So the Major League Baseball season is over. I was angry and confused when the Mets bowed out, but now I'm just feeling generally sad. It's over. The Cardinals! The Cardinals? That's who won it all???

Just thought about the famous........."Playoffs? PLAYoffs! We'll be lucky to win another game." (-Who said it?)

and also........."Practice... Practice. We talkin bout PRACtice!"( -Who said it?)

Answers below. You may not be a sports fan if you don't know at least one of them by the way.

Back to the Cardinals. The same team that came within a game of completing the worst regular season collapse down the stretch in history. Maybe the Astros were the 2nd best team in the league this year. Who knows. If you're looking to make sense of the marathon that ended tonight and began whenever the hell it began so many months ago then good luck. You just can't look at the big picture. It's more about what's happened in the past couple weeks, the Playoffs, the 2nd Season. I think sometimes it more the subtle, almost daily shifts and changes that end up deciding the course of history.

I think Jim Edmonds said it best when Chris Myers asked him how they just shocked the world. He explained how they were just a bunch of surprising young guys, a few guys brought in from other teams, and a few core guys who all pulled together and got hot at the right time. I'm paraphrasing of course.

This team did just enough. Everyone did just enough. David Eckstein won the World Series MVP. DAVID ECKSTEIN!!! Are you kidding me? Little David Eckstein? Jeff Weaver was dominant and basically unhittable at times during the entire post-season. JEFF WEAVER!!! What the hell? Pujols did nothing with the bat but played like Will Clark down there at first base. Where the heck did Adam Wainwright come from? I'm so confused. Sorry, I don't deal well with unexpectedness.

And let me just say it... HOW THE #### DID THE YANKEES LOSE TO THIS TIGER TEAM??? They should be ashamed of themselves. How did Vietnam happen? Why can't we ever see these things coming? Why can't we quantify the intangible elements that so often end up being the deciding factors in so many of the outcomes of human battle? At the very least we should always mention the notion that the will to win (or whatever you wan't to call it) could easily compensate for the disadvantage a competitor may have on paper. It should always be mentioned, and then it should be discussed. Any good prognosticator should include it in their handicapping process, and then try to estimate which side has the edge in this category, and then know that it's just not a quantifiable thing. It only reveals itself after the fact. After the dust has settled. After the final bomb has been launched. Then we can look back and say to ourselves, "why didn't I see that coming?" "That makes perfect sense now that I think about it." NO! No, you could not have seen that coming, and therein lies the beauty of the live event. And the beauty of the event called life. The spectacular unpredictability of the human experience!

Maybe I've gone too far.

I'll tell ya, that Sean Casey is a professional hitter. That guy can rake it. The rest of those Cats were either too young to succeed in the position they found themselves, simply overrated and under-motivated (Magglio), or simply too deflated (Pudge). Remember when Pudge hit HRs, and looked like his nickname made some sense? He hit 13 long balls this year, and is basically a poor man's Jason Kendall now. He's a punching Judy. But we'll give the credit to the Cardinals pitching staff I guess... whatever, fine. I don't know. The Tigers offense was actually inconsistent all season long. Their pitching was incredible though. They should be around for a while.

BUT WHY COULDN'T THE METS OFFENSE RISE TO THE OCCASION AND SIMPLY OVERPOWER THESE FLAWED AND INCONSISTENT TEAMS? Why didn't I get to see the Mets go up against the Tigers. We'll just never know. Could have seen Maine again. Perez again. El Duque back in the World Series and Glavine toss his final game as a Met on the biggest stage (Yeah I said it... he's gonna bolt for Atlanta this off-season, you watch). What fun this would have been for all of us Met fans, AND Fox might have actually gotten some ratings out of it too.

