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World Series Game 7 Open Thread

by John Cole

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October 28, 2011 7:15 pm Posted in: Sports  96 Comments

96 Responses

  1. cathyx - October 28, 2011 | 7:21 pm · Link

    It’s game 7 already?

  2. lamh34 - October 28, 2011 | 7:22 pm · Link

    Ughh! I don’t care who wins. I spit on your baseball thread…pa-toouie! I’ve had to wait 2 whole weeks for a the newest episode of Fringe where Peter returns and we Fringe fanatics get to see how that affects the Fringe multiverse and now thx to the darn Rangers not clinching the damn win last night, I gotta wait another week for Finge.

    On second thought…Go Cards!

  3. General Stuck - October 28, 2011 | 7:22 pm · Link

    Though the Cardinals are big rivals with my Cincy Reds, I cannot root for a Texas anything, so go Cards.

  4. Roger Moore - October 28, 2011 | 7:23 pm · Link

    Go Cardinals! Go to hell George W. Bush!

  5. Not Sure - October 28, 2011 | 7:25 pm · Link

    @Roger Moore: The curse of the Dubya?

  6. Kathleen - October 28, 2011 | 7:25 pm · Link

    Go Rangers. LaRusso is a right wing nut case. I don’t think Washington is. A coworker is a big St. Louis fan and was telling me today that LaRusso was a much better strategist because he was constantly evaluating lineup, defense, pitching, etc based on events in the game, whereas Washington just went with who he had in the lineup, rotation, whataever and didn’t change playlers based on opponents’ strategy. I said, “Well, he brought his team to the Series and won three games. He must be doing something right.”

  7. jeffreyw - October 28, 2011 | 7:28 pm · Link

    Is there a live stream?

  8. Boudica - October 28, 2011 | 7:30 pm · Link

    Will be at a HS football game (this is Friday night in Texas, after all), but will have my headphones and FM radio tuned to the game. Go Rangers!

  9. cathyx - October 28, 2011 | 7:30 pm · Link

    @jeffreyw: What, no world series game 7 food picture? Maybe a guacamole shot or nachos with cheese? Cocktail weenies?

  10. The Dangerman - October 28, 2011 | 7:31 pm · Link

    @General Stuck:

    ...I cannot root for a Texas anything…

    I would normally agree, but Nolan Ryan has never won anything (other than Robin Ventura’s manhood); I used to go to his games in Anaheim Stadium, easily the hardest thrower I’ve ever heard (i.e. catchers mitt needed extra padding).

  11. shirt - October 28, 2011 | 7:35 pm · Link

    Yesterday’s game was one of the best I’ve seen in the play-offs.

  12. Jim C - October 28, 2011 | 7:36 pm · Link

    @General Stuck: Last night reminded me of Game 6 of the 1975 Series.

    We both know how that turned out (and I say that as a Cardinals fan).

  13. General Stuck - October 28, 2011 | 7:41 pm · Link

    @The Dangerman:

    I have a Nolan Ryan story, back in the day, I played American Legion baseball in the summer, and our coach used to umpire in the winter leagues, I think it was Class A ball. One summer after returning from down south, he was telling us about a young pitcher that threw so hard, he had trouble seeing the ball well enough to call balls and strikes, especially since the night light was so bad in those parks.

    A few years later when Ryan was in the majors, he told us that was the guy he’d been talking about.

  14. Roger Moore - October 28, 2011 | 7:41 pm · Link

    @Not Sure:

    The curse of the Dubya?

    From your mouth (keyboard?) to God’s ears.

  15. jeffreyw - October 28, 2011 | 7:41 pm · Link

    @cathyx: Well..I do have something ready to go out.

  16. General Stuck - October 28, 2011 | 7:45 pm · Link

    @Jim C:

    Several seasons ago, the Reds and Cards were playing a game in I think Cincinnati, while they were both battling for first place in the central division. With the Reds leading by 9 to 1 going into the ninth inning. And the cards rallied to win. Yesterday’s game didn’t surprise me much about them.

  17. Amir Khalid - October 28, 2011 | 7:45 pm · Link

    This “baseball” that you speak of, is it like America’s cricket?

