Tag: Baseball

Monday

Two thoughts on baseball. First, the Dodgers won the National League Pennant. Better the Dodgers (who aren’t from New York but used to be) than the Mets (who actually are from New York). When I was a kid there was a stretch of time where the World Series was the fucking Yankees vs the Dodgers over and over again. I just googled it and it was really only twice, 1978 and 1981. They met in 1977 too but that was before I started following the game. Whatever, it feels like the two teams have met in the World Series 10000 times.

Suffice to say that I am totally rooting for the Dodgers even though I really, really hate them. As much as I hate them, I don’t hate them nearly as much as I hate the fucking Yankees. There is no team in the sporting universe that I hate as much as I hate the fucking Yankees. My big question though is why the hell is Major League baseball waiting until Friday to start the series? The match up was set on Sunday and we’re not playing a game until Friday? Is the goal to make sure all of America forgets about baseball completely? Friday? Really?

Super subject change. It is October 21st. Early voting in Massachusetts started two days ago, on October 19th. I have not voted yet. I am hoping to get to it tomorrow (Tuesday). If not it will probably Thursday, or maybe over the weekend. If you live in Massachusetts, maybe you’ll join me in voting early. It’s fun and it takes some of the pressure off, even if the pressure doesn’t really exist and is only in your (my) head due to the whole fascist threat to democracy thing.

Vote.

Vote Blue.

Vote for Harris.

Sometimes Sports Make Me Sad

Last night was a crappy night for me being a sports fan.

The Bruins played their first ever game against the Utah Hockey Club. The team formerly known as the Phoenix Coyotes. They lost 2-1 in overtime. That made me sad.

Worse, the fucking Yankees won the American League pennant last night. Thanks for nothing, Cleveland. Now, with the National League pennant still undecided, we are left with a choice for the World Series. Yankees vs Mets or Yankees vs Dodgers… again. Could there be a worse scenario?

Yippee.

New York Blues

I love me some major league baseball, especially during the playoffs.

Unfortunately, there are major league baseball teams in New York and, as a Boston fan, New York sucks ass.

This year is kinda hell for me. In the American League Championship series we have Cleveland (good) vs the fucking New York Yankees. The one team I hate more than all other sports teams that I hate combined.

Over in the National League Championship series we have a double kick in the New York hating nuts. The Mets, the other current New York team that I hate with a burning passion, and the Dodgers, a team that isn’t from New York but used to be.

There are four teams left. Two are from New York, one used to be from New York, and the other is Cleveland.

Lets go… (sigh of frustration) Cleveland.

Game Day

Today is a big day.

The Royals beat the Yankees last night. How cool is that? The Padres beat the Dodgers the night before last. Also cool. All four MLB Division round series are tied at one game apiece. That is excellent. More games for everyone! Fantastic!

All of those things are good, but none of them are the reason for his little post. Nope.

This post is about hockey, my friends. The NHL season kicks off tonight! Huzzah! It’s opening night for the Boston Bruins! The Bruins are saying that Jeremy Swayman might actually start tonight. That seems unlikely to me given that he’s missed all of training camp and has had all of one practice with the team. The article mentions that he’s been training with Boston University… which is nice… but that hardly equates to an NHL camp. I think maybe we should give him a few days, don’t you?

Now there is also the possibility that the game won’t be played. Big chunks of Florida are still digging out from Hurricane Helene, and they are about to receive the second half of what could be a catastrophic one-two-punch when Hurricane Milton (category 5) hits. Last I heard the expected landfall was tomorrow and that the Miami area would be mostly missed. Is that true? I know the Tampa Bay Lightning canceled a pre-season game last night due to the impending storm, but that was pre-season on the other end of the state. We’ll have to see how things unfold today. I would be surprised if they play the game tonight, but Florida is kind of a fascist nightmare so they (meaning the government and the people who voted for the government) really don’t seem to give a shit about things like human life and public safety so maybe they will play. I don’t know. I love going to Disney World in Florida, but outside of that little chunk of the state I am pretty much grossed out by the place.

