2010 World Series

4-3

To provide the in-game action from the 2010 World Series (P.B. Cup), here is Manager Pete from Tampa Bay:

Well…2010 has come and gone…and boy did it go out with a bang (and some tears, thrown dice and multiple consumptions of blood thinning pills). Thanks to Lew and Pup for making the trek to witness the festivities. Here is a summary of what happened (Gord…may want to stop reading now).

GAME 1 (Oswalt vs Wain) - Pete gets off to an early 4-0 lead with 2 crossing the plate in the 1st and 3rd. Know that I am facing a very good hitting team, I manage to score another 4 in the 4th and 5th to get up 8-0. At this point I look under my chair to see what that strange noise is…. I don’t notice anything out of the ordinary. Gord gets all fired up and starts to, what appears to be, a huge comeback. He puts 2 guys on base and has a shot with a ball park homer 1-7 and does not pull it out. Pete is still wondering what that noise is…. A couple of rolls later and now with bases loaded, up comes Hamilton, and once again, Gord is faced with a ball park homer….with the same result. All in all, he manages to only get one across the plate with 37 guys on base (what the fu*k is that noise!!!!) Heading into the seventh, I ask the Geisha girl to massage a bit lower on my back, seeing as how I have a comfortable 8-1 lead. Gord scraps out another run in the top of the inning and I am feeling good with an 8-2 lead as we head into the 8th (that noise is now really starting to bother me). Gord steps up to the plate…Madson gets on the mound…I look under my chair still concerned with the noise and realize all four “wheels” on my bus is starting to wobble like crazy and a bead of sweat starts to form on my brow. Gord starts to slap me like an beating mule and the first 2 wheels on my bus fall off. Batter after batter, I just can’t seem to get an out. Couple of runs come across and I am now up by 4…not too worried yet, but starting to get the blood thinning pill out. Gord’s not done…and the right back wheel now falls off and Gord gets two more guys across the plate….8-6 and now the Depends are working overtime. Madson gone after a 1/3 of an inning and Putz comes in to pitch 2/3 and get Gord out of there. With one wheel left on my bus, I manage to get 1 back in the bottom of the 8th to take Gord to 9-6 as we head into the 9th….and here comes my lefty Kuo…one bolt of 4 falls off the last wheel. Gord is licking his chops as the lefty takes the mound, to his chagrin, Kuo bears down and closes it out without giving up a run. Pete wins 9-6…and begins to put the wheels back on his bus. GAME 2 (Myers vs Johnson) - This one was a battle of pitchers with no one able to score over the first 7 innings!! After what seemed to be 14 ballpark missed homers for Gord (he REALLY could not roll), we are still heading into the 8th scoreless, but Gord starts to mount a rally by getting a guy on base (yes…in this game, getting a guy on base is considered a rally). Gord is able to get the guy to 3rd base with one out and immediately brings in a pinch hitter (a bunter…smell anything). I bring my infield in, but to no avail. Gord rolls the squeeze and takes a 1-0 lead into the 9th and I cannot muster up a rally to at least take to extra innings. Gord wins 1-0. GAME 3 (Buch vs Jimenez) - Feeling a bit dejected that I couldn’t score a run in the last game to let Gord tie it up starts to haunt me. After my 8 run route in the 1st game, I have only been able to squeeze 2 runs across the plate in the last 13 innings (I’ve been here before during the season, and I don’t like it). Gord gets his bats going early by scoring a run in each of the first 3 innings, while I still can’t seem to find where the bat boy has put our bats. Heading into the 4th down 3-0 (and 2 runs in 16 innings), I manage to finally score a run (can’t remember how it happened, but it was probably a worthless effort). Bat boy realizes that we found one bat, and quickly confiscates it and the Rays are right back into the slump. Gord holds off the team by not allowing another run and takes the game and a 2-1 series lead. Gord wins 3-1 . GAME 4 (Wain vs Oswalt) - The 2 pitchers are at it again, this time in St. Louis with Oswalt wanting