I saw some of the Twins CWS game last night and Loaiza looked terrible. After the Jays game last night you could hear the joy in Mike Wilner's voice. He has been calling this meltdown since the all-star break.

Yeah, when it comes to playoff excitement, it's gotten to the point where I'm pretty far down my list of favorite teams just to scrape up some adrenaline:

1) Toronto
2) Detroit
3) Montreal
4) Atlanta

Go Braves!

I suppose most of the statheads here (is it pronounced stat-head or sta-thead?) are going to be pulling for Oakland. Personally, with the Jays out, this sta-thead will be cheering for:

1)Oakland
2)Twinkies
3)NL Central winner

Just as important I'm actively cheering against

1)New York
2)Boston
3)Atlanta
4)San Francisco
5)Los Angeles
6)Seattle
7)Florida

Don't worry, I have more than enough hate to go around.

Of the remaining teams I pull for:

AL - Boston & Oakland (although Boston is a stathead favorite, it's more out of my dispise for the Yanks and liking watching the Sox broadcasts).

NL - I root for SF mostly because a lot of people cheer against Bonds, plus I jumped on the Schmidt bandwagon early.

I really dislike the Braves and Yankees. Everyone else I'm pretty much neutral with.

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My interest down the stretch is mostly in individuals on my fantasy teams. I have one decent sized money league where 1st place is changing every day between 3 teams. Wins is one of my competing categories, so I root hard for those games. It's been disappointing to see Maddux and Lawrence have 3 and 2 run leads lost the last 2 nights.

I'm more interested in the Jays now than I was at many points earlier in the year. It's going to be a long, long off-season.

I desperately want Bonds to win a WS - both because I'm a great fan of his (ability, not necessarily personality), and because I want people to stop talking about how he won't have a "complete career" without a championship.

I desperately want Bonds to win a WS - both because I'm a great fan of his (ability, not necessarily personality), and because I want people to stop talking about how he won't have a "complete career" without a championship.

For similar reasons, I want the Red Sox, A's, Cubs and Braves to all win the World Series this year. Once they've all got their rings, we can move on to more important stuff.

Don't worry, I have more than enough hate to go around.

Guess your folks left the h out of your name for a reason!

My list of preferences for post-season success:

1) SF - to shut up Bonds's detractors once and for all

2) OAK - to celebrate the stathead mindset (though much of Beane's recent decision making has been decidely un-stathead: long term contract for Long (yes, that was a while ago), signing Singleton, trading for Guillen (having reverted to pumpkin form, is now out for the year), extension to Hatteberg (a walker yes, but easily replacable talent for minimal cash))

3) ATL - to shake the Buffalo Bills choker label and to see Maddux do well, to cap off a truly glorious career

4) HOU - to see Bagwell and Biggio enjoy (finally!) some post-season success, nicely capping off potential HoF careers

5) BOS - to celebrate the stathead mindset (albeit heavily bankrolled) and to throw a bone to the long-suffering Red Sox Nation (risking that they might become even more unbearable celebrating a winning team than bemoaning a losing one)

A little schadenfreude seeing these teams fail:

1) NYY - many, obvious reasons; reckon if they don't win the WS for the third straight year that more than a few casual fans will nonetheless believe that they did?

2) MIN - a little punishment for a GM who could not parlay the excess among seven 1B/OF types into passable middle infielders

3) CHC - it's time the Dusty Baker mythology took a hit

I'm kind of surprised to see people rooting for the Braves. After all, they were declared the "Team of the 90s" when they won their title... they've won as many titles as the LaRussa A's... sounds right to me. :)

I've been rooting for the Royals, who at least look like they'll finish above .500. I'd have liked to see the Mariners make the playoffs, but don't mind Boston or Oakland. As long as the Yankees lose -- the more dramatic, the better -- it's all good...

Oh, and FREE REX HUDLER!

I *always* cheer against Boston and New York. Boston and New York represent all that is evil and wrong in baseball. :) The 1986 World Series represents a sad nadir in baseball history.

My most hated team is Atlanta, who represent everything that is evil and wrong not just in baseball, but in the wider world.

I dislike the Cubs, but it's nothing personal.

Who will I pull for? San Francisco, Minnesota, Houston, Seattle, the Phillies... I guess that's enough for now. I'll even cheer for Oakland if things get that desperate.

I sort of want Philadelphia to win it all now, just to make John Di Genova the happiest man in New Jersey.

