Post season chatter
I’m changing my name to ProgRaysFan. :) Wow great comeback. What a night tonight flipping between 3 games. On a lark I flipped from the ATL/PHI game and watched the bottom of the 8th of the Rays game.
What a night. Baseball is the game of all games.
Hoping for 2 play in games tomorrow.
What do you all think???
You have to love the Rays fighting spirit. Like I said over in the other thread, like we had in ’07 and ’09. I hope the Rockies get that feeling back again.
Atlanta completes the collapse. The Phillies are unbelievable.
Boston completes their collapse! Amazing, the Rays pull it out.
Longoria says hi to Mr. O’Dowd.
J/K
Epic day. Probably the best last day of the season in history.
Baseball is going to get a huge boost from this.
What an amazing day it was. After 161 games both wildcards are tied and you get 2 extra inning games and 2 walk-off wins on the final day.
I was kind of hoping the Red Sox would pull it out and was watching that game, but then Papelbon came on to close it and they kept showing Josh Beckett, and I remembered why I hate the Red Sox. So I’m glad how it turned out.
Happy 2 see Bostonchokesox finish the season like they did!! Great night for the best game in the world & I didn’t run out of beer . Cards and Rays WS bound.
Fellow(and gals)posters…
I’m going to keep, in the back of my mind, Papelbon’s “meltdown” for reference when Betancort, Street or Brothers blows a certain win for the Rox next season.
The Braves classic “pitty up” all over themselves when their closer(?)couldn’t get three outs to get them to the post-season is also a moment that I’m going to remind myself(and you all should too)of whenever our closer does the same thing.
We all carry a passion for the Rox, but we are constantly reminded of why this is the greatest game ever devised. I’m not a fan of the AL but was literally breathless when, in the span of three or four minutes, the entire season(and hopes) for that season were dashed or exalted depending on your said passion for a team.
WOW!!
My chick, in the other room, said to me, “how often are you going to repeat the word unbelievable?”
Without doubt, in my mind at least, the greatest five minute stretch of highs and lows in the grand history of “our” game.(Our own ten minute rollercoaster with Hoffman/Carroll in 2007 made famous by “the slide” certainly comes to mind as it relates to the Padres and Rox WOW factor…especially after giving up two in the top of that famous inning.)
Did I say…WOW?
Try, just try, to think of what Red Sox Nation is feeling this morning.
WOW!!
And on another note…
Don’t be surprised if a famous Rockies player by the name of Carroll isn’t back in his “rightful” uniform come spring. Not saying it’s a certainty, and not asking for yea or nay, just saying don’t be surprised.
And finally, HUGE kudos to Steve(ESPECIALLY Steve), Jack and Tracy for an absolutely marvelous site. I read and/or follow other sites dealing with the Rox as well as other teams(it’s the baseball nut in me), but none, and I mean none, are as much fun to read as this one.
It’s also my opinion that, along with the writers, the posters here are some of the most informed and knowledgable in all of baseball.
I’d like to thank all the posters for making the 2011 season, as disappointing as it was, one that was a “breath of fresh air” to this old and beat up ex-umpire.
Spring training can’t get here soon enough.
Peace and love.
I totally second the kudos for Steve, Jack and Tracy for their hard work on this outstanding site. It was even fun during a bad year. As for last night’s (insert exclamation here) proceedings, here’s one indication of the power of late night end-of-season baseball: No calls about the Bucs on local sports talk. What a relief!
Ed, if the Rockies are unable to bring Ellis back, I would love to see Jamie Carroll back in the purple and black uniform. Other than Fowler the Rockies don’t have many slap hitting OBP type starting position players, and that’s one of the many problems with how the team is currently constructed.
My Orioles were really good down the stretch, but I just might have to change my long standing (50 year) American League fandom to those amazing RAYS!
BTW is our reident Rays fan MIA?
