It started with two pitchers each playoff rookie manager trusted.  It ended with some interesting actions by one team’s fans, a player retiring, and one quoting scripture that sounds like he probably won’t be coming back to that team.

The commissioner’s office got what they wanted. I heard someone call it a WWE title match atmosphere combined with baseball.  This was the first time managers got to play with their rosters to have just 2 starting pitchers, a bunch of relievers, and role players galore.  There is some talk of having this roster flexibility in September games sometime in the future.  I personally am not for it in September, but it sure would have been fun to see Tony Larussa and Bobby Cox go at it with those rosters.

Should Cody Ross been granted time that late in a pitch?  Probably not, but he was because it is a judgment call.  Should the hit that Pete Kozma let drop been called an infield fly?  I decided to put a link in here to the infield fly rule.  I believe Pete Kozma would have caught that ball if the Umpire would not have screamed infield fly.  He clearly thought that was Matt Holliday calling him off.  I was kind of shocked how many baseball fans on Twitter last night didn’t know some of these rules.  I get it.  They are fans, and these thoughts do not concern them unless it affects their team.   I know I will probably have to explain the rule and the protest situation many times in the future.

Let’s move on.  I will have the pleasure of being at Sunday’s Cardinals home game.  I believe the Cardinals will beat the Nationals in 4 games.  They took two out of three games last weekend and I think that kind of smacked the Nationals around.  Davey Johnson has been there many times before as a manager but the players are the ones who have to perform, they have to step it up, they have to make the plays.

I also think the San Francisco Giants will beat the Cincinnati Reds in 4 games.  I don’t see this series really being that fun to watch.  I expect long games.  I also think it will be the Detroit Tigers in 4 games over the Oakland A’s and the New York Yankees in 5 games over the Baltimore Orioles which may end up being the best series of this round.

I feel for Aldrelton Simmons.  I hope he recovers from the nightmare night he experienced.  From errors, to running out of the base line, to being the guy who hit the infield fly, I hope he will have a bright future.

Atlanta Braves fans should be ashamed of themselves by disgracing their local temple for baseball.  They should feel even worse for doing it in what was Chipper Jones’ last game.  Maybe he wanted to stand on the field for 15 minutes and applaud the fans after the game.  Maybe he wanted to run around the field and shake everyone’s hand.  He never got the chance.  It was not safe for anyone to be on the field after the game.  Heck, the fans didn’t even stop and give him a standing ovation until he tipped his cap during his last at bat.

I also feel sorry for Josh Hamilton.  The Texas Rangers fans booed him in his last at bat.  To me, there would be little reason to come back there after that.  It left a bad taste in his mouth.  He paraphrased Matthew 10:14 after the game when he said “If they don’t receive you in your hometown, shake the dust off your feet and move to the next.”  That does not sound like a player who will be sticking around in Texas.

But remember, this is what Major League Baseball was trying to create.