Monday, October 29, 2007

End of the Season, for real

Thankfully, the slew of 12:15 a.m. ending games is over, as the Boston Red Sox completed the sweep of the Cinderella Colorado Rockies. At the same time, I'm glad that baseball games that end too late, and while it's chilly outside are over, it is, as always, sad to know that another baseball season has officially, really, come to an end. Strategically, MLB does everything it can to prolong the interest in the sport during the off-season, with its painfully slow gradual release of all the award winners, the Scott Boras adventures, as he shifts superstars to various teams all while making ludicrous amounts of money for them as well as himself, and then the inevitable checking in by pitchers and catchers, then the position players into their respective Florida or Arizona spring training facilities. For the time being, I'm going to sit back and relax a little bit, and try and focus on other sports.

Speaking of which, the Redskins got annihilated by the New England Patriots, and the greatest football player ever in the history of football, Tom Brady. So despite the fact that Brady threw for his 28th, 29th, and 30th touchdown passes, the fact that they beat the Redskins cements that the, and you heard it here first, New England Patriots will NOT make the Super Bowl. With the constant running of the score, and the blatant attempts for Brady and Moss to pad stats, someone's going to get pissed, and someone's going to get injured. Probably when the Patriots play the Baltimore Ravens. The ultimate test, is to simply put Bill Belichick on the cover of Madden 2008.

So despite my stat-tracking, and predictions of predictability and probability, the one guy who wins the MVP and two crappy gay hybrid cars, is the one guy whom I forgot to, and then failed to mention because I was too lazy to go back and change it, Mike Lowell. Really now, I would've mentioned his respectable average and run-production, and I even already had his picture uploaded to my folder of player pictures - but at the point in which I realized that I didn't add him, the game was already underway, and I was too lazy to go back and add him, as well as look up his World Series stats.

But Lowell deserved the award, as he came up big last night, and capped it all off with a home run. Drew and Manny fizzled out, and despite my jockeying for Ellsbury, his production just wasn't dramatic enough, and I thought for certain that the award was going to go to Papelbon after he earned his third World Series save, and this one after 1.2 innings of work in consecutive nights, but it was no surprise to me when Lowell showed up on the podium. He hit well in every game, and drove in runs, and did his job exceptionally, as a #5 hitter.

I'm glad the World Series is over, but I'm sad the baseball season is really finished now.

Despite this blog being heavily in favor of baseball, I will make my damnedest attempt to keep blogging about sports in general throughout the off-season. I still have a couple of baseball-related topics I'd like to cover, but hopefully, I will make some concious attempts to write about other things, like the fruitless flight of the Atlanta Hawks, or be another whiny argument about how I could improve the BCS and college football. Either way, it's going to be a long off-season.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

New England Saturation

You heard this here first - if the Washington Redskins beat the New England Patriots, I'm putting all my money on the Patriots to make the Super Bowl.

Cases in point - In 1996, the Washington Redskins beat the New England Patriots, 27-22. The Redskins squandered a 7-1 record, and missed the playoffs while the Patriots stomped on glass slipper of the Natrone Means and the Cinderella Jacksonville Jaguars, and went to the Super Bowl, where they got beat by the Green Bay Packers.

In 2003, the Patriots lost to the Redskins in week 4, 20-17. They then proceeded to win like the next one hundred games, including a Super Bowl victory, and rode their win streak to another Super Bowl victory in 2004.

Like I said, you heard it here first. Redskins win, Patriots succeed later on.


Well, it's been confirmed - the MVP of the World Series is getting a Malibu. And not just any Malibu, but a Hybrid Malibu. They took a gay car, and applied the gayness of hybrids to it, thus making it even gayer. And because the trade off of going from a Corvette the previous year to a fucking Malibu, GM decided to give away a second car to the MVP, which is Hybrid Yukon, or whatever other giant American Fuck-You-Mobile SUVs is on their lineup. Because of the sheer fact that pretty much everyone on the Red Sox roster is pretty much already rollin', the cars should go to Jacoby Ellsbury, who looks like he doesn't even have his learner's permit yet. I'm sure he has yet to get his set of exotics, seeing as how he's still making rookie money, but with the way he played last night, an inevitable payday is on the horizon. Besides, the kid just won everyone a free taco, which makes him an MVP in my book.

