Game One To The Cardinals

by Nico on Oct 21, 2006 8:05 PM PDT in News

The World Series: May the best team win. Well, no. The Cardinals are up 1-0 in the Fall Classic and they won all of 83 games over the long regular season. Ah, may the hottest team win, that team not only good enough over the long season to get to the playoffs, but is also hitting its stride at just the right time. No, that won't work either, as the Tigers stumbled to a 19-31 record in their final 50 games and the Cardinals lost 8 games in the standings in 8 late-September days en route to nearly missing the playoffs entirely.

So what makes a World Series winner from the 8 teams that are still left standing when the regular season ends? Are these things determined by the same bizarre and complex algorithm that allows Taylor Hicks somehow to be named the country's best musical talent when he is surrounded by finalists who, combined, are better at every single aspect that is being judged? Is it some "A really isn't the best anything, but he can beat B, and C can beat D--which is good for A because A just can't beat D but he can sure beat C like a drum..." kind of phenomenon, where you weren't the best at anything but since you weren't the worst at anything either, everyone around you kept dropping until it was only you?

Or is it chance, that "crapshoot" part of a series of short series that encourages upsets and the improbable so much that .500 teams and .600 teams are virtually interchangeable?

Whatever it is, the Cardinals, who are now all of 91-82 this season, have a leg up on winning the World Series, with two matchups of Chris Carpenter vs. Nate Robertson still ahead, and with three home games still ahead. You have to like their chances, and less than a month ago it looked like they might finish in 3rd place in one of the weakest divisions in baseball.

Update [2006-10-22 0:4:5 by Nico]:

In the post that is 2 posts below ("Macha 2006...") is a comment by commuter linking to an interesting story about the Macha situation. (I think it's going to be in Sunday's Chronicle.) Definitely worth a read...

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Comments

I am not predicting any more games...

Detroit lost the first game, and the Cal Bears nearly lost what should have been a huge blowout today. That game was insane, but prolly the best game I've ever seen at Memorial Stadium. Go Bears!

Let's GO OAKLAND!!!

by OaktownRajah on Oct 21, 2006 8:21 PM PDT reply actions

Those silly Cardinals

Sure can't do any wrong.

Detroit is just a little rusty, is all.

UC Davis Athletics KDVS 90.3FM www.kdvs.org/streams.cfm

by Hit4TheCycle on Oct 21, 2006 8:21 PM PDT reply actions

<shakes head>

Hicks entertains us throughout the season with his Ford ditty and this is how you repay him?

The man single-handedly gave us hope for the "possibility" of an A's championship.

by mikeA on Oct 21, 2006 8:26 PM PDT reply actions

This is why I love the post season...

Experts, amateurs and coin-flippers all have approximately the same chance of predicting the winners of any given game. That being said, I don't care who wins as much as I do about it going seven, close, hard fought games. As long as it's not the Skanks, BloSox or Angholes it's all gravy.

"...sometimes I can't tell the difference between baseball and magic."- salb918 "Ellie plowed into him like an evil, pink unicorn."-ArakSOT

by McFood on Oct 21, 2006 8:33 PM PDT reply actions

Gravy?

Oooh, good idea.

Stat Wonk Futurist

by salb918 on Oct 21, 2006 8:38 PM PDT up reply actions

"you have to like their chances"

so they'll probably lose.

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Oct 21, 2006 8:40 PM PDT reply actions

Ah, except...

...You have to like their chances, so they'll probably lose...

...So they'll probably win.

Which ensures, of course, that they will lose.

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Oct 21, 2006 8:45 PM PDT up reply actions

It's a lose-lose situation...

everyone wins!

Tin Roof

by Ice Cream on Oct 21, 2006 8:47 PM PDT up reply actions

From our friend Joe Morgan...

On the car ride home tonight following the Cal-Washington game...

(Paraphrase)

Miller: "Yadier Molina batted .216 in the regular season and had been a tough out in the playoffs. He had 6 RBI against the Mets."

Morgan: "That's a failure on the opposing team's scouts. If he was batting .216, you need to be able to get him out during the playoffs."

