Remember when the Brewers had them beaten in the Wild Card game and then the Nationals got that 2-out home run in the 8th inning? I was rooting for the Nationals after that, because I had a bit of the magical thinking that allowed me to feel: That was supposed to be us.
I see Washington, D.C. is jubilant and as long as I'm thinking magically, I'm going to hope that this day of joy will infuse those horrible Congresspeople who are going to come out into the open and take a vote on the impeachment inquiry today.
Oh, but just writing that, I can see that the high feeling could take the form of jazzed up hatred and jubilating at conquest.
(I'll do a separate post about what exactly they're voting on.)
October 31, 2019
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After the horrible DC fans boo’d Trump, I was all for Houston.
@Althouse, thank you. I think I would have felt the same about the Brewers, had they won the Wild Card game.
@David Begley, the rudeness of the fans shouldn’t be held against the team, should it?
How are people who have been repeatedly vilified by the Great Pumpkin not justified in making their feelings about Trump known? It's not like Trump is pleasant towards anyone other than a narrow slice of his supporters, and even then it is purely transactional.
As ye sow, so shall ye reap.
It was a great series. Both teams are likable. The Nats also had part of Montreal rooting for the old Expos
You were rooting for the team that beat you because it was supposed to be you advancing?
The rhhardin comment practically writes itself.
Althouse said ...
horrible Congresspeople
Congress is doing its job. Trump's minders knew he had crossed a line, they are the ones who deleted some of his statements from the rough transcript, and they are the ones that tried to hide the quid pro quo. If even Trump's minders can see there is a problem then congress has a legitimate role to investigate. Legitimate, not horrible.
White House lawyer 'rushed to put Donald Trump's Ukraine call transcript on a classified server after Army colonel raised alarms about it'
Does nobody care about Bryce Harper's feelings?
@daskol, no.
OMG! It’s a cover up! He released the transcript, but still it’s a cover up, because they put the transcript someplace where it was harder to leak!
Really? That’s what you’ve got? That even though he released the transcript, it was a cover up because he didn’t leave it out there where the whistleblower could have gotten it to Schiff without a subpoena.
Sorry, keeping the Democrats from scoring an own goal by lying about what was in the call is not the job of Trump’s lawyers.
We can play tee ball all day ARM.
No, Ann, the Washington win is not a "That was supposed to be us" win. Rather, it's a metaphor for DC stomping of the real non-DC heart of America. Again and again . . .
There may be joy in the Belly of FedGov today, but there is no joy in Mudville.
"How are people who have been repeatedly vilified by the Great Pumpkin not justified in making their feelings about Trump known?“
It’s fine, it’s good to have a stadium full of rich white liberals expressing their disgust for half the country on tape. That’s why the tape was so widely distributed among the right, not because it was somehow dispiriting to Trump supporters. A good percentage of Trump’s power comes from the contempt that those doing extremely well in the Obama economy have for those who aren’t. The only place you ever saw Hillary stickers was wealthy suburbs, even in Vermont.
Democrats used to know about this stuff, now it’s all punching down.
The Expos finally win one!
I don't think the Brewers would have gotten past the Dodgers or Cardinals.
Frankly, I'm still upset they lost game 7 of the NLCS at home last year.
"It’s fine, it’s good to have a stadium full of rich white liberals expressing their disgust for half the country on tape."
I was thinking about the rich, white liberals last night when watching the celebration in the streets. The crowd in the streets was much more diverse and multicultural than the people in the stadium when the Series was in DC.
I guess that's what $800 for standing room gets you.
Also, how much did this series suck for the people who paid to be at the games? Everyone that paid a shitload to be at the stadium saw their team lose, and the only times they could be celebrating a win was after they had watched it for free on TV. HA!
The Nationals have in their possession a huge olive branch. They can attend, en masse, the requisite White House visit, smile with Trump, and show grace in an ungracious time. It would do much to heal the divide here.
My prediction is some will opt out, it will further broaden the divide, and an army of Nationals haters will be established. But I’m hoping I’m wrong.
I see the World Series ending as snow is falling/accumulating here and I can only think that it is far too late in the year for Baseball to be played, and no wonder I'm not paying attention.