So let's look at those still in the running for the two pieces of shit cars:


STILL
the Front Runner

J.D. Drew, Right Field
5/11, .455 avg., 2 RBI, 2 2B






Likely Candidate based on Popularity

David Ortiz, Designated Hitter / First Base
4/12, .333 avg., 3 RBI, 3 2B






Still putting up Good Stats, but no Chance in Hell

Julio Lugo, Shortstop
4/10, .400 avg., 1 RBI, 1 2B






The Rightful Winner

Jacoby Ellsbury, Outfield
5/12, .417 avg., 3 RBI, 3 2B, 1 SB that won America a free taco






Snuck into the Running

Dustin Pedroia, Second Base
5/14, .357 avg., 4 RBI, 1 HR, 1 2B






Very Likely because he is the Ace Pitcher

Josh Beckett, Starting Pitcher
7.0 IP, 1.29 ERA, 9 Ks






The Closer is always a Candidate

Jonathan Papelbon, Closer
2.2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 2 Ks, 2 Saves





Like I said - none of these guys need two more cars, let alone crappy ones. One more to go, and then we can bid this baseball season adieu

Friday, October 26, 2007

Free Cars that Nobody will Want



In recent history, Most Valuable Players in sports championship games/series have been awarded with automobiles, along with a commemorative trophy. No better way to appeal these cars to the common man, by giving them to men who could really care less about having another car in their garage to go with their Ferraris, Mercedes, BMWs, and whatever exotic cars professional athletes with multi-million dollar salaries purchase.

Cases in point - Hines Ward, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, and Deion Branch all have Cadillacs to go along with their respective Super Bowl MVP award honors. And pictured above is last year's World Series MVP, St. Louis Cardinals shortstop, David Eckstein, and his brand-spanking new Chevrolet Corvette. Afterwards, Eckstein admitted to not knowing how to drive a stick-shift, and that he gave it to his brother. He probably also couldn't reach the pedals either, but let's not go there.

But the thing is, David Eckstein played his ass off, and rightfully earned Most Valuable Player honors. And for that distinction, he was given a 2007 Z06 Corvette. A car that is, for the lack of a better term, fast as shit. All the Caddys the Super Bowl MVPs win are either also fast as shit, or at least relatively pimpin'.

With the way the World Series are going now, and the trends of marketing occurring in between innings, it is safe to say that there stands a good chance that the inevitable MVP of the 2007 World Series is going to win a 2008 Chevrolet Malibu.


A MALIBU. A Chevy FUCKING Malibu.


If I were a potential MVP candidate, and the series were already locked up, I would do something totally stupid like drop a pop fly, or lay down a sac bunt with two outs to totally blow my chances to win this car, just so I could avoid further IRS tax scrutiny. A Caddy, I'd love, a Corvette, would I never deny. But a Malibu? Just what is MLB trying to say?

So let's take a look at the possible Malibu winners here...






















<empty>

The Front Runner


J.D. Drew, RF
4/7, .571 AVG, 2 RBI, 2B






<empty>

But Likely Winner


Manny Ramirez, LF
4/8, .500 AVG, 2 RBI, 2B






<empty>

Candidate based on popularity


David Ortiz, DH
3/8, .375 AVG, 2 RBI, 2B (2)






<empty>

Unlikely, but good stats


Julio Lugo, SS
3/7, .428 AVG, RBI






<empty>

Very Likely because pitchers are eligible for this MVP


Josh Beckett, SP
7.0 IP, 1.29 ERA, 9 Ks






<empty>

The Relief Pitcher who gets some huge clutch outs


Hideki Okajima, RP
2.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 4 Ks, 1 Hold






<empty>

The Closer always is considered


Jonathan Papelbon, RP-CL
1.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 2 Ks, 1 Save

 


Out of all these guys, I couldn't see Manny Ramirez in a Malibu. David Ortiz couldn't fit into a Malibu, and Lugo would just lower it, put some mis-matched rims, body panels, and a huge exhaust on it. Drew and Beckett, being the good-ol' boys they really are, would probably give it to a cousin or something. Papelbon is just a plain weirdo, and could take it, but that pretty much leaves Okajima. He'd probably enjoy it, because it would cap off a relatively glowing rookie season, and since he's going to get shafted out of the Rookie of the Year honors by a teammate, it'd be nice for him to have something. That, and Japanese people are enamored by American shit - no doubt a Malibu would be the equivalent of drinking his first Budweiser.

