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The Road to the World Series: MLB Playoffs Thread!

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Miguel

Member
DJ Demon J said:
Not sure if anyone picked up on this in the thread yet, but if the Astros win Game 7 it's Houston vs. Boston. TEXAS VS MASSACHUSETTES... !

JOHN TITOR! ;P



Yeah, I thought about that around game 3...:p

BUSH SI AM TEXAS!
KERRY AM MASS!

WINNAR TO THE FAIGHT! GO!
 

MetatronM

Unconfirmed Member
Malleymal said:
honestly does anyone outside of the fans of st louis and houston actually care about tonights game.... you would have thought that boston won the world series already....
I'm going to be watching. And rooting for the Astros.
 
......................... hey, what can you do about it? *shrugh* joe, spheyv(sp), metatron, rodriguez et al. we have to admit that our team is flawed and we need to rebuild the farm system and get steingrabber away from the day to day operations of the ballclub. only then can this team start winning again. (i mean real wins, not this stuff)
 

J2 Cool

Member
More from the man, Bill Simmons. Straight up hardcore Red Sox fan. Im so happy for every Sox fan out there. They deserve this.

The Nation's Independence Day

By the time Game 7 rolled around, October 20th felt like a combination of New Year's Eve and the Fourth of July in Boston. This was bigger than all of us. Everyone was headed somewhere, or planning on heading somewhere. Nothing else mattered. Nothing. You couldn't walk five feet without seeing a Sox hat or hearing a conversation about the series. It was physically impossible.

I ended up watching the game in the Financial District, thanks to my buddy Sully's connections at a bar called The Office. We were able to invite about 20 guys -- closed-off room upstairs, projection TV, pizza and wings, the whole shebang -- operating under house rules (only Sox fans) and old-school country club rules (no chicks). Sometimes, guys just need to be around other guys. This was one of those times.

We would have felt more confident with that cushion, but the announcers were determined to avoid any Yankees talk and concentrate solely on how the Sox could blow the game. They dragged out every disturbing statistic, every Babe Ruth sign, every negative Boston playoff memory they could find. I'm not positive on this, but I think McCarver and Buck started a "1918!" chant at one point. So yeah, we were a little uneasy

But the Sox kept racking up those outs. The announcers didn't know what to do -- they had geared their entire broadcast around the inevitable Boston collapse

When Francona lifted Lowe in the seventh for Pedro Martinez, and Pedro allowed those two rockets to Matsui and Williams ... I mean, all those old demons came roaring back. It was the ultimate test. Like a recovering alcoholic opening that hotel mini-bar and seeing those tiny liquor bottles. Our room went silent, save for a few F-bombs and the echoes of the "Who's your Daddy?" chants. Poor Francona had unwittingly plugged Yankee Stadium back into its socket; I kept waiting for him to pull off the Paul Shaffer mask and reveal he was actually Grady Little.

I have never counted down the remaining outs in a game before. Never. Not until last night.

"I almost started crying that inning," Sully said after it was over. "Is this what it feels like to be a girl?"

It was like pressing the re-start button on a video game.

And yeah, I know. We need to win the World Series to complete the dream. But you can win the World Series every year. You only have one chance to destroy the Yanks. As my friend Mike (a Tigers fan) wrote me last night, "Everyone outside of Yankee brats are celebrating quietly with you guys. It's like you killed Michael Myers, Jason, Freddie Kreueger and Hannibal Lecter in one night."

One last story: I rolled into my dad's house at 1:30, only to find him in the living room, sound asleep, holding the TV remote in his hand like he'd been cryogenically frozen. On the television in front of him, Fox25 was showing live footage from Kenmore Square, as thousands and thousands of Boston fans were celebrating the impossible. After I muttered "Dad!" a few times, he finally jolted awake, glanced at me, then glanced at the TV.


"I can't believe it," he mumbled. "We beat the Yankees."


And it wasn't a dream.

:lol :lol :lol sorry, may as well just post the whole damn article
 

davis

Member
Yankees now are a bunch of losers thats the facts. Another fact is no one is paying attention to the other series because they have zero chance against Red Sox.
 
davis said:
Yankees now are a bunch of losers thats the facts. Another fact is no one is paying attention to the other series because they have zero chance against Red Sox.


i wouldnt go that far. cardinals will still give any team a whole lot of trouble.
 

