Recently in Sports: MLB Category

Cleveland Rocks! Cleveland Rocks! The White Sox that is . . . 8 to 0. That's right folks the Indians took two out of three in Chi town and now sit 2 1/2 games back. Yes, a sweep would have been nice but give the White Sox credit they fought back on Tuesday to win in extra innings. But last night it was all Cleveland.

And the man who sparked it all was Travis Hafner. Forget Ortiz or A-Rod, Hafner for MVP:

This week, on the South Side of Chicago, in the biggest series of the Cleveland Indians' season, Travis Hafner had himself the kind of September series that MVPs are made of.

Four home runs -- at least one in every game of the series.

Seven extra-base hits altogether.

And 10 RBI. In 12 at-bats that might have changed the course of events for both the Indians and that White Sox team they were playing for those three nights.
Wednesday night, in a potentially season-turning baseball game, he finished off the Travis Hafner Show with two more home runs and five more RBI in an 8-0 Cleveland wipeout of a White Sox team that saw its AL Central lead squished back to 2½ games over the rampaging Indians.

The bad news? The Yankees keep winning. They have no taken the lead in the East and the Boston Red Sox are chasing the Indians for the Wild Card. Bah! I would love to see the Yankees fail to make the playoffs but I have a hard time seeing it happen. Go Tribe!

I gave up watching regular season baseball some time ago. I just don't have the time or energy to follow it. I used to be a Cleveland Indians fan but largely gave up on that as the players I liked moved away and the team became unrecognizable. I usually just wait for the post-season to start watching the games.

Well, I am being pulled back in by the Indians amazing run. Initially it was just a run at the Wild Card spot against the hated Yankees, but now it has turned into a full blown pennant race. The Tribe has reduced the Chicago White Sox's once seemingly insurmountable lead (14 games in August) to 2 1/2 games after beating them 7-5 last night. They have a game and half lead on the Yankees in the Wild Card race.

My ideal scenario would be for the Tribe to win the division and for the Yankees to miss the playoffs. Am I a fair weather fan? Probably, but who cares? Go Tribe

A friend of mine said yesterday: Of course the Yankees will win they always win (he is an Indians and Pirates fan so there is some bitterness). I told him remember the Diamondbacks, they proved that the Yankees can lose. I was confident and predicted the Marlins win last night

And sure enough, Josh Beckett took care of business and the Marlins beat the Yankees at Yankee stadium. How sweat is that?! I wonder if Red Sox fans feel better or if they feel worse because they could've beat the Yankees . . . Oh well let's all just celebrate the moment right now. Money doesn't always win and sometimes the underdog comes through. It gives you a little more faith in the game I think. Sorry New York, someone with a smaller budget used small ball to beat you. Good luck in the off-season.

As long as I am acting as an unpaid shill for National Review Online, let me point out John J. Miller post on the Detroit Tigers. I too grew up rooting for the Tigers. I too idolized Trammell, Whitaker, Parrish, Gibson, and Morris. I used to go to a couple of Tiger games a year but then we moved to Indiana. What year? 1984, the year they won the World Series and won 104 games. No trips to the ball park that year. I continued to follow the Tigers for a number of years but eventually the futility got to be too much. Call me a fair weather fan if you must but I gave up. Oh sure I would love to see them start winning again but I am just too disconnected from the sport and the team to call myself a Tigers fan. The only Michigan sports loyalty I carry with me is University of Michigan. Oddly enough my passion for the Wolverines has only grown here in Buckeye land. Alas, I carry only nostalgia when I think of the Tigers. Hats of to John for sticking it out all these years

Well, just like Cub fans Red Sox fans felt the agony of defeat instead of the joy of victory. The fairy tale story is officially dead. What a wrenching heartbreaking game for the Red Sox faithful.

