It does not get much better than this. Two excellent baseball teams, both battled for a division championship all year, and now the one spot in the national league playoffs has been filled. Let me break down the final weekend in baseball. The Milwaukee Brewers finish with a record of 90 wins and 72 losses. They cinch the NL wild card by defeating division rival and National League Central champions, the Chicago Cubs. The New York Mets end the season with a record of 89 wins and 73 losses, losing to division rival Florida Marlins, who happened to eliminate them from playoff contention just last year. There was an enormous amount of pressure on both sides. The Milwaukee Brewers were still subject to a controversial move, the removal of Manager Ned Yost with a small portion of the season left. The New York Mets collapsed under the pressure last year, and then went out and signed all-star Johan Santana to a huge deal to ensure a playoff appearance this season. Both teams played their final game at home. The Mets pitched Oliver Perez against Florida's Scott Olsen. Neither of them is the ace of their own staff, but both have been competitive all year. Oliver Perez went 5 1/3 innings, giving up only 2 earned runs. Olson went six innings, giving up two earned runs as well. However, the Mets bullpen let them down again. All year long the Mets put themselves in a position to win games and the bullpen could not close. They allowed another two runs as Florida went on to win, 4-2. Milwaukee pitched ace C.C Sabathia, who some pick to win the N.L Cy Young award even after being traded mid-season. Chicago's ace, Carlos Zambrano, was supposed to start but scratched at the last minute in favor of Angel Guzman. Sabathia turned in one another one of his great performances. He tossed all nine innings giving up only one earned run. He improved his record with Milwaukee to 11-2, and more importantly has lead them to the playoffs. Both of these games peaked great interest, and left some fans ecstatic and some devastated. After exploring the blogosphere, I came across several different blogs regarding both of these teams and their current status. The first blog I posted on, LastWordSportsNewsz.com, is a site dedicated to sports blogs. The goal is to allow give different opinions on current issues in sports. The second blog I posted on, Bats, is a blog written by New York Times reporters, Tyler Kepner, Ben Shpigel and Jack Curry. The goal of this blog is to give the most current information regarding the Mets and Yankees. What will be the future of managers Jerry Manuel and Dale Sveum?
"Final: Santana Keeps Mets Alive; Mets Beat Marlins 2-0"Comment
Thanks for your post. The end to this baseball season has been very rocky. It seems that every day a different team is gaining momentum. Just last week it seemed like the Mets were going to run away with it. Suddenly, they find themselves with their backs to wall. I am extremely impressed with the way that Johan Santana handled himself today. Coming off just three days rest and a 125-pitch performance, it is quite remarkable that he was able to shut down a Marlin team that is playing well. With the pressure really building up, this was a very clutch win for the Mets.
I would love to get your opinion about Sunday's game and what will take place. The Mets will be throwing Oliver Perez against Scott Olsen. Neither of the pitchers are considered the ace of their staff, but either one could pitch a great game at any given time. Meanwhile, the Brewers will be throwing C.C Sabathia against Carlos Zambrano. Who do you think has the advantage in that game? Zambrano is still getting back into the swing of things since coming off the D.L, even though he had that incredible no hitter. Sabathia has been absolutely incredible since coming to Milwaukee. I would have to give the advantage to the Brewers, being at home with Sabathia. It really should be interesting to see how things play out.
Say both teams win tomorrow. Who do you think holds the advantage in a one game playoff? I am not quite sure where the game would be played. Which team had a better record against each other during the year? With the disaster that was last season, I think that there is an intense amount of pressure put on the Mets. Today Santana came up extremely clutch. It seems that the huge off season contract was in fact worth it. It should be interesting to see how these last couple days play out, and whether the Mets can handle the pressure, especially if the season was to go into a one game playoff. I am curious of what your opinions are on the future of the season. Thanks for keeping us updated.
"New York Mets & Milwaukee Brewers: Different Teams, Same Issues"
Comment
Thanks for you well thought out post. I completely agree that these two teams had similar qualities. Now that the wild card race is over, there are several questions that need to be answered. The Mets have now choked in the final game, two seasons in a row. It seems that their bullpen problems are the reason that they are not going to the playoffs this year. Once again, they were let down in the late innings of the game. I do not fault Jerry Manuel, I just think he was hit with a little bad luck. When Billy Wagner went down, the bullpen really suffered. Although I am a Marlins fan, I actually feel slightly bad for the Mets. They went out in the off-season and purchased Santana for a huge price. Then he goes out yesterday and pitches absolutely incredible. You would think that his performance would give them the boost they needed. Apparently this is not the case because the $22 million payroll Florida Marlins knocked the Mets out once again. How do you think the Mets will handle this off season? Last year was tough, but two years in a row must be even more difficult to swallow.
On the other hand, I congratulate the Brewers on a job well done. They had to deal with great adversity the last couple weeks of the season. The front office was scrutinized for the firing of Ned Yost, and the team seemed to be crumbling. Under the command of Dale Sveum, they were able to get around the distractions and finish out on top. Do you think that Sveum earned himself a full time managerial position, or does it depend on the outcome in the playoffs? I happen to think it depends on the playoffs because we still have not had enough time to analyze his game management. If he proves that he can win in the playoffs, then by all means give him the job. The Brewers have a ton of talent and I am happy that they have finally broken the streak. I definitely think that they are a force to be reckoned with in the playoffs. I am interested to know the directions that you think both of these organizations are heading in.
1 comment:
Greg, good post. This was a very enjoyable read for a baseball fan like myself. I like how you covered both teams in the N.L. Wild Card race in your opening argument and then found a post that examined how both teams faced the same issues down the stretch. Also, your links worked pretty well. But, if you link one player (like Sabathia) or team, it would probably be better to link all players and teams, such as Santana or the Chicago Cubs, even if they aren't central to your argument.
I thought your comments were very well thought out and contributed to the posts you read. You asked great questions toward the end of your comments, such as "Who do you think holds the advantage in a one game playoff?" and "How do you think the Mets will handle this off season?" I hope the authors of the posts get back to you with some sort of response as I am anxious to hear their opinions. I had some trouble finding your comment on the second post, which is probably your biggest problem, because the link you provided didn't show any comments. Also, the first link to your comment on 'Bats' didn't go directly to your comment - I had to scroll down to it. That's an easy problem to fix and something I suggest doing for your next post. Also, I think it may be better to have your links open in a separate page so the reader of your blog can easily get back to your post, rather than have to find it and click the back button.
In terms of design, I think the set up of your post is very appealing to the eye and makes for a good online read. However, the placement of your pictures should probably be on opposite sides of the page, just to even out the landscape of your piece. Other than that, you picked great pictures to illustrate your argument by having the Brewers celebrate in one and the Mets look appear hopeless in the other. They truly reflected what you covered in your post. Overall, solid read, and you commented on some great sources.
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