J2 Cool

Member
davis said:
Yankees now are a bunch of losers thats the facts. Another fact is no one is paying attention to the other series because they have zero chance against Red Sox.


no, that's not why. It's just, this is history. This is.. like reinstalling a new found confidence to everyone in america, that you can do the impossible. The whole world just feels a more hopeful place today. As far as the Astros and Cardinals, I think they both have a good shot. I'm predicting an Astros win tonight with the Rocket dominating. Everyone's always known the Cardinals weak spot was starting pitching. They're finally going to be bested because of that. Astros meanwhile are pretty sound in every category besides the pen. But Lidge is fantastic
 
Theo Epstien is a pearl jam fan. Bronson Arroyo is a pearl jam fan. Peter Gammons is a pearl jam fan. They have all played pearl jam songs together.

r4c_vedder_sm.jpg

Breaker of the Curse.
 
Sorlac, agreed. All those young arms we traded away the last couple of seasons.. who knows what we've lost. From Harang to Lilly...

Sure we got to say Aaron Boone.. for a few days over a year..but really, does that even matter anymore?

I hoped it wouldn't, but I'm sure all of us knew this day would come. There's no Bernies, Jeters, Pettites, Posada's in Colombus anymore.
 

Joe

Member
i say trade posada for prospects and throw navaro into the fire and see what happens. eat half his contract and trade brown for more prospects.
 

davis

Member
heh, Red Sox in 5 against either team Astros easier than Cards but Sox at Fenway is a huge advantage for them they are a different team there.
 

lachesis

Member
Hey now. Don't be bitter that we stole Andy, Roger (and Mike Lamb) from you.

Yup. That's why I'm rooting for Astros. I love Roger and Andy (although I do believe yanks should have treated Andy better) - ex-yanks defeating Boston as underdog. Now, that's a drama. ;)

Damn. I am really in "sour loser mood" today.
Again, contrats to RedSox.

lachesis
 
Joe, that's kind of what I was hoping they can do with Giambi, but it's a reach. At this point, the only one that'll get any prospects would be Jeter, and you can't do that.

Posada had an awful year.

Unfortunately, by being greedy and trying to skip over the rebuild years, we have nothing without continuing the spending lunacy.

Hell, they should eat half A-Rods contract and trade him for prospects. I doubt anyone wants a piece of that cancer though.

Who was the other guy we shipped off to the Reds for Boone and Gabe White? It was Harang, who had a decent year - nothing spectacular, but nothing bad for someone on year 2, and Scott something....

You can almost here Steinbrenner saying "He gave up 8 runs, trade him now!"

Funnily enough, the Marlins traded Brown and Sheffield and wound up winning a World Series. I wish we could do that.
 

Desperado

Member
davis said:
heh, Red Sox in 5 against either team Astros easier than Cards but Sox at Fenway is a huge advantage for them they are a different team there.

oh look, now the Sox fans are fucking cocky.

You haven't won it yet, bud.
 

Joe

Member
arods not gonna go anywhere. giambi has a no-trade so the only thing they can hope to do is void is contract and release him. i wouldnt mind at all to have olerud as the everyday first baseman. even if they dont get beltran they need a slick fielding center fielder with an arm. bernie's time to become DH has come (sorry bern).

i really do think steinbrenner realized it isnt about having all the high-profile guys i think/hope they're gonna take a slightly different approach then in recent years to deals this off-season.
 
One can hope though.. can't he? A-Rod offended the baseball god's, we're in for 86 years of futility if we don't get rid of him fast.

Maybe we should crucify him?
 

lachesis

Member
It seems like any team with Kim Byung Hyun beats Yanks in the series - (Diamondbacks/RedSox) Sorta like lucky charm with middle finger up. ;)
It's almost funny that he's only asian as far as I know with the ring - and perhaps he'll get the 2nd ring (although he's not on the roster, but I'm not sure whether they give the rings to the ones not on the roster)
Maybe Yanks needs to get him. (joking) Matsui, on the other hand, does deserve the ring for his impressive performance during game1-3.

