What Happens Next Doesn’t Matter

06 Wednesday Oct 2021

Tags

2021 Wild Card Game, Aaron Judge, Alex Cora, Boston Red Sox, Langiappe, New York Yankees, Red Sox, Sox, Wild Card, Xander Bogaerts, Yankees

Whatever happens in the MLB playoffs from this morning forward is OK with me. The Sox don’t have to win the ALDS, the ALCS, or the World Series.

I kid you not.

That my beloved Sox came from last place in the 2020-shortened 24-46 (.400) season to this year’s 92-70 (.568) and a decisive Wild Card win last night is satisfying enough.

Of course, I’d be delighted if they go further into the 2021 playoffs and (unlikely) get to the World Series and even win it for the fifth time in the last 17 years.

But I’m not expecting it. Nor do I hunger for it.

In 2018 I wrote a post on MillersTime entitled For Me, The Sox Don’t HAVE to Win the World Series. A number of you took exception to that article, but much like this year, the fact that the Sox made it to the WS then was satisfying. After all, the long nightmare (86 years) had ended with their WS win in 2004. No longer did I have to hear or think about “Wait ‘Til Next Year.”

So whatever happens against the Rays and any further playoff games would be a langiappe, the Cajun-French noun that means “a little extra.”

And as for last night’s victory over the Yankees, that came in the best way possible.

It was a total team victory: good pitching (Eovaldi was at his best and the bullpen was equally lights out; good hitting (starting with Bogaert’s two run HR in the first); good defense (led by Hernandez, Bogaert, and Plawecki’s throwing Judge out at home to squash a Yankee comeback); good coaching and managing (Cora made all the right moves in this one), and a fan base that kept Fenway Park loud and in support of the Sox.

PS – Although I doubt it made a significant difference, on Sunday, the Yankees had to choose whether they would want to play in Boston or Toronto. They chose Boston. The Sox knew of that decision.

PSS – I have to admit that for most of the time last night, I did not enjoy the game. Given my long obsession (70+ years) with the Sox and how that had left me with “if something bad can happen to the Sox, it will”, I kept a rein on my emotions and only after the final out was I able to breathe normally.

That’s kinda sad, I know.

But it’s all part of being a Sox fan.

2021 was a much better year for my heroes than anyone, anyone, anyone had predicted or expected.

And the fact that they won the Wild Card game over the Yankees was also a langiappe.

10 of These Predictions Will Come True

14 Tuesday Apr 2015

Posted by Richard in Go Sox

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

2015 Millerstime Baseball Contests, baseball, MLB. Predictions, Nationals, Playoffs, Prizes, Red Sox, Rookie of the Year, Wild Card, World Series, Yankees

I’m not sure if the contestants in this year’s 2015 MillersTime Baseball Contests are geniuses, fools, frustrated writers, or wannabe comedians (see #s 28, 32, and 43, for example).

You decide.

Judging by previous years in this contest, at least 10 of the predictions below — Question #2 in this year’s contest — will come true.

Which 10, of course, is the question.

If you predict how many actually come true, you will also receive a prize — a t-shirt proclaiming you a MillersTime Baseball Contest Winner. Send your guess (the number of predictions that will come true) to me at samesty84@gmail.com or put the number in the Comments section of this post. Multiply winners are possible, but you only get one guess/prediction.

“Nobody Knows Anything” – Tyler Kepner

05 Sunday Oct 2014

Posted by Richard in Go Sox

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

ALDS, Detroit Tigers, KC Royals, LA Angels, LA Dodgers, MLB, NLDS, Oakland Athletics, Pittsburg Pirates, Playoffs, SF Giants, St. Louis Cards, Washington Nationals, Wild Card

Is it me or has this October baseball already given us some of the most wonderful baseball in a long time?

KC vs Oakland – Wild Card game: Royals score in the bottom of the 9th to tie and down by one in the 12th, score two to win. Fans can hardly believe it.

KC vs LAA – First two ALDS games: Royals score one in the 11th and hold on to win the first game away. Then, in the third extra inning game in a row, the Royals score three in the top of the 11th to beat the Angels again, this time 4-1. KC fans believe it it. Angels’ fans stunned. K-C up 2-0.

O’s vs Tigers – Other first two ALDs games: Baltimore scores eight in the 8th, and the power hitting Tigers lose the first one 12-3. Camden goes wild. Then, in the second game, the O’s are down 6-3 in the 8th and score four in that inning to win 7-6. Fans go nuts, again. O’s up 2-0.

Giants vs Pirates – Wild Card game: Giants get a grand slam in the fourth (first ever by a shortstop) and four-hit the Pirates to win surprisingly easily, 8-0.

Dodgers vs Cards – First two NLDS game: Probable 2014 Cy Young & MVP winner Clayton Kershaw gives up eight runs in 6 2/3 innings, and the Cards win it 10-9 in the bottom of the 9th. Second game, Dodgers eke out a 3-2 victory, after some terrific pitching, thanks to a home run by Kemp. Series tied 1-1.

And then Giants vs Nats – Other first two NLDS games. Aging Peavy out pitches the young Strasberg, and the Giants beat the Nats 3-2 in Washington. Then, with two outs in the bottom of the 9th, after getting 20 out in a row, Nats’ pitcher Jordan Zimmerman (his previous game a no-hitter) walks a batter and is pulled. The Giants then get two hits off closer Drew Storen (remember him from two years ago not being able to hold a two-run lead in the playoffs?) to tie the game 1-1 in the bottom of the 9th. Eventually (after nine more innings), the Giants win it with a home run in the 18th inning (longest game, time wise, in playoff history). Giants up 2-0.