Miller (amused): "So, the scouting team did well against Pujols. He only had 1 RBI."

Morgan: "That's right. That's how it usually is. The scouts focus on the top two hitters."

(And later...)

Morgan: "Again, the scouts for Detroit did a bad job on David Eckstein. He's not a home run hitter. You shouldn't be afraid to throw him a fast ball. They just threw him a changeup, which would be easier for him to catch up to."

Miller: "And here's the 0-2 pitch, curveball - strike three! And Eckstein is down on strikes."

May the best scouted team win!

More than just ANtics: http://www.louisgray.com/live/

by louismg on Oct 21, 2006 8:51 PM PDT reply actions

Hey Tim McCarver of FOX

The Tigers were the favorites in ALCS, too.

Macha is a great manager. -Ron Washington

by pachydermOAFC on Oct 21, 2006 8:54 PM PDT reply actions

Tigers played poorly

and Rolen didn't stop when he was interfered with on the basepaths.

Cards definitely deserved to win tonight...and Tigers deserved to lose.

by OaklandSi on Oct 21, 2006 8:57 PM PDT reply actions

who else thought of Miggy

when Rolen did a somersault and barreled home?

by connie mack on Oct 21, 2006 9:48 PM PDT up reply actions

<raises hand>

I thought "Gee, at least Rolen remembered what he was taught in EFFIN' LITTLE LEAGUE about NEVER STOPPING between bases." I loved when Miggy and Byrnes were on the team, but I can never get over the nuclear brain farts those guys had.

"...sometimes I can't tell the difference between baseball and magic."- salb918 "Ellie plowed into him like an evil, pink unicorn."-ArakSOT

by McFood on Oct 21, 2006 9:58 PM PDT up reply actions

Hey what happened to the

Z rant? it disappeared from my comp.

by IM4Oakgal on Oct 21, 2006 8:58 PM PDT reply actions

I moved it from the front page

to the regular section (if I did that right; I'm never sure--maybe I just made it disappear), so that the Macha story would be directly below, as per the update I just posted.

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Oct 21, 2006 9:00 PM PDT up reply actions

Oh ok

I thought maybe you decided it wasn't such a cool thread after all. hehe

by IM4Oakgal on Oct 21, 2006 9:04 PM PDT up reply actions

That was part of it--

I would never have bothered to write/post it if there had been anything to talk about. commuter's comment/link is new info worth talking about--so now that it's here, I see no reason to post something that was only written because it was a slow day and I had nothing else to say. Now I do!

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Oct 21, 2006 9:09 PM PDT up reply actions

The link in uestion to SFGate

Sure makes Kotsay and Beane sound like assholes.

by IM4Oakgal on Oct 21, 2006 9:16 PM PDT up reply actions

Oh, also, I think a lot of people

don't really get my deadpan style of humor (and a lot of people do), so sometimes things get taken seriously that I actually intend more to be funny or whimsical. But so it goes.

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Oct 21, 2006 9:16 PM PDT up reply actions

deadpun most of the time

rip 2006, it was nice while it lasted.

by ak_A on Oct 21, 2006 9:23 PM PDT up reply actions

LOlL Alaska A

for some reason I "get" YOU.

by IM4Oakgal on Oct 21, 2006 9:25 PM PDT up reply actions

Makes sense--

It's easier to "read someone like a book" when you're dealing with a short story.

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Oct 21, 2006 9:28 PM PDT up reply actions

You come across with a bit of an edge.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. :-)

by IM4Oakgal on Oct 21, 2006 9:30 PM PDT up reply actions

So you're saying I'm not round?

I think grover puts it best. He says, "Nico's sarcastic because...Well, because he's Nico."

Frankly, I think that "edge" is largely that I write the way I would speak, as if you could hear the tone and see the body language. But on the internet, it doesn't always come across. That's why all the people who hate me are people who have never met me. The people who have met me only have a mild dislike for me.

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Oct 21, 2006 9:35 PM PDT up reply actions

I like you .