I was out most of the evening but got back in time to watch the 9th inning of the Red Sox-O’s game. Wow!! Unbelievable and all the other words. Papelbon was doing great until Sutcliffe said, “I looked in his eyes and no way is he going to blow this save”. Which he immediately did and then the game. Then flipped over to watch the Yankees-Rays. I’m a Yankee fan (except when they play the Rox) but last night I was a Rays fan and when Longoria hit that home. Well, wow again.
Although it would have been even more exciting if the Rox were involved or if the Yankees-Rays meant something for the Rockies, not sure if my heart would have held up.
Like others have said, Thanks to Steve, Jack and Tracy. And thanks to all the ITR posters and readers. Or almost all of you. We’ve all had our negative moments in this negative season but except for occasional outbursts most of the comments have not resorted to profanity, name-calling etc. Not that I’m against that you should hear me talking to the TV but most of that is directed at the umps (even though Ed the Ump is right, the umps are correct more often than not) and of course my thoughts about Jim Tracy.
Is Jim Tracy managing next year written in stone? What happens if Francona becomes available? He played for the Denver Bears, he’s been here. I know Francona is getting lots of the blame for the Red Sox collapse but he won 2 world championships. 2 more than all other Red Sox managers since 1918 ever did.
Rich M. Not MIA. I just got back from FL. It was pretty amazing. It was sad to come back to CO knowing that there will be baseball in St. Pete on Mon and Tue. I’m not sure I will make it back home for any of the playoff games. I hope so.
NOTE TO MR. O’DOWD. If the Rays hold true to form and they decide to bring up Matt Moore next season, at least give some consideration to James Shields.
Mike Raysfan, I just wanted to congratulate your club for proving that at least a form “Moneyball” can still work. As I said earlier – I am now officially on the Rays bandwagon! Go Rays!!!
If you think fans in Colorado are upset with the season, you should read the opinions, blogs, columns etc. from Boston. This was a team that some people thought was the “best ever”. Everybody’s pointing their fingers at somebody.
One of the columns had a list of the total salaries paid since 2009 and the number of post-season wins. Yankees had the highest combined salary but also the most post-season wins (16). The Red Sox the 2nd highest combined salary but zero post-season wins since 09. 3 of the five highest salaried teams and 6 of the top 9 didn’t have any wins.
Lots of factors play into that. It’s not spending money but spending money wisely. Everybody has injuries.
Fellas and gals…
Cot’s Baseball Contracts is the place to look for contract status. Steve, don’t know if you use this site but it is awesome.
Team-by-team contract status of virtually every player in the Rockies organization. It also give the career contracts. Very informative and interesting…Jason Giambi’s first contract was for $120,000 in 1996.
Every team is also included.
I am going to post this address on the current thread being written about…Post Season Chatter
Here you go…mlbcontracts.blogspot.com or just Google Cot’s Baseball Contracts
Be sure to read all the quotes on the home page…in a word…hilarious
Enjoy
I would like to congratulate the D-backs and Kirk Gibson. Talk about turning the tables on everyone else in the division! Gibson’s coaching staff could probably still play pretty well but they are passing their attitudes on to the young folks. Hope the Snakes carry the NL West title to the NL pennant and on to the WS.
Again, thanks to all here who either create or participate!
I would LOVE to see an Arizona/Tampa World Series; However, this isnt a perfect world and we will get stuck with a Yankees/Phillies matchup.
I love Rays coach Joe Maddon. He plans to start rookie Matt Moore (only one start in his MLB career) in game one against Texas. Maddon always thinks out of the box and it usually pays off for him. No coach in baseball, save Maddon, would start an inexperienced rookie in the first game of the postseason. I can’t wait see if my theory that Maddon is a genius holds water. He’d have to be smart wearing those glasses. With great risk come great reward. Go get em’ Rays.