But let's be realistic here - if America got to choose the MVP for the World Series, we all know who it's going to:


Benny "The Jet" Rodriguez Jacoby Ellsbury.


For winning all of us fat out-of-shape sweat-hog motherfuckers a free Taco Bell taco.

Monday, October 22, 2007

Indians Wi--I mean, lose...

Well, it was a good run for the Fighting Injuns, who despite it all, decided to outsource their talent into obliteration as what was up until tonight such a perfect game plan went awry. But deep down inside, I wasn't sure who I was rooting for, because there was a small, majority part of me that wanted to be a fair-weathered fan and have an excuse to wear my Boston Red Sox paraphenilia, despite my not-quite as glowing feelings for them since actually having gone to Boston, and having real Red Sox fans in my own backyard - just that mentality that it's good to be on the winning side, for a change... that is, until the Red Sox get p0wned by the Colorado Rockies, and their pretty much flawless attack from every aspect of the game. But anyway, since the ride is now over, here it is...



Eventually, when I get back from Las Vegas, I will go on and post the "What should've been" images for the remaining for victories that the Cleveland Indians will not have.

It's been a good run, and I'm kind of sad to see it end. If the Rockies win, I will be content that such a Cinderella story came to fruition, but at this point, I kind of really don't care.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Atlanta's future WNBA team

As much as I hate to interrupt the march of the Indians, but this cannot wait.

Apparently, the City of Atlanta is in line to receive a WNBA team, since you all know, the WNBA still exists and occurs each summer, apparently. But anyway, someone on the Atlanta-area Craig's List put up an open question to the people:

What should Atlanta's WNBA team be named?

See for yourself. Who knows how long that link will remain valid, seeing as it's on Craig's List...

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Indians Win! SIX down, five to go

All morning long, the media said "Red Sox lose." No mention of "Cleveland wins," or "Colorado Rockies advance to first World Series ever." Often, I say that I dislike sports media, despite the fact that I would give a kidney to be able to get paid to write about sports all day long. But websites like si.com, which I might add is housed in Atlanta, Georgia, all seem to have this fascination with the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and New York Mets. And Barry Bonds. No credit to those who deserve it. Like the Colorado Rockies. And the Cleveland Indians... whom speaking of which:



Tim Wakefield took it up the butt, and now the Cleveland Indians are on the brink of the World Series. Rest up while Beckett pounds them in Game 5, and then rape Schilling en route to the Series.

FOX's "pitcher-cam" or whatever the fuck they call it sucks. The grainy, slow-mo, slightly delayed "cinematic" look, and then boom, back to real-time bullshit has got to stop. I know closeups of the pitcher's face prior to the pitch is good for building suspense and shows possibly anxiety, but with the cinematic cam, it's plain gay.

Anyway - SIX wins down, five to go.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Indians Win! FIVE down, six to go

When it comes to baseball on the grandest stage of them all, meaning playoffs, in Major League Baseball, there is something that international players lack. I had a bad feeling for Boston fans knowing that Daisuke Matsuzaka was taking the mound for the Red Sox, since he hasn't been pitching that well. Not just recently, but throughout the whole year - the Matsuzaka that owned everyone in the World Baseball Classic while representing his home country of Japan didn't seem to make it to America at the start of this season. But there are more words to be had on that topic another time, because for the time being...



That's right, bitches. The win parade keeps on marching. The Injuns need to march into Colorado and plant a big-ass casino and international IT-call center en route to owning the Rockies.

FIVE wins down, six more to go. Nuggas.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Indians Win! FOUR down, seven to go

Holy shit that was a long game. I knew when Gagne took the mound that something was going to happen - it was like Boston did everything they could to avoid having to use this weak link. I also knew that Schilling was running his mouth again, and that when the day was over, the probability of him sucking was higher than him being Mr. October again. Anyway, without further ado...



Five hours and 15 minutes, and the Indians scoring seven runs in the top of the 11th, the final three being outsourced the shit out of Fenway Park. What a crazy fucking game.

Four wins down, seven to go.

Monday, October 8, 2007

Indians Win! THREE down, eight to go

Indians Win!
Indians Win!
Indians Win!
Indians Win!



THREE wins down, eight more to go.

Friday, October 5, 2007

Indians Win! TWO down, nine to go

Believe me, I've already got all eleven of these ready to go.