I have written complimentary posts about you before. But you write many, many threads. Some of them are turkeys. It happens. Just like sometimes Zito has a bad game but usually his ERA isn't too bad . heh

by IM4Oakgal on Oct 21, 2006 9:38 PM PDT up reply actions

The reality is,

if I had to "have something to say" two days/week, I'd write fewer turkeys. But to have to "have something to say exactly on Friday and Saturday" is a little different--as in, every 5-6 times or so it's like...Thanksgiving.

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Oct 21, 2006 9:42 PM PDT up reply actions

LOL

I get that. I never write diaries because I realize that they would be boring to most everybody. I admire your wit. I just hated that thread!

by IM4Oakgal on Oct 21, 2006 9:52 PM PDT up reply actions

It looks like it's lost, and I was right in the...

middle of it when it happened! I was quite enjoying it, btw.

"...sometimes I can't tell the difference between baseball and magic."- salb918 "Ellie plowed into him like an evil, pink unicorn."-ArakSOT

by McFood on Oct 21, 2006 9:55 PM PDT up reply actions

you're a great writer every day.

even if i dont agree with some of the stuff you write. the zito post? hated it. think you read too much into his comments. but, you're hilarious, and you do a great job of coming across how you want to -- angry, sarcastic, non-chalant, you can do it all.

let people criticize what you have to say, even though it may be an "off day" - bet the scrutiny makes you feel a bit like a pro, huh? zito, maybe? :)

by digsthelongball on Oct 21, 2006 9:56 PM PDT up reply actions

More like Haren, I'd say, based on body hair.

"...sometimes I can't tell the difference between baseball and magic."- salb918 "Ellie plowed into him like an evil, pink unicorn."-ArakSOT

by McFood on Oct 21, 2006 10:00 PM PDT up reply actions

or loaiza, based on BAC.

by digsthelongball on Oct 21, 2006 10:07 PM PDT up reply actions

Thanks so much, amymelissa615--

I didn't exactly mean to delete the diary, I meant to move it to the side diaries, but I am computeretarded (it's a learning disability) and I don't think that's what happened. I'll retrieve it (it's there somewhere) and return it to its proper location.

There were two things I didn't like about the Zito post: One is that it was intended to be 70% tongue-in-cheek and only 30% serious, and many took it in the reverse proportion. That's my bad for not making it clearer. The other is that I wrote on a day when I had nothing I really wanted to say, and bad things happen when you do that. I should have just gone conservative and written a "dull" post about some vaguely interesting idea, rather than risk upsetting anyone. I am reminded of the saying, "It is better to be silent and thought ignorant, than to speak and remove all doubt."

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Oct 22, 2006 8:47 AM PDT up reply actions

And...It's back.

Yay!!!! Boooooo!!!! Who cares????

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Oct 22, 2006 9:03 AM PDT up reply actions

"I care."

Sincerely,
Hans Moleman

"WTF is wrong with you people TASTELESS COMMENTS. I'm disgusted. Mocking a 10 year old's horrible painful death." --eshock

by rubin sierra on Oct 22, 2006 4:30 PM PDT up reply actions

can someone please explain to me the interference

call on Inge. i mean, come on, how far off the base path do you have to be in order to "not interfere?"

by digsthelongball on Oct 21, 2006 9:10 PM PDT reply actions

As I understand it,

the fielder always has the right of way when he is fielding a ball, but when he's not he can't obstruct the basepath. The basepath extends to about 3 feet on either side.

So if Rolen was more than 3 feet wide of the line between third and home, you could argue that Inge had a right to stand there even without the ball.

But since a wide turn around a base is a normal part of the route, I think the umps were correct to rule that Rolen was within 3 feet of the normal route around third heading home--which isn't quite the straight line from third to home.

Hope that makes some semblance of sense!

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Oct 21, 2006 9:14 PM PDT up reply actions

thanks nico -

its just weird - he barely had .48 seconds to recover from a ridiculous throw. i know he had a second to turn and see where rolen was, but, in that situation, i dont see how he would've had enough time to think "gee, i better move a little farther out....."

by digsthelongball on Oct 21, 2006 9:18 PM PDT up reply actions

Yeah, I think it's one of those

"It's not your fault but it's your problem" kind of deals. Wrong place, wrong time for Inge. But right call for the umps--after all, it's not Rolen's fault that his progress towards home plate was impINGEd.