Whatever happens down in the Miami area (stay safe, everyone. Hang in there), today is NHL opening day. Let’s celebrate! Happy Game Day! Bring on the 2024/25 season!

Go Bruins!

The Mets Didn’t Lose

While I am very happy that the Padres advanced out of the wild card round of the MLB playoffs, I am also pretty bummed that the Mets also managed to advance. Oh well. I hate New York. What’s a Bostonian to do?

I’m not doing real picks posts for the MLB playoffs, but I am going to write down which team I am rooting for in each series, even though I hate every team that isn’t named the Red Sox. Sucks to be us… again.

Anyway.

Cleveland and Detroit? Ugh. I hate them both. I guess I’ll root for Cleveland. I guess.

Royals and Yankees. Do I even have to state it publicly? I hate the Yankees more than I hate anything in the entire universe, known or unknown. Fucking Yankees.

Mets and Phillies. See above, and the last post from last night. Also, the Phillies was the first youth baseball team I played for, back when I was eight years old and hadn’t learned just how much life can suck for a Boston baseball fan (that was 1979 and the 2004 Red Sox were a long, long way off still). So I am rooting for the Phillies, even though I kinda hate them.

Padres and Dodgers. We all know the Dodgers are going to win, but I am backing the Padres because someday I want to move to San Diego, aka paradise on Earth, and when (not if, when) I do I will be a season ticket holder for the Padres and watch MLB games in a stadium where someone who stands six feet four inches tall can actually fit in the seats, unlike Fenway Park which was designed for people who stand five foot eight inches tall, max.

Really, after all of this, the important thing to note here is that the opening game for the Boston Bruins is next week. October 8th. Of course, Jeremy Swayman will likely still be unsigned and the Bruins will effectively be tanking as a result so it’s going to suck, but at least it’s a Boston team and I can be the homer that I excel at being.

I Want the Mets to Lose

I am from Boston. All New York sports teams are offensive to me. They burn my soul.

Yesterday I wrote a post listing off which teams I hate the most in each Wild Card round match up. Amazingly, the team in each series that I hate the most has lost in three of the four series. The only one left is the only series that didn’t end in a sweep. The Brewers and the Mets are playing game three right now. It’s scoreless in the third.

I hate the Mets. I probably don’t hate them as much as I hate the Yankees but I don’t hate anyone or anything in the universe as much as I hate the Yankees. The Montreal Canadians are close, but the Yankees are the root of all evil.

What was I talking about? Oh yeah, the Brewers and the Mets. I hate the Mets. I don’t hate the Brewers. In fact, I have been to a Brewers home game. It was September 5, 2007. Jen and I had been dating for a few months and we were out in Wisconsin visiting Mike and Tammy and their baby daughter who is now a high school senior.

375

All the more reason to root against the friggin’ Mets.

Oh yeah, did I mention the Padres won their series yesterday? Bring on the Dodgers and the inevitable slaughter.

443

MLB Post Season

I suppose it’s time for me to acknowledge the fact that the Red Sox season has come to an end. My father and I talked about it in depth before the season started. We both expected them to have another catastrophic last place in the division finish with piles and piles of gruesome losses. We didn’t get that, which was nice. We also didn’t get into the wildcard race, though we were on the bubble for much of the season.

No, they finished at .500 on the nose. 81 wins and 81 losses. Not even remotely good, but a third place finish in the American League East feels pretty fantastic when we expected to be solidly in fifth place when all was said and done. Of course the fucking Yankees finishing in first place took whatever happiness we may have felt at not sucking as bad as expected and flushed it right down the toilet. Fucking Yankees.