I guess someone had to win. Why not the team in the Nation's Capitol?
Congrats to the Nationals!
I've only been half listening to the World Series, is it true that the home team lost every game in the Series?
Big Mike said...@David Begley, the rudeness of the fans shouldn’t be held against the team, should it?
Of course it should. The players are just hired guns, rich athletes selling their services to the highest bidder. The owners are billionaire businessmen who own teams for the ego stroke it gives them.
What you root for when you root for a team is the city and your relationship to it. When deciding who to love and who to hate, the fans are far more relevant than the players and/or management.
Home team lost every game. Strange. And exciting.
Don't the Bush clan like Houston?
Barf.
Congrats to the Nats!
Not a two-out home run. It was a single by Juan Soto.
MadisonMan said...I see the World Series ending as snow is falling/accumulating here and I can only think that it is far too late in the year for Baseball to be played, and no wonder I'm not paying attention.
One of my shouting at clouds moments relates to sports seasons.
Baseball: spring and summer
Football: fall
Basketball: winter
They should not overlap.
Basketball in May, baseball in nearly in November, football in February?
Ridiculous!
"as long as I'm thinking magically, I'm going to hope"
Of course, out in the real world, the Nats' win will only fuel their hatred.
As ye sow, so shall ye reap.
It's revealing no left wingers have been able to apply this principle to their own actions. It's almost like they have standards only for other people.
OK, next year: The Mariners!!! [nah]
The Nats played splendidly and are a likeable team. It's not their fault their fans are a bunch of haters.
Skylark said...
It’s fine, it’s good to have a stadium full of rich white liberals expressing their disgust for half the country on tape.
Transparent and unconvincing BS. Disdain for Trump is an edifice that can stand alone.
After watching the series; I'm now a proponent of an automated strike/ball system.
I can feel the Astros' pain, since my Oconomowoc Mocs Strat-O-Matic baseball team lost our best-of-seven playoff series and the visiting team won all seven games. Ironically, we were the best analog of the Nationals in our league, since we started horribly in April and were ten games under .500 at 7-17 before we started our comeback from last place and ended up with 92 wins. We were the never-say-die team down the stretch, but our offense went ice-cold in the last two playoff games at home. We didn't get the dice rolls, and we lost. Now we look to next season...
I rooted for the Nats because the Astros were caught cheating in last year's playoffs (recording cell phone video of opposing dugouts from next to the dugouts) and MLB did nothing about it.
After watching the series; I'm now a proponent of an automated strike/ball system.
As are we all. And if we can ban the DH, we will heal the nation!
Good series. The road team has never won all the games in any series.
Rendon is an excellent player. I hope the Nats are able to resign him. Bellinger and Yelich rightfully receives a lot of attention this year, but Rendon deserves some MVP consideration this year. Harper left and Rendon shined.
Great that he got to play and win the World Series in his hometown of Houston.
I just found out there's a team called The Washington Nationals.
Two fascinating aspects of the Nationals' win:
All the games of the series were won on the road by both teams- has that ever happened?
Finally, the Nationals win the year after they lose their star player to free agency. There is a certain cosmic justice in that, I guess.
In this day and age, you can automate the strike/ball decisions, and it should be done. What shouldn't be done is using it as a replay decision.
tim maguire said...
You were rooting for the team that beat you because it was supposed to be you advancing?
I always do that. If my team loses, I want to have lost to the ultimate champion, to know that we got beat by the best.
Height of the strike zone is tricky. Unlike the width, it’s not the same for every player.
Also, many players front foot does not land even with the front of the plate. And players adjust that from bat to bat or even within at bats.
Every team has detailed scouting reports on the umpires. The players know the umpires zones.
This is annoying armchair managing, but I was yelling this at the screen last night: pulling Greinke was a huge mistake. He was pitching beautifully and had a low pitch count.
"Height of the strike zone is tricky. Unlike the width, it’s not the same for every player."
The way it's being tested, they'll just calculate a strike zone based on height. Next they'll find that guys are carrying 80 pound packs on measurement day, compressing the joints and earning them a smaller strike zone for a whole year.
ll the games of the series were won on the road by both teams- has that ever happened?