I almost feel the way I've felt both times Bush got elected President. What is happening in the Universe? I feel like everything is upside down and flipped around. Who's in control? Why can't things just happen the way they're supposed to? God I hate unpredictability and logic-defying outcomes. I want things to make sense! Why are we in Iraq? How did the Cardinals win the World Series? As much as I hate the Yankees I almost would have rather seen them win it. Actually no, I take that back, but at least it would have allowed me to understand and make sense of this crazy world! The rich always seem to get richer. They beat up on the poor. We are all at the mercy of an Evil Empire (in our own backyard even). Money actually DOES buy happiness (and World Series Rings). MLB revenue sharing is a joke, essentially nothing more than an Ad campaign to keep the poor people from turning off their TV sets. I don't care if we've had like 8 different World Series Champs in a row now. It has nothing to do with revenue sharing. These are the things I'm used to. What I believe in. The way of the world..............

OR MAYBE THINGS ARE CHANGING! Maybe I need to stop looking back and start looking forward. I just realized that the Democrats are coming.... the Democrats are coming!

Does anybody see how I got there? I probably should have explained it a little better but I am tired of typing and nobody is reading anyway so.... ya know, what's my motivation?

That was, quite simply, the worst played World Series in the history of the league.

Did anyone see that Nets Knicks pre-season game tonight? Marcus Williams is gonna be GOOOOOOD!!!!!!!! Sorry, I'm going to have to try to get into the NBA now, and more specifically..... my NJ Nets! I can't be expected to live on Sundays alone, and if a puck dropped in the forest and everyone was around to see it.... would anyone really care? No. No they wouldn't.

Answers - Great press conference moments compliments of Jim Mora after a horrible loss as coach of the Colts and Allen Iverson just being himself  as he responds to being repeatedly late for practices earlier in his career.

Dave from Atlantic City will be putting a call into WFAN 660AM in New York tomorrow, and I'll be letting Mr. Mike Francessa know just how I feel about the Yankees' Division clinching celebration tonight. What an absolute charade that was. It was pathetically orchestrated and insincere. So painfully contrived and disingenuous it felt almost surreal. I would love to get an objective, non-Yankee, opinion from somebody who was actually in the Clubhouse. But I'm not even sure where to look for that kind of impartial reporting from inside the Evil Empire. I don't think it exists. I'll be interested to hear Sweenie Murty's take on it tomorrow but in the end he's only an employee of YES (The Yankee Entertainment Network). What, your team doesn't have a network? What do you mean you don't have a network?

For the first time in recent history, the Mets got to celebrate their Division Title before the Yankees did, and somehow or another this unusual event has caused the Pinstriped Robots to short-circuit. It seemed like they were trying to show everyone in New York that the Mets don't have the "fun" market cornered. Where's A-Rod? Oh my God, where's A-Rod? How come he's not getting champagne poured all over his head by his teammates? Maybe because all they can think about doing is cracking him over the head with one of the bottles. Let's face it, this is the most fractionalized Clubhouse in all of baseball (maybe all of professional sports come to think of it). For them to now make an attempt to portray themselves as anything other than a collection of soul-less android millionaires is a complete farse, something akin to Russell Crowe doing a #### and #### movie maybe.

Mariano just got some Cristal poured over him and I swear I saw some sparks coming out of his right elbow! He was in the middle of answering a question from Kim Jones while she was getting drenched by Randy Johnson (another bursting with personality fun-loving soul) and Mariano just continued with his generic answer without missing a beat. That's right, Cristal. They found out the Mets had Dom so naturally they had to one up them with the Cristal. How pathetic.

So, back to Mike Francessa, that typically arrogant Yankee fan and his lambasting of the Mets over-the-top celebration the other night. What are you kidding me? I can't wait. My call will come in the 3 o'clock hour I think. ESPN's Poll Question of the night.... Who would you rather have on your team, Jason Giambi or Alex Rodriguez? Yeah, this is a fun clubhouse. And I'm not a sports blogging sports-talk radio calling 31 yr old social misfit still living with my parents! C'mon now.

I've always liked the Red Sox. Being a Mets fan / Yankee hater why wouldn't I ?

