Wednesday, September 28, 2011

GAME 162:  Wow.  My dad has a habit of saying "well, it all comes down to this" during moments in sporting events which are not, in fact, always outcome determinative, but this is going to be quite a night in Major League Baseball, the culmination of and reward (or punishment) for six months of attention. Boston, Tampa, and Atlanta's games all start at 7pm EDT; the Cardinals an hour later. Get ready, and good luck.

This afternoon, of course, the eyes of the baseball world will be upon Miami Gardens, Florida, for the unlikely-to-be-emotional closing ceremony for the last game to be played at the unfriendly confines of Joe Robbie Stadium Pro Player Park Pro Player Stadium Dolphins Stadium Dolphin Stadium Land Shark Stadium Sun Life Stadium, home of two World Series champions over its 19-year span. Among the notable former Marlins expected to appear are Kurt Abbott, Antonio Alfonseca, Bruce Aven, Rickey Bones, Charlie Hough and ... oh, come on, it's the Marlins. Some kid named Strasburg will start for the visiting Nationals.

23 comments:

  1. Meghan9:01 AM

    So, speaking of the Marlins, did anyone watch "Catching Hell" last night, the documentary about the Steve Bartman incident?  I really enjoyed it, even though it caused me to reflect on my own sports obnoxiousness.  I vaguely remembered what happened but didn't have the particulars down.  Watching the scenes where they were able to make the crowd black and white but keep the color for the fans around him whom the doc was specifically addressing was pretty cool.  Maybe I'm just amused by tricks like that. 

    I hope he's living a peaceful life somewhere now, though I supposed things like the doc don't make it easier on him.

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  2. victoria9:12 AM

    I can't believe the fricking Astros couldn't hold a 5-0 lead. Well, it's probably more accurate to say that I can't believe the Astros toyed with my hopes by improbably getting out to a 5-0 lead before they inevitably blew it.

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  3. Normally, I'd be cheering mighty hard for the Red Sox to make the play-offs.  But the way this season has gone - especially its first two weeks and its last month - I don't see there being much benefit to the Sox actually making the play-offs.  How is THIS pitching staff supposed to win ONE play-off series, never mind winning three.  If the Sox DO get in, I don't see them lasting more than another 4 games.  (And, no, that's not to complain about the state of sports in Boston.  It's just that I don't think this Red Sox team deserves to be in the play-offs.)

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  4. Adam C.11:34 AM

    I can't say I care who takes either wild card, but it's been wildly entertaining watching as an outsider while the last 3-4 weeks have led us to this moment.  Hoping for spirited battles tonight (and sure, it's greedy, but maybe also tomorrow?).

    I confess to feeling some surprise that Dutch Daulton was apparently unavailable for the Marlins' big ceremony.

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  5. Anonymous11:35 AM

    Would you believe this Tiger fan is cheering for Texas tonight so that Texas gets the #2 seed and hosts Tampa/Boston?

    I figure we are going to have beat the Yankees no matter what to make the World Series. I'd rather take them on in a best of five with Verlander and Fister starting on the road than deal with a best of seven and a scrambled rotation in the ALCS.

    It worked in 2006. I think we could get an early KO again.

    Opinions?

    --bd

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  6. I care, because I'd much rather face Arizona than St Louis in round one.  Maybe I'm being irrational.  Here's the scenarios, via MLB.com:

    <span>L</span><span>ike the AL, the battle for the No. 2 seed in the NL is down to the wire. After the Brewers came back for a win over the Pirates, the D-backs outdid them with a six-run 10th inning against the Dodgers, winning on Ryan Roberts' walk-off grand slam. The Brewers still have a one-game lead over the D-backs -- a lead they must maintain to gain the second seed, because the D-backs went 4-3 against Milwaukee in the regular season to gain the tiebreaker edge.</span>

    <span>Since the two NL Wild Card contenders are from different divisions, all we know now is that the Phillies will host one of two NLDS games on Saturday. </span><span>As it stands, with the Brewers ahead of the D-backs, the No. 1 Phillies would play the No. 3 D-backs and the No. 2 Brewers would play the Braves if they win the Wild Card. If the D-backs overtake the Brewers for No. 2 and it's still the Braves, then it'd be Phillies vs. Brewers and D-backs vs. Braves. If the Cardinals take the Wild Card, it would be Phillies vs. Cardinals and Brewers vs. D-backs, with the home field in the latter going to the team that ultimately wins the No. 2 seed.</span>

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  7. I'm just so proud of my Orioles for their play this September.

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  8. Jordan12:15 PM

    It's also a big game for the Phillies.  Last night they tied the team record for wins in a season, clinched a tie for highest winning percentage (originally set in the 19th century), and Charlie Manuel tie the team record for most wins by a Phillies mannager.  So yeah, tonight is big for us, too.