When the game started I was in home church (bible study) and Red Sox fans were nervous. After they checked the score, it was 4-0 in the sixth inning. Someone said: "it is over" figuring that Martinez would hold the lead. I told him that it was never over, reminding him of the Arizona Diamondbacks who came back on Mariano Rivera. He remained confident. As people filtered out we turned the game on and watched as Giambi hit a home run. The nervousness increased. After Ortiz hit his homer to make it 5-2 people relaxed a bit. But as the Yankees began to hit Pedro, the Sox fans in the room began to squirm. I wondered alound whether they would keep Martinez in as he was clearly losing steam. A friend offered that they would leave him in until someone got on base and then he would be done. Sure enough, Martinez came out for the 8th inning. When Jeeter hit a double everyone was sure that Pedro was gone but he remained. As the comeback continued the Sox fans in the room began to get angry at manager Grady Little. "What is he thinking?", everyone asked. With the game tied at 5-5 there was nothing to do but hope Boston could create some magic to regain the momentum. My friend was trying desperately to will the Boston hitters to get on base, to somehow mentally push the Red sox to win. I thought she had it for a minute when Jeeter almost dropped the bat in a bunt attempt but the Sox couldn't generate any hits. After midnight I decided I need to head home. We got in the car and listened to the radio broadcast. As I heard the announcer describe Aaron Boone's home run, I thought about the stab of pain that was causing right now in my friends back at their house. I thought of all the fans crushed by the weight of that swing watching the hated Yankees celebrate yet another victory and trip to the World Series. I must admit, however, that I also felt a bit of excitement and admiration for a team and franchise that always seems to get it done. I am not a Yankees fan by any stretch of the imagination, but it is hard not to smile a rye smile when you think of the Yankees beating the Red Sox yet again and jubilation that Boone's homer caused in New York and around the world.

Onto the world series . . .

Well, the Cubs fairy tale season has come to an end and come up short. A heartbreaking loss last night ended the cinderella season and Cubs fans hopes. I was watching periodically last night and happened to catch a bright spot: Kerry Wood's amazing home run that tied the game at 3 all. Wood, however, could not keep the Marlins from scoring and so went from potential hero to goat. What a swing of emotions that must have been!

The Boston fans continue to have hope, however, as they beat the Yankees by the same score, 9-6. On Thursday we will have Pedro Martinez vs. Roger Clemens for a trip to the World Series. Perhaps the Red Sox will keep the New York Times' dream alive and beat the Yankees . . .

I was keeping an eye on the Cubs Marlin game as we watched the Gilmore Girls (I have been married almost ten years Ok? One makes compromises), things seemed under control with the Cubs up 3 with a couple to go. Suddenly, the next time I click over it is 8-3 and Wrigly field sits in stunned silence. The Marlins scored 8 runs in the 8th inning to win 8-3. So we go to game seven. The other dream team lost tonight as well. Perhaps we will have just a normal run of the mill World Series this year after all . . . Of course Red Sox and Cubs fans still believe . . .

A chunk of baseball history disappeared yesterday as Cinergy field in Cincinnati was demolished:

Thirty-two years of Cincinnati history crumbled like a sand castle in 37 seconds Sunday morning, as a ring of detonations brought down Cinergy Field and two generations of sports memories.

Cinergy filed was the site of a lot of baseball history:

Riverfront Stadium, built for $44 million, opened in 1970 with Hank Aaron hitting a home run in the first game. In the All-Star game that summer, Rose gave the National League the win by bowling over Ray Fosse at home plate. That fall, the stadium hosted the World Series in which the Reds lost to the Baltimore Orioles. The Reds went on to win three World Series, including consecutive titles in 1975-76 with Rose, Tony Perez, Joe Morgan and Johnny Bench leading the Big Red Machine. In 1985, Rose passed Ty Cobb's record at the stadium to become baseball's career hits leader.

Heck, it was even home to the Bengals when they were winning (they reached the Super Bowl twice if you can believe it).

That's all over now:

Hamilton County, which owns the stadium, is paying the company $6 million to clear the rubble, a floodwall and the parking garage by Aug. 31. The site will become the western concourse of the Cincinnati Reds' new home, the $280 million Great American Ball Park, and will include the Reds' Hall of Fame, set to open in 2004.

The death of the Cleveland Indians continues: Phillies, Thome agree to six-year deal.

Soon the Indians will be unrecognizable from the team they were just a year or two ago. This reminds me of the complete destruction of the Chicago Bulls. One more reason I am losing my interest in baseball.

Eric Neel thinks I should still watch the World Series even though it is an all California series. To try and entice me he offers 10 things I like about this World Series.

Sorry, Eric I don't buy it and I ain't watching. I simply don't like baseball that much. I need to have some interest and some knowledge of the teams involved to watch. No offense to all the great bloggers out West but I am sticking with football this fall. Enjoy your interstate series.