Wednesday, October 12, 2005
ACCORDING TO PLAN
The Angels won Game 1 last night exactly as they are designed to do. They got a very good start from The Wyrd, had a lights-out bullpen, and took advantage of their opponent’s mistakes (thank you, A.J. Pierzynski).
All the scoring in happened while I was at work, so I caught up to it on the highlights. One of the biggest offensive plays in the game was Orlando Cabrera’s takeout slide at second, annihilating a double play and allowing a run to score. The Angels have benefited from their good (and lucky) baserunning all postseason; a reader reminds me to acknowledge that the Contact Play worked well when Vlad scored on Darin Erstad’s squibber in Game 5 against the Yankees (had I not fallen so woefully behind on the sidebar counter, I’d update it), but that play was set up by Vlad getting a great read on a blooper to right. These things can make a difference in close games, and the White Sox have good enough pitching that these games promise to be close.
Tonight shapes up to be an even tougher game. As Seitz points out, it’s often the second day after an intense travel schedule that can be the toughest; when you think about it, that makes sense: after traveling every day, one’s body might begin to think it’s normal, and be in for a real shock when some sense of normalcy returns.
The other worrisome element is Jarrod Washburn. I haven’t had strep throat in a long time, but I recall it to be a pretty unpleasant experience. He’s had a lot taken out of his body, and we just don’t know how much he can offer physically at this point. But Kelvim Escobar and (gulp) Kevin Gregg should both be available tonight, as well as Esteban Yan, who sucks.
More good news: with Mark Buehrle on the mound, Steve Finley will not be in the starting lineup. Hopefully Robb Quinlan can do something with the time he’s given.
The Angels won Game 1 last night exactly as they are designed to do. They got a very good start from The Wyrd, had a lights-out bullpen, and took advantage of their opponent’s mistakes (thank you, A.J. Pierzynski).
All the scoring in happened while I was at work, so I caught up to it on the highlights. One of the biggest offensive plays in the game was Orlando Cabrera’s takeout slide at second, annihilating a double play and allowing a run to score. The Angels have benefited from their good (and lucky) baserunning all postseason; a reader reminds me to acknowledge that the Contact Play worked well when Vlad scored on Darin Erstad’s squibber in Game 5 against the Yankees (had I not fallen so woefully behind on the sidebar counter, I’d update it), but that play was set up by Vlad getting a great read on a blooper to right. These things can make a difference in close games, and the White Sox have good enough pitching that these games promise to be close.
Tonight shapes up to be an even tougher game. As Seitz points out, it’s often the second day after an intense travel schedule that can be the toughest; when you think about it, that makes sense: after traveling every day, one’s body might begin to think it’s normal, and be in for a real shock when some sense of normalcy returns.
The other worrisome element is Jarrod Washburn. I haven’t had strep throat in a long time, but I recall it to be a pretty unpleasant experience. He’s had a lot taken out of his body, and we just don’t know how much he can offer physically at this point. But Kelvim Escobar and (gulp) Kevin Gregg should both be available tonight, as well as Esteban Yan, who sucks.
More good news: with Mark Buehrle on the mound, Steve Finley will not be in the starting lineup. Hopefully Robb Quinlan can do something with the time he’s given.
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