Tuesday, October 09, 2007

The Indians Win…THAAAAA INDIANS WIN!

Behind Paul Byrd and the bullpen (which apparently only gives up solo HR), the Tribe has advanced to the ALCS to face Boston by beating the…what was the name of that speed bump that the Tribe just rolled over?


The Indians thoroughly outplayed their opponents and displayed the formula that got them into the playoffs (tremendous starting pitching, a balanced and opportunistic offense, and sequential success out of the bullpen) to punch their ticket to the ALCS.

But there’s plenty of time to evaluate all of the decisions, all of the craziness, and all of the nausea of Game 4 as well as looking ahead to Friday at Fenway.

For now, let’s appreciate the Indians moving on while others are left to contemplate…well…

14 comments:

Cy Slapnicka said...

i'm surprised the indians don't have a concussion from all the backhanded compliments from the tbs crew. but no need to dwell on that, too busy enjoying this one.

Vegas Watch said...

Unbelievable.

Unknown said...

You could train a couple of monkeys to hold up "Yankees are the best" signs, replace Big Hurt and Gwynn with them, and lose zero insight.

t-bone said...

no words. i have never been more of a wreck during a game. and definitely never been at an elks lodge in westlake after bowling while doing so. and have also never gotten a victory cheesy beefy melt. until tonight. a great night of firsts.

vbc3 said...

no words. i have never been more of a wreck during a game.

Amen, brother. I had to leave the TV and listen to Hammy for the ninth inning.

An open letter to Paul Byrd: I doubted you and damn if you didn't prove me 100% wrong. Good show and good luck! Let's burn down Beantown!

Ron Vallo said...

t-bone: hoew's the stomach this morning?

very quiet on my commuter train in from the NYC suburbs this morning. Granted it is the 5:15 and is usually a bit subdued, but it was pin-drop silent this morning.

also, I didn't see any of those Yankee caps the suddenly materialized Monday morning.

can't wait to listen to New York sports radio on the way home this afternoon.

t-bone said...

So far, so good, Ron!

Not to dance on anyone's grave, BUT... here's your link for WFAN, the first NY station I could think of off the top of my head.

www.wfan.com

"On what's obviously the most disappointing sports day of the year" is seriously the first sentence I heard when I clicked on the listen live link.

Mike and the Mad Dog are on at 1, I cant wait to hear them.

Good ol' Boomer Esiason is on right now and said "there's gonna be carnage." They're calling for a transition from LaRussa to Mattingly. I love it.

rodells said...

Lupica thinks ARod will opt out and demand a 10yr/300-350MM contract. LOLOLOLOL


Let's go Tribe!

reyorra said...

My favorite moment of the night when it comes to broadcast TV was right after Byrd loaded the bases and then got out of the inning only surrendering one run. The commercial that played immediately after that was for Zantac. I thought "wow, these people are taking the idea of 'working towards your demographic' to an extreme." But seriously, I was thinking about Byrd pitching, and how I trusted him to do well earlier in the season and he blew it. So I set myself up to deal with his failure last night, hoping that he would again prove me wrong. And I am so glad he did. I'm excited that there will be at least another week of quality writing and musings here on the diatribe!

t-bone said...

How about this, Mike & Mike just said in Arizona 12,000 and 10,000 remain for their games 1 & 2. Amazing.

Chris Swartout said...

As an Indian fan in New York City, I am truly savoring today. I have not gotten so many congratulations since my wedding!

Listening to WFAN yesterday afternoon (and also to XM 175 - but not so much), Mike & Kris gave the Indians no chance whatsoever to beat the Yankees. Francessa (I think, it could have been Mad Dog)agreed that Wedge made the right decision to start Byrd, but neither of them (and not their callers) ever even considered that Wang could be ineffective. I was shaking my head in amazement at the radio. Was I nervous about the matchup? Of course. But we all knew that a combo of Wang & Mussina was extremely hittable. The Yankee crowd in their hubris, never allowed themselves to see that the Indians could make a game of it.

In fairness, they were worried about Sabathia in Game 5, but that will have to wait until another season.

That said, I am sorry to see Torre treated this way by the organization. Classy coach, and his pregame comments about Wedge starting Byrd were exactly right. 4 WS titles, playoffs every year, and (what many people forget) HE BEAT CANCER in the middle of it.

Thirsty Mouse said...

The NY Times has the balls to rip on the announcing despite Chip Carey's 4-game audio hand job of the Yankees. Although they do make some decent points.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/09/sports/baseball/09sandomir.html?ref=sports

Cy Slapnicka said...

t-bone, did the d-backs at least release them to the public? i find it sad that i've yet to see ANY tickets for these indians games released to the public, and instead we've had to rely on a "lottery". and if you don't have an internet connection and email, forget it (unless they were accepting postcards this year and i didn't hear about it). does anyone know anyone that actually won the ticket lottery? i don't, and i know a lot of indians fans that signed up.

anyway, i don't want to complain on a wonderful day like this...but the ticket handling is a sore spot for me. i was singing "it was a good day" by ice cube on my ride in. Just waking up in the morning gotta thank god I dont know but today seems kinda odd...

not sure if anyone saw it, but i just saw a picture of a guy at the jake from earlier in the series that had a sign that said "hey wang, wong number".

and finally, regarding torre...i do not feel one ounce of pity for him. he voluntarily went to bed with the boss, why does anyone feel bad that he is being treated exactly how we all knew it would end? do i respect him, yes. do i feel bad for him? no, i'm actually enjoying this. he sold being treated with the dignity and respect he did deserve for $4mil a year.

rodells said...

Where is the pic of that sign? I need this. I was roaring when I saw it during Game 1.

Game 2, there was a sign "Tribe Meet Joba" from a Yankee fan when he was pitching. Funny thing is, it should have said "Joba Meet Midges".