To mark the momentous occasion that is the 2008 Playoffs we asked a couple of esteemed guest writers to talk about their favorite team's chances this postseason. Famed Joe Beimel fan Troy from West Virginia puts together a ten-minute video opus reviewing the Dodgers playoff roster and being generally awesome:
Thanks, Troy.
Consider this post to serve as your landing point to discuss the one game playoff between the Chicago White Sox and the Minnesota Twins. I'll be on and off as the night progresses to share my awful witticisms, but I will not be true-glogging until the Brewers-Phillies tilt tomorrow afternoon. But hey, I made an amusing Photoshop to accompany this, so cut me some slack, Jack.
The game is on TBS and the live boxscore is at Yahoo. John Danks! Nick Blackburn! Playoff baseball is sorta happening in semiglog format!
7:43PM: Joe Mauer's lead in the batting race is 4 points. If he goes 0-for-5 tonight, Dustin Pedroia will earn the AL batting title and a severe increase in my ire. I love me some Joe Mauer.
7:53PM: Nice to hear Harold Reynolds being paid to talk about baseball again. Look out, Dick Stockton! He's trying to hug you!
7:58PM: Reynolds makes the case for Gardenhire to win the AL Manager of the Year award. Hal obviously didn't read CTC's latest Tavern Talking Points.
8:03PM: If we are forced to watch these Holiday Inn Express ads that are slowly eroding Philip Baker Hall's street cred throughout the entire playoff run, I am going to Polsky Punch myself in the face.
8:08PM: Major political news that means absolutely nothing to the outcome of this game: Gwen Ifill broke her ankle, y'all! But she's still gonna do her best to let Sarah Palin humiliate herself on Thursday night, so no worries.
8:13PM: On second thought, Governor Palin may say one or two intelligent things on Thursday night which will cause the entire mediasphere to laud her gumption. Hey, isn't it unfair that the location of this game was decided by coinflip? Shouldn't MLB decide it based on the season series betwixt the two teams (won by Minny)?
8:18PM: Sure, nobody's reading, but I'm getting some serious practice time in for the real playoffs, starting tomorrow at 3PM on www.walkoffwalk.com! John Danks is working very hard this inning. How's that Chicago bullpen, kids?
8:23PM: This is the part of the semiglog where I jinx John Danks, who has yet to allow a hit on any of his 50 pitches over three innings.
8:28PM: Really, Timothy Hutton? Really? You're still coasting on that Oscar for Ordinary People from 28 years ago? I hope your new TBS show THAT SHALL REMAIN UNNAMED fails miserably, despite how much I loved Beautiful Girls.
8:33PM: I also don't like the T-Mobile family plan commercial where the teen daughter wants to get with a mustachioed suitor and the dad wants to bang some lady at his kid's soccer game. Way to humiliate the American Family, major cellular phone company!
8:38PM: It's quite refreshing to semiglog a game that y'all are watching anyway. Having to talk about actual game details is such a drag. Still, huge check-swing strikeout of Thome by Nick Blackburn right there.
8:43PM: One hour in and we've got a scoreless game in the fifth inning. That's my kinda game. And despite the irritating run of commercials, I couldn't be happier with two-thirds of the announcing crew. I'm looking at you, Ron Darling.
8:48PM: I'm sorry, but how long has Ken Griffey had that Johnny-Damonesque noodle arm? Sheesh, the dude is just begging to be DH-ified at this point.
8:49PM: And of course on the very next play, Griff throws out Cuddyer trying to tag up at home plate. Kudos, sir.
8:57PM: Anyone out there want to write a playoff preview for the Angels? We got nothing.
9:05PM: Gotta be duly impressed with Mr. John Danks tonight. Who thought the kid could make this happen on just three days' rest? Six shutout innings against the third highest scoring team in the AL? They'll take it.
9:08PM: Hal Reynolds just mentioned Kenny Rogers allowing the walkoff walk for the Mets back in the 1999 playoffs without saying the words "walkoff walk". Thanks for nothing, Hal.
