I haven't seen an inning of the World Serious but that's work related/medical stuff that came up. But I have noticed that this is the first time that I have yet to meet, in person, anyone who is watching the World Series.
I'm serious. I haven't met a soul. No one talking about it, no one mentioning it.
I've been watching it from game 1 (actually, I've watched 95% of this postseason) and I have to say that it's been the best serious in a couple years. Is it the best that it could've been? No. Is it being played by the best teams? No. But after watching 2 years worth of the NL teams getting swept in incredibly boring series, this has been a welcome bunch of games.
Not sure this has been mentioned here or at DT, but I thought it was noteworthy (not because of Bonds, but just in general).
Under baseball's new collective bargaining agreement, a five-year deal reached Tuesday night, there is less of a time constraint on the Giants and Bonds to get something done on a new contract.
The previous labor agreement mandated that if the Giants had not offered Bonds arbitration by Dec. 7, they would be unable to sign him until May 1. Now, the club can still negotiate with Bonds, 42, even if it doesn't offer him arbitration by the new Dec. 1 deadline.
I'm having to follow on Gameday, but it looks to me like the Tigers have trouble with some fundamental aspects of the game, like throwing the ball to the fielder standing at the base
Pujols went around, McCLelland is the best umpire in baseball, and Pujols drops his bat, then whines at the strike three call. Then McClelland gives the eye of the ump.
With Duncan not getting an error there, Willie Davis breathes easier knowing that his mark of three errors in one World Series game by an outfielder is still safe.
Davis picked up all three errors in one inning to boot.
Whoever thought hiring that little troupe for the seventh inning stretch was a good idea should be fired. Whoever did the arrangement should be hanged.
I don't wish to take anything away from the Cardinals, as any team that wins a World Series has nothing to be downcast about. But has there ever been a Series this defined by what the runner-up did to lose? Again, to take nothing away from the performances of Carpenter or Eckstein or (for 7 1/3 innings, at least) Jeff Weaver, but when folks look back on this Series, they're largely going to remember the Tigers pitchers hurling nearly every ground ball hit their way into the Mississippi.
I'm thinking about similarly one-sided series -- the A's-Reds in '90, the Yanks-Pads in '98 -- and those seemed to be more about the victor overwhelming the other team as opposed to the losting team making mistake after mistake.
The press box is deemed substandard by the bbwaa. from the second row, you can't see the entire field - you can't see the centerfield fence - and if the ball is hit in the air, you have no idea where it's going. It's one of the highest press boxes in the league, and the trip from the press box to the visiting clubhouse is a long one, requiring you twice to weave your way through crowds of fans. It's the least accomodating facility in the league and compared to the facilities in other new parks, it's easily the worst. About the only ammunition the writers have to force a change is to try to get MLB to withhold the All-Star Game the team's owners badly want. (It's not just us; the PR staff is in a space with no windows and no air conditioning. And this is St. Louis, where summers can be bad.) There's no heat, no air conditioning and the windows are sheets of plastic that if you have to close them during the game make it like watching a game through your shower door.
Sure the Tigers are bumblers, but the Cards may get shutouts in two or the four wins and allow two runs in another. For a team with maligned pitching - and rightly so at times - they've come through here.
Wow, a four-hitter for Weaver. Did not see that coming.
Let me put on my Tim McCarver pants for a second. Sure, the Tigers made mistakes. But the Cardinals took advantage of them. Nobody remembers mistakes unless they end up losing games. If St. Louis doesn't follow seemingly every Tiger miscue with a base hit, it's a different series. And I like these guys OK. Except for Eckstein and the ex-Rockies I still can't believe started World Series games. Aaron Miles! Preston Wilson! It boggles the mind. Well, better they play for them than for us.
On behalf of sportswriters every where, I'd like to thank the Cardinals for not making us go back to Detroit. With the exception of the Detroit writers, who were going home anyway, I don't think anyone was looking forward to that trip.
And for the Eckstein bashers, this is from La Russa and Leyland before the game:
"I remember talking to Don Zimmer a couple of years ago,'' Tigers manager Jim Leyland said, "and he told me about him. He said, you look at him, you can't figure it out. And then during the course of the game he's in the middle of every single thing. He's gone after ground balls in a series, he's in the right spot every time. This guy is a heck of a player. And I think that it's unfair that he really doesn't get the credit that he deserves for having as much talent as he does. This guys is a very talented guy. And he's also obviously a very tough kid."