to prove that game 1 was a fluke and the Rays were lucky. Well....the Rays are now 22 innings with only 3 runs, he doesn’t need to work that hard to prove anything. Both teams manage to score a run in the second and both pitchers are pitching very well. Gord leaves the game for a moment and when he returns, I notice a horseshoe sticking out his ass. I don’t pay much attention to is as I thought it was something he and Mere were trying out (I think... "Good man Gord! Get one in between innings!"). Well…as you all know, my pitchers are fairly decent this year, but I do seem to have the omen 5 column that haunts me every so often. The “666” wonder boy rears his ugly head once again!! Bottom of the 3rd inning, Gord, who has stopped trying to use his cards to score any runs (missing now approx... 37 ball park homer, and just as many Hrbeks), hones in on Wainwrights 5 column. 3 consecutive rolls later (5-6, 5-5, 5-6) Gord puts 2 guys across the plate. Realizing he now has a lead on a team that is using a rubber chicken as a bat, he starts to try and roll on his card again, and quickly ends the inning to take a 3-1 lead into the 4th. The Rays feel confident. At least 18 players left to take the plate and only down by 2 runs. This scoring machine team can’t be in this slump forever....WRONG!!!! 18 fu*king batters later, I can’t get one guy to cross the plate. Gord now has a commanding 3-1 series lead and I have scored 4 runs in 31 innings. Gord wins 3-1. GAME 5 (Cain vs Myers) - For curiosity, I take a look at how Gord has performed the past 4 games and realize that he is also in a slump. Not as bad as the Rays, but a slump none the less. He has only scored 7 runs in 28 innings. This starts to give me some hope. If I can bust out of this, there is a chance I can get back in this series. But I have to take the last game in St. Louise to get back to my park. I start early scoring 1 run in the top of the 1st inning and I am feeling good (I may be busting out). WRONG!! (but Gord can’t bust out either). We stay 1-0 right up to the 9th, and I manage to get an insurance run (which turns out to be critical) in the top of the 9th. I put O’Day in to close it out as I don’t want to get the lefty in with such a slim lead. Gord quickly gets 1 back and then proceeds to get Fielder on 2b with 2 outs. He quickly takes that fat fu(k out of there and replaces him with the speedy Bourne. This proves to be a great managers call as the next batter (Hamilton I believe) hits a single to RF (0 arm) and this has Gord thinking stretch Bourne home (why he put him in there 1-17 runner). And with that, Gord ties the game in the bottom of the 9th. I have the feeling that this is the end as we head into the top of the 10th inning. I have the top of my order up and Tulo is quickly retired. Utley strolls to the plate thinking “FU(K…I wish the Cardinals had a lefty pitcher in their staff), but is content to face the righty, which I believe was Wilson. Utley’s has his damage in the 3 column and I am ecstatic when I see the 3 on the white die. I proceed to look at the 2 black die, quickly do the math and it’s 8 (FU*K). The one spot (outside of the Hrbek 7) that puts the advantage to Gord...HR 1- 3 or an out!!! I look at the plethora of die that await to be called upon just to the right of me and I call out the blue die. Up in the air it goes and it seems like forever before it lands on the table. Takes a few rolls and stops cold on the 2. I fist pump…Gord puts his head in his hands and I am thinking TSN turning point…we are heading back to Tampa…but hold on…I still have 3 outs to contend with the Cardinals. I now lean and tell Kuo to go out there and get us back to Tampa….and he does precisely that. Pete wins 3-2. SERIES: 3-2 Gord GAME 6 (Jimenz vs Johnson) - Coming off a monster win in St. Louis, the Rays are pumped. The Cards have that feeling that they have felt in WS past where they were up 3-1 to only walk away a bridesmaid. Gord is still finding it hard to get his rolls in scoring only 5 runs the past 24 innings (recall - 2 runs came off the Wain’s 5 column). I get off to a quick lead with one run in the bottom of the 2nd and the team is starting to feel very good! Johnson continues to pitch a gem, but