9:14PM: Joey Mauer is now 0-for-3 and down to .328 on the year. He's but two points ahead of Pedroia. Christ on a pogo stick, John Danks is DEALING.
9:19PM: Jim Thome's solo ding-dong puts the ChiSox up 1-0.
9:24PM: If you're not rooting for Ken Griffey to make it back to the playoffs for just the third time in his storied career, then you're just not rooting for Ken Griffey to make it back to the playoffs for just the third time in his storied career.
9:29PM: "The "blackout" gimmick in the stands is actually pretty cool looking."
Yes, if you are a Raiders fan. Oh, I just zinged Honeynut Ichiros! Zing!
9:34PM: Say what you will about Delmon Young making that catch to prevent the White Sox from scoring and keep the Twins in the game, but Delmon Young just made a catch to prevent the White Sox from scoring and kept the Twins in the game. DAMMIT DAD! JUST LET YOUR WHORE DAUGHTER CALL THE MUSTACHIOED BOY!
9:39PM: My laundry is done and needs to be folded. This is why I am merely semi-glogging.
9:46PM: Joe Nathan in the eighth? It's as if the Twins' season were on the line or something!
9:53PM: Bobby Jenks is in to attempt to close this fucker out for the White Sox. I put his chances of success at 85%.
9:58PM: Brian Anderson's web gem wins it for the White Sox. Good for them. Best of luck with the Rays. Thanks for joining me on this semiglog, Honeynut Ichiros and the gang.
Sometimes people write better than us. Each Tuesday and Thursday WoW gives you our favorite baseball links we've come across.
Pitchers Brad Lidge and Cliff Lee won the Comeback Player of the Year awards for their respective leagues today as voted on by a bunch of MLB.com beat writers. Lidge converted every single save opportunity he got on his plate, keeping the Phillies on track for a division title. Lee led the American League in wins, is favored to win the Cy Young award, and most improbably, he actually made Steve Phillips look smart. But Lee really earned this award because of his miserable season a year ago:
Lee won 46 games from 2004-06, but a strained abdominal muscle kept him on the sidelines during Spring Training last year, and he fought an uphill battle the rest of the way in a frustrating 2007 that also included a stint in the Minor Leagues.
Fella got hurt, worked his way back into the Major League rotation, and spent a season owning the Royals and Tigers. Sounds like a comeback to me. What about Lidge?
Lidge was traded by Houston to the Phillies last November after going 5-3 with 19 saves and a 3.36 ERA for the Astros in 2007.
OMIGOD WHAT A MASSIVE HUMAN INTEREST STORY. THAT GENTLEMAN OVERCAME TRUE EMOTIONAL HARDSHIPS TO SUCCEED. Please...Lidge went from saving 75% of his opportunities to saving 100%. That's not a comeback, that's a ridiculously great improvement in closing skills by an above-average closer. Wait, are the writers giving him this award because he gave that massive NLCS home run to Albert Pujols three years ago? C'mon guys! What about Gabe Kapler coming back from teaching high school to man the Brewers outfield?!?
Throw out the pitching rotations, the lineup permutations, the season records, and the opinions of fanboys. The only way to figure out who is going to win in the playoffs is gambling with local foodstuffs:
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett announced a bet with Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter for the divisional baseball playoff series that starts Wednesday. Barrett is putting Usinger sausages on the line against Philadelphia's famous cheese steaks.
That's an easy one, but what about the other mayors of the other towns that will be hosting playoff baseball? There's only one way to answer that question in the sportsblogosphere: a listicle with totally made-up information!
What'd I miss?
So I did what any normal baseball blogger would do on the final weekend of the regular season, just as the final playoff matchups were getting set and walkoff walks were going down: I went to Montreal. Yes, just as the Mets were falling face-first into their frittatas I went to a place that Major League Baseball disgracefully disowned four years ago in favor of this place.