  18. Arclite - October 28, 2011 | 7:46 pm · Link

    NPR’s Yuki Noguchi is an unabashed supporter of the Cardinals. How soon before NPR fires her for a lack of objectivity?

  19. General Stuck - October 28, 2011 | 7:48 pm · Link

    @jeffreyw:

    Justin Tv

  20. cathyx - October 28, 2011 | 7:51 pm · Link

    @jeffreyw: Looks fantastic. But needs mayonnaise.

  21. jeffreyw - October 28, 2011 | 7:54 pm · Link

    @cathyx: No, and you are out of your mind.

  22. Villago Delenda Est - October 28, 2011 | 7:54 pm · Link

    @Roger Moore:

    This. A million times, this.

  23. jeffreyw - October 28, 2011 | 7:55 pm · Link

    @General Stuck: Got it, thanks.

  24. MikeJ - October 28, 2011 | 7:58 pm · Link

    @Amir Khalid: Sort of, but faster paced.

  25. General Stuck - October 28, 2011 | 7:59 pm · Link

    @jeffreyw:

    MLB itself is also streaming it free from their website. Or it looks that way.

  26. Villago Delenda Est - October 28, 2011 | 7:59 pm · Link

    @cathyx:

    Cocktail weenies are the official food of The Village.

    Gag, retch, barf.

  27. cathyx - October 28, 2011 | 8:00 pm · Link

    @jeffreyw: I thought it was already established that mayonnaise and chocolate improves almost everything.

  28. Maude - October 28, 2011 | 8:00 pm · Link

    @MikeJ:
    Do cricket players spit?

  29. cathyx - October 28, 2011 | 8:03 pm · Link

    @Villago Delenda Est: Cocktail weenies with that sickeningly sweet sauce. Yum. (not really, I’m with you, yuck)

  30. jeffreyw - October 28, 2011 | 8:03 pm · Link

    @cathyx: You are fucking with forces you do not understand. The mayo must not flow.

  31. Omnes Omnibus - October 28, 2011 | 8:04 pm · Link

    @cathyx: If anyone puts fucking mayo on that sandwich, there will be goddamned consequences.

  32. cathyx - October 28, 2011 | 8:08 pm · Link

    @jeffreyw: @Omnes Omnibus: No, mayonnaise for all! Occupy mayonnaise, I say.

  33. The prophet Nostradumbass - October 28, 2011 | 8:10 pm · Link

    @Amir Khalid:

    This “baseball” that you speak of, is it like America’s cricket?

    More like rounders, really.

  34. Chet - October 28, 2011 | 8:12 pm · Link

    ESPN Radio stream, for those who like Orel. Heh, heh.

    2-0 Rangers already.

  35. waratah - October 28, 2011 | 8:19 pm · Link

    The Aussie in me always makes me go for the underdogs so GO RANGERS

  36. Chet - October 28, 2011 | 8:20 pm · Link

    @Jim C: Another historical precedent favoring the Rangers: only three AL teams in history have ever lost two or more consecutive World Series: the 1907-09 Tigers, 1921-22 Yankees, 1963-64 Yankees.

  37. master c - October 28, 2011 | 8:21 pm · Link

    That was a crazy game last night.

  38. patrick II - October 28, 2011 | 8:22 pm · Link

    @cathyx:
    It’s st. louis. Fried ravioli would look good (haven’t been back to st. louis in a year).

  39. piratedan - October 28, 2011 | 8:23 pm · Link

    lose lose proposition… bush = Rangers = meh, LaRussa = Cardinals = meh… just hope the game is fun for the fans

  40. elftx - October 28, 2011 | 8:27 pm · Link

    Lifelong Chicagoan now stuck in Tx for last 14yrs…and I can’t believe I am actually rooting for the Rangers..just love their base running.

    So almost (lol) feel torn having grown up with the Cubs and all ya know..and wonder if I brought the curse with me…hmmmm.
    (and the cards just tied da game )

    Been fun to watch the Rangers in the playoffs and this series… has been some great ball!!

  41. smelter rat - October 28, 2011 | 8:38 pm · Link

    Fuck the Rangers. That is all.

