It’s interesting to look back sometimes on these posts of mine to see where my mind was a week ago and where it is now. In my last column that was almost two weeks ago, I reflected on the Cards being the team to beat, that it was the Cards who had all those no-name guys who would hurt you.
Since then, the Cards did manage to make the Brewers look awful and then took Game 1 of the Series behind a lot of pitching and one of those no-name guys, one Allen Craig, who hit a little flare to right against Alexi Ogando, a Texas guy much too fond of his fastball, to drive in the winning run in the Cards 3-2 victory against the Rangers in St. Louis.
But, last night, the Rangers showed that they could play some small-ball too. Rangers second-sacker Ian Kinsler got a hell of a jump on Cards closer Jason Motte in the 9th and just got his hand in to touch the corner of the bag ahead of Rafael Furcal’s swipe tag. Cards catcher Yadier Molina made the perfect throw but it wasn’t enough to nail Kinsler.
Then, a guy named Elvis Andrus kept the line moving along with another single, sending Kinsler to third and taking second on the somewhat-muffed relay. All of a sudden, it was second and third and nobody out. Both runners would wind up scoring on sac-flies from Hamilton and Young and that was it for the day as far as scoring would go. Rangers closer Neftali Feliz made sure of that.
So the American League entry can play small-ball too. They’ve also got some guys who can hit in the clutch, some guys who can steal bases and play defense too. Their shortstop Elvis Andrus made one play that looked impossible and another that just was as fine a play as you’ll ever see.
Until that ninth inning, it looked as if the Cards would once again employ the same method of destroying an opponent’s will as they had been doing all the way down the stretch of the regular season, take the lead and trot out one fine reliever after another to shut down that opposing offense.
If Kinsler didn’t steal second, if Andrus didn’t take second on the throw, the Rangers would have been down 2-0 in games on their way back to Texas. But they put the pressure on, they hung tough, much as the Cards had been doing with regularity. The Rangers got the big hits and made the big plays. Momentum now has to favor the Rangers. They beat the LaRussa formula.
That Neftali Feliz looked so unhittable in the ninth didn’t hurt either, as far as inspiring confidence in the Rangers’ chances. Feliz was the man, not Motte. The Rangers won’t fear Jason Motte anymore.
I had been thinking the Cards still had an advantage in starting pitching, if only because they had three lefties going against all those right-handed hitters of the Cardinals, especially Pujols and Holliday. But, a quick look at the split-stats for Matt Harrison, the Rangers lefty who’ll be starting Game 3, shows that he’s better against righties than lefties, in terms of opposing batting and slugging percentages. The Rangers could easily take Game 3.
Derek Holland, Game 4’s probable Rangers lefty starter, may have a lot more trouble against that Cards right-handed lineup. I’d imagine the Cards would tie the Series up in Game 4 at two apiece. He’ll be facing Edwin Jackson for St. Louis, someone who has been effective all year but with limited experience in the playoffs. If the Cards did lose this one, they’d be down 3-1 in the Series, an event that these Cards won’t let happen.
Game 5 should also go to the Cards as Chris Carpenter is a much better pitcher than he has shown thus far in the first game. Facing C.J. Wilson again, who I thought pitched over is head in Game 1, Carpenter should send the Series back to St. Louis with the Cards holding a 3-2 lead.
Then it’ll be Garcia-Lewis again in Game 6 in St. Louis. The Rangers obviously won Game 2 with the same SP matchup so it’s not inconceivable that, with the Rangers’ backs firmly against the wall, as they were to a lesser extent last night, the Texas contingent can tie the Series at 3 apiece, setting up still another Harrison-Lohse matchup in Game 7.
Your guess is as good as mine as to which of these two tough teams will take that one. Whatever happens though, it’ll be a team that can play small-ball, good defense, steals, taking the extra base and getting tough at-bats in tough situations.
The weather has negated the power of both these teams so far, both games in St. Louis having been played in weather in the 40’s with a stiff wind. Pujols’s drive especially last night would have soared out of the park on any normal baseball night.
The Rangers definitely broke through in a big way with last night’s come-from-behind win. They beat LaRussa’s formula, they beat their feared closer, they fielded the ball better and they were better on the basepaths. They have the closer to watch out for now. They have more experience in the playoffs and they’ve had their taste of failure in last year’s World Series vs. the Giants.
