I can't tell what I love most about the Lakers 3-0 hole

There are so many wonderful things about this Lakers collapse, I can't pick what is the best part.

- The Lakers are a loss away from a monumental face plant and doing it because the team is imploding from within.

- The Lakers are a loss away from having Phil Jackson's career end with a whimper. Red Auerbach's coaching career ended with the 1966 NBA Title. See the difference?

- The Lakers are a loss away from forever ending any talk of Kobe Bryant being on the same level as Michael Jordan. Kobe is a great player. A Hall of Famer. But would Jordan be swept out of the playoffs like this?

- The Lakers are a loss on Sunday away from making last Wednesday's 93-81 fiasco their last home game of the year. That would mean the last game Phil Jackson coached at home, the Lakers got booed by the remaining fans in Staples at the end of the game.

- The Lakers call in show on 710 ESPN are filled with fans complaining about refs calls and intense denial. Schadenfreude is fun.

- Because the Lakers are down 0-3 in the series, there is talk about how no NBA team has ever come back from that. But guess what other team they brought up? What other team came back from an 0-3 hole? I'll give you a hint... they don't bring up the 2010 Philadelphia Flyers.

That's right. My 2004 Red Sox! So I get to hear about Laker misery and how they probably won't match Red Sox heroics.

It doesn't get any better than that!

Whose opening was worse? Charlie Sheen or the Red Sox?

There wasn't a lot of "Winning" going on with either one. In fact both flopped pretty dramatically.

I would argue that the Red Sox had a worse opening. Because with Charlie, what exactly could you possibly have expected the show to be?

He wasn't going to sing. Or dance. And clearly no writers were on tour to feed him lines. (Although it is safe to say Sheen had a LOT of lines before the show.)

So if you went to the show, you were expecting to see Charlie Sheen act like a deranged lunatic. And it sounds like he delivered.

Meanwhile the Red Sox were capable of something. They could have pitched. They could have hit. They could have kept a FEW balls in the yard.

Let me put it this way, nobody was picking Sheen's show to win a Tony Award, but a lot of people thought this Sox team was ready for a parade in November.

So I guess the one with Tiger blood indeed won again.
(How could his Tigers uniform not say "Tiger Blood" on it? That could have made the whole show work!)

My friend, the brilliant Christian Finnegan, Tweeted it best regarding the Sheen refunds.

"DECREE: Anyone wanting a Charlie Sheen refund must first make a public speech explaining his rationale for purchasing the ticket."

The REAL winners?
The writers of Two and a Half Men. They can say "It's not so easy, is it Mr. Warlock?"

Let's hope the Red Sox can start being more Hot Shots, Wall Street, Major League Charlie Sheen rather than "being an expensive and humiliating public disaster" Charlie Sheen.

I didn't want to win a game this weekend

I like starting a season in an 0-3 hole. It is more fun that way.

Seriously, this was a pretty lousy display by my Red Sox, picked by so many to go all the way. It was home run derby off of both Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz and frankly that makes me nervous.

I know it is against Texas and they are a good home run team. But what happened to "Good Pitching beats Good Hitting."

The Sox have an off day tomorrow and then Josh Beckett take the mound. Remember him? The guy who got lit up last year and this spring.

In terms of the "2011 Red Sox compared to hyped movies" template I made before the season started... this team is off like Superman Returns, the film where it just felt slightly off right from the beginning.

Let's hope things go up, up and away in Cleveland.

Teams that played only one home post season game

Reds fans have been waiting since 1995 to see a playoff game in their hometown.
And guess what? If they don't win today, all they'll get is a single playoff home game.

It seems almost unfair. A fan base gets pumped up and expects to have a ton of October memories... and then blink, it is over.

So I wondered how many teams made it all the way to October baseball and then gave their teams only one home game.

It has happened 21 times... Cincy had better hope they are not #22.

This is Sully Baseball... we do more than wonder about stuff like this.
The staff here finds it out and we list it.

ENJOY.


