Brian
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Post by Brian on Oct 7, 2009 23:01:18 GMT -8
With a record 30 men stranded on base, it was no gem -- but hooray, the Dodgers won the first of the three games needed to take their National League Division Series. Now for the silly important ancillary stuff:
Vin Scully, for those who want to find (or avoid) him, calls the first through the third innings on KABC-AM 790, then comes back in the seventh after Charlie Steiner and Rick Monday. The action on TBS cable enters our television six seconds later than the radio. Anni found it unsettling, but I need to know what happens as soon as possible. The time warp's lengthens and fluctuates if you read the closed captioning that kicks in automatically when the sound is on mute.
With all them baserunners, the game ran nearly four hours. Game 2 starts at 3:07 p.m. on Wednesday, so I'll probably miss all but a few pitches on TV. At least I get to listen to Vin on the way home from work. In October!
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anni
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Post by anni on Oct 8, 2009 17:23:17 GMT -8
A-flipping-mazing!!! I'll let Brian explain. The Dodgers sure like to take it down to the WIRE!
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Brian
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Post by Brian on Oct 11, 2009 0:10:19 GMT -8
I heard the amazing finish of Game 2 from Vin Scully on the north Golden State Freeway in Burbank. But I watched as much of the final Game 3 as I could -- and listened to Vin on the radio -- while the Dodgers killed the Bird Team's postseason, Bernard attacked small objects in the living room and tax returns spit out of our computer printer. Either TBS removed its six-second delay or KABC had a delay broadcasting from St. Louis on Saturday, because now the action on TV is a couple of seconds ahead of Vinny's calls.
File that away for the National League Championship Series, which begins Thursday or Friday in Chavez Ravine. I'm about as pleased as I can be about the Dodgers' sweep of the Cardinals, but it reminds me of last year's rout of the Cubs and how they only won one game of five from the Phillies after a similar layoff. I'm guarding my expectations even while gloating over that headline in Wednesday's Los Angeles Times predicting the Cards in three games.
After the champagne sputtered, I'd hoped to see the Phillies play Game 3 in the snow, tied with the Rockies in their Division Series, but we all will have to wait until Sunday night to see it's just merely freezing in Denver. On paper, I'd like the Dodgers to face the Iraqis. But not in the Rocky Mountains. The weather in Philadelphia is bad enough.
The Angels surprise me. The Dodgers may never get the chance to play a World Series game in Fenway for the first time in franchise (that is, baseball) history. I reflexively root against the Yankees except I hate that dome in Minnesota. A Dodgers-Yankees World Series would be my choice, although I understand those who want the so called Freeway Series that's only been possible since 1961 -- against the Los Angeles Angels, who became the California Angels then the Anaheim Angels and now the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim -- which is actually a year that predates most of the freeways we drive.
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Brian
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Post by Brian on Oct 14, 2009 0:05:43 GMT -8
Thirty years ago I paid no attention to baseball. After I got a job at a newspaper near the Pico-Union district, I started listening to Vin Scully to avoid on the Golden State and Harbor freeways during the height of Fernandomania. Soon I was joining the traffic going in and out of Chavez Ravine.
Now baseball defines the seasons. I watch every inning I can every October, knowing I will have to endure five whole months without. And maybe get some other things done.
Meanwhile, there's little to do except prognosticate during this layoff until the Championship Series. Before the Division Series, I actually told Bruce that the Dodgers would sweep the Cardinals, but I didn't believe it. So I won't write something like "the Dodgers over the Phillies in six games." But I will say this is a different team than the Los Angeles Dodgers who won four of seven games against Philadelphia last spring yet scored only one more run than the Phillies overall.
Let's see how I feel when the Angels and Yankees play on Friday. I've got no affection whatsoever for Anaheim, mostly because their pitchers do not bat, but so much less for the Yankees that I can't ever imagine rooting for them, despite a deep admiration for players like Jeter. Although, what if the Yankees met the Giants in the World Series?
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Brian
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Post by Brian on Oct 16, 2009 0:01:10 GMT -8
The top of the fifth inning ruined my entire drive home tonight. Disappointed, oh yeah. But woe if the Dodgers lose tomorrow afternoon before heading to Philadelphia. Maybe it's lucky for me that the game starts at 1 when I have to work.
The first National League Championship game I ever attended was in 1983, watching Jerry Reuss lose 1-0 to Steve Carlton of the Phillies. The Dodgers lost the opener of a five-game series at home, only winning one that year (just like last year against the Phillies). It felt even worse in 3-D. Tonight I kept watching TV replays in a stupor, all those Phillies walks and stranded Dodger baserunners, not to mention Kershaw's record number of wild pitches in an inning.
But the Dodgers also lost the first game of the NLCS against the Mets at Chavez Ravine in 1988, the last time the Dodgers won the World Series. I was there for Game 7 with Orel Hershiser on the mound and can still tap into that feeling. This team resembles those guys in 1988 more than their Dodger ancestors from 1983 or even themselves in 2008. If they win tomorrow, the Dodgers could still take the NLCS in six.
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Brian
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Post by Brian on Oct 19, 2009 0:00:42 GMT -8
ouch
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Brian
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Post by Brian on Oct 20, 2009 0:00:31 GMT -8
I'll be honest, I almost cried. Then I remembered there's no crying in baseball.
So I've had to surrender to my inner Pollyanna. Even if the Dodgers lose it all in Philadelphia on Wednesday, I couldn't possibly feel any worse than I do right now. If they win, they'll play at least one more October evening in Chavez Ravine.
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Brian
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Post by Brian on Oct 21, 2009 23:01:29 GMT -8
Even if the Dodgers lose it all in Philadelphia on Wednesday, I couldn't possibly feel any worse than I do right now. I was right. With the lead nearly insurmountable, I watched the last three innings on mute and let Vin Scully render the reality and give me solace -- for the last time until March. Baseball is emotional, despite its rules, logic, strategy and statistics. Numbers are just snapshots of intangibles. Winter is four months long. The Dodgers had the best record in the National League and their pitchers the lowest earned run average for 162 games before sweeping the Cardinals. Then they had a really bad week. During commercials, my mind wandered. What if the Dodgers kept Jayson Werth in left field and never signed Manny Ramirez? But Manny invigorated the team that won the West last year, then they gelled and excelled during his 50-game suspension this season. Man, what a glorious year it was. But Ned Colletti had better find an ace or two for the pitching staff during the offseason. Vin almost had me rooting for the Phillies before the last out. I'll cheer them on against the Yankees in the World Series and duck frequently out of the room, expecting a hail storm of home runs and more four-hour games.
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