That’s a lot of advantages, a lot of stuff that’s hard to evaluate. I now think that the only way the Cards win this Series is if they take 2 out of 3 in Texas, a tough test against this Rangers team that loves to play at home, a fact that I heard Josh Hamilton re-affirm today, and in just about those same words.
Of course, there’s also NFL football still rolling along. The Jets, borderline sociopaths all, will lose to the Chargers if there’s any justice in this world. The Giants should have their way with Fish.
Showing posts with label Josh Hamilton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Josh Hamilton. Show all posts
Friday, October 21, 2011
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Looking Forward to Rangers-Giants
What could be better?
The Yanks are losing and should be losing even worse. The Phillies are in bad shape, in fact the same shape the Yankees were in about 24 hours ago, and that is down 3-1, and facing complete annihilation. Of course, if the Phillies can win tonight, and, like the Yankees win their Game 5, they’ll at least be headed home to that bandbox in Philadelphia.
The Yankees will be in Texas with a whole huge bunch or gaggle of wild-eyed Texans, facing a tough pitcher nobody outside of Texas has ever heard of, one Colby Lewis, who did pretty well in that Game 2 against them. On the mound for the Yanks is Phil Hughes, who is a pretty fair pitcher himself, but who got beat by these Rangers pretty easily.
But for the Yankees, they have one big thing going for them, the fear of elimination. The Texans should be playing a little looser, whether that works well for them or not. In the Yanks minds will be a healthy fear of losing.
The Rangers have nothing to really worry about as they’ll have Cliff Lee going in a final game if it’s needed. Every Yankee will feel that pressure of losing, thus finishing 2010. They will have been the wildcard in 2010, They’ll have been the winner of their ALDS with the Twins, 3-0. They will have been the ALCS losers in 6 games to the Texas Rangers. That will be their legacy.
The Rangers will be in this circus atmosphere, but could still feel the emptiness of year after year in Texas, all those years when they had hitting but no pitching, These are relatively young guys with a history together, guys like Michael Young and Josh Hamilton, Ian Kinsler and Nelson Cruz. It’s a tight bunch and they can all play ball. They like playing ball. They’re hungry for the World Series.
The Yankees just won the World Series. Would it be so bad to lose in Game 6 and avoid facing that horror of a pitcher, Cliff Lee, in Game 7? They’ll be missing their star slugger and fielder extraordinaire, Mark Teixeira. They’ll still have Robinson Cano, though, and between him and Arod and Granderson and Berkman, they have sluggers for sure. There’s almost nobody in that lineup that can’t inspire a little respect.
But these Yankees haven’t distinguished themselves in the field. Arod at third has been looking a little suspect to me, playing deep and not handling the soft grounders. Jeter could be quicker and, although Cano will still sparkle at second base, Berkman will have a hard time looking good at first with a bruised back that he got while falling backward and looking rather clumsy in the process. The catcher can’t throw people out. The right fielder plays hard but won’t get to some balls.
The Rangers have scary guys from 1 through 7 but tail off somewhat in 8 and 9 with our old friend, Frenchie Francoeur batting 8th and Bengie Molina batting ninth. But Molina killed the Yanks just the other night and Francoeur will be, you know, Francoeur, who, if I may say, has done quite all right with himself. Landing with a World Series team after spending a year or two with the Mets has got to feel good.
I like the Rangers Young, Andrus and Kinsler better than Arod, Jeter and Cano. When I think about it, it’s really Arod I have the problem with. But Jeter doesn’t inspire awe, especially when he makes that ridiculous jumping cross the body throw with nothing on it, or made only after a little stutter step while jumping?
The Rangers have a fast guy leading off in Andrus, a real veteran in Young to move him along, and in Josh Hamilton, the best hitter in the league batting 3rd. Hamilton only hurts you when his bat touches the ball, and he batted .359 on the season. Then you have this crazy old slugger batting cleanup, Vlad Guerrero, who’ll swing at anything and come up smelling like roses. Then Nelson Cruz, who just hits homers and doubles with alarming regularity. Ian Kinsler can yank them out of the park too. It’s a real killer 1 thru 6 lineup for sure, an All-Star lineup.
