The O's Prayer

[Bahama O's Fan]

Lord, I know it's horrible not having the O's in the playoffs, but  if you make sure the Sox and Yanks are taken out today, I think I can manage. Amen.

[Frobby]

Yes, a quick exit for both would be nice.    And it would mean an ALCS between the best two teams in the league, which is as it should be (unless the O's are the wild card).

[Tx Oriole]

2 hours ago, Frobby said:

Yes, a quick exit for both would be nice.    And it would mean an ALCS between the best two teams in the league, which is as it should be (unless the O's are the wild card).

I hope the Stros win. Haven't paid attention to the NL.

[Bahama O's Fan]

Sox out, now please the Yankees. I am worried about them.

[Bahama O's Fan]

Please Houston, take out these Yankees. I can't stand to watch them in the World Series.

[Ruzious]

Wow, this thread is depressing.  If all you have is to root against someone, stop watching and read a book.  

[Frobby]

42 minutes ago, Ruzious said:

Wow, this thread is depressing.  If all you have is to root against someone, stop watching and read a book.  

Believe me, I haven't been watching.   But I'm still rooting hard for the Yankees' elimination.  

[LA2]

49 minutes ago, Ruzious said:

Wow, this thread is depressing.  If all you have is to root against someone, stop watching and read a book.  

Unfortunately, ex-Yankees have written or been the subject of most of the good baseball books. So it doesn't really reduce the range of evil temptations.

[Frobby]

57 minutes ago, LA2 said:

Unfortunately, ex-Yankees have written or been the subject of most of the good baseball books. So it doesn't really reduce the range of evil temptations.

Go read October 1964, by David Halberstam.    Great book about a Series the Yankees lost.   

[OFFNY]

12 minutes ago, Frobby said:

 

Go read October 1964, by David Halberstam. It's a great book about a World Series that the Yankees lost.   

 

o

 

Summer of '49 by the same author (David Halberstam) is also an excellent book about that season's American League Pennant race between the Red Sox and the Yankees, which went right down to the final 2 games of the season at Yankee Stadium on October 1st and 2nd. 

 

 o

[Frobby]

1 minute ago, OFFNY said:

o

 

Summer of '49 by the same author (David Halberstam) is also an excellent book about that season's American League Pennant race between the Red Sox and the Yankees, which went right down top the final 2 games of the season at Yankee Stadium on October 1st and 2nd. 

 

 o

Yes, that is also an awesome book.  In both cases, the book is about baseball, but also about how society and sports were changing at the time.    I'd put them both on my list of top 10 books about baseball.   

[Ruzious]

If you're a baseball fan, watch the rest of the Nats/Cubs game.  Cubs up 8-6 after 6, and it's already been one of the most entertaining games I've seen in a long while.  

[spiritof66]

5 hours ago, Frobby said:

Yes, that is also an awesome book.  In both cases, the book is about baseball, but also about how society and sports were changing at the time.    I'd put them both on my list of top 10 books about baseball.   

Halberstam is a fine writer, but he's not much of a baseball historian. Here's a small taste:

http://statintelligence.blogspot.com/2015/08/when-halberstam-met-sabermetrics.html 

I enjoyed the 1949 book, but I doubt I'd put it among my top 50 books about baseball.

[spiritof66]

9 hours ago, Ruzious said:

If you're a baseball fan, watch the rest of the Nats/Cubs game.  Cubs up 8-6 after 6, and it's already been one of the most entertaining games I've seen in a long while.  

Really good back-and-forth game, with some ex-Orioles -- including Weiters  (LHed) bunting for a hit against the shift. 

MLB has been running a commercial (or maybe more than one) showing young kids as devoted fans of their teams. Apparently they're supposed to demonstrate that their loyalty is superior to that of fans of rival teams by buying more MLB Postseason merchandise. It would be nice if kids could enjoy themselves, and develop their interest in baseball, by watching the games themselves, but I doubt many 10-year-olds on the East Coast will be seeing the end of this game and series. MLB has made it pretty clear which is more important to it.

[glenn__davis]

15 hours ago, Frobby said:

Go read October 1964, by David Halberstam.    Great book about a Series the Yankees lost.   

Agreed, that's a great read.  I believe it was that book that detailed the story of a Cardinals pitcher (can't remember his name) who went blind or at least started having severe vision problems in the middle of the season.  The doctor told him it was likely from all of the stress that he had endured during the pennant chase and that his body was trying to find some way to compensate for it.  I thought that was pretty amazing.