You know, every time Beckett pitches I think how much he looks like an alt-rock musician. And here's proof.

Okay, now I know Red Sox fans would have reason to feel different. But on the level of quality baseball itself, when was the last time there was a World Series game one that was less interesting than this one, and more a foregone conclusion from about the fourth or fifth batter?

There are a few games left to play, I know, but if the Rockies don't do better at some point, we're going to have to ask some serious questions about the whole concept of the National League.

As I said in the other thread, even as the site's resident Sox fan, I turned off the game after the sixth inning, when it was clear both teams were merely playing out the string.

If you'll recall, the entire 2004 series was a snoozer, and again, that's coming from someone with a vested interest.

Yeah, Red Sox over Cardinals in 4, that sucked. But game one score wasn't 13-1 in that one, was it?

White Sox over Astros in 4, that sucked. Cardinals won last year, but mainly because the Tigers seemed determined not to. National League, where art thou? When was the last time the National League has had a really good team? I mean, not sort of good, but really good?

I really do hope that there's some National League fan who all this provokes.

Is it just me, or are there more beards this postseason? Maybe it's for warmth.

I'm a dedicated National League fan, but what the hell is that shirt-jac thing the Rockies wear? The pinstripe pants are fine, but their already suspect color scheme appears especially stupid with that outfit. Their Look alone makes their chances in this series dubious, and it makes it harder to cheer against the insufferable Sox fans (sorry great 48).

Mwall, do I have to state once again that it is not baseball that is played in the American League, but some alternate universe game with the abomination euphemistically called the designated hitter? The real prize in baseball is the National League pennant. The World Series is just a bad tv show hosted by the execrable Tim McCarver.

Steve, your convictions, which I understand are genuine, would carry more weight if they were't happening simultaneously with this royal butt-kicking. The National League did have excellent teams in the past, yes? So why not lately?

The Rockies are an excellent team. Last night they were forced to play in the alternate universe. Which was also being visited by Mr Mod for some unknown reason.

#1, it's just one game. Get the nerves, rust, whatever out now. Beckett is on a good run, hell, he barely used his curveball for three innings, and that was the pitch that seemed to mess up the Indians. Boston will still have to sit a hitter for at least games 3 and 4. That will hurt them as much as Spillborghs matching up with Big Floppy as a DH. Let's see how they do in thin air. Let's see how much blood is left in Schilling's red sock, nevermind that his stuff is no longer as scary.

#2 Some of the problem has to be that extra batter. In the NL, starting pitchers get used to an automatic out. AL teams have a spot to stash a good hitter who's flawed in the field like Big Sloppy. He can play first about as well as Hal Baines could play outfield, or Paul Molitor could play infield, or Edgar Martinez could play 3rd. Considering his knee, shoulder, etc, he would not be playing at all if he had to play first much this year. As a purist I would prefer there be no DH, but I really do enjoy seeing hitters hit, as opposed to watching pitchers generally embarass themselves, and since there's such specialization in how pitchers are used now, designating a hitter for two or three at bats seems no worse than designating a lefty to face two players on the other team in the sixth or seventh innings. If you carry seven relievers, one of them should be able to get those outs that are in question when you pinch hit for a starter in a key moment. If not, then those runs you might not have scored are the least of your worries since you don't have someone who can pitch to a 9.00 ERA in middle relief.

There seems to be a little more parity in the NL, which makes it harder for a great team to emerge. If you just look at run differentical, probably the Rockies were the best team in their league, but there were a number of teams almost as good, but I believe they were the best and certainly were the ones playing playing the best.

The top six highest spending NL teams did not make the playoffs. Philly was seventh. So the money didn't matter, or maybe just that the NL clubs didn't know how to spend it as well as the AL clubs. There really weren't blockbuster trades swaying the balance and making some rich team like the Mets or Dodgers better come October on paper either. Over the course of the season, Boston was better than Colorado.

I still think the Rockies can be in any game though, and while the money would have to be on Boston, the Colorado has a lot of ways left to beat them. Just the fact that Gagne is on thier roster has to give you hope, BigSteve.

The Rockies are pretty good for a National League team. They were a .500 team that got hot at the end of the year. But their 21-1 win streak, which is quite exceptional, came at the hands of some not-ready for prime time opponents.

