So, I take it Detroit is going to win the World Series,

[texas1928]

:hide:

[Radical Activist]

1. Sure

just like the Mets were supposed to win the NLCS.

[bigwillq]

2. I think so too.

I will be rooting for them. Let's keep it in the AL.

[AllegroRondo]

3. NL hasnt won a World Series game since 2003

So I'd say Detroit has a pretty good chance.

[SharonRB]

4. Of course we are!

We'll beat the Cards just like we did in '68.

[Zavulon]

5. St. Louis will win this year.

When a hot team is forced to sit for a week, it doesn't help.

Let's just hope Jeff Suppan runs the bases better than he did in the 2004 Series.

[texas1928]

6. Kick since the first game has been played.

St. Louis won it.

[hfojvt]

7. so much for the sweep

and a road victory too. :woohoo:

[texas1928]

8. Kick again....

The World Series is now tied 1-1. SO it is a tight race.

[wildhorses]

9. -----

:popcorn::beer:

[Blue_Tires]

10. lol....couldn't resist: (note the heel of the hand)

[petronius]

11. I take it he's a pitcher?

For us hockey fans in the room, who is that, and when?

[Phillycat]

17. He is Kenny Rogers, a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers.

He was asked to wash his hands last night during the game by the umpire because there was some unnamed substance on them. After washing them, he went on to completely dominate, so I don't know what the hell people are so up in arms about. :shrug:

[ScreamingMeemie]

19. Thank you...

I don't get the big Hoopla over it either. He washed his hands after the first inning.

[texas1928]

12. I heard the announcers talking about it when I flipped over...

To see the score. And they said the next inning it was gone. So he needs help putting the pepper on it now.

[peekaloo]

15. he should have that cough looked at by a doctor. It's leaving

pine tar on his hand. :rofl:

I noticed the Cardinals had a game ball in the dugout with that substance on it. I hope they turn it in to the League for review.

Sorry kids but Kenny Rogers is a cheating asshole. imho, of course.

[Strawman]

16. Why do you suppose they didn't have him checked during the game?

Maybe because that's one of the tacitly accepted "tricks of the trade?" Maybe because it was under 40 degrees out and LaRussa didn't want his pitchers subjected to similar tests?

Easier to believe that LaRussa was just being too "nice" to his buddy Jim Leyland. I suspect, if anything, Rogers is guilty of not hiding it. If they start checking our pitchers, they can get checked too. So it's better to just float the accusation in the media and try to get into Rogers' head since he's such a volatile personality. It might work too. He's not going to get any credit for his playoff performance and it's going to piss him off.

[Phillycat]

18. How do you explain the fact that his pitching was just as good

after the handwashing as before?

[peekaloo]

21. Well, as I posited in another thread

he just may need a few tips on toileting hygiene. :evilgrin: I'm not disparaging his pitching, just what appeared to be an unnecessary tactic. :shrug:

It's just an imo observation on him, having worked in baseball for years you get to hear fun stuff about people. He's not a favorite people for me. So I get one of these :spank:

p.s. I grew up in the town where the Tigers hold their spring training games so it's fun to see them in the WS.

[Blue_Tires]

24. what i want explained is

how a pitcher with such a shaky postseason record up until now (i remember him walking in the winning run in the '99 NLCS and he was also booed off the yankees roster) turns into Sandy Koufax in the twilight of his career:think: :crazy: :hide:

[jobycom]

31. Rogers has always been very streaky

I used to watch him with the Rangers. He was either unhittable, or abysmal. No middle ground. Every time he was about to be sent back down, he'd suddenly go on a tear. I remember one streak in 92 where he was the closer, and lost every time he stepped on the mound, for weeks. He'd walk the bases loaded, walk in the winning runs, give up grand slams. Worst pitcher you could imagine. Valentine wanted to send him down to the minors, but their pitching staff was depleted at the time, and he couldn't do it. The theory then was that Rogers was ADD, because he'd come out and stomp around the mound, and never seem to focus. So they made him control himself, stand in one spot, all that. He sucked worse.

So one day they had to use him, and brought him out. The crowd booed. People got up and left, they were so discouraged. But Rogers stomped out to the mound, stomped around behind it, grabbed the ball, and snarled at the mound. His first pitch sheered the bat in half. He struck out the rest. After that, he was unhittable for weeks.

So he's just streaking now. He got lucky enough to do it during the playoffs this time. His perfect game was like that. He'd been horrible, then suddenly he pitched a perfect game.

And yeah, I figure it was probably pine tar. Not just the spot on his hand, but look at his thumb in that picture above. No pitcher has a thumb that dirty on his throwing hand without knowing about it. But that's not the secret to his success. La Russa didn't make a fuss about it because his players were probably doing the same thing. He managed Eckersly, and that guy used every trick on a ball.

[Blue_Tires]

32. somewhere out there

Gaylord Perry is laughing his old decrepit lowlife cheating ass off!!

[Shakespeare]

29. What is that, blood from the last cameraman he beat up?

While I'd like to see Detroit win, I've always thought Rogers is a completely unredeemable asshole.

[hickman]

13. Nope. Detroit never wins.

They got stomped last night.

[michreject]

20. We're talking Tigers

Not the Lions.:)

[texas1928]

22. I said the world series...

Not the Super Bowl.


