The excerpt echoes the famous Guinness ad.

I feel sure that my strongest memory of the night will be in the Red Sox-Orioles game, Boston leading 3-2. The Orioles had nobody on base. And Rick Sutcliffe shouted something about how you could see it in Boston closer Jon Papelbon's eyes -- there was no way he was blowing this game.

In the eyes. As soon as Sutcliffe said it, I knew what was going to happen. I knew Papelbon was going to blow the game.

RDF.

Larry

I mentioned that exact item in the Chatter thread. I couldn't believe Rick went there.

That's awesome. That's Sylvia-Browne-level blundery from Sutcliffe.

When he said "there's no way he's blowing this game," I immediately said to myself, "unless he does."

I had forgotten about that until now.

#### you Sutcliffe.

That's like how I always think its my fault somehow when I turn to a Jays game and they have a lead in the 4th or something, and the other team immediately gets a couple guys on and scores, so I turn it off.

Have you all seen this yet? Pretty great.

RDF.

I think the funnier part is the next paragraph:

I knew the Red Sox were going to lose the wildcard race. This was not a night for nonsense about eyes.

Great stuff from Poz.

Well, Sutcliffe knows all about it, doesn't he, having coughed up Game 5 of the '84 NLCS (with a little help from Bull Durham)...

Yes.

RTFA guys. This is Poz at his best. No, really, this is baseball writing at its best. He's taking a run at Updike here.

It’s all the years you spend waiting for Wednesday night that makes baseball great.

This is not unlike why billions of people like soccer. Goals are great, but it's the build up, the agony of the near misses, the uncertainty of whether you'll ever get another good chance to score that make soccer fun to watch. It's not Landon Donovan scoring to tie it up against Algeria. It's the fact that he scored to tie it up after nearly everyone had completely given up on it ever happening.

Love Pos, and love the piece. The beauty of last night was how un-baseball-like it was. I go back and forth between whether I love baseball or the NFL more, because they're both so great in their own (dramatically different) ways. The NFL is a party, it's like having a kegger every Sunday for the fall, followed by the two four playoff game orgy weekends, then you settle in to see which of the last four teams of gladiators ultimately triumphs. Baseball is life, it's just a part of you for six months. You have it on your car radio whenever you go anywhere, you pop it on for five minutes after work while you get changed into comfortable clothes, you nurse your last beer at the bar to see the final out before heading to another bar on a nice summer night. You go on vacation for a week and forget about it, and it's there waiting when you get back.

But last night was just epic. For one night, baseball did the NFL or March Madness one better than the real McCoys. For one night baseball was Ichiro. "Yeah, I could hit 40 home runs ... if I wanted to. But then I wouldn't be Ichiro."

RTFA guys. This is Poz at his best. No, really, this is baseball writing at its best. He's taking a run at Updike here.

And he did what I thought would be impossible - he nailed why last night was so awesome. Because it's really hard to describe after the fact how amazing it was (and I was just in the press box, not watching it on TV).

It was awesome because again and again, the situation arose where there was a platonic ideal of what would happen -- and each time, it happened.

The strangest thing last night, in my opinion, was the reaction of the Phillies after they beat the Braves. Not that I expected them to storm the field or anything, but it was almost like they didn't want to win. They played to win, of course, but the expressions on their faces and their body language after the game, it was almost like they were embarrassed. That's gotta be a really odd feeling. At least the Orioles had to feel like this could make their season, a wonderful end to an otherwise dreadful year. But the Phillies have much bigger fish to fry than just keeping the Braves out of the playoffs.

I thought the Phils looked very task-oriented. They're going to be a freaking handful.

Larry - forgot you had a gig last night. I'm glad it worked out that it mattered. Hope you enjoyed it!

Eh, I thought this Poz piece was a bit *too* self-consciously writerly, if you ask me. It's a fine line to walk, and he fell just on the wrong side of 'arch' for my tastes.

Still, it's a very good piece, and I immediately sent it to my pops with the "READ THIS -- NOW" recommendation.

Man, I still can't get over what a great night last night was.

