Friday, September 17, 2004
NL Wild Card Race Heating Up
Ok, we've endured Swiftboat veterans and Rathergate for the last 4 weeks. It's time to focus on baseball, where with 19 games remaining, five teams are knotted up for the National League wild card: the Giants, Cubs, Astros, Padres and Marlins are all within 3 1/2 games in what could be one of the most entertaining races in memory.
The Cubs, currently 1/2 game behind the Giants, appear to be making it as interesting as they did last year, with each game tantalizingly close, even against the dregs of the NL Central. Last night it took three home runs from Aramis Ramirez to eek out a 5-4 win over the Reds. Tuesday, trailing 2-0 in the 8th, Corey Patterson slugged a 2 run homer to tie it, and returned for a solo shot in the 12th for the 3-2 win.
Over on ESPN's Page2, Eric Neel provides a very entertaining summary of each team's chances and what is at stake for baseball fans. Of the Cubs postseason possibilities, he writes:
Read the whole thing!
The Cubs, currently 1/2 game behind the Giants, appear to be making it as interesting as they did last year, with each game tantalizingly close, even against the dregs of the NL Central. Last night it took three home runs from Aramis Ramirez to eek out a 5-4 win over the Reds. Tuesday, trailing 2-0 in the 8th, Corey Patterson slugged a 2 run homer to tie it, and returned for a solo shot in the 12th for the 3-2 win.
Over on ESPN's Page2, Eric Neel provides a very entertaining summary of each team's chances and what is at stake for baseball fans. Of the Cubs postseason possibilities, he writes:
You just know, given the chance, that Dusty's going to ride Prior, Wood,
and Zambrano in the postseason the way Slim Pickens rode the bomb in
"Strangelove," hell-bent and doomed. And at some point, one of their arms is
going to rip clean off, like a bloody, spurting stump straight out of Japanese
anime (this is one of those cons that, depending on your disposition, might also
be considered a pro). And you have to ask yourself whether you really want to be
a party to this kind of thing.
Read the whole thing!
2 Comments:
By 
SportsProf, at
Fri Sep 17, 02:54:00 PM:
I suppose that the only way anyone named Kerry can get reasonably good publicity on this blog is if the Cubs take the wild card and ride Wood's arm en route.
Glad to see the TigerHawk family focusing on the national pastime, at least when considered in all media. In the blogosphere, politics definitely seems to be the national pastime, with sports, collectively or individually, taking a back seat.
By Bren, at
Fri Sep 17, 04:04:00 PM:
The Giants might soon become the worst team in baseball history ever to make the playoffs. That being said, go Giants!