  42. Moonbatting Average - October 28, 2011 | 8:50 pm · Link

    To all you Rangers haters, I present WIlliam O. DeWitt Jr., Owner of the St. Louis Cardinals:

    “In 1984, one of DeWitt’s business ventures, the oil company Spectrum 7, bought George W. Bush’s Arbusto Energy, and in turn merged with Harken Energy in 1986. DeWitt also informed Bush that Eddie Chiles wanted to sell the Texas Rangers baseball franchise.”

    Yeah, the Cards weren’t ever owned by a war criminal, but it could be argued that DeWitt had as much to do with Bush’s failing-upwards as anyone not also named Bush.

    Whatever, this A’s fan is rooting for the Rangers.

  43. burnspbesq - October 28, 2011 | 8:51 pm · Link

    Can I just say that Pujols is going to look really good in a Mets uniform next year?

  44. burnspbesq - October 28, 2011 | 8:54 pm · Link

    Is that Cornyn sitting in front of Ryan? Nolan needs better taste in companions.

  45. Moonbatting Average - October 28, 2011 | 9:02 pm · Link

    @burnspbesq: I would be shocked, yet schadenfreude-ly aroused, if the Cards didn’t keep him.

  46. burnspbesq - October 28, 2011 | 9:10 pm · Link

    @Moonbatting Average:

    It’s going to cost them $140 – $150 million over six years to keep him. I don’t know whether they can afford it.

  47. rikyrah - October 28, 2011 | 9:16 pm · Link

    GO TEXAS

  48. Moonbatting Average - October 28, 2011 | 9:28 pm · Link

    @burnspbesq: Well, if you are right, then the Mets are probably the least-ojectionable team that could afford him. Better them than the Paleo-Evil Empire (Yankees), the Neo-Evil Empire (Red Sox), or the NL-Evil Empire (Phillies)

    (though if the Cards win this, they are probably more like the REAL Evil Empire of the NL)

  49. Jim C - October 28, 2011 | 9:37 pm · Link

    @Chet:
    Interesting. I hadn’t thought of it from that perspective.

    I’m listening to the BBC Five Live Sports Extra stream via iTunes radio. If you want a different perspective …

  50. burnspbesq - October 28, 2011 | 9:38 pm · Link

    @Moonbatting Average:

    Sox are a likely bidder, as Big Papi is a free agent. Yankees have Texeira Phils gave Howard a huge extension last year; they are stuck with him through 2015.

  51. smintheus - October 28, 2011 | 9:42 pm · Link

    The Cards have already won too many World Series for my taste, and Texas has lost too few.

  52. Maxwel - October 28, 2011 | 9:55 pm · Link

    Another Texas pitcher trying to be Joe Table II.

  53. Suffern ACE - October 28, 2011 | 9:56 pm · Link

    @burnspbesq: The sox have Gonzalez at first making $20 million per year though 2018. Fielder might work there as no one expects that he is going to be in the field forever anyway and he could be a DH. But if they really thought they had a chance for Pujols, they wouldn’t have signed Gozalez this year.

  54. The prophet Nostradumbass - October 28, 2011 | 9:57 pm · Link

    Something that will be funny in the off-season: All the nitwit Giants fans who will call in to KNBR and go on and on about how they can totally sign Pujols.

  55. Raven (formerly stuckinred) - October 28, 2011 | 9:59 pm · Link

    Boring ass baseball.

  56. Moonbatting Average - October 28, 2011 | 9:59 pm · Link

    @burnspbesq: Oh man… And Howard just blew out his Achilles, didn’t he? Considering the 2004 WS sweep, Pujols to the Sox would be painful for Cards fans.

    Also, too, C.J. Wilson SUCKS.

  57. waratah - October 28, 2011 | 10:01 pm · Link

    Now I know why I do not watch baseball very often. It sucks when you are for the underdog and they are not even playing at home. All I can see is red. Are there any Texans there?

  58. burnspbesq - October 28, 2011 | 10:15 pm · Link

    It’s 4:15 a.m. in the central European time zone. Wonder how many expat Americans are logged into ESPN.com.