Based on some of the criticism JT has received for his moves, I’m not sure Maddon would pass a litmus test with some on here. He does do the unexpected at times. Example, in the game Wed he pinch hit using Dan Johnson. I think by now everyone is aware of what his avg was coming up to the plate. I readily admit we were perplexed and maybe questioning Maddon’s thought process with the use of colorful adjectives. We were wrong and it paid off. He hit a homerun. Everyone was happy. It was then that my sister remembered Johnson was the one that did the damage against the Red Sox and Papelbon a couple of weeks earlier.
What do you think the comments would be under the “lineup” if JT sent someone to the plate, with a less than .200 avg, with the season and playoffs on the line? It probably wouldn’t be pretty.
Dan Johnson hit a vital homer against Papelbon late in September of 2008.
He spent most of 2011 in the minors. At Triple-A Charlotte, he was a teammate of Corey Wade…off whom he hit his two-out, two-strike home run Wednesday night.
The historic blast was his first big-league hit since late April.
Dan Johnson is batting .286 in high leverage situations. That’s better than most of the Rockies players.
It appears we just took the wrong Ian from La Quinta High School. Ian Kennedy went 21 – 4 pitching in a hitters park (we all know what the other Ian from La Quinta High did for us this year).
If we had that season from any one pitcher, I’d venture to say we would be where Arizona is. Of course, to have a 20 game winner, we would need some power from 3B.
Okay, going to throw this out there. Terry Francona is out in Boston. If you are the Rockies do you not get instant credibility by going out and hiring him to be here?
Kind of funny two World Series Championships and a 90 win season this year gets you fired in Boston, but a miserable 73 win season gets you another year in Colorado. No wonder we lose.
Doc,
I was thinking the exact same thing.
I would guess that the likelihood is about 0% but I would be thrilled
I mentioned Francona on another thread (or maybe this one) yesterday. Also the Angels GM resigned today. Angels hadn’t made it to the post-season in two years. Meanwhile back at the ranch, the Rockies keep DoD, Tracy and his coaches.
I guess Joe Madden picked the right starting pitcher today.
Rockies PLEASE fire Jim Tracy and hire Francona!!
I’ve entertained the thought of “Tito” managing the Rox, as well. I think that he might be a good fit. However, after spending time in the intense spotlight that is the “Nation”, and being (unfairly, IMO) jetted for their recent collapse…despite exceptional results…I’m not sure that he would be willing to properly deflect the attention away from those pulling the strings, or those preaching “mid-market” and “fiscal responsibility” while watching near-record numbers of fans moving the turnstiles.
To me, that seems to have become the prerequisite for holding the title of “Manager” of our favorite team.
I wouldn’t want that job.
Even if they wished to retain Tracy and the crew, I didn’t see much point in announcing it before ownership knew who else would be out there. Francona is not going to be the last good name available.
This “loyalty” thing the Rockies have going on is beginning to really grate on me. Last I looked the MLB was a business and a pretty big one at that – its time to start running the Rockies like it actually matters what the results are!
Given results, resources, etc – I would have thought that a logical approach to this issue would have been to simply say that we will be evaluating our options (over the next 45 days or so) including bringing back the current manager and MLB coaches. Then wait and see if upgrades might become available.
Immediately retaining the manager and coached after the team under performed by close to twenty games – well I have said this before I am shocked, disappointed and still in total disbelief. The message that this approach sends to the manager, coaches, players and fans is exactly 180 degrees opposite of what I would expect from a truely professional organization.
Do the Rockies need instant credibility? I stand by the names I’ve posted several times. I think you start with them. Do you put all the blame on JT and the coaching staff? Mr. O’Dowd? I don’t think so.
Do you blame the players? They certainly own a piece of blame.
What about player development? YES. Much blame gets put on bad draft choices. Ok, in some cases there were other pics available that have worked out well for other teams. Well then throw in scouting as part of the problem also but maybe the short fall is in developing those draft choices???