But despite the absence of Youppi, Montreal folks still enjoy their baseball. My girlfriend and I popped back into our hotel room on Saturday just in time to catch the end of Johan Santana's gem to keep the Mets alive followed by both the beginning of the Phillies' win over the Nats and the Twins heartbreaking loss to the Royals. Three baseball games on a Saturday afternoon? It must be great to have no broadcast obligations to local teams!
True, Olympic Stadium still stands empty and talk about a minor league team coming to Montreal can't even make it out of the message board phase, but baseball fans still live in Montreal. Heck, bring a Major League team back via expansion and they'd still draw 2 million fans.
Other evidence that baseball is still alive in Montreal: I saw a guy wearing an Expos t-shirt on the Metro. What more do you need?
Alexei Ramirez may not have enough juice to beat Evan Longoria for the American League Rookie of the Year but the kid's fourth tetra tot of the season was juicy enough to keep the Chicago White Sox season alive. Detroit's Gary Glover came into the game in the fifth with the bases bloated and promptly coughed up the king dong to Ramirez, who celebrated by giving manager Ozzie Guillen what the kids are calling "high fives". Ramirez' fourth graham slam tied Albert Belle's eleven-year-old rookie record and helped his team tie a franchise record (12) for most quadro-pops in a season. Also, I just set a record for most euphemisms for 'grand slam' in a single paragraph.
So what now? The White Sox are going to host that one-game playoff with the Twins for the AL Central crown and the right to play the Rays in the ALDS. John Danks will pitch for Chicago while the Twins will send out Ozzie's favorite pitcher Nick Blackburn. As hosts, the Sox have the right to employ novelty ideas like 'blackouts':
"We will have 40,000 black rally towels, and hopefully, 40,000 fans using them in support of the team," said White Sox vice president and chief marketing officer Brooks Boyer of the unique support system. "Hopefully, it will be pretty darn intimidating, and the Twins can see how it's done Chicago style."
Oh, great. That concept worked out so well for the Georgia Bulldogs this past weekend. Ladies and gentlefolks, I present your 2008 AL Central Champion Minnesota Twins.
Hey kids, you can save the Koala or you can save the leaf.Think we'll have any answers tomorrow? Think we've ever had any to begin with? Oh how I long for the security of being carried around in a giant pot.
See you tomorrow with more previews and other assorted assortments.
To mark the momentous occasion that is the 2008 Playoffs we asked a couple of esteemed guest writers to talk about their favorite team's chances this postseason. But not this one. There was no way I was letting anyone else take the Red Sox. So here's Kris "CTC" Liakos of the mildly unhated Walkoff Walk.
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The Red Sox have won an average of 93.1 games over the past 7 years. In the seven years prior to that, they won an average of 86 games. All that is to say, what was once a decent team has upped their year in and year out performance to a much higher level, and while the playoffs aren't expected every year, it sure is tougher to take when they don't get there.
But this year was a relative cruise toward October. Since Boston had been making the postseason with some frequency without winning their division for a dozen or so years, it's hard to summon any righteous indignation about not winning the division, and "if we don't win it, I hope the Rays do" has become a phrase just as overused here as anywhere else in the United States of Baseball.
But if you're under the impression that I'm not freaking out about the playoffs, you're sorely mistaken and the only reason I haven't pissed my jeans is because the Brewers thought of it first and I'm no copycat.
A couple weeks back I was high high high on this team's chances to repeat. I felt like Ortiz was coming around at the right time, Bay was filling in respectably for Manny and the entire right side of the infield was getting MVP consideration.
Since then injuries, and the soft underbelly they revealed, have me seriously questioning their ability to go the distance. Josh Beckett's oblique strain is an injury that is rarely seen in public without the word "nagging." That leaves the rotation, after Jon Lester, pretty light. At first glance Matsuzaka's numbers are great, but once you look more closely at his WHIP, and more importantly, watch him pitch every game hanging off a ledge by his fingernails, he does little to inspire confidence. Tim Wakefield is impossible to predict and Paul Byrd gets hit harder than one of John Bonham's floor toms.