The Yanks are lack-luster at the top of the lineup. They have no speed game. They score big when their heavy hitters connect. That’s all. They have no other game.
From a purely baseball perspective, the Rangers are the better team and should win this series if they play their game. Will they play their game? I like their chances.
But the Giants have been my team all year too in the National League. That is, when all my attention wasn’t focused on the Mets. I even got to attend a game out there in San Fran, and watched Matt Cain putting away the Oakland A’s. My fantasy guys, Pablo Sandoval (the Panda) and peppery Andres Torres were good that day as was that first baseman of theirs, Aubrey Huff.
But their pitching staff is awesome and has been pretty awesome for this entire post-season. Lincecum, Cain, Sanchez and Bumgarner are as good as it gets. And that closer of theirs is pretty lights-out.
The Phillies after Halladay and Hamels don’t really match up to my mind, Oswalt and Blanton are good but not great. Oswalt proved last night that he can be had, even if his appearance was in a relief role, a role he never should have assumed in the first place.
But the Giants have momentum now, even if they have to face Phillies ace Halladay in tonight’s Game 5. Young and old, in guys such as Buster Posey and Juan Uribe, making all the plays and getting all the big hits, the Giants are very dangerous. And they already debunked the magic of Halladay in Game 1.
Anyway, I’m ecstatic, looking forward to a Giants-Rangers World Series. Isn’t everybody?
The Yanks are losing and should be losing even worse. The Phillies are in bad shape, in fact the same shape the Yankees were in about 24 hours ago, and that is down 3-1, and facing complete annihilation. Of course, if the Phillies can win tonight, and, like the Yankees win their Game 5, they’ll at least be headed home to that bandbox in Philadelphia.
The Yankees will be in Texas with a whole huge bunch or gaggle of wild-eyed Texans, facing a tough pitcher nobody outside of Texas has ever heard of, one Colby Lewis, who did pretty well in that Game 2 against them. On the mound for the Yanks is Phil Hughes, who is a pretty fair pitcher himself, but who got beat by these Rangers pretty easily.
But for the Yankees, they have one big thing going for them, the fear of elimination. The Texans should be playing a little looser, whether that works well for them or not. In the Yanks minds will be a healthy fear of losing.
The Rangers have nothing to really worry about as they’ll have Cliff Lee going in a final game if it’s needed. Every Yankee will feel that pressure of losing, thus finishing 2010. They will have been the wildcard in 2010, They’ll have been the winner of their ALDS with the Twins, 3-0. They will have been the ALCS losers in 6 games to the Texas Rangers. That will be their legacy.
The Rangers will be in this circus atmosphere, but could still feel the emptiness of year after year in Texas, all those years when they had hitting but no pitching, These are relatively young guys with a history together, guys like Michael Young and Josh Hamilton, Ian Kinsler and Nelson Cruz. It’s a tight bunch and they can all play ball. They like playing ball. They’re hungry for the World Series.
The Yankees just won the World Series. Would it be so bad to lose in Game 6 and avoid facing that horror of a pitcher, Cliff Lee, in Game 7? They’ll be missing their star slugger and fielder extraordinaire, Mark Teixeira. They’ll still have Robinson Cano, though, and between him and Arod and Granderson and Berkman, they have sluggers for sure. There’s almost nobody in that lineup that can’t inspire a little respect.
But these Yankees haven’t distinguished themselves in the field. Arod at third has been looking a little suspect to me, playing deep and not handling the soft grounders. Jeter could be quicker and, although Cano will still sparkle at second base, Berkman will have a hard time looking good at first with a bruised back that he got while falling backward and looking rather clumsy in the process. The catcher can’t throw people out. The right fielder plays hard but won’t get to some balls.
The Rangers have scary guys from 1 through 7 but tail off somewhat in 8 and 9 with our old friend, Frenchie Francoeur batting 8th and Bengie Molina batting ninth. But Molina killed the Yanks just the other night and Francoeur will be, you know, Francoeur, who, if I may say, has done quite all right with himself. Landing with a World Series team after spending a year or two with the Mets has got to feel good.
