October 1, 2019: From the Couch

Tuesday night, start of the postseason in baseball, and I’ll be watching the game where the Cubs will be watching it: from the couch. Surprisingly, I’m not as down as I thought I’d be. There have been seasons where I wouldn’t think about watching the playoffs if my Cubbies weren’t still alive. Yet, tonight, I can flip on the game and watch without issue. Stress free baseball viewing feels pretty good, especially after this season. Maybe it’s the fact that nothing else is on right now, yet here I sit.

Of course I will be rooting against a number of teams. Here’s how that breaks down; let’s start in the NL. It’s slim pickings as you can imagine. Rooting against the Cardinals and Brewers for obvious reasons. It’s really any team other than the Cards. The Brewers…they’ve never won, so there’s that; then there’s the fact that they’ve never won. Haha. Typically would root for a team with this quality, but it’s the Brewers and their fans who are among some of the biggest Cubs haters. I’m perfecly fine seeing their drought continue, forever. Outside of them, the Dodgers would be next on the list of teams that I’d like to see lose. All these playoff appearances and no World Series title? This could be their best chance, but screw them. That leaves the Nationals and Braves. The Nats have that never won one quality, plus they have Davey Martinez managing; I wouldn’t mind. But the way this game is going, I may have to go with my last NL option standing. The Atlanta Braves are the team that I’d most like to see repping the NL.

The American League has more options. Definitely not the Astros. Although I do like a lot of their players, the fact that they won one recently and are going for their 2nd in recent history; they’re out. Not the Yankees because they’re the Yankees of course. Outside of them two, don’t mind seeing any of the other ones win. I’d rank the A’s first, followed by the Rays, then the Twins, but either one of those guys would be ok. Braves Twins has a nice ring to it, and reminds me of one of the best World Series of all time. Maybe the Braves could get a little payback.

I seriously can’t believe the Brewers did so well down the stretch without Yelich. I can’t believe they hung in there all year with their pitching. As I watch the Nats threaten in the 5th, I feel a bit sad. I do miss it. I got used to it. We got spoiled for a minute there. We deserved it of course. I guess the reason I’m hanging in there is my belief that the Cubs will be right back in the mix next year. I don’t believe the window is closed; it’s just somebody else that will be holding it open. Counting down the days to opening day. In the meantime, since I can’t root for my team to win, I’ll root for others to lose. I’m used to this too.