Once again this humble blog has gone completely silent for half a year. But how better to break that silence than another baseball post? well - it's what I've got.
We are well into the post season, and it is too cool a post-season not to say something. My dear Red Sox got back into the post-season, only to be unceremoniously bounced by the Evil Empire, but they were a fun team all year and I am not going to complain. They look like they will be a fun team in the future - Crochet was All That and More; the young players turned up and produced - Roman Anthony looks like he is going to he The Man for a while - he was this year, until he got hurt. Mayer should be useful, Campbell should still be useful, they have more young talent - and at the end of the year three (3) lefty rookies came in and showed real potential on the hill - Tolle, Harrison and Early. They have the makings of a good team - we'll see if they can capitalize on it.
But that's not really why I'm doing this. It's the playoffs. We've reach the league championship series' - we have the Blue Jays vs the Mariners and the Brewers vs the Dodgers. How long has it been since we have had that cool a pool of teams vying for the world series? We could get a Seattle/Milwaukee series - two teams that have never won the world series. We could get the Blue Jays and their 32 year drought, and Canada, we could have the Dodgers, with a chance to be the first team to repeat since the dreaded Yankees in 2000. It is always a treat to see a team win their first, or break a very long dry spell - we've had those things this century, with the Sox (x2) breaking curses, and the Angels, Astros, Nats and Rangers all getting their first. Two teams have a shot this year - it would be very cool. Especially the Mariners, who have never even played in the world series, despite having fielded the winningest team ever back in 2001.
But the Jays would be fun as well. And then there is Los Angeles. I am the sort of fan who wants my team to win - has a few secondary teams (the Mariners are one, for some weird reason) - and then roots for either good stories/underdogs on one side or - dominance. Give me a first time winner or the first repeater in 25 years - they are both exciting.
Though all that is a lie. There is a very simple reason I am really hoping the Dodgers win, and will probably cheer for them over even the Mariners, despite hating the Dodgers almost as much as the Yankees for my entire life. Entire life before February 10, 2020. Fucking red sox. This year's reason to be astonished - Mookie Betts ended up as the third most valuable defender in the game, per Baseball Reference. At Short stop, in his first full season at short stop, the hardest position on the field - aged 32. He was off the boil at the plate this year, well below his usual standards there, though still passable, especially for the best defensive shortstop in the game - and for all that, he was basically as good a hitter as Trevor Story, for instance. So - go Mookie.
But again - any of these teams winning will make me happy.
(I have to add - if Mookie was the third best defender in baseball this year, it is a bit gratifying to see that the second best defender in the game was Ceddanne Rafaela, who's credentials as the second coming of Jackie Bradley Jr get stronger every year, complete with being one fo the best hitters in the game for a random month. Though Rafaela, to be fair, is also capable of playing a credible second base and shortstop. Not up to Mookie levels, but he's a useful player. He has helped mellow my resentment at the local 9, along with a few of their other young players.)
(The best defender in baseball, per Baseball Reference, is Ernie Clement of the Blue Jays - who slapped the ball around okay, but played apparently stellar defense at 2b, 3b, and didn't embarrass himself at SS. Whatever that is worth. 2.9 WAR, apparently.)
