Well, the Halos had their chances, especially after Vlad impaled the Sox with his grand slam, and then again in the 9th inning with the bases loaded and Anderson and Glaus batting. Congratulations to both teams (I mean, I feel for the Red Sox and the Cubs, what with their curses and all), but I SURE hope I don't have to congratulate the ex-Brooklyn Bums tomorrow for the same reason.

The real question is how will the Red Sox curse come into play this year? In the ALCS? Or do they blow it against the Cards in the World Series?

(Yeah, I know...I'm a homer. My objectivity on these matters sucks!)

By the way, Joe Pernice, of the amazing Pernice Brothers, has a song about the Sox (specifically about Manny Ramirez) available for download on the Pernice Bros website...

I agree that the Dodgers got a huge break when the ball hit Lima and the umps never saw it, but FOX never showed an angle which PROVED Homey Tim McCarver's claim that "he was obviously in fair territory." Did you guys see that, or am I just as much a Homey as Tim-Boy? I pride myself on complete objectivity. I try to call them as I see them. Am I blind or what?

Yeah, LT and pE, you guys are probably impressed with Lima after the two Cards games, and he's been good all year, but hard as it may be to believe, Odalis Perez has been a good pitcher all year that the Dodgers never supported. Of course, maybe his problem is that his attitude is the opposite of Lima's. Maybe tomorrow, the chickens will fly away to St. Lou. I can always hope! Later, Gators!

OK, Odalis Perez didn't deserve my faith in him since he pitched like somebody afraid of his own shadow. At least Wilson Alvarez came on and restored some normal pitching.

Now, the problem is that we have Werth at third and Finley at first, and Beltre just lined a drive a bit foul. Beltre seems to be pressing, but at least the count is now 1-2. Suppan lives out here, in Granada Hills and couldn't remember the directions to Dodger Stadium, so he called his bud Brent Mayne, who got him to the Stadium. Well, Beltre hit a sacrifice fly, so it's now 2-2. Good game, don't you think?

Yukkk! Green chased a pitch for strike three! Oh, well, good game, huh?

I know you guys are fair. I know you believe what happened to the Dodgers in the 4th inning was INCOMPARABLE to the Lima incident yesterday. As far as I could tell, the Dodgers deserved a triple play (an extra out) instead of one out when Bradley caught Womack's ball. Bradley caught the ball, pure and simple. Double play, inning over. Sure, Pujols DEFINITELY hit a home run, but he should not have been up, and there would have been a completely different set of circumstances when he came up the next inning.

I don't mind, if the Dodgers can't overcome some lousy starting pitcher and some dicked-up umpiring, then they don't deserve to go any further...at least, as long as they don't lose by one/two run(s)!

OK, the Dodgers just got screwed again in the top of the 7th. I actually think the Umps have it in for Bradley, since he was safe on an infield single, but oops...you're out!! Then the Dodgers roll over, and it's 1-2-3...on to the 8th. I understand this is just an average baseball game, but let's say the tables were turned and all the calls went against the Cards....and...(harder to believe)..you were in an elimination game. Go ahead and tell me that I'm overreacting. Later, Lucky Gators.

P.S. I don't mean to denigrate Suppan, but he sure got some confidence when he got that lead.

The best team won, and I'll root for the Redbirds from here on out, but sometimes sports just seems as unfair as politics.

On the plus side, tomorrow is my 17th anniversary, and we have tickets to see Old 97's and Jon Rauhouse (King of the steel guitar), so I guess we don't have to worry about the Dodgers screwing with our schedule.

Next year expect more from the Dodgers.

I was impressed by the sportsmanship of the Dodgers, shaking hands with the Cards on the field after the game.

This might have been a very different series if Brad Penny was available (but, of course, it would have been different if Chris Carpenter was available, as well), but I was never fully confident that the Dodgers were ever down and out.

I'm rooting for the Braves to win...we've got good tickets for Game 5 (in Atlanta) if the Braves get there....

What a great weekend of baseball and by that I mean both Saturday and Sunday's contests between the Dodgers and Cardinals.

I was travelling for a race this weekend, I watched Saturday's game in a hotel room in Evansville, Indiana. My friend Greg commented several times, "It doesn't look good for the Cardinals." To which I could only reply, "Yeah. Only because it looks so damn good for Lima." It was pretty much the pitching performance of a lifetime.

As to the controversial call at the plate, I though Lima was out, but it's hard to argue that the call cost us anything when he shut down our bats so completely.

Last night was tough. Perez was about as bad as Lima was good. I disagree with you regarding Bradley's catch, mark. When he's sitting on his butt and the ball pops out of his glove such that he has to pick it up to make the throw back to the infield, it's hard to argue that he had control of the ball. What am I saying. Actually, it's easy to argue. That's what makes the game fun. That being said, the ump's call was good.

That play at first when Pujols came off the bag, though. Phew! That was a bad call through and through. I'm inclined to agree that the ump's sure seemed to be giving Bradley a hard time. Nice to see he kept it together.

Speaking of nice, though. I'll second and third pE's sentiment. Heather has complained about the fact that baseball players don't mingle and shake hands after the game. I was surprised and pleased by the Dodger and Cardinals last night. Especially since it didn't seem like a perfunctory gesture. There was a lot of sincere emotion on the field, Tavarez giving Lima a bear hug, Gagne gushing at Pujols. As one of the players said in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch today, I doubut we'll see the Red Sox and Yankees repeat anything like it, but it was a good start.

Looks like I have a new favorite team on the west coast.

Hey, happy anniversary, mark. Heather and I just celebrated seven a week ago. All the best to your whole family. I hope you have a great night.

Now Playing: Burleske in d - Richard Strauss (perf. John Fiore/Dusseldorf Symphony Orchestra feat. Gerhard Oppitz)

This isn't meant to be a jinx. I know that you, LT, claimed a soft spot for west coast teams, and they went phfffft!! I said, "Go Cards," and they lost three straight. Now, the BoSox are three outs away from trying to be able to do something which no MLB team has ever done. I also expect the Redbirds to feel a lot more comfy at home than they were in "stuffy" Houston. I hope the jinx blinx.

It makes total sense that an ex-Angel would save the Cards' bacon. Now, is there any way an ex-Dodger could end the Boston curse and make baseball history all at the same time?

quote:

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Originally posted by mark f:
It makes total sense that an ex-Angel would save the Cards' bacon. Now, is there any way an ex-Dodger could end the Boston curse and make baseball history all at the same time?

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No! Roberts will be powerless to the Yankees. Actually, I hate both the Yankees and BoSox, but I want to extend the streak of futility in Boston. I also want to be able to say that only the Yanks and Halos have won titles from the American league since the Toronto Blue Jays. Yes, that's a stretch, but oh well. Incidentally, I'll still take Adam Kennedy over Jim Edmonds any day of the week.

Actually, I was thinking about Pedro Martinez saving the game for the BoSox. The Yankees are such overachievers (or, maybe, overspenders), especially against the Dodgers, that I love to see them lose. And even though Boston won the first World Series and, I think, five of the first 16, they haven't won since 1918 when Babe Ruth pitched, going 2-0 and tripling in the winning runs in one of his wins. Then Boston went and traded him and started the "greatest team in sports history." Yuck!

HA HA!! ITs over! BOSTON WINS!!!!!BOSTON WINS!!!!!BOSTON WINS!!!!!BOSTON WINS!!!!!BOSTON WINS!!!!!BOSTON WINS!!!!!BOSTON WINS!!!!!

Actually I used to be a Yankees fan when I lived in NY, but Im glad the Sox finally broke free from their curse.

The ESPN story this morning was the curse...the "selling" of a high priced player to a new team, leading to that team's inevitable downfall. Only this time, it was A-Rod being "sold" to the Yankees leading to a curse...the end of an empire. Pretty funny.

That was a helluva series...I was blown away by the gutty performance of Schilling, bloody foot and all, and the performance of lame duck Derek Lowe.

Now, for the important game: St. Louis and Houston! Will it be the final flight of the Rocket? A clutch homer from Edmonds will, hopefully, ignite his bat. Renteria, Sanders, and Womack have warmed up...I'd like to knock Clemens out in the 3rd. Just don't let Izzy pitch more than one inning, Tony!!!!!

It will hopefully be the year that the Astros stop disappointing me. I am from Houston and unfortunately I am now living in Little Rock... surrounded by friggin Redbird fans!

I have a friend who wants the Astros to win because they haven't been to the Series. I told him I kinda adopted the Redbirds for three weeks because of pE and LT, but he was adamant about the 'Stros going.

He also wanted the Sox to go, but I told him on Sunday that they had to win four straight, which no one in MLB post-season history had done, so he said, "Well, then the Astros can beat the Yankees!" He got one of his wishes.

I look forward to an exciting game, just like yesterday's NL game. I don't mean to upset anybody, but a game like yesterday's AL is just too anti-climactic.

Wow.

That's all I can say.

I stumbled into tickets for Game 7 at the last minute, and got to enjoy every out of a great game.

A microcosm of the Cards season...solid, if unspectacular pitching, a strong bullpen effort, great defense (that CATCH! Edmonds is AMAZING...I'm glad Metacritic Games Editor would rather have Adam Kennedy, because we'll take Edmonds any day of the week!), perfect small ball, and timely hitting from the big boppers.

I'm glad we're done with Houston...I was getting SO tired of hearing about how amazing Clemens, Beltran, and Lidge are. I swear...Steve Lyons should move to Vermont and ask Beltran to marry him, as much as he's in love with him.

TO be fair, Beltran's a great player, and the Yankees will pay him a fortune (the over/under is 200 million...I'll take the over!) but he disappeared when it mattered most.

This should be a great World Series. Cards in 6.

Thanks for the kind thoughts regarding our guys, mark. I sincerely hope to return the favor in a future season.

Stumbled into tickets, pE? Mercy. If that's a stumble, I'd just as soon spend the coming week flat on my face.

Wherever did you sit? You already have my envy just being there, but if you had any kind of angle on Edmonds' catch, I'm outright jealous.

I watched the game among friends. I was nearly impossible to be around as long as it was 2-1. The longer Clemens pitched, the closer we got to Lidge with a one run deficit. As sweet as Rolen's insurance homer was, it was Pujols' base hit that preceeded it that really wowed me. That was a lot of pressure and he sure came through. After that inning, I was far more pleasant company.

I'm plotting with my buddy Scott to come to town Wednesday and try our luck in a couple of bars and outside the stadium. It's a long shot, but the atmosphere along would be worth it. Any chance you'd be free, pE?

Now Playing: Internet cafe drivel...I'm serious...I will never walk in here without headphones again!

quote:

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Originally posted by LinnTate:

I'm plotting with my buddy Scott to come to town Wednesday and try our luck in a couple of bars and outside the stadium. It's a long shot, but the atmosphere along would be worth it. Any chance you'd be free, pE?

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Aagh...no, I'll be in North Carolina giving a paper on Wednesday. I'm back early Thursday....