1st game I'd ever gone to, can't wait for my LCS game.

Nice showing by the Angels last night. Stayed up late to watch and I'm not really awake this morning but it was worth it. I wonder how the "didn't get much sleep since we played a late game and lost" dynamic plays against the "we're favored at this point and still have 2 games to only win 1" dynamic. Then again, as they say in baseball, momentum is only as good as the next game's starting pitcher.

SI

Angels win today, then Wednesday becomes a must-watch. As it is, I expect Boston to take care of things today. But I'm rooting against it.

Go Phillies!!

Come on Rays, finish 'em!

I'd like to see the Rays keep their dream season going. Maybe I'll just start referring to them as Brooklyn now, because the more they win, the more Bud will get ideas in his head.

:D

Congrats to the Rays, what an awesome story. So glad to see Ozzie Guillen out.

I'm glad for the Rays but am sorry to see Griffey Jr denied again

Amen, on both counts

SI

Also true :(

SI

Yep.

Same here.

Lester needs to stop being a whiny bitch

SI

WOOOOHOOOO!!!

Tampa is going to the ALCS!!!!!!

Lester's fucking NAILS!

Ok now this game has become must watch (not that I haven't been watching the other 8 innings)

SI

fuck me that was some shitty pitching by the sox bullpen

nice - sox managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. fuck this...i'm not watching this bullshit all night long and ending up staying up late again.

Speaking of defeat, jaws of victory, etc...

SI

Stunningly idiotic call by Scioscia there with the squeeze. You have a guy on third with one out and a left hander up. All you need is a fly ball.

Yeah, but Aybar ain't exactly a power hitter.

lol

and before i could change the channel that happened

Questionable play. But odds are Aybar grounds/pops out and the runner is stranded.

break for the angels there as it bounced up into the stands...or bay woulda been on third MINIMUM

fuckin texiera saved it there for the halos

WALKOFF!!!!!

BABY JED LOWRIE WITH THE WALKOFF SINGLE INTO RF!!!

gj Angels though - definately coulda/shoulda been headed back to LA for a Game 5

gaaaay

Woohoo. Went upstairs just in time and made my wife switch to the game (she was watching some shit on HGTV). Two pitches saw a game-saving grab and a GW rbi.

Go Jason Bay! But... go Rays now!

noooo Mike...you gotta love the Red Sox - Bay's a proud Canadian!!!

Very entertaining series...I'm happy to see Jason Bay enjoying some playoff success.

Go Rays Go. Brooklyn wants you.

(forgive me this bit of doggerell)

"Here's a little story about a man named Jed.. poor little shortstop barely kept his family fed.. then one day when he was swinging at a ball, he hit it to right, and to the ground the Angels did fall..." "Eliminated.. that is.."

I know, it's making me choose sides hard. :(

Good thing I didn't see Game 4 or I probably would've thrown things.

Good job to the Rays and I have a ton of respect for their bullpen.

We had our chances to win this series and we didn't capitalize.

I'm going to enjoy watching Evan Longoria and Alexei Ramirez's careers. :)

I'll be cheering for the Rays and Phillies now in this postseason.

go rays

Good series, Sox. I had to suffer this one at work tonight, so that sucked. At least it was dead, and I got to see most of the key plays.

This was one hell of a series, and it deserved to go five. Every game was intense and came down to the final inning or two. Fact is, the Red Sox made the plays, and the Angels didn't, and that's the difference.

It's a shame because it's a damn good team in the losing clubhouse in this one, but the Angels have won enough division championships (as much as most teams' fans will hate me saying that). It's not about getting to the playoffs anymore. We're like the Red Sox and the Yanks in that respect. If you're not in the Series, it's a failed season.

So it's sad to say this season is a failure, but it is. And we're back to the drawing board in the offseason, with maybe some of our most difficult decisions yet.

I would wish you gl, Sox, but we all know I don't want another darn Sox championship. So go Rays and Joe Maddon!

Oh, and go Dodgers!

If it makes you feel any better, we weren't any better (or worse) than you this series. As much as it was us "making plays" the Angels "weren't" it was dumb luck. Willits was 6 inches from making a spectacular saving catch and its likely extra innings. The other one was the suicide squeeze. I'm sure people will point to Aybar missing the bunt attempt as a horrible failure to execute, no one is going to mention the reason he missed was because Delcarmen threw a 2-0 pitch 8 inches off the plate low and inside.

(Of course there was luck the other way - 2 more inches and Tex doesn't make that game-saving grab, or last night Aybar winning on a bloop hit so I don't know where I'm going with this - guess I'll watch the Jaguars video again YouTube - Pre-Game Coin Toss Makes Jaguars Realize Randomness Of Life )

I haven't been following this thread too closely so the point may have been made already, but the question must be asked. Why break out the champagne for getting to the semifinals?

True, true.

Baseball tradition for winning a playoff series. I think the exclusivity of baseball's playoffs and the fact that the season is long as all get out, makes celebrating a playoff series win worth it. And it's really not the "semi-finals" because it's not like the other major sports in that way. You win the LCS and you win your league and even with interleague play, that still means something.

Sorta. ;)

Correct. I think teams actually hang a DLCS Championship Banner if they don't win the NLCS.

I haven't seen a ton of "LDS winners" banners. I know one team specifically used that nomenclature before, but the Mariners took it another route, rather than posting Wild Card Champs banners and just indicating the years they made the LCS. I kinda like this approach.

Sure enough, I guess the Mets have a LDS winners pennant.

Heh. That was why I remembered it. :D

"Crybaby" Lackey lets loose after loss:

"It's way different than last year. We are way better than they are. We lost to a team not as good as us."

"[On Sunday]they scored on a pop fly they called a hit, which is a joke," said Lackey, referring to a popup that was misplayed into three runs. "[On Monday], they score on a broken-bat ground ball and a fly ball anywhere else in America [except in Fenway Park]. And [Pedroia's] fist-pumping on second like he did something great."