‘80 . . . ‘08
Posted on Oct 27, 2008 4:42 pm
By Cliff Corcoran
The Tampa Bay Rays have been the story of the 2008 baseball season, but they’re about to get pushed off the front (and back) page. The Rays’ worst-to-first journey has been exciting, but the team has only been around since 1998, and Tampa Bay has already won a Super Bowl and a Stanley Cup this decade. Philadelphia, on the other hand, hasn’t won a professional team sports championship since the USFL’s Philadelphia Stars won that league’s title in 1984, and hasn’t won in one of the four major leagues (the NLF, NHL, NBA, or MLB) since the 76ers’ 1983 NBA championship. The Phillies themselves have won just once in their 125-year history, that coming more than a quarter century ago when Tug McGraw (pictured above), Mike Schmidt, and Steve Carlton led the Phils to their first-ever title in 1980. With Cole Hamels on the mound tonight, all of that is about to change. My Game 5 preview is up on SI.com.
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Let’s see if my prediction of Phillies in 5 holds up! Haven’t been around all that much, but perhaps the new Banter can lure me back in :)
Still holding out hope.
Hey, Zack, long time no see.
hey zack: a-wella, wella, wella, wella, welcome back! you still in san diego or san fran or san something-or-other?
wow, i even caught the 1st pitch! early gigs are good…
ooh, crawford made a big no-no — he stopped coming outta the box and then rollins dropped the ball. it cost the rays a leadoff man on…
kaz goes 3 balls on rollins, walks werth, hits utley. here’s the awakned Rhino Howard…
wazzup, y’all?
Hey, the blogger formerly known as Jeb here; I always wanted to be a bit more anonymous. I hope this SNY thing works out because I told Steve Lombardi that my password always seemed to get deleted and I finally got frustrated and quit posting at Was Watching.
Technical issue for the bosses — am I going to have to type my name and email every single time I post (even after logging in)? That would make me a little less likely to be a regular. Sorry but I’m a bit techno-challenged (Creative DVD’s notwithstanding, Alex!)
And another question: At the Toaster, we were allowed to cuss (which I particularly did when we’d blow a game in late innings). What’s the landscape here on that issue? Will the same rules (which I liked) at the Toaster apply here?
my bad – crawford wouldn’t have been the leadoff man on, he’s batting second. still, they woulda had a fast baserunner on for the heart of the order.
rhino walks back to the bench; kaz k’d him. 2 out and another RISP wasted by the Phitin’s…
Pat The Moose is up…
No, one you’re logged in you can leave the fields blank and just comment normally. Your ID should appear just fine. And feel free to speak your mind.
i understand this “reply to this comment” bit, but i’d rather have the #’s to keep the posts in order but to reply to Jeb’s Evil Empire post. alex has full editorial control, so i’m guessing we’re allowed to curse to our hearts content. if not, that’d really suck and i’d probably have to quit posting comments.
i also really dislike not getting to preview posts before they get sent. i really needed that feature and dig it. i, too, am technologically challenged. i didn’t have to sign back in when i came home a little bit ago and came to this site (via the toaster). the comment box was right there and i was set.
RISP REVERSAL. kaz walked burrell and victorino singled in 2. kaz has allowed 8 1st inning runs this PS. and counting…
Another suggestion — can we number comments? I like that a bit more than hitting “reply to this comment” (is that what people call “nested comments”? Told y’all, I’m not technically-able)
This game is formality.
Excellent! I think I’ll like it over here. But I will miss posting on here and looking over to the right and thinking, “Wow I need to read that article on the Cardboard Gods.
I think you’re right. By the way, I do like numbered comments because the number is a SIGNAL to go back and look at an early comment. With the nesting (Is it nesting?) it seems like you have to just go back on your own.
Guys, please keep the feedback coming. Just because you don’t see a quick change in response, doesn’t mean we’re not listening. That said, if you change your mind about something (like, say after using them for a while you decide you like nesting comments over numbered ones after all), please update us as to your change of heart.
cliff, i’m glad you’re here. i’m trying this “reply to this comment” bit. with this feature, every time there are new comments or i refresh, i’ll have to scroll all the way up and figure out what’s new. that seems like it’ll be a major pain in the rectum when during a big game, or busy thread.
cliff (and alex, if you’re reading) — please be patient with me, as i’ll probably have lotsa problems, questions, comments about the new ways over. i’ll probably repeat ?’s too, as it takes me awhile to get acclimated w/ technology. damn drummers… : /
phils w/ another RISP hit, but no run scored…
Now that you guys have moved and I’m having to visit “other” websites, I suddenly feel like I’ve discovered the InternetS
and melky called out diving into 1st. oh wait…
will do. I wonder if there’s a way to do nesting and numbered? why did Ken use numbered?
Hah! and Arod pops out to Victorino….
By the way, what is the deal with these all the players in French Foreign Legion hats in this game. I know it’s cold, but dammit this is the World Series.
thank you for listening! i have to agree wholeheartedly w/ evil empire about the numbered comments vs. the “nesting” (i’m even more ignorant than jeb about this stuff, as i’ve never heard of “nesting” before!) i also really dislike army time, though it’s better than pacific coast time. since the host is here on the east coast, can’t we have regularly times posted w/ an AM/PM?
oh, and of course, if i get used to stuff ’round these parts and learn to even like parts of it (good luck w/ that!), i’ll definitely let my change of heart be known…
17 pitches for King Cole after 2…
No idea. Incidentally, if you go back and look at the Toaster-era posts in the archives here, the numbers and the comment links are all still intact (save for last week’s, which got lost in the transfer).
the numbers were always cool at ken’s place. the whole [134] thing has lived on and it’s fun when we try to get to 500 or 1,000 during big games or even 50 or 100 in the early rounds of this years’ playoffs. remember the highlighted numbers at the toaster that allowed us to click and go to the referenced post, was a relatively new feature. i think, at first, there was a glitch too, like it would be able to jump the fold if it was closed off. that was a cool thing at the toaster also, of keeping posts in blocks of 50. it kept things nice and neat.
i kinda dig these silly winter hats. then again, i’m always cold. even here in the south… : ~
Ohayo Gozaimasu! damn, take 1 1/2 days off to visit the two-exit stomach flu thrill ride (will spare you any more details) and come back to find the Banter has moved!
agreed with the earlier comments, numebred posts seem better..congrats on the big move up though!