I want the Red Sox, A's, Cubs and Braves to all win the World Series this year.

Now THAT would be a trick!

The Yankee PR machine thanks you for your hate and venom ... "hate" is in fact a form of interest that keeps the Yankees the center of the known baseball universe.

I'm rooting for SF because Bonds deserves a ring. I also have a soft spot for the Mariners and Red Sox.

I'm rooting against the Braves and Yankees. I won't even bother watching an Atlanta-New York World Series.

Nice to see Loaiza get stomped last night. Go Doc!

The Yankee PR machine thanks you for your hate and venom ... "hate" is in fact a form of interest that keeps the Yankees the center of the known baseball universe.

Just so you know, I don't hate the Yankees. My father's a big Yankee fan and on his behalf I have some affection for them. I will be rooting against them this year (I was rooting for them in the mid-'90s) simply because we've seen them win it all recently, and thus the prospect of them winning no longer diverts me. Plus I want to see if George does anything interesting if they get blown out in the first round or whatever; as a Jays fan, I'm obviously hoping he does something stupid, but there's no guarantee.

I'm cheering for the Giants, but let's be honest here. Nobody with a pulse and a memory of last season's playoffs criticizes Bonds for his postseason performance anymore. No "detractor" can credibly claim that Bonds didn't do all a player could to win a championship last season, and this year, nobody is. The (on-field) critics have been silenced, but I'd still like to see a ring.

George is absolutely right about the Yankees -- the more dramatic defeat, the better. The D-Backs and Angels have done their part for society admirably.

The Red Sox really can't win. That would upend my universe, challenging everything I've ever believed.

I wouldn't mind if Oakland won, both because it would make Gizzi happy and it would finally stop the "luck, luck, nothing but luck" bandwagon, thereby encouraging the stathead community (I don't mean this disparagingly) to invest in a more productive assessment of what makes a championship club in the postseason.

http://economics.about.com
I always cheer for the NL team, because they're the only baseball team in the World Series. Rule 1.01 specifically states that "Baseball is a game between two teams of nine players each", so what the junior circuit plays all year isn't baseball. It's too bad that in the World Series that a baseball team is forced to play DH-ball when in an AL park. It's a travesty. :)

I asked Hannah, and she said she's rooting for Brooklyn as she picked the Dodgers to win the World Series. At some point my educating her on baseball seems to have failed.

Mike

Speaking of races, it seems assured now that the order of finish in the AL East will the same as it has been for the past five years. The smallest gap is the 5.5 games between NY and Boston.

An interesting site is Dougs stats page. He has the standard stats but he also tabulates stats for the last 20 games. See Josh Phelps with 8 home runs and a huge OPS over the past 20 games. The Cat is also hot. Cash is cold, ice-cold.

http://home.rmi.net/~doug/

He also has NBA stats if you are interested once the season starts.

I'm kind of surprised to see people rooting for the Braves. After all, they were declared the "Team of the 90s" when they won their title... they've won as many titles as the LaRussa A's... sounds right to me. :)


I think I cheer for the Braves now because of:

- the arrival of OPS poster-boy Gary Sheffield
- the development of OPS poster-boy Marcus Giles
- the renaissance of Javier Lopez

The old Braves were annoying, because they succeeded despite all of the offensive sinkholes in their lineup. Now that they have a real offense, they are actually exciting to watch.

One last thing: they are not the Yankees.

jc

The old Braves were annoying, because they succeeded despite all of the offensive sinkholes in their lineup.

As annoying as it is to have them on your team during the regular season, watching sinkholes tear up the post-season, like Mark Lemke in 1991 or Eddie Perez in 1999, is exactly why this Braves team was always so endearing to me, except in 1992 of course.

3) Montreal
4) Atlanta
Go Braves!

I'm off to go see 3 at home to 4 this evening...Crossing my fingers and hoping Hampton finds his vintage form. Gotta wonder what the attendance is going to be like, it's a 5PM start for the home finale. What's up with that?

At some point my educating her on baseball seems to have failed.
Obviously it isn't that you failed, you just haven't finished the history lesson :-)...My mom constantly makes that mistake, though it could be spite because she's a Brooklynner.

Loaiza had fever last night, it was another stupid decision from Jerry to have him in the game...