  59. master c - October 28, 2011 | 10:18 pm · Link

    C’mon rangers!

  60. Moonbatting Average - October 28, 2011 | 10:29 pm · Link

    @waratah: The irony here is that the Rangers were basically favored, and if the MLB playoff structure made sense, the Rangers WOULD be playing at home. Instead, because Bud Selig is a reactionary idiot, a second-place team is hosting the World Series.

    /yeah, the previous WS home-field arrangement was totally arbitrary as well. Why can’t we just go with best record?

  61. Kobie - October 28, 2011 | 10:36 pm · Link

    @Moonbatting Average: Not only that, but the guy who gave up the three-run homer to Prince Fielder in the All-Star Game that gave the NL representative home-field in the series? C.J. Wilson.

    I, personally, think home-field should go to the representative of the league that puts up the best aggregate record in interleague play.

  62. Origuy - October 28, 2011 | 10:38 pm · Link

    It’s been ten years, can we stop having God Bless America during the 7th inning stretch yet?

  63. waratah - October 28, 2011 | 10:40 pm · Link

    @Moonbatting Average: I guess we have politics in sport too.
    Is there any hope Rangers can pull this out now?

  64. KoolEarl - October 28, 2011 | 10:44 pm · Link

    If Texas gets back into this, Washington will find away to blunder this game

  65. Joel - October 28, 2011 | 10:47 pm · Link

    @Moonbatting Average: Why would the Red Sox sign Pujols? They have Adrian Gonzalez already. Or do you mean the White Sox?

  66. Joel - October 28, 2011 | 10:48 pm · Link

    @Moonbatting Average: Also, I never understood how anyone could ever root for a divisonal rival. I see this in Mariners fans and it puzzles the hell out of me.

  67. Moonbatting Average - October 28, 2011 | 10:50 pm · Link

    @Kobie: That’s an interesting proposition! I’d argue that you’d have to go easy on the manufactured regional rivalries to make it a little more randomized/legitimate, but I really like the idea. Also, yeah C.J. Wilson gets Retroactive WS Goat for that all-star game. If the Rangers even offer him a contract, they are fools.

    @waratah: Not bloody likely.

  68. Moonbatting Average - October 28, 2011 | 10:59 pm · Link

    @Joel: My experience as an A’s fan living in Texas is that the AL west fans have some backhanded affection for their rivals (except for the Angels, fuck those guys).

    I’ve been going back and forth with several of my dad’s friends who are Astros fans, and are feverishly rooting for the Cards in this series, which I find odd (perhaps/probably hypocritically). It apparently has to do with them rooting for Lance Berkman (do Red Sox fans root for the Yankees because of Johnny Damon?), and b/c they are crusty old NL fans who can’t deal with the DH.

  69. burnspbesq - October 28, 2011 | 11:05 pm · Link

    Why hasn’t LaRussa declared and turned the game over to his bowlers?

    Oh, wait, this is baseball, not cricket.

  70. The prophet Nostradumbass - October 28, 2011 | 11:05 pm · Link

    @Moonbatting Average:

    do Red Sox fans root for the Yankees because of Johnny Damon?

    I sure know that A’s fans don’t.

    ETA: Actually, who the hell does Damon play for now? Oh yeah, Tampa.

  71. tc - October 28, 2011 | 11:21 pm · Link

    What’s the crowd chanting?

  72. Moonbatting Average - October 28, 2011 | 11:26 pm · Link

    UGGGHHHHH

    Yet again, like 2006, a goddamn obnoxious, underachieving Cards team sneaks into the playoffs, catches fire and wins the World Series. How monumentally annoying. How irritating.

  73. Joel - October 28, 2011 | 11:39 pm · Link

    @Moonbatting Average: Beats an obnoxious, underachieving Yankees team.

  74. robertdsc-PowerBook - October 28, 2011 | 11:41 pm · Link

    @Moonbatting Average:
    On the bright side, George W. Bush goes home a loser. Never enough of that.

  75. Moonbatting Average - October 29, 2011 | 12:01 am · Link

    @Joel: Cold comfort, but good point.

