Fall Classic Games 1 & 2: Freddie for MVP

    Alas, I'm a dirty liar. It's baseball. I watched it. Most of it. I watched the entire first game of the World Series, and then most of the second game. Here are my personal recaps from them.

    

    The first game was a tale of (in my opinion) bad managerial decisions and a suffering bullpen. Nestor Cortes hadn't pitched in 37 days. That's typically the way it goes, I guess. I jokingly mentioned the intentional walk of Mookie Betts, and then it actually happened.

    I call it anticlimactic that the Yankees went through the free pass of Mookie, because Freddie Freeman deposited the very next pitch into the right field pavilion. Dang it. It was the first walk-off grand slam in (at the time) 696 World Series games.

    It also stinks that Juan Soto didn't have the best game on his birthday. You win some, you lose some.

    I had even less hope for the Yankees in Game 2. Carlos Rodon had been decent in the regular season, but he wasn't an ace. Yoshi Yamamoto is getting overpaid for a reason. He shut down the offense of the Yankees for 6 1/3 innings, his only blunder being a Juan Soto home run. Meanwhile, Tommy Edman went yard, and I called the second Freddie tank. After all Freeman's been through this year between his son's scary illness and the ankle injury, I'm kinda glad he's doing what he's been good at for so long.

    I left sometime in the fourth or fifth inning to practice dancing Footloose (I don't even know why I mention this), and came back somewhere in the last three innings. I saw Shohei get hurt attempting to steal second, which was a little bit frightening (hope he's alright). After a scoreless inning out of Mark Leiter Jr, the score was 4-1 in favor of the Dodgers, going into the ninth inning.

    Then Blake Treinen came on again, and instantly got himself into trouble. Juan Soto (who hit a homer earlier in the game), singled and then reached second on a wild pitch. Aaron Judge struck out again for the first out before a really weird Stanton RBI single off of third base. A Chisholm single followed, and then one of those classic Anthony Rizzo 'this pitch is inside so I'm gonna be on first base' plate appearances. This loaded the bases for Anthony Volpe. 

    Let me just say that I've never been more disappointed in a player when I have very little rooting interest in a game. That strike three pitch was so outside that I don't think he could have hit it with a 39 1/2 foot pole.

    And now, for the most anticlimactic portion of the game: Blake Treinen is pulled and Alex Vesia comes in to shut the door. Down to their last out, with the bases loaded, the Yankees send Jose Trevino to pinch-hit for Austin Wells. 

    He flies out on the first pitch, and that was all she wrote. 4-2 Dodgers.

    I know I said that I wasn't going to watch most of the World Series, but since it was on antenna, I was unable to hold back. Sure I was rooting against both these teams, I won't deny that. There is a ton of star-power in this series, which is definitely appealing. But the main reason for my watching is this: it's baseball. Whether or not you like the teams, this is the championship for this whole year of baseball. The rules may be less than ideal, and same with the teams, but this is the game that I've been with since I was in diapers. 

    So, I watched it. I will probably continue to watch most of it. But, maybe we can have the Rangers in the World Series next year for that adrenaline boost and the rooting interests. Please?

    Thanks for reading my very poorly written recaps, have a great start to the week, and happy collecting!