Entries Tagged 'Baseball' ↓

All of the optimism of last week vaporized last night as the Phillies crashed out of the playoffs with a whimper, losing 2-1 to the red hot Colorado Rockies. The Rockies completed the sweep and will now face the Diamondbacks in the NLCS. The Diamondbacks are coming off their own sweep of the Cubs, and as I type this the Red Sox just completed a sweep of the Angels. The Yanks and Indians start Game 3 of their ALDS series in a few minutes. Let’s hope Roger Clemens has a bit more in the tank and inspires the Yanks to prevent the sweep, and help keep Joe Torre in a job for at least a few more weeks.

So, in the span of 48 hours, the Phillies have lost their first two NLDS games by a combined score of 14 - 7, the Yankees got crushed by Cleveland 12-3 in their opening ALDS game, the Red Sox won their opener and the Cubs have dropped two to the Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks!

Jimmy Rollins seems to be the only Phillie who realizes that the season didn’t actually end on Sunday, and that there’s a hell of a lot more work to do. Rollins was responsible for all of the Phillies runs yesterday apart from a Ryan Howard solo shot.

Chase Utley is 2-9 with five strikeouts, including a National League record four strikeouts in game one. Is it a case of the pressure getting to the young Phillies?

How to explain what happened to the Yankees last night? I think I can in seven words; Chien Ming Wang’s sinker; Joe Torre; CC Sabathia. Wang’s sinker was nowhere to be found, and all of his pitches stayed up in the zone, making life very easy for the Indian hitters. Joe Torre seemed to give up way too early by going with unproven rookie relievers in the 5th inning. Did he forget this is a FIVE game series? As for Sabathia, well, the likely Cy Young winner had great stuff last night, and was able to keep the Yankees at bay. Can Andy Pettitte pull the Yanks level tonight? History’s on his side, but then his last few starts were less than stellar. I guess we’ll know by 8 pm tonight.

The only silver lining last night was the return of the NHL. A four goal explosion in the third period gave the Rangers a 5-2 win over the visiting Florida Panthers at Madison Square Garden. Chris Drury scored in his debut for the team, setting the pace for a dominant Rangers performance.  I signed up for NHL Center Ice so I was able to catch some of it when flipping back and forth from the Yanks.   I’m really looking forward to watching some great hockey during the dead of winter, and all indications are that the Rangers are going to build on last year’s exciting play and truly contend for the Stanley Cup come June.

Thanks to a nearly unprecedented collapse by the Mets, the Philadelphia Phillies have today captured their first National League East title since 1993. The Mets had led by seven games on September 12th with seventeen games left to play. They then proceeded to lose twelve of their last thirteen, while the Phils won thirteen of their last fourteen. Then, on the last day of the season, the baseball gods smiled down on Philadelphia for the first time in a really long time as the Marlins posted a seven run first inning up at Shea, before a pitch had even been thrown at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies did their part, beating Washington 6-1 thanks to a strong pitching performance by veteran Jamie Moyer and the offense provided by MVP candidate Jimmy Rollins and reigning MVP Ryan Howard.

So, on to the playoffs for the Phils, who will find out who they play after tomorrow’s one game playoff to determine whether the San Diego Padres or the Colorado Rockies are the winners of the National League Wild Card.

Through a strange string of circumstances, my buddy Joel and I found ourselves with tickets to the Mariners v Orioles game at Camden Yards last night. Normally, the 102 degree weather would have been a major factor in our decision NOT to go to the game. However, these tickets were for one of the Skyboxes.

Air-conditioned, and stocked full of beer, soda, nachos, pizza, hot dogs and crab cakes, it was definitely a fun way to take in a ballgame. I have to admit though, there’s nothing like being out in the stands.

Ahh, baseball.

As Woody Allen once said, “I love baseball. You know, it doesn’t have to mean anything. It’s just very beautiful to watch.”

Oh, and yes, we should definitely make up some t-shirts…