I grew up in New Hampshire, so I am lifelong Red Sox fan, and now live in St. Louis, and have come to root solidly for the Cards in the NL. So I’m pretty happy with how things turned out.
I’m not going to make any predictions, because that never works out for me, but if we end up with a rematch of 2004, things will be tense in the household (wife is a native St. Louisan).
A little factoid: Boston *never *had a four-game losing streak this year. Keels don’t come evener than that.
I’ll admit that while I am a die-hard Tribe fan, I gave up on their playoff hopes by the end of August. I was totally in the bag for this team out of the gate in April. On paper they had everything except pitching and then they turned out to actually HAVE PITCHING! Then the bullpen was awful and once they straightened out, the lineup was frozen in its shoes.
So come August, seeing the lineup - new and old - just not be able to overcome 2-run deficits…meh. Not having the pop to beat the Tigers or ATL. And then even cutting it way too fucking close with the Astros.
I said they had to win out, with about 16 games left. And it turns out they did have to win out (just 10 games tho not 16!) I didn’t think they could do it - but they really dug deep into what this team was on paper and became everything I thought they would be in April.
If these guys keep up whatever mindset has been getting them through the end of September, and play with all of the talent the good Lord has given them, then there’s no reason we can’t go toe-to-toe with any team in the playoffs this year.
Of course, after a radical partial re-build, I am just ecstatic with 92 wins and being the 4th best team in the league (and tied for 7th in baseball) so everything else is just gravy!
The Rangers need to fire Ron Washington tomorrow morning.
Is it his fault he’s never had enough pitching?
Two straight pennants anyway, man. Counts for something.
The Rangers were 4th in the major leagues in ERA+ this year after being 9th last year and 2nd the year before.
I think the saddest thing about the post-season is having to listen to some nincompoop who has seen the team twice all year call the game while the regular announcers with all their insights sit at home. Well, the saddest after the Rangers losing.
It may be time for Washington to move on but as a friend of mine pointed out, if they bring in someone new it will take at least half a season to “rebuild” the team, so maybe we should wait and see how they do next season, since I cannot imagine the Rangers breaking his contract with one year to go. (I know, I used to be a Cubs fan so wait until next year comes naturally to me.)
But it does make life difficult for a manager to let him go into the last year of a contract. That makes it look to the players like he doesn’t have the front office’s support, but they’re too stingy to pay both him and his replacement at the same time. Terry Francona can tell you all about that, but won’t.
GO REDS!
Hopefully the Cueto v Liriano matchup provides some pitching fireworks.
I’m refusing to confess to a rooting interest in today’s NL play-in game. I don’t care who the Cardinals beat in the NLDS. 
Yeah, I’m hoping for fireworks as well. They’re playing at PNC, and they will certainly set some off when the Bucs win. 
GO BUCS!
I’ve formed an opinion on the Wild Card game:
If the Pirates win, it’s a beautiful game filled with drama, fan support and pageantry which is what baseball is all about.
If the Pirates lose, it’s a bullshit money-maker whore game that should never have been played.
I vote that it’s a bullshit whore game filled with drama, fan support and beautiful pageantry that should never be played.
Fireworks for Marlon Byrd, baby!
And now some for Martin!
The Buccos are playing like they want to continue playing. Cueto is getting tuned up tonight. Hopefully Dusty leaves him in for a few more runs.
It got a little more interesting than I like in the 4th.
And now it’s getting interesting in the way I like. 5-1 Bucs!
After 21 years, I know why I have a drinking/pill/anxiety/depression/general being an asshole problem.
Let’s go Bucs!