Infield Chatter

[Scott]

Quick! Someone get me a beer to cry over!

[The Doc]

Missed the game - about to check out the highlights, but it sounds like a very out of character thrashing.  Dodgy sending off couldn't have helped but AIUI you were already 2 down, Any thoughts on what happened?

[Scott]

I haven't seen it yet either.  I recorded it on DVR, so I'll have a look sometime over the next day or two.

[tgraham]

Glad you are having a fun time and enjoying your trip. what's the local beer where you are?

The hotel bar had no nascar beers, a first for me. Their short selection had Cafferty's which I liked very much, Stella, and Grolsch (the latter two we have over here).
Back home now, with a euro-cold, but on the whole a great trip.
Cant wait to go next year and take some time to see more than the hotel and motorway, and of course the gatwick Hilton.
Only downside being that with the crappy exchange rate, the duty-free was actually more expensive than getting it over here.

[sarah]

Cubs win!  Cubs win!!

~s

[tgraham]

Mmmmmm, sweat flavored.

[Sebastian Knight]

Cubs lose! Cubs lose!
(mutter, mutter, grumble, curse)

[The Doc]

I have looked at the standings on th Cubs website, and I'm afraid I dont understand it at all.  How many points do you get for a win, and how many more games are there???

[Sebastian Knight]

The Cubs were just eliminated.  Not sure what you were looking at, at what point, so here's the basic rundown of how baseball standings work.

During the Season:
Each team plays 162 games over the course of the season.  There are no tie games in baseball, so everybody ends up with a combination of wins and losses.  Each team is in a division with about 6 teams, and there are 3 divisions in each league.   The team with the best record in each division advances to the playoffs.  In addition, a fourth playoff spot is given to the team with the best record who isn't already qualified, called the Wild Card spot. 

This year, things were unusually tight in the National League (the Cubs' league).  There were close races to win the division in every division and also a close fight for the wild card.  If you looked at standings in the weeks leading up to the playoffs, you would have seen teams with a number of "games back" listed.  This is how many games it would take for the team to catch up to the leader if the leader lost every time and the other team won every time.  For example, if the leading team has a record of 88 wins and 70 losses, and the team behind them has 86 wins and 72 losses, the other team is "2 games back" since with 2 losses by the first team and 2 wins by the second team, they would both be at 88 and 72 and tied.  The "games back" is therefore (# of wins separating + # of losses separating)/2.  Because not all teams have played exactly the same number of games on a certain day, it can be something like "1 1/2 games back".  Once a team is more games back than there are games left, they are mathematically eliminated.   

In the Playoffs:
The four teams advancing to the playoffs in each league do a best-of-five series. Whoever wins 3 games first goes on to the next round.  The Cubs just lost 3 straight to be eliminated.  The two surviving teams from the league play a League Championship Series, which is a best of 7 series.  The winners from the National League and the American League play each other in another best of 7 called the World Series.
 

[Kcowboy Kcurtis]

My sympathies to the Cubs fans out there. As a lifetime Red Sox fan, I am all too familiar with hopes being crushed, and at times cruelly.
You, too, deserve a measure of redemption.

The Sox are looking good, but it'll be a shame if the Yankees tank. There are few clashes in sport as compelling as Sox/Yankees in October.

[tgraham]

Sorry Kcowboy,
Nothing short of a first round sweep and Roger "Its not about the money, I just want to be with my family" Clemens crying on the bench will make me happy.   Not that I'm bitter about Roger going back to NYC or anything.
I hate the yankees about as much as I hated the Braves in the 80s and 90s, and Danny Ainge when he was playing.
In other words, about as much as Saz hates the Astros.

I was truly sorry to see the Cubbies go. I guess now its Go Sawx!!!!

[Michael]

While I'm a Sox (Chicago) fan, I was pulling for the Cubs--the rivalry never interested me.  (OK, I'm not heartbroken, but I WAS pulling for them.)

At this point, the Boston Sox, I suppose, but I don't care.

[Kcowboy Kcurtis]

Sorry Kcowboy,
Nothing short of a first round sweep and Roger "Its not about the money, I just want to be with my family" Clemens crying on the bench will make me happy.   Not that I'm bitter about Roger going back to NYC or anything.
I hate the yankees about as much as I hated the Braves in the 80s and 90s, and Danny Ainge when he was playing.
In other words, about as much as Saz hates the Astros.

I was truly sorry to see the Cubbies go. I guess now its Go Sawx!!!!

I hate the Yankees more than any other sports franchise except the Oakland Raiders. But I want US to be the ones to beat them. Can't get real interested in the Sox playing, say, the Indians then the Diamondbacks.

I'm not a baseball fan. I'm a Red Sox fan.

Oh, and Danny Ainge ruled. Or, at least, he was no Bill Lambeer.

[tgraham]

Oh, and Danny Ainge ruled. Or, at least, he was no Bill Lambeer.

No, Ainge was merely fortunate enough to play alongside the most amazing being ever to grace a basketball court. I hated the Celtics during the Bird years, mostly because they beat the Rockets so frequently, but the hick from French Lick was amazing to watch. Never as exciting or flash as Magic or Jordan. His ability to raise the game of those around him was amazing. McHale, Parrish, DJ and Ainge were good players. With Bird added to the mix they were each great players and the team was phenomenal.

[sarah]

A http://www.bustedtees.com/shirt/jesushatestheyankees/ for Kcowboy and the rest of you right-thinking folks out there.

Go Sox!

~s