I probably enjoyed far too much of baseball’s post-season action over the weekend, but as I reflected on the four major American sports post-seasons, the one that I’ve been able to engage in person the most frequently has been Major League Baseball. So, it’s really not shocking that I found myself hopelessly distracted by the Rays-Guardians’ 15-inning marathon Saturday afternoon or the Mariners’ stunning comeback against he Blue Jays that followed the Cleveland game in short-order.
I’ll begrudgingly give MLB credit for the additional Wild Card teams and the decision to make the Wild Card round a best-of-3 at the higher seeded site. That said, I’m mystified why a reseed would not occur following the Wild Card round. Shouldn’t Philadelphia, the final National League qualifier, get the No.1 overall seed Los Angeles Dodgers and all the perils accompanying cross-country travel, extreme changes in climate, etc.? Instead, the Dodgers will see the Padres for the 20th, 21st, and 22nd times this season (at minimum). Los Angeles won the season-series, 14-5, if you’re scoring at home.
Of course, MLB couldn’t get out of its own way with the Divisional Series, granting the ALDS a random day off following Game 1. If there was a desire to keep baseball on the airwaves every day from now until the conclusion of the Divisional Series round, why not start the ALDS on Wednesday rather than Tuesday? Regardless of when it starts, there is going to be one day early in the series where all four games are played on the same day. Rather than cutting the AL teams a break by having an off-day immediately following Game 1 and then another for travel following Game 2 (creating a T-Th-Sa schedule), just have it play Wednesday and Thursday and again on Saturday?
Enough with the ranting, here’s a look back at my in-person experiences with the MLB playoffs. Unsurprisingly, it tracks closely with my hometown Detroit Tigers’ post-season appearances but the most-recent playoff appearance I made was, of all places, Nationals Park in Washington, DC.
- 1984 World Series, Games 3 & 4, October 12th & October 13th, Tiger Stadium: In this simpler time, I recall sending away a Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope with a check inside for World Series tickets. My envelope apparently got pulled and I was fortunate enough to secure lower deck bleacher seats for both Games 3 and 4 of the Tigers’ first World Series appearance in 16 years. My father deferred the opportunity to attend to his younger brother so my uncle Paul traveled up from Indiana to accompany me to the Friday night and Saturday afternoon Tiger victories. Both games were great, but Game 4 was especially fun as future Hall of Famer Alan Trammell belted a pair of 2-run homers to provide all the offense fellow future Hall of Famer Jack Morris needed in the 4-2 win. I then sat in the comfort of my childhood living room in nearby St. Clair Shores the next night and watched Kirk Gibson‘s monster blast against a stubborn Goose Gossage (seen here) that sealed the World Series Championship over the San Diego Padres.
- 1987 AL Championship, Game 5, October 12th, Tiger Stadium: The details surrounding this game are a bit fuzzy, but I seem to recall going with a couple of buddies from college and just walking up and buying bleacher tickets at the box office the afternoon of this game, which is the only winner-take-all baseball playoff game I’ve ever attended. It ended with a colossal thud, as trade deadline acquisition Doyle Alexander (who was as responsible as anyone for Detroit even reaching the post-season (9-0 with a 1.53 ERA over 11 starts) couldn’t get out of the second inning and Minnesota’s improbable run to a World Series Championship continued with a 9-5 win. Adding insult to injury, of course, was that the Tigers traded some minor leaguer named John Smoltz to the Atlanta Braves for Alexander. Ouch!
- 2006 AL Division Series, Game 4, October 7th, Comerica Park: This was during the era our family had a mini-season ticket plan to Tigers’ games. As such, we had access to purchase post-season games for this season that came out of left field for Detroit. My wife, Carol, and I chose this one – a Saturday afternoon game – because a Friday night, 8 p.m. start, would have presented several logistical challenges. Also, fearing the worst (a shellacking at Yankee Stadium in the first two games) we figured Game 4 might not even be played and we’d save a bit of money. Wrong! And boy were glad. Pitcher Jeremy Bonderman was unreal and Magglio Ordonez and Craig Monroe each homered during this 8-3 Tigers’ rout. The biggest highlight of that afternoon, however, came following the game when the lockerroom celebration occurred on the field. The champagne came out and players ran around the field spraying the fans. Truly a magical moment.
- 2012 World Series, Game 3, October 27th, Comerica Park: The Tigers came into Game 3, down 2-0 having been swept by the Giants in San Francisco. The Giants beat up on Justin Verlander in Game 1 and rode a strong Madison Bumgarner performance to the victory in Game 2. I worked a connection I had with a friend who was a member of the Baseball Writers Association of America and had access to World Series tickets to secure the seats in the upper deck behind homeplate for me and my father, Jerry (heard in Episode 2 of our podcast, “Conversations with Sports Fans”). It was my father’s first trip to a World Series Game. That wound up being the overwhelming highlight of the night. It was a raw 47 degrees with a stiff breeze that made it feel much colder. The Tigers’ offense, despite the fact that Frank Robinson presented Miguel Cabrera with a Triple Crown Award prior to the start, remained in hibernation, getting beat 2-0 and running its scoreless streak to 18 innings.
- 2017 NL Division Series, Game 1, October 6th, Nationals Park: The Chicago Cubs were beginning defense of their 2016 World Championship in our nation’s capital and it so happened I was in town for a NEA Board of Director’s Meeting. My friend Tim Parker (heard in Episode 3 of our podcast) secured Standing Room Only tickets for me, him, and our fellow education leader, Brett Smith. It was a delightful night and we took in the game from as many vantage points as we could access. It turned out to be a pitcher’s duel between the Cubs’ Kyle Hendricks and Nationals’ Stephen Strasburg and the Cubbies came out on top, 3-0. Chicago went on to win this NLDS, 3-2.
