devo

Oh my sweet God thank you Endy Chavez.

Yeesh, I've never seen that before. I didn't know the rule was you get the base if you're hit with a ball that hits the ground first.

Bah. I was hoping the Mets wouldn't follow the hanky-waving trend.

Baseball Bugs is one of the finest pieces of American programming ever made.

I felt the need to bump this to say that, for two years and a row, they picked the worst collection as the winner. Laura's was my favorite, but I would have been happy with Uli's winning as well. Michael's was a little too, for lack a of a better word, slutty for my tastes, and Jeffrey's was a damn freakshow.

The best part is easily the guy's opponent acting like a complete dick afterwards.

http://espn.go.com/photo/2006/1016/pg2_a_bucknercubs_400.jpg I don't buy into curses of any variety, but still, that's pretty freaky. How did people miss for twenty years that Buckner was wearing a Cubs batting glove?

I really hate to buy into the stereotype, but Wagner just should not pitch in non-save situations. The Mets have a good enough bullpen that they don't have to go to him every time they have a lead in the ninth. Well, in any case, the hard part's over. I'm a tad concerned about tomorrow's starter still being up in the air, but at least both teams have the threat of elimination breathing down their necks now. I can only hope that the trend of mediocre Cardinals pitchers having tremendous starts doesn't continue tomorrow. Let's go Mets!

I don't quite understand Valentin's love of bunting in wildly inappropriate situations. Edit: Wow, I don't think I'll ever see Molina throw the ball away on a pitchout again. Edit the second: And that rarest of mistakes comes back to hurt the Cards, as Lo Duca hits an amazingly well timed single to drive in two runs and put the Mets up 4-0.

Well, it took him three tries, but man did Maine turn in a good performance tonight. Like the commentators said, if nothing else, pitching this long left Randolph's options open for a possible Game 7.

Aw, c'mon. It's no worse than Rally Monkey.

Maine has his off-speed stuff workin' tonight. Control's still shaky, though. At this rate, he'll probably be going about six innings.

Probably because it involved Thug U. Miami.

Can't we have this conversation in, say four hours from now or so? It's kinda pointless at the moment. Edit: I've never seen an episode of Bones, but I imagine it's profoundly stupid. "Tee hee! The fun never stops when you're doing forensics!"

World Series ratings since 1995... 1995 ABC / NBC 19.5 1996 FOX 17.4 1997 NBC 16.8 1998 FOX 14.1 1999 NBC 16.0 2000 FOX 12.4 2001 FOX 15.7 2002 FOX 11.9 2003 FOX 13.9 2004 FOX 15.8 2005 FOX 11.1 http://baseball-almanac.com/ws/wstv.shtml The decline isn't uniformly steady, but it's there. 2004 had the miracle Red Sox to bolster ratings, which would probably have finished in the 12-14 range otherwise. I'd be surprised to see the ratings from this upcoming series top 12.0, especially if the Mets don't make it in.

That's a valid point, but many Fox affiliates show that (along with much worse) on a regular basis as well.

It's been out for a while, and I'd reccommend avoiding it. The quality of animation isn't very good and the storyline has virtually nothing to do with the original game and is overall fairly stupid.

Considering the steady decline of baseball ratings, they could probably put anything up against a World Series game and at least beat it. The problem is, at least a couple million people are going to watch the baseball game regardless of how good the football matchup is, so why waste time and money putting together and promoting a big game?

What a disheartening display of hitting that was. Strikeouts at key times, swinging at bad pitches, stranding runners left and right...even if Glavine had made another miraculous start, it probably wouldn't have been enough to win tonight. Well, whatever. Being the eternal optimist that I am, I feel this just makes for a better story when the Mets take it in seven. Carpenter hasn't had a good showing in the postseason yet, so why would he start now? Also, I think that despite all the controversy regarding his last start, Trachsel will get the ball on Game Seven and surprisingly do halfway decently. This is what being a Mets fan is all about, I guess...

Ooof. The Mets' bullpen comes through in a big way. Now it's just a matter of getting to the Cards'.

'STACHE~! A two-run double from Valentin puts the Mets up 2-0. Edit: Bah. Well, Glavine's streak of scoreless innings and Pujols' streak of homerless games had to come to an end eventually.

This is riveting television. Will they be able to get the base out? Will the new one be to Pujols' liking? STAY TUNED AND FIND OUT.

Oh God. The Mets collectively bobbing their heads to Sandstorm is an image I'll never be able to erase from my mind.

Topic on PTI/Around the Horn/Whatever tomorrow: Raiders or Cardinals - Which team is more embarassing?

This game was wonderful nonstop insanity. I haven't watched a football contest not involving the Jets this ridiculously entertaining in a good long while. Bears win despite themselves while the Cardinals prove that they're going to be the laughingstock of the league for a while yet. Damn that was fun.