The 2012 World Series

When this year's playoffs got past the one game playoff "series", there were five teams left for whom I could cheer.  Yes, I know, I'm an Indians fan.  Well, when one is an Indians fan, but also a big baseball fan, it is nice to have someone to cheer for when the annual Indians Out Of The Playoffs Magic Number comes around in mid-August (or something). 

So, I would have been happy to see the Reds in it until the end.  The Big Red Machine (about whom I read recently in a fun-read, "The Machine", by Joe Posnanski) was there when I was getting originally immersed in the world of baseball.  I was living on the outskirts of Cleveland (Bedford, Ohio, to be exact), but my grandparents in Columbus were big Reds fans.  So, when we visit them during the World Series of 1975, my fandom got a tremendous start by watching the Reds win the big one against the Red Sox.  What an awesome year. 

Anyway, I would have loved to see the Reds make it all the way.  [Sigh]

Here were my five-out-of-eight:

Reds
Rangers (I'm a big Nolan Ryan fan, as well as a Josh Hamilton fan... little did I know NR would say some hard things about JH at the end, but I don't blame him)
Cardinals
A's
Nationals

Ideally, the World Series would have been the Reds against the A's--and the Reds would have won vengeance for the 1972 World Series.  Yes!  If anyone out there knows of a good video story of that World Series, I'd love to hear about it.  Having 7 games in a World Series is ideal, but having 6 of them decided by one run?  Holy cow.  That's awesome.

A little factoid here--the Reds outscored the A's in that World Series, 22 to 15.  Too bad that doesn't offer any real salve to the overall loss.

I would have been cheering for the Rangers, for sure.  Watching their sudden and unbelievable demise was painful.  Lose the division on the last day?  Wow.  Nolan, I sure hope you and yours come back to the Big Dance next year (unless the Indians do the never-expected).

I would have cheered for the Cardinals, even though they just won it last year.  I love the fact that they made it as far as they did even though they lost a formerly top-notch player to bigger money, lost a HOF manager, and worked with a rookie big league manager.  They had a great year, and, in my opinion, were by far the better team than the team that removed them from the World Series.  Definitely had a better line-up.

Ah, well.

The A's?  Well, though I've never been a fan, Billy Beane has me intrigued.  I'd love to see him working his magic for the Indians, but... still, his incredible GMing with the A's brings hope to this small market fan.  Keep at it!

Then there's the Nat's.  What a story.  They stunk so bad that they got the top pick two years in a row--and both have come around to play in the bigs in a good way.  I'm looking forward to many years of Strasburg and Bryce.  Rise to stardom, guys!


So, clearly, four of my five hopefuls were eliminated in that round.  That sucked. 


Here we are--a World Series with the Central Division foe Tigers and the Left Coast Giants.  Gah.  I'll watch, but only because I love baseball.  Not even sure who I will cheer for yet.  I really didn't want Cabrera to be the first Triple Crown winner in 45 years--I'd far rather that had gone to Josh Hamilton, Albert Pujols, or our guy Votto.  Alas, it was not to be.

Now to get some snacks for the boys tonight.

Rangers vs Cardinals, Please!

I have been a Nolan Ryan fan for as long as I can remember baseball.  My first set of baseball cards were the Topps cards that showed stats from 1974.  I read about this strike out phenomenon and was an immediate fan.  Baseball drew me by its numbers, and Ryan had ridiculous numbers.  In 1974 he started 41 games, completed 26 of them, pitched 332 innings, struck out 367 (less than he had the previous year), but walked over 200 batters.  I suppose that may have been why he only placed third in the Cy Young award.  Still, he was ripped off.  Catfish Hunter?  Whatever.  I remember living in Little Rock, Arkansas when he was coming to the end of his incredible and long career.  One of my life regrets is NOT heading down the highway to see him pitch in Arlington.  Ah, well.

Oh, and I loved it when he did commercials a few years later--about aspirin, if I remember right.  He was still blurring the ball past batters.  A workhorse unlike anything that is on a mound these days.

In recent years, I've been captivated by the numbers and character of Albert Pujols.  Though I'm not a Cardinals fan, I've cheered for them because of him.  You may already know that I'm first an Indians fan, then a Reds fan (being an Ohio boy).  Well, I spread out to the general Midwest after that (and cheer against the Left and East coast teams..... although I do still cheer for former Indians like Cliff Lee, CC Sabathia, and Victor Martinez).

So... pulling together these two fan-ness's (totally botched that made up word, eh?), I'm hoping to see the Cardinals and the Rangers in the World Series.  If they both make it, I don't think I'll care which one wins.  If one of them doesn't, but the other does, I'll have a team to cheer for.  If neither does... Brewers versus Detroit?  Hmm... nah.

Go Nolan, go Josh Hamilton, and go Pujols.