>>>>Well, Mike, much as I hate to say it, I don't think the Jays are going to make the playoffs.
>>>
>>>You may be right. I don't think the Brewers are going to make it, either.
>>>
>>>Total fiasco in Atlanta last night. Infield fly rule called 225 feet from home plate? Bring in the replacement umps!
>>
>>Ump probably called it before it left the infield though, so, good call. ;)
>>
>>>The team I am keeping an eye on, along with the Giants, is the Tigers. They have the best hitter and the best pitcher in baseball. No one should want to face that starting rotation in a short series. Verlander, yeah, we all know about him. They also have Doug Fister in there. He was voted the most underrated pitcher in baseball in a player poll. They have issues, starting with the bullpen, but that is a dangerous team.
>>
>>I'm kind of watching the Senators. Not that I'm a big Washington fan, but there's something about that team... I honestly don't believe they should have the record they do, but they do. they will be interesting to watch.
>>
>>>Miguel Cabrera winning the triple crown sent me down baseball memory lane to the last time it was done, by Carl Yastrzemski in 1967. That's a pretty long time in between. I was 10 years old, the Red Sox were competitive for the first time in eons, and it was a classic four team pennant race. As you know, there were no playoffs then, just the winners of each league meeting in the World Series. The AL went down to the final day. It seemed like Yaz kept coming up in crucial situations and got a hit every time. Of course I am sure memory has distorted that. But it did seem that way. I was a 10 year old kid in New England and that was the first time I followed baseball seriously. World Series games were still played in the afternoon, in sunshine as god intended, and we were allowed to watch the games in the classroom at school.
>>
>>Quite a feat. Although, I'm not so sure he'd have done it had Bautista stayed healthy. Of course, two out of three ain't bad.
>>
>>>
>>>I think Cabrera's numbers this year exceeded Yaz's in every major category. Of course, it was a different era. Hitting 40 homers or batting over .300 really meant something. They hadn't lowered the pitcher's mound or started cramming the whole rabbit into every ball.
>>>
>>>Enjoy the playoffs. I am more excited about them than I have been in several years.
>>
>>At least the final game we attended this year saw the Jays hand the Yankees a 6-0 beat down, so it wasn't a total washout.
>
>The Senators have been a great story for me, too. It's great to see a downtrodden team rise up.
>
>What did you think of their decision to shut Steven Strasburg down in early September? Maybe it was the right decision, given his history of injuries, but I don't remember this happening before. You have to wonder if they won't give him the ball in a critical playoff game. He's got all winter to recover.

I'm of two minds about it. I suppose they were just plain scared that they might lose him for the post season, and I guess I can understand that, but personally, I believe that if a guy is healthy, you play him. After all, they are paying him.

>Generally as a matter of ritual I cheer against the Yankees. This year I am not cheering for them but not so much against them, either. My father, who died on May 2, was a huge Yankees fan his whole life. That was kind of an unusual decision. Maine was then, and still is, Red Sox country. Baseball was still the national pastime and the Yankees aced out the Red Sox in several pennant races. He said some people in town literally would not speak to him all winter because he was a Yankees fan. The day after my dad died was the day Mariano Rivera suffered a season ending and possibly career ending injury. My brother in law Richie, who is an off the charts Red Sox fan, and I agreed that it was good he didn't have to witness it. (Mariano blew out his knee shagging fly balls in the outfield before a game, which proves once again that baseball is a game with odd bounces).

That is odd about your dad. I mean they're the Yankees, for crying out loud. If you aren't a New Yorker, you hate the Yankees. Simple as that. My friend Lynn only became a baseball fan a couple of years ago, and even she has figured it out. It's kind of interesting. She wanted to go to a ballgame for no other reason than she'd heard the Jays were playing to mostly empty seats and she felt sorry for them. So I agreed to take her to a game for two more bums in seats. The Jays lost, but she became an almost instant fan, and for real - at least as far as the AL East is concerned. But she's branching out. It's an interesting metamorphosis to watch.