CARDS WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

     At the beginning of the year, nobody thought that the Saint Louis Cardinals would win the World Series.  Who would?  At the All-Star Break, nobody thought the Cards would even make it to the playoffs, much less the World Series.  Lastly, the Cards were 10.5 games back of the Brewers in the N.L. Central as of August 24th and now, here they are World Champions... that's what I call a run!
     I wanted to write a blog after Freese hit the walk-off homer in the eleventh to win Game 6, but I was on a week-long school camping trip.  However, as soon as I got home, I watched the highlight over and over. What's even more amazing though was in the ninth inning, who hit a game-tying triple with two outs and down to his last strike?  David Freese.  And who's the World Series MVP? David Freese.

David Freese celebrates his tenth inning shot.

     Even though my team (the Tigers) didn't make it all the way, I was glad that the Series did go seven games and was so exciting. The best part of the Series for me? the Austin-American Statesman's headline of: TEXAS FOLD 'EM above a picture of the Cards celebrating. (I hate the Rangers for beating the Tigers in the ALCS.)
      This will be my last post of the season so, thank you very much for reading and see ya next year!  Look for my 2012 predictions next April.
     P.S. Check out a picture of the MVP trophy; it's really cool!

Tigers Rock

     I know most of you have been wondering why I  didn't write a blog after the Tigers beat the yankees (notice how I didn't capitalize the the word "yankees").  I truly wanted to, but I forced myself to wait until the other division series were finished and write about all of them in one shot.

     Let's start with the Tigers: Now I'm not gonna say that much about the Tigers because I don't want to jinx it, but I will briefly describe what was going on inside my head when Valverde struck out A-Rod to win Game Five: YEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SERVED IN A BOWL WITH A SPOON!!!!!!!!!!! DENIED AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!.....etc. The other thing I will say is, look at the scores of each game: Game One: yankees 9, Tigers 3. Game Two: Tigers 5, yankees 3. Game Three: Tigers 5, yankees 4. Game Four: yankees 10, Tigers 1. Game Five: Tigers 3, yankees 2. I showed my brother this and asked him if he noticed anything, and he said no, why would he? Well, what I noticed was when when the Tigers lost, they lost big-time, whereas when they won, they won by only one or two runs. Do you think that's a bad or good stat?  Please leave a comment with your answer. Another thing is that the yankees out-scored the Tigers 28-17 but still lost the series. That's what I call a fail.

     Now for the Rangers/Rays: Nothing to say about this series, kind of boring. It was cool that Adrian Beltre hit three homers in one game, though.

     Phillies/Cardinals: Forever after this series, when someone say the word "flop" or "choke" or especially "epic fail" (hint, hint) I will think "2011 playoffs, Phils vs. Cards." Personally, I hate the Phillies due to the fact that they're the National League yankees.  I also hate the Cardinals because they beat the Tigers in the 2006 World Series; however, I would like to see the Tigers play the Cards, mainly because I know that the Tigers would crush them. The best part of this series? Seeing the look of shocked disbelief on the faces of all those formerly-smug Phillies fans when they lost.

     And last but not least, the Brewers/D-backs: This series was probably the most exciting with Game Five being won in extra innings, but also disappointing because Arizona didn't live up to their potential with their ace losing both of his games.  I did like that Kirk Gibson had the guts to call a squeeze play with two outs in the top of the ninth to tie the game in Game Five.  

     Thanks for reading and Go, Tigers!

When Pigs Fly

     For those of you who don't know, three teams clinched division titles last night: the D'backs, Rangers and the Brewers. I think the most important clinchers were the Diamondbacks and the Rangers because the Giants and the Angels were both closer in the division than the wild card and even though the Angels are only 3.5 games out of the wild card, the fact that they are eliminated from the division is pretty crushing.

     Another subject of this blog: Boston is collapsing!!!!!!!!!!!! Personally I want the Rays (Ow, my brother just hit me) but the Red Sox collapse is pretty pathetic; as my brother would say, "Epic fail!" I say, "Pigs have flown! Boston lost three out of four to the Orioles." In the National League, however, the Cardinals are just three games out of the wild card behind the Braves.

     In other news around Baseball... MLB is going to celebrate its 200,000th game tonight... Justin Verlander of the Tigers could get his twenty-fifth win if he wins tonight, against the Orioles, and there are five more regular season games left counting tonight.

     Thanks for reading, and go, Verlander!

CLINCH!!!

