will's cool blog

Baseball Corner

There has been a whole lot of postseason Baseball since the last time I got a blog post out, and I’ve watched a lot of it. Because I am still sort of bad at this, I didn’t take notes or anything. So I won’t be getting super granular here, but I would like to talk about some stuff. Mostly the Brewers.

But first: a big congratulations and thank you to the Tampa Bay Rays for sweeping the Yankees. What a series that was. I love how bad the Yankees are at defense. It’s a primo source of comedy every postseason. And while I have no love for the Rays, I do appreciate that they’re a team who visibly enjoy the game. I loved that they busted out the broom miming after completing the sweep.

Otherwise, I haven’t found the AL super exciting this postseason. The White Sox met a tragic end at the hands of the Guardians, but I said it at the time: that series did not matter. It was a who gets to go lose to Tampa series. The Guardians went down to the Rays in a not super memorable series. I think this sort of bracket was what everybody expected from this year’s AL. The league was only able to produce one real, competitive team.

But oh man, the NL has been more exciting, thanks largely to the Brewers. That Brewers/Padres series was just incredible TV. From the Ty France homer that wasn’t, to the drama of the Miz’s surprising short starts, to that incredible Jackson Chourio single off of Mason Miller to win the thing. Chourio’s team swarming him on the field after the game, so frantic that they tore his jersey off, was one of my favourite Baseball moments I’ve seen live.

The NLCS managed to be an even more exciting sweep than the Rays/Yankees series, as the Brewers pulled a reversal on the Dodgers and won in four. Every game in that series was an absolute blast, too. The Brewers just kept eking out narrow leads and holding them with an iron grip. They play such a fun kind of Baseball to watch.

That iron grip is the thing I really want to expand on, though: this Brewers bullpen is just ridiculous. Specifically, the Aaron Ashby/Abner Uribe tandem. They’re both flamethrowers, and Ashby is somehow regularly going multiple innings. Ashby has pitched in all but two games so far this postseason, and Uribe has pitched in all but one. That one was the last one, also. He pitched in seven games in a row. In Ashby’s last appearance, he went three innings and closed the game. I don’t know how these two guys are doing this without collapsing. With Ashby especially, I’m seeing shades of Louis Varland in last year’s postseason.

And the bullpen doesn’t even end there. Seemingly every random guy the Brewers send out there can throw 99mph fastballs. I don’t know what they’re doing at that pitching factory of theirs, but it’s working.

So now we’ve got a small market showdown for the World Series. Both of these teams play pesky, smallball offense and have tight defense, so these first two games have been tense, narrow affairs. Now, I’ll admit, I was a little drunk for game 1, so I can’t say I have the sharpest moment by moment recollection, but it wasn’t the most eventful game of Baseball I’ve ever seen. The Brewers picked up a lead in the first inning that they carried for the rest of the game. The night’s biggest drama came in the ninth, when usually solid closer Trevor Megill let a couple of Rays get on base with one out. I said aloud: “Okay, now get a double play.” And then he did, or seemed to, anyway. My buddy Mark and I cackled at my apparent precognition. But then the Rays challenged. Cooper Pratt’s foot had come off the second base bag. So the game began again. This time Mark got to augur the victory, as he perfectly predicted the final pitch: a slider down and away. Megill got a strikeout to win the game, amid a haze that I later learned was from prematurely launched fireworks. It was a pretty excellent moment that more than made up for the quietness of the game that preceded it.

Oh, also I think there was a strike ‘em out, throw ‘em out double play at some point in game 1. I can remember getting very excited about it but I do not remember any details. I love a strike ‘em out, throw ‘em out double play. One of my favourite plays in Baseball.

Game 2 had a bit more action. The defense was less solid all around, nowhere better embodied than in Jonathan Aranda letting a ball go between his legs for a single. But the moment of the night was a Sal Frelick solo homer. This is not a guy who does that, typically. He hit just 4 home runs this season. This one was dead centre, too. Then his next time up he nearly did it again -- the ball was caught just a foot or two from the wall. He was extremely excited rounding the bases, which, of course he was. This is what I love about watching sports: when an unlikely hero appears, and these guys who usually take themselves way too seriously break down into screaming ecstasy. At the end of the game, of course, it was the Uribe/Ashby tandem that brought it home. Uribe went down as the winning pitcher as the Brewers picked up a 5-4 lead, and Ashby held it for the last five outs. I am still just completely astounded by these two guys. The final out was recorded on a check swing call, which is a bit anticlimactic, but whatever. Still a killer performance from Ashby.

This game started off 4-0 for the Rays, by the way. They scored four in the first inning. Then the Brewers just inched their way back in without giving up anything the rest of the game. It’s incredible how they just keep doing this. It isn’t even the first time they’ve made a four run comeback, they did the same thing in the last game against the Dodgers. Right now, this Brewers team feels invincible.