Mijn oldtimers

shenyuqing113 · Geregistreerd op: 24 Mrt 2018 Berichten: 359

BOSTON - There are cities which long for winners. Toronto would be one. There are cities which have perennial winners, yet to outsiders seem to take all those victories for granted. Atlanta, which didnt sell out some of those playoff games during the Braves heyday of the late 1990s and early 2000s, comes to mind. Then there are cities which have become accustomed to winning, regardless of the sport, enjoy the feeling and crave more. Fans get so involved, are so passionate, it becomes difficult to separate them from their team to the point they get credit for pushing their team to victory, even though their real effect is negligible. Boston, with your Red Sox and your Patriots and your Bruins and your Celtics, thats you. What cannot be denied, ever, is the unifying force a successful sports franchise has on an invested community. Standing on the lush green grass of Fenway Parks infield, minutes after the Red Sox had defeated the Tigers 5-2 in Game 6 to clinch the American League pennant and hours after the Dropkick Murphys had put their spin on the national anthem and belted out “Shipping Up To Boston,” it was hard to forget that only eight months earlier, Boston was a city in pain. It was April 15, Patriots Day, when the annual Boston Marathon was interrupted by two explosions near the finish line on Boylston Street in nearby Cambridge. Three people were killed and almost 300 others were hurt. A police officer was shot and killed in a gun battle with one of the suspects three days later. A city was wounded. The Red Sox, both overtly and covertly, have aided the city in its recovery from that horrific day. Saturday nights victory was their latest generous overture to their baseball-obsessed town. “It means so much to this city, so much to the guys on this team,” said catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia. A lot went right for Boston in this series. To win, it must. Nobody will talk about how David Ortiz was held to only two hits in the series, one of them a bloop single in Game 5. Thats because the other hit was a monstrous grand slam, which erased a 5-1 deficit in Game 2 and catapulted the Red Sox back into the series. It would have been a difficult task, heading to Detroit down two games and with the prospect of facing Justin Verlander in enemy territory. On another day, two actually, Mike Napoli was a hero. In the deciding Game 6, it was Shane Victorino with the seventh inning grand slam that turned a 2-1 deficit into a 5-2 lead. Xander Bogaerts, the steel-eyed 21-year-old who carries himself as if hes a 10-year veteran, went 3-5 with two doubles and two walks after taking over third base from Will Middlebrooks late in Game 4. He worked three full count plate appearances in the clincher, reached base each time and scored twice. Red Sox hitters struck out an ALCS record 73 times. Through four games, they were overwhelmed by the Tigers extraordinary starting rotation, a staff Detroit manager Jim Leyland referred to as the best hes had in his eight career postseasons. Yet, there was Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz and John Lackey matching their opponents pitch for pitch, sometimes getting by with just enough. How about that Boston bullpen? Koji Uehara, with three saves and a win to show for his six innings, was named the MVP of the ALCS. Junichi Tazawa found another gear and in three head-to-head meetings with Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera, shut him down on a strikeout and two ground balls, one of which was a key, rally-killing double play in the seventh inning of Game 5. Left-hander Craig Breslow offered up 3 1/3 scoreless innings, often working in specialty situations against Detroits potent left-handed and switch-hitters. Honourable mention also goes to youngster Brandon Workman, who worked the long role and cleaned up others messes. “Its an unbelievable team over there, extremely well coached, well managed and a great group of players,” said Canadian Ryan Dempster, who selflessly didnt raise a stink when he was asked, or more like told, he would be moving from the starting rotation to the bullpen for the playoffs. “We were able to fight through some tough times and come away with the series win and win our American League pennant. Now weve got to go on and have a real tough challenge with St. Louis.” The Tigers will lament the leg injury which severely limited Cabreras offensive and defensive effectiveness, the poor performance of Prince Fielder and, likely most of all, the inability of the bullpen to work at anywhere near the level of the starting rotation. For Detroit, which has two recent unsuccessful World Series appearances – 2006 and 2012 – along with ALCS losses to New York in 2009 and now, to Boston, it represents more playoff disappointment. For Boston, a community thats overcoming is celebrating another sporting victory, anticipating that the best is yet to come. The Cardinals will arrive on Tuesday and the World Series will start, at Fenway Park, on Wednesday. Here, there is nothing to distinguish the bombing victims from the Dropkick Murphys, from the players, from the fans. Theyre all the same in one respect. Theyre Red Sox Nation. Right now, were all living in it. Marco Estrada Jersey . So they rushed to re-sign the first baseman who general manager Ben Cherington described Friday as "a unique player." The World Series champions finalized a $32 million, two-year agreement Thursday with the slugging former catcher who turned into a surprisingly good defender. Devon Travis Jersey . Torres tells Spanish daily AS "in football you never know where you will be inside one month. Im going to work hard, thats all you can do with this last part of the season so important. http://www.teambluejaysprostore.us/Roberto-Osuna-blue-jays-jersey/. LOUIS -- David Ross never expected to be on a World Series podium. Roy Halladay Jersey . - The width of Alec Martinezs shin guard was the difference between the Los Angeles Kings and the Anaheim Ducks in their playoff series opener. Darwin Barney Jersey . Milan was held to 1-1 at home by Torino. Cagliari scored six minutes from halftime when Mauricio Pinilla blasted home from the penalty spot after Facundo Roncaglia tripped Marco Sau. The home side could have doubled its tally in stoppage time as first Fiorentina defender Stefan Savic almost scored an own goal then Albin Ekdals shot clipped the top of the upright.BAKU, Azerbaijan -- Former champion Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia returned to the Baku Cup quarterfinals by beating Katarzyna Piter of Poland 6-3, 6-1 on Wednesday. Jovanovski, the 2012 champ seeded fifth, will meet surprise Japanese qualifier Misa Eguchi on Friday. Eguchi, ranked 183rd, qualified for her first WTA main draw this week, then beat No. 3-seeded Magdalena Rybarikova and Urszula Radwanska in straight sets.dddddddddddd Pauline Parmentier of France reached her first quarterfinals since 2012 after ousting eighth-seeded Jana Cepelova of Slovakia 7-6 (2), 6-4 in a match with 11 service breaks, and Shahar Peer of Israel, last years runner-up, defeated Vesna Dolonc of Serbia 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. Cheap Authentic Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys 2018 Cheap Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale Authentic Jerseys Cheap Authentic Jerseys Cheap Authentic Jerseys ' ' '