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  9. BBTF readers are compiling a checklist for tonight:

    <span>Rain Delay [ ]
    Ryan Lavarnaway went to Yale [ ]
    Russell Martin shows his hatred towards the Red Sox [ ]
    Moneyball reference [ ]
    Pujols-in-final-year-of-contract mention [ ]
    The manager of a contending team is thrown out [ ]
    Buck Showalter is thrown out [ ]
    The manager of a spoiler team other than the Orioles is thrown out [ ]
    Matt Wieters does something makes Red Sox fans take his name in vain [ ]
    LaRussa does what LaRussa does as far as the bullpen [ ]
    Tito leaves someone in too long [ ]
    The Cards-Astros game is in the 7th inning or later when the last EST timezone game is finished [ ]
    Carl Crawford appears to be a double-agent for the Rays [ ]
    Pujols goes deep [ ]
    Somebody in one of the other games today does something noteworthy like a No-no or hitting 3 home runs or something [ ]
    Dramatic home run 7th inning or later [ ]
    Shot of out-of-town scoreboard showing score of game of other contending team [ ]
    Use of Starter in relief [ ]
    Selig has heart attack []</span>
    <span>Clay Buchholz pitches [ ]
    Triple play [ ] 
    Bucky Dent mention [ ]
    Red Sox announce trade for Ted Lilly/Bruce Chen/some other pitcher [ ]</span>
    <span>Extra innings [ ]
    Aaron Laffey finally getting Casey Kotchman out [ ] 
    Three relievers in the same half inning [ ]</span>

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  10. I'm seeing talk of Hamels coming in for a few innings after Blanton.

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  11. chuckie12:37 PM

    Seconded.  If we can take out the Red Sox, it will go a little ways towards soothing what has been yet another lost "this is really the year we turn it around" season. 

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  12. Adam C.12:53 PM

    You might be being irrational.  No doubt the Cards have better hitters than ARI (who has no one to compare to Pujols/Berkman/Holliday), but ARI's rotation, at least at the top (Kennedy and Hudson), is appreciably better than STL's, and its bullpen has been more reliable.  I'm not suggesting our hitters have had great success this season against any of these options -- PHI's team numbers against all of the potential playoff opponents are not particularly good.  But I think we have more of a chance to make some noise with the bats against STL, and let our rotation handle the rest.

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  13. briggsy1:18 PM

    long time reader, first time commenter.  go cards!  note: i should be excused for this simplistic comment because although i grew up in st. louis i now live in seattle where no one cares about: 1) the cardinals, 2) baseball, 3) sports other than soccer where they can wear their scarves and casually surf the net whilst on their iphones at games.  ugh. 

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  14. Mr. Cosmo1:42 PM

    You're not alone, Briggsy.  Solid Cardinal contingent around here. 

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  15. Meghan2:12 PM

    I hear you.  I kind of just want it to end already.

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  16. Scott2:23 PM

    Co-signed,

    Nats Fans

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  17. Adam C.2:41 PM

    So Mr. Cosmo and briggsy, what's your take on the Cards' strengths/weaknesses?  And is there a NLDS matchup you'd prefer, assuming it works out for them today and/or tomorrow?

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  18. Cardinals can only face the Phillies in the first round.  

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  19. Mr. Cosmo3:26 PM

    It's all about the roll.  In 2006, the Cardinals won a grand total of 83 games, and then won the World Series.  (Of course, a major portion of that was the good fortune of having Izzy get injured and replacing him with Wainwright.)  This year's Cardinals team has "underperformed" all year according to advanced metrics -- e.g., their projected win totals were consistently higher than their actual win totals based on run differential.  This month's run is largely a regresison to the norm, with the Cardinals winning a bunch of 1-run games and evening out the projections (or kharma, or whatever).
    The human factor that creeps in, though, is that they don't panic.  They've been down 4-5 runs a number of times in the past week, but haven't panicked.  They didn't panic after blowing the 4-run 9th-inning lead against the Mets.  So I think their strength is that even after 6-7 innings from Oswalt, Hamels, Lee, Hallady (geez, that's impressive just to write), they would still be expecting to score runs in the 8th and 9th. 
    Their great weakness, of course, is their starting pitching.  Yeesh.

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  20. Jenn.5:51 PM

    As Liz Lemon would say:  "Blerg." 

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  21. J. Bowman8:43 PM

    My opinion is that the Tigers can take the Yankees either way.

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  22. JosephFinn12:05 AM

    Hooray for the Orioles!

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  23. Anonymous12:08 AM

    Holy crap what a night. MLB network and Bud Selig's wet dream. And this was with Tampa/NYY still going. (Edited to add, Longoria homer in the shortest way possible, now that's over as well, no game 163)

    Good luck with the Rays, Texas.

    --bd

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