MLB 2008

[blind-blake]

Phillies in 5. Go Fightins!!!!

[Quincy]

As you know the All-Star Game decides home field advantage for the World Series.

Kazmir pitched relief in the 15th for the win. Lidge gave up the winning run and took the loss.

(Mel Allen voice) Now how about that!

[Soulstation1]

philly in 6 games

[vajerzy]

Phillies in 6!!

Used to be a season ticket holder when I lived in NJ.

I want to listen to the Phillies broadcast on XM radio- hope it matches well with the Fox broadcast from Directv.

[Neal Pomea]

Rays in 7

[Chalupa]

Chase Utley!!!

[papsrus]

Nice pitching on both sides, for the most part. Kazmir still farting around too much on the edges of the plate, gets himself predictably into trouble inning after inning. Tonight he was able to wiggle out of it, mostly. Take back one pitch and it might have been a 2-1 Rays' win.

But the Rays bats were over-matched tonight. That said, a 1-run loss on a night when they couldn't get anything going (except for basically one inning) may offer a glimmer of hope.

[Brad]

Good reason to tune in late.

I haven't listened to the sound of a FOX broadcast with Buck and McCarver in years. I don't care if the radio is 3 plays ahead I would rather have a root canal with Whitney Houston's Greatest Hits plying then listen to Tim "F-ing Captain Obvious" McCarver.

"since the AL won the All Star game that means the Rays have the home field advantage and get to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning, unless they already have the lead after the top of the ninth then they won't have to bat in the bottom of the ninth because they would have already would have won the game and that is why home field advantage is an advantage.."...

Updated with some actual quotes from McCarver.

Well, David Eckstein, like most of us, has 20 digits. Ten fingers. Ten toes.

Pitching is such a vital part of the game, as far as winning is concerned

Roy Oswalt is a drop and drive pitcher. What is a drop and drive pitcher? He is a guy who drops and drives. Very simple.

If you leadoff and you play every day, you're guaranteed to bat with the bases empty at least 162 times

I think he's past his prime. He used to be good once. The guy who I think is one of the best now is Ron Darling. I listen to him on the Mets broadcasts and his comments are never stupid and are usually perceptive and on the money. In the TBS broadcasts of the ALCS, he seemed overshadowed by Martinzez, however.

[papsrus]

The guy who I think is one of the best now is Ron Darling. I listen to him on the Mets broadcasts and his comments are never stupid and are usually perceptive and on the money. In the TBS broadcasts of the ALCS, he seemed overshadowed by Martinzez, however.

I agree with you. Darling is knowledgeable and pretty even-handed during Mets broadcasts (no cheering in the press box).

[tkeith]

I think he's past his prime. He used to be good once. The guy who I think is one of the best now is Ron Darling. I listen to him on the Mets broadcasts and his comments are never stupid and are usually perceptive and on the money. In the TBS broadcasts of the ALCS, he seemed overshadowed by Martinzez, however.

I find Darling's voice tough to get beyond... reminds me of Willie from the TV show Alf. Buck Martinez commentary in the series, his double entendres notwithstanding, was excellent.

[Brad]

Didn't mean to say Buck wasn't. I listen to him daily on XM's Baseball this Morning. If you're a baseball junkie, their baseball station is a must, principally for Buck.

Ron Darling is going to be co-hosting with Mike Francesa tomorrow on WFAN (www.wfan.com) from 1 to 615 EST.

Edited October 23, 2008 by Brad

[papsrus]

Is everybody holding their collective breaths? Lost interest? What?

Game 3 is huge, obviously, but seems to be more of a must-win for the Phillies than the Rays. The pitching match up seems to favor the Rays, but we'll see. As with the Boston series, all the Rays have to do is take one in Philly and they bring it back home.

And, ESPN should just let Kruk wear his Philly jersey and wave his pom pons. We'd all feel better about it.

[Quincy]

Is everybody holding their collective breaths? Lost interest? What?

I'm so used to Dan picking up the slack in baseball posts.

I like this series, and the game had some tense moments not necessarily reflected in the score. I'll be curious to see when Price can be used next given that he threw 42 pitches.

