ozzie’s the coach now!?!? good god i haven’t watched baseball in ages.

One of the weirder bits of fallout from the “war on terror” is the theory that large numbers of dreadful public renditions of “God Bless America” will cause the enemy to break cover and run, cowering far from all amplification systems (i.e. “civilization”). Like most simple-sounding soungs, GBA is an expletive deleted to perform well. Phair ain’t got the chops for it. That was one fine game — why desecrate it?

can’t they just play Ray Charles’ version every time?

It’s been fun so far, that’s for sure, although I hope it doesn’t tail off into a rout of close games.

But here’s my thing. Is it possible that Tim McCarver is full of shit? I used to think he was very authoritative, but lately I’ve started to pay more attention and I’m not entirely sure he knows what he’s talking about. Remember that controversial call in the bottom of the seventh last night, where Jermaine Dye gets to go to first base because the umpire determined he’d been hit by the pitch, a decision that contributes to Konerko’s grand slam? Fox showed us a replay and McCarver said something like, “If a pitch hits the bat, then the ball goes down, but if a pitch hits the arm, then the ball goes straight or up.” And I’m thinking, “What!!??” How on earth do you make a statement like that with a straight face? Is it an absolutely immutable law of physics that arms make balls go up and bats make balls go down? What on earth is he talking about?

And then, the priceless interchange between Joe Buck and McCarver which goes something like, “Tim, do you think that memory of the Pujols home run is lingering for Brad Lidge,” to which McCarver replies, “I think that memory is gone,” which makes me think, “Uh oh,” and sure enough TWO SECONDS LATER, Podsednik crushes Lidge for a game-winning home run, and this makes me laugh, not out of any mockery of Brad Lidge, but because McCarver just made such an idiot of himself in front of millions of people.

You can put it on the board … Yes! Sox win! Sox win!

so much to respond to!

first of all, i enjoy the yeats reference in your blog title. as an undergrad and grad student i devoted WAY too much of my life and way too much paper and ink to unraveling the mystery that is that crazy (anglo)irishman. it’s nice to know that the sum of all that work is my ability to spot a reference almost anywhere.

how great is ozzie’s call to the bullpen for jenks? my boyfriend and i were talking about it during game 1, as he’d done it a few times before, and our friends almost didn’t believe us. it’s freaking priceless.

and yes Rod, Tim McCarver is completely full of shit. i have a hard time deciding which one to hate more, him or Joe Buck. their bad dye jobs, their inane banter, their tenacious refusal to root for the underdog - so much to disdain. the fact that radio broadcasts are 5 seconds out of sync with the tv broadcasts is a tragedy.

I’m relieved that I’m not the only person who thought the “balls that hit bats go down” statement was off the wall. I’m an occasional fan (despite years of my dad’s patient efforts to make me a true aficionado), and I found myself wondering if this was some arcane piece of baseball knowledge that had passed me by.

But at least “God Bless America” was vastly improved!

Sox win again! Sox win again!

PAST TIME FOR SURE

SOON IT WILL BE over. Our national pastime and all this Fitzmas will mercifully (or not so mercifully) end. Certain conclusions are inevitable. Crimes have been committed and errors have been made. The Astros look like they are Lost

Holy Cow!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have nothing against the Astros, but they were a tired, sad team to watch last night. Uribe’s fielding, though — now THAT was pretty to see.

And if we MUST suffer through GBA at every 7th inning stretch (I’m still rooting for “This Land Is Your Land” to become the TRUE song of patriotism), Lyle Lovett was not only surprisingly OK, but he refused to take a high note he knew he couldn’t sing just because everyone else always shows that they can’t sing it. Give the man an award.

[…] How it was possible for my prediction of a great world series to be true, even as the White Sox completed a clean sweep of the Astros, is beyond me. As Robert Farley wrote on Lawyers, Guns & Money, this did indeed “end up being the most exciting four game sweep in the history of the World Series” (via Lance). Every game was tightly contested, and featured see-saw changes in momentum. […]