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MLB 2008: The Year of Anti-Boston

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    MLB 2008: The Year of Anti-Boston

    SATAN DEVIL OLD SCRATCH Rays 4:1 Red Sux
    Dodgers 4:3 Phils

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      MLB 2008: The Year of Anti-Boston

      Ursos, when I say higher and flatter I mean that the throwing arm seems to me to be raised a bit higher above the head and the ball is thrown flatter. It may have been the particular styles of the fielders I've seen. I'm not sounding convincing.

      Prediction:
      Dodgers v Red Sox WS.
      Dodgers to win in 7.
      Ramirez hits a HR in Boston in game 7 and jogs round the bases in an excessively smug and arrogant style, waving to the crowd and shows his arse on home plate on which he's already got a 'LA Dodgers World Series winner 2008' tattoo which drives the Bostonians delirious with rage.

      On a related matter, what is with all the beards in Baseball?

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        MLB 2008: The Year of Anti-Boston

        Fightin' Phils in 3.

        Believe Dat.

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          MLB 2008: The Year of Anti-Boston

          I would like to see the Phillies take the NLCS, but I just don't believe it will happen. They are the Chicago of the East.

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            MLB 2008: The Year of Anti-Boston

            Warning: image heavy post follows.

            Lying awake in bed this morning after Grace woke up at 3:45am, I was thinking that a Dodgers-Red Sox series would not only be dramatic for the Manny angle, but the ballparks are so completely different and representative of the cities.

            Fenway:





            It's old. You just look at it and know it's historic. It seems to feel kind of cramped, and it looks kind of improvisational, like a bunch of different buildings built next to each other decades apart, but somehow it works.

            Dodger Stadium:





            Look at the difference of the diagrams. Where Fenway is a bit chaotic, Dodger Stadium is perfectly symmetrical. While it's not new, it certainly isn't old like Fenway is (built in 1962...not to sure on the construction dates of other ballparks, but if we divide stadiums into pre- and post-WW2, is Dodger Stadium the "oldest of the new" stadiums?)

            Take a look at the difference of the views to the outfield--whereas at Fenway you can tell you're in a city, at Dodger Stadium you feel like you're in nature (if you can ignore the parking lots). The architecture--very mid-century modern. Note the zig-zag roof in the outfield. It's not exactly Richard Neutra (remember, he was the architect selected to build public housing in Chavez Ravine where Dodger Stadium is now), but like a lot of stuff in Los Angeles, a knockoff of something great that is just a little off but still has enough character to make you forgive its shortcomings.

            Compare the surroundings:





            Dodger Stadium is set in a giant parking lot, removed from the city (they didn't even built a stop on the Gold Line light rail at Dodger Stadium, though it goes right past). The park setting is mostly a fiction, and the residents of Chavez Ravine--





            --were victims in the power play that promised them public housing that was fought down because of the Red Scare, then basically had their land given away to Walter O'Malley. But like a lot of things in Los Angeles, I still can't keep from falling in love with it.

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              MLB 2008: The Year of Anti-Boston

              On the beards, there has long been a tradition of NHL (ice hockey) players growing beards for as long as they "remain alive" in the playoffs (which can last six weeks); I think the tradition may be rubbing off in baseball.

              Thanks for the explanation of higher and flatter; I would now agree with both. The throw is more of what we would call "overhand" (as opposed to "three quarters", "sidearm" or "submarine" (rare, and only pitchers)), and the arc is definitely closer to a straight line.

              I am afraid to pick either series, as I still have a significant rooting interest.

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                MLB 2008: The Year of Anti-Boston

                I love Fenway Park. There is something undeniably magic about it. Perhaps because it's so old and storied. I honestly don't think the Red Sox would be the same team if they played in a new stadium. It wouldn't seem right at all.

                And another thing...I grew up going to Astros games and didn't know anything but a domed stadium. Open air parks are so much better, even though you have to deal with weather. There's just something about being outside in the summer, drinking a beer and eating hotdogs, communing with other people who are there for the same reason: To have fun.

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                  MLB 2008: The Year of Anti-Boston

                  The same is true of the Cubs and Wrigley Field.

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                    MLB 2008: The Year of Anti-Boston

                    That's true.

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                      MLB 2008: The Year of Anti-Boston

                      I think the Cubs know that Wrigley is a big part of the draw. It's certainly not the team's record of achievement. Fenway hasn't always seemed so secure, has it? They were thinking of rebuilding it at one time.

                      Only place I've ever been "carded" as an adult, Fenway Park. I had no Massachussetts ID, of course, so I just took my hat off...

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                        MLB 2008: The Year of Anti-Boston

                        Geez, you go without a title for 100 years and you even get Newcastle supporters taking pot shots . . .

                        Wrigley hasn't been under serious threat since we gave in and put in lights in the late 80s (which I still haven't completely come to terms with). Fenway was threatened much more recently, but seems safe for now.

                        Both clubs have been extremely good at "maximizing revenue" from a limited number of seats, including by doing everything they can to create a sense of scarcity that allows for premium prices and creating all kinds of "premium packages". If this downturn is in fact as severe as it looks right now, it will be interesting to see whether that strategy is still viable.

