I present to you my own personal top 3 reasons for delight at seeing the Yankees choke away a 3-0 series lead. Contrary to the FOX graphic, this wasn't one of the all-time greatest upsets--the Sawx are way too good a team for that to be the case--but the Yankees can rest easy knowing that they've set the MLB standard once more, both in futility and in cost per LCS victory. So anyway, in reverse order:
#3. A-Rod's move last night, knocking Arroyo's glove off, was bad sportsmanship in intramural softball, much less the majors. It was obvious, it was stupid, and it was far less than we should expect from a perennial MVP candidate. For Torre to even argue it dropped my opinion of him down a notch.
#2. The Yankee fans. It's been a Wrigley tradition for years to throw back home run balls hit by the opposite team, but they do so while the hitter runs the bases, and it doesn't interfere with play. Tonight, a Yankee fan threw back a foul ball hit by Johnny Damon and interrupted a pitch. Call me a purist, but that's weak as hell. And it happened a few times.
#1. "Who's your daddy" is the single most stupid chant I've ever heard at a sporting event, and it's got plenty of competition. It was a stupid comment from Pedro, granted, but at root, he was acknowledging the fact that the Yankees had his number. To turn it into a chant, over and over, was the furthest thing from clever.
So, cursal reversal? Not quite. There's another series yet to be played. But my 4th reason for delight tonight is that, for the past few years, the Yankees and their fans have acted like they somehow "own" the so-called curse. Truth be told, the Mets, Cards, and Reds have more to do with stopping the Sox than the Yanks--they actually won World Series against them. The curse was about giving up arguably the best player in the history of the game for a song, not giving him to a specific team. But in Yankees Nation, everything has to be about the Yankees. I like some of their players, and I've generally liked Torre, but the empire as a whole is unforgivably arrogant, so I can't say that I'm sorry to see them perform the greatest choke in the history of MLB.
Go Sox!
As my Rangers have only made it to the playoffs twice and they've been promptly eliminated in Round 1 by the Yanks, I was very happy to see them squander away an insurmoutable lead last night. And there were so many great stories: David Ortiz turning into a monster. "The Passion of the Centerfielder" breaking out of his slump and demolishing the ball last night. Curt Shilling pitching 7 strong innings with one red sock.
Throw in that A-Rod looked like a sissy to boot, and it was just about all you could ask for.
And if I'm Boston, I'm pulling for Houston tonight. That Cards team is scary.
I actually watched the game, Collin! Can you believe it? I watched a baseball game!
What?! Isn't that like the fourth sign of the coming apocalypse? Heh.
Dylan, I know what you mean about the Cards lineup, which I had to watch all season long as they buried the Cubs and Astros into the wildcard race. And yet, their pitchers are pretty much all above average 10-15 game winners. Not an ace among the bunch. Clemens and Oswalt are a little more "big game" than anyone the Cards can throw out there.
When asked about who I was rooting for in the NLCS, my answer was that I hoped it would go 7 games, and that a giant whale would swallow both teams for a week, leading Bud Selig to the decision to choose the next best NL Central team to represent the NL in the Series, after which the whale could spit them back up.
It's gone seven games, but I doubt there'll be any FOX Whale Watch. Oh well...
cgb
Well, you are right about one thing, the Cards have no big game pitchers, and Phil Garner's spectacular managerial move gives the 'Stros their biggest big game picture a chance to pitch in the biggest game of the year.
Can the Red Sox beat either of these teams? Yes, I think they can, but they are a tired bunch, and adrenaline will wear off... be interesting to see the state of the pitching staff on Saturday night.
I almost agree with you on the "Who's your daddy" chant. But I still think that the "Whoomp, there it is!" chant might be worse. Of course that could be personal because when I was working for Home Depot I was coerced into doing a "Whoomp there it is!" chant during a corporate cheerleading meeting. Utterly lame.
And as a long-time Braves fan, I still find the Tomahawk chop to be utterly lame. Not just because it's un-PC but because it lost its novelty about ten years ago.
I am ecstatic that the Sox won, though.
Chuck, you just named the two chants that I actually had in mind when I called WYD the worst ever...ha ha...
cgb
ps. my own personal hell would be one long "corporate cheerleading meeting." if that wouldn't be enough to scare someone straight, I don't know what is...