That’s baseball, Suzyn
Wow.
Just wow.
When something inexplicable happened out on the field, the since-retired longtime Yankees radio voice John Sterling would express bewilderment, and then, more often than not, turn to his equally legendary counterpart, analyst Suzyn Waldman, and say, "That's baseball, Suzyn."
I think John spoke for millions of baseball fans after the season finally came to an end on Saturday night, with the Dodgers winning their second straight title.
Watching my various social media feeds the past few days, there were plenty of baseball fans - both new and old - who were talking about how crazy this seven-game World Series was between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Dodgers, with quite a few saying it was one of the greatest World Series they've ever seen.
To make a long story very short, the Dodgers won a nailbiter of a Game 7 thanks to a tiebreaking solo homer from Will Smith in the top of the 11th inning and a series-ending double play in the bottom of the frame. (Oh, and the Dodgers only made it to extras after tying things up on a Miguel Rojas solo HR in the top of the 9th).
After an emphatic road victory by Toronto to take a 3-2 series lead, the Jays had two chances to win the championship in front of a raucous home crowd, and failed to win either of them.
In Game 6, training 3-1, Toronto had runners on second and third with nobody out in the bottom of the 9th, and couldn't score; after a pop out from Ernie Clement, Andres Gimenez lined out to left, and left fielder Enrique Hernandez fired to second to double off Addison Barger to end the game.
And then we get to Game 7, which, according to MLB columnist Mike Petriello, contained two of the top five most impactful plays in baseball history. In history!
It was game number 2,477 of the season, including the playoffs, which is five more than any other year in MLB history. It was the third time a deciding game went 11 innings or longer. After pitching six innings in Game 6, Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto came in the very next night to pitch 2.2 innings of relief to finish the game, en route to World Series MVP honors. He was only the third pitcher in postseason history over the last 70 years to pitch in a game the day after going at least six innings.
After the Dodgers tied the game in the top of the 9th, Toronto had the bases loaded in the bottom of the inning, and Rojas bobbled a ground ball and wound up getting the force out at home, just barely beating runner Isiah Kiner-Falefa. As it turned out, Kiner-Falefa didn't have much of a lead down the third base line; if he had been any further down the line, he would have likely beaten the throw home, and Toronto would have won the title. A replay confirmed that Kiner-Falefa was just a couple inches or so away from the plate when the ball made it home. That was the difference, in essence, between winning and losing the World Series.
That's baseball, Suzyn.
Believe me, I could write another 10 pages about this World Series, which also saw the Dodgers pull off an 18-inning victory in Game 3, but I digress. Wait til next year, Toronto.
Meanwhile, the Knicks, under a new coach, and the Rangers, also under a new coach, are both off to slow starts, and the Giants are 2-7 after yet another loss yesterday, and will almost certainly be looking for a new coach and GM once this season mercifully comes to an end.
In other words, 100 (ish) days to go until pitchers and catchers.