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Greatest Series Ever?
How
Off
cuff, with eyes on me, minutes after the series was
completed, I would probably have stated that I found
the 2003 Series at the Sac to be the best series in
the history of the league.
But
was it?
I
mean, really, was it better than the '99 playoffs, where
we had two amazing semi-final sets before an anti-climactic
final?
Was
it better than the 2000 Playoffs, where in the semifinals,
Mike Walsh and Joey Creighton overcame a 15-0 Game 1
loss by winning Games 2 and 3 (10-1 and 6-2) and then
move on to win the whole en-chi-llada?
Really,
2001 was a great series. The Horsemen and Wiffolution
played an inspired three game set in the first year
of team playoffs, and set the tone for "playoff
intensity" for seasons to come. Could the 2003
Playoffs have been better?
What
about 2002? The very first championship round to go
a full 5 games. The Horsemen proving that good pitching
CAN beat good hitting, even in this league. Could it
be that 2003 topped that year as well?
Yes,
yes, yes, freakin' A, yes.
This
year's playoff series was the best in the history of
the league, and I would probably still say this is the
Warriors (or Whites) swept the Whites (or Warriors).
Reason being the league has never seen this level of
talent, and with it comes games that become greater
than the sum of the men playing them. This is truly
an apex of talent within the league, and in a great
set of games Sunday, 20% of it represented it with passion,
drive, and pride.
Sure,
it could have been 40%, but that doesn't matter. The
men who were there proved that 2002, 2001, 2000, and
1999's players would never survive here. This is a different
league.
Sunday
we learned that the worst hitter in the league could
manage to go 8-25 with 5 HRs...off CARMICHAEL AND DEATRICK.
You might remember Carmichael, the man who last year
put up a 0.40 ERA. Oh, and Deatrick's 1.68 ERA from
2002 is a rookie record. Put him in 2003 though, and
the number nearly doubles to 3.20. And that number does
not include the 17 runs he gave up Sunday.
On
Sunday, it was two rookies who were the best pitchers
on the field. The three non-rookies? Carmichael, Deatrick,
and Uhland...not exactly a collection of Christensen's.
Henning was overpowering and Plummer was painting a
picture.
Fans
were sitting in the crowd watching the talent level
at an all-time high. Maybe except for the All-Star Game,
the talent level has never been higher...let alone during
playoff games.
Which
is why this year ranked above all others. When a series
ends, and nearly EVERY PLAYER involved gets a vote for
MVP, you're looking at a competitive series. Playoffs
of years past have always had one guy--maybe two--who
decided everything. All five who picked up a bat Sunday
had a hand in every other aspect of the game. This is
unprecedented, and it sets this series above other series
that may have had "closer" scores or more
"even" stats.
It
was like a boxing match Sunday, with each player getting
a chance to stick a jab or land an uppercut. This wasn't
Joey Creighton winning despite his teammate going 3-37.
This wasn't Mike Walsh putting Creighton on his back.
This wasn't Scott Carmichael accounting for maybe 97%
of his team's runs.
This
was five guys taking turns beating the other team's
ass. No one was left out. Punch, kick, bite...and may
the better team still be standing after Game 5.
Not
a bad way to go out.
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