What a difference a day makes.
The weather forecast for LBI today: rain. But around mid-morning, Emily and I realized there were shadows outside. The sun was out. And a couple of hours after that, the Mets started playing baseball. A whole lotta baseball.
Yes, a rainout is a gloomy thing, perfectly designed to make children (and some 37-year-olds) rail at the hostility of the cosmos. But lots of rainouts are followed by a decidedly ungloomy thing: a doubleheader. A whole day of ballgames. (OK, yeah, it's probably harder to win both ends of a doubleheader than it is to win two games in a row, making them a mixed blessing. Dude, don't be a bringdown.)
If you live at least vaguely near your team's hometown (or even far off, thanks to Extra Innings, MLB.com and XM), a doubleheader can become a pleasant companion for an entire day, following you from TV to portable radio to car radio to XM radio to laptop video to whatever you have. We caught the first few innings of Game 1 on the beach (portable radio that cost like $5 before some years-ago vacation), in the house (SNY) and then in the car (WFAN) on the way to pick up our friend Eddie in Long Branch. Game 2 tagged along with us on the car radio, on three overhead TVs at Barnicle Bill's in Rumson (some biiiiiiig houses in that town), and on the car radio again. With glad tidings all around.
Of course it's easy to enjoy having a doubleheader riding shotgun when the sun's shining, you win both games and your magic number drops into the single digits (with 8 a possibility pending the outcome of Houston/Philadelphia). But I'd like to imagine that it would have been a nice day even if we'd split or (perish the thought) dropped both games. Because this is the time of year when I start realizing that there's a lot more baseball behind us than there is ahead of us, and I begin to cling to what's left. I thought this year would be an exception, what with October back on the calendar and all, but it doesn't feel that way.
Ah well. The Nationals are eliminated. We cut the Braves' tragic number from 8 to 4. We've got pitching depth. Beltran is fine. Shawn Green looks like he's settling in. And the forecast? It's most definitely for sunny days.
Astros beat Phils….down to 8… It'll take a miracle, but I'm going to the game Sunday..possible clincher (yeah yeah, we have to sweep LA and Philly needs to lose to whomever its playing)
And no sooner do I think about it than it happens…Phillies lose, a magic number of 8.
Take it away, Greg!
I'll now think about a book deal and a winning lottery ticket….
No matter what the Mets do this weekend, no clinch Sunday. The Marlins and Phillies share a tragic number of 8 and are playing a 4-game set. If one loses, the other wins. Best case is they split and we succeed and even then it's down to just 2.
Just 2 on September 10.
and here i thought i was the only one lamenting on what little baseball there is left to play. guess that's the problem when you are a raised in a household where there are only two seasons. the baseball season, and the off season. and what a LONG off season it is :(
Speaking of Magic Numbers….the Goddamn Marlins just tossed their FOURTH franchise no-hitter. Count 'em Four. Zeroes. Annibal Sanchez, ladies and gentlemen. Yes, the one you've been hearing so much about. My fury is tempered by the fact that I recently added him to my Fantasy roster…but only a little. I blame Al Leiter.
Yeah, I'm getting sad at the thought of the off-season. Hopefully, a World Series title will keep us company during those long months….
You could feel worse, like the Red Sox who traded Sanchez and NL Batting leader Hanley Ramirez to the Marlins this past offseason.
-SJG
That is very true. Hanley is also on my Fantasy team, sharing the middle with Reyes. Not a bad pair, those two.
But hey, the Red Sox got Josh Beckett. That Yankee killer of bygone years…Haha! And you think Trachsel walked a lot of guys…
You'd be surprised how much shorter the winter is when it starts a month after everybody else's.