I like the Rangers Young, Andrus and Kinsler better than Arod, Jeter and Cano. When I think about it, it’s really Arod I have the problem with. But Jeter doesn’t inspire awe, especially when he makes that ridiculous jumping cross the body throw with nothing on it, or made only after a little stutter step while jumping?
The Rangers have a fast guy leading off in Andrus, a real veteran in Young to move him along, and in Josh Hamilton, the best hitter in the league batting 3rd. Hamilton only hurts you when his bat touches the ball, and he batted .359 on the season. Then you have this crazy old slugger batting cleanup, Vlad Guerrero, who’ll swing at anything and come up smelling like roses. Then Nelson Cruz, who just hits homers and doubles with alarming regularity. Ian Kinsler can yank them out of the park too. It’s a real killer 1 thru 6 lineup for sure, an All-Star lineup.
The Yanks are lack-luster at the top of the lineup. They have no speed game. They score big when their heavy hitters connect. That’s all. They have no other game.
From a purely baseball perspective, the Rangers are the better team and should win this series if they play their game. Will they play their game? I like their chances.
But the Giants have been my team all year too in the National League. That is, when all my attention wasn’t focused on the Mets. I even got to attend a game out there in San Fran, and watched Matt Cain putting away the Oakland A’s. My fantasy guys, Pablo Sandoval (the Panda) and peppery Andres Torres were good that day as was that first baseman of theirs, Aubrey Huff.
But their pitching staff is awesome and has been pretty awesome for this entire post-season. Lincecum, Cain, Sanchez and Bumgarner are as good as it gets. And that closer of theirs is pretty lights-out.
The Phillies after Halladay and Hamels don’t really match up to my mind, Oswalt and Blanton are good but not great. Oswalt proved last night that he can be had, even if his appearance was in a relief role, a role he never should have assumed in the first place.
But the Giants have momentum now, even if they have to face Phillies ace Halladay in tonight’s Game 5. Young and old, in guys such as Buster Posey and Juan Uribe, making all the plays and getting all the big hits, the Giants are very dangerous. And they already debunked the magic of Halladay in Game 1.
Anyway, I’m ecstatic, looking forward to a Giants-Rangers World Series. Isn’t everybody?
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Disappointing...Exhilarating...Maddening
Disappointing, exhilarating, maddening……these are the first words that come to mind this beautiful Saturday morning as I contemplate the action thus far in these 2010 MLB playoffs.
There are at least three disappointments to me at this juncture, the failures of the Twins to take even one game from the Yanks , the fold perpetrated last night by the SF Giants against the Atlanta Braves and the very similar choking done by the Cincinnati Reds against the Phillies.
For sheer exhilaration, there was Tim Lincecum’s pitching gem of a complete game pulled off against the Braves in the first game of that Braves-Giants series. I also felt very much the same watching the Giants’ Matt Cain blank those same Braves over 7 innings or so. And then there’s Josh Hamilton of the Rangers who only does something great every single time. (Okay, he was the star of my fantasy team).
It was the umpires that were responsible for my maddening. But the umpires continue to blow calls, easy calls, game-altering calls, that your sister could have made correctly. (Okay, sisters, no mail please)..
Let’s take it from the top again. The single most disappointing team thus far has been the Minnesota Twins. What a sorry bunch. I’m sorry. When they see the Yankees on the field, they just go into choke mode. They had Sabathia on the ropes and they let him go. Then they did absolutely nothing against the old man with the mad stare, Andy Friggin’ Pettite.
Yeah, I know, the Reds did some fancy folding themselves. (The Rays were just outplayed totally, a result I was completely happy with). But I expected the Reds to fold. Didn’t everyone? There was real hope for the Twins, especially after their early good fortunes against the big guy Sabathia.
In the history of baseball, was there ever a worse location for a pitch? I’m referring to the ball left on a tee for Yanks first baseman Mark Teixeira late in that first game, the pitch that made it 6-4 after the Twins had been up 3-0. And did they have to pitch so boldly to Granderson or Berkman? And then there were the pitching decisions made overall by the Twinkies, who are doing everything possible to justify that name.
