Friday, August 27, 2004
On the Verge of the Best Part of the Sports Calendar
Listening to this game right now. That's two weeks in a row the Jets defense has made several big plays -- forced turnovers, sacks, etc.
This game is on the TV. I haven't had my heart and soul into a Yankee game in weeks. Coming up on months. But watching Carlos Delgado go to school on C.J. Nitkowski and cut the lead to 8-7 in the 7th inning, and seeing that Boston is up 5-3 in the 9th, that American League East lead could be down to less than daunting 4 1/2 games.
I'm not insinuating anything. The only thing I am thinking about when I bring this point up is that the six games in September between the two teams are gaining a little more meaning with each passing day.
Last 20 games:
Boston 15-5 (best record in baseball)
New York 11-9
AL Rankings
Average
Boston, .312 (1st)
New York, .269 (5th)
Runs
Boston, 132 (1st)
New York, 101 (5th)
Home Runs
Boston, 27 (T-4th)
New York, 26 (6th)
Doubles
Boston, 50 (1st)
New York, 40 (4th)
Errors
Boston, 8 (T-2nd)
New York, 12 (T-8th)
OBP
Boston, .388 (1st)
New York, .338 (5th)
SLG
Boston, .515 (1st)
New York, .451 (8th)
ERA
Boston, 4.25 (4th)
New York, 4.47 (T-5th)
You know, looking at these numbers, it's not like the Yankees are playing bad baseball. I guess in their world they're playing merely "okay" baseball of late. Meanwhile the Red Sox have been a house of fire.
Gordon just pitched out of a two-on, two out jam in the 8th. Yanks still up by a run; Boston has closed out the Tigers.
Interesting use of the pen tonight by Francona. After Lowe went eight (and considering all the dissecting of his troubles I did in the first half of this season, I should at least mention that he seems to have his legs back under him. In five of his last six starts, he's gone at least 6.2, and his ERA for August is closer to four than five), Francona used Timlin/Embree/Leskanic to close it out.
The best thing I can say as we're readying for the final stretch of the regular season is how well the the Wild Card races are shaping up. Specifically how well the various candidates are playing. Texas, Anaheim, Oakland, Boston are all playing great. And the Giants, Cubs and Padres are all playing decent or better.
No Mariano in the 9th in Toronto... Torre's sticking with Gordon in a one-run game; I haven't heard about an injury or anything of that nature. Interesting: Francona didn't go to Foulke in Boston with the tying run on base, and Torre's not going to Rivera with the tying run at the plate.
They can say Gordon's arm is tired all they want ("they" being the YES crew), but he's still hitting 96 on the gun...
Struck out Rios on a nasty breaking pitch in the dirt. Game over. Lead still 5 1/2.
Mariano had pitched in four of the last five games, which I didn't realize; there's the reason for the DNP.
Switching over to Braves/Giants which is in the 8th in Turner Field. Braves 4, Giants 3. Two on, two out.
A win by the Giants tonight would tie them with the Cubs for the lead in the Wild Card race.
Atlanta just tacked on another one thanks to an awful throw by Cody Ransom.
Any excitement for the first major college football game of the season tomorrow night? USC is travelling east to play Virginia Tech in Landover, Maryland. USC is a 17.5 point favorite.
I'm sure I'll turn it on for a bit, but I have hard time getting too crazy about the first couple weeks of college football. It feels so early. However, it's nice to have a game on the slate that actually means something.
I haven't watched a Braves game on TBS in well over a month...
Scott Rolen has 111 RBI. His previous career high was 110 in 1998.
Smoltz is on for the 9th with a two-run cushion.
Playoff match-ups as they stand right this minute:
New York vs. Minnesota
Oakland vs. Boston
Exact same AL match-ups as last year...
Cardinals vs. Dodgers
Braves vs. Cubs
Cards-Dodgers looks pretty good. But I'll still go with Sox-A's as the most promising series, in terms of excitement and viewing potential.
How about LCS match-ups of New York vs. Boston and St. Louis vs. Chicago?
On that thought I'll sign off for the night. Enjoy the games.
Listening to this game right now. That's two weeks in a row the Jets defense has made several big plays -- forced turnovers, sacks, etc.
