Did That Actually Help?

Darren Oliver's Age Caught Up to Him...10 Years Ago. He also Blew the Game Last Night.

I’ve got to say, I’m a little surprised at how many Phillies fans were up watching game 6 of the World Series last night.  Is that how we distinguish baseball fans from Phillies only (possible bandwagon) fans?  The social networks were lighting up with a lot of “wows,” and things of that nature.  The game did step outside the boundaries of normal, though.  I’m sure a few non-baseball fans were drawn in by the spectacle.  The Cardinals were down to their last gasp twice and down by 2 runs in both of those occasions.  The Rangers immediately put a dagger in after their first comeback with the 2-run Hamilton bomb.  That’s when Darren Oliver struck.

I was trying to go bed.  It was an odd night.  The Flyers lost, 9-8 after trailing 6-2 at one point and then leading 7-6.  All of that is almost impossible.  I coined the term “Seive-Galov” to illustrate the Flyers’ defensive woes.  But, there I am, letting 9 goals finally leave my system and the Cardinals are having this amazing comeback, part I.  I watch Feliz blow it and then Josh Hamilton finds that missing power stroke.  Considering the Cards had the bottom of the order coming, I thought that was it.  I engaged sleep activities, but left the game on.  I wasn’t going to watch a celebration.  Next thing I know, D-Ollie has given up hits to Descalso and Jay back-to-back.  Didn’t think that was possible.  From there, it just got odd, with the bunt, and the intentional walk, but the point is, the Cards tied it again, 9-9.

That comeback, I think, finally deflated the Rangers.  They were out of any competent pitchers and David Freese did his Kirby Puckett thing, which allowed Joe Buck to rip off his dad’s home run call.  I’m sure Buck will say it was a tribute, but he’s done it before, with slightly different wording.  Something like, “We’ll see you Monday Night,” instead of “We’ll see you tomorrow night.”  I guess if you don’t have anything of your own to say, you might as well rip off someone famous.  If at any point tonight Buck launches into, “And, look who’s coming up.  All year long they looked to him to light the fire, and all year long he answered the demands, until he was physically unable to start tonight–with two bad legs.  The bad left hamstring and the swollen right knee.  And, with two out, you talk about a roll of the dice…this is it.”  That’s when we’ll know that Buck has officially mailed it in.  I’m picking on him, because he said last night that Jaime Garcia could hit since the Cards were out of position players.  The only problem was, Garcia started the game.  That’s Buck’s detached spaciness in a nutshell.

Getting back to the game, I think it’s good that some Phillies fans watched a portion of the game, because you have to start getting over it at some point.  If you want to take the whole winter, wait until spring training, that’s fine.  You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.  But, last night’s game was one of the more memorable World Series games ever played, if you could push out personal feelings and just watch the baseball, I think it would help you get a little bit closer to that point where you remember that you do watch sports to be entertained and not to literally live and die.