Qiute agree, Brad. It was my impression, especially with Gibson and Drysdale, that the batter was taking his welfare in hand if he tried to dig in at the plate against these guys. Drysdale thought nothing of buzzing a pitch past the chin of a batter. It was part of their arsenal. Intimidation was just another pitch. Besides, those guys were taught to finish what they started and the only way to do that is to make the batter less agressive, less confident, and less comfortable at the plate. They all excelled at that. -- Al
Baseball 2011 (2 Viewers)
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Make or break day for the Bosox and Rays. Best case scenario for the Bosox; they sweep the 2 games against the NYY and the Rays lose. This gives the Bosox a 3 game lead with 3 games left. Best case for the Rays; the Bosox lose both games and the Rays win, leaving a dead tie for the wildcard with 3 games left. Basically, the Rays have to win for them to have any chance. If they lose, Boston can lose both games and still be 1 game ahead. The Rays just cannot afford to lose. Even if Boston splits, a Rays loss leaves them 2 games back with just the 3 to play and then the Rays have to play the NYY while the Bosox draw the O's for the final 3 games. Advantage Boston. If Boston chokes the 2 games in NY today, and leave the weekend tied for the wildcard, they're toast. The momentum will be with the Rays, regardless of who they play in the final games. The pitching match-ups in todays games favor the Rays. They are throwing a 10 game winner, at home, against the Blue Jays who are throwing a 4 game winner. The Bosox go into the crucial doubleheader in NY with no better options than 7 game winner Wakefield (5.08 ERA) and 12 game winner Lackey (6.49 ERA!). I feel Boston will be fortunate to escape with a split. The Yanks are matching them with AJ (Gopher Ball) Burnett (10-11, 5.28 ERA
) against Wakefield and rookie sensation Nova (16-4, 3.62 ERA) against Lackey in the second game. Wakefield has the best chance for Boston. All this said, it is still crucial for the Rays to win if they realistically want to stay in the wildcard race. Well, that's the way I see it, anyway. Play ball! -- Al
) against Wakefield and rookie sensation Nova (16-4, 3.62 ERA) against Lackey in the second game. Wakefield has the best chance for Boston. All this said, it is still crucial for the Rays to win if they realistically want to stay in the wildcard race. Well, that's the way I see it, anyway. Play ball! -- Al
Well, the Bosox lost the 1st game of the doubleheader against a AAA NY line-up and the Rays won, so the Sox lead is down to 1/2 game. The Bosox will have to win tonights game or the nightmare has come true and a tie is in place. In the NL, the mighty Nats did the Cards a huge favor by taking out the Braves, again. With the Cards winning against the Cubs, the Cards now trail the Braves by only 1 game. These wildcard races almost make up for the lack of divisional title races. In their final games, the Cards play the Lastros, while the Braves have to play the Phillies. The Braves are in trouble. Still, they have the 1 game advantage. Interesting for the teams involved in these wildcard races that the whole season has come down to the last three games of the year. 159 games gone. A 3 game season, as it were. -- AlMake or break day for the Bosox and Rays. Best case scenario for the Bosox; they sweep the 2 games against the NYY and the Rays lose. This gives the Bosox a 3 game lead with 3 games left. Best case for the Rays; the Bosox lose both games and the Rays win, leaving a dead tie for the wildcard with 3 games left. Basically, the Rays have to win for them to have any chance. If they lose, Boston can lose both games and still be 1 game ahead. The Rays just cannot afford to lose. Even if Boston splits, a Rays loss leaves them 2 games back with just the 3 to play and then the Rays have to play the NYY while the Bosox draw the O's for the final 3 games. Advantage Boston. If Boston chokes the 2 games in NY today, and leave the weekend tied for the wildcard, they're toast. The momentum will be with the Rays, regardless of who they play in the final games. The pitching match-ups in todays games favor the Rays. They are throwing a 10 game winner, at home, against the Blue Jays who are throwing a 4 game winner. The Bosox go into the crucial doubleheader in NY with no better options than 7 game winner Wakefield (5.08 ERA) and 12 game winner Lackey (6.49 ERA!). I feel Boston will be fortunate to escape with a split. The Yanks are matching them with AJ (Gopher Ball) Burnett (10-11, 5.28 ERA
The Bosox sucked it up and won the second game 7-4 in 14 innings. That means the Sox preserved a 1 game lead in their wildcard race with Tampa. Now the Bosox have to go to Baltimore and engage the Dream Squasher O's. The O's will play hard but the Sox still have the advantage over Tampa who host the Bombers for the final 3 games. The only real problem I see for the Bosox is that the Bombers might play a AAA line-up to rest their regulars for the post-season. I see that Noesi, normally a bullpen pitcher, is starting for the Bombers, so the regular rotation is already being replaced. Going to be interesting. Two wildcard races, each with 1 game leads, will make some worthwhile watching. -- Al
Collapse complete in Boston. Now to see if the Bosox can rally, to see if the Bosox can pull that last bit of professional pride and fight to the surface to either win the wildcard or force a playoff. I would say the advantage is with the Rays, at this point. I just don't see the NYY's breaking their butts to beat the Rays with the playoffs starting Friday. Boston is going to have to rely on themselves. The Cards blew a big game last night against the Lastros. The Braves have pulled a tough last opponent with the Phillies trying to right themselves for the playoffs. The Phillies beat the Braves, leaving the door open for the Cards to tie the race but the Cards just couldn't do it. Four teams with their whole season's efforts riding on the last two games. Now that's race worthy of the name. -- Al
Louis Badolato
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The Yankees catcher Russell Martin just hit into a tripple play.{eek3}
Cards have tied Houston. Phillies have done for the Braves. Could be a tied race if the Cards can prevail...
