It’s the second most wonderful time of the year! Crisp weather, fall colors, the time of remorse and excitement over your September fantasy picks, and most importantly, playoff season for America’s greatest past-time.
For those foreign to Major League Baseball and the leadup to the fall classic, you should start watching because although baseball is commonly deemed boring by outsiders, the postseason of any sport should usually rile up some healthy anxiety and excitement. For the more loyal fans here at SLU, I sincerely apologize for your team not making the playoffs after the great success last year. What I am getting at however is not a chirpy paper about how annoying Sox fans are or how the Dodgers need to drop Clayton Kershaw if they ever want a ring, but rather a challenge. With the postseason being nearly two thirds of the way over, I challenge non-baseball fans and diehards alike to watch some baseball this fall and to take place in a crucial and exciting part America’s history.
As far as updating you all on the series, I am not sure if I would still be reading if I were not previously informed by a source other than this, but here it goes. All but the Yankees v. Twins matchups in the Division series in American and National leagues went to the 5th game in a best 3 of 5 series, which is pretty awesome to see for baseball and exciting to watch for viewers. Now with the Nationals searching for their first trophy and the Cardinals looking to get another ring for future hall of famer Yadier Molina, baseball has another great matchup on its hands. This being said, the Nats are up 3-0 in the series as of today and should be in the World Series by the time this paper comes out and the Yankees and Astros are in somewhat of a overpowered game of cat-and-mouse where both sides have great capabilities, but are struggling to capitalize, with the Astros up 2-1 in the series.
My unbiased take and prediction, as it always has been, is Yanks in 7; the Astros are strong, but New York has grit. Regardless of the ALCS outcome, either team deserves a spot in the fall classic. The question is whether or not the skill of the AL can top the hunger of the “Cinderella story” Nats.
So, go find a Reddit server that really freaks you out, close your eyes and click the link, or even just go to the pub, get a snack, get comfortable, and watch some baseball. Do it to learn something new and do it to take a part in the rich creation of history that occurs each fall. Very few things in this world can we experience that we can say someone in 1900 experienced in the exact same way. Baseball is one of these things and for that, us fans are eternally grateful. Give it a swing.