World Series game 1 thoughts: Well, that sucked...

St. Louis won game one of the World Series, and did so easily. Too easily.

But...Take a deep breath, everyone. A 7-2 loss while looking out of sorts, and slightly awed, by the situation, wasn't what we were exactly expecting from the Tigers. But remember, it's a 7 game series. It was only one, count 'em, one, game. An ugly game, to be sure, but just one game. There's no reason to be overly upset, let alone panic. Yet.

The Tigers looked like the team that drove us utterly batty over the last 6 weeks of the season. Impatient hacking at the plate was the strategy of the day. Why the sudden change in plate disipline? Bad scouting of Reyes? Nerves? Rust? Being the overwhelming favorite go to the Tigers' heads? Great pitching by Reyes? Your guess is as good as mine. I'll just say it was a combination of all of the above.

I said yesterday that Albert Pujols should never be given the opportunity to take the bat off of his shoulder. So to see Justin Verlander give up an emotionally draining, expecially to an already reeling crowd, 2 run shot to Pujols was a huge momentum swing for the Cards. If the Tigers end up losing this series, you'd have to consider Pujols' homer to be one of the series turning points.

What on earth was the Marlboro Man thinking? Why why why why pitch to him, with 2 out and 1st base empty? Conventional strategy would have been to intentionally walk Pujols. Hell, even the most clueless Tiger manager ever, Luis Pujols, would have woken up from his stupor and walked him. Leyland said on the (Awful) broadcast that he would take the blame, that they should be pitching around him. Pitch around him? Huh? Then why take a chance, why not just give him the base? I'll take my chances facing the decrepit Jim Edmonds over Pujols any day, week, month, year, or decade. Personally, I'd just tell Pujols to just head straight over to 1st, rather than even bother going to the batters box, as he wouldn't be getting anything to hit, anyway...

Funny thing about Verlander, he pitched well, looked dominating at times. Yet he just couldn't get the big out, and ended up losing big. Much like Nate Robertson in the ALDS against the Yankees, Verlander's stats won't reflect that he pitched decently. Not great, but OK. Unfortunately, it's the World Series, and you need more than just OK when the other pitcher is putting up a long string of zeros.

Speaking of which, Reyes threw the game of his life. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

As for panic, that's exactly what we saw from Brandon Inge in the 6th. He had no chance of getting the runner. None whatsoever. Instead of composing himself, and then getting the out at 1st, he compounded an already bad situation by throwing the ball 10 feet wide of Pudge. Thus allowing another run to score via his stunbling around 3rd base and knocking over Scott Rolen. Not that the play made any difference at all in the final result, but it symbolized how flustered the Tigers looked all night.

As for tonight, I'm not sure what to expect. Not because of the Gambler, as I expect him to be dealing. Or due to the mercurial "Cheech" Weaver, whose career has been consistent in its inconsistency. The reason I'm not sure what to expect tonight is because the weather in the D is not fit for man nor beast. Or Tigers and Cardinals, for that matter. I look out my window, and I see rain, snow, sleet, and high winds. Let alone it's cold as Hell, MI. It'll be a brutal night at Comerica. Not cold enough to freeze shut tim McCarvers pompus mouth, but God damn cold, none the less. Whichever pitcher handles the nasty weather best, will win game 2.

I hope it's the Gambler.

Actually, they shouldn't be playing. When the weather will be the biggest factor as to the result of the game, it's not fair for either team. It should be postponed. The suits at FOX will NEVER let that happen, unfortunately.

Drew Sharp, for once, made a great point on sports rant radio a few minites ago. MLB moved game 3 of the ALCS to a 4:30 Friday start from it's original 8pm first pitch. Why? Because of the (Make finger quotes in the air) "Weather." The weather is much worse today, we've known for hours that the weather was going to be awful, and will do nothing but get worse. So why not move this game to a late afternoon start? HA! Becuase it'll step on the NFL's toes, and cause FOX to run Simpsons and Family Guy reruns during prime time. MLB and baseball are talking out of both sides of their mouths on this one...

One more thing. Instead of me ranting about the cluelessness of Buck, McCarver, and the FOX broadcast in general, let me post, verbatim, text messages I received from the GF during the game.

"Why is everyone shouting?"

"Does Joe Buck know what he's talkin' about? Grandy at the bottom of the lineup? Not very often, and not in the post season. Dork."

"These interviews with the manager bug me...they have a job to do, ya dorks!! Plus we miss the game!! DORKS!!"

Couldn't have said it better myself...

Tags: Detroit, Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Cardinals, Albert Pujols, Jim Leyland, World Series, MLB, baseball