MLB

Division Series – Games three and four

79 Comments

Three series could end today. Or, maybe none will.

Rangers at Rays
Harrison vs. Hellickson

Phillies at Cardinals
Hamels vs. Garcia

Yankees at Tigers
Burnett vs. Porcello

Brewers at Diamondbacks
Marcum vs. Collmenter

I'll be at the late game. I'm looking forward to being in a full house for the first time since the 2006 ALDS.

79 thoughts on “Division Series – Games three and four”

  3. Betlre just mashed his 3rd tater of the game. Rangers up 4-2, there goes my pick for that series.

        1. Probably; I'm following via Gameday Mini so wouldn't know. Checking Gameday, it shows the distance to not be that far to right field (versus the three home runs to left field), so I imagine it wasn't particular exciting after the first half second.

  7. And the Rangers win in four games. That's double points for The Dread Pirate, davidwatts, Milt, Beau, bS, free, Jeff, hj; and normal points for Mr. Ghost, bhiggum, AMR, and myself.

    1. Since I picked the Rays to win it all, this means, as Bender would say, I'm boned.

  8. LDSes are really cruel. All that long season, winning games down the stretch, beating expectations, coming from behind or fending off surges from opponents. Down to the last game or the last week, and then, a few weak afternoons, and poof! it’s all over. Single-game playoffs seem more fair, because then you know it was a coin flip. But this cruelty, this sudden end to a great season, without drama, without ever feeling like your team had a chance, like they were competing. Too few LDSes go five games, and four games is over too quickly if your team is on the short side of the stick.

    Imagine a team like the Royals or Orioles, the Pirates or Mariners, that have been on hard times lately. Eventually, these clubs will have charmed seasons, coming from obscurity and more than a decade of not mattering. Maybe they get there via an early winning streak followed by barely keeping the rest of the division behind you. Maybe some rookie callups match their upside right away, and a season that looked like it was heading for 85 losses turns around, people start believing, not just in the future, but in the current season, “Wait ‘til next year” becomes “This is our year!” Talking heads on ESPN are talking about the team even though the BoSox and Yankees are playing each other the next week, despite the fact that there are football games that have happened or will be happening within three days. Magic numbers seem magic. You start to wonder who on your team could be WS MVP, which T-shirts and caps with the words “World Champions” on them you might buy. What will the nation think when they get a good look at our slappy but spirited middle infielder or our unheralded bullpen pitcher who’s quietly put together a season with a lower-than-one WHIP in the sixth and seventh innings, or that your top pinch-hitter, once well known for some other heroics, is still in the majors.

    And then, they’re there, in the playoffs, with a team that they won the season series against, or who has backed into the playoffs, or has had some late key injuries, or at least against whom the season series was competitive. And then, one less-than stellar outing from your ace, a few ill-timed errors or baserunning gaffes from that infielder, several seeing-eye singles off the reliever, powerful line drives from your batters right to fielders, the other team getting an unbelievable performance out of their #3 starter (who actually started the season in the bullpen because he wasn’t good enough to start), a questionable call, a fly ball bouncing over the wall, keeping baserunners from scoring and a possible triple. Finally, the other team’s closer, whom you’re sure is overrated, and who is overdue for a meltdown, is up to face the middle of your team’s lineup. F-9, K looking, G-4, see you in Spring.

    It’s 4pm on a weekday; you had to catch that last game on the radio while working.

    Please, Allan, never extend the LDS round of the playoffs.

  9. Yeah...this was a bummer. It feels wrong somehow that a team could make that sort of a run only to be beaten down in the first round...particularly if that team is the one I'm cheering for.

    Well, at least the Diamondbacks aren't the first team eliminated from the playoffs. Still, my AL and NL favorites could go down on the same day.

      1. Oh, absolutely. I'm definitely convinced whatever's following the Twins is now following me (not really, but man, it's getting strange).

  10. for your entertainment: I recently had an email exchange with a U-Michigan prof friend of mine (Cubs fan by birth; Tiggers fan by education and, now, employment). He complained to me about how horrible _elm_n is in the field. I mentioned our "roller skates" meme to him. That is now stuck in his head. #Winning

    1. Washington did that yesterday with Feliz. Rivera has pitched more than a single inning numerous times come postseason. That's the only time where we actually see optimal strategies.

  19. I turned over to "Die Hard With a Vengeance" earlier tonight on TNT. Samuel L. Jackson called Bruce Willis a racist melon farmer. I can't handle strong language like that.

  22. Is there a single likable player on either of these rosters? Verlander? Maybe? Ugh.

        1. I liked Pavano, Burnett and Jeter when they struggled and cost the Yanks wins. Doesn't happen enough, though.

      2. Avila, Inge, (wait for it, wait for it, wait for it...) Del.

        I also like Gardner. He'd look good in a TC cap.

        1. I liked it when Mauer nailed Gardner at the plate.

          I disagree on him in a TC cap though. He reminds me way too much of Knoblauch.

        3. I'd say I am putting for elm'n more than any other player in this series-- and that is saying something.

  23. In the Milwaukee-Arizona game, the DBacks tried to ol' Little League steal of home when the runner on 1st burst for second on a pitch in the dirt, and the runner on 3rd went for home when the catcher went to second.

    Thrilling Conclusion: It didn't work.

  24. Heh.

    After A-Rod's first hit of the series, Miguel Cabrera just looked in the Yankees' dugout and jokingly asked if they wanted the ball for him.

  30. It looks like spooky picked a good one to go to for the home team.

    In other news, now neither game is interesting to watch.

  31. Back from the game.

    The Brewers fans were insufferable. We were directly in front of a row of college-age Brewer fans. They went on and on until, of course, Goldschmit's grand slam. Then they were dead silent for the rest of the game.

    I jumped up and screamed with everyone at the grand slam, in part because I knew the melon farmers behind me were going to shut up.

    1. I knew the melon farmers behind me were going to shut up.

      What have I started? I thought we were supposed to be family friendly?

        2. It's awesome that they wrote such ridiculous dialogue and shot it specifically for TV. An intentionally camp movie can get away with that.

          1. My all-time favorite is the bean-fart scene in Blazing Saddles where the audio effects were replaced with horses whinnying. Just cut the f-ing scene, dudes.

              1. i recorded a TV version of major league when i was a kid. this one was a favorite of mine:
                httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAA2KxYyfYU

                1. To this day, I still say that. A lot. Any time I see a game with my brother or one of about five or six other friends, I do that, along with the awkward timing.

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