Again, why do these “career-ending concussions” only seem to happen in baseball? And it’s never from taking a baseball to the head.
^Yeah, it is unreal… Sucks…
Going to Tribe game, yaaaaay!
You know what is awesome right now?
Not hearing an effing peep outta any Red Sox fan lately. 
What a collapse they are in.
But I must say, I feel bad for the Tampa Rays.
Here they are in one of the most epic comebacks in baseball history, are in a must win series against the NY Yankees in order to make it in the playoffs, and they pull in BARLEY 18 thousand. They don’t even come close to selling out that stadium. What a joke. MLB should make the Rays not go into the playoffs just because of that. Pathetic fan base in Tampa.
Anyway,…yeah,…love watching the entire city of Boston have a nervous breakdown.
Red Sox collapse, Patriots lose to the Bills! 
I did say officially.
It was over before they even started, but they do have to play the games.
…and on the south side,…Bye Bye Ozzie. Looks like he is already heading to Miami.
^I have a brother who lives by Tampa and I rant about how pathetic the Rays fans are a lot. He says that a lot of folks in that area are transplant fans so most are fans of other teams. He actually thinks that if the team was moved more South to the suburb area then more fans would go because there’s virtually no sports down there outside of a few minor league baseball and hockey teams. I say that’s debateable since folks probably still won’t go but it’s sure not pulling in Tampa. Heck, that city struggles to even sell out the dang football team.
And yeah, the Sawks collapse…as a Tigers fan, I’m pleased because they worried me more than the Rays and Yanks. The Rays can’t hit a lick and outside of Sabathia, no one on the Yanks pitching staff scares me. I’d rather have one of those two.
I like the Ozzie Guillen move myself. I’ve felt he’s really changed the culture on the White Sox but the recent struggles meant the team was likely firing him anyway. He’s now got a team with no expectations and can only improve plus he’s already going to be worshipped in a Latino-heavy area as it is. The only problem is he still has his cheapskate owner to deal with who I’m betting will not be willing to spend what is necessary to make them compete.
And BIG games this weekend!! Sawks/Rays and Braves/Cards all tied for the playoff spot…we could possibly have TWO one-game playoff games on Thursday. Also a few other teams like the Tigers are still up in the air about whether they’re playing at home or away in the first game so that matters as well. (Anyone wonder if the Yanks will tank against the Rays just to pull the screws to Boston? They might as well).
Twins won last night and I was there. Saw about 1/3rd of an inning…
Too many drinks!
Doing your best Joe Mauer imitation, I see.
What a night for baseball!!! Unbelievable!!! Boston. Let’s go CARDINALS annnd Tampa Bay Rays 
Holy shit…the Cardinals are in…FUCK! 
Sorry man^…
that was pretty much the most unbelievable 30 or so minutes ive seen in sports, especially given that it encompassed 3 games, 2 leagues, 2 extra-inning games, and 2 blown wild cards. that will never happen again… so thanks espn3 for helping me watch!
The Rays whole situation is storybook…too bad there were only 17 fans there to see it… 
maybe when the wild card tide started to turn, but having just watched it there were definitely people there. going down by 7 early with their ace getting absolutely tagged probably thinned the crowd some, but there were still plenty.
and an elvis, so really…
Fall is the greatest time for baseball.
What I found curious is how the Orioles and their fans celebrated as if they had won the wild card when they scored the winning run against Boston.
yeah, i mean really look at it and crazy stuff happens pretty much from april through october, but it was all on the line tonight for 4 teams (nevermind that 4 others were also battling to lock up the #2 seeds in their respective Leagues as well), and it all went down to the wire. never seen anything like it.
yeah i was surprised what happened in Baltimore too. there were an awful lot of red sox fans inside camden yard… maybe they reacted to their turf being taken over like that? dunno…
I don’t blame them too much. Their team’s been awful and has been out of the race basically right from the start. Plus they get to watch teams like Boston and the Yanks come in and demolish their team year after year. Playing spoiler at least means they can cheer for SOMETHING plus they can stick it to a division team at the same time. But yeah, not many Baltimore fans there anyway so they were all probably excited that they made the trip to what was an exciting game. In the end, your team winning in walk-off fan fashion against one of the toughest closers in baseball should always be something you get excited about no matter what the circumstances. I mean…you paid the cash and made the trip to be AT that game…might as well enjoy it.
