I Think My Brain Just Broke

     We've successfully reached the end of the Divisional Series. It has been insane, to say the least. So much so that I think my mind needs a break before the Championship Series begin. But there's little time for that.

    Where to start? I know, how about in Philadelphia?
    Coming into this series, I don't know who ever thought that the Mets were going to take it, let alone in four games. The Phillies hitters forgot how to swing a baseball bat, and the whole bullpen forgot how to throw the ball. Meanwhile, guys like Jose Quintana are throwing gems for the Mets??? 
    Pete Alonso, after tripping over his bat and hitting into a double play because of it (which was hilarious to watch, by the way), cranked two home runs, both of them very decisive ones. And Francisco Lindor came up clutch in game 4, swatting a grand slam while down a run, and the Mets send the Phillies home, depressed and with some frosting to eat, while they move on. 

    I was rooting so hard for the Royals to beat the Yankees (sorry to a lot of people out there), but it just wasn't meant to be. They lost the series 3-1, though the offense of the Yanks looked a bit shaky. Giancarlo Stanton led the hitters with a .375 batting average and an OPS of 1.132. The pitching staff really did look good for the team though, who allowed just 14 runs across the four games. They're moving on too, hoping to take their 28th World Series, and first since 2009.

    Moving on to the final National League Series. The Dodgers and Padres fought an absolute war in this one. It was everything you ever wanted in a series, between staring at home runs for 40 years, getting baseballs thrown at you after robbing home runs, Mookie Betts finally doing something in a postseason, and a few blowout victories.

    After San Diego bashed 6 home runs en route to a 10-2 win and then took the next game, the Dodgers looked dead. But they came back to win game four by a score of 8-0, hammering Dylan Cease. 

    And when game 5 rolled around, the pitching matchup was two Japanese starters in Yu Darvish and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The Dodgers came ahead 1-0 on an Enrique Hernandez home run in the second inning, and scored again in the seventh on a Teoscar Hernandez home run. And the Padres just forgot how to hit, so it's the Dodgers moving on. This messes up my entire bracket, which had the Padres winning the World Series. I am very unamused.

    And finally, for the Tigers. Oh the Tigers! They got shellacked in the first game of the series against the Flying Toasters; Indians, I'm sorry (by the way, shellacked is going to be used a lot more frequently on this blog). Then the Tigers won the next two, and the series looked in the bag. Then we lost. Oh well, Skubal is starting tomorrow, what could possibly go wrong?

    Everything. 

    Lane Thomas hit a grand slam off of Skubal, and he just plain got lit up, and the Tigers lost, 7-3. Now they're eliminated. I said before game two of the series that the Tigers need to win every game Skubal starts this postseason if they want a chance at the World Series. Well, this one was Skubal's fault. I have to be honest, though it hurts me to say it. He needs to own up to this one.

    Spoiler alert, none of these cards are actually mine. I've neglected to gather any 2024 cards of these guys, so I just scanned them. I know, I'm a liar.

    Now that the Tigers and Padres are kicked from the postseason, I just don't care anymore. I'll probably be rooting for the Mets, I guess, since I have a friend who desperately wants them to win, and I told him that if he roots for the Tigers, then I'll quit rooting against the Mets. Most likely I won't watch much of the rest of the playoffs. I am rooting against literally every team left (I know, it's a me problem), and have been more busy lately.

    Good luck to your teams if they're still in, and if not, I feel you. But, have a great rest of your weekend, happy collecting, and goodnight!