Ten games. Seven decided by one run. Four in extra innings. One in the 18th inning. One in the bottom of the 9th. And even the three that were not close we’re surprising victories.

And we’re only part way into the Division Series playoffs.

Maybe it’s just that my beloved Red Sox are not in it, and so I can watch and listen differently.

And another observation: So many good articles about these games, some written within the hour that a game finished.

Check out this morning’s NYTimes‘ Tyler Kepner’s In October: Exceptions Rule, Most of the Time (“Nobody knows anything…”).

Or Washington Post’s Thomas Boswell’s, Washington Nationals Discover How Tough the SF Giants Can Be in October, which begins with “Losing to the San Francisco Giants in October is like being beaten to death with wet noodles.” And it just gets better.

Or how about Boswell’s post this morning, Could Jordan Zimmerman Have Made History in Game 2? We’ll Never Know ?

You’ve probably seen other good ones (pass them on to all of us in the Comment section), but the best ones seem to take what happens and push our thinking further.

Why Having the Best Record Matters

26 Thursday Sep 2013

Posted by Richard in Go Sox

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

baseball, Boston Red Sox, Home Team Advantage, MLB Playoffs, Wild Card, World Series

Dear Ellen,

I appreciate that you have been quite patient with my mishegas (craziness) again this year with the Red Sox.

I have also noticed that you haven’t ‘rolled your eyes’ when I’ve said that getting into the playoffs isn’t enough, that the Sox need to have the best record in the American League too.

But I’m not sure you understand just how important it is have the best record.

So a quick post for you to know why I am continuing to stress about my heroes even tho they will be in the playoffs.

If they have the best won/loss record that means the following:

1) They will have home field advantage in the two series they would have to play to get to the World Series. In the first best of five series and then in the second best of seven series if there are final games, those crucial games would take place in Fenway, home of the brave.

How important is that, you may ask?

Of the 81 games they have played at home this year, they are 53-28. They have won 65% of their games at Fenway.

Of the 78 games they have played away from home so far this year (they still have three left to play this weekend in Baltimore), they are 43-35, 55%.

Enough of a difference to matter.

2) They will face the winner of a one game Wild Card play off. And that team will have used their best pitcher in that Wild Card game, meaning the Sox won’t have to face the likes of say a David Price in their first game.

3) They will not have to face Detroit in the first playoff series. Detroit has both terrific pitching and strong hitting. And there is always the chance they will be defeated by the time the Sox have to play them.

4) They will not have to make two trips to the West Coast to play Oakland (going back for a final game if the series goes that far), which means they will be more rested.

But you may ask, “Don’t they still have to beat the Tigers and whoever wins the playoff games against the Wild Card anyway?”

True.

But playing at home, playing with the most rest possible, and not having to face one of the best pitchers in baseball to get to the World Series all matter.

Those are not guarantees that the Sox would make it to the World Series.

But every advantage helps.

Questions?

Richard,

Go Sox

Announcing Three New MillersTime Baseball Contest Winners

25 Wednesday Sep 2013

Posted by Richard in Go Sox

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

2013 Baseball Contests, baseball, Major League Baseball, Red Sox, Washington Nationals, Wild Card, World Series, Yankees

As the 2013 MLB season winds down, or, for some of us, winds up, there are already three winners to announce for this year’s MillersTime Baseball Contests.

Contest #4 – Will Nats make the playoffs? If yes, how far will they go? If no, why not?

More than 90% of you said the Nats would make the playoffs, and some of you thought they’d make it to the World Series or even be the winner of the WS. Most seemed to believe the Nats would pick up right where they left off last year (98-64). With four games remaining, they are 84-74 and have been eliminated from the Wild Card.

Matt Gallati (“they will be plagued by injuries and thus lose more often than they win.”), Larry Longenecker (“Davey Johnson will eventually upset people by speaking his mind…”) and David Price (“…they won’t even be close…”) all thought they wouldn’t make the playoffs and seemed to understand that 2013 would be different for them than 2012.

But Randy Candea wins this contest with this prediction for 2013: “Nats (88-74) will finish behind Atlanta and not make the playoffs due to sophomore jinx. Unlike last year, they won’t win the close games.” He gets two tickets to a Nationals’ game of his choice in 2014.

Contest #5 – Predict the Sox-Yankee Split of the 19 games they play against each other. Since Jere Smith failed to take the opportunity to appeal my decision, Meg Gage wins the two tickets to Fenway in 2014. (See this earlier post for more details on the results of this contest.)

Contest #7 – Worst Prediction.

Actually this one was not one of the six original 2013 contests. In a moment of anxiety about how the Sox were doing, I distracted myself by going through everyone’s predictions and decided to add a category of the Worst Prediction for 2013. I found 15 predictions that were pretty wide of the mark and let you folks choose which one was the worst. (See all the 15 in this earlier post.)

Elizabeth Hedlund ‘won’ (got the most votes from you) with her prediction that “Stephen Strasburg wins 30 games, first since Denny McLain in 1986.” And because contestant Tracy Capullo encouraged Elizabeth to join the contests, these two Red Sox fans get to go to a Nats’ game of their choice in 2014.

Also,

Contest #3. Which League wins the All-Star game, what will the score be, and who will be the MVP?

I announced the winner of this contest earlier. Tim Malieckal and I will go to Minneapolis next summer.

Finally, there are still three contests to be decided: Best overall prediction (#1), Best Team Prediction (#2), and World Series Contestants and winner. We’ll have to wait until the end of October to see who wins these.