Feeling Minnesota

I was sprawled out on the floor and once again on the verge of a heart attack last night.

Thanks, Detroit Tigers.

Although, after what I've officially dubbed "The Lost Season," it's nice to finally have some gut-wrenching baseball to watch ... All summer long, I've whined about my early mornings and early bedtimes, which kept me from watching a lot of baseball the way I used to. And of what I did read and watch, the Brewers were dissappointing and the Cubs just plain stunk. Beyond that, I couldn't find a single compelling story, and there certainly weren't any compelling pennant races ...

Well, except for the Tigers and the Twins -- which led us to last night's wild one-game playoff.

That 4:05 first pitch at the Metrodome couldn't come fast enough for me. (I will say this, our visit to the Metrodome last summer and having seen the quirky stadium firsthand has made it a lot more interesting to watch Twins games on TV.)

I, of course, was pumping my fists with every run the Tigers scored. And burying my head with every run the Twins scored.

In the bottom or the 10th inning when Ryan Raburn dove and missed that fly ball, giving up the no-out triple to Michael Cuddyer, I ended up with a dish towel over my head. Then there was the one-out double-play ball that slipped under Placido Polanco's glove, allowed Cuddyer to score the tying run and sent me collapsing on the floor in agony. And my whooping and hollering when Raburn gunned down the potential winning run to end the bottom of the 10th was enough to get Phoebe -- who should have been asleep -- shouting "Daddy!"

The drama continued for two more innings. The Tigers had their chances to win ...

But they broke fans' hearts again. The Twins won it on a walk-off single in the bottom of the 12th, almost five hours after the game started.

Sigh.

A month ago, the Tigers had the A.L. Central in the bag. They were going to be my top team this fall ... Then, the Sports Illustrated cover jinx struck again.

At least now I don’t have to worry about them getting trounced by the Yankees in the playoffs.

In my dreamworld, I'd love a Dodgers-Angels World Series ... In my real world, I predict Phillies-Yankees. Blah.

Here's some good baseball-related reads ...
a A Cloudy Crystal Ball
a A Pitcher Comes In, and a City Holds Its Breath
a Angels thinking forwardly
a Best time to play memory games
a Baseball’s Postseason Field Is Rich With Recent Playoff Experience

* * *

Monday night's Packers-Vikings game was almost as compelling as the Tigers-Twins game -- for the first half, at least.

Then, in the second half, Brett Favre started playing like Brett Favre, and the Packers offensive line couldn't protect Aaron Rodgers ... As much as I hate to admit it, it was fun to watch Brett up his legendary status some more. Maybe he's going to get the Vikings to a Super Bowl after all -- maybe.

Here’s a good read about Brett. And here's a good read about the game's (huge) impact on TV ratings.