Nope. Not just in baseball but it’s never happened in hockey or basketball.
"Finally, the Nationals win the year after they lose their star player to free agency. There is a certain cosmic justice in that, I guess."
The Nats general manager, Mike Rizzo, seems immune to fear of failure. He drafted Harper when it was thought imprudent to commit so much money to a high schooler. He let Harper go, knowing his young outfielders were as good. He drafted Rendon when Rendon was hobbled with foot injuries. Drafted a talented pitcher, Giolito, when he had arm issues, and then traded him for a needed outfielder. He had a couple fail spectacularly in the playoffs, but didn't get gun-shy and now he's on top.
Height of the strike zone is tricky. Unlike the width, it’s not the same for every player.
Perhaps, but a ball 4 inches off the plate, inside, and called strike 3 by an ump is a bit harder for the batter than an abnormal tall or short strike zone. Of course in this world series, we had plenty of called strikes at shin level, such as the called strike 1 during the same at bat. Then there was "its a ball if the pitcher or catcher walk off before the 3rd strike is called or its a strike if the batter starts walking to first before ball 4 is called" style of umpire during one of the earlier games.
Congrats, indeed! I would not have imagined the Nationals winning the Series; Houston is an excellent team. (This is why I do not wager.)
Also, I am attributing the loss to the "curse of Roberto Osuna". The Astro's front office seems to have some things to work out.
Daskol,
The Astros manager was in a bad spot with Greinke- sure, he had been basically unhittable until the 7th, but in the 7th not so much. I tend to agree with you- probably let him work his way out, but if the relief pitcher had gotten them out with the 2-1 lead, the decision would have looked better. The Astros just had lousy bullpens in all four losses.
Rendon and Eaton are great players. Having said that, I was cheering for a Houston series win after not caring which way it went at the outset.
“Transparent and unconvincing BS. Disdain for Trump is an edifice that can stand alone.”
You really have no idea how unattractive jeering and finger jabbing are. That’s fine. It wouldn’t be good if you guys were convinced. That’s why we can talk freely. You guys are blind and deaf to anything you don’t want to hear. Especially members of the white left like yourself, people who are interested only in partisan advantage and not in discovering truth.
The game is about moderates. If they don’t hate Trump already, the theatrics of a bunch of rich white liberal swamp dwellers is not going to win them over. It’s just going to win Trump sympathy. Just like it has been shown that unfairly smearing somebody as a Nazi increases that person’s support.
How are people who have been repeatedly vilified by the Great Pumpkin not justified in making their feelings about Trump known?
People spew crap about Trump ... including this very quote. Trump responds. ARM/Chuck calls that vilifying.
Was this a good look ARM?
https://twitter.com/RayGarciahawaii/status/1189374108569604096
Liberal gets kicked off of plane for harassing Trump supporter. Passengers cheer.
Martinez was in a similar spot, pitch-count wise, with Scherzer an inning earlier. It's more than just pitch count. Greinke got pulled after a walk which could well have been a strikeout if the ump had called the low, inside strike correctly. He had been cruising the entire game until that bumpy start of the 7th. I call it out because I like that the Astros do unconventional things like bat Springer first and play odds with matchups, etc. But I think they occasionally take it too far, and giving Greinke the hook to play matchups with a reliever should not become orthodoxy. Also, I've been a Greinke fan a long time, and was disappointed he didn't get a chance to pitch a complete game, which he seemed capable of.
Blogger daskol said...
This is annoying armchair managing, but I was yelling this at the screen last night: pulling Greinke was a huge mistake. He was pitching beautifully and had a low pitch count.
It was an obvious mistake, especially when he did the same thing with Urquidy in game 4 AND ADMITTED IT WAS A MISTAKE.
"Height of the strike zone is tricky. Unlike the width, it’s not the same for every player."
That called third strike on Correa was terrible, 4 inches inside. Especially surprising given the umpire sets up inside of the catcher and has a clear view.