Francona has fallen into what have you done for me lately catagory. While I agree he has been great for Boston how do you explain what happened in Sep? Rumors now abound that he lost control of the club house and team. Was it just a case of over paid players and ego’s getting in the way? I’m curious. What do you think he would bring to the Rockies?
My least favorite national talking head is now yammering about the possibility of him going to the White Sox.
Braves hitters didn’t perform well…hitting coach fired.
Angels underperformed…GM demoted.
Red Sox blow big lead…manager resigns.
Royals pitchers have bad season…pitching coach fired.
Only with the Rockies does a terrible reason result in no changes in front office, manager or coaching staff.
Only in Colorado does accountability NEVER enter into the picture.
Oh, and I hear Monforts are probably raising ticket prices for 2012, though I hardly see how they can.
Hey I am not saying that Francona is the answer, in fact I am pretty sure he is not the answer for the Rockies. Francona’s laid back approach and style probably works well with all the veterans that the Rod Sox have – but with all the young Rockies, not so much.
My manager choice would have been Gibson, but he is not going to be available and I said that last year when the DBacks were dismal. Gibson was holding players accountable and it was starting to change the culture in that clubhouse. Yes, I wanted J Tracy gone after the collapse of the Rockies circa 2010 and, the 2011 collapse has not changed my thinking on this!
My point is that as the playoffs will start to whittle down the number of teams still playing, there are going to be more manager and coaching options available, why wouldn’t the Rockies at least considered some of those guys as potential upgardes over the existing staff?
This situation has now set up to be the “complete” overhaul of the entire organization when the Rockies are ten games under .500 at the 2012 All Star break. And that’s exactly what I expect to happen unless DanO makes a ton more moves than he has shown us recently. And add to that at least a couple of those moves would have to be big in nature.
Firing Jim Tracy would at least show us hardcore fans that at least we’re trying to change things. Bringing back the whole entire coaching staff after, IMO, the most dissapointing season in Rockies history, shows me they are more about being loyal to one another than winning baseball games. This is how I picture how things went when DOD decided to let Tracy pick his staff:
DOD(thinkin to himself) – I don’t want to fire any of these guys. What if they get mad at me? I know! I’ll let Tracy pick his coaching staff!!!
Tracy(thinking to himself) – Geez, I can’t fire any of these guys. What if they get mad at me? I don’t want that. I know!!! I’ll just bring them all back and we can the bestest of friends forever!!!! Yay!!!!!!!
Having a major league baseball team managed by Jim Tracy is a clear sign to the fans that winning is not important to that team. Go ahead and raise ticket prices. I will not pay to see this team, which is sad because the Rockies do have 2 players that are worth the price of admission.
Not going after Francona would be foolish of the Rockies. They at least should have some conversations with him. The problem is that he will probably want some reassurance that the team is going to have good players someday, which looks very unlikely right now.
Mikeraysfan, is Shields going to be a free agent this winter? You have to love what Shields can do, and would love to see him with the Rox given the pitchers we have now. That said, he is susceptible to the longball at times, which can be pretty disastrous at Coors Field.
There is a $7 million team option with a $2 million buy out on Shields next season. He will get expensive. Typically more than the Rays will spend. He stands to make $7m for 2012, $9m for 2013, and $12m for 2014.
The typical Rays rumor mill is already active and some do not believe he will be back. The fact the Matt Moore started a playoff game with only pitching 1 other game in the big leagues has certainly fueled that fire. Couple that with the fact he pitched pretty darn well.
I’m not sure how Shields would do in Coors. I do think that Mr. O’Dowd should at least give it some thought.
Shields and Hammel together again but in Rockies uniforms … ahhhh?
So what gets changed by firing JT? Is that really the answer? Am I the only one that feels more of the blame falls within player development and scouting?
Haven’t we been down this road already? Last season many thought it was Baylor. What about this season? Many on here complained about player “x” and said he should be gone. Well the Rockies certainly had the revolving door out of town fully functional and many of you got your wish. In the end did it help?