Two wins down, nine more to go.

Indians Win! One Down, Ten to Go

When it comes to watching sports, if you are to actually enjoy yourself, there has to be something to root for. That being said, with the baseball playoffs now underway, and my Atlanta Braves nowhere in the picture, I've pretty much decided who I want to win each divisional series, and whom I want to ultimately win it entirely. So far, so good.



I have decided that I am rooting for the Cleveland Indians to win it all, for one reason, and one reason only.

To be able to post politically-incorrect, misunderstood, demographic-ignorant, shoddily photoshopped pictures of the Cleveland Indians with each win... or elimination... for my own amusement, and for the amusement of those who know my demented humor, and get it themselves.

One win down, ten more to go.

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

The Inevitable Changes in Modern Sports

In the novel, For the Love of the Game, protagonist Billy Chapel is essentially an old school player living in the modern era. He loves the game, and the thought of playing for a team other than the one he played for his entire career is one that has never really crossed his mind throughout his tenure in the big leagues. He is paid generously, but there is speculation that throughout his career, a large amount of money has been left on the table due to his earnest willingness to continue playing for his team, and simplicity in negotiating the financial aspect of doing his job. Never any agents, and always with a handshake with the owner of the team. Even the owner himself has questioned Chapel's lack of argument when it came to the financial aspect. To Chapel, he's paid well; more than enough to live a comfortable lifestyle, and it's while getting to do what he loves most - play baseball.

Even with the most marginal of talent, the minimum salaries in professional sports at the major level are more than enough for a person to comfortably live off of, with minimal maintenance. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to tell you that it's financially irresponsible to own a Hummer, Maserati, Lamborghini, and a Benz, when one can do just fine with a top-end Lexus. But I'm getting beside the point, which is that the modern sports era is one that is purely tainted by money, greed, and luxury, and I often question where the love of the game has simply gone?

Sports fans of any sport nowadays will endure the feeling of change, when a player moves elsewhere, for whatever reasons, most typically, financially. I think it's certainly more frequently than back when our parents and their parents watched sports - back then, there were more Billy Chapels, and less agents, and a seemingly better understanding that get paid to play sports was more of a privilege than a right. Sometimes, the changes are understandable, sometimes they don't really bother us, because it's a player from a team that we might be indifferent to. Lots of times, change occurs with the teams that we religiously follow, which hurts the most. Always though, change takes some time to let sink in, because it's going to be a little strange.

Cases in point -

• Ken Griffey, Jr. departs from the Seattle Mariners, and goes to the Cincinnati Reds. How accustomed did we all grow seeing Junior in the green and navy blue of the Mariners, to see him don the red and white of the Reds? I didn't even really follow baseball much back then, and I was like, wtf?

• Allen Iverson traded from the Philadelphia 76ers to the Denver Nuggets. Iverson grew up in Virginia, played college ball at Georgetown, and went pro to the 76ers. For his entire career to that point, his entire life was spent in the chunk of the Atlantic coast, mostly making his name at Georgetown. Even when he went to the 76ers, there was always a sense of pride in this guy that at first, liked it there, because he was "close to home," referring to Washington/Virginia. And now he's out in fucking Colorado, because he's now a douche who couldn't get along with management. Just because it happened in one place doesn't mean it'll never happen again. I wouldn't be surprised to see him have to move again in his career. Regardless though, black-red-white Iverson was a staple of the game - but now we're subject to the light blue-gold-white of the Nuggets, and that's just.. weird.

• Mike Mussina goes to the Yankees. Because Peter Angelos is a stingy jew, Mussina does what most players with good talent do - accept Yankee money, and then put on Yankee pinstripes. This, saddened me, because I have glowing memories of the 1997 ALCS, where the scientific Mussina struck out fifteen Cleveland Indians, in an extra-innings heartbreaker. With him gone, and the inevitable retirement of Cal Ripken, Jr., I would never have any reason to like the Orioles ever again.

• Drew Bledsoe throws up his arms and goes to Buffalo. Bledsoe was the Patriots, long before Tom Brady showed up and started spreading his seed everywhere, impregnating all the hot womens. Bledsoe has to have had one of the most ironic careers in sports history, starting with the fact that during his tenure with the Patriots, they were never really bad, and once good enough to go all the way to the Superbowl in 1996. He got his ring in 2001, but that was after his injury, and Brady stepped to the plate, and Drew had to earn it on someone else's coat tails. Naturally, sensing the directional change of the team, he goes to the Bills, and in his first game with the Bills, he leads them to a humiliating blowout win over his former team. Unfortunately, that would be the highlight of his career with the Bills, as they proceeded to pretty much lose every game after that, and then he went to Dallas where he did shit there too.

