Great post by Glenn Stout on watching baseball in October:
Goodbye, peace. Hello, anxiety. See you later, common sense. Distraction, my old friend, where you been keeping yourself? The playoffs are here and minute by minute my façade of indifference crumbles. The twenty-fifth man on the roster is more important to my life than anything Barack Obama is going to do. I scour the internet for umpire ball/strike ratios. I forget to let the dogs back in, decide the car can go another month before I fix the muffler, and let God rake the leaves.
Dinners out can wait. We see the neighbors way too often. I never liked the movies that much anyway. Sleep is overrated. So is exercise. Forget supper – I’m running to the corner for a six pack. And some Doritos. And some Tums.
Tick tock tick tock.
Where has Glenn Stout been all year? That capsule describes how I (and I suspect many here) view just about every game in the regular season too!
Ironically, I actually relax a little more in the post season because the challenge is now easily laid out before us. The Yankees have to win 3 of 5, 4 of 7 and then 4 of 7 all within a brief 4-week period. In the regular season, however, you journey over 6 months and really have no idea how many games you need to win. So, that game your team blew in May can stick in your craw for months until you are certain it wont be the reason you miss out on the playoffs.
about six hours til first pitch, which means Sterling is already in "hair and makeup." 40 mph gusts will be no match for his Brylcream and Aquanet defense shield.
[2]
Didn't Chip Caray do a wonderful impression of "less than" Sterling last night, on that "Line Drive Base Hit" call that Rayburn caught. :-)
my turn to get squeezed by the new thread, so repost:
i didn’t see this posted yet, so sorry it it was and i missed it-
guzman not on the alds roster, frankie c, gaudin ,and marte last men in
this was per lohud – does anyone else find those pictures, especially the sam borden one odd, maybe even scary?
[3] that was pretty ridiculous
There could be some adventures on pop-ups tonight ...
http://www.weather.com/outlook/events/mlb/gameforecast/10451?eventid=314092
[3] and I love how he didn't miss a beat nor acknowledge his boneheadedness.
[4] does Cervelli's inclusion suggest Posada might DH on Fri?
yeah, the lohud pix are "car dealer of the week!" lame
[7] definitely sliced - i kept thinking of car dealer pictures too :}
yeah depending on the matchup i could see po as the dh
blackburn is going friday - po has never faced him and matsui is 1-3 so not much to see there
having cervelli will certainly make girardi more comfortable ph for molina with po though once burnett goes out
[4] I'll repost my reply ... pictures aside, I think the LoHud blog after PeteAbe has been as good, if not better.
[8] "having cervelli will certainly make girardi more comfortable ph for molina with po though once burnett goes out"
And that's exactly why Posada won't see a second at DH.
[1] I am the exact opposite - I could care less about a regular season game here and there, because there are 162 of them, come rain or shine.
The playoffs, though, just 5 games to get to round 2, etc, . . . is it 6 PM yet?
[0] And case in point, I was so excited to get to work early, so I can leave early, so I can get home in time to watch the game with the kids (which will last 30 minutes tops, seeing as they are not quite 4 and just over 2) - that I left my work laptop at home, an hour's drive away. (Thank God for my wife, who brought it to me.)
[9] Sam Borden rubs me the wrong way. I'm trying to get over it, since I don't have much concrete reason, but I'm looking forward to more of Chad Jennings and less of Borden.
I am completely useless at work today! I'll I'm doing is watching the clock.
[10] yeah, I think you're right, the plan seems to be Hideki will dh, and Po will ph.
[7] Cheesy photography pisses me off, but not as much as cheesy or lame commercials. What about that local car dealer one with the guy who has his "owner" on his shoulder, some creepy old woman who keeps yelling at him and saying, "I'm watching you!" like he's stealing from the company or something. Bleah!
[10] I am sure most people agree with you, but the way I look at is 1 game out of 162 can keep you from the playoffs (just ask the Tigers), so every loss can hang over your head for months. In the playoffs, however, 1 games is a large chunk of every series, so it is easy to accept how it could have such a meaningful impact. Also, most series are decided in a week, so it's alot easier to move on.
Another point where I probably differ from most is I view the division title as a distinct accomplishment, heightened this season by having by far the best record in baseball. In other words, I kind of look at the post season and regular season separately, and in many ways really cherish the regular season because I realize how much was invested in it (not just by the players, but by fans like myself who really follow every game closely).
[14] I agree entirely with your second paragraph. To do well in the regular season is truly an accomplishment.
However, I think with the last 14 years of the "if we don't win it all it was a bust of a season" mentality, many many many Yankee fans do not agree with that. If the team ever goes on a downslide like '89-'92, they'll change their minds quick.
13) You've seen that ad too? Bro, that's just downright CREEPY. But the cheesiness makes it a classic. I mean, someone needs therapy there.