Some comments about that game last night:

As soon as I saw Papelbon openly and boisterously celebrate after he "escaped" the top of the 8th still holding on to the slim 5-4 lead I knew it was over. I knew tha Yankees were gonna get him in the 9th. Regardless of how excited you might be about what you just did, you have to act like it's no big deal, like you've done this a 1000 times. Maybe a small fist pump, but that's it. You can't make that face and go through that routine where you're looking off toward 3rd base and then as you ready yourself for delivery of the pitch you look over and up at the batter like you're Hannibal Lecter and you want to eat the batter's babies fried with fava beans and then once you get through the inning act like a 12 yr old... WHEN THERE'S STILL 3 OUTS LEFT!!! Being an intimidating closer who has electric stuff involves more than just haveing a "scary" face you make and/or the possession of some unique facial hair. But he's young and he will learn.

By the way, he didn't get a fair shake. He pitched great. Nobody hit him hard, and he was brought in (3 batters too late) with the bases loaded and no outs. Wanna talk about a guy who should have maybe had a reaction after his 2 batters? Mike Timlin. Kick a Gatorade cooler or something, just for show even. No emotion whatsoever, to the point that it seemed like he didn't even care that he just blew the game for the 7th team in his career or whatever. He's a caveman I think, incapable of upper-level thoughts. Just my quick impression.

I've spoken before about these players that Theo has brought in who seem to me to be NON-Red Sock-type players. Along those same lines I have to say this....

Trot Nixon would have caught that ball hit by Jeter. There's no doubt in my mind. He would have found a way. That bloop was in the air WAY too long. Trot would have known that against Papelbon the most likely play he may have to make would be on one of those inside-out swings that Jeter uses so often to fight off those inside corner fastballs. Papelbon is throwing in the mid-90's and there's 2 outs, and nobody has gotten good wood on any of his first 30 pitches. Nixon probably knows RF at Fenway better than I know the layout of my living room. He knows where Fenway opposite field hits off Jeter's bat land, and he would have made sure that particular one landed in his glove. It's the absence of guys like him, Varitek, Damon, Arroyo, Millar, etc... that has killed this team during tough times this season. I know, easy to say now, but whatever. I'm saying it anyway. Nixon would have gotten a great jump on that ball and laid out like there was no tomorrow if he had to... Game OVER!

Derek Jeter is the Golden Boy. He can do no wrong in Yankee pinstripes. Someday he and Mariano will be Yankee Royalty in the same way any of the old-timers were. They will walk into Yankee Stadium and be treated better than that time I walked into Sun Gold Massage Parlor in Atlantic City on X-mas Eve that time after I hit the Progressive at the Penny slots at Caesars. What? Where else was I gonna go celebrate my victory on Christmas Eve? You'd have done the same!

 

I'd love to agree with you Viking. I do hate the Yankees, but do you really think those teams you mentioned are more complete than the Yanks at this point?

Let's take a look at a few of the contenders:

Twins - Liriano out, they're out. Give this bunch of guys an "A" for effort and resilience but they are a small market team that perenially needs so many things to fall the right way to really have a chance at going all the way. Liriano was a great story and the kind of thing that can propel a team like this deep into the playoffs, but they are too thinly comprised, unable, in the end, to overcome a key injury like this. Not to mention the fact that they have quite an uphill battle just to get to the Playoffs. Radke has been commendable, Santana is great, but can they really match up with a team working with a $200 million budget. This is what's wrong with baseball.

Tigers - Nice story. Kudos to Jim Leyland. Great regular season team this year. Too young, not ready for prime time. They've lost 8 out of 11 and are already seemingly slowing down just a bit. It's a marathon, not a sprint. It was more important for this team to get off to the great start than it was to come into the season thinking about October baseball. That would have been ridiculous, obviously. The formula was simple. Let's go full bore, restore some credibility, prove to ourselves and then the rest of the league that we can play, and if we make the playoffs we will cross that bridge when we come to it (unfortunately ill-prepared to do so). They will bow out early. If they make it to Game 6 of the ALCS let's call it an INCREDIBLE Tiger season. White Sox - Can't help but think the MOJO is gone. Ozzie isn't really "funny" anymore. He doesn't really have clubhouse respect if you ask me. A couple guys having down years. Starting pitching NOTHING like it was the Championship season. Bullpen not as good either. They aren't surprising anybody. They do have the horses though, and if they can find their groove could fly into the World Series, but it doesn't feel like their year. Something is amiss with this team. And just like the Twins, they'll be battling right up until Game 162. Will they even get into the Playoffs?

