Hello Fans,
We are down to the last three days of the regular season. It’s been a great ride already and there is plenty of exciting action left. We still need to determine the NL East Champion as the Wild Card clinching, Chipper-led Braves are still alive at three games behind the Nationals. We need to declare winners in all three AL divisions, and the East is WIDE open with the Orioles and Yankees tied. Yep, that’s right, it says Orioles tied with the Yankees! It’s been a tough fifteen years for the Oriole way to find its way to the post-season party, but one way or the other, they’re in the tourney. As the pennant races have continued to heat up, check out these perhaps behind the scenes items of the last week of 2012.
WEDNESDAY: Jayson Werth got booed heavily in Philly as he set up in the batter’s box. Then, he took a wild swing on a pitch eight inches off the plate to make the count 1 and 2. The crowd really let him have it then. I was wondering why, the Phillies didn’t want him, and he got big money so he left. He always played hard, and great in Philly, and he’s humble, quiet, and respects the game. Anyway, he battled in the AB to work the count to 3 and 2 and ended up with a 2 out, 2 RBI single up the middle in the 9th inning that gave the Nats a 4 run lead and all but ended Philly’s season. SSSSSHHH went that crowd. That must have felt great in more ways than one for Werth.
THURSDAY: Doug Fister pitches a great game for the Tigers going 7-2/3 innings while givin’ up just 2 earned runs on 5 hits and striking out 10. He set the AL record with 9 consecutive strikeouts in the middle of the game. That’s AMAZING!!!!!! The NL record is 10 set by Tom ‘Terrific’ Seaver in 1970. Fister didn’e even get the win though as the Tigers won 5-4 in the bottom of the 9th. An all-time great performance at an even better time for a team looking to wrap up a playoff berth with the AL Central title.
EARLY to MID WEEK: Tiger Miguel Cabrera’s quest to capture the first hitting Triple Crown since Yaz in ’67 hits a small snag as he oh-ferred in two straight games to make the batting title closer while being tied with Josh Hamilton for the HR title too. Interesting information to the batting title is that Joe Mauer and rookie sensation/MVP threat Mike Trout are now within 2 and 4 points, respectively, with three games left. It’s neck and neck as they head down the home stretch folks…..I’d love to see the first Triple Crown in 45 years but I think it’s a much BIGGER piece of history if Mauer swoops in to grab his FOURTH batting title. Are you kiddin’ me?!! That’s crazy as he would then own more such titles than ALL of the other MLB masked men PUT TOGETHER!!!! Not even Yogi, Bench, Dickey, Piazza, Campy, and both Pudges, etc. can claim that much hardware. Simply amazing if he can pull this one off. Tune in!!
Later Fans.