Heh. I’m right with you on them being crappy fans but there was about 40K listed for that game so people at least showed up for the last game. (Never mind that a game there two days ago only drew about 18K and that includes the Yankee transplants). And I’m sure they’ll represent for playoffs but what team wouldn’t?
But still…what an incredible turn of events. I was on the phone with my brother who was driving home from work and heard the comeback on the radio and then went straight to a local bar so he could watch both games. I could hear all the Tampa fans there going nuts as the Rays did well while the Sawks simultaneously collapsed. Plus it was against Papelbaawwwwn who has been one of the few bright spots during this huge Boston collapse. And is it me or should Crawford have been able to get that game-winning single?..Dude’s making 140mil and was the perfect example of the Sawks’ super-spending and has been a disappointment for the Sawks this year so it was almost poetic that their overpaid outfielder makes a crappy play at the ball for the losing run.
My favorite moment is the clip when the Rays hit the homerun to tie it 7-7 in the 9th. They show a clip of the dugout and you can clear see Joe Maddon saying “Hold Shit!” in the dugout. Just priceless.
In somewhat less meaningful news, my Tigers did have a nice comeback win to finish the sweep of Cleveland. Sadly the Rangers still won (thanks for throwing out the worst pitchers possible, Angels! Still butthurt over Jared Weaver getting owned by Verlander, I see) so we’re on the Road for game 1 in Yankees stadium. Can’t wait. Like I said, the Sawks seemed like the most balanced team and they’re out so we have the crappy hitting Rays or crappy pitching Yanks. I like Verlander’s chances against Sabathia (though he’s still tough) so if we can steal that game, it’s on. BIG game 1!!
Anyway, Verlander gets the triple-crown for ERA, strikeouts and wins and is the shoo-in Cy Young guy (with Doug Fister sneakily being fourth in the league right below him…I should note this guy was 3-12 when he joined us and is now 11-13. Holy crap). Cabrera gets the batting title with .344 and 30 jacks (with Victor Martinez finishing fourth with .330). Also, our somewhat forgotten closer Jose Valverde was officially perfect on the year with a whopping 49 of 49 saves. Incredible. Hopefully fans will get to see Valverde in the playoffs…he’s a treat to watch and he may be partially insane which is nice.
So now there’s the whole AL MVP race which is a mess. Verlander should probably win but there’s just some folks who won’t vote for a pitcher so he’s out…if Pedro couldn’t win it in 99, no one can. There’s also Cabrera who has come on big in the last few months…he’ll probably split votes with Verlander so he’ll be out too. Granderson’s out due to the bad average and I firmly believe that there’s no way you can vote for Ellsbury or Gonzalez from the Red Sawks after that horrible collapse…no MVP can be from a team that did that. Then there’s Bautista who has pretty numbers on a horrible team and I’m a big believer that the strength of your team SHOULD matter unless you’re head over heels better than everyone else which he isn’t except for his home runs. What a mess.
91 losses.
[size=150]91!!![/size]
Dear Santa,
I will go ahead and take Epstein and Francona off Boston’s hands.
I’ve been a pretty good boy.
Cookies and milk on the counter.
Thanks,
Sparky
^By the way, it’s remarkable that the stupid Red Sawks owners are AGAIN trying to push Epstein out the door and may take Francona with them. Those guys just can’t STAND someone else getting the credit for that team’s success. It just drives them crazy.
Anyway, BIG game tonight with Verlander v. Sabathia. The Tigers have traditionally done well against Sabathia even back to his Cleveland days so hopefully that will be case. I’m a little worried about homeruns being an issue as the Yanks could easily crank a few and change the game but the same could be said about the Tigers. We win this one and the Yanks throw out Ivan Nova and Freddie Garcia in the next two games. Not bad pitchers but I like our chances.
Rays? Eh, I think the Rangers kill them.
The NL? What the heck is that?
^ Well they just pushed Francona out. That didn’t take too long.
I think Epstein will be coming to Chicago shortly.
The Twins would love to have Theo…
Just sayin… 