Injuries in the lineup to JD Drew and Mike Lowell have allowed weaknesses to appear form other places. Jed Lowrie has redefined the rookie wall and Mark Kotsay may still be the gosh darned nicest guy in the game but hasn't been hitting anything. In a situation where even a playing Mike Lowell may be limited to DH, there is a huge burden on many guys that may not be a-list players.
The bullpen has been marginally better down the stretch, and this team still won 95 games. I like their chances against the Angels because, well, the Angels are overrated. But after that. Color me a pessimist. I'm not sure what color that would be, but when you figure it out feel free to color me in it. Paint, crayon whatever.
Why do I sound so terminally negative? Things haven't chaged all that much for a lifelong Sox fan. It takes more than 7 years.
POANED. I JUST POANED YOU. This is a super rad make up prelude to a one game playoff. As if that wasn't cool enough, the two starters today, Freddy Garcia and Gavin Floyd, were once traded for each other. Apparently Garcia and Guillen are good friends and some think that may dim the starter's intensity a little. I think that's unlikely. Just like the Marlins capitalized on their chance to get one last good punch on a division rival, I expect the Tigers to do the same.
Add that to the fact to the Tigers need only 181 runs today to make my 1000 run prediction come true, and the White Sox could very well go home losers today, leaving us all with a hole in our heart, unfilled by a one game playoff. It will be right next to the one that renders you unable to commit to someone leaving you perpetually alone.
Unfortunately, we don't have the resources at our disposal to glog this one today, so please make this thread a free for all once it gets going. Bring your funny.
To mark the momentous occasion that is the 2008 Playoffs we asked a couple of esteemed guest writers to talk about their favorite team's chances this postseason. We start it off with one of our closest baseball buddies, Kevin Kaduk of the juggernaut that is Big League Stew.
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Ladies and gentlemen of Walkoff Walk, if I were to preview the Cubs' World Series chances here in a few words, it would be with the simple text I received from a Brewers fan after his trip to Wrigley earlier this season.
"You son of a bitch. Even your shitty players are good."
Very succinct, yes, considering it targets guys like Ted Lilly and Ryan Theriot.
In fact, I'd challenge anyone to find 11 better words to describe the '08 Cubs.
But since I don't think that Rob and CTC want me to email this in like they do their day jobs -- hey, those guys post more on WoW than a Twittering twelve-year-old on Rockstar Energy drink -- allow me to expound on the first five things that come to mind regarding the glorious month that awaits Lou Piniella and His Merry Band of 100-Year Drought Breakers:
1)
(Actually, I think the look said, "What did you just say? The Purse of the Moat? Ah, hell, what time is dinner?" but I don't think Lou would have approved even if he had heard correctly. Anyway, the Curse is gone. Please join me in plugging your ears and humming any time it is brought up.)
2) 3) 4) 5)
Am I nervous? Oh, hell yes, it's the Cubs.
But they've got the guns to do it.
But they're not GONNA do it.
They WILL do it.
Congratulations to the Brewers of Milwaukee, obtainers of the NL Wild Card. After playing baseball like a bunch of actual employees from the Miller Factory to begin the month of September, the Brewers rebounded just well enough down the stretch to earn their first playoff berth since 1982. The year of my birth.
Before we get to the Mets, let's not discount what a remarkable few weeks it's been for The Crew. With the exception of a couple weeks when they were within striking distance of the Cubs, they've pretty much been playing for the Wild Card all season. They started Sepetember 3-11 before their manager got fired with 12 regular season games left. Their interim hire, Dale Sveum was met with snickers and more than a little derision, yet here they are. 7-5 under Sveum and in the playoffs. That sealed the deal because... oh fine let's talk about the Mets.