Francisco Liriano pitched valiantly for those Twins in that first game and was up 3-zip going into the 6th. The idiots in the dugout left him in way too long. They waited until it all unraveled, despite the Yanks killing him softly, with hit after hit after hit. When they finally brought in the relief in the person of Jose Mijares, they managed to snuff the rally but, by then, it was too late. The Yanks had taken the lead.
Then the Twins gave us Yankee-haters hope once again by staging a 2-out rally that featured another Cuddyer big bang enveloped by bases on balls, a strange way to score, I thought at the time, but the Twins would surely have better luck in their spanking new stadium than they ever had in that old dome.
But the Twins inserted still another pitcher into the mix, one Jesse Crain, who failed colossally. He managed to get Jeter out in the 7th on a hard line drive to center but he then gave up another hit to Swisher. His pitches had nothing. And the pitch that had the most “nothingness” was that ball up and in the middle of the plate for Teixeira.
The Twins had Yanks reliever Kerry Wood in a lot of trouble in the eighth inning, managing to get the tying and winning runs on 2nd and 3rd but then Girardi called in a guy named Mariano, you may have heard of him, last name of Rivera? He promptly ended things….again.
It seems as if it’s always the same guys, Posada and Pettite, Rivera and Jeter. The Twins see these guys and fold. Posada didn’t do too much in the victory yesterday but then he didn’t need to. In that first game he was pretty clutch. Pettite just scared the bejeezus out of them, possibly with that ridiculous stare. And of course Rivera just shuts them down. Jeter? Well, there’s still Game 3.
Okay, that’s enough about disappointing, I think. I have to focus on the finer things in life, such as, for example, Tim Lincecum. A little slip of a guy, that’s Lincecum. A bit of a flake, the Prince Valiant hair, the laid-back attitude, they all seem to contribute to the aura of the man, if that’s what you could call it.
The man just knows how to throw the baseball. Every ounce of his body gets behind every pitch to the plate. So he can overpower with his fastball when needed or he can just flick his wrist, take something off and watch the batter flail. Lincecum did it all in that first game and he did it for 9 innings.
How about some more on exhilaration? The Rangers have been awesome in all phases. For pitching, there were Cliff Lee and C.J. Wilson and Neftali Feliz For hitting, there were, well, just about everybody, Vladimir Guerrero and Michael Young, Ian Kinsler and Nelson Cruz and Bengie Molina. Hell, even Jeff Francoeur joined the festivities. Oh yeah, and there was Josh Hamilton.
Hamilton just does it all. Five tools? Is that all? It seems like more. He’s the best hitter in both leagues, both for average and for power. He’s a fast runner. He stole a base in Game 1 and made two great catches in Game 2, both to his left and right, and went sliding on his belly, broken ribs be damned.
Hamilton hasn’t shown off that throwing arm yet. And he hasn’t hit any tape measures yet. But there’s always Game 3 for that.
There are at least three disappointments to me at this juncture, the failures of the Twins to take even one game from the Yanks , the fold perpetrated last night by the SF Giants against the Atlanta Braves and the very similar choking done by the Cincinnati Reds against the Phillies.
For sheer exhilaration, there was Tim Lincecum’s pitching gem of a complete game pulled off against the Braves in the first game of that Braves-Giants series. I also felt very much the same watching the Giants’ Matt Cain blank those same Braves over 7 innings or so. And then there’s Josh Hamilton of the Rangers who only does something great every single time. (Okay, he was the star of my fantasy team).
It was the umpires that were responsible for my maddening. But the umpires continue to blow calls, easy calls, game-altering calls, that your sister could have made correctly. (Okay, sisters, no mail please)..
Let’s take it from the top again. The single most disappointing team thus far has been the Minnesota Twins. What a sorry bunch. I’m sorry. When they see the Yankees on the field, they just go into choke mode. They had Sabathia on the ropes and they let him go. Then they did absolutely nothing against the old man with the mad stare, Andy Friggin’ Pettite.
Yeah, I know, the Reds did some fancy folding themselves. (The Rays were just outplayed totally, a result I was completely happy with). But I expected the Reds to fold. Didn’t everyone? There was real hope for the Twins, especially after their early good fortunes against the big guy Sabathia.
