Saturday, October 28, 2006
The World Series Not
Going into the World Series I didn't really have a team I was pulling for so I finally picked the Tigers because I didn't like La Russa. La Russa's clenched stare, joyless and cold, made Leyland look like a benevolent uncle. But the Tigers managed to do just about everything wrong as they embarrassed themselves and bored the viewers. The Cardinals played well enough, but the Tigers flat out lost it for themselves. The Tiger's pitchers can place a ball within a narrow tunnel at home plate, making the ball do somersaults on the way, at close to a 100-mph; but if the same pitchers swing toward first or third to throw someone out the result resembles a fire drill in a mental hospital. Five “fielding errors” by Tiger pitchers — throwing errors.
The closest spectacle to this ineptitude can be seen in many NBA games where you regularly see multi-million dollar athletes who can't nail a free throw. Big disappointment this World Series. Strange thing is that individually these are (nearly) all very good players. No team chemistry — no team rhythm. As it began, it looked like the teams that made it to the World Series were stand-ins for other teams — that impression was reinforced by the level of play.