After the Mets fired Willie Randolph, they received that coveted new manager "bounce" that the Brewers did, but it appears they just did it too early. No amount of Manuel/Delgado magic could make up for the universally maligned bullpen, the injuries to John Maine and the professional death of Pedro Martinez. This team went 4-6 in their last ten. Not good, to be sure. But hardly the epic collapse that the bloodthirsty masses will be labeling it this morning.
It was just horrible timing for a minor downturn.
Update: I had totally forgotten about this, until reading Big League Stew this morning. I expect some horrifying pictures to be making their way out of Milwaukee anytime now.
While all the world was clambering for its final good-natured cavity search upon entry to Fortress Steinbrenner, the red headed step child of New York baseball is quietly on its way out also.
The final day of the year! Worst day ever? 
Last night should have gone a long way in deciding the playoff match ups. Everybody but the Phillies opted to go the maximum drama - minimum competence route. Doesn't anybody want to play in the postseason? Didn't think I'd ever see the day. 
In bold defiance of baseball cronyism 101, the Seattle Mariners are openly considering Dodgers Assistant GM and proud uterine owner Kim Ng for their vacant General Manager's position. Mariners president Chuck Armstrong examined his teams $100 million dollar payroll and 100 loss season and decided he wasn't on the right track:
Another Saturday and another legend passes. At least today's legend lived a long & glorious life. Hopefully people get to play some baseball today, Coach Dunlop would have wanted it that way. 
Come rejoice in last night's action. You can cool your calloused heels numbed by travel. 
Great work out there this week, folks. You make this whole thing run. We'll be back Monday with our first batch of playoff previews. If you have a team playing musical chairs for those last three spots this weekend, I wish you luck. But I only mean it for a couple of you.
Until then, check back all weekend, this car aint stopping. I'm gonna bail out and Lloyd is gonna jump into the drivers seat while we're still moving. We'll see you soon. Go baseball.
As CTC Sir detailed below, the Dodgers have numerous questions that beg answering before the postseason. Sending Brad Penny to the 60 day DL to create a space on the 40 man roster for Rafael Furcal will at least address the daily "Who ate all the ribs?" query inside the Dodgers clubhouse. It just tells me they were never sold on me, which is fine.Without Penny, Joe Torre has some decisions to make regarding his rotation. Billingsley, Lowe, and Kuroda sure, but what then? Greg Maddux needs too many bathroom stops to be effective on the road. Clayton Kershaw put together a decent September when you look past his opposition (2x Padres, Pirates, Diamondbacks, Rockies), but he hates the road just as much as Maddux. Always kicking his seat and blasting that Weezy in his Ipod. All Maddux wants is to enjoy the scenery, listen to the Eagles and be left alone.
Well it's a big damn day for the entire WoW family. A couple weeks ago ESPN The Mag approached us about chronicling our favorite, most shrimptastic walkoff walks of the season. We gladly obliged. It'll be in the new issue of the mag out Monday, but here for your Friday afternoon pleasure is the eeeeelectronic copy.
Whee!
And, yes. There's my real name. Go crazy.
Mark Feinsand of the NY Daily News reported on some Media/Manager tensions that came to a head in the Yankees locker room last night. Mariano Rivera returned to NYC to get an MRI on what was eventually revealed to be a sore shoulder. Prior to the news being leaked, Feinsand remarks that Joe Girardi flat out lied to beat writers about what was going on. He was not happy about this.
"There's nothing alarming. I'm not concerned about it," Girardi said. "He told me his whole body was cranky because he had thrown three days in a row. This is nothing new."
Roughly two hours later, I was one of several writers who spoke with Brian Cashman on the phone, and he told me that Rivera had gone back to New York because of a bothersome shoulder. Hmm. That's not what we heard before the game.
Either way, once we told Girardi that Cashman had spilled the beans, it would have made sense for the manager to come clean and say what he knows. That didn't happen. Instead, he stuck by the "cranky body" story, insulting our intelligence.