In the history of baseball, was there ever a worse location for a pitch? I’m referring to the ball left on a tee for Yanks first baseman Mark Teixeira late in that first game, the pitch that made it 6-4 after the Twins had been up 3-0. And did they have to pitch so boldly to Granderson or Berkman? And then there were the pitching decisions made overall by the Twinkies, who are doing everything possible to justify that name.
Francisco Liriano pitched valiantly for those Twins in that first game and was up 3-zip going into the 6th. The idiots in the dugout left him in way too long. They waited until it all unraveled, despite the Yanks killing him softly, with hit after hit after hit. When they finally brought in the relief in the person of Jose Mijares, they managed to snuff the rally but, by then, it was too late. The Yanks had taken the lead.
Then the Twins gave us Yankee-haters hope once again by staging a 2-out rally that featured another Cuddyer big bang enveloped by bases on balls, a strange way to score, I thought at the time, but the Twins would surely have better luck in their spanking new stadium than they ever had in that old dome.
But the Twins inserted still another pitcher into the mix, one Jesse Crain, who failed colossally. He managed to get Jeter out in the 7th on a hard line drive to center but he then gave up another hit to Swisher. His pitches had nothing. And the pitch that had the most “nothingness” was that ball up and in the middle of the plate for Teixeira.
The Twins had Yanks reliever Kerry Wood in a lot of trouble in the eighth inning, managing to get the tying and winning runs on 2nd and 3rd but then Girardi called in a guy named Mariano, you may have heard of him, last name of Rivera? He promptly ended things….again.
It seems as if it’s always the same guys, Posada and Pettite, Rivera and Jeter. The Twins see these guys and fold. Posada didn’t do too much in the victory yesterday but then he didn’t need to. In that first game he was pretty clutch. Pettite just scared the bejeezus out of them, possibly with that ridiculous stare. And of course Rivera just shuts them down. Jeter? Well, there’s still Game 3.
Okay, that’s enough about disappointing, I think. I have to focus on the finer things in life, such as, for example, Tim Lincecum. A little slip of a guy, that’s Lincecum. A bit of a flake, the Prince Valiant hair, the laid-back attitude, they all seem to contribute to the aura of the man, if that’s what you could call it.
The man just knows how to throw the baseball. Every ounce of his body gets behind every pitch to the plate. So he can overpower with his fastball when needed or he can just flick his wrist, take something off and watch the batter flail. Lincecum did it all in that first game and he did it for 9 innings.
How about some more on exhilaration? The Rangers have been awesome in all phases. For pitching, there were Cliff Lee and C.J. Wilson and Neftali Feliz For hitting, there were, well, just about everybody, Vladimir Guerrero and Michael Young, Ian Kinsler and Nelson Cruz and Bengie Molina. Hell, even Jeff Francoeur joined the festivities. Oh yeah, and there was Josh Hamilton.
Hamilton just does it all. Five tools? Is that all? It seems like more. He’s the best hitter in both leagues, both for average and for power. He’s a fast runner. He stole a base in Game 1 and made two great catches in Game 2, both to his left and right, and went sliding on his belly, broken ribs be damned.
Hamilton hasn’t shown off that throwing arm yet. And he hasn’t hit any tape measures yet. But there’s always Game 3 for that.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Series Hopes on an All-Sports Sunday
It was one of the best sports days ever. NFL action and all its fantasy implications, MLB playoffs races coming down to the wire and the Mets on the verge of finally ending the Omar Minaya era and its four years of disappointing mercenary baseball.
Ultimately, it will be that last event that will be the most important event in my life. But in the short run, for sheer excitement and that feeling of true participation in the day’s events, you just can’t beat Sunday NFL action, especially if you have the resources to buy the NFL Redzone package, or watch streaming videos of games on the Internet.
After watching the G-Men (yes, they finally deserve that name) vanquish da Bears last night on mainstream TV, I can’t imagine going back to that totally unwatchable platform for commercials, even if it did afford me the opportunity to get along further in my reading . I also became quite accomplished in manipulating the remote control, especially the “mute” and “last” buttons.
The G-Men weren’t expected by many to beat da Bears last night. That was before the nation witnessed the total humiliation of the Bears offensive line. It reminded me of a similar game against McNabb’s Philadelphia Eagles a year or two ago when Osi Umenyiora just ate up the guy in front of him. (Come to think of it, it looked a lot like the Colts decimation of the Giants offensive line just last week).