1969 MINNESOTA TWINS
Game 3, ALCS
11-2 loss. Baltimore sweeps 3-0.

1971 OAKLAND A'S
Game 3, ALCS
5-3 loss. Baltimore sweeps 3-0.

1975 OAKLAND A'S
Game 3, ALCS
5-3 loss. Boston sweeps 3-0.

1975 PITTSBURGH PIRATES
Game 3, NLCS
5-3 loss in 10 innings. Cincinnati sweeps 3-0.

1980 NEW YORK YANKEES
Game 3, ALCS
4-2 loss. Kansas City sweeps 3-0.

1982 ATLANTA BRAVES
Game 3, NLCS
6-2 loss. St. Louis sweeps 3-0.

1995 BOSTON RED SOX
Game 3, Division Series
8-2 loss. Cleveland sweeps 3-0.

1996 SAN DIEGO PADRES
Game 3, Division Series
7-5 loss. St. Louis sweeps 3-0.

1997 HOUSTON ASTROS
Game 3, Division Series
4-1 loss. Atlanta sweeps 3-0.

1997 SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
Game 3, Division Series
6-2 loss. Florida sweeps 3-0.

1998 CHICAGO CUBS
Game 3, Division Series
6-2 loss. Atlanta sweeps 3-0.

1998 TEXAS RANGERS
Game 3, Division Series
4-0 loss. New York sweeps 3-0.

1999 TEXAS RANGERS
Game 3, Division Series
3-0 loss. New York sweeps 3-0.

2000 ATLANTA BRAVES
Game 3, Division Series
7-1 loss. St. Louis sweeps 3-0.

2005 BOSTON RED SOX
Game 3, Division Series
5-3 loss. Chicago sweeps 3-0.

2005 SAN DIEGO PADRES
Game 3, Division Series
7-4 loss. St. Louis sweeps 3-0.

2006 LOS ANGELES DODGERS
Game 3, Division Series
9-5 loss. New York sweeps 3-0.

2007 CHICAGO CUBS
Game 3, Division Series
5-1 loss. Arizona sweeps 3-0.

2007 LOS ANGELES ANGELS OF ANAHEIM
Game 3, Division Series
9-1 loss. Boston sweeps 3-0.

2009 BOSTON RED SOX
Game 3, Division Series
7-6 loss. Los Angeles sweeps 3-0.

2009 MINNESOTA TWINS
Game 3, Division Series
4-1 loss. New York sweeps 3-0.

2009 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Game 3, Division Series
5-1 loss. Los Angeles sweeps 3-0.

Unlike Robert E, THIS Lee can beat the Yankees

It's safe to say that whatever shot Lee took worked. And let's just say let's not ask too many questions to what it was.

Ron Washington handed Cliff Lee the ball and basically said "Look, we've been wearing out our bullpen. I know you haven't pitched since August 31 and you haven't pitched more than 5 2/3 innings since August 16th... But could you PLEASE give us a few innings? And oh yeah, we're playing the Yankees."

If Lee got bombed, then the Rangers would have been the definition of "We're just happy to be in the playoffs."

Instead, he pitched into the 9th and the Rangers swept the Yankees and served notice that the Rangers have their ace back.

This was no Vicksburg... This Lee isn't about to surrender to the Yanks.

(Too Soon?)

Did I get what I wanted this weekend?

Maybe I should rephrase the title "Did ANYTHING happen the way I wanted it to this weekend?"

I made a wish list for the weekend... let's see how awfully it turned out.

RED SOX vs. WHITE SOX
I wanted the Sox to sweep. They did. Unfortunately it was the WHITE Sox who did the sweeping. The Red Sox season is basically done... but the White Sox are rampaging.

YANKEES vs. BLUE JAYS
I wanted the Jays to sweep. They lost 2 of 3... but showed that there are cracks in the Yankees armor in terms of their starting pitching.

METS vs. CUBS
I wanted to see the Mets take 2 of 3 and R. A. Dickey to pick up a win. The Cubs took the first two before being thrashed today. Dickey got the loss on Friday.

ORIOLES vs. RAYS
Wanted an Orioles sweep. The Rays took the first game but lost the next two. Not that it helped the Red Sox in the standings any!

PHILLIES vs. BREWERS
I wanted the Brewers to take 2 of 3 but Halladay to take the win on Saturday. Hamels finally got a close win, Halladay won his 17th on Saturday but the Brewers avoided a sweep today.

PIRATES vs. NATIONALS
The fans at this series never have to prove their loyalty to their team in any other way. I wanted the Pirates to take 2 of 3. Naturally the Nats did.

BRAVES vs. MARLINS
I've never been a fan of the Bobby Cox Braves, so I wanted a Florida sweep to knock them out of their perch, to use a fish term. The Marlins took 2 of 3 including a thriller today.

RANGERS vs. TWINS
No offense to Minnesota, but I wanted the Rangers to sweep so Chicago could keep pace. It was the Twins who swept and kept pace with the surging White Sox. And oh yeah, one of the games ended on a crazy ticky tack interference call.

TIGERS vs. ROYALS
I wanted a Zack Greinke win. The bullpen blew a lead for him. I wanted an Armando Gallaraga win. He got a no decision. I also wanted a 28 inning game. I got an 11 inning one. Close enough.

CARDINALS vs. REDS
I wanted the Cardinals to take 2 of 3. They did. But I was hoping Wainwright's 18th victory would come this weekend, which it didn't.

ASTROS vs. DIAMONDBACKS
I didn't care about this series so basically I wanted three winners. Specifically I wanted 30 inning games, but I would settle for thrillers. I got three one run victories, including a wild comeback from Houston on Saturday as they took 2 of 3.

ANGELS vs. A'S
I still don't like the Angels and I hoped for an Oakland sweep. I got 2 of 3 for the A's. Both Cahill and Santana got wins to keep padding their win total.

INDIANS vs. MARINERS
I wanted them to go back in time to 1995 when they were both contenders. I also wanted Felix Hernandez to get a win. They stayed in 2010 but King Felix did indeed get a "W."

ROCKIES vs. PADRES
I spent the weekend in San Diego. It's a lovely city and the Padre fans have been wonderful. But I am rooting for the Giants to win it all if the Red Sox can't. I wanted a Rockies sweep. That's exactly what I got.

GIANTS vs. DODGERS
I hoped the Giants could inch closer to a playoff spot by sweeping L.A. While it wasn't a sweep, Juan Uribe is etching his name into the history book of late season Giants heroics as he powered San Francisco to two wins in three games.

So all in all, I didn't get a lot of what I wanted...
The Red Sox season appears to be over.

However, my dad (and my son Aidan) should be thrilled to see the Giants climbing back into the thick of things.

So as long as my family is happy... I'm happy.