I do question one of the coaches abilitily to work with some players. It is alleged things get worked on, we see a better game or 2, then back to the same old stuff.
What gets changed? The manager. It could be the answer. All I know is that something needs to change and that would be something.
If I were able to dream BIG, I would dream that someone with deep pockets takes note of the number of fans that comes out to watch a sub-par team, decides to write the Monforts a fat check, clears out the front office and instills their own baseball people there. Subtractions/additions to the team as deemed necessary. The manager and his coaches get until the end of May to show something, or their gone, as well.
Too much??
Its pretty embarrassing that the Rockies who throughout their history has BY MILES AND MILES AND MILES have outdrawn Florida, Arizona and Tampa Bay is the least successful of all the franchises.
Even after ownerships of all three of those clubs deliberately takes hatchets to the teams they always bounce back.
Meanwhile the Rockies remain stagnant and pretty much inept at all levels of scouting, drafting, FA signings, trades, management etc.
Excellent points in comparing Rox to ’90′s expansion brethren. Arizona and Florida have been completely revamped twice and Rays not only have the lowest payroll in baseball but also got rid of their eight highest-paid players and still wind up in the playoffs.
Here in Colorado the Monfort way is to make no changes, stick with a bunch of homegrown players who have clearly demonstrated they’re not up to the task and hope for miracles like the ’07 stretch drive. How’s that worked out lately?
And I don’t think the Monforts have even the slightest interest in selling the team. Sadly, we the fans, by financially contributing to the Rockies, are the enablers that allow the situation to continue.
The Rays did not turn the corner until the dust from political urest settled and there was a new ownership group.
As I pointed out a few weeks ago. EVERY starter this season came from within the Rays organization. Strictly my opinion but the reason the Rays are hanging in there with the goliath payroll teams of the AL East is depth in the minors. Strictly my opinion but unless someone can show me the error of my thought process, I believe the Rays to have superior player development and scouting to the Rockies. Please, if I’m wrong, let me know.
The Rockies SHOULD be a highly competitive team. $88m is not a meager payroll. I believe the Rockies do have talented players that for whatever reason had a lousy season.
I would bet the Anonymous poster above is actually Mike Raysfan, and he is right the Rockies payroll is not problem. The real problem is the way the team has been assembled by the GM. Severaal roster moves that DanO has done wrong:
1. Put together a team based primarily on the three run homer, that is literally lost once they leave Coors Field.
2. Hired a manager based on the three run homer approach that has a bunch of small ball players (from the minors) that he then refuses to play because he believes so strongly in the three run homer.
3. Failed to balance the many left handed hitters with adequate power from the right side of the plate.
4. Failed to provide enough power from the corner positions of 1B, 3B and LF.
5. Failed to provide the appropriate platoon partner for Iannetta (LHB) and Helton (Giambi does not bat RH).
I could go on, but you get the idea – this group of Rockies is just not a functional collection of baseball players – and the recent record would tend to support that theory.
I won’t criticize the Monforts too hard for the amount of $$ they spent, but its almost every decision possible that they and O’Dowd have messed up. As I said above, who they bring in, who they retain, who they let go…its been more wrong than right since the 2007 WS, IMO.
The decisions and personnel choices are just as important if not more than the actual amount they spend.
Unfortunately, the Rockies are sort of trapped between a total rebuilding and trying to contend each year.
The Broncos tried that for 10 years before finally moving on.
If significant changes are not made soon, the life of Tulo and Cargo’s contracts might look like the life of Helton’s contract with only a miracle runs provide post season games.
Though I liked the Rays and wanted them to win for Mike Raysfan sake, a small part of me is glad the Rockies are not (yet) the last expansion team to win the WS. Is that petty?