Things change so quickly in the NFL. Those same Giants who looked like gangbusters in that first game of the season returned last night. After that pitiful effort against the Colts, they turned their season around with a resounding victory against a Chicago team that had been undefeated at 3 and 0. And that result wasn’t even as surprising as the action in a few other games on the slate.
The lowly Lions from Detroit gave Green Bay fits before losing. The Jaguars, a team I had thought incapable of ever winning a game this season, beat those same Colts who ate up that Giants offensive line just last week. And they did it by outcoaching the brash Indi team, who called timeouts for their offense while the Jags still had the ball!
Ahmad Bradshaw broke my heart by fumbling once again down by the goal line, even if he did have a really marvelous day. I could watch those nifty changes in direction forever, that and his ability to run over people. Tom Coughlin broke it again when he inserted old sourpuss Brandon Jacobs into the game, in effect rewarding the Twink for his surliness by giving him the touchdown, not Bradshaw.
That last decision crippled my chances of winning my fantasy contest this week. Coughlin also limited the participation of Mario Manningham, a player who could have played after his concussion fears were laid to rest. And a player I had foolishly decided to pick up to replace Miles Austin and/or Percy Harvin in my fantasy lineup. Manningham gave me the big zero.
I still have a fantasy of a chance, but even the most optimistic outlook would snigger at the prospects of my opponent’s Ronnie Brown and Davone Bess (from Miami) failing to achieve 80 yards or a touchdown, even against a New England team that hasn’t really distinguished itself for defense of any kind this year.
And all that NFL action was only a portion of the excitement for the day. The interminable 162-game baseball season finally actually ended. And, in the National League, the only league that still plays the actual original game of baseball, the playoff teams were actually determined on the season’s final day!
It ended much to my satisfaction too. The San Diego Padres, a team with almost no hitting, a team that had relied almost entirely on pitching all year long, finally succumbed to the Giants from San Francisco, a result that cemented the Giants as NFC West Champions while, at the same time, anointing the Braves as the wildcard, thus assuring that the venerable Bobby Cox, long-time manager of that forever Mets rival Braves team, would get a chance to win a World Series.
The San Francisco Giants had been a favorite of mine all year, what with their great pitching and exciting (if nothing else) brand of baseball. I had relied upon some of their players for my fantasy baseball team, the Panda Pablo Sandoval and the 4-tool Andres Torres giving opponents fits when super-sub Juan Uribe did not, or when big Jersey guy Matt Cain couldn’t otherwise pitch himself into another win.
So it’ll be the Phils and Reds, the Giants and Braves, and that’s okay with me. The Phillies are the real class of this bunch but I’ll be pulling for the Giants, the only other team that rates a chance of unseating the American League World Series representative, whether that winds up being the Twins or Rangers, Rays or Yankees (God forbid).
I’ll be pulling for the Rangers in the American League. Even including the baseball Giants, they were my favorite team, with the likes of Ian Kinsler and Michael Young, Josh Hamilton and Pedro Guerrero all capable of bashing the ball and the opposing team out of the ballpark, especially at home in the friendly confines of that Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Texas.
In Josh Hamilton, the Rangers own the most exciting and revered baseball player since Mickey Mantle. That’s a huge statement, sure, but Hamilton is that kind of player. It’s Hamilton who’ll be the MVP and it’s the Rangers who’ll win the World Series.
They open against Tampa Bay, who couldn’t duck as fast as the Yankees in their efforts to avoid the prospect of playing them. The Yanks will beat the Twins. The Rangers will beat the Rays, Yanks and then the Giants in a dream of a Series.
The Yanks have Sabathia and Arod. You can have the rest. And that’s what the Rangers will do.
Ultimately, it will be that last event that will be the most important event in my life. But in the short run, for sheer excitement and that feeling of true participation in the day’s events, you just can’t beat Sunday NFL action, especially if you have the resources to buy the NFL Redzone package, or watch streaming videos of games on the Internet.