The Braves in the early part of their run were the last almost excellent National League team, I would posit, and even they could only parlay that into one World Series win and then a bunch of division wins that they barely seemed to care about. I also have a soft spot for that Johnson-Schilling Diamondbacks team that broke the Yankees, but that was all about their hired gun pitchers. Of course, the Marlins won twice. The Marlins? Kinda name is that, Marlins?

They were a .500 team that got hot at the end of the year. But their 21-1 win streak, which is quite exceptional, came at the hands of some not-ready for prime time opponents.

-You mean like a playoff against the second best team, the Padres, where they had to win in extra innings off the career saves leader?

Also, like the beating Phillies juggernaut of an AL lineup in the wrong league?

That was a good game against the Padres. But the fact that a no-hit, okay-pitch team like the Padres is still in it as the regular season has ended? What's that say?

But I appreciate these defenses of the National League. I appreciate that you guys aren't going to accept mediocrity without a spirited outcry.

The Padres were also missing some outfielders at the wrong time. The Phillies went without Utley for a month. The Mets never did get enough work out of Pedro, Carpenter missed the whole year for the Cardinals, etc. Would you be complaining if the Mets had all-stars at every position, had Cy Young Award candidates for their top three pitchers so that they could have the best team and still lose in a short series? Nothing is certain in the baseball universe.

It's not like the World Series, or any other particular segment of games, is always won by the "best" team, so I'm not sure what you're trying to say. The AL is better than the NL right now. Boston is better than Colorado, but you still have to play the games.

All I'm saying is, I'm tired of bad World Series matchups, and I think lately that's been primarily the fault of the National League. I'm not even pro-American league here, I just want a competitive World Series. And maybe there will still be one this year, although thinking so seems more a matter of faith than anything else.

Could it have something to do with the dilution of pitching when there are so many teams? The total wealth of talent for pitching is always limited. The AL has a hitting edge because of the DH, but that doesn't seem to be balanced by better pitching in the NL.

It's hard to figure anything out really. Last year, a mediocre guy like Suppan dominated, and the guys throwing 96 like Bonderman and Verlander got beat because they forgot how throw to places besides home plate.

Mwall said:

All I'm saying is, I'm tired of bad World Series matchups, and I think lately that's been primarily the fault of the National League.

Who won the World Series last year, the 84-win, totally uninspiring Cardinals? What does that say about the AL's "superiority?" What the AL has going for it right now are two gigantic rivals with payrolls over $200 million and people spending that money who have a relatively good idea of how to spend it. And then you have the Red Sox, who hammer the ball and have better-than-average pitching. The Red Sox beat the Rockies last night, not the AL. Had it been Yankees-Rockies or Angels-Rockies, who knows? The Red Sox are a fully developed version of what the Rockies are trying to be. All around, I don't know what exactly is "better" about AL baseball beside the fact that the AL has a couple of very strong teams, a couple more horrible teams than the NL (the NL doesn't have teams fighting to reach a .400 winning percentage), and much better 9-hole hitters. Other than that it's baseball. Remember, the Cardinals won last year's World Series.

Sadly, as you suggest, the fact that the AL stumbled last year doesn't mean that the Cardinals were any more inspiring as a World Series entry. I just want to know when the last time was that you saw an NL team and said, wow, they're really impressive. Maybe that Cardinals team that lost so meekly to the Red Sox comes close? I could grant that. They were good enough to win in their third shot, when they were almost out of gas. Or that Giants team that really should have beaten the Angels? I seem to remember them being impressive in some small degree.

Let's see how much blood is left in Schilling's red sock, nevermind that his stuff is no longer as scary.

Schilling at this point is no better than the third-best pitcher in the Red Sox, and with both Matsuzaka and Okajima coming up hard (Okajima in particular is the most consistent reliever this team has had in years), even that position is tenuous.

The good thing is, he knows this himself. Nothing is set in stone, but everyone around sure as hell noticed that his speech at the fan rally in Government Center was in the past tense. He's gone after tonight, and I think tonight may well be his last game.

James Taylor sang a decent National Anthem tonight, I thought. Almost brought some actual if understated emotion to the tune.

Few teams in either league were as impressive as those Braves teams with Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz in their prime. Even they only managed to win one World Series. I blame most of that extended squad's difficulties in the postseason on consistently being only mediocre up the middle: Javy Lopez was never a real catcher, they always had a suspect double-play combination, and Andruw Jones has always been a bit of an underachiever, even in the days when he was the greatest fielding centerfielder I'd ever seen.

