11-1-17
I feel like I’m about to summarize WWII by starting with a
short discussion of the Spanish Civil War.
The tyranny of linear time, however, forces my hand. You’ll see what I mean. Days like today, I really question the format
of this blog. I started my evening at
work with an unexpected upgrade (at least on my part), so my important viewing
plans were disrupted badly in the early evening, which accounts for some spotty
coverage.
Aggie Soccer
finished their season with a .500 record overall and in conference after they’d
lost their last game on Saturday. Their
first game in the WAC Tournament was
a rematch with Seattle U, whom
they’d beaten in Seattle earlier in the month.
I was able to watch via the WAC
Digital network, but other obligations kept me from watching most of it. That was okay, as it turned out to be a 3-0 revenge-fest for the Redhawks. I saw their last goal. Aggie goalie Dmitri Fong was on the ground, getting kicked, while still trying
to recover the ball in the box. She made
a really heroic effort. Audrey Chavez was back and playing on
what was described as an “80% hamstring.”
These girls are tough. The hosts
highlighted Aileen Galicia in the
pre-game show and singled her out during the match for her good play.
That’s all for Aggie Soccer this season. I think the program has really improved, and
I enjoyed watching them (a major admission for a non-soccer fan). The girls are very easy to root for,
especially after meeting some of them. I’m
looking forward to seeing them again next year (hopefully). [Late update: Coach Freddy Delgado’s contract was not renewed after the
season. This is shocking given the
team’s good showing this year and beating their rivals, the UNM Lobos (who were a good team) and
the UTEP Miners for the first
time. Maybe he asked for a larger raise
than the school could afford. I hope the
girls aren’t too upset and that a good, new coach can be found. Good luck to Coach Delgado, unless he goes to
one of our rivals.]
At the same time this
was going on, the raison d'etat of my existence, Game 7 of the World Series between the Astros and the Dodgers, was being unwatched by myself because of work-related
obligations. The hardware upgrade was
disrupting my schedule, but at least I got pizza out of it. I got in bits and pieces at the beginning of
the game. The Astros started off well,
as George Springer doubled in the
first at bat of the game. An error drove
him in. Jose Altuve drove in Alex
Bregman on a fielder’s choice. 2-0
Astros. I missed all of that.
I did see Yuli
Guriel’s at bat against Yu Darvish,
the Dodgers’ starting pitcher. Guriel’s
mockery of Darvish hadn’t endeared him to the LA fans. You could tell every time he was coming to
bat just by the boo’s. In the last game,
the camera men were zooming in on angry Asian fans in the crowd. Congrats to the MLB for not affecting World
Series play with a PC suspension.
Darvish, you’re a class act.
Yuli, buy an atlas. Japan isn’t
in China. For his part, Guriel tipped
his helmet to Darvish before the at bat by way of an apology and a “thank you”
for not asking for an immediate suspension.
What could have tainted this World Series, instead reinforced
sportsmanship. A 13-pitch battle ensued,
which ended in a fly out. Clayton Kershaw was already warming up
in the Dodger bullpen.
Darvish didn’t settle in after that in the second inning. A walk, a double, and a run-scoring fielder’s
choice by Astros’ pitcher, Lance
McCullers, added another run, but a two-run homer in Springer’s second at
bat chased Darvish from the game. 5-0
Astros. Given what had happened in the
previous six games, nobody took this as a comfortable lead. Kershaw came out to start the third. Some ESPN
Radio hosts insisted before the game that he needed to be used tonight to
“save his legacy.” Obviously this was
media code for “not make us look so bad for hyping him up before the
series.”
It wasn’t exactly a great starting pitching performance on
the other side. After McCullers had hit
his fourth batter of the game, he had to come out, leaving two on. Later, he said was completely spent and was
pitching with nothing working. Brad Peacock came in and closed the
inning. The Dodgers were getting their
chances, but weren’t cashing them in.
Kershaw would go four scoreless innings, thus deflecting criticism away
from Darvish and on to manager Dave
Roberts. The sports media could now
second guess who the Dodger starter should have been and make themselves look
good for backing Kershaw all along.
Andre Ethier came
off the bench for a pinch hit single to score a run in the sixth, but that was
all the damage, 5-1. Strangely, Kenley Jansen started the seventh. I think the rationale for bringing in the
Dodger closer so early was to face the heart of the Astros’ order. Charlie
Morton came in for the Astros in the sixth. He did a good enough job that when his spot
came up in the ninth, he batted for himself.
The bottom of the ninth featured three listless at bats by the
Dodgers. No more heroics for this
series. The Dodgers were spent. The Astros won the game 5-1 and the series 3-2.
And . . . exhale.
I had actually been on pins and needles since the end of
last night’s game, wondering what was going to happen tonight. After winning two of the best of World Series
games ever, it would have been a shame if the Astros hadn’t won the
series. It would have been like that
“Shot heard ‘round the world” footnote that the “Giants win the pennant!” but
didn’t win the series. After Game 5, I
don’t know if me or anyone else could have taken another heart-stopper. Being a fan is stressful. It could certainly be worse. I heard that a lot of money was bet on the
Dodgers winning Game 7, including somebody making a $14 million bet. Part of me hopes that didn’t really happen,
that it was just a gag story. Speaking
of stress, my co-worker Mike somehow got blamed and yelled at by his girlfriend
for the Dodger loss. He wasn’t even
watching.
There were remote shots of 17,000 people in Houston at Minute Maid Park for a viewing party,
cheering their heads off. Charlie Morton got awarded the win for
the game. He was choked up and emotional
afterward. With five home runs in the
Series, George Springer was the MVP. Carlos
Beltran finally got a ring, along with fellow veterans Justin Verlander, Brian
McCann, and Evan Gattis. They can retire happy now whenever they
decide they’re done. The future still
looks bright for the youngsters on the Astros.
Then the crowning moment.
I was watching a serious Carlos
Correa being interviewed on the field by Ken Rosenthal, still marveling how bad his beard looks. Carlos said, “I want to take the next big
step in my life,” and suddenly he turned to his shocked girlfriend and went down on one knee to propose. Look at
the women in the background. That was
me. It was so romantic. Ahhh.
The perfect ending to this World Series.
(Yeah, this is why baseball is great. NFL players just go down on one knee on
camera to protest America, and they only propose to girlfriends who can take
getting slapped around.)
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