9.29.2008

The morning after ...

... So it wasn't a dream. I woke up this morning and there on Sportscenter was coverage of the Brewers beating the Cubs and the Mets losing to the Marlins. Yes, indeed the Milwaukee Brewers have made the playoffs for the first time since 1982.

It's been a long time coming.

... Kates and I were glued to the TV and holding the couch covers tight yesterday afternoon while we watched the Brewers game. All the while happy-go-lucky Pheebs was being adorable babbling and bouncing in her saucer, completely oblivious to the baseball history playing out -- though we'll no doubt explain it to her when she's old enough to understand ...

Every time Kates or I sprang up from the couch to celebrate or bemoan a development in the game, Phoebe looked at us like our bodies had been invaded by aliens. "What have you done with my daddy!?" you could see her thinking.

Geez, when Craig Counsell walked in the seventh inning to force in the tying run, I think I tore a rotator cuff from pumping my fist so hard ...

And when Ryan Braun hit the home run to win it -- well, I don't think I need to tell you how excited I got ... And when the Brewers finally claimed the playoff spot and those blue and gold streamers started dropping from the Miller Park roof, I was breathless.

My pop too. He called me a few minutes after the game ended, nearly out of breath too. What a moment ...

I watched the bottom of the eighth and the ninth innings again during my lunch break -- oh yeah, we made sure to save it on the DVR.

I was so swept up in the hoopla yesterday that it didn't occur to me Ryan Braun hit his home run on the first pitch he saw -- immediately after we thought Ray Durham had won the game with his long flyball to right field. And Derrek Lee, who's among the league leaders in double-play groundouts, was the man responsible for that double-play that ended it.

... I also had been split on whether CC Sabathia or Brandon Webb deserved the NL Cy Young. But after Sabathia's performance yesterday, and his two priors starts, I've got to believe the award goes to CC. Three consecutive starts on three days rest!? C'mon, it's unheard of in this era ... He put the Brewers on his back and carried them into the playoffs -- where Brandon Webb's Diamondbacks are not.

Unbelievable and unforgettable. My dream postseason is shaping up ... The quote of the day goes to Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett during the Brewers rally at the Summerfest grounds earlier tonight ...

"With the stock market, with the foreclosures, with people losing their jobs, I think people need joy in their lives," he said. "This is pure, unadulterated joy for baseball fans. People wait for this [in spring] and here we are in autumn,
and we're still hoping."


My condolences, Mets fans.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Booooo. Booooooooooo! Boooooooooo!!

Oh, all right. Congratulations.

The Mets didn't deserve it.
Good luck.

Sigh.