Unbelievable night to close out season. Sox with monumental collapse and Rays with the mother of all comebacks. I was really hoping to face the Sox in meltdown mode, and am a little worried about the Rays with Price and Shields. They are the hottest team outside of us (and maybe the Tigers) and with this entry into the playoffs it'll be a daunting task especially with their pitching, which is the best in the AL. Also noteworthy is that the Yanks pulled all their starters, pretty much, except for Gardiner, and, inadvertently, stuck it to the Sox. We REALLY need to get up 2-0 with CJ and Dutch on the bump. I assume Price won't see action until it goes back to Florida, but Shields will. If we beat Shields in Texas, I like our chances. On the other side I like the Tigers and will certainly be rooting for them. The only game they've lost in the last 5 was a Verlander start and that won't happen very often. I don't want to face the Yanks in back to back playoff years and I'd like to keep the home field going.
I'm not a regular baseball fan, but I tuned in last night with the Red Sox up 3-2 on rain delay, the Rays down 7-0 in the eighth, and the Braves and Philies tied 3-3. I was watching split screens, switching channels...this was the very best baseball night I have ever seen. Amazing. When the Rays got the 6 in the 8th, that was already amazing. When they pinch hit an HR in the 9th with 2 outs, 2 strikes... dang. And Atlanta, with Bourn on first, has Chipper Jones hit what looks to be the winning double in the bottom of the 10th but the Philidelphia CF (Martinez?) runs it down for an amazing catch. Rarely does baseball fire me up that much. Good job, baseball!
Started night at my desk at work watching the updates, ended it at home watching the end of the sox-Orioles and Yanks/Rays. Enthralling all evening long. Baseball couldnt have asked for better finish to regular season. This is what W/C was intended to bring to the table a September race down to last day
I can't remember a more dramatic finish to a regular season. 2 playoff-deciding games ended in walk-off fashion (both of which involved incredible comebacks), one had to go extra innings to determine the other playoff spot, and another took a player's great performance (including a 2-run homer in the top of the 9th) against his former team to nail down home field. That's the way baseball ought to go.
The Boston Massacre? They were 1 strike away from beating Baltimore. And the Rays were 1 strike away from losing to the Yankees. It doesn't get any closer than that. It almost seems funny that a bunch or AA and AAA players on the Phillies and Yankees had a hand in deciding who made the playoffs. I saw some guy on the Yankees up to bat wearing #72, it was like spring training. And Mike Napoli is a beast!
Luckily just saw a great presentation of it on CNN International - comparing the timing of each of the big plays (all happened while sleeping in Europe). Unreal, unreal. Let's hope Rays are worn out from extra innings, celebrations and travel. Let's go Rangers! and Hook'em!!!
I succumbed to Nyquil - been sick for a couple of days - just before all the good stuff happened. The Rangers were tied in the 8th, NY was up 7-0 and Boston was up 3-2 and delayed. I couldn't believe what I was seeing this morning when I rushed to ESPN.com to check the scores.