lachesis
 
Nobody is going to trade for Giambi or Brown. I think you guys are stuck with them for at least next season (unless you can work out some kind of buyout for Giambi, which he should really consider. I can't believe he feels right sitting on the bench collecting $17 million for doing nothing). Hell, you guys HAD prospects. That Kevin Brown trade is looking horrible right about now. Don't tell me it would have been nice to have a potential stud in Yhency Brazoban out of the bullpen this postseason? Jeff Weaver might not be anything special, but i don't buy this "He can't handle pitching in New York so lets trade him for a massive cancer of a contract". Maybe its Torre/Stottlemeyer's fault that he struggled, its no coincidence that when he went to LA with a REAL good pitching coach in Colburn, he played much, much better (Javier Vasquez ring a bell?). Plus, if push comes to shove, Weaver's contract would have been much easier to trade than Brown's. Steinbrenner killed this team, and destroyed the chances of them winning anything in the forseeable future IMO. Eric Neel was right, moves like the ARod trade was just done to show up the Red Sox without any consideration to making the team better. I don't care how good ARod might be, the Yankees didn't need him. The offense would have been fine without him. I don't think Steinbrenner will learn though. He'll probably just go after Carlos Beltran in the offseason and ignore the need for starting pitching, just so the RedSox can't get him.
 

Desperado

Member
She packed my bags last night pre-flight
Zero hour nine a.m.
And I’m gonna be high as a kite by then
I miss the earth so much I miss my wife
It’s lonely out in space
On such a timeless flight

And I think it’s gonna be a long long time
Till touch down brings me round again to find
I’m not the man they think I am at home
Oh no no no I’m a rocket man
Rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone

Mars ain’t the kind of place to raise your kids
In fact it’s cold as hell
And there’s no one there to raise them if you did
And all this science I don’t understand
It’s just my job five days a week
A rocket man, a rocket man

And I think it’s gonna be a long long time...

GPN-2000-001115.jpg


Let's do this.
 

Joe

Member
the arod move doesnt bother me. it wasnt done to show up boston it was done to keep him out of boston which i think is perfectly fine. arods another guy with a no-trade. so neither arod or giambi are going anywhere. maybe if the yankees ask giambi to waive his no-trade clause or they attempt to void his contract will work.

Brian Cashman's Blackberry went off while he was addressing a group of reporters in the morgue that was the Yankees' clubhouse last night. Twenty seconds later he broke up the session to take a call from George Steinbrenner in Joe Torre's office.
 

Matrix

LeBron loves his girlfriend. There is no other woman in the world he’d rather have. The problem is, Dwyane’s not a woman.
If Houston wins, I see Beltran staying. If not, he'll wind up in Anaheim. It'd be nice to have him NY, but only if we move shit out.

I think a new pitching coach may do the Yanks good. Is Peterson staying in NY without Howe?
Maybe he can change Felix Heredia and CJ Nitkowski into studs Victor Zambrano style in just 2 weeks.
 

Drozmight

Member
I'm rooting for the Sox. Man I'm so happy they prevented the Yankees from getting yet another championship. It's like a breath of fresh air having the Sox represent the AL in the World Series.

Edit - I'm a Yankee hater. Sorry guys.
 

Desperado

Member
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/lopresti/2004-10-19-lopresti_x.htm

ST. LOUIS — It's not that the St. Louis Cardinals are unworthy. They are a likeable team from a great baseball town.

But if fate has a heart, this ends right for the Houston Astros.

For Don Wilson, the ace who committed suicide. For Larry Dierker, the manager who won four divisions in five years and was fired. For J.R. Richard, the pitching star whose career ended with a stroke.

For the franchise that once started an all-rookie lineup as a September gimmick. Once used six pitchers to throw a no-hitter against the Yankees. Once scored only six runs in a five-game playoff.

For all the Houston Astros who tried and failed. And the Houston Colt .45s, too.

The Astros' biography is eccentric — who else can say they have artificial grass named after them? — colorful and utterly without a World Series.

The Cubs have waited 59 years to get to another one. The Astros have waited forever.

One more win.

The Astros can match sob stories and oddball tales with anyone.

The 1980 postseason, when they needed one victory to go the World Series, and dropped back-to-back extra inning games to the Phillies.

Or 1986, when they lost two games on walk-off Mets' hits, and another in 16 innings.

Or 1997-2001, when Dierker won all those divisions, but was fired when the Astros went 2-12 in the playoffs.

A pitcher named Ken Johnson once threw a no-hitter, and lost.

Wilson, a tortured star who threw two no-hitters, ended up dead in his own garage from carbon monoxide.

Richard, one of the game's top pitchers, collapsed on the field, never to regain his form.

This is the franchise that has somehow managed to employ three of the top four strikeout pitchers of all time, and all three went to the World Series somewhere else. Nolan Ryan stayed for nine years, Randy Johnson for two months, Roger Clemens TBA.

Clemens enlisted because Andy Pettitte did. Pettitte is hurt. The only Pettitte to see the field lately has been his wife, who sang the national anthem the other day.