LOL
Oh and Will that's not just any lady, that's the car dealer's mother!
my favorite local YES commercial have got to be the magnum opuses produced by North End Wine & Liquor
"Happy Flag Day everybody!!"
as far as the playoffs effecting how I look back on a season, I dunno...I guess it all depends on how it ends.
the 2002 Yankees won 103 games, yet I don't particularly long for the days of Steve Karsay or Rondell White. Conversely, the 2007 Yankees had to scratch and claw their way into the postseason only to fall in 4 to Cleveland...but I still really enjoyed that season a lot.
I guess it all has to do with expectations.
[18] magna opera
(And that's my one and only In Honor of William Safire comment.)
6 Wind blowing straight out , good for the Yankees no?
Also Flaherty has posted his pitching matchup analysis at lohud, pretty good stuff, especially the bit about the Yankees should wait for the fastball later in counts.
[19] That's a great point too. The 2002 Yankees were coming off 4 straight WS appearances, so things like division titles were likely taken for granted. Still, I can recall some great regular season moments and even the game 1 victory in the ALDS (I believe Bernie got the big hit), so even that season had redeeming qualities.
Ultimately, while I am obviously very excited for the playoffs, October does come with a tinge of sadness because win or lose, the Yankees only have between 11 and 19 games remaining until a long, cold winter runs its course.
[10] Absolutely. My guess is Po is back in the game as soon as AJ is out.
North End Wine and Liquor's got it going on.
[16] LOL, The cheesiness may or may not have been intentional, but the creepiness... I'll look for them on the SyFy Channel or Lifetime.
I'm about to do a round of Bronxnet certification and I'm willing to bet someone who took a class there or knew someone who just got certified had (too) much to do with that commercial...
OR... it could be the same outfit that produces those North End Liquor commercials. I worked with them once or twice. They are the bane of independent production, period.
[17] That's RIGHT!!! Oh, how creepy is thaaaat!
I will say this about North End commercials, they created an identity that is recognizable (if cheesy), so it works well on the local level. I don't hate them so much as I find the idea, production and reception bizarre. Then again, if I wrote the North End commercials bizarre would be an understatement indeed. Maybe I should try one out on them and see what happens...
[24, 25] those commercials are just straight up wacky...also, the Grand Prospect Hall ones defy all logic.
[22] Sure, I mean as Yankee fans we're spoiled that even our "bad" seasons are either a) still playoff seasons or b) an 89 win team that had a year long going away party for a stadium to distract us...thats pretty good.
For anyone who missed it, here's Carey:
http://awfulannouncing.blogspot.com/2009/10/chip-caray-botches-potential-tiebreaker.html
"Line drive, base hit, caught out there!"
Fucking hilarious!
I wonder if we can chalk that up to adrenaline as well! Everyone wants to be a hero and gets a step ahead of himself.
I mean, I know Carey sucks and all, but that was by no means, by *no* means close enough to be that mistaken.
I mean, look at the play! It wasn't even close to falling!
Hah aha ha ha hah !!!
[29]
Well, it wasn't "Boom goes the Dynamite ..." bad ... but still ...
Here's a freebie:
Scene: Local Club in Bronx. Guy pushes his way through crowded dance floor to bar where another guy sits talking to his girl. Guy 1 Bumps into Guy 2.
Guy1: Oops, sorry.
Guy2: You better watch yourself, pal...
Guy1: (bemused) Excuse me?
Guy2: (belligerent) Excuse you!
Guy1: What, you wanna start something with me?
Guy2: You want me to finish it for you?
Guy1 and Guy2 square off, both eying the bar where a couple of bottles of liquor are perched on the bar near either one of them. The dancing comes to a stop as the music continues to pulse, and the crowd begins to chant.
Crowd: Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!...
Guy1 & Guy2 each grab a bottle of liquor, but before they smash it, the bartender rushes over.
Bartender: Heyheyhey, hold on! Don't fight! I got those from North End Liquor!!
Guy1 & Guy2 freeze. They look at the bottles and each other, then place the bottles back on the bar.
Guy1 & Guy2:: Oh, well sorry about that. Yeah, North End, wow...
CUE NORTH END PITCHLINE.
CUT TO: Guy1 & Guy2 leading conga line on dance floor.
The End.
>;)
I wish everyone who got the Yankee games could watch local access Bronx ads...
[32]
Ahhh ... I was wondering why I couldn't recollect seeing those commercials! (d'oh)
[28] Speaking of bad calls, who was the guy during the 95 ALDS who called Tony Fernandez's double a home run?
Who could forget Fernando
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2O6xjUQKCA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uG7jPTXVKJI
[28] That's what happens when you make the call with the ball still in the air ...