Category: MLB (Page 315 of 448)

      Red Sox own Angels in postseason

      October 2, 2008 /

      Vladimir GuerreroAs Bill Plunkett of the OC Register writes in the wake of Boston’s 4-1 win in Game 1 of the ALDS, the Red Sox own the Angels in the postseason.

      In their past nine playoff games (four against the Red Sox, five against the White Sox), the Angels have scored a total of 16 runs while batting .190 as a team. They had nine hits Wednesday, all singles, and haven’t hit a post-season home run since Game 3 of that ’05 ALCS (Orlando Cabrera).

      “I don’t know nothing about that,” first-year Angel Hunter said when asked about the Angels’ growing trail of October failures against the Red Sox. “Whatever happened in the past happened. We’re going to come out on Friday (for Game 2). We intend to win on Friday, I can tell you that.

      “Have amnesia. Come back. Let’s go.”

      The Angels seem to suffer from the same alignment as the Cubs do in that they fail to convert what they did in the regular season to the postseason. The Halos arguably have the best overall team in the entire MLB playoffs, but winning in the postseason is obviously different from just making the postseason. And the BoSox have experience winning in the postseason, which continues to show in games like Wednesday night.

      MLB

      Forget the curse – the Cubs just played poorly

      October 1, 2008 /

      Nobody has written about it yet as far as I can tell, but I know it’s coming. I know somebody out there is ready to write about how the Chicago Cubs are still cursed following their 7-2 loss to the Dodgers in Game 1 of the NLDS on Wednesday night.

      But a curse had nothing to do with it – the Cubs just didn’t play well.

      A curse didn’t affect Ryan Dempster’s control (he walked seven batters), the Cubs’ offense outside of a two-run dinger by Mark DeRosa, or aid James Loney in hitting a grand slam. (Or for that matter, aid Manny Ramirez in hitting a solo shot despite him completely being out on his front foot and the pitch being located at his shoelaces. I’m still shocked that he hit that one out.)

      Forget the Billy Goat and Steve Bartman. If the “Cubbies” can’t figure out a way to carry their regular season success into the postseason, they’ll once again be watching the Fall Classic from their living rooms. There’s no need to hit the panic button yet, but obviously Carlos Zambrano and the Cubs’ offense need to dramatically step up in Game 2 Thursday night.

      MLB

      Cole Hamels saves Phillies in Game 1 of NLDS

      October 1, 2008 /

      As Philadelphia Daily News columnist Rich Hofmann noted in his piece about the Phillies’ 3-1 victory over the Brewers in Game 1 of the NLDS, ace Cole Hamels saved Philly’s poor bats with an exceptional pitching performance.

      Cole HamelsBecause the truth is, the Phillies did not hit a bunch in their 3-1 win over the Brewers. They had only four hits on a rainy, dreary afternoon. All three runs were unearned, thanks to some sloppy third-inning defense by the Brewers. The Phillies’ great fear after hitting .172 in last year’s playoff series against Colorado was upon them again. They worked some counts against Milwaukee starter Yovani Gallardo and got him out of the game quickly, but they really did not hit. It was a concern last year and it is a concern this year, especially with CC Sabathia pitching Game 2 for the Brewers.

      But Hamels saved them. Cool, calm, collected and with a killer change-up, Hamels had the Brewers off-stride all day. Masterful is not too strong a word. Through eight dominant innings, he allowed only two singles, one in the fifth inning and one in the sixth, and struck out nine. Only one Milwaukee runner reached second base with Hamels on the mound. Again, masterful.

      What that does for a team is hard to explain. What it does for a team that didn’t hit last year in the playoffs, and sometimes struggled to score runs this year, and didn’t really hit all that much during the game, is impossible to understate.

      He calmed them. He bolstered them. He was as soothing as Brad Lidge was nerve-wracking in the ninth.

      With how much firepower Milwaukee has in their lineup, there has to be some concern among the Philly faithful about the lack of offense the Phillies showed today, because obviously the team won’t get a Hamels-type pitching effort every game. But the fans and team can certainly enjoy this win, which was the club’s first postseason victory since Game 5 of the 1993 World Series when the Phils beat the Toronto Blue Jays.

      MLB

      Manny Ramirez tells Boston media to get a life

      October 1, 2008 /

      Gerry Callahan of the Boston Herald writes that the Red Sox must prove they don’t need OF Manny Ramirez to win. But what Manny wants everyone to know is that not only does he find things easier in L.A., but also that the media members in Boston need to get a life because the Red Sox winning isn’t the end all, be all.

      Manny Ramirez“Baseball in Boston is like a Sunday football game, but played every day,” Ramirez said. “We lose in LA, I go to breakfast and people say, ‘Well, you’ll get them tomorrow.’ In Boston, it’s ‘Hey, what’s going on, the Yankees are coming.’

      “It’s just a different atmosphere. The fans in Boston got your back no matter what, but I’m talking about the people who write all this bull because it means so much to them. If your happiness depends on (the Red Sox) winning, you have to get a life.”

      Being told to get a life by Ramirez is like being told to have some shame by Barney Frank. The first time I interviewed Ramirez, he didn’t know what year he came to the United States or when he moved to New York. When asked his age, he said he was 25. He was almost 27. When he got his cellphone wet, he put it in the microwave to dry. The only surprising thing was that he didn’t try to eat it when it was done.

      You always have to appreciate when an athlete takes a dump on the team that put up with his antics and paid him well for most of his career. Manny is probably right that some (most?) Boston fans live and die by how successful the Red Sox are, but then again that’s the way it is in most cities. You don’t think people in Green Bay want to call in sick on Monday when the Packers lose? Or physically do harm to somebody in the parking lot when the Eagles fall? It’s why they’re called “fanatics.”

      MLB

      The Battle of Los Angeles

      October 1, 2008 /

      As both the Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Angels enter the postseason, Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Plaschke fantasizes about a potential freeway series.

      Angels World Series
      This fall is only the second time in those 48 seasons that both of our teams have made the postseason in the same year.

      Yet this fall is the first time that our dreams have a real chance.

      Beginning the postseason today as respective division champions, the Dodgers and Angels have baseball’s two best managers, two of its most dangerous sluggers, two of its best pressure starting pitchers, and two of its best bullpens.

      The Dodgers will be fighting against the vagaries of youth. The Angels will be fighting against the perils of rust.

      But if there was ever a moment in their history that they could both turn this fall into a true Southern California classic, it is now.

      Here are 30.92 reasons it could happen, one for every mile:

      * Mile 1: The Dodgers open against a Chicago Cubs team that hasn’t won a World Series in 100 years and will mess it up again. You know it, I know it, and, most important, they know it.

      * Mile 2: The Angels open against a Boston Red Sox team that they have beaten six straight times.

      * Mile 3: After the first round, the Dodgers would play either the Philadelphia Phillies or Milwaukee Brewers, two teams against which they had a combined winning record.

      The Angels finished the season with the best record in baseball. The Dodgers narrowly won their division. However, they did it with their most talented team in the past twenty years. The city of Los Angeles has always been a baseball town first, despite the many great years Magic and Kobe have given with the Lakers. As Plaschke states, the Dodgers and Angeles have never met in the World Series, whereas the Cubs have played the White Sox (1906), the Yankees and the Mets (2000), and even the Athletics and the Giants (1989). For veterans like Jeff Kent, Nomar Garciaparra, and Vladimir Guererro, a World Series ring would be the icing on the cake of their exceptional careers.

      MLB

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