Find a Team and Hang On

I had posted a comment concerning the recent ALCS (American League Championship Series) game between the Houston Astros and the New York Yankees, and a good friend of mine responded on Facebook with “I can’t believe you can bear to watch these games!”

Where our Indians flag was displayed

That friend is not anti-baseball. She is a hurt Cleveland Indians fan. And being that the Indians lost the American League Division Series in Game Five against the New York Yankees (which means, for those of you not really following baseball, that their season is OVER), watching any baseball game without Chief Wahoo represented is a bit painful.

Where it is displayed now . . . 

I can’t blame her. But I responded, “I’m rooting for the Astros to beat the Yankees and the Dodgers to beat the Cubs. And then the Astros to beat the Dodgers. If Cleveland isn’t in it, I’m still going to love the game. Find a team to root for and hang on!”

And that is the way to get over the hurt of losing: find a team to root for and hang on.

That’s not exactly difficult for me. I love the game of baseball. I really do. As I’ve written before, my wife and I like to attend minor league games whenever we can. When we go we root, root, root for the home team. We are big time Toledo Mudhens fans, and they are the AAA team for the Detroit Tigers. Now, if we were to attend a Mudhens / Clippers game (the AAA team in Columbus for the Cleveland Indians) in Toledo, we’d be hard pressed to root for the Mudhens. Fortunately, we haven’t been put in that situation (yet)!

So, even though the Indians are out of it, I’m still going to enjoy the game. This means I had to find a team to root for.

I have a Twitter friend (@BritniB714) who is from Houston. Knowing her beloved Astros are in it, I’m rooting for them. Besides. They are playing against the team that beat the Indians (the New York Yankees), so that makes it easy. In the National League, it’s the Los Angeles Dodgers against the Chicago Cubs. Since the Cubs beat the Indians in Game Seven of the World Series last year, rooting for the Dodgers is easy too. And once the World Series starts, it’s American League all the way, baby!

This past weekend we got to enjoy a few games. We watched the Astros win the first two of their series, and the Dodgers win the first of theirs. We’ve been really excited over here! Great games.

When watching the Indians during their post-season, the games have been played on a different network than normal. We love the Sportstime Ohio commentators. They are Cleveland fans, obviously, but that doesn’t mean they talk down the opposing team. They call a good game. If a good play is made, they praise it. If errors are made, they call them. They tell stories in between pitches covering players from both teams. A great group of guys.

When the post-season started, we started listening to the MLB.com app audio stream. This allowed us the ability to listen to a local radio station instead of the (non-Sportstime Ohio) TV announcers. And unlike using the radio, the audio and video sync is close enough to not drive you crazy.

After the Indians were out of it, I’d listen (in the Jeep) to the Houston announcers call the Astros/Yankees games. Great fun.

This past weekend, my wife and I were staying at the Punderson State Park Lodge. So, we caught the games on whatever channel was playing them - along with listening to the announcers of that particular channel.

During the Cubs/Dodgers game (played in Los Angeles), a play occurred that was a bit controversial. Not only was the play controversial, one of the announcers couldn’t help but provide some “color commentary” that really annoyed me.

Let me explain:

The Dodgers were up to bat. They had a man on second base. The batter hit out to left field, where Schwarber fielded it and threw it ALL THE WAY to home plate, just as the runner made it all the way from second to home. The catcher, stuck his left leg out, blocking the runner from being able to tag the base. The runner had to go around the catcher, missing the base completely, and the catcher stood up and tagged the runner. An out.

That play was challenged and overturned. He was safe. The reason being that the catcher is NOT allowed to block the path of the runner, UNLESS he had to in order to catch the ball. The catcher clearly did not have to.

Now, the rule was upheld and the Dodgers got the run. The Cubs coach got so mad he yelled at the umpire just enough to get thrown out of the game. (imagine a fist-pump emoji here)

The part that got me so annoyed was that the TV announcer (obviously a Cubs fan) said that he understood the rule, but it took away the “athleticism of the game”. The rule is recent and for years that would have been a good play by the catcher.

Really?!?

I’m no sports announcer. I’m just a simple fan. And apparently, unlike the announcer, I wasn't there in 1846 when baseball got started. So, I really should give him the benefit of the doubt.

Bulls**t!

If a catcher blocking the plate is considered the “athleticism of the game”, then the runner should be able to PLOW that catcher over - cleats first. Just like the old days. Is that what the announcer meant?

I’m almost sure that he would consider today’s football also missing the “athleticism of the game”. After all, they don’t wear leather helmets anymore, and they use all of that stupid padding!

It’s announcers like that that make watching the game so exasperating.

But it’s baseball. And I love the game. So, I am going to find a team to root for and hang on!

And so should you.

© Emittravel 2017