Critics mock Major League Baseball for its slow pace and ponderous, 162-game schedule. But once October rolls
around, no one seems to mind games that last more than three hours – not when the drama can cause fans to bite off their nails, and underdogs have a chance in the shorter, best-of-five division series. And this year is no exception.
Only this time, it took approximately thirty hours for the American League playoffs to turn on its head.
Our wild ride begins at 3:07 PM Eastern on Wednesday in Tampa, as the Rangers visit the Rays at “The Trop.” Jeff Francoeur doubles in the game’s first run, and Mets fans everywhere remember that he’s not in the witness protection program. By the half-way point of the game, the Rangers are up 5-0 and Cliff Lee is cruising along to yet another dominant October victory.
In the opener of the NLDS in Philly, Roy Halliday no-hits the Reds, only the second no-no in MLB playoff history. ‘Nuff said.
It continues at 7:37 PM Central Time in Minneapolis, as the Yankees and Twins square off in the first playoff game in the new Target Field. After a first-inning bunt doesn’t materialize − think the Yanks aren’t in Ron Gardenhire’s head? − the Twins jump out to a 3-0 lead on CC Sabathia after three. Could it be? In due time, the Yankees come back to take a 4-3 lead thanks to a Curtis Granderson triple. The Twins tie it up, but Mark Teixeira homers just inside the right field foul pole (confusing Johnson again) and giving New York a 6-4. Marian Rivera gets another four-out save, and history repeats itself.
More of the same on Thursday in Tampa, as the Rays’ bats are silent. The Rangers take a 2-0 lead. In the top of the fifth, Michael Young blasts a three-run homer off James Shields just after a questionable checked swing. Rays’ manager Joe Maddon argues the call with umpire Jim Wolf and gets ejected. C.J. Wilson shuts down the Tampa Bay bats, and the Rangers head back home with a 2-0 series lead after a 6-0 victory.
Back to Minneapolis, 5:07 CT. More of the same – the Twins take and early 2-0 lead, but the Yankees tie it up and then take the lead in the first on a Lance Berkman home run. Orlando Hudson’s (remember him, Dodgers fans?) solo homer in the 6th ties it up. In the top of the 7th, the much-maligned Berkman hits a go-ahead double after – ironically – a questionable pitch is called a ball. Gardenhire also gets ejected, Rivera again closes it out in the 9th, and reality sets in.
Two questionable calls, two ejections, two 2-0 leads for the road teams heading back home for their respective Game 3s of the ALDS. All in just over thirty hours.
Who says baseball is predictable and boring?
Used with permission of the author.
Chris Lardieri also covers the NFL for Sports Climax and the Los Angeles Dodgers for Examiner.com. He has written about Major League Baseball for Inside Edge, a scouting company that provides content to ESPN Insider and Yahoo Sports. He previously wrote for 1766, the Rutgers Alumni Magazine, and popular blog, ‘The Outer Loop’. Be sure to follow Chris on Twitter for more MLB and sports observations
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