    @robertdsc-PowerBook: I’d like to think so, but I’d rather see him come out a loser in The Hague than as a former partial owner of the Rangers 15 years ago.

  76. Cacti - October 29, 2011 | 12:19 am · Link

    @Moonbatting Average:

    The irony here is that the Rangers were basically favored, and if the MLB playoff structure made sense, the Rangers WOULD be playing at home. Instead, because Bud Selig is a reactionary idiot, a second-place team is hosting the World Series.

    Yeah, it sucks when the wild card team gets homefield in the World Series based on the All Star Game outcome.

    I could swear that that very thing happened to a certain Cardinals team that won 104 games in 2004, but had to open the World Series at Fenway.

  77. Waynski the Thread Killer - October 29, 2011 | 12:19 am · Link

    What happened to the champagne?

  78. Cacti - October 29, 2011 | 12:23 am · Link

    @Waynski the Thread Killer:

    What happened to the champagne?

    They try not to show those as much anymore.

    Impressionable children might discover that adults enjoy alcohol, and frequently use it in celebrations.

    Won’t someone think of the children?

  79. Kobie - October 29, 2011 | 12:28 am · Link

    @Cacti: Wouldn’t have mattered, since under the old system, the World Series would have started in the AL park in 2004. Odd years went to the NL champ; even years to the AL (which is why the Diamondbacks were home for Game 7 against the Yankees in 2001).

  80. The Golux - October 29, 2011 | 12:46 am · Link

    @The Dangerman: Actually, Ryan did get a ring with the Mets in ‘69. Coming out of the bullpen, he won the clinching game of the NLCS, and threw a couple of innings of relief in the Series.

    P.S. Is there any way to prevent the fricking Lina McMahon ads from befouling Balloon Juice?

  81. drkrick - October 29, 2011 | 12:54 am · Link

    Either overall record or interleague record are just about as arbitrary as what they do now (or the old system of just taking turns). There aren’t enough common opponents between an AL and NL team for the comparison to mean much. If the series comes down to who gets home field for the last game, neither team was really that much better than the other anyway.

    Nolan Ryan threw hard, but he wasn’t very good at translating that into winning, either. He put up the third worst winning percentage of any HoF pitcher and is tied for the 488th best winning percentage in MLB history. If his health had been just a little better at the end, he could have racked up those last eight losses to make 300 in that category, too. If they had wanted winning leadership for the franchise, they should have let Cuban buy the team.

  82. Moonbatting Average - October 29, 2011 | 1:26 am · Link

    @Cacti: Fair point. As much as I dislike the Cards, I have to admit that they deserved home field in 2004. The all-star game nonsense is just as stupid as the arbitrary alternating regime that preceded it.

    That said, do you seriously think that the 2004 Cards would have won that Series, regardless of home venue?

    If you’re not going to go with regular season win-loss, then go with the suggestion up-thread of inter-league record.

  83. Roger Moore - October 29, 2011 | 1:33 am · Link

    @drkrick:

    Nolan Ryan threw hard, but he wasn’t very good at translating that into winning, either.

    Wins are really a team stat. A pitcher can only do so much, after which he has to count on his teammates to score and field. Ryan’s run support was relatively poor, and so were the defenses behind him. Neither one helped his W%. When you look at the things that were actually under his control- strikeouts, walks, and HR- he was very good. He wasn’t the greatest pitcher in history, but he was very good and probably the most durable pitcher in MLB history.

  84. The prophet Nostradumbass - October 29, 2011 | 1:48 am · Link

    @Roger Moore: Throwing seven no-hitters isn’t too shabby, either.

  85. Darkrose - October 29, 2011 | 1:54 am · Link

    @The prophet Nostradumbass:

    Something that will be funny in the off-season: All the nitwit Giants fans who will call in to KNBR and go on and on about how they can totally sign Pujols.

    And that if Sabean doesn’t sign him, then FIRE SABEAN!

  86. Waynski - October 29, 2011 | 1:56 am · Link

    @Cacti: I’m pretty sure MLB’s brand managers thought of the children. There was no champagne but lots of player’s tots running around post game, which is hard to object to, but the whole thing was so stage managed it paled in comparison to the sparkling wine soaked chaos in the victors’ locker rooms of yore. I guess it’s supposed to help us forget about McGuire and Bobby Bonds, et al.

