Tuesday marked the start of the divisional matchups in the MLB. 3 out of the 4 Wild Card teams that I wanted to win advanced; I hope they can keep it going.
The Phillies were first up; they did the damn thing… barely. Couple reasons I’m rooting for Philly… Schwarber and the fact that the Braves won last year. I didn’t have a problem with the Braves winning it all last year, in fact, I was happy for them. But you know how it goes… don’t like any team, other than mine of course, winning too much. They had their one; let somebody else win now. Then there’s the Mighty Schwarbino… loved seeing him celebrate in the locker room on Saturday after defeating the Cards; brings back some great memories… But now, we must root for our guys playing on other teams. Let’s go Phillies; let’s go Kyle!
The Mariners are probably my favorite team left. Sure, they don’t have any ex-Cubs running around, at least not that come to mind immediately, besides of course their manager Scott Servais, but the fact that this was the first time they made the playoffs in 21 years is a really good start; I can relate to droughts… I root for most teams in them. Glad to see them advance past the Rays; nothing against the Rays, it’s just… they play in Tampa; they are good every year, but nobody shows up… go figure. The Mariners took one on the chin in Game 1; tough, tough to recover from blowing a lead, and then losing it on a walk-off HR in the bottom of the 9th… ouch. Definitely not interested in seeing the Astros again, although there is the whole Dusty Baker thing… Do I still hold a grudge for how he handled the pitching staff back in the day, for how we just sat in the dugout in that fateful Game 6, letting things get out of control? Hmmm… 2016 has washed away a lot of ill will. I would like to see Dusty win it all, so I guess it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world for the cheaters, I mean Astros to win it again; this time clean though, right?
Speaking about droughts… enter the Guardians; definitely rooting for them, with their superstar who stood home in the midst of a rebuild, that, wow, resulted in a playoff appearance?!?! Love Francona too. Certainly don’t want to see the Yankees win 28, right? Well, there is the whole ex-2016 Cub factor… Rizzo went deep in Game 1; love Anthony. So if the Yanks were to win, that would be one good reason. Seeing both him and Kyle on the big stage again is really great.
That brings us to the Padres, who I will be rooting for by default. The default being I don’t want the Dodgers to win. The Dodgers are the team the Cubs should be… spending all the money they have, and then some, in on every high profile free agent, building a star-studded team that has a chance to win it all. Yeah, I hate them. Although really, how can you hate Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and Trea Turner? The other guys, sure, but those three??? One of them, hopefully Turner, may be in a Cubs uniform next year. Not a fan of their manager Roberts, and 1984 was a long time ago… so, go Padres??? Whoever wins the other series hopefully will advance to the series… and lose to the Mariners???
Love baseball; really love playoff baseball. I don’t always watch it, because I’m too bitter from the Cubs season, but… unfortunately, we knew what to expect this year, and that was nada. Still frustrating as hell, don’t get me wrong, but not enough to deter me from watching some MLB playoffs. And hey, the Cardinals already got eliminated!!! Looking forward to some more good baseball…
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