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Tom Strange
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:biglaugh:

I think Fox reeled Lou in, I saw him earlier this year and at that time he was telling a lot of insider stories that were interesting. but really didnt have much to do with the game....I guess Fox didnt like it... No Mas...he sounds lost now...

It will be good having him back where he belongs---I look forward to him ripping his first base out of the ground at Wrigley--then I'll know Lou is back

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Yeah,...would it have really killed the Cubs to wait a day or two to make the announcement?...Talk about a strange evening...The plug on my dryer electrical box got fried and needed fixin'....So I call my buddy to come over and look at it...But this isn't just any "buddy"...He had to bring his dog "Bubba" with him...Bubba is this huge Neopolitan Mastiff...If you're not familiar with them,they're sort of a cross between an elk and a rhinoserous,with a head about the size of a pumpkin...Naturally,my buddy and his friendly dog Bubba stay and watch Monday Night Football with me...

During the game,my buddy does about three times as much analyzing and story-telling as the MNF announcer and the two color commentators combined...That is,when he's not chastising Bubba for yawning or getting up to stretch,...and knocking over an end table or a refrigerator,or something...And every so often,during this strange Bears-Cardinals game,the bottom of the screen flashes that the Cubs signed Lou Piniella,and I'm trying to read it long enough so's I could at least figure out how to spell his name,but the phone will ring,...I tell my buddy to 'hold that thought',and it's one of my brothers or nephews calling, wondering if I'm watching the Bears game,and of course I tell them, 'no,I'm at a poetry reading you fool'...

And the game goes on,one of the strangest football games I've ever seen,and I finally have to show my buddy and Bubba the door,so I could field more phone calls from siblings and hear their keen insight into this strange Bears victory---all the while,wondering how I'm going to face my local Arizona friends this week,who will all somehow think it's my fault that the Cards totally out played the Bears,yet the Bears stole the victory away from them...Meanwhile,...I did manage to figure out how to spell "Piniella"....

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I don't have all the names right, but I just heard that one of the tv announcers working the playoffs was fired for saying something like "Piniella is habla espanol, and I'm still looking for my wallet"

I'm guessing they thought the guy was making a racist implication that spanish speaking people steal wallets, but you'd think SOMEONE would have been listening to the context.

A little earlier Lou had one of the funniest lines ever in reference to a weak hitter (who I don't recall right now) , having the game of his life on Friday, and expectations thereafter. Lou said it was like someone finding a wallet on Friday, and expecting to find another over the weekend.

When Lou said something in Spanish a little later, it prompted the other announcer to reference Lou's joke, which cost him his job.

really stupid world we live in.

I'm a little surprised Lou took the Cub's job. I was thinking George had him waiting in the wings to take over Torre's job after Joe's contract runs out next year.

Good luck to Lou-with that team he'll need it.

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Oh, come on Tom, admit it... this year's WS is nothing compared to the expectation that the Tejas stRangers will win it all in 2007, to perpetuate the role of Buck Showalter to build a team only someone else can lead to the WS championship!!!! :dance:

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I was driving around and somehow picked up WFAN from NY today I heard alot of heated talk about Pujols showing up Floyd last night in the 9th.

I was already asleep, but I guess Floyd grounded out to Pujols and Wainright covered the bag... but Pujols nonchalantly jogged to the base and made Floyd hobble up the line instead of just tossing it to the pitcher for the out.

pffft-maybe its just frustrated New Yorkers ...maybe it really was a dick move.

The WFAN callers are pleading for Maine to drill Pujols tonight.

(not sure waking that guy up any more would be a great idea for The Mets, though).

Im not watching all that closely but I think alot of teams could beat either of these two teams right now,

Jeff Weaver and Jeff Suppan?? Good Grief...

Im hoping that the Tigers arent losing their edge during the long layoff-They were playing at a championship level that for me was great to watch-- but a week is a long long time in baseball

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Oh, come on Tom, admit it... this year's WS is nothing compared to the expectation that the Tejas stRangers will win it all in 2007, to perpetuate the role of Buck Showalter to build a team only someone else can lead to the WS championship!!!! :dance:

I know Rocky... we're picking out our seats now!

It's going to seven folks... and I agree, neither one of these teams seems scary... well, Pujols seems scary and Beltran seems scary.. is that enough?

I watched last night starman and I didn't think that Pujols was showing him up... I just thought he figured he could make the play on his own...

sheesh... new yawkers!

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Yeah, it just ain't in Pujols' approach to the game to do that to Floyd... Phat Albert's too good to need to get an edge by toying with the opponent.

Now, I believe it was Maine who did make Pujols look foolish by getting him to strike out, swinging at, and missing, pitches that were entirely nowhere near the strike zone.

