In life, there are few certainties. One universal truth is that whatever sports team a boy roots for at age eight, that man is rooting for that same team at 50 and beyond. It is in the genetic code that any male with a predisposition to sports myopia that his allegiance to his boyhood team is unchangeable, unquestioned, and genetically sealed to be passed on to his children. There have been tremendous advancements in gene research and I am sure they will identify that particular code on the double helix of the North American Male primate. But there is no geography, therapy or narcotics that can change this male imprinting ritual.
And in the City of the Angels it was the triple witching hour Saturday night. 82,765 watched their Trojans spank the Oregon Ducks. Eight miles up the 110 FWY, 56,000 of my closest friends and I were watching our Dodgers win a historic game in recent local sports history. And thirteen miles north at the Rose Bowl, 65,469 people were watching my Bruins win at home for the first time in over a month. And Los Angeles needs an NFL franchise because…???
The Yard was covering the Dodger game for our maniacal fan base. After careful review and input from marketing, a decision was made to go watch the Dodgers clinch their first playoff series since the championship team of 1988 rather than attend the battle for the cellar between the 1-4 Washington State Cougars and the 1-3 UCLA Bruins. Seeing the Bruins win a football game at home is going to be a dicey proposition the rest of the schedule so it was not an easy decision.
One Hundred Years of futility came alive in high definition in the second inning of game two of the Dodger-Cub Series in Chicago. It was the Billy Goat, Tinkers to Evers to Chance and Steve Bartman all rolled into an unfathomable melt down by the Cubs infield. In the span of four batters, 75% of the Chicago infield failed to make a play that could have stopped the bleeding. On most days, Cub’s starting pitcher Carlos Zambrano is already about two degrees away from a dugout fight with a teammate. As he watched his infield bumble his place in history, his demeanor morphed into Carlos the Angry and Diffident. Five runs later, the ghosts of 1060 W. Addison Street were singing “Take me out to the ball game” with Harry Caray. The beer soaked grimaces of 2nd City’s most loyal sports fans telegraphed the pain that would be felt throughout the region for at least another year and maybe a lifetime.
Saturday night, Dodger Stadium was electric. It was the first real playoff atmosphere since 1988. The Dodgers have never led a play off series since that amazing year. The Dodgers jumped on the Cubs in their first at bat and never looked back. The Cubs knew they were done on Thursday night. The outcome was decided in the 312 not the 213. There is no micro-brew on the planet that can wash this taste away. Chicago faithful, you all might consider going deep with the Jager bombs, deal with the inevitable intestinal surge, brush your teeth and get on to da’ Bears.
The last Dodger Championship team in 1988 was as highly discounted as this 2008 Team. The Dodgers were huge underdogs to the Mets in the NLCS and the Oakland A’s in the World Series in 1988. That Dodger team had some young bucks like Mike Marshall, Franklin Stubbs and Steve Sax who came of age with veterans like Kirk Gibson, Rick Dempsey and Mickey Hatcher. This year’s Dodger team has found similar chemistry with Kemp, Loney, Martin being mentored with Nomar, Officer Kent, and ManRam. This Dodger team seems to have that spirit, tenacity and luck to get to the World Series.
In addition the Dodger shed about 568 pounds of bloated bile when Sad Brad Penney and “Supersize Me” Andruw Jones cleared out their lockers and went off the reservation after being left off the playoff rosters. Other Dodger players who were left off the 25 man playoff roster are still there cheering on their compadres and everyone gets a playoff share regardless. Brad and Druw will be missed about as much as Athlete’s foot and their value to this year’s team are comparable to that same fungus.
Dodgers vs. Red Sox is still a possibility. Manny playing left field wearing the LA gray and blue with his #99 facing the green monster, there would not be a more compelling sports story this year anywhere and certainly not in the Yard. Root your favorite team but rally behind our Boys of Summer. This fall is going to be something special in Los Angeles.
Monday, October 6, 2008
The Anaheim Angels of Anaheim
The Los Angeles Angels of the 714 stumbled Wednesday night. The Yard would never gloat about a negative prognostication about a local team but these are not easy times and if gloating pays the rent so be it…http://tonyattheyard.blogspot.com/2008/09/patrons-of-yard.html. The Anaheim Angels of Orange County are playing like a team that won 100 games, won the division by 20+ games and has not played a meaningful baseball game since mid-June.
The Red Sox came in like grinders that bitch slapped the Yankees all year, battled the amazing Devil Rays, fought through injuries and traded their best hitter to the left coast in July. And despite the Yard’s well documented disdain for majority Red Sox owner John Henry, the Red Sox are the team that we want to see in the World Series against our beloved Azul. Manny in blue in Fenway will be one for the ages. The Yard would like to also clearly state that John Henry, Red Sox owner, is not John Henry, the famous gelding race horse. John Henry, Red Sox owner is a very successful gelding as well and his family has been walking upright for at least three generations by all accounts. No disrespect intended or potentially litigated.
On August 30th, the Los Angeles Dodgers of the 213, were 4 ½ games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks of the 602. 4 ½ games out with 25 to play is not insurmountable. Although, one might suggest that being 4 ½ games back, riding an eight game losing streak, and losing the first of three to the Snakes in the desert to fall this particular 4 ½ games behind might cause The Joe some intestinal discomfort. BTW: The Yard endorses Prilosec.
