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Christopher Shea
Dan Lewis
World Series Gripes
Dan Lewis · 27 October 06
*I’ve had enough of the random fucking strike zone. Verlander had both Belliard and Duncan struck out. Now’s he’s thrown like 40 pitches in the first inning. The quality of home plate umpiring is at an all-time low. I have no idea what a strike is, and anyone who says he does is a liar.
*Also, Joe Buck and Tim McCarver are smug, and they’re clearly rooting for the Cardinals, who, by the way, are an average baseball team. This whole thing is fucking annoying.
*Terrible decision by LaRussa in the bottom of the 3rd. Why would he get Pujols moving on a 3-2 pitch to Edmonds? If your semi-injured superstar gets injured trying to take an extra base with a high-strikeout hitter at the plate, you’d be crucified in the press. Unless you are Tony LaRussa, who is perceived to be a genius.
*Verlander’s throwing error in the 4th. Unfuckingbelievable. Twilight Zone-type shit. Awful.
Jones, Zumaya, and Rodney have each made a costly error, and Verlander has made two. Here are their error totals for the regular season:
Jones 0
Zumaya 1
Rodney 1
Verlander 3
Five total errors.
*McCarver’s gushing multiple orgasms following Pujols’ diving play in the top of the 7th inning should have been omitted by censors. Not on prime time. Not in front of the kids.
It makes you wonder what McCarver’s reaction to the great World Series plays of Brooks Robinson and Craig Nettles would have been, had those players been playing for the Cardinals. The G spot can’t be stimulated any more than that play stimulated McCarver’s, so it’s difficult to imagine.
It was a nice play, but not really that outstanding. Give me a break, McCarver, you maundering hack.
*Speaking of unbridled homoeroticism, McCarver is once again fellating David Eckstein in the bottom of the 7th.
David Eckstein is a decent player. Not great, just decent. The hero worship of this limpid-skinned homonculus has gotten out of hand.
*Have you noticed that the Cardinals fans aren’t making their own signs? Just about every sign they have shown in the stands is made on the same type of rigid cardboard or plastic. The lettering is flawlessly aligned and perfectly set, with the same blocky font. They are handing these signs out at the stadium, perhaps because of concerns about these shitkickers’ ability to do their own spelling. At least the Tigers fans’ signs are home made.
*The story of this series is that by far the better team was greatly upset by a league average club. Waiver bait like Jeff Weaver turns into Cy Young, awful hitter Yadier Molina becomes Ty Cobb, the vastly overrated David Eckstein secures his place in the Hall of Fame, and the Tigers pitchers turn into worse than little league fielders. $190 per ticket for this bullshit.
Of the 8 teams in the playoffs, the Cardinals were unquestionably the worst, and they are your champions. Congratulations, Cardinals fans, on your 73 win team’s victory in a short tournament held in cold weather. It must be really nice to luck into something like this.
*Screw Scott Spiezio, who came in to pinch hit with two out in the 8th. Thanks to him and the bright red flavor saver he wears on his chin for acting as the token cute fan gimmick of the season.
* * *
Comment
- I have hit an all-time low. What i have watched is akin to Night Terrors. What the Tigers have done this World Series wipes everything away. I cannot even be proud that they won the pennant. It now means nothing. At least Alexis Gomez is getting his at-bats.
— Michael D Oct 27, 7:40pm # - If you walk Preston Fucking Wilson with Puljos on deck then you don’t deserve to throw baseballs for a living.
— Michael D Oct 27, 7:42pm # - Im against leaving rodney in to face edmonds.
— Michael D Oct 27, 7:44pm # - As much credit Leyland has had showered on him for having things randomly going right, he has to have just as much scorn hurled upon him for the way he handled his rotation this World Series. He had a pitching staff sitting on a weeks rest. They were in the fabled cat-bird seat. He decided to not go with Bonderman Rogers for games 1 and 2. Also, his refusal to go with rogers in this game was massive mistake. The tigers have 1 pitcher that knows how to field a ball and throw a ball and that is Rogers. I’m so glad he will be able to clean out his locker tomorrow on his full rest.
— Michael D Oct 27, 7:48pm # - How about that line from McCarver. With cardinals on first and third and 2 outs, McCarver called for a double steal. Dick.
— Michael D Oct 27, 7:53pm # - Hey guys,
I found this site through Google and frankly, I could use some Tigers’ fans to commiserate with.
With the offense sleeping like it twas the night before Christmas I was looking for a special guest appearance from Marcus Thames. Guess not.
3 guys showed up this series: Casey, Guillen, and Rogers.
I dont know if you guys are much into stats/sabermetrics or not. I was really down on Casey at the end of the regular season. Statistically he was basically the worst first baseman this side of the Venezuelan Winter League. But he had some huge at bats in the post season and has redeamed himself in my eyes.
