Oh come one, Torii Hunter’s home run wasn’t awesome?  And while I’m an Angels fan, Lester’s strikeout of Vlad was pretty memorable.

As for the Thunderstix thing - who cares?  The stadium passes them out, they’re fun, they keep my son occupied, what are we supposed to do, turn up our noses at them? 

“No, Angels, we will NOT use those Thunderstix you provided because us fans are too good for that.  Internet personalities will ridicule us, other fan bases will make baseless accusations about our worth, and people will think we’re silly.  So I boycott the Thunderstix.”  Rubbish.  I always thought the Chop was fun.  And now I think the Thunderstix are fun.  That doesn’t ruin my “purity” as a fan.

GrandSlamSingle - I did forget Manny as I was thinking more about recent Indian players who departed the team in the last few seasons.  Your inclusion of Charlie Manual does connect with my intrigue about how many ex-Tribe players are playing in the playoffs as it helps highlight that Cleveland certainly had the talent to be a playoff worthy team but fell short. 

Interesting questions to consider - Where could the Indians be if Manuel was still managing the Tribe?  My intent is not to slam Cleveland but to question the (in)effectiveness of Wedge and Shapiro to lead the team.  Obviously Wedge is gone but what could have happened if he was let go two seasons ago or never hired?  Shapiro brought Wedge in to manage the team - if he had opted for another candidate at the time would CC, Lee, Martinez, Blake, DeRosa still be on a playoff roster - just this time for the Indians not the teams they got shipped off to? 

It one thing to miss the playoff when you do not have the talent to compete (e.g. Nationals) but another when you obviously had the talent but underperformed (e.g. Indians, Mets).  I guess watching parts of three playoff games yesterday made me wonder what could have been in Cleveland when I realized how many of the players are actively helping other teams be successful.

aaron don’t generalize that badly. we dont all have the ‘right to win’ attitude or whatever you want to call it.

and in response to someone elses post… what else is there for red sox fans to talk about besides the umpiring? from our perspective nothing else happened.

lackey took it to us and the umpires stunk. that’s it.

“of” should “or”
“no” should be “not”
Ugh.

No worries, Daniel. I didn’t think there was a thing wrong with the tone. You’ve been reading my junk for years now, so you more than have the benefit of the doubt.

Anyone else a little disturbed by the reverence with which the Angels were described to be remembering Nick Adenhart?  He, who was killed by a drunk driver, being honored by beer-toting, champagne drenched athletes patting his image on the outfield wall?  The irony was unfortunate.

Rob2 - I know we went over this extensively when it happened, but no one in the Angels organization thought there was anything wrong with it.  More importantly, Adenhart’s parents called and said they were touched by the way the Angels included Nick in their celebration and thanked the Angels for everything they’d done.  If Nick’s own PARENTS don’t have a problem with it, I don’t know why anyone else should.

When it happened, it felt a little weird to me, but in retrospect it was really the only way they could celebrate “with him.”  Anything else would have felt forced and inauthentic.  If Nick had been there, he would have been spraying champagne and drinking beer right along with them.

@Daniel - That’s fine, his teammates and parents can certainly decide how they want to honor the memory of their friend and family member.  However, it’s more than a little unfortunate for TBS to put together a reverential video package that highlights it.

I don’t know how they would have done it exactly, but one way would have been to avoid the footage altogether.  Adenhart is obviously front and center in the team’s mind, there’s no reason to juxtapose that honored memory with a bunch of guys that were probably about to get in their cars and drive home.

I’m no teetotaler, but it’s an unfortunate element of our culture that has to celebrate these accomplishments soaked in champagne.  Save the bubbly for the World Series.  It’d be nice if some producer felt similarly.

Of course, it’d be nice if some producer realized the stupidity in listing team fielding percentages in each broadcast, too.  Maybe I just enjoy tilting at windmills.

All unique team traditions enrich baseball, if you ask me, from the Chop, to the Rally Monkey, to the homer hankies,  cow-bells, sausage races, “Thank God I’m a Country Boy, the Phanatic,“Sweet Caroline” and the rest. And having out-of-town fans and media find them irritating is half the fun.

... and from weather.com:

Actuals:  High 73F Low 53F Precip 0in

so, sure 65F was accurate, to start the game.
mid-to-upper-50s IS _slightly chilly_ for So Cal in early Oct.  not that I’m complaining - I enjoy this weather.  but don’t shoot the messenger for being accurate.