On this Phoenix Saturday night in August, with the roof closed, the AC on and the Jacuzzi in left field bubbling this game became the first real play off game of 2008. Diamondback #2 Ace Dan Haren is on the hill. If the Snakes win on this night, the Dodgers are 5 ½ games out with 24 to play. Suddenly Bruin Football is a reasonable diversion. The Yard can see The Joe playing cameos in Adam Sandler movies by mid-October. World Championships are shaped at moments like these.
Manny Ramirez has carried three different struggling teams into the playoffs during his career. The Indians had never sniffed the World Series in nearly 40 years before Manny arrived and have never since. The Red Sox had not won since 1918 before Manny, and have yet to win without him in the lineup. With his dreadlocks in left field, the Red Sox have won more championships than the Yankees in this century.
On that seminal Saturday night in Arizona, with the Dodger Season in the balance, Ned Colletti’s job on the line and Frank McCourt’s summer home in the Hampton’s hung up in the credit crunch, the Dreaded One went 4 for 5 with 2 home runs. Dodgers win 6-2 and go 18-7 in September to clinch the West.
So last night, with 42,099 tortured souls screaming, the Cubs up 2-0 and Rafael Furcal on 1st base, Cub pitcher Ryan Dempster is not going to give the “only” guy who can beat him anything to hit. Dempster knows about that Saturday night in the desert, he knows that there is a witch at the plate and he knows, you throw junk to a witch in October. He walked Rafael Furcal worrying about Manny. He has Manny 0-2 and then he walks the best two strike hitter in baseball. With the demons of Wrigley swirling, he loses his composure and walks Ethier.
With 100 years of futility writhing in the evening air and the bases loaded, a 24 year old first baseman Dodger named James Loney rips a two strike Grand Slam to win Game One. The Chicago faithful went from ecstasy to agony in a time span that can only be measured in laboratories. Manny had nothing and everything to do with that young Cub pitcher’s psyche and the sequence of pitches that created that moment that changed that game. Baseball is chess, not squash. John Henry, you do not want to see #99 in Fenway in two weeks. He hits the October balls like no other in history and he still has both of his. You might want to start looking for yours. And Artie Moreno, stay out of our area code, the Dodgers will always own Los Angeles and have no interest in Anaheim.
And while the beguiled from the bleachers threw Loney’s grand slam ball back on to the playing field, 100 years of torment leeched into the groundwater. The Yard
The Red Sox came in like grinders that bitch slapped the Yankees all year, battled the amazing Devil Rays, fought through injuries and traded their best hitter to the left coast in July. And despite the Yard’s well documented disdain for majority Red Sox owner John Henry, the Red Sox are the team that we want to see in the World Series against our beloved Azul. Manny in blue in Fenway will be one for the ages. The Yard would like to also clearly state that John Henry, Red Sox owner, is not John Henry, the famous gelding race horse. John Henry, Red Sox owner is a very successful gelding as well and his family has been walking upright for at least three generations by all accounts. No disrespect intended or potentially litigated.
On August 30th, the Los Angeles Dodgers of the 213, were 4 ½ games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks of the 602. 4 ½ games out with 25 to play is not insurmountable. Although, one might suggest that being 4 ½ games back, riding an eight game losing streak, and losing the first of three to the Snakes in the desert to fall this particular 4 ½ games behind might cause The Joe some intestinal discomfort. BTW: The Yard endorses Prilosec.
On this Phoenix Saturday night in August, with the roof closed, the AC on and the Jacuzzi in left field bubbling this game became the first real play off game of 2008. Diamondback #2 Ace Dan Haren is on the hill. If the Snakes win on this night, the Dodgers are 5 ½ games out with 24 to play. Suddenly Bruin Football is a reasonable diversion. The Yard can see The Joe playing cameos in Adam Sandler movies by mid-October. World Championships are shaped at moments like these.
Manny Ramirez has carried three different struggling teams into the playoffs during his career. The Indians had never sniffed the World Series in nearly 40 years before Manny arrived and have never since. The Red Sox had not won since 1918 before Manny, and have yet to win without him in the lineup. With his dreadlocks in left field, the Red Sox have won more championships than the Yankees in this century.
On that seminal Saturday night in Arizona, with the Dodger Season in the balance, Ned Colletti’s job on the line and Frank McCourt’s summer home in the Hampton’s hung up in the credit crunch, the Dreaded One went 4 for 5 with 2 home runs. Dodgers win 6-2 and go 18-7 in September to clinch the West.
So last night, with 42,099 tortured souls screaming, the Cubs up 2-0 and Rafael Furcal on 1st base, Cub pitcher Ryan Dempster is not going to give the “only” guy who can beat him anything to hit. Dempster knows about that Saturday night in the desert, he knows that there is a witch at the plate and he knows, you throw junk to a witch in October. He walked Rafael Furcal worrying about Manny. He has Manny 0-2 and then he walks the best two strike hitter in baseball. With the demons of Wrigley swirling, he loses his composure and walks Ethier.
With 100 years of futility writhing in the evening air and the bases loaded, a 24 year old first baseman Dodger named James Loney rips a two strike Grand Slam to win Game One. The Chicago faithful went from ecstasy to agony in a time span that can only be measured in laboratories. Manny had nothing and everything to do with that young Cub pitcher’s psyche and the sequence of pitches that created that moment that changed that game. Baseball is chess, not squash. John Henry, you do not want to see #99 in Fenway in two weeks. He hits the October balls like no other in history and he still has both of his. You might want to start looking for yours. And Artie Moreno, stay out of our area code, the Dodgers will always own Los Angeles and have no interest in Anaheim.
And while the beguiled from the bleachers threw Loney’s grand slam ball back on to the playing field, 100 years of torment leeched into the groundwater. The Yard
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