Thursday, October 1, 2009
Astros 5
Phillies 3
W: Paulino | L: Lee
astros.com
AP via Yahoo!
No Game Zone
The Astros won. Salvaged a road split. Phillies were probably a bit hung over but they still need momentum and home field wouldn’t hurt. Anyway, Twinkie slapped a gapper in the 1st that brought home 2 and the lead held, with help from Miggy’s 2-runner in the 6th and RBI single in the 7th. Paulino was on, with run support this time and that translated into a W. Valverde did his best Lidge imitation but held on.
Some of you know, my girlfriend of 15+ years is a baseball fan, and a Phillies fan. She hails from the west suburbs of Philadelphia and is no bandwagonner. Of course, recently her passion has shot up a few notches but the fact that we spent a good part of our initial courtship period at spring training games and that we continue to enjoy baseball together are things that help keep both of us happy. She’s too young to remember 1980 with any passion and for me, ’86 was far worse personally so we’ve never had much to hate about the other’s team. She backed the Astros in ’04 and ’05 when I was preoccupied with them every waking hour. I couldn’t embrace the Phillies last year, the Rays have earned 2nd place in this fan’s heart and she understood. They’re her #2 as well.
So here I am. The Phillies clinch their 2nd straight division title against the Astros. No big deal really, the Good Guys have been out of it for a few weeks now since late July. It’s time for me to step up as a supportive boyfriend and do my best to share her excitement for her childhood team, right? At least refrain from the wry comments when she wears her Victorino jersey to work every other day, right? Sheepishly smile at the ear-splitting screams with every Phillies base hit, right? Nod in acceptance when she suggests Chase Utley be added to her “list”, right?
It would be bad if I latched on the the Dodgers’ bandwagon, right?
This is my last recap of the year and I want to thank the entire SnS team for letting me bloviate once or twice a week on their dime. Noe, Andy, HH, Waldo, Arky, Spack, you continue to maintain the greatest Astros fan site on the web. I especially want to thank pravata, who gave a ton of his time and effort to cut through the clutter and help me find information I could use. Also, to BudGirl, who picked up the tough task of scheduling and recruiting recap writers and did it well. Sorry for the one I missed. Thanks to the other recap writers who keep the bar high and to everyone who actually realizes there is a SnS front page and reads these things. To the series preview writers who blow me away with their creativity. The columnistas whose talent and wit seem endless. And finally, the Bus Ride guys. I spend the least amount of time there because, quite honestly, the depth of the information there intimidates me. The most comprehensive Astros minor league fan sites out there.
May the Phillies repeat, the void be short, and the 2010 SnS Opening Day/Cabrito Fest be the biggest ever!
