Last night was, by far, the most exciting regular-season day in Major League Baseball history. One day later and I still can’t believe what I saw. Three games that determined the last slots in the playoffs ending within 25 minutes of each other. Two dramatic comebacks ending within three minutes of each other. One major collapse (Atlanta Braves) and one epic collapse (Boston Red Sox) culminating in minutes. It was dramatic (for everyone) and fun (depending on your teams), and I’m pretty sure that I’ll never see anything like that again.
One minute I was watching Jonathan Papelbon blow a save against the lowly Orioles. A couple of minutes later I was watching Evan Longoria hit a game-ending homer against the Yankees, clinching the Tampa Bay Rays’ spot in the playoffs and ensuring an entertaining off-season in Boston. It was nuts how quickly it all happened. I was chuckling at Papelbon’s failure and — BAM! — just like that Longoria’s home run had me thinking, “Whoa! Did that just really happen?!?” On one hand, I wasn’t done laughing at the Red Sox. On the other hand, I just witnessed one of the most extraordinary days in baseball history.
As a tech nerd, it was a blast marveling, gloating, and discussing everything that just happened through different social networking services. As I was laughing at the Red Sox’ demise, I whipped out my iPad 2, headed to Facebook, and left some annoying comments on my friend Matt’s wall. He’s from Boston. *snicker* Discussing the games on Twitter, Google+, and Facebook made the events even more fun. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I love what social networking has added to sports.
Anyway, I wanted to see what you thought of last night’s games. Were you watching them live? Did you watch the highlights today? What do you think of it all? Which team was the biggest loser? Which team was the biggest winner? Have Yankee fans ever been happier about a loss? Share your feelings (like a Care Bear) in the comments section (please!).
I recommend reading Bill Simmons' live blog of the Yankees-Rays and O's- Sox games last night. It was hysterical as usual, but had a very happy ending for us Yankees fans….not so much for the Red Sux nation…..
I missed it all, but I can say that by FAR… the biggest losers are, were, and will still continue to be the Pirates.
*sad sigh
"lowly"?
As a life-long Pirate fan, I feel it will hit home best coming from me.
Baltimore ended the year 69 and 93 with a win pct of .426. Only 3 teams in the league did worse than that (and surprisingly, the Buccos are not one of them). Dead last place is the Astros who finished 56 and 106 with a win pct of .346!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
… continued in honor of Iceman
no, that didnt make me feel any better at all
I didn't follow baseball this year but I think an epic collapse for the Red Sox is an understatement.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!