Man, I was sorta rooting for the As too. Just another example of the mega-payroll teams beating up on those that can't spend the cash. Yanks over Twins, Bo Sox over As. Now the bigger-payroll Yanks will predictably beat up on the Red Sox again, and the curse of the Bambino will live for another season. Meanwhile, the As will lose Tejada the same way they lost Giambi, and the payroll-rich will get a little richer (my bet is the Mets or the White Sox will add him).
Giddyup, Called third strikes. Even if the pitch is unhittable, its disappointing to see two batters in a row go down with their bat on their shoulder. The A's are do for a meltdown this offseason, and this might be a contributing factor: Hudson in a bar fight (allegedly) Regardless of whether or not he was hurt and regardless of whether or not he started the confrontation, what the fudge are your two starting pitchers doing in a bar, IN Boston, two days before one of them is scheduled to start??? Thats just asking for trouble, especially in fanatical town like Boston.
What a game...All 5 games were awesome...In fact, I liked all the divisional series... This is great for Baseball... Go Sox...
That's really true, but you have to admit the strike zone got a little odd in the ninth. I was rooting for the Sox, b/c I want to see the Yankees beat them (especially D "the crotch" Lowe), but man oh man were a couple of those called strikes weird. Not the last pitch of the 2nd out, by the way. I agree with Nomar: best pitch ever.
Sorry Manny, but I got to root for the Evil Empire now. Lowe's a classless b*zatch and Manny's "let me admire the ball after its cleared the wall while I'm still in the batter's box" home run trot was bush league. I give them all the credit in the world for putting away the A's but why suddenly become so classless. At least Walker didn't make any more "kick ass" predictions. I'm just bitter I suppose. The A's have made October a nightmare for me. This has been my favorite team over the past 5 years and it hurts to see a bunch of really good guys overachieve in the regular season and then underachieve in the playoffs. Are they worse than the Astros?? I don't think so because at least they were able to have elimination games. But they've now got the record for ineptitude and they'll be infamously remembered more than the Astros. Let me just recap my view of those 9 failures: '00 Game 5 vs. Yankees: After surprisingly killing the Yankees in Game 4, Chavez unknowingly pisses off Yankees during batting practice. TLong's misread of a line drive culminates a 6-run first inning for the Yanks. '01 Game 3 vs. Yankees: Slide Jeremy, slide!! Best playoff game I've ever seen. '01 Game 4 vs. Yankees: Cory Lidle decides to submit himself and the team to Chinese water torture as he gives up 6 runs in two hours but only pitches 4 inning baseball. Jermaine Dye breaks leg on freak play. '01 Game 5 vs. Yankees: Jason Giambi helps future team by hitting runner in the back on double play ball. '02 Game 4 vs. Twins: Twins clean Huddy's clock with 7 run inning helped by three errors (two by MVP Miguel Tejada) '02 Game 5 vs. Twins: AJ Pi hits 3 run homer off Billy Koch in 1-0 game to seal the win. Hmmm...A's would rather complain about AJ's actions during the postgame. '03 Game 3 vs. Red Sox: Obscure rule once again hurts an Oakland team (I still don't understand why Miggy wasn't awarded third base and how Varitek can be awarded home on earlier obstruction when he was going to third). Byrnes does best to make people forget about Jeremy Giambi (nice shove too). '03 Game 4 vs. Red Sox: A's able to overcome early injury to haymaker Huddy but best closer in AL cannot close the door. '03 Game 5 vs. Red Sox: Absolutely terrific game that certainly shows the A's may eventually choke but don't go down easy. Give credit where credit is due: Manny came through, Lowe's frontdoor sliders were a thing of beauty. But something's wrong when you have to pinch hit your highest paid player with the backup catcher. Well, there's always next year my friends. Even with Miggy leaving, there's quite a bit of excitement here. With the way Lily pitched down the stretch (how about last night too) and Harden in his second year, the A's should have a starting staff for the ages. You gotta believe, I guess....
True, but it's something I don't really agree with. I think it's really really absurd in NCAA Football, where high-fiving the student section equates to a 15 yard-penalty.
Actually it made me feel worse, it was just like reliving all our previous playoff collapses. But the future is bright, well many unanswered questions but I have faith in our people who are taking care of it.
