The Astros won a thrilling game on Sunday, and although I believe that any day the Braves get knocked out of the playoffs is a good day, I couldn’t help feeling very sorry for Joey Devine. The kid already has an unfortunate spot in the record books (the only pitcher to allow a grand slam in each of his first two career appearances), and now he gave up this huge walk-off homer. But let’s not think about that — let’s focus on the Braves being eliminated!
That sets up a matchup between the Astros and Cardinals, which should be great. I think I am rooting for the Cards, but I would be happy with either of them. That makes it a very fun series to watch, since I can just sit back and enjoy the games without worrying about who wins. Last year, I thought I was rooting for the Cardinals all the way, but then I ended up halfway rooting for the Astros in the NLCS and totally rooting for the Red Sox in the World Series, so I may be surprised when the games actually start to find out who I want to win.
The other series will have no such wishy-washiness from me. I will be rooting hard for the Angels, and I hope when the White Sox lose, they get upset and fire their TV announcers. Being a SoCal boy, I grew up with the Angels being my second-favorite team (the Angels weren’t anyone’s FAVORITE team back then), and I had a blast watching with my wife as they beat the Yankees last night.
In a World Series between the Angels and the Cards/Astros, I am guessing I will be rooting for the NL team, but we’ll see when the time comes, I guess.
Oh, and one side note that I don’t want to make an entire post for but that isn’t directly related to anything I am discussing: Look at the headline on this ESPN.com article and tell me whether they have editors. NOTE: Do not click that link if you do not like off-color humor or are unfamiliar with various slang terms for the male anatomy. It is not technically “dirty,” but it certainly has severe double-entendre-ish tendencies.