#15, the Phils actually had two goals:
1. Most wins in franchise history.
2. Most wins for a manager in franchise history (and it mattered, those guys love Manuel). I think you are an Angels fan; Manuel replaced Gene Mauch at the top of the heap.

I agree with #16, even in that game last night, in spite pitching rookies from innings 9-12 and then turning the save over to a Rule 5 pick from last year. I swear I can see task-orientation even in the rookies' demeanors. If the Phils lose a series coming up, it will be because the other team played very, very well and managed to get deep into the bullpen a couple of times. Count on the Phillies playing very well.

Eh, I thought this Poz piece was a bit *too* self-consciously writerly, if you ask me. It's a fine line to walk, and he fell just on the wrong side of 'arch' for my tastes.

I agree.

In general, I like his casual bloggie style posts more than hi formal writing. It's just a bit too flowery and trying to make a point that's not really there. I enjoy him more when he's ranting about how bad the Royals are than in his pieces about Tiger Woods "willing" balls to go in or whatever.

Still a good piece.

RTFA guys. This is Poz at his best. No, really, this is baseball writing at its best.

Fixed.

The strangest thing last night, in my opinion, was the reaction of the Phillies after they beat the Braves. Not that I expected them to storm the field or anything, but it was almost like they didn't want to win. They played to win, of course, but the expressions on their faces and their body language after the game, it was almost like they were embarrassed.

I know I'm alone here, but I don't know why teams (not necessarily the Phils, who themselves are still alive) get excited about knocking out the team in the other dugout. I think they have an obligation to play hard, and should be excited about winning a ballgame, but if making the people across the diamond* feel like crap gets you off, you're kind of a jackass.

* Unless you have a specific reason for feeling animosity toward the team in the other dugout (such as a recent brawl).

Posnanski is so fantastic. Compare this piece to Verducci's nonsense.

Your asterisk is pretty important, I think, in this situation, SoSH. Watching, that looked like beating a guy you hate.

I think you are an Angels fan; Manuel replaced Gene Mauch at the top of the heap.

I honestly had forgotten that Mauch even coached the Phillies. The holder of the title of who has managed the Phillies (or pretty much any other team for that matter) to the most wins could not possibly mean any less to me than it already does.

but if making the people across the diamond* feel like crap gets you off, you're kind of a jackass.

When you're in your home stadium, and most of the people watching the game are rooting for the other team, I could see getting pretty excited about shutting them all up.

Your asterisk is pretty important, I think, in this situation, SoSH. Watching, that looked like beating a guy you hate.

I wasn't speaking of last night's Orioles game, if that's what you were thinking (I figure Buck worked them into a Sox-hating frenzy). Just that I find "embracing the role of spoiler" to be kind of peculiar.

When you're in your home stadium, and most of the people watching the game are rooting for the other team, I could see getting pretty excited about shutting them all up.

That too would be a good reason. But as I noted above, my observation wasn't related to the Sox-O's game (though I understand why that conclusion was reached).

I know I'm alone here, but I don't know why teams (not necessarily the Phils, who themselves are still alive) get excited about knocking out the team in the other dugout. I think they have an obligation to play hard, and should be excited about winning a ballgame, but if making the people across the diamond* feel like crap gets you off, you're kind of a jackass.

A team like the Orioles gets excited about knocking the Red Sox out of the playoffs because they're the Red Sox, which everyone outside of Boston considers to be Yankees II.

A team like the Orioles gets excited about knocking any team out of the playoffs because it means, despite your final record, you did something this season that mattered -- and you did it by winning. If they had not done what they had done, the outcome of the season would be different -- and everyone knew it when it was happening (unlike some three game series in the spring where Boston lost two out of three which had exactly the same impact, but nobody knew it at the time).

Larry - forgot you had a gig last night. I'm glad it worked out that it mattered. Hope you enjoyed it!

One of the best days of my life. Talking to one of the O's beat writers, I said, "this is our reward for working through this tough season", and he agreed that it felt like that. After all of those bad losses, they ended the season with a game that makes everyone look back on 2011 positively, and reminded us why we love this game.

When you're in your home stadium, and most of the people watching the game are rooting for the other team, I could see getting pretty excited about shutting them all up.

For what it's worth, despite the fact that all of the ESPN fan closeups were on fans of one particular team, the crowd last night was not predominantly Red Sox fans, according to an Orioles fan I know who was at the game.

I know SoSH says he isn't talking about this game (although I'm puzzled what exactly he's referring to, then), but I think the O's over-the-top celebration was due to a variety of reasons:

1) Every team celebrates every win, and especially walkoffs
2) It was the last game of the season so there's no reason to be subdued and worry about a bruise or two in the pile
3) It capped a very strong September for a team that had done an awful lot of losing, so going out on such a high note has to feel good
4) They ALWAYS lose to the Red Sox. Especially with Lester starting. And especially with Papelbon closing. Everyone (outside of Boston) expected the Orioles to lose this game. It was so surprising and improbable that they must have been euphoric.
5) And yes, the Orioles have a particular dislike of the Red Sox (brawl earlier in the season) and their fans (who are typically not the most gracious guests in road ballparks), so it was satisfying to severly hamper their playoff chances
6) And Larry makes a very good point that this was the first obviously meaningful game this team has played in a long time.

I don't think Buck needed to do much to whip them into a frenzy to win this one.

For what it's worth, despite the fact that all of the ESPN fan closeups were on fans of one particular team, the crowd last night was not predominantly Red Sox fans, according to an Orioles fan I know who was at the game.

I only watched the condensed games (which have no commentary so the crowd noise is jacked way up). It may have just been where the mics were, you can often hear individual conversations in those condensed games, but the Sox hits seemed to be getting just as loud, if not louder, cheers than Baltimore's. Though as I say, I may just be getting a Sox heavy section.

As for the spoiler thing, speaking as someone who's played on a bunch of lousy teams, and just generally been lousy at a number of things, there's a deep satisfaction in that one time you beat the better team. It's like for that moment you can tell yourself, "yeah, we're better than these guys!" despite all evidence to the contrary.

I know I'm alone here, but I don't know why teams (not necessarily the Phils, who themselves are still alive) get excited about knocking out the team in the other dugout. I think they have an obligation to play hard, and should be excited about winning a ballgame, but if making the people across the diamond* feel like crap gets you off, you're kind of a jackass.

I think the circumstances dictate. Last night was as close as the Orioles were getting to a meaningful game. Based on the way they played this month they clearly were going about things with a "this is our October" mentality. At some point you play for whatever you can get, if all that is is to be a "spoiler" then that's what you focus on.

I must be an alien or something, because I don't get the group-love for Poz. I mean, he understands baseball, that's obvious. I give him that. But his language skills are just so ordinary. Verducci destroys him.

It wasn't the last series of the season, so it didn't have quite the same urgency, but one sensed much the same feeling when the Nationals took two of three from the Braves over the weekend. The difference was that the Nats had played well in September, so it was part of a bigger picture of improvement rather than just playing spoiler. Perhaps had it been the Phillies in that situation, things might have been a bit more emotional for Nats fans, as the Phils faithful take over Nationals Park the same way the Bosox and Yanks do Camden Yards. The Braves? Not so much.

I was at both the last two games at the Yard. In both cases, I'd say the crowd was about 30% Red Sox fans. They had a huge group behind the visitor's dugout, and those were the only folks you could hear. Both nights every 'Let's Go, Red Sox' chant was easily drowned out by boos. I attribute the 'small' numbers of Sox fans to the out-of-town fans not being here, as this wasn't a weekend series, nor summer, nor a series that they expected to mean anything. I do applaud the Sox fans who showed up in full gear, knowing they could be going home with their tails between their legs.

SoSH, as for feeling good about making the other guys feel bad, from my experience as a footballer, nothing was quite as satisfying as beating someone who usually beat you like a drum. Making them feel bad for a change is definitely part of the package. From a fan's perspective, I didn't taunt any Sox fans on the way out of the park last night, but experiencing them quiet and beaten and humbled was pretty darn sweet. If that makes me a 'jackass', I'll take it.

SoSH, as for feeling good about making the other guys feel bad, from my experience as a footballer, nothing was quite as satisfying as beating someone who usually beat you like a drum.

