The Boston Red Sox
(27-19)
2nd in American League East Division
The Sox were five-in-seven for the past week. Good for them!
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
(18-27)
4th in American League West Division
Mike Trout made history again. The Angels were three-in-six, including a couple big wins (a good phrase to use for this hard-luck team). Trout is batting .293, Mark Trumbo .269, and Albert Pujols .247.
The Oakland Athletics
(25-22)
2nd in American League West Division
The A's were five-in-six. That's awesome!
The St. Louis Cardinals
(29-16)
1st in National League Central Division
The Cardinals were four-in-seven. Pretty good!
Showing posts with label Pop Fly. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pop Fly. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
#583. Pop Fly Wednesday
Before we get to baseball, let me just continue to express my ongoing frustrations. I am not a pessimist, I'm a realist. People love to quote the affirmative that persistence leads to success. I'm sure it looks exactly like that from the other side, when persistence works. The truth is, persistence is only the act of repeatedly doing the same thing expecting a different result. Some people also call that insanity. Success is not inevitable. We cannot all succeed. Sometimes a story really is about failure. Since this post is in fact about baseball, statistically speaking in every game someone wins and...someone loses. There are other sports where ties are possible, but baseball isn't one of them. The team at the top of a division could very well have been at the bottom last season. That's how the Red Sox are. We members of the Nation lived through eighty-six years fully believing in the Curse. Great ballplayers like Carl Yastrzemski, Ted Williams, Carlton Fisk, Jim Rice, and Wade Boggs never saw Boston win the World Series as active players. And that's just the guys who played in the Majors. I remember watching a near-perfect game from knuckleballer Charlie Zink at a Portland Seadogs game. I was eager to see Charlie eventually succeed Tim Wakefield as the Sox knuckleball ace. That never happened. There was a Lisbon, ME recruit when I was in high school who entered the farm system and never amounted to anything. Even being exceptional isn't always good enough. Lewiston, ME boxer Joey Gamache was a local legend, but I'm sure most people have never heard of him.
This is not really about being famous or having a tangible sense of accomplishment. These are names that went pretty far, but by conventional standards still didn't go all the way. Persistence doesn't always lead to success. We all love success stories. Those are the true affirmations, but they might also be exceptions to the rule. If the Red Sox are doing really well this season, it means some other team isn't. We can't all be winners. This is merely a sobering message, not the musings of a quitter or someone forgetting their dreams.
***
The Boston Red Sox
As it happens, Beantown has dropped two spots. They're currently three games behind the Yankees. Since last Wednesday their fortunes have not been so great. Clay Buchhulz hasn't won another game. In fact, the only game they won in this stretch was on Friday against the Toronto Blue Jays, on the strength of Jon Lester's pitching.
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
These guys are still doing pretty miserably, ten games out of first place, although they won more games in this stretch than the Red Sox. Mark Trumbo is batting .264, Mike Trout .286 (first time this season he's been ahead of Trumbo?), and Albert Pujols .242 (which is slightly better than when we last checked in).
The Oakland Athletics
The A's had a couple of wins in this stretch. They're also a bunch of games out of first place. And Coco Crisp has been recently been on the disabled list! But it's okay because he returns today.
The St. Louis Cardinals
At least these guys are still leading their pack. (Remember that at one point, the Sox, A's, and Cardinals were all tops of their divisions, while the Angels were...the best team in Anaheim.) They won five games in this stretch. Go Cardinals! Somewhere the squirrels are really happy.
This is not really about being famous or having a tangible sense of accomplishment. These are names that went pretty far, but by conventional standards still didn't go all the way. Persistence doesn't always lead to success. We all love success stories. Those are the true affirmations, but they might also be exceptions to the rule. If the Red Sox are doing really well this season, it means some other team isn't. We can't all be winners. This is merely a sobering message, not the musings of a quitter or someone forgetting their dreams.
***
The Boston Red Sox
As it happens, Beantown has dropped two spots. They're currently three games behind the Yankees. Since last Wednesday their fortunes have not been so great. Clay Buchhulz hasn't won another game. In fact, the only game they won in this stretch was on Friday against the Toronto Blue Jays, on the strength of Jon Lester's pitching.
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
These guys are still doing pretty miserably, ten games out of first place, although they won more games in this stretch than the Red Sox. Mark Trumbo is batting .264, Mike Trout .286 (first time this season he's been ahead of Trumbo?), and Albert Pujols .242 (which is slightly better than when we last checked in).
The Oakland Athletics
The A's had a couple of wins in this stretch. They're also a bunch of games out of first place. And Coco Crisp has been recently been on the disabled list! But it's okay because he returns today.
The St. Louis Cardinals
At least these guys are still leading their pack. (Remember that at one point, the Sox, A's, and Cardinals were all tops of their divisions, while the Angels were...the best team in Anaheim.) They won five games in this stretch. Go Cardinals! Somewhere the squirrels are really happy.
Wednesday, May 08, 2013
#577. Pop Fly Wednesday
Since the Challenge ended, I'm sure you've been sitting on pins and needles just waiting for me to update how my four baseball teams have been doing. Nah, I'm sure you're not. This is as much for me as anything else. This is a log of the season. Truth is, if I weren't blogging about it, I wouldn't check in as regularly. It's far easier to track baseball in a newspaper or on the TV (or radio) than by Internet. The Internet is the most comprehensive source, but it takes getting used to as my main source. So I'm making a weekly concerted effort.
The Boston Red Sox
They're still atop their division. That's just awesome. Big Papi has been on a hitting streak. Clay Buchholz won his sixth game on May 1. They lost most of the games in this stretch, but again, that's okay. They're doing just fine.
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
These guys have as many losses as the Sox have wins (21). So still not so fantastic. They won on the 1st and 3rd. Mark Trumbo is at .292, Mike Trout at .274, and Albert Pujols at .231.
The Oakland Athletics
The A's are two and a half games behind the Texas Rangers. They lost most of their games in this stretch, including one to the Angels. They won two out of three in a series with the Yankees, so that's pretty cool.
The St. Louis Cardinals
These guys have 21 wins and are at the top of their division, too. Naturally they won the majority of their games.
I'll probably have to check in a little more often on my own if I want to have more to say about this stuff next time. I yammered on and on some days during the Challenge. There was literally one day late in April where I talked more about baseball than the unique subjects I was otherwise tackling.
But the other big change from last month is that now all these people who thought maybe I was an interesting blogger are learning that most of what I find interesting maybe...isn't so interesting to other people in this community...
The Boston Red Sox
They're still atop their division. That's just awesome. Big Papi has been on a hitting streak. Clay Buchholz won his sixth game on May 1. They lost most of the games in this stretch, but again, that's okay. They're doing just fine.
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
These guys have as many losses as the Sox have wins (21). So still not so fantastic. They won on the 1st and 3rd. Mark Trumbo is at .292, Mike Trout at .274, and Albert Pujols at .231.
The Oakland Athletics
The A's are two and a half games behind the Texas Rangers. They lost most of their games in this stretch, including one to the Angels. They won two out of three in a series with the Yankees, so that's pretty cool.
The St. Louis Cardinals
These guys have 21 wins and are at the top of their division, too. Naturally they won the majority of their games.
I'll probably have to check in a little more often on my own if I want to have more to say about this stuff next time. I yammered on and on some days during the Challenge. There was literally one day late in April where I talked more about baseball than the unique subjects I was otherwise tackling.
But the other big change from last month is that now all these people who thought maybe I was an interesting blogger are learning that most of what I find interesting maybe...isn't so interesting to other people in this community...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
LinkWithin
