5 Reasons to Get Excited About the Playoffs
In what is a surprise to no one, the Mariners failed to make the MLB playoffs this season. A 67-95 record has a way of doing that to a team. Just because the Ms are out though, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be excited for the playoffs. Here’s a few reasons why you should tune in.
1. The last day of the regular season. Seriously, it was one of the most exciting outcomes in baseball history. At the outset of September, the Boston Red Sox were almost definitely going to the playoffs, right? They had an 8 ½ game lead, they had big name hitters, a solid lineup, they were some people’s preseason favorites to win it all. The Atlanta Braves also had an 8 ½ game lead, and were primed for a Wild Card spot. Well, guess what, neither team is going. The Red Sox dropped 20 out of 27 games down the home stretch, including their final game, where they tanked it in the ninth. The Tampa Bay Rays are going instead. The Braves crashed and burned too, and will have to watch the Cardinals perform in the spot Atlanta had all but locked up at the beginning of the month. When the regular season ends with such drama, the playoffs could be plenty exciting.
2. The Phillies. They have been consistently the best team in baseball for the majority of the regular season. Their starting rotation is enough to make pitching fans swoon: Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, and Roy Oswalt have 59 wins this season and only one of their ERAs is over 3.0. However, pitching dominance can get a little boring sometimes, but Phillies fans have found a way to keep things fun by being the most foul-mouthed, I’m-embarassed-to-be-your-mother fans around. Oh, and one of them will undoubtedly run onto the field and be tasered by security.
3. Sausage Race. Ever since the Germans landed in Milwaukee and declared, “Let there be Bratwurst,” there has been a sausage race at Brewers games. Ok, so it actually only started in the 1990s, but since then the Klement’s Racing Sausages have been the hottest show in town. At every home Brewers’ game, grown men and women dress up as Brett Wurst the Bratwurst, Stosh the Polish Sausage, Guido the Italian Sausage, Frankie Furter the Hot Dog, and Cinco the Chorizo, and run the bases. It’s awesome and makes you kind of hungry. Milwaukee, where baseball isn’t baseball without racing sausages and copious amounts of beer.
4. Tigers. Detroit was the first team to secure a spot in the playoffs. You have to go all the way back to Memorial Day to find the last time they strung together three losses. Sure, we should all root for Detroit because they have abandoned buildings, and are down on their luck, and represent America. However, the real reason you should root for them has nothing to do with economics and everything to do with pitching stats. Their main man on the mound is one hell of a pitcher. Justin Verlander, the lanky pitching standout for the Tigers, has won 24 games this season. He’s thrown more total pitches than anyone else in the pros. He’s the first pitcher in a real long time with a chance of winning both a Cy Young Award and the MVP Award in the same year. If you’re not impressed, you probably shouldn’t bother with baseball.
5. Ron Washington. The mustache. The glasses. The positive drug tests. Washington has been the manager of the Texas Rangers since 2007, and he’s made plenty of headlines along the way. However, it’s not testing positive for cocaine or tension with players that makes Ron Washington interesting. It’s how visibly emotionally invested he can be in a game. Watch Ron Washington watch the playoffs, you’ll be excited too.
