So, anyone who knows Jen and I also knows that we are diehard Red Sox fans. We go to multiple games a year (close to double digits) and we travel across the country to see them as part of our MLB ballparks tour. We try to watch every game on TV that we are not watching live. So, if the Sox are in the playoffs, you know we are watching the game no matter what time of day or night it is. Last night was no exception. We actually had tickets to a concert in Boston and chose to skip it so that we could watch the Sox game. Oh, there were a few other factors involved (didn't pay much for tickets, show started really late on a work night and Jon Lester was pitching), but you get the idea. Luckily, our faith was rewarded with an amazing game. A nail-biter from start to finish that the Sox won on a walk-off hit in the 9th inning which clinched the series and sends them to the ALCS against the Tampa Bay Rays (I know...the Rays...seriously?). In fact, the entire series with the Angels was amazing. Every game was good and none of them were easy wins. The Angels had the best record in baseball this year, including an 8-1 record against Boston, but the Red Sox just outplayed them. They had slightly better pitching, much better defense and they made the right plays at the right times. Add in the team chemistry, which the Angels didn't seem to have, as well as the psychological edge of having beat the Angels in the playoffs in 9 straight games and you get a 3 games to 1 series win. Done and done. The Angels were outplayed, plain and simple. No one disputes that...except maybe the Angels. Check out these quotes from their pitcher, John Lackey:
"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,"..."[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."
Wow...really, John Lackey? Way better? Are you sure? I understand that you are upset about getting eliminated and that you feel "like I want to throw somebody through a wall." But seriously, try losing with some dignity. Admit that you got outpitched, twice, by Jon Lester. He was dominant, and you were not. Admit that your team was outplayed by the Red Sox. Boston made the right plays at the right times and were much sharper defensively, as evidenced by only committing 1 error in four games as opposed to 4 by the Angels (which probably should have been 6). Just admit it. You're a sore loser and an even worse team player. There are others on the team who are just as bad as you, but you just happened to be the one who provided the quotes this time. It's all about you and that's why your team keeps losing when the time comes to step it up for the postseason. Baseball is a team sport. Until you realize this, you'll always be the sore loser sitting at your locker after getting outpitched and outplayed, providing dumb quotes to the press about how you just got beat 3 times in 4 games by "...a team not as good as us." In the meantime, while you are sulking, that TEAM will be playing for a chance to win their 3rd World Series in 5 years.
1 comment:
Well said, sir. Reminds me of Rodney Harrison's comment the week after the Pats lost the Super Bowl. He was in Hawai'i at the Pro Bowl (but not actually IN the Pro Bowl), and he said -- I'm paraphrasing, "We know those guys. We know we're the better team. Nine games out of ten, we come out on top. Last week, we just happened to play that one game. They won. Congrats to them, enjoy it, and let's see what happens next year." He gets a shot in, but comes clean. I think Lackey would've sounded a heck of a lot more dignified (and intelligent) had he taken this route instead of the one he did take.
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