10-4-16
The Flash season premier distracted me, but I got to hear some of the AL Wild Card game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays. Given the high-powered teams involved, this was surprisingly a pitchers’ duel, so much so that it went into extras, tied at two. In the 11th, Edwin Encarnacion hit a game-winning, walk-off three-run homer to give the Jays the win. With that, my predictions already start off wrong. On the one hand, I thought the game was going to be in Baltimore. If I’d known that it was going to be Toronto, with their Lebatt’s bottle-throwing fans, I might have made a different prediction. (And, I doubt Oriole players will be tossing any more balls into the stands there for a while.) Worse, I was giving it to the O’s because I thought they had a better bullpen. Alright, cue the circus music as we rematch the Jays and the Rangers.
10-5-16
In spite of the great NL Wild Card game match up between the San Francisco Giants and the New York Mets, I totally missed the game on the radio to go to Aggie Volleyball. If I’d stayed home, I still would have missed part of the game to see the Arrow season premiere. I saw a guy at the volleyball match watching the ballgame on an iPad. He had the right idea. During the intermission, I asked Ron for a game update and was shocked that it was still scoreless in the 7th. I did hear the top of the first before leaving, and I remembered that I heard the commentators say that they thought this would be tight contest with Noah Syndergaard and Madison Bumgarner pitching.
I got the final box score later of 3-0 Giants. Perusing the stats, I saw the unlikely hero being Conor Gillaspie with a three-run homer. Far more familiar was the goat in the situation, Mets’ closer Jeurys Familia. I seem to recall stuff like this happening last year for the Mets. Bringing him in in a non-save situation likely didn’t help. The stat of the game came before the game: Bumgarner was 4-0 pitching at Citifield, and he’s the best post-season pitcher ever (by ERA). He pitched a complete game in the shutout.
I watched the local news and saw the winning home run on the sports (and the volleyball recap). Afterward, the new female anchor (haven’t caught her name yet) commented on liking Syndergaard. “They call him ‘Thor’ because of his long blonde hair. I think he’s cute.” There was awkward silence from the guys sitting on either side of her. Apparently even women aren’t allowed to oogle the opposite sex in public, much less men.
10-6-16
Rangers versus Blue Jays Game 1. Since this is the early game, I’m able to hear this game on the radio. That’s the end of the good news. The Rangers lose 10-1. It wasn’t even that close. I think Cole Hamels may have been injured for the last month and not said anything, because this loss is not shocking given his recent outings. He was not helped by the defense which had a couple misplays and an error. Jose Bautista received a standing boo for his first at bat. In the 4th, he hit a three-run homer, sans any bat flip, though a fan did charge the field afterward anyway. In the other game, Cleveland beats Boston 5-4.
10-7-16
5-3 Jays over Rangers. I was listening to the game while at an NMSU soccer match. After I heard Darvish give up three home runs in an inning, I suspected this series may be over. If neither of the Rangers’ aces were in top form, I don’t have much hope for the rest of the rotation. Two full houses for hot day games in Arlington were seriously unhappy. The Indians beat David Price and the Red Sox 6-0 and take a 2-0 series lead, just like the Blue Jays. And the worst of it for the Red Sox next year, no Pappi and Price is only going to get worse. Glad I’m not in Boston listening to their sports talk media right now. Dodgers beat the Nats. The Cubs beat Johnny Cueto and the Giants 1-0 on a Javier Baez home run.
10-8-16
The Cubs beat the Giants 5-2. Giants’ pitcher Jeff Samardzija was knocked out after a couple of innings, though Cubs’ pitcher Kyle Hendricks got injured off of a line drive and was also taken out. After the game during player interviews, the crowd at Wrigley was singing so loud that you could barely hear the players speak.
10-9-16
The Rangers were eliminated today by the Blue Jays, 7-6 in 10 innings. I actually got home in time from the softball game to have heard it, but the local affiliate wasn’t picking it up. I kinda forgot about it, but tuned in later to another station after dark. They were carrying the game, but it was a weak signal. About half the time, all I could hear was Hilary Clinton screeching at the debate on a conflicting station. I couldn’t turn it off quick enough. While Roughned Odor did hit a two-run homer in the game, it was his error in the 10th that gave the Jays the win. Much like last year, a defensive miscue by the Rangers decides the series. I’m only grateful that this didn’t get dragged out a couple more game to make the heartache worse.
Washington beat the Dodgers. Who cares? Either team will lose to the Cubs. The Red Sox survive another day, but only because a hurricane washed out their game today. I might be a bit depressed.
