Leaving it Late
Talk about clutch!
Dick Griffin struggles through thirteen paragraphs today in describing the myriad possibilities in the NL playoff race, without once teeing-off on J.P. Ricciardi. Sure, he gets some cheap hits on Bud Selig, math, and coin flips, but by the top of the fourteenth, Griffin has yet to really come through when it counts. And then...against all odds...with two (sentences) gone...the Grifter comes up with some bottom of the fourteenth (paragraph) magic:
But, despite the excitement, this year looks like a whole lot of senior circuit mediocrity. Whoever wins this NL mess, bet on the AL to win it all. Even the Jays might have made the playoffs in the NL Central.
A walk-off home run!
Dick Griffin struggles through thirteen paragraphs today in describing the myriad possibilities in the NL playoff race, without once teeing-off on J.P. Ricciardi. Sure, he gets some cheap hits on Bud Selig, math, and coin flips, but by the top of the fourteenth, Griffin has yet to really come through when it counts. And then...against all odds...with two (sentences) gone...the Grifter comes up with some bottom of the fourteenth (paragraph) magic:
But, despite the excitement, this year looks like a whole lot of senior circuit mediocrity. Whoever wins this NL mess, bet on the AL to win it all. Even the Jays might have made the playoffs in the NL Central.
A walk-off home run!
Isn't this pretty much true though? I don't see this as a knock on the Jays, just an acknowledgement that the AL East is hard, and that the NL is crap.
I don't doubt that it is true, but to me it seemed as if Griffin was saying that "even a team as totally crap as the Jays would have a chance winning the NL Central." Of course the Jays could win the NL Central. Tampa and KC could at least compete in the Central.
What really bothers me is that Griffin rarely seems to acknowledge the major obstacle that stands before the Jays: Boston and New York. Not only do they have to finish ahead of at least one of them to make the playoffs, they also have to play them 38 times per year. As we all know, for the Jays to succeed, they have to do everything right, remain relatively uninjured, and hope that one of Boston or NY has an off year.