Red Sox - This analysis is simple. Everyone knows they cut a deal with the Devil when they were down 0-3 to the Yanks and they are only making their 2nd payment of like 60, or 82, or 84, or whatever the fine print dictates. They contractually cannot win it all again until long after we're all gone I believe. At least they squeezed every bit of glory out of that magical season. How many books were written? How many movies, documentaries? Hope you Red Sox Nation faithful had a great time. It sure looked like you did. But for some serious analysis real quick - Loretta, Lowell, Youkilis, Manny, Papi, Schills even. These guys are Red Sox quality players. Coco Crisp, Wily Mo, Beckett, Timlin, Tavarez... these guys spit the bit this year. Gotta blame Theo.

Let's not forget about the Angels. I'd probably say in order of likelihood to come out of the AL:

1. Yanks

2. Tigers

3. White Sox

4. Angels

5. Red Sox

6. Twins

7. A's

Don't take that list too seriously. My point is really just that the Yankees are going to the World Series. God, I hate to admit that. It's simply going to be another Subway Series. Let's all start dealing with this fact now. It's really inevitable.

 

The NL:

Can anybody make a case for any team other than the Mets representing the NL in the World Series this year? I may be a Met fan (and one of the biggest) but I still cannot see them losing to one of these inconsistent and fatally flawed NL teams this year. Sorry.

Like Bill Simmons says. the NL has become quadruple-A this season. Let's start ranking and discussing:

Mets - Here's my perspective as a Met fan, trying not to spend too much time analyzing this 2006 squad. They're a solid ballclub, period. Am I mad at the crazy cabbie down in Miami? Sure I am. Am I mad at Duaner Sanchez for heading down to South Beach at 1:30 in the morning with an off day tomorrow? I want to be, but as I think a little deeper about the situation, I can't fault the guy (unlike Mr. Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo, who has about as much ability to mentally put himself into the shoes of a very well paid professional baseball player in his early 20's as my grandmother does). I liked Xavier Nady, but in the grand scheme of things he was expendable, and we all know how important bullpen depth is for a team with World Series aspirations. Roberto Hernandez has value and has a good relationship with this team as well. And oh, by the way, Oliver Perez took a no-hitter into the 7th tonight down on the farm! Omar did what he had to do here.

<<< either this is gonna be one hell of a long MLB Playoff Preview or this just turned into a blog of a slightly different nature. I do love those Mets>>>

I have repeatedly tried to remove the name Kazmir from my vocabulary, but how can I when he continues to be spectacular . He just came back from the DL. Can't he just suck, or tear some ligaments or something already? I didn't mean that. I'm not mad at him. I'm mad at whoever in the Met braintrust at the time decided to make the trade. Victor Zambrano, trade deadline deal just to prove to Met fans, and maybe themselves, that they were serious about making the playoffs in a year when the World Series was never even a remote possibility? And I repeatedly hear that our current ####-bag of a pitching coach had major input into this moronic personnel decision! I want all traces of that trade erased from the Met landscape. I want all evidence of this trade wiped clean better than the job Tony and Christopher did after T had to whack Ralphy upon learning that he was responsible for the barn fire that killed Pie-O-My. Anybody who had anything to do with this trade needs to disappear.... like these guys played a role in the kidnapping of Dakota Fanning in Man on Fire and Fred Wilpon is Denzel Washington.... I'm sorry. I went too far, didn't I? You get my point.

Was this Heilman and Milledge for Roy Oswalt trade really on the table at any point this season? Am I the only one who finds this incredibly hard to believe? Am I missing something here? I'd have to take a closer look at it, the contracts and all, but if you're the Mets and you're serious about winning it all NOW, this year, don't you have to pull the trigger on this one? I know Heilman is locked up pretty cheap for the next couple, with good upside; and Milledge could (key word being COULD) materialize into a nice little player in a few years, but Oswalt is a stud. Not to mention the fact that a hard-throwing rightie would be the perfect complement to the current starting rotation. Slide him in as your Game 3 starter in the World Series, already with the split that was earned over at the Stadium after Pedro mystified the Yanks for 7 strong and we got out of the first and third, 1-out situation in the bottom of the 8th, and Wagner got lucky because the wind had just shifted in from center for the 9th and Cano and Melky Cabrera had never seen Wagner before.... Sorry, I went too far again, didn't I? Ok, next topic....