does start to waiver with Gord answering my run in the 6th. 1-1 going into the bottom of 6th and I start to hit the rolls, scoring 2 runs in the inning. Gord immediately gets one more back in the top of the 7th and then brings in Zumaya to hold off the Rays in the bottom of the inning…or so he thought. Walk after walk after walk, one fan from the stadium screams out “Hey Pete…I thought you had a hitting team? What’s with all the walks?” As two runs come across via walks and with a man on base, Ethier puts a gap between the Rays and Cards with a long ball. Gord, noticeable dejected at this point, starts to actually yell at his 20 siders. I believe an F-Bomb was dropped a couple of times. Gord can only manage one more run over the next 2 innings and the Rays take the game 7-3. SERIES: locked up at 3 apiece. GAME 7 (Oswalt vs Wain) - The 3rd and last time that these two aces will face each other. Each with a win under their belt, they know that this is not going to be easy. 2 innings in and each pitcher is leaving up to the term “ace” with no runs scored. Bottom of the 3rd inning, the Rays manage to score a run, but now full well that this will not hold up against the pesky Cards. Sure enough, top of the 4th, Gord answers right back. Wait a minute…. I hear that noise again and I immediately start to panic!!! I look under my chair, but all my wheels are rock solid so I am perplexed. I take a second look to ensure myself...yup...solid. But, as I am down there inspecting my equipment, I take a look across from me an notice that the Cards bus is starting shake a bit…oh my! The Rays step up in the bottom of the 4th inning and start to lay an ass whipping on the Oswalt, getting 3 runs off the ace. Gord scraps on back in the top of the 5th and we head to the bottom with the Rays up 4-2. Gord feels he needs to leave his ace in there as the game is still very much within reach. WRONG!! Rays pick up where they left off in the 4th and start to put guys on base. Gord gets antsy and starts to get his bullpen going. Oswalt throws out one more pitch and is quickly replaced by Wilson. Rays start up the walk parade again and get one across the plate. With 2 on Zimmerman pounds it out and cashes them in with a three run shot. Inning closes with the Rays up 8-2 and Gords bus is basically blowing up right in front of us. But…in Gord fashion, he refuses to die. After putting a couple of wagon wheels on his bus and giving his team the lashing of their lives, Gord pulls out everything he’s got. Wainwright, feeling the effects of pitching 3 games, starts to get tired, and Gord feasts on him. Putting a guy on base, Pedroia walks up an quickly cuts in to the lead by 2 by smacking it over the wall. Wainwright bears done and is able to close out the inning, but Gord is within striking distance. The Rays, sitting on the bench, getting ready for the bottom of the 7th see Wilson stroll to the mound. High fives are given all around and the Rays pounce on him like a Hyena on a carcass and draw 2 more runs across the plate (1 a solo shot by Tulo). Feeling the end is near, the Cards fold up like a cheap circus tent and are unable to get any closer and the Rays take the game 10-5, and for the second time in team history, come back from a 3-1 deficit to take the world series in 7 games.

Congrats goes out the Gord and the Cards for an exceptional season and a well fought World Series.

2010 Pennant

4-0

The Pittsburgh Pirates and the St. Louis Cardinals faced each other in what was billed to be an exciting Pennant. Both ballclubs knew what to expect from each other and after a Game 1 which showed all the momentum in the Pirates' favor - more was considered the same for the rest of the series. The Redbirds struck first in Game 1 despite pitching most of the game out of trouble. With injuries affecting both teams, it was to be a Pennant filled with managerial moves late and in crucial situations. St. Louis would take the 2010 Pennant with the first sweep in recent years. And now Pittsburgh had their own homecoming for their team - players, coaches and managerial staff - as Pup's succesful tenure as the city's baseball owner comes to a close, not without its fanfare nor without its excitement - cheers to that!