When it was the Cubs and Mets, each team had one "home" game, so as not to create a schedule imbalance. I presume that they are doing the same thing this year, and as a result the Sox and A's will each have 80 "real" home games instead of 81.
Just watching ESPN News, and I had to jump back to be sure I read the crawl right--Kaz Matsui is going to be out a few days because of an anal fissure.
Really, in a case like that, couldn't they say "an undisclosed condition"?
Chicago Cubs.
99 years without a championship and counting.
ms. ursus is a Giants fan, and I likely would have been if they hadn't abandoned New York the year before I was born. I would counsel against irrational exuberance regarding their chances this year.
It's quite possible. We haven't yet entered "Big Four" territory, but some teams are clearly better than others. One thing that can make it seem more random than it is is the divisonal system, which mneans that a mediocre team in a weak division can make the playoffs, whereas a good team in strong division may very well not.
That is basically the only hope for the Cubs this year, btw; they are in the weakest division in the major leagues by far.
In this corporeal world its the Blue Jays. Out there on the astral plane however the Expos are playing at Jarry Park and I'm on the third base line four or five rows back.
Parc Jarry was indeed a very special place. I can almost convince myself that it never really existed as a major league stadium, but I saw the Expos play the Phillies there.
Other allegiances among the US contingent:
Femme Folle: Red Sox
Reed: Reds
Jason Voorhees: Yankees
Inca: Dodgers
goldstone 97: White Sox
I would just like to remind everyone that going to Nationals games brings with it eternal damnation.
AdC is a wimp for even wandering onto the corporeal plane.
The '94 Expos were the perfect team. Pedro Martinez was the no. 3 starter, for Chrissakes, and the bullpen had arguably both of the best closers in baseball that year (Rojas and Wetteland). When the season ended they had the best record in baseball. The stadium was starting to fill up again. It all could have been so different.
AdC is a wimp for even wandering onto the corporeal plane.
Perhaps, and in truth my support for that Toronto team is half-hearted at best (which is more than they've deserved for the past ten years or so.) But I do so like baseball, it's just the players and the teams I can't live with. Some allegiance, however faltering, keeps the glimmer of interest alive.
The '94 Expos were the perfect team.
They were very good, no question, but my heart lies with the Dawson, Carter and Raines crew from the previous decade. Bill Lee, Rusty Staub and Steve Rogers. Real baseball players all (except Carter who was a jerk but every team has to have one.)
Yeah, the Dawson-Carter-Raines era was a good one (especially the early bit, before Bill Lee got railroaded out of town) with the full stadium and the Valder-ee, Valder-aa stuff. But the pitching was shit.
But there was a lot to that later team, too, where even the smallest bit players could make a hugh impact. Like in '94 when Rondell White drove in all 7 runs against the Dodgers in a 7-0 game, and then seeing him get benched the next game because he was after all the team's fifth outfielder. Like in the stretch in '93 when we made that improbable run at the Phillies (14 games back in early August, 4 games back by mid-September), Curtis Pride hit an 8th inning game-tying double and the crowd - knowing he was deaf - made noise so loud the place actually rocked and rumbled so he could feel the vibrations. I've never heard anything quite that loud at a sports event (although the Big O's uniquely shitty acoustics had a great deal to do with it). A special, special night.
Yes, I am deeply,deeply sentimental about that period. Somewhere, I still have a set of press clippings containing stuff on all the big games of the 93-94 period.
The Canadians play 'A' ball these days. I don't go as often as I did when they played 'AAA.' Back then I lived fifteen minutes walk from Nat Bailey Stadium and used to walk to the games on warm summer evenings. It faces Queen Elizabeth Park and, on weekends you could watch the weddings going on in the rose garden. Minor league ball has much of the appeal of English non-league football.
I am a BIG Red Sox fan. Have been since the early 1970's when I was in introduced to the game. It certainly influenced my decision on where to live when I emigrated to Boston in 1988.
So yes, Red Sox all the way. The best ballpark, which is sold out EVERY home game, win or lose. The most voiciferous fans. And Manny being Manny.
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