I don't like the Mets against good left handed pitching. The only guy who seems to handle these guys consistently is D. Wright. I like it much better when we're going up against a righty and the guy has to get through Reyes from the left side, Beltran from his power side, Delgado, Floyd, Valentin, even Chavez. The Mets are potent against righties. How many big innings has this offense had this year. From 2 grand slams leading to an 11-run explosion in Wrigley to the multitude of 5, 6, and 7 run innings to take control of a ball game like tonight's 6th inning against the Rockies (even though a tricky lefty, Jeff Francis was dominating the line-up up until this point). They still never really hit him hard. His defense really let him down. Luckily I can't think of too many of these type pitchers on any of the teams the Mets will have to go through in the playoffs, including any of the Yankee starters (I'm not afraid of Randy Johnson). Ron Villone is good for a scoreless inning I'd say, but Proctor, Farnsworth... bring 'em on.

So I intended on an article about how this Subway Series was looking more and more inevitable, but as I have a tendency to do I got a bit side-tracked.

Let's talk about the Yankees ever so briefly:

Damon

Jeter

Abreu

>A-Rod

Giambi

Sheffield

Posada

Cabrera

Cano

This is what I think (fear) the Yankee lineup will resemble come late September.

to be continued ........

We saw this coming. We being me, Bill Simmons, and everyone else whose been paying close attention to these NBA playoffs. Flip Saunders just inserted Tony Delk in one last desperate attempt to salvage this game, this series, and whatever remaining credibility he has as an NBA coach. A one-handed Antonio MacDyess just subbed in as well. Does anyone need to see any more of this? Give me Dallas in 5.

And in a strange twist of simultaneous coaching lunacy, Joe Torre just brought Kyle Farnsworth into a 1-out, bases loaded situation hoping (I guess) that he'll be able to preserve a 1-run Yankee lead and nail down the 5-out save. I really think these coaching moves happened at the same exact time. Wait, let me check my TiVo to make sure I'm watching both in real time... yup, I am. So strange. I can only assume Torre is playing the "these are the Orioles" card.

Is there any doubt what Dwyane Wade's strategy was coming into this potential close-out game 6? Sure, he had flu-like symptoms. I'm sure there was some truth to that, really I believe it. But, it was never anything that was going to get in the way of what he felt he might have to do here tonight. I actually think he's a little disappointed that he wasn't really needed. He came to the gun-fight with 3 bullets and a plan how to maximize their impact. Finally he realized his bullets weren't going to be needed so he just reeled them all off at the end of the 3rd. It was fun to watch.

Poor Michael. Just when it looked like his legacy would be preserved indefinitely, the league comes back to life with a vengeance. The NBA was less alive than Julia Roberts in the scene from Flatliners where you get to see her bra. And then comes Kiefer, Kevin, that guy from Huff....err, I mean LeBron, Dwyane, and an 81-point game to bring the NBA back to the front pages (sort of). And they aren't being too gracious about it either. Wade has the flu before a major playoff game, and Kobe is changing his number to twenty....FOUR.  C'mon guys. Just do your thing. The newest NBA fans will be loyal to you as long as you wear your straight-billed hat to the side in the post-game interviews. Leave Jordan out of it.

Farnsworth can't get the save, but he does get the win. God the Orioles suck. Lee Mazilli caught giggling in the dugout, sitting next to a guy who also had flu-like symptoms tonight but couldn't give it a go. But we already know he's nothing like Dwyane Wade (read: not clutch at all). Then again, baseball is such a painfully intense sport, nothing like basketball. Whatever.

THE FOLLOWING IS A LONG-WINDED COMMENT GONE MAD IN RESPONSE TO A GREAT ARTICLE CALLED ANGELS ON THE SUBWAY (in the New York Mets category) by CarolynT. It ended up a bit longer than I expected so it became part of my blog.....