Combat
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Anyone see the ESPN documentary tonight called "Catching Hell?" About the poor guy at the Cubs playoff game in '03 who interfered with a potential out in the 8th inning. The Cubs then gave up 8 runs and lost the game and series. Very compelling. The crowd almost lynched the guy who seemed to be in total shock after it dawned on him what he had done.
This is great baseball! Bosox and Tampa both win so the race is tied going into the last game. Looks to be the same in the NL. Braves lost, again, and now the Cards have gone up 3 runs on the Lastros in the 7th. Both races going down to the last game, tied, if the Cards hold on. This is a lot of fun. Could be two races going to 1 game playoffs. We'll see. -- Al
-- Al
Peter Reuss
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Three home runs by Fielder tonight...now to hold on and finish the game!
Rooting for the Dodgers...a Brewers win and a Arizona loss and we have home field in the 1st round! Go Dodgers!
Rooting for the Dodgers...a Brewers win and a Arizona loss and we have home field in the 1st round! Go Dodgers!
Fusilier
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What a win for the Cardinals, coming back from being down 5 runs, then making it a blow out! Great to see after the tough loss on Monday. Now we're tied in the WC with a game left. Atlanta's fall over the last couple weeks is unreal, but it sure makes for compelling baseball.
Hopefully Holliday isn't out long, after seemingly injuring his hand again.
Noah
Hopefully Holliday isn't out long, after seemingly injuring his hand again.
Noah
It's been a long time since I have had this much interest and fun following the pennant races. Have to thank the Bombers and the Bosox for that for most of the season, at least through August. Those two teams went back and forth and were on top of each other the whole season. Then, the Braves and Bosox, who had the wildcard locked in their respective league, both collapsed and have turned September into a very compelling race, going down to today's last game to determine who will get the wildcard position in both the AL and the NL or possibly forcing a one game playoff. Either way it's been a fun pennant race to watch, unless you are a Bosox or Braves fan. It has been great to watch the Brewers win their division and quite astonishing to see Arizona do their last to first thing and win their division. The playoffs promise to be just as fun to watch although I can't get the nagging feeling out that the Phillies are preordained to win it all. I am hoping that the Bombers make it to the WS because I have been following them for 51 seasons and I would love to see Jeter, Posada, and Rivera get one more shot at the crown and because, quite honestly, it's just not the WS without them, even though I have learned to watch the WS when the Bombers don't make it.:wink2: -- Al
-- Al
Louis Badolato
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Its the last day of the season, and there are four meaningful games tonight, and it is very possible that there will be two one game playoffs tomorrow. Why would anyone screw around with the present playoff system? This is compelling pennant race baseball.
I feel bad for the Bosox and the Cardinals players and fans. Their teams collapsed primarily because of key injuries late in the season, but nobody will remember that if they fail to make the playoffs, all anyone will remember is the biggest collapses in the history of MLB. If the Yankees ever collapsed like this and blew a 9 game lead September 2nd (Bosox) or an 8-1/2 game leas September 5th (Braves) I would feel as bad as I did when the Yankees blew a 3-0 lead in the 2004 ALCS.
I feel bad for the Bosox and the Cardinals players and fans. Their teams collapsed primarily because of key injuries late in the season, but nobody will remember that if they fail to make the playoffs, all anyone will remember is the biggest collapses in the history of MLB. If the Yankees ever collapsed like this and blew a 9 game lead September 2nd (Bosox) or an 8-1/2 game leas September 5th (Braves) I would feel as bad as I did when the Yankees blew a 3-0 lead in the 2004 ALCS.
The 2004 ALCS was the NYY's Buckey Dent moment. I won't forget 2004 anymore than I will forget 1978, though for obviously different reasons.:wink2::rolleyes2: Baseball is just a great sport. Everything eventually comes back around. And unless one is a Chicago Cubs fan, one can enjoy baseball for the symmetry it provides. Even the long suffering Bosox and Chisox fans have had their patience rewarded in the last several years. Of course, the Cubs do seem to be the exception to the rule... -- Al
Fusilier
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I agree, we have a couple very compelling and exciting races. But you meant you feel bad for the Braves, not the Cards, right? Atlanta is the one about the live out their worst nightmare!^&grin
Even if St. Louis doesn't get in the playoffs, it has still been the most exciting September for them in the last few years. You can't ask for anymore from a team than to do what they have, creating a legitamte chance for themselves.
Noah
Louis Badolato
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Yes, my bad, I mixed up Cards and Braves in the earlier statement, but got the Braves blowing the lead correct in the later statement. Sorry.
Fusilier
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No apology necessary. I am looking forward to watching the Cards game tonight, as ESPN2 is supposed to carry it. Will be great to see how this all shakes out in both races.
Noah
Well, THAT was one ugly loss the Dodgers managed to weave last night.{sm5} Brewers still have the advantage though, as they have Greinke going tonight. -- Al