Ugh. The Hamilton home run would have been TOO storybook of a finish, huh?
It's no surprise that #1 Ranger fan/addict (and valued Bauxite) Jamey Newberg summed it up best on behalf of all us North Texas baseball watchers in his e-mail newsletter this morning ...
Okay, we here at Da Box -- for good reason -- have not posted a "Game Thread" since the Canada/South Africa World Cup game in March 2006. The last major league game thread was in May 2005. So let's see how this goes.
The Yankees are in the ALCS, and I take it as a given that every Bauxite here (except me) wants them to lose horribly and tragically. They're playing the (holy crap!) Rangers, my hometown team. For the record -- no, I haven't actually decided to root for one or the other, but rather will be in the awkward fan position of wanting both teams to do well. Hometown vs. long-time favorite? That's a no-lose, and I will definitely have a dog in this year's World Series hunt.
Most of the expert projections I have heard and read so far lean to the Yankees, giving them a position-by-position edge pretty much everywhere except CF (Hamilton over Granderson), RF (Cruz over Swisher) abd DH (Vlad over anyone the Yankees toss out there). Everyone gives bullpen and bench to the Yankees, and most give rotation that direction, too. I might disagree at shortstop, catcher (Posada has really fallen off a cliff, and I don't mean Lee, but speaking of Lee), maybe about the rotation too.
A final question -- and I don't know the answer or have any idea how to look it up. Tonight's starting pitching matchup, initially speaking, pits C.C. Sabathia against C. J. Wilson. Is this the first time in baseball history that a post-season game has posted two double-initial monikered guys against each other? Magpie, any thoughts?
Personal projection: the Rangers run wild on Posada, get two wins from Lee and one each from WIlson and Colby Lewis, and the Rangers advance to sure annihilation by the Phillies. (Can't quite break the long North Texas haseball habit of gloom and doom ...)
This isn't a real Game Thread, just a belated look back at the bullpen as it was 2 weeks ago. We will catch up on Friday. We won't talk about what happened this afternoon.
Don't forget, the countdown to IRC Game Threads is on -- Monday, May 9, marks the debut of Batter's Box's coolest new feature.
TORONTO -- In its continuing effort to provide the best possible tools to the best of Canada's baseball fans, Batter's Box Interactive Magazine is introducing a new "Game Chat" option beginning with the Monday, May 9 game at Kansas City.
"It's a decision we've come to after months of discussion," said Batter's Box Senior Editor Jordan Furlong. "The Batter's Box roster sees this as an opportunity to expand our usefulness in two critical ways."