Sheeesh...


:eyes:

[bif]

14. But of course.

[Bake]

23. We. Shall. See.

Yeah, Detroit was supposed to sweep ... invincible pitchers ... awesome offense ...

Let's see: Game One: Cards proved the Tiger pitching staff is not invincible. Verlander had some good stuff, but tell it to Pujols and Rolen and Edmunds!

Game Two: "That stuff" on Rogers' hand sure looks like sticky pine tar to me ... that could sure help grip a breaking ball! Yeah, Rogers was equally good after they caught him but why did he need to cheat in the first place? (Oh ... same reason as Barry Bonds, apparently!).

So we're tied at One Game Each and now we go to St. Louis for three!!

I like the Cards' chances.

Bake

[ScreamingMeemie]

25. Yes...for one whole inning...

:eyes:

How do you explain his pitching the other 7?... with clean hands? :shrug:

[Bake]

26. Acc. to ESPN, even after you wash it off, your hand remains sticky

Keith Olbermann reported the same thing last night. So even after the visible part of the residue is gone, the pitcher still gets the benefit.

Amazingly, he's had the same "bit of dirt and rosin" in the same spot in other games, too!

He's just another Barry Bonds. And it's a shame, because he is a terrific pitcher -- I guess.

Bake

[ScreamingMeemie]

27. There was no pine tar on his hands... I can see him having dirt

on his hands in that spot. I'm guessing, if Tony was okay with it, it was nothing.

[MrCoffee]

28. Tony screwed that up big time...

Rogers has a history of doctoring balls. Not going apeshit on the umps was a bad move on LaRussa's part.

Rogers just ain't that good a pitcher.

[ScreamingMeemie]

30. I'm thinking he is. I'm thinking that that bothers people.

:hi:

Rogers has a history of people thinking the worst of him. I don't care much for Rogers as a pitcher... but you can't take the job he's done away from him. Unless you think the entirety of MLB is in on it. Believe that and believe that Ordonez's walk off was 'set up'.

[texas1928]

33. Well Detroit better get on the stick...

2-1 Cardinals now lead again.

[texas1928]

34. Well game 4 was rained out.

So it is still 2-1.

[texas1928]

35. Looks like Detroit made the Big Dance but can put out...

Man they are down 3-1

[Blue_Tires]

36. wow...

an 83-win(!) team is on the verge of winning it all....they had the 13th (!) best record in the league, and the 5th best record in the NL...the Phils, Angels, ChiSox, BoSox and BlueJays all finished with better records but did not make the playoffs

and i'm supposed to believe these are the two best teams in baseball?

[PVnRT]

42. I love sore loser fans

:eyes:

[Radical Activist]

44. They weren't a wild card team. They won their division.

That makes this more legitimate than some other recent world series, imo. Were you rooting for the Cards in 2004 when they played Boston after having the best season in baseball? Many of these Cardinal players were part of the team that won over 100 games in a season, twice. How many games did the Mets and Tigers win this year? Less than a hundred? Oh yeah, that's right, shut up.

[Blue_Tires]

37. more STL fun facts

the team finished 16th in the majors in batting average (.269), behind such ball-flattening clubs like Atlanta (14th), Kansas City (12th), and Baltimore (7th)...

the team also finished 16th in the majors in team ERA (4.54)
8th in most home runs given up (193)
25th in stolen bases (59)
14th in runs scored (781)
19th in hits (1484)

[WildEyedLiberal]

38. All irrelevant in the postseason

And that's the beauty of baseball.

The team was plagued with injuries all year, and some of those players are just beginning to play up to their potential in the postseason (Edmonds, Rolen). If we picked champions based on which team had the biggest All-Stars with the best stats, the Yankees would win pretty much every year. Wouldn't baseball be BORING if it was just a dry calculation based on numbers and percentages?

No one "deserves" to be, or "doesn't deserve" to be a champion. There are lots of intangibles involved that will never be measured on the back of a baseball card. Heart, will, perseverence, and luck - all are just as important in the making of a champion as stats and the win-loss record.

[Broken_Hero]

39. its just a matter of being hot

at the right time...its all for grabs, any team can win...its just a matter of execution, and right now, the Cards are doing that, and the Tigers are floundering.

[Blue_Tires]

40. i personally wonder

what the tigers were thinking about during that weeklong rest...they should have had some more batting and fielding practice!

[Broken_Hero]

41. probably a bit overconfidant

damn, I would be after spanking the yanks, and embarrasing the A's...I hope they get on track, at least win another game!! I like baseball, and prefer it over football any day....I use to be a big football guy(still am) but I prefer baseball over football....especially NFL ...bleh, games last forever, and people gripe about the length of baseball games...damn, time an NFL game and you will find out, most of the time football lasts a bit longer!...especially MNF...

[Radical Activist]

43. Many of these players were part of the team that won over 100 games

for two seasons in a row. The Cardinals had a bad slump in the second half of the season but they are still a great team.

[texas1928]

45. Whoops

Guess I was wrong. Man Way to go Cardinals.

[Presidentcokedupfratboy]

46. Although the Tigers lost

They deserve a big thank you from the whole country: they eliminated the Republican Party of Baseball, aka the New York Yankees.