Greetings from the sports desk located somewhere below decks of the Good Pirate Ship RedState. Sammy the Shark and Karl the Kraken are too busy fidgeting in anticipation of the NHL regular season starting tonight (October 8), so I’m on my own.
The baseball playoffs continue to supply surprise. On October 6, the Philadelphia Phillies pulled a New York Mets on the Mets by winning on their final at-bat, thus evening their series at one apiece heading to two at Citi Field. Meanwhile, the San Diego Padres evened their series with the Los Angeles Dodgers at a game apiece by a 10-2 score, slugging six home runs and surprisingly not slugging anyone personally, as the jawing between the two teams made your average political debate look like a high tea social. Regrettably, a few smogbrains in the stands at Dodger Stadium took it upon themselves to display their absence of gray matter by throwing baseballs and beer on the field, causing a nine-minute delay in play before the bottom of the sixth inning. As expensive as a beer is at a ballgame, you have to be dumb to chuck one.
You expect fireworks between the Dodgers and Padres. It is a 120-mile drive between the two cities. Traffic permitting, it’s a two-hour drive. (Note: It never permits.) San Diego is perpetually angry at Los Angeles for constantly stealing the spotlight and, a few years ago, their NFL franchise. The Dodgers have traditionally dominated the Padres in the regular season; as of the end of this year, Los Angeles is 96 games over .500 lifetime against San Diego. The postseason, however, is far more even. The present series is the third time in five years the Dodgers and Padres have faced each other in the postseason. The Dodgers swept the Padres in 2020, with the Padres winning three games to one in 2022. And here we are again, with the same situation the two teams faced two years ago when the Dodgers won the first game at home and the Padres the second to level matters heading to Petco Park for the next two games.
That all said, the rivalry needs to stay on the field, not out of the stands onto the field. Hopefully, the Friars faithful who will fill every nook and cranny of Petco will be the mellow surfer dudes and dudettes that allegedly populate Beach Paradise and let the players fight it out. Given the existing tension, this could break out into an actual fight if cooler heads do not prevail. Woe be unto any Padres pitchers whose high heat comes too close to Shohei Ohtani.
While the National League took October 7 off, the American League kept things percolating. The Detroit Tigers won 3-0 in Cleveland over the Indians Guardians in the most dramatic fashion possible, Kerry Carpenter swatting a three-run dinger off of Cleveland’s All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase in the top of the ninth to break a scoreless tie and tie the series at 1-1 heading to Detroit. Meanwhile, the Kansas City Royals defeated the New York Yankees 4-2 at Yankee Stadium to even that series at a game apiece. And not a thrown beer in sight.
Have a terrific Tuesday, everyone.
PS: College football fans, you are not forgotten; make sure you check out Brad Slager’s most excellent take on this past weekend’s gridiron goodies featuring the Vanderbilt upset of Alabama.