The Rockies look like they've got their game faces on tonight, and Schilling's looking bad. So bad that I'm now pretty sure I don't want to see him back with the Phillies next year.

BigSteve, if the designated hitter is an abomination, then why is it you National Leaguers will accept the designated runner?

The whole "strategy" argument that NL managers have to think more to pull or keep a pitcher in is crap, but how can you sanction a designated runner, but call a designated hitter an "alternate universe?" Is it an alternate universe where the hot water handle is on the right, or what?

Whammo, I'm a purist. I wish there weren't 17 relief pitchers per game too, but I have to draw the line somewhere. Designated runner? You mean a pinch runner? That's a simple substitution. One player doesn't run for another player throughout the entire game, unless I've been missing something.

Following up on my previous Look obsessed post, what's with players wearing necklaces?

The Rockies look like they've got their game faces on tonight, and Schilling's looking bad. So bad that I'm now pretty sure I don't want to see him back with the Phillies next year.

See my previous post. Unlike the Rockies, who played 37 different pitchers tonight (did they *really* bring a guy on for a single batter and then pull him? Really?), the Sox had Schill, my boy Okajima, and the Lord of the Dance, and that was all they needed.

I love the fact that the Sox brought in Okajima almost literally just so Matsuzaka would have somebody to hang with, and he turned out to be the team's secret weapon. Four Ks in 2 and a third innings!

Other than Ortiz's circa 1989 dookie chain, who was wearing necklaces? I didn't notice.

I'm not talking about a gold chain. Last night one of the Sox pitchers had some kind of hemp plus beads thing. And late in the game tonight they showed I think it was Matsui in the dugout wearing what looked liked two strands of purple Mardi Gras beads.

Oh, yeah, that giant fugly thing of Beckett's. Yeah, I have no idea what's up with that.

On the other hand, Charity and I are growing increasingly charmed by the bullpen percussion section, or what one local blogger has dubbed "The Boston touring company of Stomp." We particularly like the fact that they're actually pretty tight, and that they're responding to what the crowd is doing rhythmically. It's just kinda cool.

Well, the Rockies at least earned a few big stage points tonight in losing respectably. If NL teams ever had any habit of repeating, I might almost expect them to do something next year.

But the thin air is coming. Could be 3-2 going back to Boston. I mean, it's possible and all that. They gotta play the games, right? I learned that much from today's spirited defenses.

As for that bullpen percussion section, Great 48, that's one of those things y'all gonna be mocked for, for years.

Re: Necklaces

I forget exactly what they are, but a lot of players these days are wearing "special" necklaces that supposedly have some kind of magnetic or electrical charge for the purpose of improving biorhythms, or something along those '70s-era lines of thought. This company makes them customized for each team's uniform.

The necklaces I was thinking of have titanium balls in them. Here's something from UniWatch on the overall subject:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=lukas/060511

Titanium Balls? Way to bring the baseball discussion back to ROCK!

That was a good game last night. Better to watch three of those and one blow-out, than seven blowouts.

Yeah yeah yeah, the "thin air" is coming. We've heard it. Who does the "thin air" benefit if not the team that's swinging the big wood? Take Holliday out of the equation and the Rockies had, count 'em, ONE hit all night. They're looking increasingly pathetic in a number of key ways, and if they don't get it together tomorrow night, Boston is once again going to clinch the series on the road, which is kind of a drag.

The bullpen percussion section is one of those things the Sox do that makes the haters positively bugfuck, which is a big part of why I love it.

Re: the Sox drum corps -- G48, speaking as somebody who's had to live down the ignominy of the "Fun Bunch," the "Smurfs" and, to a lesser extent, the "Hogs," I can say with authority that you need to prepare yourself for feelings of shame and embarassment down the road apiece. Those antics have "Superbowl Shuffle" written all over them.

Meh. I would argue that Papelbon's Riverdance antics are far more likely to cause S/E down the road. I totally am not getting what's supposed to be so embarrassing about this.

I mean, they're the bullpen on a team that, unlike the Rockies, doesn't use a different pitcher for every out. What the hell else are they supposed to do with their time?