An amusement park ride history like that, doesn't it deserve one lousy World Series?
 

Joe

Member
with suppan starting you gotta like astro's CHANCES (emphasize chances). i mean clemens out-pitched schilling in game 7 of the 2001 world series. but the cardinals can flat-out mash.
 
Just looking over the rosters, neither of these teams have the lefty arms to shut down the Sox.

Any chance of Pettitte getting healthy.. like tomorrow?
 

Desperado

Member
speshylives said:
Just looking over the rosters, neither of these teams have the lefty arms to shut down the Sox.

Any chance of Pettitte getting healthy.. like tomorrow?

lol no, he can't even soft-toss yet.

BTW what position will Ortiz play @ the NL park? 1st base?
 

davis

Member
actually I have to admit this NL series has been really good with alot of interesting off field stuff even. Larussa looked like a madman the other day when his team almost blew it. I just want the Astros to win so they can show more of that girl next to the Astros coaches wife cheering in the stands wohoo go Astros go!
 

Matlock

Banned
Meanwhile, the Red Sox were celebrating at Yankee Stadium. Have I mentioned that yet? We were doing our own celebrating at The Office, reacting like college kids in Cancun who just found out that Lindsay Lohan was entering a wet T-shirt contest that night.

:lol:lol

"What's wrong with you?" Sully asked.

"Honestly? I keep waiting for them to announce that there's a Game 8."

DAVID-STERN.jpg
 

Mashing

Member
davis said:
heh, Red Sox in 5 against either team Astros easier than Cards but Sox at Fenway is a huge advantage for them they are a different team there.

22 of 23 home games won... who has the greater advantage again?
 

Fatalah

Member
nlcs.bmp
[/IMG]


A Cardinal just stared at me for 30 seconds. I grabbed my camera. Is this a sign for tonight?


OH NO! I live in NY! Are the Cards going the way of the Yanks?

Or does this mean they're gonna win?!
 

Fatalah

Member
It stood front-face forward to me on the fence 10 feet away from the window. It told me to kill my pet dog. But I don't have a dog.
 

Matrix

LeBron loves his girlfriend. There is no other woman in the world he’d rather have. The problem is, Dwyane’s not a woman.
"Four Major League Baseball fans went rock climbing: a Yankee fan, a Red Sox fan, an Astros fan, and a Cardinals fan.

They had been arguing all the
way up the mountain about who amongst them loved their team more and was the most "diehard" fan. The argument grew hotter and hotter and the four fans grew more and more agitated.

Such was the emotion that upon reaching the top
of the mountain, the Yankee fan proclaimed loudly and earnestly to the other three, "This is for the New York Yankees!" and without a moments hesitation threw himself off the mountain. The supreme sacrifice!

Not to be outdone by a Yankee fan, the Red Sox fan jumped up and cried out, "This is for the Boston Red Sox!" and quickly threw himself off the mountain, also willing to sacrifice himself to prove his devotion to his team.

Refusing to be outdone by the Yankee and Red Sox fans, the Astros fan rose to his feet, summoned up every ounce of his courage, and yelled at the top of his lungs,! "This is for the Houston Astros!" and without a moment's hesitation, shoved the Cardinals fan off the mountain. "


:lol
 
Wakefield taught Ortiz the knuckleball! He's pitching all 3 games in Houston.

Obviously, I know the outcome of todays game. Pete Rose told me.
 

Pimpwerx

Member
I hate baseball. I hate the Red Sox. But I hate the Yankees most of all. Fuck the Yankees, suck it down losers. Florida owned your asses in your home stadium, and now the Sox have too. It's about time the mystique was kicked to the curb. Better hope baseball never gets a salary cap, b/c the gravy train will be over. Now for the Sox to choke in the WS and either the Stros or Cards to win. I can't fucking stand the Sox and their obnoxious fans. Boston deserves another century's worth of misery. You guys got the fucking Pats anyway. And not the old school punching-bag Pats anymore either. Two championships in one year? Boston will float off into space with all the big heads they'll have up there. No thanks. Let's go NL. Wait a minute....let's go football. :D PEACE.

P.S. I welched on my boycott for about half an hour last night. I flipped to FOX just as Damon hit the GS. I was like, "nice HR, that should offer some help." Then the announcer said it was a grand slam, and I got this big shit-eating grin on my face. :D The only thing that kept me watching, b/c I fully expected the Boston Stranglers to put in a classic choke last night.
 
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