On to the playoffs and the best of three wild card round. I am not going to make any predictions. I am more trying to decide which teams to root for now that my Red Sox are out of it. I hate the Astros more than I hate the Tigers, I hate the Orioles more than I hate the Royals. Hell, there once was a time when I considered myself a Royals fan. I don’t really hate the Brewers but I loathe the friggin Mets (great, the Yankees and the Mets both made the post season. Fucking New York). Atlanta and San Diego… I am supposed to like Atlanta because the Braves franchise originated in Boston and therefore Red Sox fans are expected to root for the Braves in the NL. Not me. They’re fine and all, but if there were a National League team that I would want to back it would probably be the San Diego Padres. Why? Because if I had to move to any city in the United States that isn’t Boston, Massachusetts, it would absolutely be San Diego, California and you bet your sweet ass I would get Padres season tickets. Mostly because Red Sox season tickets cost a literal fortune and Padres season tickets do not. Also, I’ve been to their stadium and it was wonderful. Fenway Park is a magical place. Unfortunately it’s also a pit that was designed when the average human being was a ton shorter than I am. I was actually able to sit comfortably on my one visit to Petco Park. As a (former) Fenway regular, that was unbelievably amazing to me.

So I guess in the Wild Card round I am a Padres fan this year. They won the first game of their three game series last night. Game two is tonight at 8:38pm Eastern time. Here’s hoping for a sweep, folks. A Wild Card round win would match the Padres up with the Los Angeles Dodgers who will undoubtably nuke them back to the stone age (baseball-ily speaking) and send them home for the winter. Oh well. If that happens then I guess I will just root for whoever is playing against the Yankees. The fucking Yankees.

Pete Rose

Yes, I am sad that Pete Rose passed away. He was a legend and he was a great. I first remember him when he played in the 1980 World Series with the Phillies. When I was 11-12 years old I played on a Little League team called the Reds, and Rose earned his legendary status playing for the Cincinnati Reds. All of that. More hits than any player in history. Legend.

He also bet on baseball games. He claims he never threw a game and he only bet on his own team. He was banned from Major League Baseball for life and good riddance. He always came off to me as if he were an insufferable prick and I had no problem with the ban. No Hall of Fame for Charlie Hustle, even though he does hold the MLB record for hits.

Now that he’s passed, and it is sad that he’s passed for sure, the conversation is going to happen again. Should his ban be lifted and should he be allowed into the Hall of Fame.

I say no. As long as Shoeless Joe Jackson remains banned for betting on baseball, specifically as a member of the 1919 Chicago Black Sox team that threw the World Series (against the Cincinnati Reds, of course) then Pete Rose remains banned too. Rose was a brilliant player but by all accounts he wasn’t even close to as good as Jackson (who was a .400 hitter one season). Who knows what Joe could have accomplished if he’d been allowed to play out his full career. There is also very little evidence of him actually participating in rigging games. Hell, he had a great series in 1919 when his co-conspirators were clearly tanking.

If they lift the ban on Joe Jackson then we can talk about lifting the ban on Pete Rose. Before then? I don’t give a shit what anyone says about Rose. If Jackson remains out then Rose remains out. That’s how it needs to be.

I have spoken.

Day Game

The Red Sox and the Astros are playing a day game today. The Sox are up 3-1 in the eighth inning. I’m just watching the game with my dad.

It would be better if we weren’t in a hospital room, but I’ll take what I can get.

Errands Day

Just running errands and doing chores today. Keeping busy over all. I really wanted to take the cameras out for a walk this morning, but the weather was awful. The light was the worst ever. So disheartening. Oh well.

After a couple of days of weirdness, my stomach has been a team player today. No issues at all. I’m proud of the little surgically altered guy. It did not wake me up last night, which was nice of it. My legs are another story though. Twice overnight I woke up with bad leg cramps. It’s always something when you’re an old fart like me. All I want is to sleep and my own body is stopping me from doing it. What a jerk I am to myself.

Before I get back to the housework, I think I am going to finally put in a vacation request at work for our staycation in September and our next trip back to Disney World in January. I think it’s time, don’t you? There. I just did it. Hopefully my boss doesn’t have a heart attack when he sees two week long vacation requests at once. They are spread out. It’s okay. I’ll wait a while before I put in for the second planned Disney trip. That’s a full year away.

The Red Sox winning streak ended last night. They played Cincinnati, who are pretty terrible this year, and lost. It made me sad. Here’s hoping for vengeance in today’s game. I want to win by 90, at least.

Okay. Back to work, red head.