Carolyn-

If only my significant other (not a dude) was a great sports fan like you are maybe she would empathize with me just a little when I tell her why I can't go out for a few drinks with her "friends." Those times when I explain to her how...

"I've watched and followed this team the entire season and you want me to miss Game 5 of the series when they're down 3-1? Are you nuts? Are you even serious? You want me to abandon them now? THIS IS WHEN THEY NEED ME MOST! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?"

And then finally she reluctantly says...

"Fine, I'll just go by myself."

And then my focus turns to the idea of her, out and about with some other couple (who happen to both be HER friends from college, NOT mine) at some restaurant/bar (where I know a lot of the Wall Street types go to unwind from their long day of making more money than me before they leave the city for the night) wearing that little dress of hers I love so much, the one that highlights her perfect little.... And before she gets her jacket on I find myself asking...

"Do you think they'll have the game on there?"

And then, smelling blood in the water; which for a woman in a relationship simply represents getting her way and/or completely breaking our spirit (for men it usually just means I think she's gonna let me have sex with her now!) she excitedly answers...

"Of course they'll have the game on there. I always see baseball games on the TVs there, and they're all like 50-inch plasmas. I think there's 8 of them!"

Of course I know she's full of uneducated sports #### but she can't be completely lying. Either way, I gargle some Scope, throw some water on my face, and reach for my nicest "I'm not broke" shirt to put on and head out the door. As we climb into the car I can't help but tell her...

"Basketball honey, it's a basketball game I need to watch. Not baseball."

She smoothly responds...

"Oh, right. I just thought you said the Mets, not the Nets, you stuttering ####."

Somewhat shocked by this rare display of confidence and moxie from such a sweet little package I actually think to myself...

"Wow! She really does know a little bit about sports, AND she doesn't put up with my #### This one might be a keeper."

But that thought doesn't last too long because I then remember how I did say that it was Game 5 of a (Playoff) Series and, it being May and all, that should have been more than enough for her to rule out the possibility that I said the Mets and not the Nets, so I turn to her and say...

"You manipulative, lying piece of..... Ya know what, just take me back to the apartment!" (I make her drive whenever possible. My laziness truly has no bounds).

But knowing full well that we are now much closer to the restaurant, and more importantly a television, than we are to my apartment she says...

"The 2nd period's probably about to start right now. Do you REALLY want to turn around and go all the way back home?"  

As much as I hate to ever admit this, she has a solid point (calling the 2nd half the 2nd period not withstanding) and I realize now I've pretty much been played like a fiddle.

And this is just one of the many ways my girlfriend tricks me out of the cave and into a social setting, all so she can make believe I really am the boyfriend she wants me to be (and probably more importantly to her, the loving boyfriend she keeps telling her friends I am!)

AND where, quite torturously, my only link to the world of sports usually ends up being my trusty cell phone (which will inevitably get between 50 and 75 percent more of my attention throughout the course of the night than my girlfriend will). 

But sometimes I get lucky and find a nearby television where I can at the very least catch the final few minutes of the game du jour while bonding with all the other poor schleps whose girlfriends and wives will inevitably cheat on them (no doubt with some BMW-driving Metrosexual who couldn't tell you who the Yankee's closer is!) long before the Mets ever win another World Series!

Life truly is a series of difficult (or easy depending on your perspective) decisions that pave the way to a future we (usually) deserve. If your priorities are "out of whack" your life will surely follow suit...

So, clearly, the moral to this story is...

Do yourself a favor and get rid of the girlfriend now! Trust me. She'll suck you dry (in a bad way). All you really need is a subscription to The Playboy Channel (DirecTV Channel 591, easiest $17 you'll spend each month) and the MLB Extra Innings Package (I'm assuming you already have The Sunday Ticket on automatic renewal).

Oh yeah, and you'll have to get a dog.

 

By the way...

I shouldn't have to tell you this but, just to make sure I covered all bases.... Don't even think about having sex with the dog. It'll just ruin the relationship. Everything's so awkward after that.