Final thoughts
Some leftover notes and thoughts from the playoffs:
* If you're planning to play the Powerball lottery maybe you should take along Windy City manager Andy Haines for luck when purchasing the tickets. Haines has beaten some long odds. Twice.
Haines was a coach for the Gary of the independent Northern League in 2005, when the Railcats lost the first two games of the championship series to Fargo-Morehead before rallying to win the final three games. So twice Haines has coached a team that was down 2-0 in a best-of-five finals only to come back and win the series.
"It's one of those things where you know it's possible, but you hope your players believe it's possible," Haines said Monday night. "The makeup of this team is similar to the Gary team. The bottom line is, we took it one game at a time. Before Game 3, we said we wanted to send 4,000 people home disappointed. Before Game 4, we said Washington didn't want to follow our bus back to Chicago. ... Our only goal was to get our bus here with a chance to win the series. Once we got to Game 5, we said we might as well win it."
* I don't understand the choice of Isaac Hess as MVP of the championship series. Sure, the Windy City reliever didn't give up a run in 5 1/3 innings, but he yielded a lot of baserunners and didn't have a win or a save. I was under the impression that left fielder Mike Coles was going to be the MVP. Somewhere along the line, the choice was switched to Hess. Coles should have been the MVP. He had six hits, scored four runs, drove in two more and made several fine defensive plays. First baseman Phil Hawke would have been my second choice.
* Had Washington won, Matt Sutton would have been the MVP.
* One person whose performance in the finals was overlooked was Washington reliever Travis Risser. He threw 7 2/3 scoreless innings, giving up five hits and one walk with six strikeouts. One of the hits, however, was a lazy two-run bloop single by Gilberto Mejia in Game 3 that gave Windy City a 4-0 lead. It was the biggest hit of the series. It wasn't hit very well, just well-placed.
* Finally, I'm hoping JD returns as the mascot next year. I know he said this was his last year, but we can always hope he changes his mind because ohhhhhhh, he's the best.
* If you're planning to play the Powerball lottery maybe you should take along Windy City manager Andy Haines for luck when purchasing the tickets. Haines has beaten some long odds. Twice.
Haines was a coach for the Gary of the independent Northern League in 2005, when the Railcats lost the first two games of the championship series to Fargo-Morehead before rallying to win the final three games. So twice Haines has coached a team that was down 2-0 in a best-of-five finals only to come back and win the series.
"It's one of those things where you know it's possible, but you hope your players believe it's possible," Haines said Monday night. "The makeup of this team is similar to the Gary team. The bottom line is, we took it one game at a time. Before Game 3, we said we wanted to send 4,000 people home disappointed. Before Game 4, we said Washington didn't want to follow our bus back to Chicago. ... Our only goal was to get our bus here with a chance to win the series. Once we got to Game 5, we said we might as well win it."
* I don't understand the choice of Isaac Hess as MVP of the championship series. Sure, the Windy City reliever didn't give up a run in 5 1/3 innings, but he yielded a lot of baserunners and didn't have a win or a save. I was under the impression that left fielder Mike Coles was going to be the MVP. Somewhere along the line, the choice was switched to Hess. Coles should have been the MVP. He had six hits, scored four runs, drove in two more and made several fine defensive plays. First baseman Phil Hawke would have been my second choice.
* Had Washington won, Matt Sutton would have been the MVP.
* One person whose performance in the finals was overlooked was Washington reliever Travis Risser. He threw 7 2/3 scoreless innings, giving up five hits and one walk with six strikeouts. One of the hits, however, was a lazy two-run bloop single by Gilberto Mejia in Game 3 that gave Windy City a 4-0 lead. It was the biggest hit of the series. It wasn't hit very well, just well-placed.
* Finally, I'm hoping JD returns as the mascot next year. I know he said this was his last year, but we can always hope he changes his mind because ohhhhhhh, he's the best.
posted by Chris Dugan at
10:15 PM
4 Comments:
Choking dogs.
Yes, Jason Dilly, the Mascot, was the true champion in Washington.
I wonder how much effect there will be on attendence when he leaves?
I know several people go to see him perform the 7th inning stretch.
My family and I went to 7 games at Consol Energy field this year. We drove approximately 1 1/2 hours from New Castle to attend. We thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent watching the games. The entertainment between innings was great. We really enjoyed the "Wild Thing". I am saddened to hear that he won't be back next year. Hopefully he will change his mind.
Travis should be commended!! He did a great job all year and throughout the playoffs!!
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