We just weren good enough to play that poorly and win, even if we did have Duncan in right field trying to do what he could to help our cause.
I guess if you had told me before the season started that the Tigers would end u beating the yankees in the playoffs I would have suggested you put the herb down and slowly back away.
What sucks he most is now I have to wait 5 1/2 months until baseball season starts.
Thanks for letting me vent.
— Steve Kemp Oct 28, 12:10pm # - First of all, Steve, thank you for being traded for Chet Lemon. We couldn’t have done it with you.
Though in retrospect it probably wouldn’t have mattered much, there is no excuse to leave Thames, one of our best hitters, on the bench. Leyland is one of those managers who is obsessed with the platoon split, and as a result he would rather throw a bad lefthanded hitter like Gomez up there instead of a guy who hit a homer every 13 at bats and didn’t ground into a single double play all season. Gomez has averaged one home run every 63 at bats in over 4000 combined major and minor league plate appearances.
But he’s lefthanded, so that makes him a better bet than Thames. Ridiculous.
Don’t be fooled on Casey. He had a great series, but it’s a small subset of games. He’s always been an overrated player. When the Cubs first traded for Neifi Perez, there was a much longer period of time when he looked like the best hitter they had ever seen. People ignored a solid decade of sheer terribleness and went around talking about how much they liked him as a player.
I’m not saying Casey is a terrible player. I guess I’m just telling you to trust your sabermetric side on this one. He’s a slow singles-hitting first baseman with moderate plate discipline, not the Reggie Jackson impersonator we say this October.
Overall, it was a great season, and we should be thankful that the Tigers gave us such a thrill. Strange things can happen in the playoffs, and we were both victims and beneficiaries of that phenomenon. That’s the way it goes.
I feel the same way you feel, however, and my spring training clock begins every year with that final out, no matter outcome. 3 1/2 months until pitchers and catchers report…
— Dan Oct 28, 3:53pm # - I would also like to thank Steve Kemp for being traded for Chet. Dan, the more the digest what happened the more disapointed I feel. I know that it was a great year. I picked them to finish 3rd at best in our division and yes strange things happen in the playoffs. But when you make it to that World Series you have to grab it. I would not feel so shitty if the cardinals beat the hell out of us. We literally errored our way out of a championship. And we arent even talking fielding errors. We are talking about stepping and throwing the ball to a static, non moving spot…a base. Man I want to walk into traffic right now.
— Michael D Oct 28, 5:01pm # - If memory serves, I believe Casey’s contract is up. If so I think it’ll be interesting to see if the Tigers offer him any kind of deal, or if they (to borrow a line I read recently) treat him like the Mets treated Ray Knight after the 86 series and send him packing with a thank you note and a basket of fruit. They do need to upgrade the production the regular season gave them at that position.
I agree with Dan’s warning in that if Detroit does offer him a contract they need to be careful and be ready to get the slow singles hitter who “is a great locker room guy” and not the George Brett impersonator.
Michael, if I think about the pitchers aiming for the beer guy at the stands and not the bas one more time I just might join you into wading into traffic. But it was more than that. The Cardinals beat us this series in pretty much every stat possible with the exception of “number of times the right fielder looked stupid.” The errors were obscene and obvious. But the was more to it than just that.
And I dont think they make an ant acid strong enough to get me through another season of todd Jones trying to be the “closer.”
— Steve Kemp Oct 29, 1:44pm # - Just wanted to express my sympathies to my old Tiger fan friends (Dan & Mike D)...you both live in Chicago now, so you can adopt the “wait til next year” slogan everyone loves to use around here.
I didn’t watch one inning of this years series, and based on your comments I’m glad I didn’t.
Maybe John Warden should have come out to pitch for the Tigers…he could have finally earned that ring of his! Sounds like they could have used him all these years later.
— Mike Oct 30, 9:28am # - Mike,
Reveal yourself to us!
— Michael Nov 3, 7:11am # - Dan gave me the nickname “King” Kelly….after another ballplayer named Michael Joseph Kelly.
— Mike Nov 6, 11:05am # - I loved every minute of the series, as any Cardinals fan would. When asked if I feel guilty for winning when we obviously weren’t the best team? I must point out that we have had the best record in baseball the two seasons prior to this one and then we would “stink it up” in the post season, so I feel we got what we deserved! And it feels great, I am purchasing the World Series DVD’s a hat and the football phone right now!
Hopefully the Ty Cobb Molina can manage to maintain some resemblance of his playoff glory next season.
By the way,Do you guys need a slightly overweight slightly used up second baseman to go with your shortstop of the same catagory? Now that Carlos is playing 1B
— Witko Nov 8, 2:04pm # - Sheffield? what the hell is going on over there?
— Witko Nov 10, 2:29pm #
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