Silver Lining

Well, it was painful, I'm sure, for those who watched. I didn't, and am rather happy about that. My Detroit Tigers lost in a 15 inning marathon and are out of the baseball playoffs.

That has its advantages. I can watch the final three weeks of the season without anxiety as I have no horse in the race. I lean towards wanting Milwaukee to win it all now, as a tribute to the late Brewers play by play man Bob Uecker. But I can watch; I'd given up on watching Tigers games because it simply wasn't worth the emotional investment. Especially when they can't hit, as has been the trouble really all season. 

Get some bats, guys, please? And Riley Greene, I care about strikeouts. You fellas whiff too much. That's gotta stop. Far too many times this season we'd have two on and one or no outs and, strike three, strike three, inning over. It matters. We care. You're losing too many 3-2 games.

Hinch, stop trying to outmaneuver the other manager and just try to win games. I'm sorry, dude, I don't buy yanking a pitcher after three innings for a 'suitable matchup' against a particular batter in the fourth. It's too early in the game to worry about such minutiae, overuses your bullpen, and wastes a pitcher. I'm also tired of losing a good hitter for the duration of a game because you pinch hit for him early, again for a suitable matchup. All that in search of miniscule advantages? It's senseless. There. I said it. 

I'm tired of hearing about the great clubhouse chemistry. I'm tired of seeking mere sustainability. Make me want to watch rather than ignore your October baseball for fear of being let down. 

I'm okay, maybe, with sustainability. Sustainability seems a reasonable goal. But is it? Sustainability didn't mean much when we won four division titles in a row yet with painful playoff exists and a poorly contested World Series. I'll take a world championship once every decade or two over long stretches of simple winning seasons. The Yankees do that, as did the Moneyball A's. It has not left their fans happy.

But, I suppose, at least we've made the playoffs the last two years. We didn't play dead when in them, or at least didn't completely roll over. Yet it's time for more. Get. Some. Bats. And Stop. Striking. Out.