Panic in Detroit

It must be.

The San Francisco Giants hold a 3 to nothing lead over Detroit in the World Series.

(Thanks Seth!)

Jason Weisberger is Boing Boing's publisher. He often does what he ought, instead of what he should. On instagram and twitter he is @jlw

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peterkvt80

I had to Google what the World Series is. It looks like the “World” is only one country.
- http://twitter.com/Ohyran Jens Reuterberg
  
  Haha I did the exakt same thing :D
  
  (For anyone wondering its a baseball championship in the US – saved you the time to google)
  
  Well “world” can be a relative term, like: “My entire world has collapsed”. Personally I’m holding a sunday world series showdown between my brain and my stomach concerning whether or not to eat the left-over crisps from yesterday.
- Guest
  
  It’s short for “The part of the world that gives even half a damn about baseball, minus Japan and the Dominican Republic.”
  - GawainLavers
    
    Well, and Venezuela, who are essentially winning the World Series right now.
- http://boingboing.net/ Jason Weisberger
  
  Canada?
  - GawainLavers
    
    No, we’re talking about countries, not territories.
- Dornach Victory
  
  Wait, there’s more than one country? Oh yeah, if there’s a third world, that must mean there must be at least two others…
- niktemadur
  
  There’s also the Baseball Classic every 3 years, that would the real World Series in the way you describe.
  Japan has won it both times it’s been played, it’s gonna be played this year for the third time.
  
  Sixteen teams in 2009, and check it out: the Netherlands didn’t do too bad, at all.
  Just this year Bert Blyleven, born and raised in the Netherlands, who pitched around 20 years in the USA, was inducted in the MLB Hall Of Fame.
  Last month, I saw (on TV) a preliminary elimination game between Israel and Spain.
  
  However, USA Major League Baseball has had players from, among others:
  USA, Canada, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Venezuela, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Italy, Netherlands, Australia.
  So one could say that most of the best players in the world end up playing in the USA, the premier world forum for baseball. So the title “World Series” doesn’t sound that far-fetched to me.
noah django

Dog, after we swept the Yanks, I figured we’d cruise through this series to a championship. Looks like we gonna get swept ourselves. The consolation is that the Yanks look that much worse for it, I guess; but still, GO TIGERS!
- niktemadur
  
  BTW, thank you for sweeping that bloated dinosaur, and you made them look bad doing it, too. Sweet stuff.
  
  But I was slack-jawed on Game One of the WS, it’s, umm… poundings like that just don’t happen to Verlander.
  I did have to crack a smile, though, when Justin gave up that home run, and on the replay you could see him staring at the missile and mouthing “Wow!”
- BarBarSeven
  
  I live in NYC. Grew up liking the Yankees, but am sick of them now… Bloated & bankrolled. Happy the Tigers defeated them, but honestly San Francisco is the better team. I look at San Francisco play & I see a team worthy of winning.
  
  Not that the Tigers are bad… But still.
- GawainLavers
  
  I can’t believe it’s going to be a sweep either, especially after the Giants clawed their way back from six games that could have eliminated them in the post-season. They’re on a roll now, though. Frankly I’d love to see more games at this level, but if Detroit is going to turn it around, they’ve got their work cut out for them with Cain.
  
  You had to wonder with the Yankees, though: after losing Jeter in the first game (he’s played in every game for them since I was in college!) I did expect them to collapse. We did after Posey was taken out last season, and as much as he anchors the Giants, he’s not Derek Jeter.
tw1515tw

Losing a baseball match 3 goals to Nil is unusually bad?

No-one ever gets this excited about Rounders.
- Dornach Victory
  
  WIF is rounders? isn’t that what you people call football?
  - tw1515tw
    
    Rounders and baseball are much the same thing. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15705732 Both sports were invented in the UK, so why they came up with two versions, goodness only knows.
    