Until mid-Nov. I'm the same age as Jamie Moyer, so I have a vested interest in him not embarrassing my age group. I he fails in that bandbox I'll disavow the age and go back to importance of the birth year.

[Quincy]

Woo hoo, what a game! Jamie Moyer is my hero. A damn good game out of the former Cub, Ranger, & Mariner. I'd think most fans of those franchises are happy for the guy. Great scoop and barehanded catch between Moyer & Howard on the bunt that was incorrectly called (but a tough call for the ump.) Upton's run around the bases, 5 man infield in the 9th...great stuff, and a great series.

[Chalupa]

Love Jamie Moyer. I mean how could you not? He's an all round super nice guy who runs a camp for kids that have lost a parent. He skipped school to watch the Phils 1980 parade down Broad Street and now he's helped that same team get two wins away from being in his own parade.

Man I was so freakin' MAD when that ump called Upton safe. They have to expand instant replay next year - at least for the playoffs/ WS. That call almost cost them the game.

Wojciechowski has good article on why you should be watching the WS if you're not.....

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/sto...mp;sportCat=mlb

[Brad]

I'm sorry but this just ain't a scintillating series so far, nothing to grab you by the scuff of the neck. In fact, the whole postseason, except for game 5 of the ALCS, has been rather dreary. Games have not been barn burners. The hitters need to break out big time.

[papsrus]

I'm losing interest myself, which is cruel irony. The season, September, the AL and NL playoffs were all much more compelling than this. I'm not crazy about FOX. Too much annoying advertising and stupid graphics constantly crawling all over the screen. Pissed they started last night's game at 10:06. Play a freakin' day game!

Edited October 26, 2008 by papsrus

[BERIGAN]

Woo hoo, what a game! Jamie Moyer is my hero. A damn good game out of the former Cub, Ranger, & Mariner. I'd think most fans of those franchises are happy for the guy. Great scoop and barehanded catch between Moyer & Howard on the bunt that was incorrectly called (but a tough call for the ump.) Upton's run around the bases, 5 man infield in the 9th...great stuff, and a great series.

Yeah, it's rare to see a guy older than me in the World Series! And to win with his slow stuff, truly amazing!.And what a beautiful play by Moyer, would have gone down as one of the best plays in a WS game-if they only counted great plays that didn't result in an out! That call by the ump! You're right, a tough angle, but all the years of umping(umping?) should tell him to get in a better position.

And when I think of Jamie Moyer, I think Cubs, even though he wasn't there that long.

And Who is Jack Quinn, and why isn't he in the HOF??? Was until recently the oldest guy to steal a base(I think), hit a homer, and win a WS game??? Man, what kind of steroids was he on in the 20's and 30's?

[BERIGAN]

I'm losing interest myself, which is cruel irony. The season, September, the AL and NL playoffs were all much more compelling than this. I'm not crazy about FOX. Too much annoying advertising and stupid graphics constantly crawling all over the screen. Pissed they started last night's game at 10:06. Play a freakin' day game!

You are not losing interest, just cuz your team has lost 2 straight, right?

Don't worry, they will win tomorrow, or is it Tuesday??? Too lazy to look up. Then all bets are off back in Tampa.

Yeah Fox sports has way more annoying advertising than TBS!

[Chalupa]

I'm sorry but this just ain't a scintillating series so far, nothing to grab you by the scuff of the neck. In fact, the whole postseason, except for game 5 of the ALCS, has been rather dreary. Games have not been barn burners. The hitters need to break out big time.

You've got to be kidding me. I'm guessing you didn't see Game 4 of the NLCS when Matt Stairs hit THE BOMB? Or Saturday's/Sunday's ninth inning?? I mean how many times have you ever seen a slow, pudgy catcher get an infield hit against 5 infielders?? That was crazy!! I would think that just watching Cole Hamels throw the world's greatest change up past all of those hitters would be amazing for any fan of the game to watch. Then again I guess being a Mets' fan you get to see that too much in regular season

I'm losing interest myself, which is cruel irony. The season, September, the AL and NL playoffs were all much more compelling than this. I'm not crazy about FOX. Too much annoying advertising and stupid graphics constantly crawling all over the screen. Pissed they started last night's game at 10:06. Play a freakin' day game!

