it was a "classic."

Once again, the Luckiest Franchise is Sports History prevailed. And the home plate umpire made sure they prevailed - the ball hit Inge (I guess he was too quick for his own good). And Polanco got called out on a 3rd strike in the 9th that was an obvious ball.

I can't wait to see the Yankees sweep them. That's right, I'm rooting for the Yankees.

 

It was a game to watch, no doubt.

Andy, I know you're hurting and hate all things Minnesota, but the bad calls went both ways. Rodney was given a generous strike zone. But no question the Tigers got bad luck. The worst luck the Tigers had? Leyland being their manager. Pulled the SP too quick. Worked Rodney too long. Fundamental flaws, baserunning errors...the Tigers doomed themselves. They could've blown this thing open a time or two and let the Twins off the hook.

I replayed the Inge play a dozen times in slo mo. It was questionable, and I don't want a questionable call to decide a series. But even if the run had scored. Let's say the Tigers were up a run, I don't think Rodney could've held it and Leyland was going to sink or swim with him. The Twins had much more energy and emotion. At times I thought the Tigers were going through the motions. No wonder they coughed up a 7 game lead.

Go ahead: fire away at me, friend. I mean no offense by this. I just blame Leyland for so much. Trust me, I know what it's like to have a manager be an albatross. Remember, I'm a Reds fan.

 

I blame Leyland too - he is the master of the late season collapse. I think he should be fired.

It's funny, the play-in game was a miniature version of their entire season - get an early lead, leave tons of guys on base with their pathetic hitting, let the other team into it, and lose it in extras. That's 2009 in a nutshell.