• Pedro Martinez leaves the Boston Red Sox, and goes to the New York Mets. To me, this is probably the biggest move that I can think of currently. Pedro WAS Boston. Throughout the 90s, and into the 2000s, when anyone mentioned the Red Sox, the guy synonymous with the team was Pedro, quite possibly the greatest pitcher of the 90s. The city of Boston had reason to celebrate every five days in the summer, aptly described as "Pedro Martinez Day." In 2004, the Red Sox got their shit together, and actually won it all. Promptly afterwards, Pedro balks at Boston's generous 4-year deal, and accepts the equivalently generous 5-year deal from the Mets. The red, the B, of the Red Sox no more. Instead, he donned the blue and orange, sometimes pinstriped, and always ugly blue baseball glove of the Mets. Now that was weird.

There are far other examples, and I don't count the ones that contain players well past their prime, like Patrick Ewing going to the Sonics and then the Magic, or Hakeem Olajuwon going to the fucking Raptors.

**

Now what I'm getting to is the recent news that the Atlanta Braves have decided to not deal with Nazi-agent Scott Boras, and therefore allowing Andruw Jones to cut ties from the one organization he's been playing with for his twelve-year career. Basically, unless Andruw comes back with just his dad and no Boras, and says he'll play for Atlanta for the rest of his career for half of what he's initially looking for, there's a 99% chance that Andruw Jones is done for with the Atlanta Braves.

There are times where the guy has infuriated me, especially this season. I marched out of Fenway Park after Andruw Jones struck out for the fifth time against Papelbon, drunkenly screaming to everyone that "if you want Andruw Jones so bad you can fucking keep him I don't want him coming back to Atlanta with me". I cursed his existence when he pulled a Jose Vidro, and grounded into a double play to end the game at Shea, against an evidently struggling Billy Wagner. The constant rally-killing strikeouts, the poor body language. At times, I hated Andruw Jones.

But as the season began winding down, and Mark Teixiera started heating up, it was Andruw Jones, quietly improving his numbers from the seven-spot. Realization sunk in that Andruw Jones' Atlanta career was slowly, and quietly dying. I thought back to 2005, when Andruw cranked out 51 home runs, and how amazing he was. 2007 was no question, a fluke in his career, and he will be back very soon, with another 35 homer, 120 RBI season.

Unfortunately, it will probably in all likelihood not be for the Atlanta Braves.

In 2005, I remember logging onto SI.com, and seeing a picture of Pedro Martinez wearing a Mets jersey, and hat, while smiling brightly for the camera. I grimaced, and did the "OJ Simpson on Trial" face at that sight. I dread the day I go onto SI.com, and see a picture of Andruw Jones wearing someone else's jersey.

But it's going to happen.

And that makes me sad.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Goodbye Summer

At 12:17 a.m. EST, this morning, whether or not Matt Holliday touched home plate or not, the Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres in the bottom of the 13th inning, in the rare edition of the 163rd game of the season, to take the last and final place in the playoffs as the National League's Wild Card. All I have to say is that despite my general indifference towards either of the two teams, I was pulling for the Padres to pull it out, and needless to say, I was disappointed. But not for long. This was just a game that anyone could tell the Rockies just wanted more, and in a battle of attrition, the home team usually pulls it out.

This game was in every sense of the word, beautiful.

Two teams that played their hearts out and left absolutely everything on the field. It really doesn't matter what the Rockies do from this point, because there is little they can do except win the World Series that can reach this level this season. Neither team gave up at any time of the game, and when the game finally reached it's end, it had a little bit of everything, just enough to make this one of the greatest games ever played.

