On Friday night, after the Indians had defeated the Royals 5-4, Ryan Garko cited a magical spirit in the dugout as the cause of victory:
"It comes from our manager. Eric (Wedge) has a never-say-die attitude. He will never let us quit. The first thing he said when we got back to the dugout was, 'Here we go. We're going to win this game."'
So after last night's 6-5 Royals victory, why didn't anyone in the press corps ask Garko why Wedge's never-say-die attitude didn't work last night? If you're going to grant such a silly idea the credibility of print on Friday, then you should take it seriously enough to investigate how the Royals were able to overcome it on Saturday. Or, maybe, ask Ryan Garko or Eric Wedge why the indefatigable Indian esprit de corps withered with their ace on the mound.
If we're going to reduce performance to emotions and superstition, then we might as well go all the way to soap opera land and start wondering why the Indians didn't want to win bad enough for C.C. Sabathia. Maybe there's tension in the clubhouse?
Today, the Royals turn to Jorge de la Rosa (7-9, 5.19 ERA) in the series finale. Rosey continues his impossible dream of actually pulling off A) being traded for Tony Graffanino and B) being a passable Major League starter. He'll face off against Fausto Carmona (10-4, 3.85 ERA), who is essentially a poor man's Wang.
The outcome of today's game will define the marrow of a region's identity for years to come.
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Mark Redman parted ways with Texas yesterday, leading to a classic comment from a poster at Lone Star Ball:
its gruesome how this league can make someone a hero one second and court jester the next.
tonight i drink a rusty nail in memory of what could have been for Mr.Redman