I know that most fans don't give a hoot about how the media is treated, and that's fine with me. But if we're not given a chance to report accurately on the team, then it's you, the readers, that are cheated. It's going to be hard to take anything Girardi says seriously for a while, and that's a bad thing for both him and us.
Girardi did make a ton of defensive comments later in the night saying that if reporters didn't like the way he handled news about injuries, "You all can stare at me all you want, but that's all I can do." Ah, the old staring contest torture. I believe they're using that at Guantanamo right now to get info.
I would suggest that Feinsand never get a job covering the Patriots if this sort of thing upsets him. For now, it seems like missing the playoffs for the first time in 13 years has everyone on edge in that clubhouse. Both team and media. It's very easy to get used to a certain way of life in 13 years, especially dealing with Joe Torre. The fact that he's out in LA getting ready for his 14th consecutive postseason probably isn't helping the short fuses of Girardi and those covering him. Don't worry guys, a vacation is coming.
So this weekend is shaping up to be total mess with a tie in the AL Central and that Philly/Mets/Crew boondoggle in the NL. It would be kind of pointless for me to do the usual focusless rundown of wimps, whiners and weenies. So instead I'll just be pointing out the Marys from teams that have either clinched a playoff spot or are in the hunt this weekend.
Boston Red Sox
Tampa Bay Rays: Minnesota Twins
Lowell took batting practice yesterday, and says he's ready to return tonight against the Yankees. While he'll probably just DH, inserting his bat back into the lineup will mitigate some of the struggles that players like Jed Lowrie and Mark Kotsay are having. But Lowell looked to be in excruciating pain the last time he was on the field so I still have to imagine his contributions for October are tentative at best.
Any blogger that continues to call the Rays a "feel good story" should be fined. That being said, there sure have been lots of sunshine and rainbows for the team, but Carl Crawford's 2008 has certainly not been one of the highlights. He had one of the poorest seasons of his career production wise, and then had surgery on his hand in August. He was not cleared to take batting practice and is unlikely to play in the divisional round. Crawford is as close to "Mr. Ray" as anyone that's ever played for them, so it's a real bummer he won't be out on the field when they finally get to the postseason.
Chicago White Sox:
Los Angeles Angels:
New York Mets
Philadelphia Phillies:
Chicago Cubs
Milwaukee Brewers
Los Angeles Dodgers
Note: Baseball Before Bedtime will no longer be seen on Walkoff Walk in 2008 so that we may bring you short and mildly amusing recaps about games that made a goddamn difference in the race for the postseason. Sorry, Padres fans.
Mets 7, Cubs 6: Last night New York was in the business of erasing deficits with their offense, instead of their bullpen. Down by 3 runs after 6, the Mets got into the Cubs bullpen touching up Chad Gaudin, Neil Cotts and Kevin Hart. The Deathblow came from Carlos Beltran, a walkoff single that scored Jose Reyes.
Brewers 5, Pirates 1 (10) Twins 7, White Sox 6 (10): St Louis 12, Arizona 31 0 in the loss column.
Hey kids, forget it.Sometimes people write better than us. Each Tuesday and Thursday WoW gives you our favorite baseball links we've come across.
Second year Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez knows his role. Perhaps he's being paid a sizable allowance by Phillies and Brewers ownership for what he's about to undertake this weekend, but we're not in a position to toss accusations around like that. A year after his last place Florida team won two out of three games over the final weekend of the season against a collapsing Mets team, he's ready to do it all again:
"We're going to jump from the frying pan right into the fire and be in a significant series - 'spoiler' or whatever you want to call it," Gonzalez said Wednesday before the Marlins played the Washington Nationals.
In explaining why he was putting some young Marlins prospects in the lineup Wednesday against Washington, Gonzalez noted that, "If everything stays the same, we're getting ready to go play a real significant series in New York."
