Well, now. Come Monday, the Mets and the Braves play a doubleheader. A pair of games postponed thanks to last week's encounter with Hurricane Helene, without one thought of moving them to be played away from Helene's reach. Setting up the Monday scenario:
If either the Mets or the Braves sweep the doubleheader, they plus the Diamondbacks take one of the National League's wild cards. If they split the twin bill, both the Mets and the Braves take wild cards because each has the tie-breaking advantage (read: winning season series) over the Snakes.
Meanwhile, there was a regular season to put out of its misery at last, at least for some teams...
Sox and Bonds Dept. — Try though they might, the White Sox just couldn't keep from passing the 1962 Mets as the losingest single-season team in baseball's modern (read: 1900-forward) era. But they gave it a whale of a try. They won five of their last six, including sweeping the hapless Angels but taking two of three from AL wild card entrants the Tigers.
Half-hearted prediction: Their bat-brained owner is liable to take that finish to mean . . . nothing. Except maybe further dilution of the team and the bond with its fans.
Athletic Supporters Dept. — Oakland fans came out in abundance for the A's final games ever at the ancient Coliseum. They got to see a thriller in the absolute last one, a 3-2 win over the Rangers highlighted by Mason Miller's sleek ninth (two strikeouts and a game-ending ground out) for his 28th save.
They also got to see one more mealymouth apology from owner John Fisher, who couldn't strong-arm Oakland into building a new real estate complex with a ballpark thrown in for good measure and handing it to him on a platter — despite nothing still coming close to being done, locked in, and about to undergo serious work in Las Vegas. While moving to play in a minor league park a few years.
You'd be hard pressed to find any baseball franchise as storied as the A's who've been turned into that cruelly abused a plaything by that capricious an owner. Who was more than happy to do everything in his power to kill attendance at the wretched Coliseum and let the world blame . . . the fans.
Some People Are Never Satisfied Dept. — Once upon a time, this year's AL East wasn't quite a sure thing between the Yankees and the Orioles. Now: the Yankees finish the season 28-23, clinch the AL East crown, and Yankees fans all over social media still can't decide whether they'd like public hangings, firing squads, or trading the entire team plus its manager to Chicago for the entire White Sox team plus its manager.
The Yankees could have steamrolled their way to a 120-42 record and Yankee fans would still demand revenge, retribution, and resurrecting George Steinbrenner . . . and then they'd get really mad.
Not So Fast, Buster Dept. — The AL Central-winning Guardians had only one more wish beside making the postseason come true: third base superman José Ramírez getting to join the 40/40 club. He needed just one more home run to join the club. Sunday's rainout basically told him, "Wait 'till next year." I didn't really hear him complaining, of course, but did Mother Nature have to be that contrarian a bitch?
Be Happy With 54/59, Sho Dept. — Shohei Ohtani had an outside shot at the National League's Triple Crown. It would have been the league's first since Joe Medwick in 1937. It didn't happen. Ohtani went 1-for-4 Sunday afternoon, leaving Miami's Luis Arraez with both the batting title and the distinction of being the first modern era (1900-forward) three-time batting champion for three different major league teams.
Ohtani has to settle with creating the 50/50 club, finishing with leading the NL in home runs, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS, and OPS+, not to mention leading the entire Show with 410 total bases. And, with his Dodgers winning the NL West while being the only team in the Show to win more than 95 games this season. And, with the potential of achieving what he couldn't with the Angels through no fault of his own: a World Series championship.
Who'd Have Thunk it Dept. — One American League wild card rounds begins with the Astros vs. the Tigers. The Tigers, of course, are now managed by the same skipper who managed the Astrogaters to their tainted 2017 World Series title. (And, did so little to stop the Astro Intelligence Agency in its tracks other than destroying a couple of the clubhouse monitors tied to that network.) Hands up to everyone who saw that coming.
All of a Sudden — I'm almost sorry I quit smoking seven weeks ago. If ever there was a time when a man needed a smoke, this seems to be it!
Leave a Comment