Cursebusters, Inc.?

The Polo Grounds: A Calm Review of Baseball ^ | 22 September 2002 | Jeff Kallman

[BluesDuke]

As of this posting - the Angels and the Rangers are tied in Arlington (Troy Glaus went yard in the top of the seventh to tie it, 2-2)...but the Red Sox lost earlier to the White Sox, 7-2. Think the Angels are that anxious to keep it interesting? ;)

[BluesDuke]

For love of a little down-to-the-near-wire hair-raising pennant race baseball!

[hole_n_one]

Freakin' Angels failed to clinch a playoff berth again tonight!

They're really starting to try my patience!

[BluesDuke]

Apparently, the Angels are determined to keep it interesting. The Rangers took a 4-2 lead, the Angels made it 4-3 in the ninth (a hit, a steal, a taking of third on a wild pitch, and an RBI single pushed home Orlando Palmeiro with the third Anaheim run), before Francisco Cordero struck out David Eckstein swinging with a man on first and two out.

Only thing is, they're keeping it interesting for the Mariners. That Red Sox loss to the White Sox eliminates Boston from the postseason - they would have needed, it turns out, to win their last five while the Angels lose their last five in order to clinch at least a one-game wildcard slot playoff. For Boston it's wait till next year. (Or, if you're that cynical a fellow Red Sox fan, it's "This year is next year!")

For the Angels, they'd better win one fast, though Oakland seems to want to help them get to the postseason - the A's are leading the Mariners 2-0 in the fourth. The White Sox, interestingly, are 21-9 since 24 August. Gee. If they'd played like that all year, they might have given the Twins a run for it in the AL Central. What a shock.

[BluesDuke]

They've got to ease back on the stick and play what I've come to call this year Angel baseball. Play their game, don't let the opponent make them play the opponent's game. Just play Angelball and they're in.

[Charles Henrickson]

The Cardinals are the hottest team in baseball right now. Just swept the slumping D-backs (who have lost Gonzo for the year). The Cards have finally drawn even with the Snakes' won-loss record, but, by winning the season series, the Birds would now have the homefield advantage for their upcoming playoff series.

Albert Pujols, Edgar Renteria, and Scott Rolen could be first-team NL at their respective positions this year (not that Prince Albert would beat out Bonds for LF, but he could make the starting OF). Eli Marrero has been a super-sub, and Miguel Cairo may be the best pinch-hitter in the league. Most of all, the pitching has been amazing, the way unexpected guys (Benes, Simontacchi) have stepped up when their mates have gone down (to injury or even death!).

Cardinal Nation has lost, this season: starting pitcher Darryl Kile; broadcaster Jack Buck (the most beloved man in St. Louis); HOF outfielder Enos Slaughter; and '80s WS hero Darrel Porter.

Andy Benes, whom I thought I could hit this spring, has added the splitter and come back from the pitching graveyard. Jason Simontacchi has come from out of nowhere to give the starting staff a huge boost. Walt Jocketty has picked up for next-to-nothing, and Dave Duncan has revitalized, pitching retreads Chuck Finley, Rick White, and Jeff Fassero, all of whom have come through big-time. Jocketty stole--and today the Cardinals signed to a long-term deal--Scott Rolen, the best 3b in baseball, tremendously talented all-around (slugging, fielding, throwing, baserunning).

This has the makings of a storybook year for the Cardinals.

[hole_n_one]

This is not how a ball club wants to embark upon post season play.

They look absolutely anemic.

[BluesDuke]

This could be their storybook year, indeed. Especially since they've just done what some cynics thought could never be done - nailed down Scott Rolen to an eight-year deal. I wouldn't count them out until or unless the last out is recorded.

[BluesDuke]

This is not how a ball club wants to embark upon post season play.

They look absolutely anemic.

Which is precisely what happens when they try to play anyone's game except what I've come to call Angelball - the controlled aggressiveness, finding holes and using them, swinging down and through rather than trying to jerk, pitching against and not away from the opposing hitters, the kind of Stengelese approach of when you get an opening, push with all your might but don't overpush because you'll end up slamming the door around, through the wall, and back to smack you in the butt. That's what Scioscia has had them playing this season; that's how they sawed through the opposition in May and June and again between late August and the first half of September.

It's seemed to me the last week or so that they've been trying to shove the stick rather than control it. They keep doing that and they'll look anemic by default as they did in the Mariners series and these first two against Texas. Some clubs can push and yank so hard that they end up looking paralysed and the Angels seem to be one. They need the controlled aggressive game back - their game, not the Rangers' or the Mariners' game. The A's might do them the favour tonight and help keep them alive, but the Angels can't depend on everyone else's favours to get there: they've got to take their game back and play it to make it.

[hobbes1]

Baseball ?!?!?!?!?!?

There ain't no Baseball...Either there is a strike or, I'm a Mets fan.....lol.

[bootless]

Great stuff, Duke!

Yeah, maybe a little Zen baseball is in order. Embrace the curse, bend as the willow does...

(How about Livo, eh? That doubleplay to third from first was preternaturally vicious!)

[Bella_Bru]

Baseball ping!

[BluesDuke]

Well, since there is no strike...well, you do the math! ;) (Don't feel bad. The Mess - er, Mets - have been disappointing me for forty years, mostly...)

[BluesDuke]

Yeah, maybe a little Zen baseball is in order. Embrace the curse, bend as the willow does...

I'm reminded that the 1986 Red Sox made a point of denying the "Curse of the Bambino" stuff. And we know what happened then...

[X-Servative]

I've been an Angels fan for almost 30 years. I grew up wacthing Ryan, Tanana, Carew, Baylor, Boone, Jackson, Joyner, et al. They need to nail this down today, before Seattle comes to town. Go Halos!

[Billthedrill]

An update - the Angels lost and the M's beat the A's. Now, if that happens again today the M's go to Anaheim for a three-game series, of which the Angels only need to win one to go to the playoffs for the first time in 16 years...or, of course lose all three and I start to worry about the suicide rate in southern California...

1995, anyone?

The A's can't possibly choke this time, trust this M's fan on that - I have tickets to today's game at Safeco, and if you're talking about curses, that's one for sure. Kinda hope they don't clinch today in Texas, though - it's always nicer to clinch in front of your own long-suffering fans. Trust me on that one.

[Billthedrill]

Oops - sorry, I meant the ANGELS can't possibly choke this time. The gods of baseball can't be that cruel. I think. Uh...can they?

[BluesDuke]

The gods of baseball have been a lot more cruel than a last moment Angels collapse. (Just ask us Mets/Red Sox fans.) But I say again - the only way for the Angels to avoid the collapse is to quit trying to play the other guy's game and get back to playing Angelball. They can beat these guys: they've been pretty even with the Mariners all year, and you've got to account for a deeper-sinking team who didn't expect to sink but is playing for an awful lot of pride right now. The Angels can't let that get into their heads. Just play Angelball. It worked all season until last weekend in Seattle.

[BluesDuke]

The Angels finally clinched their postseason slot Thursday afternoon - a 10-5 whacking of the Texas Rangers.

[bootless]

I'm reminded that the 1986 Red Sox made a point of denying the "Curse of the Bambino" stuff. And we know what happened then...

My point exactly. Bend like the willow (or the ash, or the maple...).

Ya think that thing with the black garter with the pink rose in front for the pitchers might have helped them?