  87. Darkrose - October 29, 2011 | 1:58 am · Link

    I can’t stand LaRussa, and I really do kind of like Ron Washington, but I always smile to see Nolan Ryan looking like he just ate a lemon.

    Also, too, let this be a lesson to you, kids: Don’t intentionally walk a batter when the bases are loaded!

  88. opie jeanne - October 29, 2011 | 1:59 am · Link

    @Kathleen: Washington is a cokehead. Admitted using it in the locker room in Anaheim during a game.

  89. Darkrose - October 29, 2011 | 1:59 am · Link

    @Waynski: I assume you meant Barry Bonds. Bobby was a good player and probably a not-so-good father, but he wasn’t involved in any scandals.

  90. opie jeanne - October 29, 2011 | 2:01 am · Link

    @Moonbatting Average: Angels fans return the favor, with regard to the other three teams. Personally, I don’t hate the Mariners or A’s. We lived near Oakland when LaRussa was managing, and now we live near Seattle. But Texas?

    Rangers fans are known to be a really classy bunch. Not.

  91. opie jeanne - October 29, 2011 | 2:05 am · Link

    @Darkrose: That walk was unintentional, but they should really try not to hit a batter when the bases are loaded, with your first freaking pitch!

  92. Cacti - October 29, 2011 | 3:34 am · Link

    @Waynski:

    I’m pretty sure MLB’s brand managers thought of the children. There was no champagne but lots of player’s tots running around post game, which is hard to object to, but the whole thing was so stage managed it paled in comparison to the sparkling wine soaked chaos in the victors’ locker rooms of yore.

    I agree with the post game being way too stage managed in this day and age. I prefer the seeing a bunch of grown men acting like kids on Christmas morning.

    They still do it. Just away from the TV cameras, which is kind of a shame.

  93. Kathleen - October 29, 2011 | 7:32 am · Link

    @opie jeanne: But LaRussa’s a tea bagger. That trumps pretty much any ass-hattery, except child abuse.

  94. Ron - October 29, 2011 | 8:24 am · Link

    I’m not a Cards fan. Heck in the NLCS, I was rooting for the Brewers (especially as my wife is from WI). But sorry to AL team fans, the DH is an abomination, so I very rarely root for the AL (If it was the not-Yankees vs the Phillies I might have had to root for the not-Yankees), so I’m glad the Cards won. I have some sympathy for the Rangers though. Those players will have nightmares after TWICE being a single strike away from winning the series in game 6. Also, a 6-2 game felt kind of like an anticlimax after that crazy game 6.

  95. Not Sure - October 29, 2011 | 10:47 am · Link

    @Kathleen: Lots of athletes are right-wing nutcases. For every Bill Bradley out there, there are hundreds of sky-pointing while rounding third, knee dropping in the end zone, certifiable right-wing nutjobs who think they’re really smart because they’ve got all that sports money (for the moment) and truly believe that Tea Party garbage because that’s all their feeble little minds can hold.

    In short, athletic prowess and brains don’t usually come in the same package.

  96. 4jkb4ia - October 30, 2011 | 12:56 pm · Link

    @patrick II:

    Is this to explain toasted ravioli for the people who have never heard of it?

    @Cacti:

    Well done! Except that they forgot to hit and didn’t win a single game at home either.
    And more to the point, the Cardinals could make the home field advantage real because they have REAL FANS. The Dallas Morning News has a very telling headline which I can’t click because I didn’t subscribe: ratings in DFW were down for Game 7 over Game 6. Also, a friend of my husband’s pointed out that if Nelson Cruz, say, had hit three home runs in a WS game at Busch, he would have gotten a standing ovation. The Texas fans didn’t appreciate what they had seen.

    @Existence of thread:

    :D. The LG&M one left this one in the dust but it’s the thought that counted here. I came over with an effusive column by Bernie Miklasz about Tony LaRussa but I don’t have the heart to link to it anymore.


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