I like that name: The Drum Corps. There's going to be a sports-oriented dance video featuring them some time soon: The Drum Corps doing "Winner Rock."

I mean, they're the bullpen on a team that, unlike the Rockies, doesn't use a different pitcher for every out. What the hell else are they supposed to do with their time?

Watch the game? Discuss the finer points of pitching? Take their jobs seriously and earn their paychecks? Not divert attention from the game?

The bullpen question is: What the hell else are they supposed to do with their time?

Lessee, if you're Gagme, then you are staking out which part of the postgame spread you will attack first. Timlin should probably be checking on when his pension benefits will kick in, and consider who's ass he could be kissing to get a minor league coaching job. Snyder should be working on his thank you letters to the Royals for putting him in position to wash out with them so he could be waived and hand-picked to polish the the bullpen bench and get playoff money. Lopez (no, not THAT Javier Lopez) should be glad he's not pitching at all given how he did the last time he was in Colorado or for that matter the last time he had to pitch. Keeping a low profile might be good, he can keep be confused with the other player. He's one of those guys who will face maybe TWO batters at this point, right 48? Unless, of course, he has to walk the right handed guy in between the two lefties. I've got nothing to say about Delcarmen, probably he's just Manny being Manny. I know there's no explaining that. Is Lester out there? OK, I'm not going to take shots at a guy who had cancer, really though, he needs to get ready for that 3 2/3 inning start in game 4. Papelbon obviously needs to keep his attention occupied with his hands so that he doesn't mess up his legs. He needs those for dancing. I find Okajima inscrutable, but that could be because I like girls. It's probalby easier for him to communicate with those players by tapping than speaking Japanese.

dammit, i need to edit these someday

"Not divert attention from the game"? Seriously? Whose attention are they diverting?

If the Fox cameras weren't focused on the bullpen, they'd just be focused on some chick with big jugs up in the stands, or whichever "baseball fans" who just happen to be starring in the new Fox sitcom are available.

Well, it is FOX doing this, I mean, where eye candy reporter in the stands? They are making me wonder why an animated figure isn't the third man in the booth.

I don't really need to spend this much time watching Francona's viscous sputum and Hurdles' friggin jaw muscles running up the side of his head and bobbing his hat up and down. That is creeping me out.

Tell me about it. It's like his cap is making sweet, sweet love to his forehead. I keep expecting them to put Barry White on the soundtrack whenever he's onscreen.

I did enjoy the interview with the Taco Bell executive last night, even though I didn't hear it, because I watch with the sound turned off to avoid McCarver's 'commentary.'

Yes, my favorite McCarver insight, ironically just before Holliday got picked off on first, was something like "Once you drop the bat, baserunning is the most important skill to have in baseball." Yes, because without baserunning, you couldn't...look, JUST FUCKING DIE ALREADY, McCarver!

Hrrundi wrote:

I can say with authority that you need to prepare yourself for feelings of shame and embarassment down the road apiece. Those antics have "Superbowl Shuffle" written all over them.

God, I love the compassion we get around here now and then!

"The way to win is to score more runs than the other team, and if you're ahead at the end of the game, you've done that."

How many comments are more or less versions of this?

Game 3 not looking good for the Rockies.

Not at all. Now I'm starting to bum out that my team had to get swept by this Rockies team while they were peaking on their HGH injections.

Now, to be fair, it was something close to a ball game for a couple innings there. But overall, I do have to ask: so...what's all this "thin air" shit, then?

What are you asking, Great 48 and 3 out of 4? Who on this list thought that the thin air was going to make the difference relative to the Red Sox? Please rephrase your question so that it makes some actual sense.

Last game of the season? The Rockies can't even hit the Sox #4 guy--or is he really #5, after Wakefield?

But there's half a game to play. Then it's on to the long Patriots-Colts winter.

Woot.

Looking back, I'm pretty sure my favorite moment of the entire game last night was Fox's breathless revelation of what everyone already knew, that A-Rod opted out of his Yankees contract. The timing of that bit of info to coincide with the end of the game was a brilliant bit of "Look! Over here! I'm all relevant and stuff! Fellas? Aww, come on, fellas..." by the Rod and his agent.

Yes, my favorite McCarver insight, ironically just before Holliday got picked off on first, was something like "Once you drop the bat, baserunning is the most important skill to have in baseball." Yes, because without baserunning, you couldn't...look, JUST FUCKING DIE ALREADY, McCarver!

