It has been six years since the last time my Cubbies and that team from the South Side of Chicago have reached Major League Baseball’s post-season.
Even though they have struggled lately, that does not mean baseball has suffered. As a matter of fact, the 2014 post-season started earlier this week, and we were treated to a phenomenal first act.
If you watched or heard about the Oakland A’s and the Kansas City Royals matchup, the drama leading up to the game could have been enough for the drama that ensued during the actual matchup.
For the Royals, this was the first time making it to the postseason since they won the World Series 29 years ago. The A’s however, were riding one of the best pitching staffs in all of baseball after acquiring pitchers Jon Lester and Jeff Samardzija before the All-Star break.
But after nearly five hours, 12 innings and a Royals walk-off winner, the madness of October has begun, and it is awesome.
The underdog Royals overcame a 7-3 deficit and extended their season another series, earning the right to square off against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
What a wonderful way to begin the playoffs and, as some say, the “second season.”
I’ll be honest though; some regular season baseball games are just not that interesting and frankly mean nothing to some teams in the middle of a hot July afternoon.
But, come October, something spooky seems to occur and the baseball gods decide to rev up their engines and produce some exciting baseball across the country.
I know loving and going crazy for this part of the season may come off as jumping on the bandwagon. But post-season fever is contagious and, suddenly, people are caring what the Kansas City Royals are doing again besides losing.
Besides the Royals, the rest of your viewing options aren’t too bad either.
There are some teams you are not used to seeing in October, including the Baltimore Orioles, who are in the playoffs for the second time since 1997. Another Beltway team, the Washington Nationals, are in the playoffs for just the third time since 1981, when the team was still in Montreal.
If you were wondering, this year’s postseason is missing a team from New York called the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, so bandwagon fans, time to jump ship and follow someone else.
Just as Tuesday night’s matchup between the Royals and A’s proved to the sports world, anything can happen, especially in baseball.
Yes, these games can be long, but the end result is something you can only see in sports: grown men dancing around each other, acting like kids again because they won a baseball game.
Grab yourself multiple bags of popcorn, gather a group of trusty baseball fans, and sit back, relax and enjoy this beautiful thing we call “October baseball.”
