Oct 20, 2012

The Last NL Game(s) of the Year: A Lament

As a baseball fan, I'm always a little down when the playoffs reach their interminable end. This means each day that there are less and less games to take in. How can I enjoy the four way split screen when there are only 1 or 2 games on.

That being said, it's both a blessing and a curse that one of the last teams standing is one of my local teams. A blessing in that the games are aired at times which I can catch them (and if I'm very, extremely lucky get tickets, but that won't happen this playoffs) and a curse in that I do not like the Giants at all and can't cheer for them. I had a soft spot in my heart for the Cardinals because I lived there during the rise of Albert Pujols.  

I can't like either team now because of the fact that they have combined to knock off the Phillies in the playoffs the last two years and gone on to win the World Series. I read somewhere that seppuku is the preferable cheering choice for the NLCS as a Phillies fan; I tend to agree.

Below are a couple scenes from an earlier time when Shane Victorino was still on the team playing in San Francisco.  I wish I were there to witness my favorite team donning red in NLCS game 6 this weekend.  One thing the Giants definitely did right was their stadium.  Besides the fact that it's freezing there all year around (always bring a winter hat and/or scarf), it has great sight lines, great food, and is intimate enough to rock during a playoff game.

Just call me the anti-Giants rock (unless they play the Mets or Braves or Nationals or Dodgers.....you get the idea).

Also, these could have been images of an alternate future, but it's too dark for that.  All playoff games start during the daytime here.  I'm thankful the hour doesn't fall back until November now.  This means more fun with shadows out in the ballpark.

Here is an alternate reality lineup for NLCS game 6 (if the Phillies weren't insanely mediocre this year).

SS Rollins
LF Pierre
2B Utley
1B Howard
C Ruiz
CF Mayberry
RF Brown
3B Frandsen
P Lee

I think I'm going to run a simulation against the Giants lineup just to make me feel better and then rig it until the Phillies win every time.....

Here's to playoff baseball....and the fading of yet another season.



No comments: