Party. Fenway Park. BYOB (Bring Your Own Beard)

OH NO TEDDY! Not you too!

This beard bit Boston has going on would be cute if it weren't so gross. The Duck Dynasty type beards are pure nasty. (Could you imagine being the guy that has to clean the drains in that clubhouse? GRROSSS)

So Boston RedSox beard guys...

...we DO NOT salute you. 

(Even though beards are gross and gross can be weird and we are fans of the weird, 

we ARE NOT fans of this.)

Back Away From Me Wizard

I'm not discounting Detroit shortstop Jose Iglesias' immense talent, but there is no way there wasn't some amount of magic involved in this play last night.

This is something similar to quidditch or whatever 

that sport they play in Harry Potter is.

In all seriousness, what an amazing play. Looking forward to watching this kid for seasons to come.

Who Is Behind The Blackout in Detroit?

Here is a list of my suspects:

A.H. "Bud" Selig 

"Bane"

President Obama

...either way, I don't really care. Clamp it down and fix it because delays are boring.

I Puig, You Puig, Everybody Puig Puig Puig.

Umm... What?

Mind you, this was in the FOURTH inning...

...THE FOURTH INNING

Don't mistake it. Puig is an incredible talent, an exciting talent, he's one of these young talents that will be energizing the game for many years to come. But what in the actual hell was that? That celebration on 3rd was Game 6 David Freese-esque. Come to think of it, not even David Freese was that boisterous, nor did he have the epic bat flip. Besides, when you compare the circumstances, it is not even close. David Freese hit a bases clearing triple to tie Game 6 of the World Series in the 9th after being one strike away from it all being over. Puig hit an RBI triple in the 4th inning of Game 3 of the NLCS. 

(Wow, was that Freese thing a tangent or what...sorry about that). Back to the energizing the game for years to come, he will do that. He also seems to be incredibly talented at giving the other side extra motivation for beating him. Or beaning him. Or both. And let's not even get into what Brian McCann would have done right then. He may have caught the ball on the next pitch and tried to bean him from home.

What I'm saying Mr. Puig is, ignoring my personal feelings on excessive celebrating, you may want to tone it down just a bit if only for the sake of not giving the other side the one extra spark it needs to rally the troops, get fired up, come back and bite you in the ass. At times with a 95 mph fastball. 

All of this said, I'd still want you on my team, but preferably once you reach free agency and are all grown up. Hell, is that going to be expensive or what?

For a video to better see the celebration, look here. (Also where I found the GIF)

Steve Bartman - 10 years later.

Today, on the 10th anniversary of Bartmangate, I'm not going even to pretend I know what Bartman is up to. Other than to say I hope he's living it harassment free. What I do know is what the Cubs are up to. Now look, I know there are many of you who don't believe in curses (and think those of us who do are psychotic). That's nice, moving along...

I could go through each heartbreak Cubs' fans have endured over the last 105 years (today is another anniversary, the 105th anniversary of the last Cubs' world championship...but yeah coincidence...curses *totally* don't exist), but it is a list so long we'll get to it another day. In the 10 years since Bartmangate the Cubs have had 6 losing seasons, 4 of them being >90 loss seasons, they did win two back-to-back division titles in 2007 & 2008 but were swept in the division series both times. In 2013 they finished last in the NL Central, and if weren't for the lowly Astros previously being in that division, that would be 4 running last place seasons.

Prior to the 2012 season the Cubs brought on Theo Epstein as their General Manager. I mean, if you're a cursed club who better than the man who ran the Red Sox when they broke they championship drought in 2004. Also, he's a smart dude.

Ownership has turned club philosophy toward the new school, sabermetrics way of doing things. Anyone paying attention knows that this has proven successful for other clubs over the past several years. The organization is full of young talent, and given the other factors, one could conclude it is only a matter of time before they are contending again. 

So here's to you Steve Bartman, here is to hoping the Cubs are contenders again soon and that they either seal the deal or there is some new disaster that shifts the focus from you.

Don't listen to 'em Steve, it was never your fault. Higher powers are always at work.

(Also, sweet headphones)

Baseball is beautiful...but its fans can be ugly.

"Bye-Bye Trayvon" was just one of the awful taunts (referenced here) hurled by the RedSox fan who threw back a Detroit homerun ball, eventually leading to his ejection.

Let's not pretend that I don't love some good trash talk, especially in high stakes games. I just prefer to do it safely behind my keyboard. Regardless, it never needs to rise to the level of personal attacks. The ballpark isn't the place for it anymore after what we've seen between Giants and Dodgers fans. People are stupid. No. They really are. Most people are idiots who forget it is just a game.

If you want to find out what kind of person someone really is, take them to watch their favorite team play a rival or in the postseason, get a few adult beverages in them and sit back and watch the show.

I'm sure this guy was just ... yeah he was probably being a total asshole.

Boston RedSox offense in the 2013 ALCS...

1 run on 4 hits in the 1st 16 innings of the series and they haven't even faced Verlander yet.

Update 10:29pm CST: An entire 11 minutes after I posted this Boston tied the game. ... You're welcome RedSox fans. Baseball just likes to make me look stupid.

Update 10:46 CST: The RedSox just walked off the Tigers...because....baseball.

Here is the Win Probability throughout the game. It was less than 10% for the RedSox at the time of my initial post.