“I made my arguments and went down in flames. History will prove me right.” — Texas Rangers owner George W. Bush after voting against realignment and a new wild-card system during a Major League Baseball owners meeting in September 1993. Bush was the lone dissenter in a 27-1 vote.http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs2007/columns/story?columnist=crasnick_jerry&id=3048274 (0)
Level II: The Goose/Maverick Tailspin
Definition: Cruising happily through the baseball regular season, a potential playoff team suddenly and inexplicably goes into a tailspin, can’t bounce out of it and ends up crashing for the season. In “Top Gun,” the entire scene lasted for 30 seconds and we immediately moved to a couple of scenes in which Tom Cruise tried to make himself cry on camera but couldn’t quite pull it off. In sports, the Goose/Maverick Tailspin could last for two weeks, four weeks, maybe even two months, but as long as it’s happening, you feel like your entire world is collapsing. It’s like an ongoing Stomach Punch Game. And when it finally ends, you spend the rest of your life reliving it every time a TV network shows a montage of the worst collapses in sports history. Other than that, it’s no big deal.Best Example: The incredible collapse of the 2007 Mets. I have three buddies who root for them, so I was able to witness the emotional devastation firsthand: in five days, they went from planning for the playoffs to planning for a potential nightmare. Just when it looked like the ship had been righted, they were swept at home by the lowly Nationals, passed by the Phillies, given a second life on Saturday with a Phillies loss and Maine’s one-hitter and then, just as abruptly, everything ended when Tom Glavine got shelled by the Marlins. Win or lose on Sunday, the damage had already been done to the psyche of Mets fans. On Friday night, as Cole Hamels was pitching Philly to victory, my friend Paul Raff (a Mets fan) sent me the following e-mail: “Honestly, it’s such a betrayal by the team. They have ruined us fans this season and last October. I hate this sport now. They’ve violated and befouled every [expletive] nuance of the game, playoffs or no playoffs.” Now that’s a baseball fan with some healing to do.
Let’s see if I can liveblog two games at once. Mets/Marlins and Phillies/Nats coming up!
|
10:00 AM: Ugh, already a bad start. I get the Marlins broadcast, not SNY. I want Keith, Ron, and Gary, dammit! 10:11 AM: Here we go. First pitch to Hanley Ramirez from Tom Glavine, fouled off. 10:14 AM: Ugh. Leadoff walk to Ramirez. Glavine missing the corners, or not getting the calls. 10:15 AM: Uggla grounds into a fielder’s choice, Ramirez out at second. 10:17 AM: Hermida lines a single to right, Marlins have first and third with one out. Not good. Miguel Cabrera up. 10:18 AM: Basehit, 1-0 Marlins. 10:20 AM: 4-0 Marlins. I think I might have to stop. 10:25 AM: Glavine can’t get anyone out. No one’s hit the ball particularly well, but they’re getting hits, and he’s not getting the corner calls. 10:28 AM: Glavine didn’t make it out of the first. He got ONE out. 5-0 Marlins. I’m done. |
|
10:25 AM PT: Moises Alou with an RBI single in the first. The Mets can now blow another 1-0 lead!
10:26 AM: Delgado follows with another single. 2-0 Mets. First and second, two down.
10:28 AM: Castro pops out to end the inning.
10:32 AM: Maine strikes out Jacobs for the second out of the second.
10:35 AM: Maine strikes out Linden to end the inning! His third strikeout of the game.
10:38 AM: Milledge leads off the second with a single. Maine coming up, probably looking to bunt.
10:39 AM: Good bunt, Milledge to second with one out.
10:40 AM: Reyes continues to struggle, grounds out moving Milledge to third.
10:42 AM: Castillo with his second hit of the game, drives in Milledge! 3-0 Mets.
10:44 AM: Wright walks on a 3-2 pitch. First and second, two down.
10:47 AM: Another two out RBI single! Beltran this time. 4-0 Mets, 2 on, 2 out. Marlins changing pitchers.
10:52 AM: RBI single for Alou! 5-0 Mets, still 2 on, 2 out..
10:55 AM: Delgado pops out to finally end the inning. The Mets get to blow another 5 run lead today.
11:01 AM: Maine strikes out the side in the third! He’s struck out five in a row, six in the game.
11:05 AM: Castro leads off the bottom of the third with a single, the Mets ninth hit of the game in 2+ innings.
11:06 AM: 2 run homer for Lastings Milledge! 7-0 Mets with nobody out in the third.
11:08 AM: John Maine takes a 4 pitch walk? Reyes will probably swing at the first pitch, pop out.
11:11 AM: Jose Reyes fails to run out a grounder up the third base line, is thrown out at first and what could have been an infield single. Maine up to second.
11:12 AM: 8-0 Mets on Castillo’s second double, third hit. Maine scores. Marlins changing pitchers again, and we’re only in the third.
11:19 AM: Inning finally over, 8-0 going to the 4th.
11:28 AM: Maine strikes out the first two in the 4th, and then gets a flyout. Struck out 7 in a row, 8 overall.
11:35 AM: Mets go down 1-2-3 in the 4th, the first inning they don’t score.
