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Originally Posted by Lee
:eek: Don't remind me!!!! :eek:
Mind you, I'm not "upset" about the Rangers (my mother lives in Texas, and a lot of my ancestors are buried there), but I am surprised!
I was going to make a less than Christian comment about the Red Sox, but 18-3 says it all.
The middle of May - and it isn't good.
Three of the teams I picked to come in first - are now in dead last: Yankees (first losing Pineda - and then Mo for the entire season - it hurts), Phillies, and Angels.
The only really good thing is the Dodgers (NOTE: the Dodger Blue!!). My heart picked them - not my head - but I am very pleased.
We are now coming to the middle of June, and the world is starting to take on its' natural order:
The Yankees are in first place (and congratulations to A-Rod for tying Gehrig's grand-slam record).
But, as for the rest of my picks, I'm pretty hopeless.
Who would have picked Washington or the White Sox?!
Who would have thought that the Red Sox would be in last place, two games below .500! Certainly not me.
The Rangers are doing well, but the Angels are starting to come back. Pujols is starting to hit the ball, and his average is coming up. It could be quite close.
The Phillies in LAST PLACE???? They miss Howard more than they thought, but it has to be more than this.
Well done to the Reds, and especially the Pirates. I remember those strong Pirate teams of the 70's, and it will be good for them (and the city of Pittsburgh itself) to have them succeed after such a long string of poor performances.
And the Dodgers with the best record in Baseball after all of their off field traumas.
Of course, it is only 60 or so games down, and 100 to go. Anything can happen, and, knowing the history of Baseball, it probably will.
Can't say I didn't warn you about the Reds :p I'm not entirely confident that the final rankings will look like they do at this point in the season though. The Angels started out slow, and they're just getting hot. A few teams are one or two injuries away from either going up or down. And of course there will be the potential impact of mid-season trades. I think it's an interesting season so far though with a lot of good stories.
I actually took in a "Subway Series" game (Yankees vs. Mets) at Yankee Stadium this past weekend. I must confess that I am not a fan of the Yankees however. My team is no longer :(.
Who was your team?Quote:
Originally Posted by ISalzman
Very good, Lee. My team was the Montreal Expos. They are no more. (I refuse to transfer my allegiance to the Washington Nationals. It isn't the same!) These days, I content myself with taking the kids to see a local minor league team called the New Jersey Jackals. They play in the beautiful Yogi Berra Stadium on the campus of Montclair State University. Great family fun and very affordable. The Jackals have the 2003 American League Rookie of the Year on their roster (Angel Borroa). And one of the other teams in the league boasts Jose Canseco on their roster. We go to a few ball games every summer.
Hey, man. My Atlanta Braves are only four games back, and if we had better coaches and better players we'd be doing even better than that!
But to tell you the truth, I couldn't care less. Instead, I'm cancelling all appointments, meetings, travel, dinner-outs, and so on, for late June through July... for the Olympics, man!!!
I remember when the Expos actually fielded some good teams. Their last years in Montreal were pretty tough.Quote:
Originally Posted by ISalzman
I have always enjoyed minor league baseball. Great for the family because it offers a whole lot more there for those who don't actually enjoy baseball. When I lived in the Chicago area, I used to attend Kane County Cougars games--it's been over 20 years ago, but I believe they were a Baltimore Orioles affiliate. My parents live in El Paso, and I have attended several Diablos games in the past. They used to be affiliated with the Diamondbacks, but now I believe they are basically a semi-pro team with no MLB affiliation.
My grandmother lives in Dumont, NJ, which must be in roughly the same neck of the woods (or should I say "concrete"?) as you. I hope to make it up to visit her sometime early next month.
Yes, the Expos actually had some great teams and some great players over the years (Gary Carter, Tim Raines, Vladimir Guerrero, Andres Galarraga, Larry Walker, Steve Rogers, Jeff Reardon, and, of course, my favorite of all, Andre "The Hawk" Dawson). There was a time where they regularly used to draw 2+ million fans a year. But, alas, the last few years there were very tough. They got absolutely no support from the local city government when they wanted to build a new stadium. And the inevitable happened.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lee
Dumont is about a 50 minute ride from me. You'd only be a hop, skip, and a jump away from Yankee Stadium from there. But I agree with you; there's something really special about Minor League Baseball. My kids love it and we have a great time together. It is a real opportunity for bonding with the kids.