"To me,'' Cards manager Tony La Russa said, "what separates David is his stature. He's not especially big and especially strong, and he gets beat up. And if you're bigger and stronger, maybe it still hurts, but you have a chance to deal with the blows a little more. And he is just a man of iron. I look at ways guys slide into him and the way they beat him up and everything else he does and the way he responds, I think he's the toughest guy I've ever seen."
I'm serious. I haven't met a soul. No one talking about it, no one mentioning it.
Yeah, I got to get out more.
Under baseball's new collective bargaining agreement, a five-year deal reached Tuesday night, there is less of a time constraint on the Giants and Bonds to get something done on a new contract.
The previous labor agreement mandated that if the Giants had not offered Bonds arbitration by Dec. 7, they would be unable to sign him until May 1. Now, the club can still negotiate with Bonds, 42, even if it doesn't offer him arbitration by the new Dec. 1 deadline.
(And yes, you are your brother's keeper...)
Jeff Weaver seemed very much like his Dodger days there in reacting to a bad break.
Jeff Weaver seemed very much like his Dodger days there in reacting to a bad break.
The Cardinals pitchers made 7 and no pitcher had more than one.
Bad form, Albert. Bad form all around.
Let's see some 2003 here Pudge!!
Davis picked up all three errors in one inning to boot.
And Arthur Hill.
Followed closely by the Timmermanns...
My nominees in no order of preference
Eckstein
Rolen
Carpenter
Gene Tenace
Steve Yeager
Rick Dempsey
Some guy named Bench
But only one center fielder has ever been World Series MVP.
And that would be....
http://tinyurl.com/ymakhq
Bobsbro, what's the story about you guys not wanting an all-star game in that ballpark unless they upgrade the press boxes there?
How many voters are there in this election?
(Thanks, Wikipedia! Thanks for nothing, feeble brain!)
I'm thinking about similarly one-sided series -- the A's-Reds in '90, the Yanks-Pads in '98 -- and those seemed to be more about the victor overwhelming the other team as opposed to the losting team making mistake after mistake.
If owner the team's owners had heeded the Sklar twins' desperate pleas to "Save Our Busch"...
Jeff Weaver.
Amazing.
They could be dancing in the streets of Simi Valley tonight.
Or maybe in the new mall there.
God did not look favorably on that.
Let me put on my Tim McCarver pants for a second. Sure, the Tigers made mistakes. But the Cardinals took advantage of them. Nobody remembers mistakes unless they end up losing games. If St. Louis doesn't follow seemingly every Tiger miscue with a base hit, it's a different series. And I like these guys OK. Except for Eckstein and the ex-Rockies I still can't believe started World Series games. Aaron Miles! Preston Wilson! It boggles the mind. Well, better they play for them than for us.
Earliest known use of the word "wain" to mean wagon.
Man, that was a great part of that story.
You know, Tim, I bet Jim Leyland would be happy to deal with that problem at this point.
Must have been the adrenaline kicking in
Heh heh
USA! USA! USA!
No, no actually that's not true. I really enjoyed this World Series. Particularly the part where the Mets didn't win.
What of Torii Hunter's team...?
DeWitt: No. I do not. I'm going to ignore you. And talk about something else entirely.
Or words to that effect.
No way.
I think we can guess the answer to that question, Chris. And it involves brownies and Pink Floyd LPs.
That's kinda catchy...
Was that from your "Beowulf Concordance"?
There was woven gold laid on the wagon.
That's "The Google" to you, Ken
And for the Eckstein bashers, this is from La Russa and Leyland before the game:
"I remember talking to Don Zimmer a couple of years ago,'' Tigers manager Jim Leyland said, "and he told me about him. He said, you look at him, you can't figure it out. And then during the course of the game he's in the middle of every single thing. He's gone after ground balls in a series, he's in the right spot every time. This guy is a heck of a player. And I think that it's unfair that he really doesn't get the credit that he deserves for having as much talent as he does. This guys is a very talented guy. And he's also obviously a very tough kid."
"To me,'' Cards manager Tony La Russa said, "what separates David is his stature. He's not especially big and especially strong, and he gets beat up. And if you're bigger and stronger, maybe it still hurts, but you have a chance to deal with the blows a little more. And he is just a man of iron. I look at ways guys slide into him and the way they beat him up and everything else he does and the way he responds, I think he's the toughest guy I've ever seen."
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