10-10-16
The Indians eliminate the Red Sox. Bring on the Blue Jays. Washington beats LA. For two teams not known for doing well, it was the best case scenario for them to meet here. Somebody’s going to have to win this, so somebody’s guaranteed to move on. I found the Cubs and Giants game on the radio. Unfortunately, it was a weak signal and, ironically, crossed with a sports talk network, who were talking about the game. So, the game fades out, and I’m listening to commentary about the game on the other network. It’s still not the best way to listen to a game.
Cubs pitcher, Jake Arrieta, hit a three-run home run in the game. Even the pitchers can mash on the Cubs. In the 8th, Connor Gillaspe again comes up big, driving in a couple of runs to tie the score. The Giants manage to take the lead, but a Kris Bryant home run in the 9th ties it again. By the 13th inning, I just couldn’t stay up, not with reception this bad. In the morning, I flip on ESPN radio to get the result. 45 minutes later, I remember why I never listen to them. The network managed to offend, irritate, and bore me the entire time. I never even got the score, they just mentioned that there’d be another game that day in the series. As I found out later, the Giants had won with Joe Panik playing the part of hero.
10-11-16
The Dodgers win. I still don’t care about this Dodger/Nationals series. I start watching the Giants versus the Cubs, but end up watching The Flash instead. I may not be fully into this. Giant pitcher, Matt Moore, actually drives in a couple of runs by the time I rejoin the game. Who needs the DH? In the 9th, Moore comes out as the Giants have a three-run lead. Five relief pitchers later, the Cubs have scored four runs and end up winning the game. I don’t even know what to say, other than the Giants need to upgrade their bullpen. The Giants even being in the playoffs was a bit questionable, and the Cubs are a pretty awesome team this year. You have to like the Cubs against anybody left in the playoffs.
10-13-16
It was a decisive Game 5 between the Dodgers and the Nationals. Whoever choked the least would win . . . the opportunity to be beaten by the Cubs in the next round. With a one run lead, Kershaw came in for the Dodgers to face Daniel Murphy and close it out. Sheer drama, except that it was a four and half hour nine inning game. 40 players were used. Maybe we need some rules changes to make these spectacles more bearable for the viewers.
10-14-16
I finally saw the video of Vin Scully’s last game call. I got choked up. What great broadcaster and fellow. The Indians and the Blue Jays started their ALCS series. It was a full house in Cleveland, which was good to see given how poor their fan support has been over the last few years. Francisco Lindor’s two-run homer was all the scoring in the game. The Indians win in a very tidy two hours and 44 minutes. Laz Diaz’s wide strikezone may have sped things up a bit.
10-15-16 to 10-22-16
Admittedly I haven’t been watching much of these playoff games. The elimination of the Rangers and Giants dampened my enthusiasm, along with the extremely poor TV package of the MLB playoffs. I don’t know if anybody is really watching given where the games are.
The Indians won their series 4 to 1. All the games were pretty close. Andrew Miller (MVP) and the bullpen carried the day for the Tribe. The biggest news was some Canadian A-hole suing the Indians on behalf of “indigenous peoples” over their name and logo, until a judge said, “Take off a’.” The games almost weren’t broadcast in Canada. The team was actually named in honor of an actual “Indian” player (regardless of what Wikipedia says), but go ahead and rename the team get rid of Chief Wahoo. Just replace the name with the Cleveland LeBron’s (until he moves on to another city) and use that capital “C” logo that at least three other professional teams use (that I can think of off the top of my head).
Meanwhile, the Cubs beat the Dodgers 4 to 2 in their series. The Cubs went into a serious batting slump in the middle of this, but when they were hitting, they were mashing. Clayton Kershaw did well in much of the playoffs, but in the sixth and decisive game, he was hittable. On some level, he’s a victim of his own success. Two different managers have leaned on him on short rest and too many innings. The inevitable result is Kershaw blowing it in the playoffs (though in that game six, his defense let him down). This time, it came later rather than sooner. The Dodger bullpen still isn’t trustworthy enough to take the ball away from him.
Who wins the rings? The Cubs should with their stats, but the Indians have all of the intangibles, including manager, Terry Francona, who’s won it all twice. Both fan bases should really be into it. So, the anointed ones versus the team of destiny. I’m not calling it. I do worry that if the Indians win, LeBron James might charge the field and take credit for it. If the Cubs win, there will be blood in the streets of Chicago, so no difference from a typical weekend in the Windy City.
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