THERE ARE GAMES, AND THERE ARE... G-A-M-E-S
(Hi, it's Daniel again. Thanks to Andrew again. Wrote some stuff again. Read it again. Please.)
This was a Game.
Mondays's game was a Game, too, but only to Cubs fans. You'll have excuse me if I wasn't thrilled with being Neifi-d in the 9th inning. But if you were to ask me in some dark, quiet corner who I least minded losing to, it'd be the Cubs. I'm not a fan, but I am a sympathizer. If you must find a way to beat the Giants, just find another way to do it besides...Neifi.
But I digress. Last night's game was just as much a barn-burner as Monday's tilt. Just as much drama, and just as much revenge/vindication at stake.
And oh, how I must thank God for the rain, because I'd have missed it otherwise. (Hey, God...thanks, bro)
With all of the back and forth in this game, and all of the subtle shifts and changes in momentum, I choose to focus on the 8th inning, and LaTroy Hawkins. I have given so much grief to Hawkins, and I could give him more after he gave up the game-tying home run to Michael Barrett, but instead I choose to give him a respectful tip of my cap.
You can have your 7th game of the World Series drama if you'd like, but I cannot see how any more pressure can be on one man than on Hawkins in Chicago. He's pretty much despised there, and of course as the piece that was acquired for promising young pitchers Jerome Williams and David Aardsma, he's not exactly off to the best start in San Francisco, either. But I can only rag on the guy so much -- it's Brian "The Brain" Sabean that made the silly deal, not Hawkins.
Hawkins hasn't pitched particularly well in either game of the series. Actually, he's pitched poorly. But he's taken the ball, and he's taken the heat. After giving up the game-tying home run to the leadoff hitter in the 8th, he promptly put another runner on base via the walk. After a sacrifice by...Neifi...Hawkins uncorks a wild pitch to move the runner to 3rd base.
Remember, during this entire sequence, the Cubs Faithful are relentlessly chanting his name, with no break and no decrease in volume. They make decisions and stick with them, those Cubs fans. Choose Cubs as Favorite Team and Stick with Them for Life - Done. Choose to Relentlessly and Loudly Chant Hawkins' Name the Entire Time He is in the Game - Done. Nothing but absolute respect for Cubs fans.
Hawkins ended up with men on 1st and 3rd with one out. Talk about the difference a day makes, after using four relievers in one inning yesterday, Felipe Alou does a 180 and leaves Hawkins in to clean up his mess. Hawkins retired the next two batters on a pop out and fly out, and the inning was finally over.
I still believe the trade for Hawkins was silly, and I still believe that even if he returns to his Minnesota Twins form, he simply cannot do enough to replace the potential of having two decent starting pitchers in Williams and Aardsma. He is a reliever, after all, and the only constant in relief pitching is inconsistency.
However, I will no longer take shots at him whenever he has a poor outing. I won't use him as the focus of a problem that was not of his making (I'll just pile on Sabean even more). He's taken the ball when asked to, and I'm convinced he is trying his hardest to help. And last night he not only took the ball, but he took the collective angst of Chicago, too. He took it all, and while he flinched, he didn't fold.
Good enough for me.
This was a Game.
Mondays's game was a Game, too, but only to Cubs fans. You'll have excuse me if I wasn't thrilled with being Neifi-d in the 9th inning. But if you were to ask me in some dark, quiet corner who I least minded losing to, it'd be the Cubs. I'm not a fan, but I am a sympathizer. If you must find a way to beat the Giants, just find another way to do it besides...Neifi.
But I digress. Last night's game was just as much a barn-burner as Monday's tilt. Just as much drama, and just as much revenge/vindication at stake.
And oh, how I must thank God for the rain, because I'd have missed it otherwise. (Hey, God...thanks, bro)
With all of the back and forth in this game, and all of the subtle shifts and changes in momentum, I choose to focus on the 8th inning, and LaTroy Hawkins. I have given so much grief to Hawkins, and I could give him more after he gave up the game-tying home run to Michael Barrett, but instead I choose to give him a respectful tip of my cap.
You can have your 7th game of the World Series drama if you'd like, but I cannot see how any more pressure can be on one man than on Hawkins in Chicago. He's pretty much despised there, and of course as the piece that was acquired for promising young pitchers Jerome Williams and David Aardsma, he's not exactly off to the best start in San Francisco, either. But I can only rag on the guy so much -- it's Brian "The Brain" Sabean that made the silly deal, not Hawkins.
Hawkins hasn't pitched particularly well in either game of the series. Actually, he's pitched poorly. But he's taken the ball, and he's taken the heat. After giving up the game-tying home run to the leadoff hitter in the 8th, he promptly put another runner on base via the walk. After a sacrifice by...Neifi...Hawkins uncorks a wild pitch to move the runner to 3rd base.
Remember, during this entire sequence, the Cubs Faithful are relentlessly chanting his name, with no break and no decrease in volume. They make decisions and stick with them, those Cubs fans. Choose Cubs as Favorite Team and Stick with Them for Life - Done. Choose to Relentlessly and Loudly Chant Hawkins' Name the Entire Time He is in the Game - Done. Nothing but absolute respect for Cubs fans.
Hawkins ended up with men on 1st and 3rd with one out. Talk about the difference a day makes, after using four relievers in one inning yesterday, Felipe Alou does a 180 and leaves Hawkins in to clean up his mess. Hawkins retired the next two batters on a pop out and fly out, and the inning was finally over.
I still believe the trade for Hawkins was silly, and I still believe that even if he returns to his Minnesota Twins form, he simply cannot do enough to replace the potential of having two decent starting pitchers in Williams and Aardsma. He is a reliever, after all, and the only constant in relief pitching is inconsistency.
However, I will no longer take shots at him whenever he has a poor outing. I won't use him as the focus of a problem that was not of his making (I'll just pile on Sabean even more). He's taken the ball when asked to, and I'm convinced he is trying his hardest to help. And last night he not only took the ball, but he took the collective angst of Chicago, too. He took it all, and while he flinched, he didn't fold.
Good enough for me.
posted by Daniel at
12:17 AM
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