I have made the popcorn, plugged in the TV, got some stevia ginger ale, and and me and the boy are going to settle down for some post season baseball joy. It is crunch time for the Giants and Dodgers. The Giants had a magnificent season….so did the Dodgers, neither team deserve to go home at this point, but one has to. There have already been shenanigans, with Dave Robert, manager for the Dodgers, taking out lefty Julio Urias, their remaining fresh star pitcher, to tempt the Giants to field more lefty hitters, putting righty Knebel in his place. The Giants bit, and put better matchups in. I predict that Knebel will throw to the minimum three batters and then exit in favor of Urias, giving the Giants who bit on the bait, less tasty matchups against the lefty stud.
Quite why the Giants bit, I have no idea. I would have ignored the mind game and waited for Urias to show up. Of course, as in all ultimately meaningless sports, it doesn’t really matter. It is not life and death. It isn’t even more than a blip for these two very successful teams, the Dodgers lost the league to the Giants, and now it is time to slam dunk them. Quite why the Giants are being seen as the underdog, I have no idea. For me, the true evil empire is the Dodgers not the hapless Yankees, who didn’t even make it past the wild card race.
Here we go!
I will say, it is ridiculously hard to find a way to watch the game in San Francisco. The whole local blackout thing is bad for baseball.
Webb for the Giants has already given up a single, only two batters into the first. The Dodgers are laying off his changeup, and making him work.
It is actually going to be sad to see either of these teams – the two best in baseball, knocked out at this point. The Dodgers hit into a double play, and we have a game on our hands.
…and I love a game. OK, so not games, like the terrible Squid Game, but a little baseball, some tennis, or even chess, I am all for the entertaining to and fro of competition. Not all games are bad, even if in the end, it is all about the money, not just the glory of winning, and the agony of losing. I suppose I have always been a little competitive, even if I am an archetypal loser.
With the Dodgers up to pitch….(“my coach would have destroyed me for that pitch, it was a change up and a mile high,” the Boy complained), and Julio already in the bullpen, it would seem like I would not make such a bad manager. The question remains, why on earth did the Giants fall for it!
Mookie just missed a catch! Two outs and a Giant on second, it isn’t looking bad for the Giants, though Buster Posey is clutching his leg…Two outs, bottom of the first, 22 count…and I am happier than I have felt all day…
….The Giants lost in the 9th, on a ridiculous call that said Flores, the Giant’s second baseman broke his wrists, and swung. No way did he swing and follow through, he laid off that pitch. Something to fuel the rivalry I suppose.