This game is on the TV. I haven't had my heart and soul into a Yankee game in weeks. Coming up on months. But watching Carlos Delgado go to school on C.J. Nitkowski and cut the lead to 8-7 in the 7th inning, and seeing that Boston is up 5-3 in the 9th, that American League East lead could be down to less than daunting 4 1/2 games.
I'm not insinuating anything. The only thing I am thinking about when I bring this point up is that the six games in September between the two teams are gaining a little more meaning with each passing day.
Last 20 games:
Boston 15-5 (best record in baseball)
New York 11-9
AL Rankings
Average
Boston, .312 (1st)
New York, .269 (5th)
Runs
Boston, 132 (1st)
New York, 101 (5th)
Home Runs
Boston, 27 (T-4th)
New York, 26 (6th)
Doubles
Boston, 50 (1st)
New York, 40 (4th)
Errors
Boston, 8 (T-2nd)
New York, 12 (T-8th)
OBP
Boston, .388 (1st)
New York, .338 (5th)
SLG
Boston, .515 (1st)
New York, .451 (8th)
ERA
Boston, 4.25 (4th)
New York, 4.47 (T-5th)
You know, looking at these numbers, it's not like the Yankees are playing bad baseball. I guess in their world they're playing merely "okay" baseball of late. Meanwhile the Red Sox have been a house of fire.
Gordon just pitched out of a two-on, two out jam in the 8th. Yanks still up by a run; Boston has closed out the Tigers.
Interesting use of the pen tonight by Francona. After Lowe went eight (and considering all the dissecting of his troubles I did in the first half of this season, I should at least mention that he seems to have his legs back under him. In five of his last six starts, he's gone at least 6.2, and his ERA for August is closer to four than five), Francona used Timlin/Embree/Leskanic to close it out.
The best thing I can say as we're readying for the final stretch of the regular season is how well the the Wild Card races are shaping up. Specifically how well the various candidates are playing. Texas, Anaheim, Oakland, Boston are all playing great. And the Giants, Cubs and Padres are all playing decent or better.
No Mariano in the 9th in Toronto... Torre's sticking with Gordon in a one-run game; I haven't heard about an injury or anything of that nature. Interesting: Francona didn't go to Foulke in Boston with the tying run on base, and Torre's not going to Rivera with the tying run at the plate.
They can say Gordon's arm is tired all they want ("they" being the YES crew), but he's still hitting 96 on the gun...
Struck out Rios on a nasty breaking pitch in the dirt. Game over. Lead still 5 1/2.
Mariano had pitched in four of the last five games, which I didn't realize; there's the reason for the DNP.
Switching over to Braves/Giants which is in the 8th in Turner Field. Braves 4, Giants 3. Two on, two out.
A win by the Giants tonight would tie them with the Cubs for the lead in the Wild Card race.
Atlanta just tacked on another one thanks to an awful throw by Cody Ransom.
Any excitement for the first major college football game of the season tomorrow night? USC is travelling east to play Virginia Tech in Landover, Maryland. USC is a 17.5 point favorite.
I'm sure I'll turn it on for a bit, but I have hard time getting too crazy about the first couple weeks of college football. It feels so early. However, it's nice to have a game on the slate that actually means something.
I haven't watched a Braves game on TBS in well over a month...
Scott Rolen has 111 RBI. His previous career high was 110 in 1998.
Smoltz is on for the 9th with a two-run cushion.
Playoff match-ups as they stand right this minute:
New York vs. Minnesota
Oakland vs. Boston
Exact same AL match-ups as last year...
Cardinals vs. Dodgers
Braves vs. Cubs
Cards-Dodgers looks pretty good. But I'll still go with Sox-A's as the most promising series, in terms of excitement and viewing potential.
How about LCS match-ups of New York vs. Boston and St. Louis vs. Chicago?
On that thought I'll sign off for the night. Enjoy the games.
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I was searching for chicago cubs talk and found your site.
I'm a huge Cub fan and I have been looking for other sites about chicago cubs talk
Dave
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I'm a huge Cub fan and I have been looking for other sites about chicago cubs talk
Dave
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