In a year that's been so improbable...
The Dodgers and Angels clinch the NL
and AL West divisions, within about a half hour of each other
In '88 when Kirk Gibson hit his memorable home
run, as he hobbled around the basepath and into the history books, Vin Scully -
the voice of the Dodgers now for close to 6 decades and the greatest baseball
announcer - eloquently proclaimed, "In a year that's been so improbable, the
impossible just happened." I figured I would borrow that line for the title of
this post, seeing as I'm a bit overwhelmed by what I saw today in baseball.
Within about a half hour of each other, both the Dodgers and the Angels came
from behind to clinch the NL and AL West titles. Janet and I were lucky enough
to have sat down right in time to watch both happen, as we flipped back and
forth between the two games.
The Angels won first, so we'll start with them. Going into the 8th inning, the Angels were down 4-2. If they lost this game, it would mean a one game, winner takes all situation on Sunday, as they would be tied with the A's for the AL West (neither team has any hopes of getting the Wild Card as a consolation prize, as Boston has had that wrapped up for a while). The Angels managed to rally for 3 runs in the 8th, and that was the difference. Janet and I turned it at the bottom of the eighth and watched the Angels hang on to clinch the division.
The Dodgers had an even more exciting night. Down 3-0 in the 8th, they managed to get two on with only one out. Janet and I were watching on the edge of our seats as the Dodgers tried to get one more come from behind victory (they had 52 before today, and 15 of those were in the 8th or later). But the 8th was disappointing and the Dodgers came up completely empty. With only three more outs to go, we were starting to get worried. The Dodgers loaded the bases and managed to tie on a single, some walks, an error, and an 8 pitch at bat that ended in a single. Once the score was tied, the pressure was off, and it was pretty clear the Dodgers would win. But I never would have suspected a walk off grand slam from Steve Finley. Anyone looking at the score of 7-3 would never guess the amount of excitement in the game.
So for the first time ever in major league history, both the Angels and the Dodgers are playing in the postseason. These two games were exactly what I love of about baseball. Basketball is a very exciting sport to watch, and the late second three pointer is pretty hard to top. But when you get the Dodgers and Giants, bitter rivals for decades, battling for their postseason life and the division title, I don't think you can find anything more exciting. Every pitch counts, every pitch makes you hold your breath and wonder what will happen. You watch as the batter fouls off another pitch, and you can start breathing again and you think to yourself "I'm not sure how much more of this I can take." That's excitement and thats why I love baseball. It's definitely going to be a fun postseason to watch.
The Angels won first, so we'll start with them. Going into the 8th inning, the Angels were down 4-2. If they lost this game, it would mean a one game, winner takes all situation on Sunday, as they would be tied with the A's for the AL West (neither team has any hopes of getting the Wild Card as a consolation prize, as Boston has had that wrapped up for a while). The Angels managed to rally for 3 runs in the 8th, and that was the difference. Janet and I turned it at the bottom of the eighth and watched the Angels hang on to clinch the division.
The Dodgers had an even more exciting night. Down 3-0 in the 8th, they managed to get two on with only one out. Janet and I were watching on the edge of our seats as the Dodgers tried to get one more come from behind victory (they had 52 before today, and 15 of those were in the 8th or later). But the 8th was disappointing and the Dodgers came up completely empty. With only three more outs to go, we were starting to get worried. The Dodgers loaded the bases and managed to tie on a single, some walks, an error, and an 8 pitch at bat that ended in a single. Once the score was tied, the pressure was off, and it was pretty clear the Dodgers would win. But I never would have suspected a walk off grand slam from Steve Finley. Anyone looking at the score of 7-3 would never guess the amount of excitement in the game.
So for the first time ever in major league history, both the Angels and the Dodgers are playing in the postseason. These two games were exactly what I love of about baseball. Basketball is a very exciting sport to watch, and the late second three pointer is pretty hard to top. But when you get the Dodgers and Giants, bitter rivals for decades, battling for their postseason life and the division title, I don't think you can find anything more exciting. Every pitch counts, every pitch makes you hold your breath and wonder what will happen. You watch as the batter fouls off another pitch, and you can start breathing again and you think to yourself "I'm not sure how much more of this I can take." That's excitement and thats why I love baseball. It's definitely going to be a fun postseason to watch.
Posted: Sat - October 2, 2004 at 08:31 PM | | | | | | |
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