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Oct 21, 2006 9:30 PM PDT up reply actions

Take that AlaskaA!

by mikeA on Oct 21, 2006 9:34 PM PDT up reply actions

it wasn't interference

it was "obstruction"

by OaklandSi on Oct 21, 2006 9:14 PM PDT up reply actions

That distinction

doesn't make much difference when you're constipated.

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Oct 21, 2006 9:17 PM PDT up reply actions

how true

by OaklandSi on Oct 21, 2006 9:18 PM PDT up reply actions

I've been racking my brain

for weeks trying to make "clogging up the bases" a fun euphemism. This is promising.

by mikeA on Oct 21, 2006 9:22 PM PDT up reply actions

Just try to get out of the inning

with no runs.

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Oct 21, 2006 9:26 PM PDT up reply actions

When his club is at bat,

Dusty needs to utilize Zelnorm.

by mikeA on Oct 21, 2006 9:33 PM PDT up reply actions

I took Zelnorm

and it helped for a while, but eventually I Zel-regressed.

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Oct 21, 2006 9:37 PM PDT up reply actions

One more comment on the Rolen play...

I was watching on TV but listening to Jon Miller and Joe Morgan on the radio. They both described the play, during and afterward, identifying Edmonds (who scored ahead of Rolen)as Pujols (who had just scored from third earlier in the inning on Edmonds' single to right). I can understand maybe losing track of which player was on the third in the heat of the moment but they repeated and never corrected the error afterward which leads me to believe no one pointed it out to them either.

Another example of announcers losing their skills over time, I guess. (I know, I know. "Did Joe Morgan ever have the skills?")

I used to like them both but they shouldn't be doing the WS now.

Not that the young Bucks (Joe, et al.) coming up are much better. In my opinion, they're worse. But fans deserve some good announcing on TV and radio and we ain't gettin' it.

Tin Roof

by Ice Cream on Oct 21, 2006 9:43 PM PDT reply actions

Maybe Joe Morgan

had a lot to say about the Cardinals lineup, but hadn't actually read it.

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Oct 21, 2006 9:47 PM PDT up reply actions

As a fan of the latter-day Bill King,

it is my opinion that "being enjoyable to listen to" is highly preferable to "getting all the plays right."

by mikeA on Oct 21, 2006 9:50 PM PDT up reply actions

Great pick up guys...

The Dastardly Duo have once again shown their fallicies. I saw Joe Morgan down in the BBQ plaza before Game 2 of the ALCS getting some chicken when he should be preparing for the game. Bill King's preparation for a regular season game bordered on insanity. The only reason these guys are still doing this is because people think they sound good and they have good stories. Bring back Vin Scully, I bet at 80 yrs old, he could do Game 1 of the WORLD SERIES better than these two goofballs.

Let's GO OAKLAND!!!

by OaktownRajah on Oct 21, 2006 10:26 PM PDT up reply actions

I was thinking the same thing.

I often watch Dodger games just to hear Scully. Talk about living history. He was around when Jackie Robinson played in Ebbets field. I often marvel at the history he has witnessed first hand. Just an incredible man.

"You may glory in a team triumphant, but you fall in love with a team in defeat."--The Boys of Summer

by alox on Oct 22, 2006 12:43 AM PDT up reply actions

Does anyone else think that Polanco's 0-4...

was a kick in the face of the A's? I mean, all year, the A's pitching staff could not get this guy out and here comes a rookie who won all of 5 games this year and shuts him and the rest of the Tigers down. That game was a disgrace to the American League. Detroit does not deserve to be there.
C'mon Kenny, show me its not all for naught...

Let's GO OAKLAND!!!

by OaktownRajah on Oct 21, 2006 10:39 PM PDT reply actions

I know

that my thoughts on this are pretty unsportsman-like, but I loved seeing the Tigers get shut down tonight. AL or not, I want Detroit fans to feel how we felt. At that last home game they were so obnoxious and pompous. Go Cards!

by elfgirl on Oct 21, 2006 10:54 PM PDT up reply actions