After watching the G-Men (yes, they finally deserve that name) vanquish da Bears last night on mainstream TV, I can’t imagine going back to that totally unwatchable platform for commercials, even if it did afford me the opportunity to get along further in my reading . I also became quite accomplished in manipulating the remote control, especially the “mute” and “last” buttons.
The G-Men weren’t expected by many to beat da Bears last night. That was before the nation witnessed the total humiliation of the Bears offensive line. It reminded me of a similar game against McNabb’s Philadelphia Eagles a year or two ago when Osi Umenyiora just ate up the guy in front of him. (Come to think of it, it looked a lot like the Colts decimation of the Giants offensive line just last week).
Things change so quickly in the NFL. Those same Giants who looked like gangbusters in that first game of the season returned last night. After that pitiful effort against the Colts, they turned their season around with a resounding victory against a Chicago team that had been undefeated at 3 and 0. And that result wasn’t even as surprising as the action in a few other games on the slate.
The lowly Lions from Detroit gave Green Bay fits before losing. The Jaguars, a team I had thought incapable of ever winning a game this season, beat those same Colts who ate up that Giants offensive line just last week. And they did it by outcoaching the brash Indi team, who called timeouts for their offense while the Jags still had the ball!
Ahmad Bradshaw broke my heart by fumbling once again down by the goal line, even if he did have a really marvelous day. I could watch those nifty changes in direction forever, that and his ability to run over people. Tom Coughlin broke it again when he inserted old sourpuss Brandon Jacobs into the game, in effect rewarding the Twink for his surliness by giving him the touchdown, not Bradshaw.
That last decision crippled my chances of winning my fantasy contest this week. Coughlin also limited the participation of Mario Manningham, a player who could have played after his concussion fears were laid to rest. And a player I had foolishly decided to pick up to replace Miles Austin and/or Percy Harvin in my fantasy lineup. Manningham gave me the big zero.
I still have a fantasy of a chance, but even the most optimistic outlook would snigger at the prospects of my opponent’s Ronnie Brown and Davone Bess (from Miami) failing to achieve 80 yards or a touchdown, even against a New England team that hasn’t really distinguished itself for defense of any kind this year.
And all that NFL action was only a portion of the excitement for the day. The interminable 162-game baseball season finally actually ended. And, in the National League, the only league that still plays the actual original game of baseball, the playoff teams were actually determined on the season’s final day!
It ended much to my satisfaction too. The San Diego Padres, a team with almost no hitting, a team that had relied almost entirely on pitching all year long, finally succumbed to the Giants from San Francisco, a result that cemented the Giants as NFC West Champions while, at the same time, anointing the Braves as the wildcard, thus assuring that the venerable Bobby Cox, long-time manager of that forever Mets rival Braves team, would get a chance to win a World Series.
The San Francisco Giants had been a favorite of mine all year, what with their great pitching and exciting (if nothing else) brand of baseball. I had relied upon some of their players for my fantasy baseball team, the Panda Pablo Sandoval and the 4-tool Andres Torres giving opponents fits when super-sub Juan Uribe did not, or when big Jersey guy Matt Cain couldn’t otherwise pitch himself into another win.
So it’ll be the Phils and Reds, the Giants and Braves, and that’s okay with me. The Phillies are the real class of this bunch but I’ll be pulling for the Giants, the only other team that rates a chance of unseating the American League World Series representative, whether that winds up being the Twins or Rangers, Rays or Yankees (God forbid).
I’ll be pulling for the Rangers in the American League. Even including the baseball Giants, they were my favorite team, with the likes of Ian Kinsler and Michael Young, Josh Hamilton and Pedro Guerrero all capable of bashing the ball and the opposing team out of the ballpark, especially at home in the friendly confines of that Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Texas.
In Josh Hamilton, the Rangers own the most exciting and revered baseball player since Mickey Mantle. That’s a huge statement, sure, but Hamilton is that kind of player. It’s Hamilton who’ll be the MVP and it’s the Rangers who’ll win the World Series.
They open against Tampa Bay, who couldn’t duck as fast as the Yankees in their efforts to avoid the prospect of playing them. The Yanks will beat the Twins. The Rangers will beat the Rays, Yanks and then the Giants in a dream of a Series.
The Yanks have Sabathia and Arod. You can have the rest. And that’s what the Rangers will do.
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