11:41 AM: Marlins go 1-2-3, with two strikeouts. John Maine has just set a career high with 10 strikeouts, and has faced the minimum through 5.
11:45 AM: Milledge with his second homer of the game! 9-0 Mets!
11:48 AM: After John Maine strikes out, Reyes finally gets a hit! A 1-out double.
11:53 AM: Benches and bullpens cleared after a pitch waaaay inside to Castillo. No punches were thrown, both benches warned, Reyes to third on the wild pitch. Damn Fox, I want to WATCH this, not LISTEN to it.
11:54 AM: Castillo walks on four pitches. First and third, one out.
11:57 AM: BRAWL! And I missed the whole thing on commercial break. Grrr…
12:04 PM: The game finally resumes, and David Wright gets an RBI single. 10-0 Mets.
12:06 PM: Inning finally over, and we go to the 6th.
12:10 PM: Strikeout #11 for Maine to leadoff the 6th!
12:12 PM: Four strikeouts in a row, for #12.
12:13 PM: Maine gets a flyout to Alou to end the 6th.
12:19 PM: Delgado lines out to third base to start the bottom of the 6th.
12:21 PM: Ramon Castro solo homer! 11-0!
12:22 PM: Two errors on the Marlins pitcher on a dribbler up the line to allow Milledge to reach second.
12:23 PM: Maine pops out on the infield. Jose Reyes is getting a standing ovation? Weird. Reyes pops out.
12:27 PM: Line drive off David Wright’s leg, to Jose Reyes, who throws to first for the out!
12:31 PM: The Marlins have their second baserunner, a one out walk to Dan Uggla. Again.
12:33 PM: STRIKEOUT NUMBER THIRTEEN! 2 down.
12:34 PM: POPUP! Inning over!
12:38 PM: David Wright gets a one-out single in the 7th.
12:41 PM: Carlos Gomez, pinch hitting for Alou, reaches first base on a dribbler to the mound. That’ll be an error.
12:42 PM: RBI single for Carlos Delgado, scoring Wright. 12-0
12:44 PM: Inning over on the forceout at second. We go to the 8th.
12:48 PM: STRIKEOUT NUMBER FOURTEEN! 1 out!
12:49 PM: Deep flyball to Gomez, 2 out!
12:51 PM: Fuck. Dribbler up the third base line for a infield single to blow the no hitter.
1:09 PM: 13-0, going to the 9th. I got delayed by a phone call. Also, the Nationals have scored a run in the top of the first against Adam Eaton.
1:11 PM: 1 out in the 9th.
1:12 PM: Gomez makes a sliding catch, with Gotay jumping over him out of the way. 2 out.
1:14 PM: Strikeout. Mets win 13-0, on a one-hit shutout. Phillies losing 1-0 going to the second.
GO NATIONALS!
This is some crazy stuff.
If there’s a four-way tie among the Mets, Phillies, D-Backs and Padres: The Mets and Phillies would play in Philly on Monday to crown the East champ while the Friars and Snakes go at it Monday in Arizona for the NL West crown. Monday’s losing teams would play Tuesday to decide the Wild Card; the Diamondbacks would have to go to Philly or New York. The Padres would either host the Phils or travel to New York.
If there’s a three-way tie among the Padres, Mets and Phillies: The Mets and Phillies would play in Philly on Monday to crown the East champ. Monday’s losing team would play Tuesday to decide the Wild Card. The Padres would either host the Phils or travel to New York.
If there’s a three-way tie among the Padres, Rockies and Mets: The three teams play a three-way playoff on Monday and Tuesday to decide the Wild Card. The Rockies hold all tie-breakers and get the choice of one on the road or two at home.
Here are some other, more traditional scenarios:
If the Mets and Phillies finish tied atop the East: A one-game playoff will be played Monday at Philly.
If the D-Backs and Padres finish in a tie atop the West: A one-game playoff will be played Monday at Arizona, but only if a playoff spot is at stake
If the Padres and Phillies finish in a tie for the Wild Card: A one-game playoff will be played Monday in San Diego.
If the Padres and Rockies finish in a tie for the Wild Card: A one-game playoff will be played Monday at Colorado.
If the Phillies and Rockies finish in a tie for the Wild Card: A one-game playoff will be played Monday at Colorado.
Link.
Not that I expect the Mets to win either of the next two games, so it’s not like any of this really matters…
…after Jamie Moyer gave up a first inning three-run homer to the Braves…
(04:19:09 PM) me: glavine can’t find the strike zone. not good.
(04:19:15 PM) me: he’s about to give up a 3 run homer in the first too
(04:20:22 PM) philly fan: about to ?
(04:20:27 PM) philly fan: you can predict these things now ? 🙂
(04:20:28 PM) me: kearns is up with 2 on.
(04:21:34 PM) me: there it is.
(04:21:35 PM) me: 3-0 nats
(04:21:53 PM) philly fan: wow, that’s kind of scary
|
All content Copyright © 2002-2009 Alan Penner Powered byWordPress, Penner Hosting and Superb Internet |
 penner42 |
Redistribution is permitted under the terms of this Creative Commons License |