Baseball thoughts

[yendi]

Wow. I've been a huge Mike Lowell fan for a while (he and Pujols kept my lame-ass Yahoo Fantasy Baseball team afloat this year), but it just doesn't get any more magical than what he did last night. And I've got to say, liking both teams in the NLCS means that I just want good games, regardless of who wins. And last night may bump game 6 of the 1986 NLCS out of the top spot in my "favorite playoff game" list. Yeah, it was that good.

Speaking of the Cubs, am I the only person who remembers that Bill Buckner ripped off his schtick from Leon Durham, who blew the 1984 team's playoff hopes by letting a grounder through his legs? Those BoSox never had an original thought, did they? ;-)

(And one thing even many Cubs fans forget is that Durham replaced Buckner at 1B for the Cubbies that year)

(And one thing everyone forgets is that Buckner was a great player, and one of the top defensive 1Bs of his time)

As for today's ALCS, I'm torn. I'm not a Yankee loyalist by any stretch of the imagination (being a Mets fan, of course). But I also have been conditioned to hate the Red Sox with a fervor normally only reserved for Illinois Nazis and Florida Republicans.

In the end, it doesn't matter. I'll be rooting for the NL team this year, regardless of the outcome.

I'm still working over my Mets season in review (the long version, as opposed to the Jay Sherman short version). Thoughts on that will be posted eventually.

Comments

[iresprite.livejournal.com]

May I ask what has conditioned you to hate the Red Sox?

Just curious if it's one of those idle loathings (we all have those) or if you signed onto a personal vendetta 'gainst them. ;)

[yendi]

Well, I grew up in NYC, and Bucky Dent's homer is one of my earliest baseball memories. And once I really started following baseball (in about 1980 or so), I became a Mets fan, so 1986 pretty much solidified my anti-BoSox sentiment.

[iresprite.livejournal.com]

That's fascinating. See, the Yankees fans probably don't think twice about the Sox (until they move to Boston and are in enemy territory- it can get ugly). The Sox fans are rabidly against the Yankees, but as far as I can see don't think twice about the Mets.

Heh.

*cheers for the Sox and then runs pell-mell*

[yendi]

Actually, most Yankee fans I know think about the Sox. But unless they're playing them, they think about them in same sense that some folks think about the poor handicapped guy sitting by the side of the road.

Mets fans don't really hate the Sox (again, unless we're playing them), but the 1986 comeback is one of the few highlights of the last twenty years for us. I still fondly remember all the USA Today articles about the old guy who said he'd lived to 90-whatever just so he could watch the BoSox win another series before he died. Funny enough, they failed to do any follow-up stories on him.

[willeonabe.livejournal.com]

I must say that I am looking forward to the ALCS. I'm looking forward to seeing the Curse continue. Boston got lucky with Oakland (hell Oakland did it with us 2 years ago).

I'm not too sure who to root for in the NLCS, although I'm leaning towards Florida because of Pudge. Pudge has deal with Texas for many years and now he's finally away from them and is further than he's ever been back in Texas, if I recall correctly.

[aussie-nyc.livejournal.com]

one of the top defensive 1Bs of his time

That time was past by 1986. That's why they had a defensive replacement in every other game they won.

[unwilly.livejournal.com]

I hate Illinos Nazis.

Mets:They Stink!

UN

[jerel.livejournal.com]

He's still on the Top 100 Sox hitters of all-time list. (And considering the team has celebrated its centennial, that's rather impressive.)

However, he's rabidly ignored or actively hated by most Sox fans. We're that way. We can carry a grudge. We're still mad at the manager who sold Babe Ruth, and that was in 1918. And we hate the Yankees 24/7 because we want someone to blame for the Curse. If they hadn't put up the money to buy the Babe, we wouldn't have this stupid Curse hanging over us. Irrational? Yes. But logic has never been a character trait of the most rabid Sox fans.

[yendi]

Logic's never been a character trait of any sports fan.

[bardiphouka.livejournal.com]

Having watched the Reds self destruct so well this year,the World Series has lost a bit of its appeal...which is something we have been getting used to,even with a team tied for 3rd place for the most winning team of World Series..past glories and all that.