• Blood
• Sweat
• Tears
• Constant ties
• Blown saves
• A grand slam
• Controversial calls
• Extra innings

There were so many great individual performances last night, and my mind is still scrambling, trying to remember them all. The guy that stands out the most to me would have to be Padres reliever, Heath Bell, whom with his 2.2 innings of work would just not cave in, and threw some ballsy pitches to some of the best hitters all year, and when he sat down, had struck out five. He epitomized the raw emotion and desire to win, even if it meant shouldering the burden, and this was clearly evident, when he struck out Holliday to end the inning, and for an entire second, the only thing that could be heard was this triumphant roar from Bell. On a night where, and as Joe Morgan was quick to point out... several times... but on a night when Jake Peavy wasn't quite Jake Peavy, Bell sure as hell came out of the bullpen, and did his best impression for 2.2 innings.

Speaking of Peavy, the guy just didn't have his stuff last night. I can't say it was nerves, because the mark of a good pitcher is how they settle down and put the clamps down onto the other team, but all night long, Peavy had difficulty finding the strike zone, and his pitches lacked the bite and late-movement that I had seen him punish the Braves with on several occasions. The fact that he went 118 pitches in over six innings may have hurt the Padres, with his inability to preserve the lead at any given time. He has probably in already won the National League's Cy Young since he's the triple-crown pitcher and his accomplishments are not to be dismissed by any means, but if there was ever a game that he needed to be even 80%, yesterday was it.

Matt Holliday, I was hoping would have gone 0-5, so that Chipper Jones could win the batting title. But to ask of that from someone whom is having an MVP-caliber season is pretty much riding on hopes and dreams. I think he went 2-4 or 2-5 or something, with possibly two BBs, but the bottom line is that with his MVP-caliber performance last night, he secured both the batting title, the RBI title, and if not for the fact that award balloting ended two days ago, he probably would've won National League MVP. The triple in the bottom of the 13th was heart-wrenching, and despite the questionability of the game-winning slide that shouldn't have been game-winning, it was only putting off the inevitable; the Rockies would've probably won that game in the 15th, 16th, or 18th for all we know - I just see it as doing me a favor and letting me go to sleep.

Mike Cameron - can we say that this guy has balls, or can we say that this guy, or maybe it's Bud Black, is just stupid? Who knows. All I know is that I'd never seen a man look so miserable in his entire life until I'd seen Cameron sitting on the bench, watching as Clark made three bad plays in center field that Cameron would have made look easy. And it was evidently too much for him to handle, as injured hand or not, he came in to pinch-run, and then to play his rightful position for two innings. I know the guy is entering free-agency, and he wants to show off, but one bad defensive play, and he could've seriously messed himself up.

When Jorge Julio came out in the top of the 13th, I silently rejoiced, but dared say nothing - I'd seen this guy wildly pitch away in Florida to know that he was a ticking time bomb, and that this amount of pressure would've been crippling to a weak-minded guy like him. All was justified, when he gave up the two-run jack to Hariston, and I was on my feet. I almost found it humorous when the guy to clean up his mess was none other than Ramon Ortiz, a former Nationals starter whom I was used to seeing get victimized, by like everyone. Miraculously, he managed to get out of the inning without letting more damage through.

A funny feeling came over me when we reached the bottom of the 13th inning. No, not from TBS camera crew constantly focusing on the hot blonde in the front row behind the Rockies' on-deck circle (bless them), but one of those funny gut-feelings that something just isn't quite right. The greatest closer of all time, Trevor Hoffman taking the mound in the bottom of the 13th, to attempt to close out the Rockies and clinch the final playoff spot for the Padres. The Rockies, sending the top of their order to eliminate the defecit and keep the game going. Something inside of me, and I said this at 12:02 a.m., 15 minutes prior to the winning run coming in, that "with Matt Holliday, anything is possible."

Bell, Brocail, Thatcher - all these guys did one hell of a job last night, keeping the Rockies off the scoreboards. They all also do something else - throw heat. Anywhere from 92-96 mph, these guys had Rockies batters off balance and unable to catch up to their fastballs when thrown.

I like Trevor Hoffman, and I will declare him the best closer ever, unless Mariano Rivera can take the all-time saves title from him, which doesn't seem likely anymore. But if there's one thing Hoffman doesn't do anymore now, is what all his prior bullpen mates did do - throw heat. His fastball tops at around 86-88 mph, and his changeup struggles to find the strike zone at around 75 mph. After dealing with flame throwers, this was the perfect velocity for Rockies hitters to see softballs coming down the pipe. Not Tim Wakefield slow, but not Joel Zumaya fast. Perfect speed.

