It's never easy when a team you've poured your marrow into it ends its season abruptly. It's not that Oriole fans weren't prepared for the sudden exit of the Orioles from the post-season. Anyone who witnessed their decline to mediocrity since mid-June had to worry when the Kansas City Royals, or any good team, came to Baltimore.
Sure enough, after surviving two late season seven-game losing streaks, the Royals did knock us out. They won two low-scoring games, 1-0 and 2-1, to extend Baltimore's post-season losing streak to 10 games (stretched over 10 seasons). The offensive drought was so palpable that after tying the last game in the 5th inning but failing to score again with bases loaded and no out, the Birds did not mount another threat.
So I am reduced to being a relatively unemotional spectator of what promises to be four exciting best-of-five divisional series. It is definitely a less fulfilling feeling, but on the morning that the second round of playoffs begin, Sat Oct 5, here are some thoughts on the upcoming games.
Although MLB officials are almost brazen in hoping for a Dodger-Yankee World Series, I am happy for the amazing transition of the AL Central, once the doormat of baseball, into three playoff teams. Two of them, perennial contender Cleveland and upstart Detroit, will meet head on in what could be a Rust Belt classic.
In the other ALDS, Kansas City resumes its playoff rivalry with the Yankees that made for exciting baseball in the late 1970s and 1980.
One of the most happy memories in my life as a Yankee hater is watching on television George Brett's 9th inning homer off Goose Gossage in the final game of the Royals' sweep of the Yankees in the 1980 ALCS. Silencing a raucous home crowd has to be a thrill of a lifetime for any competitor. Brett is now 71 and he is very happy that the only team he ever played for and now advises has another shot at the Bronx Bombers.
In shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City has a budding superstar who plays the game with exceptional talent and evident joy. As I watched Witt on field and in the dugout, I kept thinking of Branch Rickey's description of Willie Mays: "The secret to his success is the frivolity in his blood stream."
Witt was drafted second in the first round of the 2019 draft behind Orioles switch-hitting catcher Adley Rutschman whose production nearly vanished in the second half of this season. The Royals play solid defense up the middle with Witt, Kyle Isbel in center, and second baseman Michael Massey who made a sensational play in Kansas City's series-clinching win over the Orioles.
Veteran catcher Salvador Perez, the one holdover from their 2015 World Series conquerors of the Mets, has been the leader that every young team needs.
He has an able backup in Felix Fermin but Perez probably can't DH this series because first baseman Vinny Pasquantino has rushed back from a hand
injury and cannot yet play in the field.
All of the Royals I've mentioned are home-grown. Somewhere in the great beyond, Art Stewart, the Royals late scouting director, must be smiling. I was
so pleased to build a chapter around Stewart in my book about scouts, BASEBALL'S ENDANGERED SPECIES.
The Yankees with their potent duo of Aaron Judge and Juan Soto will obviously be favored. They might have the starting pitching in Gerrit Cole and
southpaw Carlos Rodon and either of their home grown Luis Gil or Clarke Schmidt to contain Witt Jr and the rest of a lineup that has not been deep or potent.
They've added veterans Yuli Gurriel and Tommy Pham and they will have to step up.
The Tigers-Guardians series should be equally interesting. As a sentimentalist, I'd like to see Cleveland win its World Series since 1948.
Switch-hitting third baseman Jose Ramirez has been a tremendously productive regular season player who has yet to shine in playoffs but his re-signing with
Cleveland when a free agent was a big boost to that franchise. They also feature the most lights-out closer in all the playoffs, Emmanuel Clase.
Yet it's hard not to pull for the Tigers who have roared into contention since August. They won two series from the Orioles in this period and I must apologize to RHP Beau Brieskie, who I dissed as "immortal" in a prior blog when he shot down the Birds in a key moment. Manager A.J. Hinch, who led the tainted 2017 Astros to the World Series title and then accepted a one-year suspension for not stopping the sign-stealing escapade, has deftly led this young and fearless team.
They seem to produce a new hero every game and the likely AL Cy Young award-winner in southpaw Tarik Skubal. They swept the Astros in Houston with a stirring come-from-behind 8th inning rally. How the Guardians handle Skubal in game two should be a harbinger of how this series plays out. [Update: The Guardians shut out the Tigers, 7-0, in game one making Skubal's start in Game 2 vital for Detroit before they head home for the middle two games.]
I rarely make public predictions but what is a blog for anyway! I go for the home field advantage in picking the Tigers, who play the 3rd and 4th games at raucous Comerica Park, in 4. But I fear that the Yankees might win in 4 at Kansas City. But don't go to any of the betting web sites and blame me.
Speaking of come-from-behind rallies, the Mets have cornered the market in the NL. If not for DH Shohei Ohtani breaking all kinds of offensive records for the Dodgers, shortstop Francisco Lindor should be the hands-down MVP. He still might win it if we voted on what valuable really means. To me it is how much a
team relies on not just his statistics but his leadership. And how the team does what you are out of the lineup.
I never was a big fan of Lindor's fancy clothes and changing hairstyles. Production on the field and impact in the clubhouse outside of public view have always been what matters to me. In these areas Lindor this year has been sensational. The Mets floundered in mid-September when he missed some games because of a bad back. When he returned they soared again.
After his huge home run in Atlanta that clinched a spot in the playoffs, he provided a memorable answer to the inevitable question about how he felt after he hit it: "My back is aching and I am tired."
The drama continued for the Mets when first baseman Pete Alonso hit another dramatic 9th inning HR to eliminate the scrappy young Milwaukee Brewers.
Now the Mets go into the lair of their arch-rival Phillies who have dominant starting pitching. Can they slay another dragon? Going only by intuition,
I say yes in 5 games. Again don't go to the betting site.
In the final division series, we have another arch-rivalry with the San Diego Padres going into Dodger Stadium. The Friars just lost a key starting pitcher Joe
Musgrove who will need Tommy John surgery and that is a big blow. The Dodgters are not deep in starting pitching but they have a formidable lineup
starting with Ohtani and then Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. And a lot of grinders in newcomer Tommy Edman, Kike Hernandez, Max Muncy, even slumping Chris Taylor if he is on the roster. If closer Michael Kopech continues his resurgence, Dodgers look very tough to me. Could be a sweep but I hope not.
In closing, I want to remember Pete Rose who died on Sep 30 at age 83 at his home in Las Vegas. He had just spent a weekend with some of his Big Red Machine teammates in Cincinnati. He was in failing health with high blood pressure and hardening of the arteries.
I never really talked with Rose. I did have him sign one of the many books written for him as a gift for my nephew then a teenager. He did not make
eye contact with me but shifted his eyes constantly as if on the lookout for creditors. I have no doubt he loved baseball to the marrow and like maybe most retired players could never adjust to life after the game.
I don't want the public to ignore another death that occurred on the same day, basketball great Dikembe Mutombo of brain cancer in Atlanta at the age of 58.
Many times an NBA All-Star and member of the All-Defensive team, Mutombo went on to become a genuine philanthropist and humanitarian. He helped build hospitals in his native Republic of the Congo and he possessed an engaging personality. His wagging index finger at both rivals and in TV commercials will
always elicit a smile.
That's all for now. Always remember: Take it easy but take it and Stay Positive Test Negative.