Like I said, I know I'm alone here* (and seriously this couldn't have had anything to do with the O's-Red Sox - I put off running an errand until after the game-tying hit - I never saw the celebration), I just don't get it and find that I would respond the way the Phillies (and Shredder mentioned) did rather than the way other teams do in that situation.

If the Jays (instead of the Yankees) were playing the Rays last night, and they beat them while the Red Sox were beating the O's, I'd find any kind of out-of-the-ordinary celebration peculiar in that instance. They'd be knocking one contender out only to allow another contender, playing elsewhere, in.

* Though I recall one big league manager, when asked if he enjoyed playing the role of spoiler, saying "I don't take any pleasure in ruining something nice for someone else."
So I'm not entirely alone.

I give him that. But his language skills are just so ordinary. Verducci destroys him.

Egads. I'm not even a Pozhead, or whatever, but this... this is just not true. I mean, more than almost anyone here I enjoy smoking the subjective pipe, but in this case... "Destroys him"? No. That is simply not true, Verducci's a swung axe-handle compared to Poz's Arthur Ashe/Freddy Couples stick-wielding, writing-wise.

I must be an alien or something...Verducci destroys him.

I know not what sort of alien you are; only that we should locate your home world and eradicate it from existence.



SoSH, you're not alone. If you're not talking specifically about the Sox/O's game last night, then, sure. But I think there aren't many people that just take pleasure in being the spoiler independent of anything else. It's only really fun when it's a rival or team with some bad blood that you can help eliminate.

MLB put together a nice little video package that lines up clips from all four games (and some of the meaningful seeding games) chronologically with the music and whatnot...definitely a nice all in one clip:


http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=19789807&topic;_id=&c_id=mlb&tcid=vpp_copy_19789807&v=3

I give him that. But his language skills are just so ordinary. Verducci destroys him.

We need a Jack Keefe post to tear this claim apart.

Way to bite, guys.

Hey Al that Joe Pierzynski who writes a colnumn in Swimsuit Illustrated needs no help from me. He is a ace you bet.

I agree with #16, even in that game last night, in spite pitching rookies from innings 9-12 and then turning the save over to a Rule 5 pick from last year

I was with my softball team watching the game on mute and we were all like "who is that guy? he's practically unhittable." Herndon's stuff looked nasty. I don't see how anyone hits a ball in the air when he's on.

I think the manner that the game is won (down to last strike, then pull it off with a walk off hit) plays a large part in the celebration. I see teams get real happy when there is a walk off win.

I was at both the last two games at the Yard. In both cases, I'd say the crowd was about 30% Red Sox fans. They had a huge group behind the visitor's dugout, and those were the only folks you could hear. Both nights every 'Let's Go, Red Sox' chant was easily drowned out by boos.

I was at Monday's game, and this is pretty much what that was like also. I enjoyed the competing "Let's Go O's" chants a lot more than the boos.

I really, really, really, really like Pos as a writer. But I don't think that Pos is taking a run at Updike, nor is he as good at Updike at Updikean writing.

Pos is running alone in his own field, and that has made all the difference.

RTFA guys. This is Poz at his best. No, really, this is baseball writing at its best. He's taking a run at Updike here.

agreed.. great fun read. I thought Tim Kurkijan might have been over the top by declaring last night as arguably the greatest single day in baseball history, but I have to say that last night (or two nights ago, now) was a great night. Nobody talks about Carpenter carrying the Cardinals to victory with an absolute shut down performance(two hits, one walk, 11 strike out, complete game shutout) when the team needs it, because it was the least interesting of the four stories.

I actually think Posnanski comes off as being a better GUY than a writer, and I am not as enamored of his work as many here appear to be. I have read many of his articles and the books--the one about Buck O'Neil as well as the one about the 1975 Reds.

But I think he is FAR, FAR better than Tom Verducci.

If that was a serious post.

I honestly haven't been able to get through his book about Buck O'Neill. I mean, I love love the guy. I think he "gets" it. I think he's smart, I enjoy his sense of humour, I like his blogs, I loved his podcasts. I think he's a great guy who genuinely loves sports; moreover he is humble and epitomizes class.

But his writing, at least when it comes to stuff like this -- eh.