THE RAYS ARE GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES!

I'm currently far too emotional to write anything that's greatly coherent. I mean, THE RED SOX AREN'T GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES! I'm so happy I could scream ... oh wait, I did! I think I may have scared my neighbors.

In honor of the occasion, I drank about half a bottle of apple cider (we didn't have any non-alcoholic champagne) and jumped up and down and screamed for several minutes before I had the discipline to sit down and write this blog post. My hands are still shaking a bit, and in my mind, I am shouting insults at Lester, Pedroia, etc.

I also have some news that will shock and dismay you greatly (is that grammatically correct?): Due to the epic failz of my math professor's scheduling skills, I will only be able to watch the first three or perhaps four innings of World Series Game 1. I know, I know, it's treasonous ... but I'd prefer not to skip class, and I can always have a friend text me the highlights.

Matt Garza won the ALCS MVP award, and personally, I think he deserves every bit of it! I find that the value of good pitching is often left sadly unappreciated by the general population, but if anyone is going to teach the masses that the best games are often won or lost by the subtle skills of pitching rather than by a slew of home runs, Matt Garza and Cole Hamels would certainly be top of my list to do it. (Wow, what an awkwardly structured sentence.) Since the Red Sox lost, I will not be giving out an Other Team MVP award for the ALCS - however, Dustin Pedroia gets points for making a really funny face when they lost, and Manny Delcarmen gets points for being really not helpful.

With a 13-4 victory, Rays lead Sox 3-1 in ALCS!

...I'm going to take this opportunity to GLOAT (obviously I'll be as tactful and inoffensive as possible, hehehe) about how the Red Sox got totally CREAMED tonight!

Wakefield pulled a stellarly Moyer-esque first inning out from under his stupid black-and-red hat, and Boston's second reliever then used a series of bases-loaded walks to kindly notify his team that they would have been much better off sticking with the other guy named Manny. Longoria broke the record for most postseason homers by a rookie, and (despite recording 2 errors in the process) managed a narrow escape from Death By Jason Bay's Bat. Upton made some amazing catches, plus his homer, and Andy Sonnanstine pitched the best game I've seen since Kuroda's NLDS clincher.

All in all, it was a roaring success for the lovely Tampa Bay Rays, and a wonderful humiliation to the apparently undeserving Boston Red Sox.

10/13/08 - *sigh*

I'm not really sure what to say about last night's game, except that it was definitely the wrong time for Wade, DeWitt, and Ethier to start having problems. So, I'm just going to tell you what I'm going to do, depending on which teams get into the World Series:

1. Phillies vs. Rays: Against all common sense, I'll root for the Phillies. After all, they've got Utley and Hamels, and it isn't like they're bad. Neither are the Rays, though - so it'd be interesting. Actually, any WS pairing would be interesting at this point.
   
2. Phillies vs. Red Sox: DEFINITELY go with the Phillies. Hell, I'd be Howard's biggest fan if it meant beating the Red Sox!
   
3. Dodgers vs. Rays: The Dodgers, obviously. I'd be worried, though, with the way these two teams are playing right now - but of course, if the Dodgers did in fact come back and beat the Phillies, I might not be so worried.
   
4. Dodgers vs. Red Sox: The ultimate justice would be for the Dodgers to beat the Red Sox in the WS while the Sox are still paying 100% of Ramirez's salary. Wouldn't it have a sort of poetic brilliance? On the other hand, I'd rather the Red Sox not get to the WS at all.
   

10/10/08 - What Happened to Chad?

I speak, of course, of Chad Billingsley (#58, RHP), of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Seriously - did any of you watch last night's game (NLCS game 2 vs. the Phillies)? I was shocked, but most of all, I was depressed. (Feel free to leave comments!)

However, I hope we will not forget his NLDS game against the Cubs! The nearest word I have to describe that is "gorgeous" - so, don't even think about claiming he isn't good. Papelbon isn't even close to deserving to wear the same number that Billingsley does.

On a semi-different note, the Rays' win tonight (this morning?) was really quite incredible - I found myself shaking my couchmate to keep her awake even as I booed JD Drew into clumsy misery and cheered BJ Upton on to the most spectacular piece of situational hitting I'd seen all day. I'm really rather happy, and in an ideal world, that would motivate me to do my homework.