Crumpled Notebook

Yeah, that’s not something I ever thought I’d ever say and really mean. But, you gotta do what you gotta do. What I have to do is root for anyone to beat the Dodgers, even if it’s the Phillies.

I say this also knowing that rumor has it that Philly fans are the worst and most obnoxious in baseball. I hear if you go to a Phillies game and have New York plates on your car, you can expect something bad to happen to your car.

I almost always cheer for NL teams over AL teams in the World Series. If the Dodgers win the NL, I can’t do that. As a Giants fan and as a Cubs fan, I simply cannot cheer for the Dodgers. I’m not sure how I’m going to cheer for the Phillies being a Pirate fan, but somehow, I’ll muster up the courage.

Besides, next year is the Pirates year. I just know it.

More baseball later. I’m disgusted at the Postseason so far.

Wrigley Field.

What can’t you say about Wrigley Field? Wrigley opened in 1914, so it’s about 6 years shy of a century old. Wow. I have plenty of pictures to come, but I’m having trouble uploading tonight. I won’t list out all the pros/cons of Wrigley. It’s a great park. I haven’t been to Fenway yet, but as far as baseball atmosphere goes, Wrigley would be tough to beat. It’s a small park. I love the bleachers on top of the buildings surrounding it. It is old. There is nothing fancy about it. No escalators. It’s not particularly clean. If there was anything I didn’t like about it, I have to say I miss the video screen. They have an old school outfield scoreboard. It’s electronic, but looks like a manual one. However, the scores for the other games going on is manual, which is pretty much awesome. But, like I said, I do miss the big screen replays. What can I say? I’m spoiled. Suffice to say though, the Ivy, the bleachers, the fans, Wrigleyville, and everything else more than makes up for that one thing.

Best ballpark, I’ll buy that. Nicest, not a chance, but who ever said those two things went hand-in-hand.

So it’s official. I bought a plane ticket tonight to Chicago for May. So here is the plan:

May 7th: Arrive and probably sleep
May 8th: White Sox game with Jeff
May 9th: Cubs game with Jeff
May 10th: Wander around Chicago before starting the drive to Pittsburgh
May 11th: Visit my brother somewhere around Pittsgurgh (about an hour from there)
May 12th: Pirates game!!!!! (and they are playing good ol’ Atlanta…CRYSTAL)…after game, start driving back to Chicago
May 13th: Get up, finish trip to Chicago, get on a plane, go home

Now I just have to figure out what to do in the evenings in Chicago on the 8th and 9th since the games are mid-day. Anyone have any suggestions?

No? Too bad. I do. Here’s my “near the end of the season” round up and predictions for the post season.

 Okay, if you haven’t noticed, the NL Central has a hecka awesome cat and mouse game going on with the Cubs and the Brewers (the who? yeah, that team from Milwakee…does anyone even know any Brewers fans? If so, tell me. I’d like to meet them).

So, tonight, the beloved Cubbies lost to the Reds. Pretty pitiful if you as me, but that’s just my bias against the Reds. This means the Brewers and the Cubs are tied up yet again for the NL Central.

If you are a Cubs fan, I have some bad news. The Brewers have 12 games left. The Cubs only have 10. Yeah. But wait, it does get better…

If you’re a Brewers fan (like I said, i know of none), I have some REALLYY bad news. The Cubs are still going to win the NL Central. Why? Do you ask? Well, my friends, the Brewers, in their final games, have to play Atlanta…who’s about on the same par with the Brewers, win/loss-wise anyway. So they’ll probably split a few games. They also have to play St. Louis, who is behind them in their division (albeit 7.5 game back). Still, St. Louis could pull out a win. Okay, here’s where it gets worse. The final games of the Brewers season, they have to play the Padres. Despite being 2nd in the West, they still maintain a better record than the Brewers and can just flat be a tough team to sweep. And, I predict that the Padres will be the Wildcard for the NL (unless they come back up on AZ and take the West).

So what if the Brewers are playing some semi-decent teams? Well, compare that to the rest of the Cubbies schedule. Pittsburg (3rd worst team in the NL), Cincinati (just barely above Pitt, 6th worst team in NL); and Florida–THE worst team in the NL this season.

If they Cubbies don’t pull this one off, I will swear forever that the curse is real.

Okay, quickly, I’ll tell you about the other teams.

NL East:
Mets got 2 games up on the Phillies and 5.5 up on Atlanta. I don’t predict any big surprises here. Mets will make it in.

NL West:
AZ is 1.5 games up on San Diego (Padres). I’m going with AZ, but whoever is 2nd in this race will be the Wildcard, and a good one at that.

NL Central:
Do I really need to cover this again?

AL East:
GO BOSTON! Yeah. Not a fan of AL teams, but I like Boston. Why? Because I hate the Yankees and if there is any team that hates the Yankees, it’s Boston. We can bond together over hate. It’s all good. Anyway, they got 2 games up on the Yankees. I have faith they’ll pull it off, BUT the Yankees will be the AL Wildcard. Which means yet another Red Sox/Yankees AL series for a trip to the World Series. Yeah, who cares about the other AL teams.

In case you do…

AL Central:
Cleveland is 6.5 up on someone, Detriot, yeah, that’s it. Best known for usually being the worst team in baseball. Gotta give Detriot (Tigers) their props though…ending the season with a better record than most of the NL. If you do like Cleveland, I read a story tonight about the Mighty Casey stepping up to bat. Check it out. Oh, and this time, the Mighty Casey did NOT strike out.

AL West:
Anaheim, er, I mean the Los Angeles Angels are like 8.5 games up on Seattle. So unless Seattle wins all the rest, and Ana..er LA losses all the rest, the Angels are on their way to the Penant Chase.

But, who’s gonna play in the World Series, and win? Red Sox and Cubs? OH, wouldn’t THAT just be magical. Who knows? Bud Selig would probably arrange that just to take away from people remembering Barry Bonds this season.