The Best Week Ever in Sports...and I Bet You Missed It

Ok, clarification, the best week ever in sports for this sport, just had to get your attention somehow, looks like that Marketing degree I got in the mail yesterday is already paying off. So you are probably wondering what did I miss? I listen to sports radio every day, watch more hours of SportsCenter collectivley then I do sleep, and always correct random conversations when somebody who knows nothing about sports blurts out "yea I think the Jazz can go all the way this year". Now I'm not here to say that you missed it completely, that you didn't know it was happening, the odds are you just probably didn't see it live. I'm talking about "America's Pastime", yes ladies and gentlemen, I'm referring to the first round of the MLB postseason.

Hold up hold up, before you click that little back button and return to your Facebook and Twitter feeds where the Kardashian's update on its left hang nail seems to be more important than this (yes I called them an "its"...i refuse to acknowledge them as human beings), hear me out. I know baseball is boring to watch, I get it. I played baseball from age 4 to age 18 and at one point considered it my favorite sport, even thought about playing it in college, and I still hate to watch it on TV. Going to a game is completely different, those who live in Utah can't really understand this (Bee's games are fun but its like dating a girl who's friend is much much hotter than her...you're like yea she's hot but eh eh eh... somethin better is literally right in front of you), but games live are an event and even going to a Rockies game when they're 380 games out of first place (actually happened this year no joke) when the stadium is half full is a blast. But just like hockey now a days, baseball just isn't appealing on TV anymore. However, this postseason was entirely different.

Let's begin with some facts.

• Even before the playoffs started we had two play-in games, how on earth teams can play 162 games and then be tied for first place in the same division is mind boggling to me but it happened twice this year. Controversy happened in one of those Wild Card games in which a basic rule was evaluated and challenged and eventually had an effect on the game. While this sucked for Braves fan it made for a little flare and drama. We also had the O's and the A's make the playoffs (it was the year of the vowels) and the A's basically just created a sequel to Money Ball this year (so be ready for that to hit theaters in a year because we all know Hollywood is running out of ideas...seriously Fast and the Furious 6?) 
• This is the first time in baseball history that every series went to the max amount of games, 5 in this case being the first round. Going into the last day each team had a chance to make it to the next round, people were talking about Yankees and Cardinals World Series matchups as well as A's and O's. 
• The Giants came back from a 2-0 deficit to win their series against a good Cincinnati team, complete with a blustering home run but Posey in game 5 to put the Giants in cruise control for that last game. 
• 6 of the games were decided by 1 run or fewer. In this case if you would've just watched the 7th, 8th, and 9th inning, the game would've been gripping, especially with how much is on the line.
• Out of those 6, 3 went into extra innings. There's nothing better in baseball because at this point the bullpens are bare and the hitters are tired so if there ever was a time to dig down and beat the other team on sheer fight this is the time in baseball. 
• Playoffs are actually strategy based and its fun to watch managers play chess with each other. Send in a pinch hitter and then they change pitchers, lefty on lefty, righty on right, small ball, and players actually springting to first base...sprinting!!! Crazy I know

I'll admit, I fell victim to the same thing. I may have decided to watch a rerun of a Family Guy episode (ok maybe 4 episodes) instead of watching the games. But when I turned on the radio and ESPN.com for an update on the status of my fantasy quarterback (it was Jay Cutler at the time so....still sucks), I saw the status for games 1 and 2 and decided that I'm def def gonna start watching. And even though I decided to watch the last few innings only, I felt as if I had watched one of the most captivating things I've seen in sports all year. (Also the Yankees got smashed in the next series and A-Rod struck out...and he wasn't even playing!!!!)

So with the World Series in the full swing and the fall classic more captivating than ever with the Giants up 2-0 (on the other side of where they've been the whole playoffs), take a night and go out to a bar and have dinner and causally watch a baseball playoff game, or put it on the background in your house while you have family night or are folding laundry, you'll be surprised at how with 8 innings left your glued to your couch and chatting about how a .301 average against a lefty in a ball park like Detroits means they'd be better off with a advancing that runner with a bunt to get to that hitter even though it means two outs. It's America's Pastime, don't let the time pass you without enjoying it.

e.moats