    As the batter runs around the bases, the crowd shouts “rounder, rounder”. I’m guessing something similar happens in baseball.
    - Dornach Victory
      
      So rounders isn’t Cricket?
      - tw1515tw
        
        Nope. It’s not soccerball either.
  - Just_Ok
    
    Rounders involves Apple. It has a diamond with rounded corners, hence “Rounders”. It’s copyrighted.
niktemadur

Going into this World Series, there was no bad guy to root against, whoever wins and I’ll feel bad for the other team. I like both teams, the players and their attitudes, their managers, the organizations.

Detroit Tigers:
Verlander is a prince among pitchers, simultaneously all-business and good-natured and up there in the Koufax level of skill.
Prince Fielder signed with the team that his father played for. Granted, for a trainload of money, but he wanted to play for his boyhood team.
Miguel Cabrera was shifted from first to third base, and instead of going all prima donna and diva-like, he led by example, keeping a quiet stiff upper lip in a much more difficult defensive position, while having an offensive season for the ages, achieving the first batting Triple Crown since 1967!

SF Giants:
Looks like a rag-tag agglomeration of characters, with sensational pitching and impeccable fielding.
One can tell that these guys truly enjoy each others’ company, the closest I’ve seen to the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates “We are family!”.
Then Melky Cabrera (not Miguel, who’s with the Tigers) was caught with steroids, MLB suspended him for 50 days, reinstating him at the end of the season. Then what do the Giants do? They kept Melky off the team for the post-season, because “It would be a distraction”. Other, more cynical teams would have put him right back on the roster, but the Giants took a high, classy road, which I heartily applaud.
teapot

Man, I totally love sportsball!
- http://twitter.com/EleOcho L8
  
  Did you see that ludicrous display last night?
  - Felton / Moderator
    
    The thing about Arsenal is they always try to walk it in.
  - noah django
    
    “they’re having a laugh today.”
    “… they’re winning.”
    “no, they’re having a laugh”
- niktemadur
  
  Man, I totally love sportsball!
  
  And if anybody needs me, I’ll be outside, funboarding!
http://www.jimdraws.com Thorzdad

Even though the results have been lopsided, the games themselves have been great viewing. The pitching, especially, has been a thing of beauty. Now, if only I could get the coverage without Buck and McCarver blathering on…
- niktemadur
  
  After many years of losing interest in MLB, I’ve re-embraced it in the last couple of years, now that the cheaters are getting punished and ridiculed, pitching is strong again and the home run tally is back to “normal” levels. When Matt Kemp leads his league in 2011 with 39 home runs (lowest total since the 80s) and Miguel Cabrera does it in 2012 with 44, that’s reason for me to get excited about the game again.
  
  Give me a tight, fast, low-scoring game anytime, when it’s a home run orgy I quickly become distracted by paint flakes on the wall, the spot of dust on the window, the solitary ant traversing the floor.
  
  With that in mind, I was astounded back in 2000, the heyday of the execrable steroid era, when Pedro Martinez led the league with an ERA of 1.74, almost two full runs lower than the second place guy (Roger Clemens, 3.70), while pitching half of his games in the phone booth that is Fenway Park! That may be the most dominating season for a pitcher, ever.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_2CSTWZMPIHA6TF7NVL67PPSKK4 grc

For a Canadian, the quintessential Detroit song would have been “Black Day in July”. Although the month is off, it captures the spirit of what Bowie was aspiring to. Catch the “Tragically Hip’s cover. Fabulous.
- niktemadur
  
  Then there’s amazing Detroit native Sixto Rodriguez, rediscovered and resurrected after decades of obscurity, although he was popular in South Africa (where his songs became protest anthems) and a cult favorite in Australia. If the Tigers lose, “Sugar Man” will fit the mood of many Detroit denizens – melancholy stoned.
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyrnXa90S6w
niktemadur

http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/29185403.jpg
BarBarSeven

Tigers sweep the Yankees and now the Giants sweep Tigers. Surreal.