Category Archives: The Real Deal

The Kid Gloves Are On (Underneath The Kid Gloves)

By David Raposa | Published: August 31, 2009
Joba Rules Joba Rules Joba Rules.  I imagine even diehard denizens of the Yankee Universe are sick of the continuing refinement and rejiggering of the Joba Rules.  They were initially put in place to keep notorious bullpen bully Joe Torre from shredding Joba’s golden arm in the pursuit of World Series glory.  They’ve since been [...]
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Fire Mother Goose!

By David Raposa | Published: August 19, 2009
I could go a long while without reading another random blog commenter or blog post or Tweet lamenting the "loss" of beloved blog Fire Joe Morgan.  This might be due to some professional jealousy — I should totally be the one co-creating and writing two successful sitcoms, man! — or just some old-fashioned hatorade regarding the [...]
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THE REAL DEAL: 2008 World Series — Philadelphia Vs. Tampa Bay

By David Raposa | Published: October 22, 2008
As enthused as I am to ride the Tampa Bay bandwagon (which I jumped on LAST YEAR thank you very much, when Carlos Pena and Lil Bossman powered a truly bonkers offense and allowed the Rays to compete in more 11-8 games than should be legally allowed) all the way to their not-so-improbable World Series victory, I [...]
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THE REAL DEAL: 2008 ALCS — Boston Vs. Tampa Bay

By David Raposa | Published: October 11, 2008
ED. NOTE: Yes, this was supposed to get posted BEFORE yesterday’s 2-0 Boston win, not after.  Still, the majority of this was written prior to gametime, and were it not for the allure of larb gai and competent horror movie remakes after a rather crappy work week, it would have been posted without any knowledge [...]
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THE REAL DEAL: 2008 NLCS — Dodgers Vs. Phillies

By David Raposa | Published: October 9, 2008
There is no experience more humbling than to be proven irrevocably and irrefutably wrong, to have your strong convictions and unflinching opinions fly right back into your face like so much fart stink.  Were I more superstitious, I would have realized that trying to make an iron-clad case for the misbegotten luck-fearing Cubs sweeping the [...]
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THE REAL DEAL: 2008 ALDS — White Sox vs. Rays

By Matt Cibula | Published: October 2, 2008
Let’s be honest: I have no idea what is going to happen in this series, and neither do you. I would not be surprised to see either team win, or lose, or transmogrify into slavering blue jackal-headed aliens, or anything. This is the most unpredictable series, at least before it starts, of all time. OR [...]
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THE REAL DEAL: 2008 NLDS — Dodgers Vs. Cubs

By David Raposa | Published: October 1, 2008
Just pretend this was posted before today’s game started, if you don’t mind. And people think the Brewers / Phillies tilt is going to be one-sided. Even with Manny Ramirez’s Bonds imitation (complete with churlish behavior) and Rafael Furcal potentially being available to start at SS over Angel “Yes, I Was ROY” Berroa, the Dodgers [...]
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THE REAL DEAL: 2008 ALDS — Red Sox Vs. Angels

By David Raposa | Published: October 1, 2008
I’m going to pretend that the Angels did not hand the Red Sox their ass eight out of nine times this year.  I’m going to imagine that perennial post-season pinata John Lackey did not pitch 16 Lackey-like (meaning ”very good”) innings against the Red Sox, limiting Boston to a paltry .132 BA.  And I will pretend that Angels did [...]
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THE REAL DEAL: 2008 NLDS — Brewers Vs. Phillies

By David Raposa | Published: October 1, 2008
Welcome to the first of four League Division Series write-ups / previews / what-have-you!  We’ll be back later today with more on series plural that will probably have already started by the time we click the PUBLISH button on this here blog.  And we’ll be back later this month with stuff about upcoming baseball playoff [...]
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THE REAL DEAL: “The Ballad of the Portland Trail Blazers,” 1992

By Matt Cibula | Published: September 5, 2008
The following is a country-western song I wrote late in 1991 after the Blazers had lost to Golden State AGAIN, seems like we were always doing that back in those days. I was big on a songwriting kick and listening to LOTS of Hank Williams Sr. and kd lang. “The Ballad of the Portland Trail [...]
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