Hey, it is October 1!
And what does the coming of October actually mean?
Yes, the leaves are falling all over the place, the trees are bare, and we can finally put away the shorts and the flip flops … at least in my neck of the woods.
And we can also watch baseball, and this year, we can really, really watch baseball.
Due to the pandemically-truncated baseball season, we have been presented with a cornucopia of baseball on television right now, with the final day of September featuring eight—count ‘em, eight—games, some going on all at once, on that single day.
I have no idea when the final game ended—probably earlier this morning—so you had a more than 12-hour bacchanal of games which started at noon and went into the evening.
I had my things to do yesterday, but I at least watched a little of some of these games, and I have to say, it was fun watching baseball’s version of the “Sweet 16” play out on my TV.
My one regret: he New York Yankees game versus the Cleveland Indians, which turned out to be the most exciting game for the Yankees, was almost entirely missed by me. I fell asleep as the game went on, as it started late under some pretty nasty weather conditions in Cleveland.
I only saw a little of the game, which the Yankees eventually won, 10-9, in a wild back and forth game. But as most senior citizens do—even young senior citizens like me—I fell asleep, I simply passed out.
And what does the coming of October actually mean?
Yes, the leaves are falling all over the place, the trees are bare, and we can finally put away the shorts and the flip flops … at least in my neck of the woods.
And we can also watch baseball, and this year, we can really, really watch baseball.
Due to the pandemically-truncated baseball season, we have been presented with a cornucopia of baseball on television right now, with the final day of September featuring eight—count ‘em, eight—games, some going on all at once, on that single day.
I have no idea when the final game ended—probably earlier this morning—so you had a more than 12-hour bacchanal of games which started at noon and went into the evening.
I had my things to do yesterday, but I at least watched a little of some of these games, and I have to say, it was fun watching baseball’s version of the “Sweet 16” play out on my TV.
My one regret: he New York Yankees game versus the Cleveland Indians, which turned out to be the most exciting game for the Yankees, was almost entirely missed by me. I fell asleep as the game went on, as it started late under some pretty nasty weather conditions in Cleveland.
I only saw a little of the game, which the Yankees eventually won, 10-9, in a wild back and forth game. But as most senior citizens do—even young senior citizens like me—I fell asleep, I simply passed out.
I found out about the results of the game at about 2:45 a.m. this morning, when I woke up from my sleep and went on my phone on the MLB app to learn that they game ended just 90 minutes earlier.
Yes, I guess I am old. I can't even stay up for baseball anymore.
I actually watched more of the Tampa Bay Rays vs. Toronto Blue Jays contest, which the Rays won, and with the Yankees winning, it sets up a league division contest between the Rays and Yankees which will be played in San Diego in the "bubble."
The pandemic forced all professional sports to take a step back and look at what they could do to get their seasons going, and they all had to think outside the box to come up with some stern conclusions: playing in a “bubble,” changing various rules of their games, allowing no fans to attend the games, etc., and honestly, I was pretty skeptical if Major League baseball could do what it did during a 60-game season.
It was rocky, there were coronavirus breakouts, and the play was often like one of my old Strat-o-Matic seasons, but all told, it pretty much worked out.
And then this craziness of expanded playoffs, non-stop baseball—even in the afternoon!—and exciting games without fans … well, for those who say that baseball is boring, well, I beg to differ with you, I really do.
We still have a few more weeks of baseball until a World Series champion is decided. Will that champion actually be the best teams—at least by record, the Rays and the Los Angeles Dodgers are the top teams—or will the champion be a team that under normal circumstances, wouldn’t even be in the playoffs—such as the Houston Astros or the St. Louis Cardinals?
Or will it be my beloved Yankees, who had a crazy, up and down regular season, but seem to rise to the occasion during the playoffs?
Who knows, and I guess, in retrospect, that is what makes these games even more exciting than they really are.
Look, I admit I was skeptical about the whole thing in the spring, when not only was the sport battling the pandemic, but they were battling themselves over money issues.
It really turned off the sport’s biggest fans, including me.
But it seemed to all work out, in a funny way.
Let’s hope that this translates over to our lives … even through all the craziness, things will all work out.
Play ball!
Let’s see what happens.
I actually watched more of the Tampa Bay Rays vs. Toronto Blue Jays contest, which the Rays won, and with the Yankees winning, it sets up a league division contest between the Rays and Yankees which will be played in San Diego in the "bubble."
The pandemic forced all professional sports to take a step back and look at what they could do to get their seasons going, and they all had to think outside the box to come up with some stern conclusions: playing in a “bubble,” changing various rules of their games, allowing no fans to attend the games, etc., and honestly, I was pretty skeptical if Major League baseball could do what it did during a 60-game season.
It was rocky, there were coronavirus breakouts, and the play was often like one of my old Strat-o-Matic seasons, but all told, it pretty much worked out.
And then this craziness of expanded playoffs, non-stop baseball—even in the afternoon!—and exciting games without fans … well, for those who say that baseball is boring, well, I beg to differ with you, I really do.
We still have a few more weeks of baseball until a World Series champion is decided. Will that champion actually be the best teams—at least by record, the Rays and the Los Angeles Dodgers are the top teams—or will the champion be a team that under normal circumstances, wouldn’t even be in the playoffs—such as the Houston Astros or the St. Louis Cardinals?
Or will it be my beloved Yankees, who had a crazy, up and down regular season, but seem to rise to the occasion during the playoffs?
Who knows, and I guess, in retrospect, that is what makes these games even more exciting than they really are.
Look, I admit I was skeptical about the whole thing in the spring, when not only was the sport battling the pandemic, but they were battling themselves over money issues.
It really turned off the sport’s biggest fans, including me.
But it seemed to all work out, in a funny way.
Let’s hope that this translates over to our lives … even through all the craziness, things will all work out.
Play ball!
Let’s see what happens.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.