                        The Cubs' situation is particularly volatile, because it is still rather unclear who is going to buy the team from Zell, and no one really knows what the market price of our television rights are (for as long as the club has been owned by the Tribune Company, they have been severely underpriced so as to provide a subsidy to the media company (which owns the television station holding the rights)).

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                          MLB 2008: The Year of Anti-Boston

                          ursus arctos wrote:
                          Geez, you go without a title for 100 years and you even get Newcastle supporters taking pot shots . . .
                          I've a soft spot for the Cubs as well. Born to Lose, that's me.

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                            MLB 2008: The Year of Anti-Boston

                            Fenway was threatened back in 1999 or 2000, but there was so much opposition (in addition to some logistical difficulties due to the developers needing to obtain additional acreage next to the current site) that in the end, the idea was scrapped and I haven't heard any more talk about it. However, that was around the same time I moved away from Boston, so maybe there has been some talk of rebuilding that I just didn't hear.

                            But I really believe that it will be a cold day in hell before Fenway gets rebuilt.

                            Some thoughts on the subject from 2000.

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                              MLB 2008: The Year of Anti-Boston

                              Charlie Manuel's mother died this morning. He's planning to manage the game this afternoon anyway. I hope they give him a win.

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                                MLB 2008: The Year of Anti-Boston

                                I went to high school and college with Phillies player Chase Utley, who homered last night. We weren't friends or anything, though.

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                                  MLB 2008: The Year of Anti-Boston

                                  Bottom of the second and the Phillies already have a three run lead.

                                  I may have to revise my prediction.

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                                    MLB 2008: The Year of Anti-Boston

                                    Bottom of the third and LA is on their third pitcher. Joe Torre has a look on his face like the situation is all too familiar.

                                    PHI 8
                                    LAD 2

                                    Correction: They're on their fourth pitcher. The half inning lasted almost half an hour.

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                                      MLB 2008: The Year of Anti-Boston

                                      Well, the LA and Boston contingents have certainly gone quiet.

                                      I said at the start that the Dodgers' bullpen worried me, and they proved me right last game.

                                      I can't believe I'm rooting for a team from Florida, but I really hope the Rays win it all.

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                                        MLB 2008: The Year of Anti-Boston

                                        Oh, and I think I might have cursed the Red Sox, since I watched them when Tim Wakefield was pitching--I remarked a while back that every time I watch Wakefield, he's terrible. Vernons assured me that while he has his bad games, he's a good pitcher overall.

                                        Wakefield hasn't won a game in the postseason since the 2004 ALCS. Of course, he's only had four starts since then, but hasn't gone past 5.1 innings in any of them. In his last 3 postseason starts (2005 ALDS, 2007 ALCS, last night) the Red Sox lost all three games, he's given up 17 hits, has an ERA of 9.95, and opponents batted .321 against him.

                                        If the Red Sox make it to the WS, don't start him!

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                                          MLB 2008: The Year of Anti-Boston

                                          I can't root for a team from Florida to win it all.

                                          Go Yous Phillies!!!!

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                                            MLB 2008: The Year of Anti-Boston

                                            I ain't sayin shit until those red sux ghouls are dead. But when they do die, there's going to be a whole lotta mouth comin from the south.

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                                              MLB 2008: The Year of Anti-Boston

                                              WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

                                              The last time the Phillies went to the World Series I was a freshman in college, and it ended with me throwing a bottle of Mickey's through a window after Mitch F'n Williams gave up the home run to Joe F'n Carter. The time before that I was 7 years old and refused to go to school they day after they lost to the Orioles because I didn't want my friends to see me cry. The time before that I was 4, and struggled all night to stay awake for Tug McGraw's final pitch. . .it was the high point of my sports fandom.

                                              This time, I no longer drink Mickey's, haven't been in school for years and can often stay up past midnight. I don't expect the Phillies to win this one, as the Rays and Red Sox are both better, but, at this moment, I don't care. The pennant is the pennant, and this is only the 6th in their 125-year history (though I've been lucky enough to see 4 of them). I'm babbling, drunk and deliriously happy.

                                              By the way, I came into tickets for Game 3 of the World Series in Philadelphia and just found out that it's a week from Saturday. . . which happens to be the same night as the party for my girlfriend's father's wedding. I'm not sure I can go, but also not sure I can't go.

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                                                MLB 2008: The Year of Anti-Boston

                                                Mickey's was once described to me as "malt liquor for white people." Was that a common drink at your college or were you a trendsetter?

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                                                  MLB 2008: The Year of Anti-Boston

                                                  Mickey's is exactly malt liquor for white people. At my school, it was not as common as Natty Light or Old Milwaukee, but among my friend's, it was definitely popular. The typical night out started with a 40 oz. of some malt liquor and then Mickey's until it was time to stop.

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                                                    MLB 2008: The Year of Anti-Boston

                                                    Gyuri, Are you offering the tickets?? Let me know..
                                                    Anyway, the 'Rays' and Red Sox are better- I'm not expecting to win, and I hope to Phuck Moyer isn't starting game 3- but we're there- we made it, the Mets failed (again). Stairs' home run was really what did it for me- I havn't had a sports feeling like that for ages..

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