That's right, just a few days after being eliminated from the playoff race and putting in his September call-ups to futz around with the lowly Nationals, Fredi is penciling in his powerful and cost-effective starters to face the Mets on yet another crucial final weekend.
And yes, we are on the verge of converting to a 24-hour Mets counter-fandom blog.
If you're a Mets fan, you'll have someone else to curse this weekend besides your bullpen. God. Seems the Fat Man (that's what I call him) plans on doing some Noah's Ark shit all over the eastern seaboard this weekend and the NL Wild Card race could be the worse off for it.
Much of the East Coast is expected to get heavy rain over the next few days, and that could complicate pivotal games involving the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies, two teams that with the Milwaukee Brewers are in the National League playoff hunt.
If the Mets' game Friday is rained out, that would require a double-header either Saturday or Sunday. According to the New York Times, the Mets have used up their quota of day-night doubleheaders. That means the Mets would have to play a doubleheader back-to-back.
Hey Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. I love you, but stop hyphenating doubleheader. It makes you look like an ass. Between this mess with the Wild Card and that White Sox/Twins series, the midwest hasn't been this exciting since the 1968 Democratic Convention.
New York Post blogger Brian Costello is on the road in Philadelphia covering the Phillies because Mets fans are just like a group of mini-Nixons: they need to know all the dirt about everyone on their enemies list. And yet the Mets season will most likely end like Nixon's presidency, in a hasty helicopter-aided departure forced by self-hatred.
After the Braves pounced on the Phillies 10-4 last night, Mr. Costello wandered into the visitors clubhouse to interview Chipper Jones about his big pinch-hit homer. What he encountered was a group of Braves players dressed in their post-game best gathered around a big-screen TV watching the end of the nationally televised Mets-Cubs tussle:
As Derrek Lee singled in the go-ahead run the Braves exploded, cheering on the Cubs. It happened again when Aramis Ramirez homered and a few members of the team and traveling party began singing "Meet the Mets." Others mocked the Kevin James video shown at Shea Stadium where he screams "Let's Go Mets."
Oh good, it's not just me. Antagonism of the Mets is universal. Hatred of Kevin James too. Nobody believed that your character in "The King of Queens" could pull such hot tail like that fake wife of yours, James. And that movie Hitch? I didn't even see it and I want my $8 back.
Our favorite Reds beat writer John Fay tells a sordid tale of broken hearts and broken bats, this time involving some sordid rumors about Walkoff Walk whipping boy Corey Patterson and Dusty Baker's 28-year-old daughter, Natosha. Seems that Dusty isn't too happy about these tall tales, and after even Houston Astros players were asking him about it, he took to the mike to let the folks know that this was just a huge barrel of hogwash:
"She hasn't even been to Cincinnati," Baker said. "This is so far out of line. It's hurtful to my wife and daughter. How can people stoop that low? I don't know who started it. But I've been hearing from fans, players, announcers."
"There's been a lot of gossip about me," Baker said. "But this is the worst."
Yikes, even Dusty Baker, who supported Patterson enough to slot him in the leadoff spot for the first few months of the year despite his sub-.300 OBP can't stand the idea that his own daughter would date such a poor hitter. Besides, I'm sure there has been far worse gossip going around about Dusty Baker in the past, like the time the rumor was spread that he was engaged in a sordid threesome with Lauren Conrad and Bat Boy.
Note: Baseball Before Bedtime will no longer be seen on Walkoff Walk in 2008 so that we may bring you short and mildly amusing recaps about games that made a goddamn difference in the race for the postseason. Sorry, Expos fans.
Red Sox 5, Indians 4: The Sox battered Cleveland pitcher Fausto Carmona for four first inning runs before sending out former Cleveland pitcher Paul Byrd to cough up the lead. No matter, someone named Jeff Bailey tripled in the eighth and broke a tie when scoring on a Mark Kotsay double. Just another ho-hum day in the life of mild-mannered Jefford Hamilton Woo-Woo Bailey IV!!!
