Looks like Houston may be making their first ever World Series appearance.......
 

............they just went up 3-1 in their series against the Cardinals. :thumbsup:

I'm a White Sox fan, but am rooting for Houston.........mainly because I think the White Sox can beat them easier than they could the Cardinals. :D So go Houston!! :thumbsup:

FUCK HOUSTON.

With that said, I would like to make the following announcement:
This has got to be the worst officiated MLB playoffs I have ever seen

I mean, there have been some bad calls (Denkinger in 1985) before, but nothing like the consistent SHIT I have seen so far.

Anywhere from the huge Sox/Angels fiasco in game 2, to the many blown calls in the NLCS. The worst strike zone ever, misplayed calls (pickoffs) and other tag calls, and throwing LaRussa and Edmonds out after legitimate arguments over his horrible umpiring. The fact that the umpire NEVER deferred to the 1st base and 3rd base umpire on check-swing calls is what irritated me the most. Everytime he rang up the Cardinal without any appeal. Apparantly he has the ability to see both the exact pitch location AND whether or not the batter checked his swing. All this in under 1 second.

/rant

FUCK the 'Stros

In defense of the umpire on THAT subject, there is a firm, black and white rule, that clearly states you CAN NOT argue balls and strikes during the game. If you do, you are tossed.

You can ask whether the pitch missed high or low, or if that was on the edge of the zone, but you can't argue them. It appeared that is what Edmonds and LaRussa were doing, and they should've known better.

I didn't expect Houston to take a commanding lead in the series. When I think about it though, with that pitching, it really is not a surprise.

I am really don't care which team advances, but I would enjoy seeing Bagwell and Biggio competing on the grand stage.

If they make it, it is official, they will be playing my White Sox. :thumbsup:

Did you see the play where they got albert at home plate after that ground out. the announcers are what is making these series terrible. tim and joe were going on and on about how saying the houston 3rd basemen was trying to call time out, but cleary he was signalling to the umpire that albert had ran inside the base path. which was clear that he should have been out anyway without the throw coming home. good heads up play by walker though.

I agree fully with this. It seems like this is just a down year in general for officiating, because the NBA playoffs were also the worst I can remember. And even in football, there have been games with just insane amounts of flags.

In defense of this, LaRussa was arguing from the dugout, which most managers do during the game. If you come out on the field to argue balls and strikes, you are immediately tossed. Edmonds as well was tossed prematurely. There was no sustained argument whatsoever, he was brushed back by the pitch (called a strike), and was talking to the umpire as he was getting back in the box, and then was tossed.

FYI Phil Cuzzi, this is a fucking playoff game, it was in the 8th inning of a 2-1 game. Let that shit slide. Umpires are supposed to be invisible, not even recognizable. When they are, that means they didn't do their job.

No doubt. Between Bob Brenly and Steve Lyon, I just don't know how they have time to call the game between all subdued Cardinal bashing. I think Ol' Steve might have messed himself the other day when Roger Clemens came in to pitch. It's just nauseating.

The officiating in all the playoff series so far has just been so bad. Not just the really big plays like the Angels-ChiSox incident, but just the normal everyday stuff like an inconsistent strike zone.

Here's my opinion on the whole ejection thing. How many times have we seen La Russa come out to argue balls and strikes? How many times has he been ejected this year? I could be wrong, but not too many as far as I know, which says something very important to me. How bad or inconsistent does your ball calling have to be to get Tony La Russa to say something about it on the field?

The Edmonds thing was a joke. It's the playoffs, it was such an obviously blown call, it's no wonder Edmonds is going to get a little upset. He voiced his opinion. He wasn't kicking shit at the ump, he wasn't in his face yelling. Seemed to me like a very casual conversation that lasted only a minute. In fact, Edmonds was reaching for his bat when Cuzzi threw him out.

I pray that the Cardinals at least make this a decent series. I'd like them to win, but that's a long shot. I just hope they give the Astros a helluva time trying to win four. I hope that when Saturday rolls around, the Astros are so fucking tired the ChiSox just stomp all over them.

Eckstein's hit filled me with fear.
Edmonds walk nearly gave me a brain aneurysm.
Pujols punched a hole through my chest with the homerun.
I still feel nauseous.

Has their EVER been as sure a home run in such a crucial spot as that one? I had turned to watch the end of the game......was watching as Eckstein got two strikes, then got a hit......perked up even more when Edmonds walked......thought deep down that there was NO WAY the mighty Lidge would blow this one, but within a TINY split second of Pujols swinging, I can't see anyone in the building doubting that ball was way beyond gone. :o

Ahhh, I feel much better now.
Go 'stros!

Ok, the good feeling is gone now.

http://www.iabeef.org/May/F.%20Beef%...er%20color.jpg
Because I can't stand to see you down... Does that give you a little smile? :)

Ahh, thank you my dear, sweet Maleficent.
Your gift is a savory poultice on my baseball wounds.

I will be very surprised if they win a game now. I don't know if you watched any of the post game coverage, but Garner really threw his team under the bus. The perception I have is that he's given up and so he has quit on them.

They asked him after the game what he told his team when he addressed them after the game. He said he didn't say a word, didn't address them. Basically he left them all in silence to sulk.

They asked him about the effort his team put forth. He said it was horrible, and he couldn't believe they couldn't get one man in from third base with one out after they had tied the score. The fact of the matter is (IMO), he got outmanaged. The Sox manufactured runs by taking pitches, moving the runner over on sacrifices, etc. The Astros simply didn't, and I mainly fault Garner for not calling for sacrifice bunts, hit-and-runs, etc. in situations that called for them.

Now the Astros have to face Freddy Garcia, who is 2-0 in the playoffs this year (the last one a complete game), with a 3.21 ERA. He would be a #1 or #2 starter on all but two or three teams in the league, but he is a #4 starter on the Sox. He gets to face the Astros #4 starter, Brandon Backe, who doesn't have a decision in the playoffs, and has a 4.91 ERA. He's only managed a TOTAL of 11 innings in three appearances.

Combine the morale the team must have with Garner acting like that with the bleakness of being down 3-0 to a team that has only lost one game in the last MONTH, I will really give a ton of credit to the Astros if they do anything more than roll over and die.




GO WHITE SOX!!!!