The Rays had a great season and compete hard in the toughest division in baseball. Arizona has had a good season this year. They both do an extremely good job with the resources that they have. That got me to thinking…
Based on general numbers taken off of ESPN, I came up the the following:
Attendance Payroll
Tampa 1,529,188 (29) $41,932,171 (29)
Arizona 2,105,432 (18) $53,639,833 (25)
Milwaukee 3,071,373 (7) $85,497,333 (16)
Colorado 2,909,777 (12) $87,998,071 (14)
(I have similar numbers for Detroit, Texas, and St. Louis as well, but decided to keep the post size smaller.)
My point here is obvious. As a business owner, if I’m looking at these numbers (and, not generating any playoff revenue), personally, I’m trying to figure out ways to improve the overall operation and results of my business.
Prog. If you look at the history of expansion teams, the Rays and Rockies aren’t alone. I believe you can also add the Astros, the Nationals – Expos, the Brewers, the Mariners, the Rangers who were the 2nd version of the Washington Senators. Maybe I’m missing one or two. And while the Cubs have won, I don’t think any ITR posters were alive the last time they won.
That being said, I’m not happy with the Montferts mind-set. Winning doesn’t seem to be a priority for them. The whole organization seems to find ready made excuses to not winning. In a DP article on Sunday I believe it was Tracy was quoted on saying how hard it is to win in a mid-major market. I believe it’s only mid-major if you think it’s mid-major. Milwaukee, Tampa Bay and Arizona certainly are not bigger markets than Denver.
Yes Rich, that was me. Not sure why it says Anonymous.
Bill, I agree. The Rays market is small and I think everyone will agree the Rockies are mid-market. Here’s something interesting. The term Tampa Bay is not a hard set definition.
To those of us from there it pretty much refers to a 5 county tv coverage area.
If you are into the internet and wiki-whatever then it is a much smaller area. That area would be the Tampa/St. Pete/Clearwater area or Hillsboro and Pinellas counties.
“Tampa Bay” is nothing more than a sports driven media and political term. The population within this “Tampa Bay” area is probably around 4.5 million people. Using the 5 county version it’s probably more than the entire state of CO.
The point I’m trying to make is while the Rays are considered small market the actual local supporting population is probably higher for the same given area in CO.
The local support the Rays get is shameful. The Rockies should be darn proud and glad of the support they get from the local fans.
Have other ITR’s noticed the TBS promo showing the Tigers getting to the World Series in 2006? Magglio Ordonez hitting †he game winning HR off of the A’s Huston Street. It’s not just in Denver that he gives up HR’s. Hopefully the Rockies can get some value by trading him.
Until yesterday’s game, Cards-Phils series had been eerily similar to Rox-Phils in ’09.
Cards and Rockies both lost first game in Philadelphia, won the second; then lost heartbreaking Game 3 at home and took two-run lead into the ninth inning of Game 4.
But where Street blew the lead, the game and the series, Motte set the Phils down in order to force a decisive fifth game.
Just read where the Mets are dropping some of their ticket prices for the third year in a row.
By the way…the Mets finished the season 4 games ahead of our team in the standings.
And the Mets also fired or reassigned four members of their coaching staff.
Meanwhile, the Rockies are apparently satisfied with their coaches after the most disappointing season in team history.
SteveinAurora, are you saying you’d pay the Mets ticket prices? The reason they are dropping isn’t because the team is bad it’s because they grossly overpriced the seats when CitiField opened.
I see our old pal Jared in Utah made the Denver Post today questions to Dick Monfort here it is..
You have worked very hard to create a clubhouse that is full of players who are good people, without the acidic personalities you sometimes see in other markets. Do you feel this has been a difficult requirement at times, only looking at “team” players, to the possibility of maybe passing on a big player that might be a bit more difficult personality wise, but could bring huge returns on the field?
—Jared, Provo, Utah
Dear Jared, it is great to have our Utah fans participate. That is an excellent question, because it is often very tempting to look beyond character and purely focus on talent. However, over the long-term we strongly believe that character creates a winning chemistry. We want to be competitive year-in and year-out and the character of our club is an important factor in that desire.
