ONE. STRIKE. AWAY...twice

Well, I never.  I was at work on swing shift and didn't get to see game 6 tonight, but I heard about what happened.  I knew the Rangers were one strike away from winning the World Series in two different innings before coughing it up twice.  I knew they lost it on a lead-off walk-off homer in the 11th.  On the way home I was listening to the radio and there was some serious criticism of Ron Washington for not putting his best gloves in the outfield for the ninth inning.  He replaced Nelson Cruz later in the game anyway, so why not in the 9th?

Okay, I was able to piece together that Cruz had a hand (or maybe just the opposite) in the Rangers' crushing defeat, but I didn't know what that was.  After I got home I was able to watch some highlights.  Disbelief.

Nelson Cruz should have caught that ball on the warning track to win the World Series.  But he didn't.  He reminded me of Jose Canseco out there, the worst outfielder I've ever seen.

Big Dogs Home for LCS

The ALCS and NLCS are being played without the presence of the Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies, Giants, Braves and Rays.  All of the teams that are supposed to be there aren't.  It's also the first LCS since 2005 without an Eastern division team in either series.  Although this is generally welcome to me, the absence of my Giants is specifically troubling.

In any case, I'm reverting to rooting for the lesser of the remaining evils.  That means the Milwaukee Brewers are my choice to win it all.  If I had to pick a pecking order of the teams still in it, I would pick the Brewers first, then the Tigers, then Rangers and lastly the Cardinals.

The Phillies Ratcheting Decline

The Philadelphia Phillies have been experiencing a strange ratcheting decline the last four years.  They have fallen precisely one notch per year.  In 2008 they won the World Series.  In 2009 they lost the World Series.  In 2010 they lost the NLCS and in 2011 they lost the NLDS.

If this trend continues, in 2012 they will lose the division title.  Whether this means they will still make the playoffs as a wildcard or they will lose the division title in game 162 when Ryan Howard makes the final out again remains to be seen.  It stands to reason that if they make it as the wildcard, they will lose the NLDS again.  But the result would be the same as this year, so I'm thinking they would lose the division title on game 162.  If the trend continues, of course.

Philly fans are more than frustrated with this turn of events.  Seconds after the final out the other night, the fans booed their Phils for a disappointing season end.  Of course they're the fans who once booed Santa Claus.

Shutting Philly Up

This has nothing to do with the outcome this evening, but it is simply amazing just how quickly 46,000 raving lunatic fanatics wearing red can become mute.  The deafening roar changes to recording studio hush at the crack of an opponents bat like no other venue in sports.  I wonder why that is?

The raucous rooters in Philly were silenced tonight by the Cardinals' rally.  It reminded me of the Giants effect on the crowd last year in the 2010 NLCS.  The contrast is simply stunning.