How can you be saying that you're "losing interest"?? Seriously, it's comments like that that make people say that the MLB should pull out of Florida because the fan support isn't there. Can you imagine a fan from Boston, New York, or Philly saying that about a World Series that involved their team? No way.

[Brad]

I'm sorry but these aren't compelling games, whether or not I'm a Mets fan. As a Phillies fan, I would expect you to be excited, since you make it to the World Series every fifteen years or so. However, from a purely baseball point of view, what has been exciting about this World Series, except maybe the ending of game 3. Games 1 and 2 were well played but not really exciting. Ditto for last night's game. In the Divisional Series and the Championship Series, the only thing to write home about was that game in LA where the Phillies hit a couple of homers to come from behind and game 5 of the ALCS (maybe game 6). Other than, pfft.

Edited October 27, 2008 by Brad

[Chalupa]

I'm losing interest myself, which is cruel irony. The season, September, the AL and NL playoffs were all much more compelling than this. I'm not crazy about FOX. Too much annoying advertising and stupid graphics constantly crawling all over the screen. Pissed they started last night's game at 10:06. Play a freakin' day game!

You are not losing interest, just cuz your team has lost 2 straight, right?

Don't worry, they will win tomorrow, or is it Tuesday??? Too lazy to look up. Then all bets are off back in Tampa.

Yeah Fox sports has way more annoying advertising than TBS!

I don't want to get over confident here but I gotta like, nay LOVE, the Phillies' chances tonight. Howard and the rest of the bats are starting to come around and we've got Hamels on the mound who is undefeated this October. And the Phils are showing the rest of the world that they have the best bullpen in the Majors this year.

How about last night's game?

Joltin' Joe Blanton! That homer he hit went farther that Howard's first dinger. Finally the Phils' bats are awakening. Can't say the same for the Rays. Pena and Longoria are a combined 0 for 29 with 16 strike outs. Ouch.

Man the umps blew another call which was even more outrageous than the blown Moyer call from game 3. Rollins was trying to get back to third when the third basemen for the Rays stuck his glove half way up Rollins' ass RIGHT IN FRONT of the 3rd base ump. I couldn't believe it. Still can't.

[papsrus]

You are not losing interest, just cuz your team has lost 2 straight, right?

Don't worry, they will win tomorrow, or is it Tuesday??? Too lazy to look up. Then all bets are off back in Tampa.

Yeah Fox sports has way more annoying advertising than TBS!

That guy! Couldn't TBS sell any ads? Frank TV, Frank TV, every freakin' inning. Geez.

I'm losing interest myself, which is cruel irony. The season, September, the AL and NL playoffs were all much more compelling than this. I'm not crazy about FOX. Too much annoying advertising and stupid graphics constantly crawling all over the screen. Pissed they started last night's game at 10:06. Play a freakin' day game!

How can you be saying that you're "losing interest"?? Seriously, it's comments like that that make people say that the MLB should pull out of Florida because the fan support isn't there. Can you imagine a fan from Boston, New York, or Philly saying that about a World Series that involved their team? No way.

My comments about the series being kind of a snoozer make people say MLB should pull out of Florida? Ease back on the no-doze, Boze. And yes, if I try real hard I can imagine fans from REAL baseball towns bailing on their team when they play badly. pffft. Please.

The Rays are flat and Philly wasn't exactly lighting it up before last night. And it's more than just good pitching dominating the offenses. Fact is, the memorable moments of this series include a healthy dose of bad base running, almost no clutch hitting (prior to Sunday) and a 30-foot game-winning hit against a 5-main infield. Forgive me if I'm a little nonplussed.

Bottom line: I know the way the Rays are playing doesn't come close to the way they played all year up until the series. The ALCS was way more charged. And I'm guessing the Phillies leaving dozens of guys on base (before last night) isn't exactly their MO either. So all in all, there's just been a noticeable drop-off in the level of play, IMO. Sometimes the Super Bowls are duds, too. Doesn't mean anyone's lost interest in "the game."

[Soulstation1]

I miss dangerous dan's F bombs!!!!

[Quincy]

I miss dangerous dan's F bombs!!!!

BUD SELIG IS A MOTHERFUCKING lucky FUCKHEAD.