And I suspect Leyland has devised ways to keep his team from losing it's edge despite the extended rest.... we'll see.

I know Rocky... we're picking out our seats now!

Oh, pahleeze... I hope you're not doing that in public! :biglaugh:

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This is as good a time as any to do my armchair-no-skin-off-my-back-20-20-hindsight-why-can't-everybody-be-just-as-smart-as me-managing...I had wondered if Willie Randolph was going to have Clifford Floyd bunt with two on and nobody out...Even though Floyd is probably a bad bunter,they say you play for the tie at home and for the win on the road...I can't say I really blame Randolph for having Floyd swing away...I mean it's cold,rainy,the seventh game,ninth inning---let's win this damn thing or go home...I would have liked to have seen Floyd make Randolph look a little better...His first swing,on what looked like a good,driveable pitch,was horrible...It was one of those 'I want to end the game with one pitch and be the hero' kind of swings...He never got a good pitch to hit after that...In fact,that's the first time,I think,I saw two good hitters look at strike three in the 9th inning of the 7th game of a series.....What a nasty curveball...

You gotta hand it to LaRussa and the Cards...They backed into the playoffs and managed to push the right buttons and get the good pitching and the key hits---and here they are in the World Series...Tigers and Cards---Just like in,what was it,'68?...Tigers in six(sorry,Bill)...

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Simon says (said): Tigers in 6. :doh: Like, who's favored anyway?

But ya gotta figure LaRussa's gonna do his part to make it exciting.

It was almost a no brainer for Tony to have Belliard squeeze in the 2nd, but it still looked like the Mets were caught by surprise.

So, no one else has HD and saw Pujols with his cold sores, eh? oh well. :unsure:

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t...In fact,that's the first time,I think,I saw two good hitters look at strike three in the 9th inning of the 7th game of a series.....What a nasty curveball...

You gotta hand it to LaRussa and the Cards...They backed into the playoffs and managed to push the right buttons and get the good pitching and the key hits---and here they are in the World Series...Tigers and Cards---Just like in,what was it,'68?...Tigers in six(sorry,Bill)...

Well, I'm hoping they make it to a game six. The six in a row they lost to the White Sox/Tigers early in the season doesn't bode well. But you were right about Weaver, he looked a lot better in the playoffs. And Suppan was solid. If Carpenter can pull it together ... with Rolen looking a little healthier, and if Pujols can turn it on ... a lot of ifs ...

Cardinals seem to be best with their back right up against the wall. They snoozed a couple times this season till they almost blew their first place lead, then picked it up. Then tonight they almost gave up their 9th inning lead, making it close before closing it out. It seems to be a theme.

Good observation on those strikouts, that was pretty awesome to see Beltran look at strike 3 with the ducks on the pond to end the Mets season.

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You'd think Pujols would have heard of Blistex...The more I think about it,the more I wonder if I didn't jump the gun in picking the Tigers...LaRussa and Leyland are great friends,both have rings,and I'm sure either would love nothing more than to beat the other guy...I think the series will feature a lot of chess-playing between the managers---almost moreso than what actually goes on on the field...You have a lot of good players---Detroit's pitching and Albert Pujols,of course,...but nothing like the Bronx Bombers or a Randy Johnson or a Schilling or even a Mickey Lolich or a Bob Gibson to dominate the series...Just two good teams that are well managed...it should be good fundamental baseball....

If it's a real close series,which I believe it will be,I think Stlo will be a little cooler under pressure---less prone to miss a three-foot putt,if you will...I thought about that last strike that Beltran of the Mets looked at to end the NLCS...Joe Morgan would have called that a 'hanging curveball' that was left out over the plate..I think most any other time of the year,Beltran's looking for that pitch on a two-strike count and either fouls it off or tattoos it into the bleachers...For some reason,he just let it go by...

I'm thinking that the Cards may steal this series...If they do,I'll delete my last post....If they don't,I'll delete this one...Fair enough? :biglaugh: ...

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Well, Simonosis, if Yadier's bat remains hot, you could be on to something.

However, I'm reminded of the emphatic comments Hall-of-Fame 2nd baseman, turned ESPN sportscaster Joe Morgan said about the Yankers. I believe it was something like that Detroit's pitching would not be able to shut down the potent Yankee offense, so they need to focus on just "containing" them (what ever that means). However, Detroit did in fact shut down Torre's boys, unambiguously!

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In the playoffs, to once again quote Yogi, you don't know nothing.

Kenny Rogers is not suddenly Roger Clemens, but he sure looks likes it right now.

Huge hitters like Frank Thomas, to of course, everyone's favorite Arod ,tank.

