MLB Playoffs 2011

[mr_pikachu]

NATIONAL LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES






AMERICAN LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES






NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES






AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES






WORLD SERIES

If you're wondering where the Red Sox or the Braves are, I'm going to assume that you've been comatose for the past three weeks. You poor, poor fool.

[Jeff]

As a lifelong Orioles fan, I really have only one reason to post in this thread.

Suck it Red Sox. That is all.

[kainashi]

my tigers..

[Master Rudy]

Hey Mr. P you got a typo there! Shouldn't that be the NLCS on the second set of NL games?

In any case baseball no longer mattered once it was obvious that the Mets weren't going to the playoffs. As far as I'm concerned what'll make me happy is a Yankees elimination. I don't care who it is. Just want to see it happen

[mr_pikachu]

Hey Mr. P you got a typo there! Shouldn't that be the NLCS on the second set of NL games?

Blargh. This is what happens when I spend an hour fixing table tags.

As for the Yankees, it looks like they're about to drop game two at home, giving Detroit an opening... we'll see. At this point, anything could happen given the rain rescheduling and the consequential lack of a travel day.

[kainashi]

at least the weather will be nice back here in detroit for them. that 9th inning was rough to watch but overall a good game.

[mr_pikachu]

Seems like 3-0 first-inning leads are pretty flimsy in Philly... twice in a row (once for each ballclub), that fast start has been a curse. It's coming back to St. Louis on Tuesday!

[kainashi]

tigers with a chance to close it out tonight. verlander started slow last night but was lights out the rest of the game.

[Katie]

Woot woot Rangers. I swear if they win it all my boyfriend's sportsgasm will never ever ever end. Mavs + Rangers in one year? Mannn

e: COWBOYS TOO LOL

[kainashi]

tigers...

[kainashi]

[mr_pikachu]

Yeah, we're still not forgetting how you wrote off your team on Wednesday.

Good that New York lost, though. It's always nice to see the entire AL East eliminated before the ALCS, especially given how much attention all the sports programs (and those on ESPN in particular) pay to their beloved Yankees and Red Sox. I'll enjoy watching those idiot commentators helplessly stammer and shake their heads for the rest of the playoffs.

[kainashi]

show me the post where i wrote off the tigers.

[mr_pikachu]

tigers...

*shrugs* Seemed that way to me, at least. Then again, it was two in the morning when I first read it....



EDIT: Holy God. Epic clash of Cy Young winners, and Chris Carpenter throws a 3-hit, 110-pitch complete game shutout. St. Louis -- St. Louis! -- advances to the NLCS with a 1-0 victory.

I love baseball.

[Master Rudy]

Let's go back a few days.....what did I say again?

As far as I'm concerned what'll make me happy is a Yankees elimination.

Then this happened......

The only way I could be most excited right now is with some Viagra, a hooker and a bottle of rum.

It might be too early to call it due to the Rangers win but I'll take the Tigers to win it all!

[kainashi]

tigers vs. rangers postponed...

[Roy Karrde]

WALK OFF GRAND SLAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! First time EVER in the Playoffs, and first time in Rangers history!

[kainashi]

WALK OFF GRAND SLAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! First time EVER in the Playoffs, and first time in Rangers history!

[Becky]

I just like those photos. Awesome. Also, I'm a baseball newbie, but Brian keeps sports all the time, so I'm learning things. Slowly...

[mr_pikachu]

Heh. With all the talk about the grand slam -- fun to watch in the replays, by the way -- I decided to wait before bringing up Pujols' record-tying four extra base hits (three doubles and a drive) in Game 2.

Honestly, even if you discount the production, St. Louis needs to re-sign him just because of what he means to the club, to the city. He energizes his team. He exemplifies the soul of St. Louis. As one of the commentators put it last night, it's probably more difficult to imagine him in a different uniform than any other player in the game.

[Drago]

Late, but seeing these images now... makes me feel... happy...

[kainashi]

time to tie the series up, tigers.

[mr_pikachu]

time to tie the series up, tigers.

Nope. Texas won 7-3 in 11 innings... for the second time this series.

...

[kainashi]

now they have to win 3 in a row.

[mr_pikachu]

No dice. The Rangers just destroyed Detroit 15-5, earning a second World Series trip in a row. Now we just need to see who they'll face... Game 6 of the NLCS is 20 hours from now. Cardinals vs. Brewers, Jackson (0-0) vs. Marcum (0-1). Game on!

(The funny thing is, the ALCS could have just as easily been 4-1 for Detroit had those 11-inning affairs gone the other way.)

[kainashi]

oh well. at least they lose some dead weight this offseason. i think they're only a few pieces away from being a great team.

[mr_pikachu]

In fairness, the Tigers have been contenders for the past six seasons, and they're way better than they were in '03, when they barely won 40 games. Like I said, this series could have just as easily gone the other way, which should demonstrate how much of a threat Detroit already is to make a deep playoff run.

If they really do improve from here, like you suggest... well, I'd be as happy as anyone to see New York and Boston get bludgeoned on an annual basis, regardless of who's pounding them into the dirt.


EDIT: And, with a 12-6 victory over Milwaukee, the Cardinals earn their tickets to the World Series!

You know, this is a dream matchup for me. My favorite AL team against my favorite NL team. I really couldn't have planned it any better than this.

Happy flight.


EDIT2: Good God.

Albert Pujols is the most absurd player I've ever seen.

In Game 3 against Texas, he went 5-for-6 with six RBIs on three home runs.

St. Louis takes a 2-1 series lead on a 16-7 blowout, and Albert ties Paul Molitor for the most hits recorded in a World Series game. Just as ridiculously, Pujols is now only the third player in history to launch three balls in a single WS game. The other two? Reggie Jackson -- Mr. October himself -- and some guy named Babe Ruth. I could swear I've heard that name somewhere....


EDIT3: Lest I forget, that six-RBI mark tied the record that Bobby Richardson and Hideki Matsui share, and Pujols also stands alone as the first player to hit in four consecutive innings in a WS game. His 14 total bases, too, is a record attributed only to the Cardinal superstar.

The Brewers may have their Prince (for now), but St. Louis has King Pujols.

[mr_pikachu]

Texas keeps pushing, but those Cardinals just refuse to die. We finally know what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object: we get a championship-deciding Game 7. Find out who wins the World Series tonight!

[MToolen]

As Joe Buck said last night, "These Cardinals just. won't. go. away."

And that's why I'm a fan. Well, lacking cable, it's why I've perked my ears up every once in a while before finally being able to see games at my own house.

[mr_pikachu]

THE ST. LOUIS CARDINALS ARE THE 2011 WORLD CHAMPIONS!