Rays 11, Orioles 6: Despite the Sox win, the Rays magic number falls to one. Some Orioles pitcher named Randor Bierd allowed two bases loaded walks in the eighth inning. Weaksauce.
Twins 3, White Sox 2: Oh, those razor-slim late September margins! MVP candidate Joe Mauer picked up a pair of RBI on a pair of fielders choices, while three Twins relievers recorded holds leading towards Joey Nathan's 39th save. White Sox now lead by just one-half of a game. Eek!
Braves 10, Phillies 4: So Brett Myers got battered around like a pound of delicious cod at a fish 'n' chips shop. Big uh-ohs and bigger question marks in Philadelphia. Chipper Jones hit his 408th career ding-dong and it was of the pinch-hit variety. Julian Tavarez almost got into it with Shane Victorino and I have no idea why.
Cubs 9, Mets 6: For three consecutive innings, the Metropolitans had a runner on third base with no outs down by one run and scored just one run. Thanks to reliever Jeff Samardzjia who walked Ramon Martinze with the bases loaded, they finally tied it up in the eighth. Heck, those are some juicy opportunities, man! They say when opportunity knocks, you'd better answer the door with a goddamn claw hammer because opportunity will rob you blind. Derrek Lee's tenth inning RBI double off a tired Luis Ayala won it for Chicago.
Brewers 4, Pirates 2: Walkoff Walk favorite Salomon Torres closed out a CC Sabathia win on short rest, and all Dale Sveum can do is high-five Baby Jesus in his head. Such kismet! Prince Fielder picked up another RBI and waddled around to score twice. Milwaukee is now tied with New York for the wild card.
In other news, Arizona and L.A. continue to bore us out west.
Hey kids, just to clarify from yesterday: I love France but I hate anyone from Spain.
Baseball business blogger Maury Brown breaks bad news regarding the Washington Nationals new ballpark: they've managed to burst the new ballpark bubble. The Nats are about to have the worst attendance in the Camden Yards Era, a free-wheelin', money-dealin', stadium-buildin' boom that started with Orioles Park back in 1992.
58,158 fans is all that separates attendance at Nationals Park from the worst first-year attendance of all the stadiums which opened in the last 17 years, the Reds' Great American Ball Park that opened in 2003. That year, the Reds had paid attendance of 2,355,259. With two games left to play in Nationals Park, the Nats have drawn an anemic 2,297,101. In their last four games, three of which were played on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (...) the Nationals have averaged 26,585. That same average in their two remaining games against the Marlins would not be enough to keep Nationals Park from becoming the worst attended new ballpark opening since 1991.
Yes, the Nationals have a weakass offense, terrible TV ratings, a stinkeroo outfield, and terrible parking problems to go along with the worst record in the National League. But it's a shiny new baseball park in the middle of a huge population center! People showed up to see the Pirates lose 100 games in the first year of PNC Park. Folks showed up to see the Marlins lose 98 games their first year of existence. And for some reason, people still go to Rangers games with a fourteen-year-old stadium. Why weren't folks coming to see the Nats new chili-laden ballpark?
I'd point to those goody-two-shoes legislators in Congress for the real problems with attendance. Yahoo! Sports' Jeff Passan figured this one out back in May:
Then Jack Abramoff tried to buy off all of Washington. New lobbying laws soon followed, and now the maximum gift given to a lawmaker cannot exceed $50. Which means all the Presidential tickets - $325 for single-game ones, $335 on Saturday and $400 for the front row - that should have gone from lobbyist to Congressman to hard-working staffer no longer exist, and the market won't get any hotter unless the Nationals do, too.
The Nationals never got hotter. Instead, they got colder than a polar bear's taint, and thus allowed bloggers like us to point and laugh at their futility. Worst of all, things won't get better before they get much, much more futile in D.C. Until owner Stan Kasten either lowers ticket prices or raises salary, Washingtonians will continue to shun baseball for better entertainment options.
