It's Hard Out There for Off-Season Sports Fans

From Bill Dwyre, at the Los Angeles Times, "Baseball off-season can be tough on fans who see favorite players jump ship":

The most intriguing game that baseball plays is not hitting and pitching. It is musical chairs.

This is the sport's funny season. But unlike golf, where the funny season was simply a time for Freddie Couples to make more money for Christmas shopping, baseball's is real and serious.

So serious, as a matter of fact, that we actually might feel sorry for baseball writers.

They spend seven months a year, on expense account, watching a warm-weather game from the best seats in the house, with hot dogs nearby. Then, when the season ends and it's time to rest and re-introduce themselves to family, the real work begins. The stadiums are replaced by cellphones embedded in ears and daily dealings with lawyers, agents, rationalizing general managers and Scott Boras.

Great newspapers should pay them reasonable salaries for the season and a hefty supplement for the funny season. A Boras Bonus.

The pawn in all this is the fan. He is wired to be loyal to his local heroes. He is encouraged to purchase the jersey of his favorite player ($79.95 at the stadium store) and be sure to get his tickets early. This will be the year, he is told. The team is there for his viewing pleasure. Of course, next year, the team will be there again for his viewing pleasure. It will just be a vastly different team.

To be clear, this isn't an attempt to identify good guys or bad guys. This isn't a anti-greedy-player or anti-greedy-owner rant. In the airheaded, overused term of the day, baseball's situation is what it is.

The news comes daily. Fingers point in all directions.

Michael Young is now a Philadelphia Phillie? He had Texas Ranger carved into his heart. The pride of Bishop Amat High spent 12 years as Mr. Ranger RBI. If you were an Angels fan and saw him at the plate with another Ranger on base, you just jotted down a run in your scorecard.

Kevin Youkilis is now a New York Yankee? Has he really joined the evil empire, as did Johnny Damon a few years ago, leaving Boston Red Sox fans speechless and suicidal. Sure, Youkilis made a brief stop with the Chicago White Sox, but he was Boston through and through. Expect jersey burnings around Fenway.

We just got used to Mike Napoli as a Ranger, after a nice run of being the power behind the plate for the Angels. But nope. Throw away that jersey. Napoli is now a Red Sox.

Ah, and so is Shane Victorino. It never seemed quite right to see him in a Dodgers uniform. He was a Phillie, a tough-guy-in-a-tough-city player. Now he is a Bostonian.

Albert Pujols, the best of the best, after all those years in Cardinals red, the modern-day Stan Musial, both in performance and local image, in an Angels' uniform? Good for Southern California, but weird nevertheless.

Yeah, and Pujols had a rough start last season. It takes a while getting used to new lineups.

More at the link.

Giants Win World Series After Sweeping Tigers

Some of the most dominating baseball I've ever seen.

The New York Times reports:

On 1-1, Cabrera goes fishing for a breaking ball away and misses, 1-2. Takes a pitch, 2-2, fouls off the next. Then Romo freezes him with a fastball for strike three, striking out the side, and the jumping, rolling, hat-throwing celebration begins in the middle of the infield.

Giants win, 4-3, in 10 innings, for their second world championship in three years.

Also at USA Today, "Giants sweep Tigers for World Series title":

12:02AM EDT October 29. 2012 - DETROIT – They took the hard, winding road to the World Series, then discovered the direct path.

The San Francisco Giants, who survived six elimination games in the playoffs, closed out a four-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers with a 4-3 victory in 10 innings Sunday night to win their second World Series in three years.

Marco Scutaro drove in Ryan Theriot with a two-out RBI single in the 10th for the winning score. Theriot had opened the inning with a single off Detroit closer Phil Coke, pitching his second inning, and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt.

Sergio Romo got the save for the Giants, who defeated the Texas Rangers in five games in 2010 for their first World Series crown since moving to San Francisco in 1958.

Pablo Sandoval, who hit three home runs in Game 1, was named MVP of the World Series.

"We're just happy right now," Buster Posey said. "This tonight was a fitting way for us to end it. Those guys played hard; they didn't stop."

Continue reading.

Marine Cpl. Nicholas Kimmel Throws First Pitch

Video at MLB: "2012 World Series: Game 2."

And from USA Today, "Triple amputee war veteran throws first pitch."

Plus, at the New York Times, "World Series Game 2: Giants 2, Tigers 0," and "After a Few Rounds, Detroit’s Bad Old Days Return."

Giants Force Game Seven

I watched the entire game after taking most of the day off yesterday from blogging.

At the Wall Street Journal, "Vogelsong Leads Giants Over Cardinals to Force Game 7":

SAN FRANCISCO–Two years ago, Ryan Vogelsong was a Triple-A washout and Barry Zito was a major-league bust. Today, of all people, they are the primary reasons the San Francisco Giants are still alive in the National League Championship Series.

After Zito’s improbable gem spared the Giants elimination in Game 5, Vogelsong continued the pitching revival tour by dominating the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 6 on Sunday night at AT&T Park. He allowed just one run in seven innings in the Giants’ 6-1 win, which tied the best-of-seven series at three games apiece. Game 7 is Monday night in San Francisco.

“I didn’t want to let these guys down,” Vogelsong said. “I didn’t want to let the city down.”

The Giants are a team known for their elite pitching...

Continue reading.

That was one of the most commanding outings I've seen in a long time. The dude was just ringing 'em up, and he pitched a career-high of nine strikeouts. A phenomenal performance.