For me, the takeaway quote from Dick Monfort was this:
“To succeed we must have trust. And it’s difficult to create trust in an atmosphere if there is no accountability when things do not go right. We are accountable here.”
And we know that how exactly?
Accountable to whom exactly? Certainly NOT the fans!
That quote certainly wins for most cliche-ridden!
“Accountability” and “trust” are good a buzzwords. That’s all. I doubt that even Mr. Monfort really knew what he was trying to say there.
Sure sounds awesome, though! Go Rockies!
sigh…
3 guys who were of interest to the Rockies after last season — Michael Young, Victor Martinez, Lance Berkman — had excellent seasons and played big roles in their clubs making the playoffs.
Full disclosure: I thought Martinez was ridiculously overpaid. I still think that, but wouldn’t he have looked good at 1B and catcher? I thought Berkman was finished; I was wrong. I think he’ll be finished in 2012. I thought Michael Young would’ve been a pretty underwhelming acquisition since we could do just as well with our in-house 3B candidates. And I was really, really, really wrong.
These weren’t hunches; they were well-reasoned opinions. And they were wrong. Sometimes it’s better to roll the dice and hope you get lucky …
Nope…been there once, checked it off of my list of visiting all of the baseball stadiums.
Passed on free tickets to several Rox’ games at the end of the season as I wasn’t going to pay for parking, concessions, etc. whilst watching the farm team.
And…I don’t want to pay even more money next year to watch the new and improved versions of Paulino, Lopez, Stewart, et al.
Like everyone else on this site, I would appreciate the opportunity to watch an exciting baseball team that is relevant until somewhere nearing the end of the season.
Do you guys see the guts coming out of the AZ dugout? Squeeze in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game. You’d never see that out of a mgr like Jim Tracy who makes every decision required to keep himself out of the line of criticism.
Very “gutty” call by Gibson tied game in 9th, but he committed a mistake, in my opinion, earlier when he ran for Montero in the 8th. I’ve long thought he’s Arizona’s best hitter and I’ve never liked the strategy of removing a terrific hitter in a close game that could go extra innings. Sure enough, Montero’s spot came up with the game on the line in the 9th, runners on first and third, two out…but instead old friend Henry Blanco was up and grounded out, wasting D-backs’ best chance to win the game.
Yankees, Phillies and Diamondbacks are all out! Awesome!!!!
I love the fact that there are no East Coast team remaining in the playoffs; Detroit is the furthest east city and Detroit is considered Big Ten area. All teams (Detroit, Texas, St. Louis, and Milwaukee) are more or less along the Mississippi River. I’m rooting for Cards all the way with Pujols, Holliday, Berkman, and Carp.
I’m gonna write a book with all of you as contributors, sources and what nots called “How the Rockies went from the Penthouse to the Outhouse.”
Just watched the end of the Tigers-Rangers game. That Michael Young guy…he’s a gamer. DOD should have figured out how to make that trade happen.
Oh…by the way…another guy on the Rangers’ lineup seems to show up in post-season fairly frequently. Some guy by the name of “Torrealba”??
Michael Young, through Tuesday, has been hitting like he was already on the Rockies. Leaving men on base. So far the Rangers are leading the series, and won the first series, despite Young instead of because of him. Of course they don’t get to the playoffs without him.
A thought on the first round of the playoffs. Cards, Brewers and Tigers had to go 5 games and each series was decided by one run. Seems to be a bit harsh to say that the Phils, Yanks and D-Backs had disappointing seasons when a call here or there may have made the difference.
I’m about to sit down and watch baseball but so far I’ve been underwhelmed by the umpires during the post-season. Some horrible strike zones and a number of missed calls at first base. Don’t think that it’s favored one team or another but, despite what Ed the Ump will say, there have been many balls called strikes and strikes called balls. To say it all evens out is a cop-out. Why not get the best umps to call these games. Or are these the best guys?