I think I cheer for the Braves now because of:

- the arrival of OPS poster-boy Gary Sheffield
- the development of OPS poster-boy Marcus Giles
- the renaissance of Javier Lopez

And the Braves will feature something new this year: a non-automatic out catching when Maddux starts. Cox had Lopez catch Maddux last night and intends to do so during the post-season.

I guess Maddux's leverage to dictate that ABL (anyone but Lopez) catch pretty much went out the window with his 4+ ERA, to say nothing of Lopez's 1000+ OPS.

Mike D., thanks for thinking of my best interests. As an official member of the Recovering Yankees Fan Alliance of Greater North (but really more central) America, it will do my heart good to see the A's advance past the first round. I remain skeptical, for a variety of non-qualifiable hunches -- they get "tight" in the post-season, I don't trust Lilly or Harden, etc. -- but I am more hopeful this time around.

As long as the Braves don't win. In a non-Barry Bonds/Albert Pujols NL world, Javy Lopez would get my vote for MVP. As it stands, Bonds is just too darn good.

But I stop there. I couldn't care less if he ever gets his ring or if he instead joins the other great players who went their whole careers without winning a title. It's part of the game; I don't know why we should get so weepy that B-squared doesn't have a ring yet, or why we should care for a player who even more than the usual baseball player doesn't give a hoot about what the fans think. (Although I concede BB has softened quite a bit, starting last year and continuing this year.)

As little as two years ago, Barry was more interested in winning his fifth MVP; the WS title was the sideshow. I do believe his desire to win one now is sincere, and that he'd trade the MVP he'll (hopefully) win this year for another World Series berth. But, as I said, I couldn't care less one way or another.

My first favourite team was the Cardinals, then when the core of the '66 Toronto Maple Leafs became Red Sox, I had my AL team, which promptly won the pennant. I admired the Herzog Royals, and was a pretty happy camper when the Rat was in St. Louis. The McGwire years were fun, and Pujols is great, but I've had my fill of TLR and the Bonds/Alou Giants are more fun to root for. Though I prefer the AL teams, Barry getting a ring would be just fine.

The Red Sox really can't win. That would upend my universe, challenging everything I've ever believed.

A Boston win would please me on historic grounds and because Theo Epstein did such a great job. Millar, Ortiz, Mueller and Kim-for-Hillenbrand were excellent additions. But I'm no Yankee-hater; George Steinbrenner was kind to me and my family on numerous occasions, and Brian Cashman is also a great guy. I'd like the A's to get the "can't win" monkey off their backs, though I thought they had a better chance last year. I picked Seattle before the season, overestimating their pitching, and I liked how the Twins played last October.

Anybody but the White Sox is all right in the AL, and anybody but Atlanta is a given.

Atlanta, what do you say? They clobbered Montreal from the second batter of the game all the way through. The only spot in the line-up not factoring in with a hit was the pitcher's (though I guess that is a bit of a surprise since Hampton was on the mound). The score was incredibly lopsided at 14-4 but it certainly wasn't mistakes by the Expos (at least not before they fell behind 10-0), the Braves just found green every time out.

Pitching is still shakey from the Atlanta side. Hampton was no where near dominant and even had some control problems, which were helped out by very well timed DPs and the Bullpen was just as unconvincing, allowing 3 runs in 3 innings to Montreal second-stringers.

The best part about the evening, however, were the standing ovations. Vlad got at least 3 (and made a speech to the fan consisting of "Gracias" and "Merci Beacoup", nothing else, at all) and the GM is clearly loved by all, Manya (apology for spelling) recieved a standing-O of his own. Receiving harsh booes were Frank Robinson, Chipper Jones and the CBC camera crew who stood in between me and the action for 85% of the first 5+ innings! I'm tempted to give them a call and ask for my 10 bucks back.

Today's starting lineup for the Giants.

Can you tell they won the divison last night? Everyone catches a break except for the old guy at first base.

1 Eric Young 2B
2 Neifi Perez SS
3 Jeffrey Hammonds CF
4 Pedro Feliz 3B
5 Andres Galarraga 1B
6 Todd Linden RF
7 Yorvit Torrealba C
8 Tony Torcato LF

My most favorite clubs!!

1. Toronto

2. San francisco

3. Minnesota

4. Atlanta

My least favorite

1. Oakland

2. Boston

3. Philadelphia

Exactly how do the Braves represent everything that's wrong in baseball and the wider world? Wouldn't that be the Yankees? Corporate domination, greed, corruption, disruption of competitive balance, homosexuality (if you're a republican), media domination, the list goes on....