Hear hear. My favorite McCarver insight was the other night (game 2, I think) where he compared Varitek (I think) to a commander in the military (sorry that once again, I forgot the exact rank). Regardless, it was just plain stupid. IIRC, it was also right before a play when the ball got hit back viciously right at the mound.

With that said, I still have a soft spot for him since he was one of the Mets announcers (along with Ralph Kiner) for a long time and when I started watching them as a kid. Then again, his inane comments make me lose sympathy for him nightly and part of me is glad the Series is over now so I don't have to hear his comments.

This is what I'm talking about here:
http://respectthetek.blogspot.com/2007/10/we-do-not-drink-coors-in-this-house.html (item #11)

OR

http://www.whitesoxinteractive.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=1709437

(comment #54 about halfway down the page)

Oh and I like the Red Sox bullpen percussion/Stomp thing. Papelbon's Michael Flatley imatiation, on the other hand, is cringe-inducing and will be made fun years later.

Serious question: how many of you guys still listen to the sound when you watch sports? I've been listening to music instead for some years now, except at really crucial moments. Makes McCarver and other commentators much more bearable.

That's because you lived with Eric Peterson. He was the one who got me into doing that but it drives my wife crazy so I don't do it too often.

My two fave baseball sportscaster stupidity moments:

1. Rod Carew was up to bat. Color guy says: "Just look at Carew... he wields that bat like a finely tuned... (LONG pause) ... musical instrument." After an awkward moment of on-air silence, Bob Costas had the good sense to say: "well, I think we milked *that* metaphor for all it's worth."

2. Sportscaster dude, breathless, says: "Bottom of the ninth inning... the Redbirds are down to their last out, trailing the Baycats 5 to 2. Bases are loaded for Suckabrewski, and the count is full. Suckabrewski is down to his last strike. If he hits it out of the park, the Redbirds win. If he doesn't, it's the Baycats' game. So after nine innings of play, it's come down to this: it's a 50-50 chance that the Redbirds will walk out of the stadium the winners today..."

Serious question: how many of you guys still listen to the sound when you watch sports? I've been listening to music instead for some years now, except at really crucial moments. Makes McCarver and other commentators much more bearable.

I never made it to the "watching sports" part. I've only ever just listened to music.

;)

Serious question: how many of you guys still listen to the sound when you watch sports? I've been listening to music instead for some years now, except at really crucial moments. Makes McCarver and other commentators much more bearable.

I often turn off the TV sound and put on the radio announcers, who are almost always better.

But when the Sox are at home, I usually listen to the announcers, because the Sox home announcers, Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy, are basically batshit crazy. We still talk fondly of Muchkingate: Judge Judy aired on the same channel as the Friday night Sox games, and she had come into the booth to so a little promo blather, and in the inning after that, Remy says, "You know, when Judge Judy left the booth just now, she walked past our craft services table and she stole our box of Dunkin Donuts Munchkins." And the game was just a total laugher, I think the Sox won like 12-1 or something, so literally for three solid innings, Remy and Orsillo kept up this long outraged rant about how dare she steal their donut holes, and she's got enough money to buy her own damn doughnuts, and the thought of that box of Munchkins had been the only thing getting them through this snoozer of a game and then this ungrateful cow Judge Judy comes and steals them. And the camera would cut to her and her grandkids in the stands and Orsillo would scream "LOOK! She's eating them! Right in front of our faces!" Absolutely one of the funniest things I've ever seen during a baseball game.

It's common for me to watch with the sound off. When I used to be a Braves fan, and they switched commentating teams halfway through the game, I would listen only when Skip Caray was on. Now that they've banished Skip from TV, I no longer watch the Braves.

I like to watch sports, but I try not to get all wound up in it. So, when I watch with the sound off, I also usually read or surf the internet.

I like to watch with the TV off as well.

I like most of the Phillies announcers a lot, so I watch with the sound on. If I'm watching a national game, I often end up turning the tv off altogether and turning on the radio, if it's a Phils national broadcast. I can't stand most of thte national announcers - McCarver, Morgan... Joe Buck is adequate. Jon Miller can be good, but he's got Morgan yapping alongside him. Count me in the minority among people who actually liked the two no-names who did the Phils-Rockies games for TBS. They were all baseball and not a lot of talk.