     I'm sure all of you have noticed that I've been slowing down on my posting of blogs and I'm very sorry, but I started school a few weeks ago and for the first time in my life I've been having homework, so I've decided to try to post a blog once or twice every week.
     Now let's get down to business: The main topic of this blog (if you haven't guessed already) is: THE TIGERS CLINCHED THE CENTRAL DIVISION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now, since I'm a Tigers fan (if you didn't know) I think everything about them winning the division is great, but to me one thing stood out in particular: they won it by themselves. When I say that I mean they won it without help from any other teams. For example, if the Indians had lost the Tigers still would have clinched, even if the Tigers had lost. Now that the Tigers have clinched, their next goal is to have more wins than the Rangers, because if they do then they will have homefield advantage in the ALDS.
     In other news around baseball...with the Astros losing to the Cubs today, they now have 100 losses, a mark they have never set in their fifty-year franchise...Congratulations, Houston.
     Thanks for reading, and go Tigers!
P.S. I would have posted a picture but my mom's Mac is broken so I typed this blog with my step-dad's PC and I can't figure out how to get a picture on to my blog from a PC.

Playoff Preview: National League

     In my last blog I said I would do a preview of the National League pennant race and what I think about it, so here it is:

     I'll start with the east: Philly has this division basically locked down with eighty-eight wins and forty-six losses, with the closest team behind them being the Braves at eight and a half games, so I won't say to much about it except this: since the Phillies have the division locked down, I think their goal should be to have more wins than the Astros have losses.
      Now for the Central: it was only two months ago that the Central was an interesting, four-team struggle to win the division with the Pirates, Reds, Cardinals and the Brewers. But now, what can I say? It's the Brewers' division to win or lose, as they are currently ahead by 8.5 games.

    
     Who would have thought that after the Giants won the World Series last year they would be neck and neck with Arizona, lowly Arizona?  As my stepdad would say, "Who would'a thunk it?" My thoughts?  Well, the first thing I said when my brother told me the Giants were tied for first with the Diamondbacks was: Ha ha! Good joke... wait,  you're joking, right? When he confirmed that he was not joking, I realized that well, the Giants weren't going to be winning the World Series any time soon if they were tied for first place with the Diamondbacks.
     Thanks for reading and go, Tigers!

Playoff Preview: American League

     Now that we're in the heat of the pennant race I'm going to preview the teams who might be in the playoffs, saying why or why not I think they will make it all the way.
     Let's start with the A.L. East: just so everybody knows, I think that the Red Sox/Yankees race is totally overrated because both teams will make the playoffs, one winning the division and one winning the wild card, so there's not much point in writing about this race.

      Now for the A.L. Central: you may say it's just the Tigers and Indians but actually as of today the White Sox are 6.0 games out of first and the Indians are 6.5 out. Also a few days ago I heard someone say, "The Tigers are up by six games, the Indians will never make it." Wrong again; the Tigers play the Indians six more times in the season, including a season-ending series at Comerica park.
     And finally, the A.L. West: I don't have that much to say about this division except that the next six games will change the division because the Rangers play the Red Sox and the Rays while the Angels play the Twins and Mariners (both fourth-place teams).  Here's my prediction: even with these next six games, the Rangers will win the West by at least three games.
     Stay tuned for my predictions about the National League.

     Thanks for reading, and go Tigers!

The Big Potato

This is a guest post written by my mom, Louise Ducote.  I asked her to guest-write something because I am going on a trip with my school for a few days.  I'll be back soon; thanks for reading and go Tigers!

     Papa Grande.  Now there's a nickname to make a woman's blood run cold.  I don't want to be a "big potato." I want to be a slim flower, an elegant little slip of a thing, a slight and lovely shadow of a girl.  That said, I am behind Jose Valverde, a/k/a Papa Grande, all the way.  He's my favorite closer in baseball, because the closer of my own team (Cubs) is responsible for much of my gray hair.  Here are a few of the things I like about Detroit's treasure:
     1. On August 11th, he broke the Tigers' consecutive-saves record of 32.  August in Texas has been a horrific parade of triple-digit temperatures combined with total absence of rain.  I'm glad August in Detroit has this highlight.  Maybe it rains there, too.
     2. He loves his mama.  Just like Elvis Presley, General MacArthur, Sigmund Freud and President Woodrow Wilson, who invented Mother's Day.  Thank you, thank you, thank you, President Wilson, for creating a day on which I am not required to prepare food or wash dishes.  May you rest in luscious peace.
     3. He's dramatic on the field but quiet off the field.  He dances.  He performs elaborate rituals (three sticks of gum and one handful of sunflower seeds in his back pocket, no more, no less).  But he is a hermit and an angel off the field, playing solitaire on his iPad and dancing for charity.
     4. I saw him once in person, when he was still an Astro, playing against Detroit, and he actually blew the save.  I felt for him. But he left the field with dignity, and that makes me all the happier for the career year he's having this year.
     Brady asked me to keep this short.  So I'd better stop.  Thanks for reading, and go Tigers!