So, last night was pretty exciting. No – not the Cubs. The Rays came back from 7-0 to win 8-7 in 12 innings against the Yankees, the Red Sox lost late to the Orioles, the Cardinals crushed the Astros, and the Braves lost in extras to the Phillies. With that, two of the greatest collapses in baseball history were complete. I can barely believe it, and I’m still processing the ramifications for the Cubs (because that’s where my head always goes first). The only two things of which I’m certain: I really hate watching the Cardinals celebrate, and baseball can be as exciting and dramatic as any other sport.
If you’re looking for a quick pulse-check on how eager Boston fans are to dump Theo Epstein, ESPNBoston has a vote going on about whom the Red Sox should fire in light of the historic failure, and, as of this morning, only some 33% said Epstein (either individually, or in a group firing). Given that this is likely the height of Epstein antipathy, it sounds like the fans will generally remain behind their rock star GM.
With the Cubs’ loss last night, and a few other outcomes, the team will be picking 6th in the 2012 draft.
Wow: Carlos Marmol admits that he missed former pitching coach Larry Rothschild this year. “To be honest with you, yes, [I missed Rothschild],” Marmol said. “He’s known me for a long time, and he knows everything I do on the mound. Riggins will learn my mechanics.” Obviously it’s a little bit of “an excuse,” but it’s also not a particularly strong endorsement of Mark Riggins.
Starlin Castro finishes the year as the NL’s hits leader – the youngest player to accomplish the feat. Now, get that OBP up, get the errors down, and you could be a superstar.
In a preview of what’s to come next year, I suspect, last night’s game thread on the Message Board exploded into a variety of topics, not the least of which was the insanity of last night’s Wild Card-deciding games. If you want to see what it looks like in print when a bunch of guys’ heads explode at once, that’s where you’ll find it. Maybe some day it will actually involve the Cubs.
Harold Reynolds thinks Albert Pujols to the Cubs is a real possibility.
The Heckler nails it with a humorous video about the Cubs’ season:
Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here.
Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.
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NEWSLETTER
So, last night was pretty exciting. No – not the Cubs. The Rays came back from 7-0 to win 8-7 in 12 innings against the Yankees, the Red Sox lost late to the Orioles, the Cardinals crushed the Astros, and the Braves lost in extras to the Phillies. With that, two of the greatest collapses in baseball history were complete. I can barely believe it, and I’m still processing the ramifications for the Cubs (because that’s where my head always goes first). The only two things of which I’m certain: I really hate watching the Cardinals celebrate, and baseball can be as exciting and dramatic as any other sport.