I saw this coming when Kaz doubled to start the inning, and then all of a sudden, I knew right then and there that this game was over, and it was just a matter of time when. I figured Tulowitzki was going to bunt or something to get Kaz over, but he instead batted him in, and the Holliday batted him in immediately afterwards. Hoffman was maybe a little fatigued, from having been warmed up three times prior to actually pitching, but I can't fault Bud Black for going to the all-times saves leader, for just one more.

And then the rest was history. I laughed at Carroll's post game ignorance:

"IF YOU DON'T MIND, I'D LIKE TO GO CELEBRATE"
"Well, there's someone hurt over there"
"WHO?????"
"...Matt Holliday. The guy you just batted in. The guy who just won the game for you"
"OH I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED"

I laughed my ass off at this one. Was he serious? Was Carroll on such a high, that he couldn't even remember who he just batted in for the winning run?

After four hours and 40 minutes, the last game of the season ended, and therefore, summer has officlaly ended. In terms of pure baseball, there wasn't anything much better than the 163rd game. Both teams left everything out on the field, and the Rockies weren't just the only winners last night, we as baseball fans won, too.

Monday, October 1, 2007

The rare Game #163

Summer is not over yet. Baseball will push the sun up one more time, and give us one more day of regular season baseball. Tomorrow is the real first day of Autumn, as after tonight, the final game of the season will be played, and the state for the playoffs will be set.

But tonight, we as baseball fans, get to witness something that hasn't been seen in the better part of a decade - Game 163.

For one night only, Jake Peavy will take the mound, and the visiting San Diego Padres march into Coors Field in Colorado to take on Matt Holliday, Todd Helton, Troy Tulowitzki, and the rest of the upstart Rockies, where everything, is on the line.

Padres vs. Rockies. Think about it, that doesn't sound like a game any of us would watch, unless we're a die-hard Padres fan, or a die-hard Rockies fan. Unless there are absolutely no other games being played in DirecTV's MLB package, I wouldn't think about sitting down to watch this one. Not even if it were Peavy/Maddux vs. Jeff Francis or something marquee.

But tonight's match-up is something special. For one of these teams tonight, this is the last game of the season. The winner is the National League Wild Card, and is guaranteed three more games, and more if they can ride this wave longer. The loser will probably suffer the worst defeat possible - on the cusp, the bubble, right on the edge - of a chance at the post-season, only to fall short. And then a winter of questions will begin:

• What if Trevor Hoffman didn't blow the save against ______?
• If Holliday's warning-track hit were in Colorado instead of Philly, wouldn't it have gone out?
• Why did we get Michael Barrett??

On any other given night throughout the summer, I wouldn't care about this game. Personally, I have my own reasons for watching this game tonight, and I intend to be in front of my television at 7:35 EST to see this.

• Probable NL Cy Young winner Jake Peavy vs. Probable NL MVP Matt Holliday who also happens to be the current batting champion. Peavy wins tonight, he gets 20 wins, a perfect compliment to the AL's Josh Beckett. But in order to get that win, I would ideally like him to 0-fer Holliday, whom with a theoretical 0-4 or 0-5 performance tonight, would solidify Atlanta's Chipper Jones as the batting champion for 2007. Yes, regardless of the award balloting goes, the votes are already in, contrary to what MLB.com wants you to believe. But in terms of statistics, Game 163 IS a regular-season game, and yes, these stats DO count.

• TBS is broadcasting this game - yesterday marked the final Braves broadcast on TBS, which was kind of a melancholy thing for me. I don't agree with the direction of the station, and they're doing everything to eliminate the past from the present from me, the dismissal of WCW pro-wrestling, and now the killing-off of Atlanta Braves baseball. They're even changing the channel number, from the "Channel 17" most people have grown accustomed to throughout the last three decades. Furthermore, with the killing of Braves on TBS, but the beginning of Postseason on TBS, I am curious to get a preview of the new crew - from what I know, it is Chip Caray and Cal Ripken, Jr. among a cast of who-knows-else. Like 'em or hate 'em, tonight's the night to get a sample of what we're going to be hearing for the next two weeks.

• It's Game 163. When was the last time we saw one? 1999? This is it, if there was ever one game to watch where two teams are going to leave it all out on the field, that is tonight. It's a playoff game, and yet it isn't. Tonight, loser goes home, and winner takes all. But winner taking all still means they have received nothing at all, except for a chance.

God, baseball is a wonderful thing.