Four Games Into the World Series.....

Quick thoughts.....

• Did even the most die hard of Cleveland Indians fans envision their team being up 3-1 after four games?
• Is there anything better than watching those smug Chicago Cubs fans getting quieter and quieter as the ninth inning wound down in games three and four?
• Okay, I know something that might be better, and that is seeing Joe "I Invented Baseball" Maddon standing in the dugout watching his team lose.
• Wonder what Vince Vaughn thought when Jason Kipness hit that three run dinger moments before he had to sing Take Me Out to The Ballgame?
• Speaking of which, Harry Carey has been dead for eighteen years now.  There are probably legions of Cubs fans who would like to see that tired seventh inning stretch trope done away with by now.  For people outside of Chicago, I'm guessing that the number is close to 99.9% who are sick and tired of it and want to see it go.
• I'm surprised that the Cubs didn't send Kyle Schwarber up in the ninth to hit a six-run home run.  I'm sure that Joe Buck thought it was possible.
• I am not one who subscribes to the theory that national TV announcers are "for" one team or "against" another.  I think that the top network guys, including Joe Buck, do a really good job in their neutrality.  That said, Buck and the Fox team were so positively gleeful when the Cubs evened the Series after the second game, that it was noteworthy to me.  And the love affair with Schwarber has been really hard to take.  It's making me root against Schwarber, and it's not even his fault!
• As much as I would love to see the Indians wrap this up tonight, I would say that the Jon Lester - Trevor Bauer pitching match up favors the Cubs, so I am thinking that there is a good chance this Series goes back to Cleveland.
• While I am enjoying the outcome of the Series so far, three of the four games have been yawners.  Only that 1-0 Game Three has offered edge of the seat tension from start to finish.
• Terry Francona has managed in twelve World Series games.  His record is 11-1. That's pretty good.
• Speaking of tropes that should be done away with, when did the City of Cleveland become known as "The Land"?  Yuck.  Dislike that as much as I dislike Pittsburgh being called "The Burg".
• Pirates fans dislike of Maddon and the Cubs may border on the irrational at times  - or maybe not - but I think it is absolutely delicious that the Cubs could lose the Series on the Hallowed Grounds of the Friendly Confines, and in fact, could be swept in all three games at Wrigley right in front of their home town fans.
• All that said, I am not considering this Series over quite yet.  Lester is tough, and that Cubs lineup CAN hit. Anything can still happen.
• Still, I think I'll just post this picture for the hell of it...

• Go Tribe!!