I've actually been on just about every day lurking. I just find that I don't have much to say. I see the same old debates going around and around and whatever I might have said before during a previous round is probably still my take on things. So, I don't get involved much.

On the world series, yes. A truly remarkable series. I can't recall ever having seen anything like that. Ok, well, maybe the 2008 Super Bowl, but that's about all.

I was ambivalent about who I wanted to win it all, so I'd have been just as happy either way. I just wanted it to be entertaining, and jeez! Did I get my wish! You have to hand it to Carpenter. The guy has heart. I imagine he did a dance to the rain gods for the help.

>Hey Alan,
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>Good to see you posting. I was actively looking for you through the end of the baseball season. The last night of the regular season has already been frequently called the best day in baseball history, accurately IMO. There were 8 games with playoff implications, either in/out or for home field advantage. The playoffs, with only one dud series (Rangers vs. Rays in the first round, and even in that one the Rangers had to rally from a first game drubbing), kept to that high standard. I feel fortunate to have been in St. Louis for the month of October. Obviously it was disappointing when the Cardinals ousted the Brewers, but for a long time now I have viewed it as just games. It was no problem cheering for the Cardinals in the World Series. I have always heard they have great, knowledgeable fans and have now seen it first hand. If this wasn't to be the Brewers' year, it was nice to be surrounded by happy fellow baseball fans.
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>The whole city was giddy over their unexpected Lazarus experience. Still is. The normal dress code was relaxed during the World Series and half the company was awash in Cards shirts and/or caps. (I even wore a shirt myself one day, the result of losing a lighthearted bet on the NLCS with one of my roommates and coworkers, a rabid Cardinals fan). The morning after game six everyone was still in a slightly dazed state. What a game. The word "classic" is overused but I believe this game will be remembered as long as the game as played, way near the top. It was a game that made you feel lucky to be a baseball fan, no matter who your team is. I heard that this WS had much higher TV ratings than the demographics would suggest. IMO that was a result of the true fans knowing a good thing when they saw it.
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>I have to feel a little for the Rangers. Can you imagine what that's like? They were literally against the dugout railing not once but twice in game 6, the Cardinals down to their last strike, ready to swarm the field. Whoops, not tonight for your first championship. And not the next night, either.
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>These moments are ephemeral. Just in the two weeks since game 7 and the victory parade Tony LaRussa has retired (on top, lucky him) and Albert Pujols is acting like a guy who is about to bolt for an even more astronomical salary than the Cardinals have offered him. (Pssst from me to Albert: you will never be as adored anywhere else as you are here, and how much rice can a Chinaman eat, anyway?) One of the many beauties of baseball is that every season brings new surprises. This just happens to have been a particularly memorable one.
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>How many days until pitchers and catchers report? ;-)