Welcome and thanks. Great to see all you guys here on our first day! Oh, and glad you’re feeling better.
jazz tokyo! hey buddy, i knew you’d find us here! : )
i got A Blowin’ Session in the mail today! pretty killin’
glad you’re feelin’ better, man!
speaking of japan, baseball and the toaster — anyone know what became of Mike Plugh. wasn’t he moving back to the states? mlbtraderumors were referencing him quite a bit for japan bb news, but stopped and linked to someone else. hope and he has family are doing well!
Holy Crap. I have tried logging in and getting a password about 2 dozen times since noon. I have finally made it.
You better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone.
Ah, crud. Sorry about the hassle. Were you getting any specific error messages?
Also, if there’s anyone out there reading having the same problem, email me (via the link on the right sidebar) and I’ll look into it.
…for the times they a-chaaaaaangin’
dylan rules!
indeed! there is a really cool bar near my apartment here called “My Back Pages”, walls covered in Dylan and other bluesman posters. owner has about 100 bootleg concert cds and vids behind the bar, you would love it.
not the most exciting WS this one…
so, how long with the archives be able to be accessed at the Toaster? will they eventually get gone there and be relocated to this new address? will there be another Yankees blog at the Toaster to take our place or will there be another team or a void?
yeah, i’ll miss checkin’ on Cardboard Gods and The Griddle…
It said to check my email earlier this afternoon but nothing ever came to my inbox. I thought it may have been anti-hotmail.. I randomly tried the forgot password option just now and voila, it was sent to me (for the first time). : )
Hey, could someone tell me what this baseball game on FOX is all about? I thought the season ended in September… ;-)
well, i’d rather have this WS than have the Shit Sox in it. at least i can enjoy watching meaningful baseball w/out having my stomach in knots and so much vested in the outcome.
thelarmis, check this site out, may have some info..
http://www.japanball.com/news_list.phtml
Actually, the archives are all here and the actual Archive links on the left go to the archives here. We just have to update the links under “Bronx Banter Interviews” and the like, which Alex and/or I will have to do by hand. I don’t know the answers to your other questions.
Was that praise of Joe Maddon a shot at Joe Girardi?
Hey Pena’s first hit of the Series!
hey thelarmis, am still getting the hang of the new system here. posted a link on Japanball for you to check abotu mike Pugh, also a post about a Dylan joint nearby, scroll back up and check it out.
Agreed. Although, I’ve tried to pull for the Rays… I just have a hard time pulling for a team that I’ve rooted against all year.
watching the game other day am sure i heard McCarver say to Joe Buck “this is not the time for that” after Joe went onandonandonandon about the NFL…first cool thing Tim has said since his WOR Mets days!
Consiparcy Theories abound.
cliff – i’m trying to get a hold of this “nesting”/reply system. i’m noticing there are different shaded boxes for comments – some are shaded blue and indented. i’m guessing all the large white ones are individual comments. outlined boxes w/ indented white ones and blue shading around it are all part of a “conversation thread” w/ folks “replying to this comment…” but, there’s a section above that disproves that theory – one of my comments is part of the big outline, but falls after yours that says “comments wont (sic) nest below this level”. (the won’t thing really should be fixed!) anyway, it seems as though “nesting” doesn’t really allow a long conversation – 4 or so comments.
if it’s possible to bring back numbered posts and linking them, i think it’d be a prudent move. i’m sure you guys need to allow some time to gather lotsa feedback, etc and discuss. hopefully SNY will be cool with you guys to change stuff around. i haven’t checked out the other sites here and frankly, with the exception of WW sometimes, i have zero desire to – so i don’t know if all the sites here look uniform; i imagine they do…
rays on the board. i think it’s a pretty exciting contest…
thanks Jazz Tokyo! i’ll have to scroll back up. see, another reason to go back to the # system. i was just about to reply to a Bama post but see there are quite a few after his and was afraid he’d miss my reply…
hey bama – good to see ya, man! i’m with you and rooting for the Phils. have been all along. i have PA ties, since i’m a Penn State graduate. i don’t follow college football, but i think it would be really cool of you to lose a game, so we can move up! or, how bout we both win but texas loses. …then, you lose so we can win it all. JoePa deserves that! : )
I’m still learning it to. First off, I’ve already flagged that “wont.” Second, when it says “Comments wont nest below this level” that just means it wont indent further, you should be able to continue commenting further in that conversation thread. Besides which, we have control over that max-3 indents thing and can increase it if folks so desire.
Hey Jeb… uh, I mean Evil Empire… how ’bout the Tide? That was a big win against the Vols. I know everyone is starting to talk about the NC, but my main focus is on breaking that streak against Auburn… then I’ll worry about the other stuff.
er, “I’m still learning *too*”
i am just seeing what this does.
And here’s a test comment to prove my point above.
how do you make a word in bold? can you do italics here?
a frank tanana refrerence! cool.
shit, i’m gonna get ganged up on between you & jeb! GO NITANNY LIONS! : )