To me, the more significant bad call by the ump was in Soto's at bat in the 7th. Greinke throws a perfect curve, right in the middle of the zone, gets called a ball. I think even Soto was surprised. This leads to walking Soto and Hinch pulling Greinke. If he gets that strike call and ends up getting Soto out, we may be talking about a different outcome.
Baseball is that way, though. Sometimes a small thing can have a big impact.
I agree with daskol about pulling Greinke. The only thing more irritating than a manager leaving in a pitcher who has walked three consecutive batters and given up 5 runs is one who pulls a pitcher who is pitching well. Leave well enough alone! Especially since Cole wasn't going in and the bull pen was pretty ragged. Not the first time I've questioned Hinch's decisions. Even so, I think the Nats are the better team this year and deserved the win [but not their fans].
Wow. So I'm a hater and don't deserve to celebrate. I didn't know that. Thanks for the love, mock.
Wow. So I'm a hater and don't deserve to celebrate. I didn't know that. Thanks for the love, mock.
You're welcome, Mark. Any time! ;-D
PS: Didn't you hear them loudly booing our President in game 5? Were you among them?
1986 Mets, won an unlikely victory 7th game, on my birthday, after I spent all day in a cop shop doing line-ups to try to identify the guy who assaulted me, with the defense attorney whispering sexual slurs in my ear and the felons masturbating and whispering unspeakable sex acts at the one-way glass.
Line-ups aren't the way the look on TV. I hope for my sins I end up in the same circle of hell with defense attorneys and insurance company CEOs and get my pound of flesh, over and over again for eternity if Dante turns out to be right about anything.
That day in 1986, I went home, watched the game -- Dwight, Darryl, Keith, Tim -- cried uncontrollably with a renewed sense of hope, and thought of how my grandfather, recovering from a stroke in Brooklyn in 1969, was saved by the Mets' win that night too. Also, eff the Dodgers for leaving.
My grandfather never walked or talked again, but he and I loved watching the Mets. I survived a lot of garbage in Florida, and many years later -- 2012 -- I got to spend a good bit of time one day poll watching in southeast Tampa in the projects with Dwight Gooden. I told him what that game in 1986 had meant to me and he cried. He has weirdly long arms and legs and a vanity plate, "DOC." The neighborhood kids swarmed him and he told them to not do drugs like he did. We sat in crappy folding chairs and laughed and groused about the Braves.
Baseball may be the last good thing in America. Let's not screw it up.
For the record ----
Ryan Zimmerman, the first baseman of the Nationals, played in the Nationals first season.
His first manager was Frank Robinson.
In the 1950s, Frank Robinson and Satchel Paige both played in all-star games.
Their careers overlapped, not by a little, but by a lot.
Another fun Nationals fact - the manager of the Nationals played Little League Ball a few miles from where I played Little League Ball, in the same decade. Well, that is a fun fact for me, not so much for anyone else.
I was going to watch the game, but real life was more interesting. One great thing about Baseball, is after more than a 120 years, many teams have fans - and sworn enemies - all over the USA. Yankees, Giants. Dodgers, Pirates, Red Sox, Cubs, Cardinals, Tigers, and Reds. But who cares about Houston and "The Nats"? So, I didn't get into this W/S much.
The games you see as a kid are the ones that affect you the most. I never forget Carelton Fisk hitting that home run in 1975, primary because it was the 1st time I was able to stay up that late. And Bucky Dent - I'll never forget that guy.
One of the guys over at "Powerline" went to the W/S series game when Trump was booed. According to him, the crowd was whiter than a Klan Rally. The ticket prices are out-of-site and you needed at least a six-figure income to get a nose bleed seat.
Its an interesting dynamic. White, liberal rich people, watching the rich diverse players, while the White proles and Working class People peek at the game 2nd hand on TV. Of course, the Super bowl in no different.
Didn't you hear them loudly booing our President in game 5? Were you among them?
That's beneath you. You're acting like those knuckleheads who point to a handful of idiots to smear conservatives everywhere as white supremacists.
The question I have heard asked is whether or not Hinch should have let Gerrit Cole pitch in relief in game 7, on two days' rest. Regardless, this was one of the best WS I've watched, and I didn't really have a dog in this fight.
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