'Little' guys suddenly get key hits, whole games hinge on a speared line drive, or unexpected strike out.

predicting baseball seems to be especially improbable compared to other sports. The clear favorites in football of basketball usually win, but baseball is dependant on a pitcher having a good day-or throwing the right pitch at the right time, and even the greatest hitters fail 7 out of 10 times.

I like this matchup-2 'classic' teams, that by the way had horrible records in their last 50 games.

Being an American Leaguer by nature, I'm rooting for the Tigers, but I'm just going to enjoy the games whoever wins.

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like this matchup-2 'classic' teams, that by the way had horrible records in their last 50 games.
Well me too,

After not paying that close of attention to things after the Sox dropped out of contention, i was fairly amazed to read today that the Cards won 83 games during the season.

83?

Of course im watching and hoping for a great series, and the tension and excitement that only a World Series can generate. Not to take anything away from the Cards but something doesnt seem right when a team just barely over .500 could be crowned world champions.

.........................

a Mickey Lolich or a Bob Gibson to dominate the series

:)

Holy ship--That was a great series, and agreat 7th game when they faced each other.....I must be getting old when the teams havent met for 38 years..... and I remember it

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Not to take anything away from the Cards but something doesnt seem right when a team just barely over .500 could be crowned world champions.
Yeah, they were in the right division ... even then they tried to give it away, but the Reds folded faster than the Cards were folding ... and the stro's puked it up after a nice 9 in a row run. But hey, all the Padres or Mets had to do was take care of bidness ... but they weren't up to the task. That's why they play the games ... :)
I must be getting old when the teams havent met for 38 years.....and I remember it
I vaguely remember one game in the old Cardinal stadium ... I mean the old old stadium .. Sportsman's Park. I think it was the '64 team .. I still remember all those names.

8444.jpg

Sportsman Park 11x14 B&W photo former home of the St. Louis Cardinals till 1967. Autographed by the following Cardinals legends: O. Cepeda, Washburn, Marion, H. Walker, Brecheen, Slaughter, McDaniel, Kline, Virdon, and more.

You can but that for $450 :) I don't remember those names though ... I remember Brock, Flood, Shannon, McCarver, Javier, Maxville, Cepeda? or was it Bill White? Boyer Gibson Carlton .... I guess that's all I recall ...

Edited by rhino
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Speaking of the gashouse gang ... Dizzy and Paul Dean ... but they called Paul Daffy ...LOL, now those were fun times I bet ... Dizzy and Daffy ...

In the 1934 World Series, the Cards and Tigers split the first two games in Detroit, and Detroit took two of the next three in St. Louis. St. Louis proceeded to win the next two, including an 11-0 embarrassment of the Tigers in Detroit to win the Series. The stars for the Cards were Joe Medwick, who had a .379 batting average with one of St. Louis' two home runs and a series-high five RBI, and the Dean Brothers, Dizzy and Paul, who combined for all four of the teams wins with 28 strikeouts and a miniscule 1.43 earned run average.

that's from wikipedia

My Mom remembers those guys ... they should do a little ESPN spot on that series ...

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They probably will-I am fully expecting to see videos of Gibson, Lolich, McLain, Brock and all the others from 68 during this series and given MacCarver is in the booth and he was catching Gibson- he may go off from time to time. If I were a bettin man Id say theyd have vids of Gibsons game 1--(is that the game he struck out about 17?) tonight and play up the rematch stuff.

Thankfuly I doint remeber '34, but I talked to my Dad today and he does. He was a big Dizzy Dean fan.

He has newspaper clippings that he saved from that era. One of the favorites that I remember was about a game where Dean got struck in the head. The headline was

" Doctors XRay Dizzy's Head--Find Nothing"

Edited by mstar1
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Bill,don't forget to thank your northern neighbors for that famous(or infamous,if your a Cubbie-fan) Ernie Broglio for Lou Brock trade...That trade actually didn't look too bad on paper....It was early in '64,Cubs were 82-80 the year before and their pitching staff was struggling...Their hitting was good,with Banks in his prime,Santo,Williams and Cowan as rising stars...Kenny Hubbs,who was poised for stardom at second base got killed in an off season plane crash at age 22...Dick Ellsworth decided to lose 20 instead of winning 20 like he did the year before...

Cubs needed a pitcher to contend---and got sore armed Ernie Broglio,who gave them a 4-7 season before fading into the baseball abyss...And of course,Lube Rock(how I thought his name was spelled back then) went from being a .260 hitter with no power to being a .348 hitter with the Cards---and 12 homers and lots of stolen bases to boot...It's as if Brock traded in his Cub uniform for a blue cape with the letter "S" on the front...And of course,Brock led the Cards to the World championship in '64...

I have have to agree with hiway's assessment....Should be a good series...

BTW,mstar,thanks for that video of Piniella...It was hysterical...

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